(AfroGamers.com) World’s Apocalypse Online is a pretty incredible manhua that has been going for a while now. I just discovered it over New Year’s and Flaming Fortress’ work here had me hooked from the first two chapters. Let’s look at it and two other time-traveling isekai series.
Time-Traveling Isekai
I’ve discussed manga and manhua enough on AfroGamers that you guys know that I love isekai. It’s my favorite genre and I’m likely to give anything a read that falls within the “return to life in another world” motif—as overdone as it is at the moment.
There is another path with isekai where the main character dies and returns several years in the past. Oftentimes, this is to allow for the main character to do something the “right way” and prevent their death and others now that they have knowledge from their previous life.
They know everything that is going to happen and can become more powerful than they were the first time. Think of it as playing an idle game where you can reset your character with more powerful stats or even just “New Game+” in some games.
It’s the same world and timeline but now they’ve got an advantage. What always happens is that the main character does something that changes the timeline and that is where the surprise comes from in time-traveling isekai.
Without that, you’re looking at a main character who is going to save the world with no trouble because they’re over-powered way before their death in that timeline.
World’s Apocalypse Online
Written by Flaming Fortress, World’s Apocalypse Online dropped late last year and has been delivering exciting, action-packed chapters since. It follows the story of Gu Qing Shan, a Supreme Commander at the beginning of the series. He is part of humanity’s resistance against waves of monsters who have entered Earth’s realm and started wreaking havoc.
Gu dies using his final attack to kill the master of the monsters but is revived ten years earlier at 17. Before he became a Supreme Commander, he was an engineer for mechanized suits in the Confederation. In some time, dimensional rifts would open and Earthlings would enter it for recreation.
Known as “The Game”, this world was host to many monsters and Earthlings would kill them for fun and level up. This world gave them a “system” that shows their stats and skills. People are able to return to Earth with their loot and their skills, leading to many superhumans.
However, the monsters attacked one day and things got real. Gu is a special case in that he can go between the two realms—The Game and his real world—every 24 hours. He takes the opportunity to level up as quickly as possible and tries his best to prevent deaths that occurred before.
Gu is able to use his powers in the past and gets more abilities as the series goes on. I really recommend this one as the pacing is perfect, the storyline is different, and artwork is great—close to Solo Leveling, actually.
The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years
Written by Barnacle, The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years is one of those isekai where there’s no grind for the main character, really. Lucas Traumen is a great mage who becomes so powerful that the main Demigod—under gods who are immortal with a weakness and were created from the universe for an unknown reason—decides to kill him and trap his soul in oblivion for 4000 years.
Traumen has enough willpower to break his capture and escapes into the body of Frey Blake, a weak young man who is the worst mage in his school and in his family. Blake is bullied daily and cast aside by his father. One day he decides to take his life and Traumen is able to see the young man’s final minutes.
He is able to take over his body and decides to make Frey a force to reckon with while also fighting against the Demigods who want to keep mortals underfoot. It just so happens that Frey lived in Lucas’ world 4000 years into the future. He learns about advances in the world, the weakening of magic over the millennia, and the fates of his closest friends after his death—or disappearance as they saw it.
While World’s Apocalypse Online has a ton of flash and a great pace, 4000 Years has some warm moments, an equally strong story, and some great fight scenes. The only place it suffers is that the main character is a little powerful early on. To a degree, that’s remedied by the Demigods being this far-too-powerful threat.
Volcanic Age
This is the series that got me hooked on time-traveling manhua. It’s similar to 4000 Years in that a seasoned master and is still in a pretty archaic world of magic and martial arts but similar to World’s Apocalypse Online as the main character—Joo Seo-Cheon—is revived as a younger version of himself, aged 8.
On his death at age 77, he is an elder of his sect and a powerful martial artist but he has regrets about things he wasn’t able to do in his life and how a major conflict played out. Just like WAO, the main character here as knowledge of events that are to come and uses this knowledge to change the course of history.
The comic follows his life and adventures from 8 into adulthood—at the moment—where he pretty much speedruns becoming powerful. He becomes a well-known hero before 20-years-old, learns many techniques and abilities that he didn’t know before, and takes control of different organizations.
It’s kind of ridiculous but also well done in that while Joo Seo-Cheon is overpowered, the backstory of his allies and the battles he fights in are all interesting. Story aside, the artwork here is pretty damn impressive as well.
These are just three time-traveling isekai but we will be looking at more later. For now, check out these series or let us know which ones you enjoy!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.