Lyson

Hi, so to answer your question, it's because Gao Dawei is a plot device created for the series, he doesn't exist in the novel. There is no virtual game in the novel at all, it's a real alternate world. So there was no reason to place visual importance on Gao Dawei's character in the series, they just needed a character to refer to as the game's creator who had a personal connection to Jiushi.
Fun fact: Gao Dawei is played by Xia ZhiGuang, the same actor who plays Ruan Lanzhu.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/290693350965493398/

So, pretty much, whichever ending you believe was right, one of the main three or any additional ones anyone has come up with, Gao Dawei existed in the series, specifically in Jiushi's past, for plot reasons.

I can lowkey agree during some scenes, like when Day said: "I need to stop this stupid mess." I thought, well, that's an understatement, man, you lost like...four family members. wtf

This is the fault of writer and director though, if that's the dialogue, there's already a lack of intensity. So the director should try and push for more, or the actors (if they're capable enough) should improv. There's a chain of errors, but it's not terrible so far.

It's either a major flaw or to satisfy our viewing minds, we can assume the damage wasn't that bad, since there wasn't that much blood and also the piece of meat was flat, so the razor was flat inside it. He bites the meat, bites down on the flat side of the razor, maybe cuts the inside of his gum or cheek, then spat it out.

I was more floored in the previous ep where the birthing mother flatlined and the nurses (and that doctor) just stood around like they were listening to elevator music instead of a heart monitor warning. Then they all just shrugged 'oh, she died.' lol

I never fail to laugh when I see these grown adults patting each other's heads, thinking how if you try that in the west it'd start a fight lol

Interesting ep, the razor blade was messed up and whack, I mean, how'd it get in the meat? Even in Final Destination, the accidents developed crazily but in real time, for that razor blade to be in a piece of meat, it'd have to come from the distributor's meat packing plant, and then you have to wonder what a razor blade would be doing on the packing floor. Makes sense that Day is confused about whether it's bad luck or the curse. Hectic.

I do know that I am not drawn to the MLs in any particular, so yeah, there is no emotional attachment in that way, so it limits the draw card for me.

I'm still trying, I'll get to 8 eventually.

I have watched each ep up to 7 with an upbeat thought of 'okay, let's see it!' then ten minutes in I'm on my phone doing something else. I really can't explain it.

It doesn't even make sense, right? Show ain't technically done anything wrong, but the interest for me is all dried up.

Ngl, I skipped through most of the final 2 eps. The humor was this show's strongest point and the last two eps were a bit meh on all fronts, except for the last three minutes of ep 8, that was funny. Anyway, it was alright.

Ah, this actually may be similar to what I'm experiencing, I'm...bored. I literally just made a comment about this and then I scrolled down to see the comments. I think you and I are minority viewers, most of the time, since around episode 4, my attention drifts away from this easily.

Ep 7: Okay so I'm having a weird experience with this BL. It's not badly cast, filmed, acted or directed, in fact, it's well done, and the budget seems to be good and it's checking all the general boxes for a good BL, but it's not holding my interest at all. I simply am not...drawn to these characters. I feel pretty distracted and bored while watching, since around episode 4, I'm just letting it play in the background while I do other stuff sometimes.

I can't even say why, since there isn't technically fault to find with it. Weird. At this point, not sure if I'll keep going. Ah well.

The ending offers an ambiguity that allows you to decide what you want to think was real or not real. Below are the three most comment perspectives for the ending of the series (which vastly differs from the novel):

1) Comatose Jiushi wakes up and everything was a dream, so he spends the next 50 years creating the virtual world he dreamed about so he can see everyone one he dreamed of.

2) Jiushi had entered a virtual game world, then he 'wakes up' back in his reality after having purified the game, and the virtual world ceases to exist. Lanzhu included, he ceases to exist as he states he would in ep 36. So Jiushi spends the next 50 years creating the virtual world he experienced and the people in it, as a comfort for his loss before he dies.

3) Everything that happens in the series happens inside a virtual world, and after the virtual world is purified, everyone from the real world who lived/died in the virtual world returns to the real world with all their memories wiped and they go back to their normal lives.

Which one do you feel most likely fits the series ending? You can decide.

I'll take more BLs with proper relationship and attraction development like this show has any day, especially if it's a 12 ep BL. The independent BLs are often better than the focused BL production companies too. Really enjoying this!

This response just makes it sound like your LGBTQ viewing scope isn't very broad, because most shows (especially in the farfetched world of most BLs) do not depict things like HIC2.

Ikr? The flow of Zhouqi meeting Hei's family members especially has been quite casual and natural, and I like that Hei isn't hedging about being attracted to Zhouqi for real.

Imagine if many gay people actually had to live like this is real lif-...oh wait.

When he apologized to that douchebag I was like "FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUU-"

Even though the underlying premise of this show is stupid af (the whole secret agent shit is laughable tbh) the rest of this BL (casting, acting, characterization, chemistry, humor, production) is all actually VERY enjoyable. I have liked every silly fun episode so far and Zhouqi's fantasies are a W to watch. Also, this BL is doing what other BLs rarely do, despite many BLs doing kisses and romantic scenes up the wazoo (i.e Thailand), they don't often actually depict developing a physical attraction between the MLs. This BL has shown several hints of that since a few eps ago. I like this, ya'll can fight me.

About CY, I think that scene in the classroom was badly done, episode 9 was the only major let down of the show for me, especially regarding CY being a terrible friend with a 'me me me' complex. The writer made CY act like a dick for some reason, the scene could have been done WAY better, even including his shock and needing some time to process before leaving the classroom.

For example, this kind of scene was done in SKAM: France a few years back, where Lucas confesses his sexuality to his best friend Yann, and it was written very well.
Similarly, Yann is surprised to learn that Lucas is gay, but he doesn't just walk away without saying anything. In the end he needs time to process it because he gets upset about Lucas not having confided in him sooner despite them being best friends, but the way he handled Lucas' coming out to him 'out of nowhere' was much better depicted. Not walking out like an assclown.
Here's the scene I'm referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiqDwJGvkBc&list=PLdgAJqPh_xhaM2-uV9-58jmqyxQXgPxH8&index=26

I agree Heesu should not have started with 'I used to like you', and I get that the dynamics of coming out in SK would be different, the acceptance level is not the same, but the way CY reacts is just douchebag type behavior. Heesu and CY's whole friendship in this show was poorly portrayed. Just my opinion.

Yessssss. I liked that they pointed it out at the end there, with Heesu looking back and seeing the easy affection of CY and JY and Seung Won being like "hmph, we can get away with it too, let me show you boo'. I was def grinning watching that. Those small signs of confidence can mean so much in young LGBTQ teens who grow up around homophobia or environments where they'd be bullied and so on.