Great start, this story has pretty good potential, just hope it doesnt become bad after 100++ chapters, very typical for korean novels.

After chapter 13 I would recommend active translations, other is literally MTL translation edited

If you're considering reading this novel, I recommend focusing on the first 100 chapters, as they were genuinely captivating. However, the latter half of the story descends into an unnecessarily overdramatic soap opera with a conclusion that disappoints, coupled with a writing style reminiscent of ontology or epistemology books (awful). The final 20 chapters, in particular, were pure torture for me, that's how little I cared about anything that was happening at that point.

-World-building is practically nonexistent.

-Power-building is lacking throughout.

... more>> -Numerous inconsistencies plague the narrative.

-Even more plot holes and irrational motivations.

-The pacing is abhorrent, with the author abruptly shifting between storylines at the most exciting moments, completely diminishing the impact. A climactic moment occurs -> the page ends -> the narrative jumps to an unrelated side character that you couldn't care less about at that moment -> moment is ruined. And it happens a lot, like A LOT. <<less

I just don't understand the point of this novel.. The story is interesting but ends up as crap that achieved nothing in the end

So what's the point of this?

Author apparently tried to write a tragic protagonist, but instead made a moronic one. All of his suffering is completely self-inflicted. All other criticism is already covered in other reviews.

That's it, I'm done with this overrated novel. It's not even a novel about death flag anymore, it's all about romance and harem. I hate novels who lost focus compared to their original premise. MC just became dumb incel sowing harem seeds left and right. Also, the immersion has long been gone and it became a really boring novel. The plot spent a lot of time revolving North and North and the north like what's so special with the North. This novel is one of the most boring novels I've... more>> ever read. Such a shame it loses focus a long with it's own immersion. <<less

This novel suffers from the stand school cliches, despite the main character being a professor. (For example, going to some random place for "school reasons" that sounds completely uninteresting but actually a major event will take place there)

Furthermore, all the characters in this novel are hardly fleshed out. A new character will appear, say they hate the MC, and 30 chapters later they seemingly like the main character or in the worst case, have a neutral relationship with him. They describe the main character has a mid-level boss who... more>> dies 999/1000 playthroughs. This is bullshit. Theres been barely any situations where he is close to death. I would expect dangers around every corner but it doesn't really happen.

Spoiler

Also, I despise how the author introduced a character that also got reincarnated, but doesn't do anything with said character. It's annoying reading random POVs that exist just to blue-ball readers expecting that something will actually happen.

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Another thing about this novel is nothing is explained. Despite going very "in-depth" on magic, theres no explanations on power levels. The main character is supposed to be a "monarch-ranked mage" or something like that, but they never actually introduce a character to compare a power level to. I have no idea whether the main character is overpowered, weak, mediocre, etc. Carrying on with that, the character always leaves unexplained things around side-characters to make it seem like they aren't 1d. They will vaguely talk about it, but not actually get into specifics, it's super annoying.

Overall, this is a novel that relies super heavily on the mysteries portion to keep readers interested. It's poorly written and it's hard to grasp a whole lot in this novel. <<less

Great novel. The MC is very enjoyable, having a noble character that acts like an aristocrat is a refreshing change to the usual fare of clueless, low-brow MC's that I am usually subjected to in isekai works. The story is good, nothing too stimulating just yet but I can see the building blocks to more intense conflict that the author has placed. Characters are fine, far too many female characters however, more major male characters would be a plus. Would make the setting a bit more believable and not like... more>> that of a galgame. Hopefully he doesn't c*ck it up in the end like he did with The Novel's Extra.

edit: he did c*ck it up. Go in with the same expectations you would have with his prior works. Still first 100 chapters worth a read.

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A fairly detailed, satisfying novel that completely fell apart in the last 100 chapters or so, with the last 40 chapters just being absolutely garbage. It felt like the author would start with some poignant plot point with immense emotional potential, only for it to end in frustration because of characters deliberately acting out of character or nonsensical deus ex plot devices coming to save the day. The author started just throwing random plot solutions in a box and drew them out at random. If the author had maintained his... more>> consistency from his strong start, it would have been an easy five stars and a glowing review, but I'm having a hard time giving this even 2 stars after that massive disappointment of an ending.

Spoiler

If I had a dollar for every time a character "died" but somehow came back through some crappy plot logic...

