Joining the growing popularity of webtoons, or manhwa, is Ink Pop’s first translated manhwa: My Life As An Internet Novel, written by Yu Hani-Ryeo and illustrated by A Hyeon.

My Life As An Internet Novel, also known as Inso’s Law, has been my favorite webtoon since I first read it a long time ago. It follows an ordinary girl named Dani who suddenly wakes up in a new world and life that isn’t her own, not as the heroine, but as a side character who is childhood best friends with a beautiful girl. Dani is somehow in the same class as the main heroine and her four handsome love interests as well.

While My Life As An Internet Novel shares the same tropes as other webtoons in the same genre, a twist makes this webtoon an interesting story that stands out from other webtoons with the same tropes and genre. The first volume is proof as it immediately caught my attention, even if it’s been a long time since I last read this webtoon.

©2020 by A Hyeon, Yu Han-ryeo

My Life As An Internet Novel is about Dani’s New Life & Relationships

What I love about My Life As An Internet Novel so far is its story writing. The webtoon makes it clear that it will be about Dani’s new life and how she navigates it and her relationships with the people around her. I was immediately hooked as I read the conflicts Dani encountered when she found out about her world, life, and the people she was supposed to know and meet, and how she would navigate them.

Unlike other webtoons where the main characters either die and reincarnate with memories of their life or are summoned, Dani suddenly wakes up in the world with no memories of what happened. The author makes it seem like she has a life in the world, but Dani doesn’t have any memories of that life. Yet, she has to navigate as if she already lived in that life as she tries to find her way back to her own real world. What is interesting is the way she interacts with her environment. She doesn’t have a lot to go off of, so her reaction is more realistic, and she is portrayed as a more sensible person compared to other main leads from other webtoons. She only follows tropes from other internet novels she sometimes reads in certain situations. Other than that, she is just a normal middle school student trying to make sense and live a life stuck in a romance story.

In the middle of the first volume, there is also a sudden three-year time skip. It made me wonder what happened to Dani, especially since she told herself she wouldn’t get involved with the main characters, yet she did anyway. After that three-year time skip, though, we got a glimpse of Dani’s relationship with all the main characters, where she suddenly became good friends with the people she told herself not to get close to. The next volume will be the start of how Dani somehow became friends with them.

Dani has an extremely sweet relationship with Yeoryeong, her supposed childhood best friend in the world. It was so sweet that I could see people wanting to ship them because it brought a smile to my face reading how they interact. Yeoryeong really loved Dani to the point of being comedic, because she had eyes for Dani and seemed willing to do anything for her. I really look forward to seeing their growing relationship and how they interact with one another in the upcoming volumes, as well as her relationship with other characters in the story.

©2020 by A Hyeon, Yu Han-ryeo

A Slow-burning Webtoon

This is such a great story to read, but if you are looking for some action, drama, fantasy, or even some quick romance, this isn’t the one for you. While I do really enjoy reading My Life As An Internet Novel, the story’s pacing is really slow. Reading the first volume reminded me how slow the webtoon is since it only introduces Dani and the other characters. In fact, we only got to the introductory level for most of the characters. I was reminded that I did drop this webtoon a few times until enough episodes came out so I could read it all at once. I knew there was angst and drama in this webtoon, and while I was expecting it and even prepared myself to cry as someone who cries easily, that didn’t happen in the first volume.

A Gentle Beginning Before the Real Story Unfolds

My Life As An Internet Novel is a slice-of-life romance about a young girl who is suddenly thrown into an internet novel world full of romance tropes. The first volume itself serves as the premise, or an introductory volume, before it truly dives into the story in the second volume. So far, I have no complaints except for the story’s slowness, and I am willing to wait until the next volume. I don’t even have complaints with the translation since it hasn’t bothered me at all. I would recommend reading, or at least trying, the first two or three volumes. Due to the pacing, it might be better to wait until a few volumes are out before reading them all at once if you don’t have the patience to wait for the release of every volume.

I look forward to all the future volumes of My Life As An Internet Novel from Ink Pop, and hopefully, I can finally finish this webtoon this time. I would also like to thank Ink Pop for the opportunity to read and review their first translated manhwa.

The first volume of Ink Pop’s My Life As An Internet Novel is now out physically and digitally.