Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint
First webtoon adaptation print volume cover, featuring Kim Dokja
전지적 독자 시점
RR: Jeonjijeok dokja sijeom
MR: Chŏnjijŏk tokcha sichŏm
GenreAction, fantasy, metafiction
AuthorSing Shong
IllustratorBlackbox for web novel, Sleepy-C for webtoon
PublisherMunpia
English publisherIze Press
Webtoon
service
Original runJanuary 6, 2018 – February 2, 2020
Volumes20 novel volumes
Anime television series
Licensed byCrunchyroll
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint
Japanese name
Kanji全知的な読者の視点から
Kanaぜんちてきなどくしゃのしてんから
Transcriptions
RomanizationZenchiteki na Dokusha no Shiten kara

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, alternatively translated as Omniscient Reader (Korean: 전지적 독자 시점), is a South Korean web novel written by singNsong. It was first published on January 6, 2018, on the platform Munpia, and ended on February 2, 2020. Naver Webtoon published a currently ongoing webtoon adaptation created by Redice Studio for the Korean version and Line Webtoon for the English version in 2020. An anime television series adaptation has been announced.

Plot

Kim Dokja is an ordinary 28-year-old office worker in an exploitative gaming company. His only hobby is reading webnovels to and from his office. Kim Dokja is the only reader of the webnovel Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World, often shortened to Ways of Survival or TWSA, for 13 years of his life, due to the absurd length of the novel (3,149 chapters).

However, on the day that the last chapter is meant to be released, the mysterious author "tls123" emails him the attached file of the novel as a gift. Unfortunately, the epilogue is nowhere to be found, and when the clock hits 7:00 pm KST, a dokkaebi appears. He realises that this is how Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World began, but refuses to believe it until the first scenario begins: "Kill one or more living organisms."

The world as he knew it followed the plot of the story. Being the only one to have fully read the webnovel, with the only copy of the novel, Kim Dokja is determined to create a different ending for his favourite characters and story.

Characters

Kim Dokja
Kim Dokja (김독자; Gim Dokja) is the primary protagonist of the series. He is a young man working an office job who has a passion for reading, his favorite novel being Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World (Also commonly referred to as the TWSA throughout the novel). However, his life takes a drastic turn when the events of the novel start unfolding in real life, and he is the only one who is aware of how the world will come to an end. With this knowledge, Dokja uses his understanding of the story to create the ending he wanted as the one reader of the novel, consequently changing the world for better and worse.
Yoo Joonghyuk
Yoo Joonghyuk (유중혁; Yu Junghyeok) is the main protagonist of the novel Dokja read and one of the most powerful characters of the original web novel, Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World. He is also one of the three central protagonists of the novel alongside Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung. His constellation is unknown (although revealed later), and he is fundamental to the story because of his regression ability, among many other powerful skills.
Han Sooyoung
Han Sooyoung (한수영; Han Suyeong) is one of the three central protagonists of the novel alongside Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk. She is initially considered a problematic anomaly due to her immense knowledge of the TWSA and its future events almost rivalling that of Kim Dokja's, but as the story progresses she becomes integral to the development of events within the story, often taking up the unofficial leadership position Kim Dokja vacates frequently. She has an interesting relationship with Kim Dokja where it is revealed that she plagiarized his favorite novel TWSA and sold a better version of it due to her writing abilities. Her personal skill, [Avatar] is considered to be unique one among writers.
Uriel
Uriel (Demon-Like Judge of Fire) - constellation belonging to the "Eden" nebula and contellations of "absolute good", being the representation of an archangel, and one of the biggest supporters of Dokja and his companions. Notably, she sponsors one of Kim Dokja's closest companions, Jung Heewon (정희원; Jeong Huiwon)
Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong (Great Sage Heaven's Equal, Most Ancient Liberator) is a constellation belonging to the "Emperor" nebula, a representation of a known Chinese myth, and Dokja’s loyal supporter. Later on in the story, he considers Kim Dokja as something akin to a brother.
Persephone
Persephone (Queen of the Darkest Spring) is a co-leader of the "Underworld" nebula and the wife of Hades. She is a powerful constellation that took interest in Dokja at the beginning of the story. She helps him numerous times to gain his footing once he's been made into a Constellation and earn the respect and fear of his fellow Constellations. She's part of the Gourmet Association as later seen in the novel.
Hades
Hades (Father of the Richest Night) is the leader/king of the "Underworld" nebula and one of the three major "Olympus" gods, that took interest in Kim Dokja at the beginning of the story.
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is the leader of the "Black Cloud" nebula, standing at the side of absolute evil. At the beginning of the story he offered to become Dokja's sponsor, and despite being turned down, he remained loyal to Dokja's channel and became one of his biggest supporters. He initially sponsors one of Kim Dokja's closest allies and an important member of the protagonist trio, Han Sooyoung. Quite humorously, he is mentioned to be the frequent sponsors of teenage edgelords (chunnibyou).
Secretive Plotter
Secretive Plotter is a mysterious constellation that appeared in Dokja's channel at the start of the story. Though unassuming at first, his interest in Dokja and his group becomes more and more apparent throughout the story, as his messages keep appearing in the channel and his gaze keeps following their every step. It was later revealed that Secretive Plotter was an Outer God playing in the role of a constellation. It becomes apparent to the readers during the story's progression that this character is loosely based on Nyarlathotep (i.e. "the crawling chaos"). The true identity of the character is known to be a major plot point.

