This is very, very good narratively, in those terms I'd rate it top 5 of all of the manga/manhwa I've read. Definitely picking this back up with the novel. Some of the more dramatic scenes don't hit very hard, but that's just the pacing, which is good. The concept is insanely good - the fact that he played this game for 17 years, he practically lived it rather than in the real world, which is reflected extremely well in his character. I'd say the biggest criticism I have, which is still relatively minor, is that I wish he struggled more in battles. Him and his shadows have not really ever taken much damage. His power level has been pretty hard to visualize, but that's just not the writer's focus, which is perfectly fine. In other cases you usually see some kind of scaled battle each time a character "powers up", but this doesn't really need that. The characters are amazing, every single one that's been introduced has had some depth to them and doesn't feel like some plot device. Overall, this is great.