Title: The World After the Fall Vol. 14
Author: singNsong (Original Story), S-Cynan (Adaptation), Undead Gamja
Publisher: Ize Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 296
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Publication Date: July 21, 2026
The Story
We begin with the end of the voting session to determine the new king of the 7th floor. Artena is surprised when the freed gods didn’t want to return to Yesterday and remain here in Today. Despite her warnings, she knew that they were serious; however, Jaehwan wasn’t interested in rallying them. Instead, he simply told them to do whatever they wanted, giving them the freedom of choice. He even said that they could go back to Yesterday if they wanted, but they would die. Artena knows that the only way forward is to fight, so she summons her holy ground, but Jaehwan took some measures before the holy ground could manifest.
Once the battle was over, it was time to head to the 8th floor, but they knew that the Union could be there waiting for them. To prevent getting ambushed by the Union’s army, Jaehwan borrowed a livestream and challenged the leader of the Union to a one-on-one duel. He knows how the gods of the metaverse love Trust, so he figured that if the metaverse can make money off the duel, everyone would flock to the 8th floor to witness it, thus making the duel as lucrative as possible. This would also deter them from getting greeted by an army.
Once they arrive, they head for The House of Darkness because of its reputation of being the premier underground information brokerage. There, we meet Heopung, the All-Knowing God. Due to his all-knowing eye, he can peer into every corner of the metaverse to find out any information that they want to know. Of course, Jaehwan wants to know if he can find Yunhwan. He does find him, but it’s not the level of information that Jaehwan was expecting. While it wasn’t much of a lead, he still knows his path is clear… to get to the top of the Tree of Illusion and find The First Nightmare, but it looks as if there is a change of plans, and Jaehwan is about to have his hands full as the leader of the Union has a plan to soften him up before their duel!
Characters
We got to see a bit of Artena’s softer side in this volume. While she is still very adamant about why Yesterday should exist, when she has a conversation with Andersen, we get to understand the reasoning behind why Yesterday was created and why it is needed. She made some very valid points; however, thanks to Jaehwan, things have gotten a bit too far out of control for Yesterday to be salvaged. Now, we see what happens to her post-destruction of the seventh floor, and how she will be spending the rest of her time. When you see it, it’s almost peaceful, and ironic at the same time. To me, she didn’t seem like a villain, but more or less someone who was doing what was necessary, even if what was necessary seemed evil. She’s a morally gray character, and I enjoy those on occasion. Hers was pretty well done!
Of course, the big focus on the second half of the volume was on Heopung, our new character. As the All-Knowing God, his power of being able to peer into every crevice of the metaverse is powerful, indeed. You would think that The House of Darkness would be a thriving success because of it, but in a metaphor for the modern world we all live in, technology has surpassed his ability, and rather than coming to him to buy items or information, people can just get what they want on an online store and call it a day. So now, he just makes dumplings and hopes that someone would stop in and need his services. He is but a humble old man… the type of wise character that I love in a fantasy series. Even though he is powerful, when Jaehwan asked him why he makes dumplings, it was one of the deepest questions disguised as a simple one. It carried so much weight that even the All-Knowing God knew he didn’t have to answer it with words, as the very question itself was the answer, too… a silent understanding that even his knowledge felt meager against. It was a really cool moment, and his character handled it perfectly!
We learned a little bit more about Eunsae jin, too. Artena used him as an ace up her sleeve, and it was through this that we got to see a bit of his backstory. We also learned through that just how heartless and vicious Rupture is as a group. Even though their experiments were to further the knowledge of how awakening can affect people, to do what they did and to use Eunsae as one of their test subjects made you feel sorry for him, even more so because Eunsae is still a kid. Jaehwan ended up knocking him out, so we’ll have to see what happens with him once he wakes up. Something tells me that he won’t be a part of Rupture for much longer, but that remains to be seen.
Final Thoughts
There was more action than information in this volume, which is a good thing as it helped the pacing out just a bit. We still got a reminder of the hierarchy of all of the seven factions from the Seven Stars, to the Seven Heavens, to the Seven Supreme Gods (was this series written by a Tool fan, by chance?) Then, of course, we were reminded about the Twelve Masters as well. Through that, we also got a reminder of what lies beyond the Tree of Illusion and doubled down on Jaehwan’s goals of making it to the top along with rescuing his friend Yunhwan. There were also some nice callbacks to the beginning of the series as Jaehwan remembered the Houses back on Chaos, what happened when he was originally training his Stab, etc.
In a way, this volume served to advance the plot while reminding us of the roots of the series. It was nice to see everything get tied together, even if it was in the form of just a refresher course. Still, whether it was explained through Heopung’s conversations or little moments where Jaewhan did some remembering, all of it was appreciated. Far too often, stories enter brand-new arcs and stray from what made them unique and original (I’m looking at you Sword Art Online), so when a story takes the time to reference the past and its beginnings, it’s a great feeling because it reminds you of the overall journey the characters have been on and how it all ties into the ultimate goals.
While I still didn’t like the plot device Jaehwan used during his fight on the 7th floor, I’ve come to expect things like that in this series. The Deus ex Machina plot device aside, this volume was highly enjoyable!
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This item was provided for review by Ize Press