Media

Web novel

The original Korean web novel, written by 'sing N song' was first published on January 6, 2018, on the platform Munpia, and ended on February 2, 2020. The official sources are Munpia and Naver.

After the end of the original story, a sequel, labeled as side stories of the original novel (not to be confused with the bonus chapters), began publication on the official sites on February 15, 2024.

E-book

Since publication as a web novel, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has been revised and edited into a completed e-book consisting of 20 total volumes. These 20 volumes have also been published physically by Bichae, a subsidiary of Naver. The published e-book contains several changes to the web novel, mostly consisting of small dialogue omissions and other such minor changes. The only major changes to the overall plot are the character motivations in the "Peace Land" arc.

Physical publication

Yen Press released the first volume of the English physical novel on July 22, 2025.

No. Release date ISBN
1July 22, 2025979-8-4009-0352-6
2November 18, 2025979-8-4009-0373-1
3March 31, 2026979-8-4009-0376-2
4July 21, 2026979-8-4009-0379-3
5November 17, 2026979-8-4009-0551-3
6March 30, 2027979-8-4009-0554-4

Physical publications into other languages have also been made. 23 Thai volumes have been published by Levon. 12 Taiwanese volumes by Interstellar Publishing (深空出版), and 3 Simplified Chinese volumes by 磨铁图书 (see Chinese: 全知讀者視角).

Webtoon

An ongoing webtoon adaptation of the e-book, illustrated by Sleepy-C under Redice Studios launched on Naver on May 26, 2020. Its first two collected volumes were released by A.Tempo Media on December 22, 2020, with eighteen collected volumes released as of March 2026.

The webtoon was published digitally in English by Line Webtoon on August 18, 2020. In June 2023, IZE Press, an imprint of Yen Press, announced that they have licensed both the manhwa and novel for English publication.

Volumes

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
01December 22, 2020979-11-6428-401-6December 12, 2023979-8-4009-0106-5
02December 22, 2020979-11-6428-402-3March 19, 2024979-8-4009-0129-4
03July 21, 2021979-11-6428-543-3June 18, 2024979-8-4009-0161-4
04February 15, 2022979-11-6428-704-8September 17, 2024979-8-4009-0162-1
05June 8, 2022979-11-6428-784-0December 17, 2024979-8-4009-0281-9
06August 10, 2022979-11-6428-998-1March 18, 2025979-8-4009-0282-6
07September 7, 2022979-11-6428-884-7June 17, 2025979-8-4009-0284-0
08November 18, 2022979-11-6428-960-8September 23, 2025979-8-4009-0285-7
09March 10, 2023979-11-6963-079-5December 16, 2025979-8-4009-0440-0
10March 25, 2024979-11-6963-418-2April 21, 2026979-8-4009-0441-7
11December 23, 2024979-11-7304-237-9July 21, 2026979-8-4009-0442-4
12December 23, 2024979-11-7304-238-6October 20, 2026979-8-4009-0443-1
13June 24, 2025979-11-7304-516-5January 19, 2027979-8-4009-0444-8
14June 24, 2025979-11-7304-517-2April 20, 2027979-8-4009-0445-5
15September 29, 2025979-11-7304-977-4——
16September 29, 2025979-11-7304-978-1——
17December 5, 2025979-11-7556-186-1——
18February 20, 2026979-11-7556-393-3——

Film

Munpia announced on September 18, 2019, that they had signed a contract with Realize Pictures to adapt Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint into five feature-length films. In May 2023, Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Min-ho were confirmed to be offered the leading roles of Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk respectively.

