What is Love Games Novel BL, who wrote it, and where can I read it?

You type the title into a search bar and get twelve different answers. Three websites mention three different chapter counts, half of the results are defunct fan translations, and it is unclear whether an official English version is available. This guide helps you avoid wasting an evening that you could have spent reading. We dissected the plot, examined the publisher’s own data, and compiled the characters, volumes, ratings, and acceptable reading choices into a single, trustworthy location.

The Short Answer (Read This First)

Love Games Novel BL is the English search term for HoneyTrap’s finished 2019 Korean boys’ love web novel, which was released digitally by BLYNUE through RidiBooks. It follows two players of the MMORPG Illusion — prickly gamer Kim Kyungsoo and his relentless pursuer Cheon Noeul — from a stolen in-game item to a real-life romance. The Korean edition runs four volumes: three main books and one side-story collection. No official English license has been announced.

What Is Love Games Novel BL, Exactly?

Love Games Novel BL is a Korean BL web novel, not a manhwa, not a Chinese danmei, and not a Japanese light novel. Yeonae Geim, the original Korean title, loosely translates to “dating game” or “love game.” In order to prevent search engines from displaying unrelated comics, webtoons, and romance books with the same name, English readers added “novel” and “BL” to the title.

The confusion is real. At least six other works are called Love Games or Love Game, and several of them have nothing to do with boys’ love. The title appears in two different WEBTOON Canvas series, an 18+ visual novel, a fantasy WebNovel serial, a 2014 urban fiction book, and a 2015 homosexual romance about a historian purchasing a video game. You have come to the wrong book if a page includes Nico, “the board,” a pregnant cousin, or a high school girl named Cheyanne.

Two boys who meet through an online game, a guild full of gossip, and a stolen sword are all part of the story you want. HoneyTrap wrote it in Korean, BLYNUE published it, and RidiBooks carried the original release on 11 September 2019. Those three facts are the fastest way to check that you are reading about the right series.

Genre labels help too. The series is classified in catalogs as romance, humor, slice of life, adult, yaoi, gaming elements, MMORPG, and R-18. Here, “Yaoi” is not a statement regarding the country of origin, but rather a database tag. Korean BL uses its own publishing ecosystem, its own age-rating language and its own fan community, even when Western databases file it under a Japanese term.

Love Games Novel BL at a Glance: The Complete Fact Table

The Love Games Novel BL facts that readers most frequently look up are compiled in the table below. Every row originates from a storefront listing, a publisher record, or a reader database that was examined in October 2026.

Two details shift between records, and it is worth knowing why. Chapter counts range from 49 to about 60 because some catalogs count the side stories and others do not, while fan translators split long Korean chapters into shorter English ones. The name of Kyungsoo’s game class also appears as both Berserker and Valkyrie across translations. Treat “a brutally hard class he was the first to max out” as the safe, accurate description.

Who Wrote Love Games Novel BL? Meet HoneyTrap

HoneyTrap (허니트랩) wrote the series, and the RIDI author catalog lists around fifteen works under that name. The author writes digital-first Korean BL with a clear interest in online games, guild communities and couples who bicker before they admit anything. That focus has produced a small connected universe rather than isolated standalone romances.

The publisher’s own 2019 announcement described the book using two Korean fandom terms: 사랑꾼공, an affectionate and devoted top, and 츤데레수, a tsundere bottom. Those two words tell you almost everything about the couple’s dynamic before you read a single chapter. One character chases with shameless enthusiasm. The other complains, blushes, and slowly gives in.

Other titles from HoneyTrap are The Guild Member Next Door (丛䧑 ������), Flicker (�������), and How to Reject a Route (�����¹ 챰و الा ����). A number of them replay the game Illusion while sitting in the same made-up world. The romance line is handled by BLYNUE, while the author’s fantasy works bear the imprint Piace (�������). The author name in Hangul yields much better results than any English transcription, thus this is important if you intend to search Korean stores.

