You fool, you are not reading it alone.
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Yoo Joonghyuk is the main character of tls123's novel Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World. Throughout Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, he is mainly seen in his 3rd and 1863rd regressions.
Appearance
Yoo Joonghyuk is repeatedly described as extremely handsome by various individuals, including the author of Ways of Survival and Kim Dokja. The latter even uses him as a measurement for others' handsomeness on multiple occasions.
Yoo Joonghyuk has wide black eyes with thin double eyelids and thick eyebrows. His right eye glows golden upon activation of the skill [Sage's Eye]. His hair is black and slightly wavy, cut short. He has tan skin, a sharp nose ridge, and a strong jawline. He is extremely muscular; in particular, he has well-toned biceps and thighs.[5]
Yoo Joonghyuk usually wears a black coat and combat boots.[6] Under the jacket, covers for the novel have shown him to wear a black shirt with a silver collar and buckle, along with close-fitting black pants. He is also depicted as having at least one belt across his chest, along with a sword scabbard worn at his waist, held on by straps attached to his belt and around his thigh.
Personality
Yoo Joonghyuk was designed as someone 'tougher in body and nobler in heart than any creature in this world'.[9] He is resolute and determined, aiming to accomplish his goals no matter the cost, in particular when aiming for the end of the scenarios. As a protagonist, Yoo Joonghyuk naturally fights for the greater good. He was originally a caring person at heart, doing good where he could,[10] but repeated regressions have worn him down to the point where, in his 1863rd round, he commits enough sins to make him a prime target of the Absolute Good constellations.[11]
Yoo Joonghyuk is normally very confident in his abilities, never backing down from a challenge and typically cutting down his enemies with ease. He is extremely talented in various areas, befitting of his status as a protagonist. He takes pride in his own skill, sometimes to the point of not perceiving anyone else's work as good, as seen when he will eat no one's cooking but his own. Yoo Joonghyuk is smart and strategic; this helps him learn new skills and figure out plans to subvert the scenarios. However, he can also struggle to adapt his strategies and see things from new perspectives. This is a major reason as to why he took 1863 rounds to even get close to the Final Wall; he would struggle to change his strategies and adapt to new situations, easily failing and having to regress.
Yoo Joonghyuk's speech is concise and blunt, often to the point of rudeness. He becomes explicitly rude and threatening when speaking to individuals who irritate him, or who are powerful unknowns. He is sometimes also rude to his own party members, though he looks out for them nonetheless, showing that he cares despite his harshness. Frequently, he expresses himself through actions or expressions rather than words. These include habits such as dragging the tip of his sword along the ground when happy,[12] or his left eyebrow twitching upon making an serious decision. On rare occasions, however, he can be very eloquent and persuasive.[13]
Over the course of his regressions, aside from becoming more open to cruelty, he becomes extremely calculating and cold. He kills those he deems threats and supports those who he believes can aid him. He distances himself even from his own companions; in the 41st round, when his core party members die, he only laments that they are no longer useful.[14][15] However, this is most likely a tactic to try and minimize the hurt of losing them, as even further regressions show him warming back up to them, selflessly sacrificing himself for them over and over; which is most evidently referenced and shown in his 999th regression.[16][17]
The trauma he experiences over his regressions result in Yoo Joonghyuk having a tendency to fall into "regression depression", where he easily loses hope on even small failures, and considers giving up and regressing so that he can try again next round. The further into his regressions he is, the stronger the effect of regression depression, until in his 1863rd round, it causes him to fall into a dissociative state where he is completely unresponsive.[18]
Items
- Sky Shaker Sword
- Midday Tryst
- Heavenly Black Demon Sword: Won from the Martial Arts Competition.
- Pocket Watch: A gift from Kim Dokja to help with his regression depression.
Quotes
- "He is my companion."[19]
- "Tell me, you fool. If I continue to regress, will I ever get to meet you again?"[20]
- "I give you my word. I will definitely return." (To Yoo Mia)[4]
- "There is only my birthday in this life." (Yoo Joonghyuk of the 4th regression, in the first text revision of Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World)[21]
- "The one who can save the world... It might be you, not me."[22]
- "I won't give up on this life. So don't give up either."[13]
Trivia
- Kim Dokja often refers to Yoo Joonghyuk as a sunfish. This is a reference to the game "Survive! Mola Mola" (mola mola is another name for a sunfish). In the game, you have to keep a sunfish alive and escape the dangers of the sea. However, the sunfish dies because of almost anything and one must start over many times in order to get anywhere; this parallels how Yoo Joonghyuk needed over a thousand rounds in order to even approach a conclusive end to the scenarios, and how he died very easily particularly in the early rounds.[23]
- He dislikes the color white.
- Taking the year that ORV started (2018) to be the same calendar year in-text at the start of the novel, and assuming that all ages are given according to the Korean system, Yoo Joonghyuk's date of birth is August 3, 1991.
- His favorite food is murim dumplings.
- Yoo Joongyuk is not bad at singing but he is tone deaf and doesn't realize it.[24]
- Due to coming into existence as an adult Yoo Joonghyuk never attended high school, however, if he ever were a high school student he would be uninterested in studying but attend classes faithfully. He would like playing games after school and often get confessed to by female students because of his good looks, however he would not be interested in dating.[24]
Translation
- Yoo Joonghyuk's name has been a source of some contention.
- The hangul is most directly transliterated as "Yoo Joonghyeok". The "oo" in Yoo and Joonghyuk are functionally the same sound, which is why the spelling Yoo Joonghyuk is the one favored on this wiki. The "eo" sound is also often transliterated as "u" in English, hence the change from Joonghyeok to Joonghyuk. This "eo" → "u" change can also be seen in other names, such as Lee Hyunsung's and Jung Heewon's.
- However, the first translator used to spell it Yoo Jonghyuk (with only one O in his given name). They have since stated that this was an error, and if possible they'd want to change it.[25]
- The second translator changed it to the more accurate Yu Jung-Hyeok, but did not use the "eo" → "u" method, using "oo" → "u" instead and leaving "eo" as is. This was done to keep to the Revised Romanization standards, the current official romanization system in South Korea.
- The spelling used in official English translations is Yu Junghyeok/Junghyeok Yu.
References
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 356 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Webtoon Episode 63 (read original)
- ↑ Sing Shong’s post for Munpia’s fanart contest (팬아트 이벤트용 등장인물 외형 묘사입니다) (English translation)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 ORV Novel Chapter 547 (read original)
- ↑ Sing Shong’s post for Munpia’s fanart contest (팬아트 이벤트용 등장인물 외형 묘사입니다) (English translation)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 256 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 228 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 428 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 541 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 43 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 285 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 247 (read original)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 ORV Novel Chapter 189 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 103 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 104 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 452 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 471 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 287 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 102 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 525 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 222 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 185 (read original)
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 36 (read original)
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 ORV Newspaper, Page 4
- ↑ Novel Updates Forum, post by user rainbowturtle (archived version)