The film's casting was officially confirmed on January 24, 2024, featuring Kim Ji-soo as Lee Ji-hye, Chae Soo-bin as Yoo Sang-ah, Nana as Jung Hee-won, Shin Seung-ho as Lee Hyun-sung, Park Ho-san as Gong Pil-du, and Choi Young-joon as Han Myung-oh. Kim Byung-woo served as the director, while Won Dong-yun took on the role of producer. The producer also assured that "the movie has now reached its halfway point and is well on its way to its final destination."

The film premiered in South Korea on July 23, 2025. As of October 2, 2025, the film has grossed $7.9 million worldwide. Critical reception of the film is mixed, scoring a 35% audience rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with criticism directed towards the discrepancies between the novel's and film's plot.

Anime

At Anime Expo 2024, an anime television series adaptation was announced. Crunchyroll will stream the series.

Video game

In March 2025, Com2uS announced that they had secured publishing rights to an Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint video game. Developed by Offbeat, the game is scheduled to be released in 2028.

References

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  2. ↑ "Omniscient Reader". Webtoon. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024. Webtoon
  3. ↑ 전지적 독자 시점 (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint". Novel Updates. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
  5. ↑ "전지적 독자 시점 (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint 20 Volumes [Novel]) Series". Good Reads. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel), Vol. 1 | Novel | Yen Press". yenpress.com. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel), Vol. 1 | Novel | Yen Press". Yen Press. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel), Vol. 2 | Novel | Yen Press". Yen Press.
  9. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel), Vol. 3 | Novel | Yen Press". Yen Press. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel), Vol. 4 | Novel | Yen Press". Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel), Vol. 5 | Novel | Yen Press". Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel), Vol. 6 | Novel | Yen Press". Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  13. ↑ "มุมมองนักอ่านพระเจ้า 28 เล่ม นิยาย e-book". mebmarket. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
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  15. ↑ 전지적 독자 시점 (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  16. ↑ 전지적 독자 시점 세트. Naver Book Database (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
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  22. ↑ 전지적 독자 시점 3(만화) (in Korean). Naver Book Database. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
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  33. ↑ "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Vol. 8". Yen Press. Archived from the original on May 17, 2025. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
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  50. ↑ Park, A-reum (September 18, 2019). '신과함께' 제작사 '전지적 독자 시점' 영화화 "글로벌 프로젝트될 것". Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
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  53. ↑ Nam, S. (May 3, 2023). "Ahn Hyo Seop And Lee Min Ho In Talks To Star In Film Based On Web Novel "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint"". Soompi. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  54. ↑ 전형화 (January 24, 2024). [단독] 이민호·안효섭·블랙핑크 지수·나나 등 '전지적 독자 시점' 초호화 캐스팅..12월 촬영. Ilgan Sports (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024 – via Naver.
  55. ↑ "[단독] 이민호·안효섭·블랙핑크 지수·나나 등 '전지적 독자 시점' 초호화 캐스팅..12월 촬영". m.entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  56. ↑ Young-sun, Shin (July 1, 2025). "Ahn Hyo-seop & Lee Min-ho Lock Eyes—'Omniscient Reader' Sparks Fly". K-en News. Archived from the original on September 12, 2025. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  57. 1 2 Hodgkins, Crystalyn (July 6, 2024). "Omniscient Reader Manhwa Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  58. ↑ Cho, Wonhee (March 31, 2025). "Korean Gaming Company Com2uS Secures Publishing Rights for Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Game". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  59. ↑ Cho, Wonhee (August 13, 2026). "Com2uS Pushes Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Game to 2028". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 13, 2026.