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Rather disappointing to be honest. This is just a book about useless drama, an convoluted manner of extending something that could have just been ten, into a something that ended up being hundreds.

At the beginning I admit I liked this. I had certain expectations about how the story was going to go. It, however, ended up being nothing like I wished. I hated how the main character was so bound to certain rules and how his actions were so un-lifelike due to that.

To be honest, because I do see where... more>> the author tripped, I can't really blame them. The whole plot device about being a villain was completely pointless. A lot of things that happened in this book just happened because of.. Nothing? Even more things could have just been solved in the plot by just talking about them. If you read the book and look back at certain supposedly dramatic and emotional things you realize they were completely artificial and way overinflated.

After certain point I just wanted to be done with this book. So I speed read a lot. I had to, otherwise I would have abandoned this.

Thinking about this more I'm very bummed about how this ended and how it went, so much so that I don't really wish to continue this review any further either. I'll just try to forget this book. A lot of effort spent on reading for what feels like nothing.

Plot 2/5

Characters 2/5

Worldbuilding 2/5

Translation 3/5 <<less

This novel used to be one of the coolest epic magical novel I've read.

Honestly, this novel is so good at the start, the drama and magic and all the cool stuff is just so well written. But then the author decided to make the novel into a drama based time-paradox novel.

This is literally a Korean drama but written inside a book. The protagonist is hated, and the protagonist helps other but got hated instead because the way he helped them makes them hate them, or that they just don't know... more>> the protagonist helped them.

And then guess what, the author decides to introduce time paradox sh*t. Which completely destroys all the tension and repercussions of the protagonists actions, but keeping only keeping the drama. In the end, after chapter 100+, almost every single arc have time related elements in it, which completely ruined the atmosphere and epicness.

The characters are not helping either. There is a lacking need of male side characters, and all the characters introduced either hate or wants to kill the protagonist except a few of them. Most of the side characters themselves are also not likable, Epherene is s*upid and I'm not sure why she's even here except for the time paradoxes she caused, Sylvia used to be good but the author decides to make her hate the protagonist, Julie also hates the protagonist now after certain events that I won't spoil. The only likable one imo is Sophia.

Honestly, I should probably rate this a three star but I can't forget about how good the starting 100 chapters are, so I will absolutely recommend you to read those parts before you decide whether you want to continue reading it or not. <<less

From the author of the novels extra.

Edit : the empress is just hi*ler now (Concentration camps, gas chambers. Race hate and all)

This novel is like taking all the bad parts of tne and the angs and writing it slightly better.

... more>> The comon thing with this and tne is that our MC has a HUGEEEE MARTYR COMPLEX.

Full of hate meee I will make you hate meee. I love youu so hate meee. But if you dont really have anything better to do, it might be worth your time?? And all plot relevant character minus like 3 are all female just so they can fall in love with our MC, and most of them have no character because we need more characters to tell how awesome sexy and amazing our main character is how he can do anything, how hes so good at everything he does so we need more female characters to worship the ground he walks on. (I hate how this is writen) <<less

This novel is AMAZING. Like literally the world building, the plot, THE CHARACTERS. All of it has so much depth like no plot holes and it’s a story that flows and makes sense. The translation is also super good so shoutout to Active Translations. The characters aren’t shallow so you can understand all of them and there personalities even if they don’t have a lot of screen time.

This novel is in a really weird place for me. As many others had stated in their reviews, the beginning of this novel was amazing. It had me coming back wanting more as the story was riched and the characters intriguing.

But at some point, it started to turn for the worst. The potential heroine candidates started to become less interesting and more like background pieces. And storylines started overlapping as it became hard to follow and jump from one event to another without a satisfying explanation as to how it... more>> transition and came to be. Making the core story of trying to avoid the death flags play the second fiddle.

Eventually, I just started losing interest in this as it lost the spark that drew me in. Some will still find enjoyment in this novel, but sadly no longer for me. Maybe someday I will pick this back up again but until then this will be a 2 or 3 average at best for me. Take that as you may <<less

True rating 3.5, but I have big worries how it'll turn later + the stuff I read from spoilers, so I lowered to 3.

This novel is one you will love and hate, put simply. Now, without further ado.