In terms of style, the author blends in-game forum postings, chat windows, and guild communications with direct narration. The cadence of the comedy comes from that decision. A joke appears in a chat log, causes miscommunication in the guild channel, and then follows the characters into a PC café or classroom. Readers who enjoy banter-heavy romances tend to respond strongly to this format, while readers looking for dense prose fantasy may find it thin.

The Plot of Love Games Novel BL, Explained Without Ruining the Ending

The story opens with an annoyed gamer and a stolen item. Kim Kyungsoo plays as MeowieMeowMeow, the first person to max out an infamously difficult class in Illusion. He is skilled, prickly, and quietly kind to new players. He also has a problem: a user called Cheon Noeul follows him around the server, teases him constantly, and gives his guild endless material for jokes.

Then Noeul steals the Galaxy Sword, a rare item that drops only once a day across the entire server. Kyungsoo loses his patience and challenges the thief to a real-life fight. Noeul responds by handing over his phone number and making a shameless remark that leaves Kyungsoo wondering whether he is about to duel an elementary school kid. That absurd first exchange sets the tone for everything that follows.

From there, the story moves in three broad movements. The first is pure rivalry: provocation, guild gossip, PK drama and a growing obsession that Kyungsoo refuses to name. The middle brings the game and real life closer together through phone calls, school life and the slow reveal of who is actually behind each username. The final stretch turns the pursuit into a relationship, with jealousy, in-game marriage talk and quiet domestic moments doing as much work as any grand confession.

A mild spoiler, clearly labelled: yes, the leads end up together, and the side stories follow them into university life. Those extra chapters cover everyday couple stuff — jealousy, gifts, holidays and the possibility of living together — rather than a new villain or a second big conflict. If you like a romance that rewards you for staying past the confession, read volume four.

Nothing here depends on hidden lore or a complicated magic system. The stakes stay personal: two people deciding whether the version of themselves they perform online is the version worth loving offline. That simple question carries the whole book, and it is the reason the story still gets recommended years after its release.

Characters in Love Games Novel BL: Leads, Guild Mates and Usernames

The cast is small enough to track and loud enough to be funny. Each character has a real name and a game handle, and the gap between the two is where most of the comedy lives.

Kyungsoo is the emotional centre. He acts annoyed at every turn, yet he keeps answering messages and helping strangers. Noeul, meanwhile, is a disaster with excellent intentions: the game banned him for six months after he exploited bugs and attacked players indiscriminately, then returned under a beginner account because that new character got more of Kyungsoo’s attention than his famous main ever did. His pursuit of an in-game marriage starts as a joke and becomes something honest.

A fair warning about tone: the “stalker” framing is played for comedy, and the possessive behaviour is part of the genre’s appeal for many readers. If relentless pursuit makes you uncomfortable rather than amused, this couple may not be for you. Knowing that before you buy volume one saves frustration later.

Keep a note of the handles as you read. Fan translations disagree on names: ThousandSunsets, Sunset and Cheon Noeul sometimes refer to the same person, and guild names differ between translations of the two connected novels. A two-line cheat sheet fixes most of the confusion readers report in their reviews.

How Many Volumes and Chapters Does Love Games Novel BL Have?

The Korean edition is complete across four digital volumes, and the reading order is straightforward.

Retailers list the main volumes with slightly different dates because the RidiBooks serialization came first and the individual e-book editions followed. A four-volume set titled “외전 포함 총 4권 완결” (four volumes including side stories, complete) is also sold, which is the cleanest option for a new reader.

Chapter counts are where people get stuck. Korean serialized fiction counts episodes (화), e-books reorganise those episodes into chapters, and the side stories add more. English catalogs show roughly 49 main chapters, while community wikis list about 60 when everything is bundled. Fan translators use a volume-chapter format such as v1c1 and v1c2, which creates yet another set of numbers, so none of these counts is wrong; they simply measure different things.

If you want one practical answer: read the three main volumes in order, then the side-story volume. That covers the entire published story and matches the order the author and publisher intended.

Why the MMORPG Setting Makes This Romance Feel Fresh

The majority of romances with a gaming theme begin with a game before thrusting the characters into the real world. This series keeps logging back in. Illusion is not a prologue; it is the couple’s shared language, their meeting place and their safest way to be honest.

