Yoo Joonghyuk/Abilities

* Webnovel
* Webtoon

* Puppet of the Oldest Dream
* The Punisher
* Breaking the Sky Sword Beauty
* Schweichen Von Kaizenix
* Zhu Bajie / Pigsy

* 33 (end of scenarios)

* Cloud System

> You fool, you are not reading it alone.
>
> Chapter 445

**Yoo Joonghyuk** is the main character of tls123's novel Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World. Throughout Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, he is mainly seen in his 3rd and 1863rd regressions.

In later parts of the novel, it is revealed that what was presented as his 3rd regression was actually his 1864th, and that he experienced major memory loss due to the events of his true 1863rd round.

## Appearance

Yoo Joonghyuk is repeatedly described as extremely handsome by various individuals, including the author of Ways of Survival and Kim Dokja. The latter even uses him as a measurement for others' handsomeness on multiple occasions.

Yoo Joonghyuk has wide black eyes with thin double eyelids and thick eyebrows. His right eye glows golden upon activation of the skill [Sage's Eye]. His hair is black and slightly wavy, cut short. He has tan skin, a sharp nose ridge, and a strong jawline. He is extremely muscular; in particular, he has well-toned biceps and thighs.

Yoo Joonghyuk usually wears a black coat and combat boots. He is implied to wear fingerless gloves. Under the jacket, covers for the novel have shown him to wear a black shirt with a silver collar and buckle, along with close-fitting black pants. He is also depicted as having at least one belt across his chest, along with a sword scabbard worn at his waist, held on by straps attached to his belt and around his thigh.

In his female form, under the pseudonym "Punisher", Yoo Joonghyuk has waist-length hair and deep, sultry eyes beneath neat eyebrows. He is, according to Kim Dokja, thrice as beautiful in his Punisher form than his male form. He is smaller and sleeker than usual in this form, and wears a black cape to cover hide his distinctive clothing.
When acting as Zhu Bajie during the reenactment of Journey to the West, he wears a half-open black vest and tight black jeans.
## Personality

Yoo Joonghyuk was designed as someone 'tougher in body and nobler in heart than any creature in this world'. He is resolute and determined, aiming to accomplish his goals no matter the cost, in particular when aiming for the end of the scenarios. As a protagonist, Yoo Joonghyuk naturally fights for the greater good. He was originally a caring person at heart, doing good where he could, but repeated regressions have worn him down to the point where, in his 1863rd round, he commits enough sins to make him a prime target of the Absolute Good constellations.

Yoo Joonghyuk is normally very confident in his abilities, never backing down from a challenge and typically cutting down his enemies with ease. He is extremely talented in various areas, befitting of his status as a protagonist. He takes pride in his own skill, sometimes to the point of not perceiving anyone else's work as good, as seen when he will eat no one's cooking but his own. Yoo Joonghyuk is smart and strategic; this helps him learn new skills and figure out plans to subvert the scenarios. However, he can also struggle to adapt his strategies and see things from new perspectives. This is a major reason as to why he took 1863 rounds to even get close to the Final Wall; he would struggle to change his strategies and adapt to new situations, easily failing and having to regress.

Yoo Joonghyuk's speech is concise and blunt, often to the point of rudeness. He becomes explicitly rude and threatening when speaking to individuals who irritate him, or who are powerful unknowns. He is sometimes also rude to his own party members, though he looks out for them nonetheless, showing that he cares despite his harshness. Frequently, he expresses himself through actions or expressions rather than words. These include habits such as dragging the tip of his sword along the ground when happy, or his left eyebrow twitching upon making an serious decision. On rare occasions, however, he can be very eloquent and persuasive.

Over the course of his regressions, aside from becoming more open to cruelty, he becomes extremely calculating and cold. He kills those he deems threats and supports those who he believes can aid him. He distances himself even from his own companions; in the 41st round, when his core party members die, he only laments that they are no longer useful. However, this is most likely a tactic to try and minimize the hurt of losing them, as even further regressions show him warming back up to them, selflessly sacrificing himself for them over and over; which is most evidently referenced and shown in his 999th regression.

The trauma he experiences over his regressions result in Yoo Joonghyuk having a tendency to fall into "regression depression", where he easily loses hope on even small failures, and considers giving up and regressing so that he can try again next round. The further into his regressions he is, the stronger the effect of regression depression, until in his 1863rd round, it causes him to fall into a dissociative state where he is completely unresponsive.

