Going down the hill

It started very promising. The first few episodes up to like the sixth episode were truly entertaining. I especially enjoyed that playful bond between team players and Sam and Tom's friendship—absolutely the cutest thing ever and a reminder for the BL industry that two people can be very close and touchy while staying friends and not developing any romantic feelings. Honorable mention for characters having consistent personalities, which is rare in Thai industry. Now the couples, during those six episodes, we've got to see a very original story of Sprite and Zee. I absolutely loved the acting of these two. It's actually admirable to play two people at the same time and still make them very recognizable and visibly different. About Jack and Mike: great chemistry, finally we're starting a relationship from a mutual attraction instead of hate or random mutual love at first sight. Sam and Tan—overall, they were pretty cute.I know many people thought they were awkward, but personally, I think it just added to their charm. New relationships tend to be awkward and imperfect sometimes.
Then we got past the sixth episode, and the downfall had begun. Truly random, unnecessary problems; chaotic scenes that didn't really make sense chronologically. I feel like I've watched them, but I didn't—the director just poured whatever to fill up the space between the 6th and 12th episode. I could let this go if the 12th episode was really worth all the bs, but I'm afraid it wasn't. I mean, I like how they mentioned some issues and resolved them, but bro, they had 6 random episodes that gave nothing just to overfill the 12th episode with every possible plot point they found. They could've further developed Tan and Sam's storyline, shown us more about Jack's family, and, in general, more about Mike and Jack's dynamics (during those 6 episodes they appeared maybe like 4 times are you fr). They could've shown us more about the relationship between Zee and Sprite getting better, it seemed like they suddenly just let all the bitter feelings that we've learned about in the summary go. There were many, many possibilities, all wasted now. I set the rewatch value as 5, because I'm definitely watching those six episodes again, but I'll act like whatever comes next never happened. I suggest y'all just come up with your own ending; I bet it'll be more interesting.

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So unique!

The plot is so creative; it's one of the best plots I've ever watched in BLs, actually. Making reality into a game was a genius move; it allowed the authors to get carried away with reactions, plot twists, and mysteries without them not making any sense or being random, because after all, no matter what would come on, it would have to make sense since it's in the game. Even slightly cringeworthy moments or characters' rushed development were totally fine, because they could've been a bit caricaturized. However! That didn't make the story all fluffy, boring, or lacking. I absolutely loved the background for the little love story of Myungha and Yeowoon, especially that out-of-the-box ending. Although I still feel like we could've been provided with more information about the game itself, etc., I wholeheartedly hope for a spin-off. Watching all these dramas, you can notice how most of them don't bring anything to the table—this series totally does. Creative, interesting, engaging storylines; amazing acting; outstanding visuals (I loved how the director provides viewers with shots typical for video games; it just makes the whole experience even more enjoyable). There's nothing tired or corny about it. They served quality AND quantity, since that's one of the longest KBLs we've got so far. Honorable mention for music; it was one of the best soundtracks I've heard in BLs. The only con I could think of is, as I've stated prior, the lack of disclosure regarding the author of the game, how the game works, how it is controlled, and how he managed to stay inside—but that doesn't make the show any less great and it's not like it was absolutely necessary for the author to touch upon those things; it just makes me hope for a second season.

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Decent acting saved this

I guess korean bls are a genre of their own, the main rule being “give as little as possible”. I understand making something great while having only 8 episodes, 12 minutes each, requires a cinematographic mastermind but then let’s make it longer than that, so the plot won’t seem so shallow. I mean overall it’s not that bad, just a little overdramatic towards the end in my personal opinion- it’d be great for angst lovers. The acting was great, really amazing. The cast did an outstanding job at making it enjoyable and sometimes even funny, and for that I’d recommend to watch it - it’s still just like an hour of your time.

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