The mechanics do real narrative work. Rare item drops create conflict, player-killing builds reputations, and guild channels give the leads an audience that teases them and spreads rumours faster than either boy can control. INoeul gets a goal from in-game marriage that sounds absurd when spoken aloud and is quite genuine in conversation. Housing, avatars, classes and server-wide events all show up as plot devices rather than decoration.

The best chapters use the gap between avatar and person. Kyungsoo can be rude to Sunset in a chat window and then flustered when Noeul smiles at him in a classroom. Noeul can hide behind a beginner account and still be unmistakably himself. The plot avoids becoming a survival fantasy in which the game takes the place of real life because the protagonists log off.

Additionally, forum and guild sections provide a level of detail that is not possible in plain text. Group chats let side characters interrupt a romantic moment, misread it, and turn it into a joke. That structure keeps the pacing quick and the tone light, which matches how readers describe the book: funny, lighthearted and medium-paced rather than slow and angsty.

Is It Connected to The Guild Member Next Door?

Yes. English catalogs list The Guild Member Next Door and Flicker as shared-universe series by the same author, and Korean publisher notes confirm that Illusion appears across them. The side chapters of The Guild Member Next Door hint at one scene from this novel, so the overlap is intentional rather than a fan theory.

The Guild Member Next Door (이웃집 길드원) is sometimes called Virtual Strangers in fan discussions. It follows a different couple in the same game world, and its later side stories mention in-game housing and guild antics that will feel familiar to anyone who has read the Kyungsoo and Noeul arc. Flicker (일렁일렁) also shares the setting, although English-language information about it remains thin.

You can start anywhere. Here is a simple reading map:

One caveat: fan translations of the two books were produced by different groups, so guild and character names do not always match between them. When Melody is suddenly referred to by a different name, do not assume you have missed a chapter. Check the handles, keep reading, and the story lines up again.

Is Love Games Novel BL Available in English?

No official English edition has been announced. The NovelUpdates series record lists “Licensed: No,” “English Publisher: N/A” and “Completely Translated: No,” and those three fields are the clearest public answer available today. The only verified authorized edition is still Korean e-books.

That said, English-language traces exist, and they cause mix-ups. A reader catalog lists a 690-page digital “English” record with three editions and a September 2025 edition date. It is not a licensed translation that you can purchase from a publisher; rather, it is a user-added entry without an ISBN. Treat it as a community bookshelf record, not a release announcement.

Fan translations have appeared in several waves. Between 2024 and 2026, groups published chapters; following takedown orders, some of those archives abruptly vanished. Reviewers consistently praise the story while warning that early fan-translated chapters contain inconsistent names, sudden point-of-view shifts and typos. Quality improves in later chapters, but the reading experience is uneven.

Machine translation is another route readers use on the Korean e-books. It performs poorly for jokes, honorifics, and game terminology, but well for chat logs and brief lines. Additionally, it is a bad method to enjoy timing-dependent comedy. Read the original Korean if you can, or wait for a licensed edition that pays and acknowledges the creator appropriately.

Where and How to Read It Legally

Buy the Korean e-books. That is the most straightforward and straightforward response, and it is not as difficult as it seems. Follow these steps:

1. Pick a Korean e-book store. RIDI (RidiBooks), Yes24 and Aladin all carry the series. Search 연애게임 or the Hangul author name 허니트랩, because English searches often return the wrong books.
2. Choose the four-volume set. The side tale is about 1,800 KRW, the main volumes are about 3,600 KRW, and the set including the side story is about 12,600 KRW. Prices change with promotions, so check before buying.
3. Check the age gate. The listing is marked 19+ (19세 미만 구독불가), so you will need an account that meets the Korean age requirement.
4. Install the store’s reader. RIDI employs a protected e-book format and its own software. If you want to translate as you read, try a free preview first because browser-based page translation tools might not function inside that reader.
5. Keep your name cheat sheet. Save the character table from this guide before you start, especially if you are reading with a translation tool that renames handles mid-sentence.
6. Support the author publicly. Ratings, reviews and purchases of the side-story volume are the signals that make an official English licence more likely.
7. Avoid unofficial aggregators. Pirate chapters frequently include pushy advertisements, disappear without warning, and do not compensate the author.