## Quotes

* "He is my companion."

* "Tell me, you fool. If I continue to regress, will I ever get to meet you again?"
* "I give you my word. I will definitely return." (To Yoo Mia)
* "There is only my birthday in this life." (Yoo Joonghyuk of the 4th regression, in the first text revision of Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World)
* "The one who can save the world... It might be you, not me."
* "I won't give up on this life. So don't give up either."

## Trivia

### Translation

* Yoo Joonghyuk's name has been a source of some contention.
	+ The hangul is most directly transliterated as "Yoo Joonghyeok". The "oo" in Y**oo** and J**oo**nghyuk are functionally the same sound, which is why the spelling Yoo Joonghyuk is the one favored on this wiki. The "eo" sound is also often transliterated as "u" in English, hence the change from Joonghy**eo**k to Joonghy**u**k. This "eo" → "u" change can also be seen in other names, such as Lee Hy**u**ns**u**ng's and J**u**ng Heewon's.
	+ However, the first translator used to spell it Yoo Jonghyuk (with only one O in his given name). They have since stated that this was an error, and if possible they'd want to change it.
	+ The second translator changed it to the more accurate Yu Jung-Hyeok, but did not use the "eo" → "u" method, using "oo" → "u" instead and leaving "eo" as is. This was done to keep to the Revised Romanization standards, the current official romanization system in South Korea.
* Kim Dokja often refers to Yoo Joonghyuk as a sunfish. This is likely a reference to the game "Survive! Mola Mola" (mola mola is another name for a sunfish). In the game, you have to keep a sunfish alive and escape the dangers of the sea. However, the sunfish dies because of almost anything and one must start over many times in order to get anywhere; this parallels how Yoo Joonghyuk needed over a thousand rounds in order to even approach a conclusive end to the scenarios, and how he died very easily particularly in the early rounds.
* He dislikes the color white.
* Taking the year that ORV started (2018) to be the same calendar year in-text at the start of the novel, and assuming that all ages are given according to the Korean system, Yoo Joonghyuk's date of birth is August 3, 1991.
* He likes murim dumplings.

## Gallery

Official cover artJoonghyuk smiling as he drops Kim dokja. From the webtoonWebtoonYoo Joonghyuk as Breaking the Sky Sword Beauty
## References

1. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 356 (read original)
2. ↑ Sing Shong’s post for Munpia’s fanart contest (팬아트 이벤트용 등장인물 외형 묘사입니다) (English translation)
3. ↑ ORV Webtoon Episode 63 (read original)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 ORV Novel Chapter 547 (read original)
5. ↑ Sing Shong’s post for Munpia’s fanart contest (팬아트 이벤트용 등장인물 외형 묘사입니다) (English translation)
6. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 256 (read original)
7. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 294 (read original)
8. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 228 (read original)
9. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 428 (read original)
10. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 541 (read original)
11. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 43 (read original)
12. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 285 (read original)
13. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 247 (read original)
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 ORV Novel Chapter 189 (read original)
15. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 103 (read original)
16. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 104 (read original)
17. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 452 (read original)
18. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 471 (read original)
19. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 287 (read original)
20. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 102 (read original)
21. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 525 (read original)
22. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 222 (read original)
23. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 185 (read original)
24. ↑ Novel Updates Forum, post by user rainbowturtle (archived version)
25. ↑ Chapter 36

## Navigation

This is a list of all attributes, skills, stigmas, and achievements collected by Yoo Joonghyuk over the course of the story.

