Mystic Musketeer

Hello, everyone~

Thanks for tuning into another week of webcomic reviews with me!

Have any of my reviews so far made you feel less or more inclined toward a title? (Please let me know, I’m nosy.)

Meanwhile, today’s title is another one from Tapas! I know there’s a lot more titles on other apps such as Webtoons — don’t worry, I’ll get around to those soon. Mystic Musketeer is lesser known, so I’m excited to talk to you all about it :)

Premise: 3.5/5

What’s the catch, the hooker, that makes this stand out?

Mystic Musketeer is a LITRPG manhwa, and its premise is reminiscent of every iconic LITRPG anime or manga or manhwa out there.

The main protagonist Ha Yiha is a skilled sniper who is serving his military duty, when an accident leaves him crippled and in need of a surgery that he cannot afford. He finds escape in the trending virtual reality game Middle Earth, which gives him the chance to earn some real money for his operation while allowing him to “walk” again.

Although he is thrilled to be “walking” again, he makes some poor decisions that ultimately come back to haunt him. He accidentally gets stuck as a musketeer, a role that is the bottom of the bottom in the gaming system. In the entire game, Ha Yiha is one of the only players that wields a musket for a weapon. It sucks as a weapon, but the bigger problem is that it’s incredibly embarrassing. 

One thing I really like about this premise is how Ha Yiha improves his skills and trains—he is able to use his real-life knowledge as a sniper and apply it to the game. 

World-Building: 2.5/5

What is the world like? What are the rules?

To echo my sentiments above, I think the ability to use your earned knowledge and skills in the real world to level up inside the game is a pretty badass concept. Players go from laughing at Ha Yiha to dropping their jaws in awe at how he uses the gun, as is military training gives him an advantage in this virtual reality. Instead of starting from scratch like most main protagonists in LITRPGs, Ha Yiha is already skilled.

However, the possibilities and limits to the versatile skills in this “world” aren’t really explored in the story. If you become a skilled musketeer in the game, would you be able to become a skilled musketeer in real life? What if you learn how to use a sword in the game? Or cook in the game?

I mean if that were the case, with all the gaming hours I’ve logged in, I’d be a great swordsman in real life right now…. *sigh*

Given how the world and the rules of the game were set up, I couldn’t help but think it could have been fun to see more of Ha Yiha outside of the game and in his reality, trying to navigate how his skills in real life would have changed.

Overall, the world in Mystic Musketeer feels simple and plain. Have you ever played an adventure game on your gameboy? Your DS? Your playstation? Then, you’ve probably read the standard playbook that Mystic Musketeer follows.

Plot: 2/5

Where does the story go?

The first few episodes are used to establish the setting and how the main protagonist grows.

Nothing really sticks out about this one, besides the actual role of the main character. If you’re tired of the main character being a wizard, mage, or swordsman (as they typically are in all action-fantasy manhwas), then you might get a kick out of Ha Yiha being a musketeer. I did get really curious on his growth—I found myself wondering just how strong a musketeer could get if all he has to do is load the gun and pull the trigger.

Ha Yiha has potential, but the author/creator doesn’t capitalize on it, making the plot feel flat. There are hints of something bigger that Ha Yiha is about to fall into, something more dangerous. Still, it’s not set up in the first few episodes as something exciting. Instead, the focus is on his navigation of the game, from the NPCs (non-playable characters) he runs into to the other players.

He also spends a little too long trying to hunt down rabbits...there was no reason for his training in the first few episodes to be a repetitive sequence of him whacking rabbits with the back of his musket.

Characters: 3/5

Despite the flatness of the plot, Ha Yiha is a very likeable character. He’s funny and blunt and he wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s easy to root for him, given the tragic event that jumpstarted his journey in the game. 

But his trauma from the accident is entirely glossed over. He settled into the game and walking again a little too fast. It would have been nice to see some internal conflict, some grieving, or something, to really explore the emotional complexity and layers to Ha Yiha. As a webcomic writer myself, I understand that you can’t spend too long zeroing in on the emotion because most of our readers are here for the action and the pow pow! But still… the entire arc of his accident was depicted in only a handful of panels. 

Ha Yiha is pretty much a solo player in the first few episodes, not teaming up with anyone and prioritizing simple missions from the NPCs. The most frequent NPC is the AI that narrates the game. She’s a fun, spunky red-haired girl that introduces the way of the world to new players and answers any questions they might have. Not too different or special from other AI in other manhwas… or AI in general now, I guess.

Further into the story, we do meet an exciting pair of players who get drawn to Ha Yiha and his skills as a musketeer. The new characters—including the AI, tbh—are a little mysterious. Will they become enemies? Allies? It’s still a little unclear by Episode 10, but it is pretty relieving once Ha Yiha finally starts talking to people other than himself and NPCs.

Art: 2.5/5

There is a warm and vibrant tone to the art style that I absolutely loved. It made the story feel like a comedic, slice-of-life type of story because of how the scenes were always warmly lit (not sure if that’s what was intended though…). The scenes never felt too harsh or intense, a stark contrast to other action-fantasy works that tend to be on the darker side with their bold lines. As someone who stares a lot at notes on coloring on my own webcomic episodes, the mood of Mystic Musketeer is just something to appreciate.

On the flip side, I couldn’t help but notice how minimal the shading and details were. Unfortunately, the plot wasn’t the only thing that felt flat… The creator only uses horizontal panels, which really lacks the impact that a variety of panel sizes and orientations would deliver, especially for webcomics and manhwa. There were many times where the humor in the story also fell flat because of how the panels were arranged. The timing didn’t work out, and the effect was lost. 

I always make note in my own scripts detailing what size or orientation a script should be. I want to make sure all emotions are delivered, from anger to sadness to elation.

If I think about the subject of last week’s review, Archmage, there’s definitely a noticeable difference (...drop) in the art quality. The art is not as high-tier as other titles, likely because of the speed with which they push out updates for the work.

Final Thoughts: 2.5/5

Well, my readers come to me for insight and honesty, so here I am.

Had Mystic Musketeer captured all those curiosities I had in regard to the rules of the game or had it explored Ha Yiha’s emotional and mental journey, I would have been more hooked on it.

Instead, I have to, unfortunately, say that it is a “solid” 2.5.

If you already gave Mystic Musketeer a read before this review, I would love to know what you thought about the story, and then what you thought about my review. Did I point out anything that you didn’t already notice, or were my critiques fairly obvious? Did you have a higher opinion of the work? Let’s chat about it. :)