Instead of using a bookshelf entry, confirm any official English announcements you find by contacting the publisher or a recognized licence announcement. A real release will name the English publisher, give an ISBN or platform, and appear on retail stores. Anything less is a fan project or a mistake.

Age Rating and Content Notes: Should You Read It?

This is an adult BL novel, and the Korean listings say so plainly. Store pages mark it 19+, and English databases apply adult, smut, yaoi and R-18 tags. Explicit sexual content appears in the main story and in later chapters, so it is not a book to hand to a younger teen who just discovered gaming romances.

Beyond the rating, three themes deserve a heads-up. First, HoneyTrap frames Noeul’s pursuit of Kyungsoo as comedy, but it includes possessive behaviour that some readers will find uncomfortable. Second, the game world contains player-killing, harassment and guild pile-ons, all played for laughs. Third, jealousy drives several conflicts, especially in the side stories, so you should know that before you start.

The overall tone stays warm. Reader mood data from a small StoryGraph sample tags the book 100% funny and 100% lighthearted, with medium pacing. Korean storefront reviews sit near 9.7 out of 10 across several thousand ratings. Readers are not describing a dark psychological drama; they are describing a sweet, chaotic comedy with adult scenes.

If you want the author’s humour without the explicit material, start with the connected series and check each volume’s own age label before buying. If you want the full story, read the three main volumes first and decide about the side stories afterwards. Either way, go in knowing what the rating means.

What Readers Actually Say About Love Games Novel BL

Reader feedback clusters around four clear points, and they are consistent across Korean and English-language reviews.

The banter is the main attraction. Reviewers keep returning to the comic timing between the leads. The teasing, the guild’s reaction to it, and Kyungsoo’s refusal to admit he is enjoying himself generate most of the five-star reactions. On NovelUpdates, 72% of 229 votes are five-star, and the series sits on more than 2,400 reading lists.

The game chapters earn their place. Forum posts, guild chat and in-game events are frequently named as highlights rather than filler. Readers who also enjoy e-sports and MMORPG stories tend to rate the book higher than readers who want a conventional campus romance.

The ending satisfies. The couple gets together, the side stories keep them together, and nobody kills off a beloved side character for shock value. Readers call it a light, low-stress read that still delivers a complete emotional arc.

Translation quality is the real complaint. English readers repeatedly flag inconsistent character names, pronoun confusion and rough early chapters in unofficial versions. A few also note that the world-building is deliberately thin and that the stalker-style pursuit is not to everyone’s taste. Those criticisms are about the fan translations and genre conventions, not about missing plot.

Taken together, the pattern is easy to read: the story itself has a strong reputation, and the biggest barrier for English readers is access to a clean, authorised translation. That is a distribution problem, not a writing problem.

This Novel vs Similar Gaming BL Stories

Use this comparison to decide where to start. It compares the reading experience rather than ranking quality.

The key difference is where the characters live. In transmigration stories, the game becomes reality and the plot follows survival rules. Here, everyone logs off, goes to school, and carries their feelings into a classroom. If that smaller, funnier scale appeals to you, this series is the right entry point.

Common Mix-Ups: Books With This Title That Are Not the Same Novel

Search results for this title are messy. Here is how to check that you have the right book in under ten seconds.

The reliable identifiers for the book you want are the Hangul author name 허니트랩, the original title 연애게임, the publisher BLYNUE, and the MMORPG Illusion. Two or more of those together mean you are in the right place.

Entities and Topics Connected to Love Games Novel BL

Topical authority comes from knowing which names and concepts belong together. This entity map shows what sits around the novel and why each item matters to a reader or a search engine.

Understanding these connections helps you search smarter. If you look for the novel using a username instead of the title, or the Hangul author name instead of a romanisation, you will find better information and fewer dead ends. That is also why the Love Games Novel BL search phrase keeps growing: readers need a label that separates one Korean web novel from a crowded field of namesakes.