## Personal attributes

* **Life Lived to the Fullest (Legendary):** Formerly possessed (0th round). An attribute that, at the cost of living a fixed lifespan, fully unleashes the user’s latent talents. In exchange for a little over 25 years of Yoo Joonghyuk's lifespan, this attribute allowed him to reach the end of the scenarios and defeat the Dokkaebi King in the 0th round.
* **Demon King (at least Legendary):** Likely formerly possessed (0th round), due to his possession of the Story 'Demon World's Spring', which (in Kim Dokja's original timeline) arose by his becoming a Demon King.
* **Regressor (3rd/1863rd/1864th turn) (Myth):** An attribute linked to his stigma Regression.
* **Pro Gamer (Rare):** Gained from his career as a pro gamer prior to the start of the scenarios. Grants him an "overwhelming advantage and adaptability in all games".
	+ **Ruler of Amusement (Legendary):** The evolved form of the Pro Gamer attribute, this boosts Yoo Joonghyuk's abilities in any game to the point where Kim Dokja compares him to a god.
* **Supreme King (Hero):** Gained through the King's Road scenario.
	+ **Iron Blood Supreme King (Legend):** The evolved form of the Supreme King attribute.
* **Demon King Slayer (Myth):** As the name suggests, gained through killing a Demon King.
* **Eternal Solitude (Quasi-myth):** Likely gained through being the only one to retain his memories throughout his hundreds of regressions, and therefore having technically lived an eternity alone.
* **Horror of the Stars (Myth):** Likely gained through having killed an unknown number of constellations.

## Personal skills

* **Sage’s Eye:** A skill similar to Kim Dokja's Character List that allows the user to view the Attributes Window of another individual, along with hidden information about them. Causes the user's right eye to glow gold when activated.
* **Lie Detection:** A B-grade skill that, as the name suggests, allows the user to identify the veracity of statements made in their vicinity.
* **Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship:** A skill linked to Yoo Joonghyuk's knowledge of Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship, taught by Namgung Minyoung.
* **Giant Body Transformation:** A skill that temporarily expands the user's latent power in order to imitate the larger form of a giant. Taught to Yoo Joonghyuk by Briareus in the 2nd round.
* **Red Phoenix Shunpo:** A skill that increases the user's speed.
* **Air Steps:** As the name suggests, a skill that allows the user to turn the air into invisible steps that they can walk on. A skill exclusive to the strongest returnees from Murim.
* **Thought Vaccine:** A skill that can be used as a counter for Nirvana Moebius' Thought Infection and Eternal Prison skills. Likely nullifies any mental skills being used by a target, either defensively (to protect against the user) or offensively (to attack the user).
* **Advanced Weapons Training:** Evolved form of **Weapons Training**.
* **Advanced Mental Barrier:** Evolved form of **Mental Barrier**.
* **Hand to Hand Combat**
* **Strong Self-Defense**
* **Crowd Control**
* **Reasoning**
* **Hundred Steps Godly Fists**
* **Cold Resistance**
* **Heat Resistance**
* More unnamed skills, cut for length.

## Sponsor: The Oldest Dream

* **Regression *(Stigma)*:** Yoo Joonghyuk's trademark ability and the foundation of the plot of Ways of Survival, this stigma allows Yoo Joonghyuk to send his consciousness back in time to the beginning of the scenarios, regaining his original body while retaining all the memories of his previous rounds. He temporarily loses his skills and other abilities, although they can be regained through his second stigma, Transmission. This stigma generally activates automatically when he is close to death, although it can also be activated at will. It appears to require the consent of both Yoo Joonghyuk and the Oldest Dream in order to be activated.
	+ **Group Regression *(Stigma)*:** The evolved form of Regression, this stigma allows Yoo Joonghyuk to carry multiple other individuals with him when he regresses. It costs an extremely high amount of probability to use, and therefore can only ever be used once.
* **Transmission *(Stigma)*:** This stigma allows Yoo Joonghyuk to slowly regain the skills and abilities he had in previous regressions over time.

## Overall Stats

* As of Chapter 29, his stats are [Constitution Lv. 24], [Strength Lv. 24], [Agility Lv. 25], [Magic Power Lv. 23].
* As of Chapter 41, his stats are [Constitution Lv. 28], [Strength Lv. 27], [Agility Lv. 26], [Magic Power Lv. 25].
* As of Chapter 81, his stats are [Constitution Lv. 60], [Strength Lv. 60], [Agility Lv. 60], [Magic Power Lv. 60].

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 524
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Chapter 10
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Chapter 284
4. ↑ Chapter 445
5. ↑ Chapter 262
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 81
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 11
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 141
9. ↑ Chapter 130
10. ↑ Chapter 323
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Chapter 41
12. ↑ Chapter 165
13. ↑ Chapter 144
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Chapter 29
15. ↑ Chapter 269
16. ↑ Chapter 531