Plot and setting are okayish. The premise is really cliche (the usual transmigration into a character of a game/novel), but it's interesting what kind of character it is (no, not that he's a villain, but that he's a professor... I think it's the first time I've seen this, and it's an amazing read... more>> how he gives lectures and all that, I love it). The problem is that the plot is really convoluted sometimes, and that the author's favorite tools are drama and misunderstandings, which does get tiring after a while. At the same time, the setting is nothing special, but it's okay, except that the magic feels unnecessarily complicated. Well, it's kind of understandable when it's coming from a professor during lectures, but still.

Characters. Hmm. The protagonist is definitely amazing. He's basically a cool bad guy that lowkey does good things. Like I already said, it's also cool how he's a professor, it's the first time I saw a protagonist being one. I have some bone to pick with how his favorite method of helping others is to make them hate him (be it to motivate them or whatever) : this really gets old soon. His personality has real limitations on his modus operandi, so it's somewhat understandable, but feels forced in the long run coz there's way too much of that in the novel. Also, he's a bit too OP a bit too soon, but it's understandable when he's a professor, and he still has to put plenty of effort into living up to his title.

Speaking of relationships between characters, they're very, very convoluted. It's one massive drama. There are a number of potential love interests, but it's hard to say whether it'll be a harem or not. In his previous two novels, the author went with harem but picked only one love interest eventually (no polygamy). In one novel, this was a bad thing (because he picked poorly), and in another novel, it was a great thing (because he did a much better job at developing romance between MC and the final love interest). As such, I'd say no harem at the end, but we will see, maybe the author will surprise us (or maybe not). However, I think it'd be nice if MC had just one love interest he could truly connect with and be supported by in this kind of setting as we see in this novel. It'd be a nice oasis of peace amidst the battlefield of convoluted drama plots, and I definitely wouldn't mind this not being a harem then.

I digressed a bit. Back to characters, I honestly don't really like any particular characters aside from the protagonist. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because of their convoluted relationships with the protagonist, or maybe it's because those characters aren't fleshed out enough (not all of them), or because they aren't appealing enough to me as a reader. Lots of characters feel weird or outright fcked up, so it's kind of hard to like anyone imo.

What I disliked in particular was that MC's ex from earth got transported there too (like what's the point, just to fck with the readers?) and that MC "falls in love first" which is kind of bullshiet coz he has the original villain's feelings superimposed on his in this case. It feels forced and annoying, but it's not the worst of what's to come (according to spoilers I read).

Overall, it's a good novel, as long as you don't expect much from romance/harem/characters. <<less

I just cant go further. I read the authors previous novel and loved the beggining; this is just crap.

I honestly dont even know where to begin with for the bad parts of this book.

The author is known for writing shallow and awful heroines, and this is maybe the pinnacle of bad. Every female is what early 20ish for this magic university, but they all act like 13 year old tsundere brain dead loli's. You have the sister who is a business woman through and through about to kill her brother... more>> all of a sudden giggling, and hopping and taking her brothers word at face value. The creepy love affair with the fiancee, and the 2 students.. HE IS 33 HAVING A HAREM OF 18 YEAR OLDS. Cmon man! Lets do some better writing than this. They even make the sister a step-sister so you know they can bang in the future. Such poor writing

Our MC had a cool premise, and the noble thing starts okay, but you realize its a convenient plot armour to make up for the author not knowing how to express any emotions with his characters. Cause sometimes he conveniently forgets half the personality traits that are supposed to direct his actions when its in the chase of a new 18 year old. The MC skills are also too OP broken. 'Understanding' okay, you just learned all of magic, and made your mediocre talent into genius level. 'Iron man' oh perfect maybe his only weakness, he needs 2 hours sleep, can wolverine regenerate and gains the physique of hercules in a week. Riiiiight, so well thought out.

And lastly this god awful forgotten plot.

The MC is supposed to be a mid tier villain. WHAT VILLAINY! Seriously! The only thing the MC is guilty of was embellishing his academic prowess. He has no torture chambers, doesnt kill people, or run casinos or drug dens or anything. He is a professor thats smug. And for some reason everyone wants to kill him, and he will be the target of heroes. As of now, the SINGLE thing that the MC has been associated with was he had contacts in the underworld that he no longer keeps. His one very low key bad deed.

TL;DR

There is no tension in this novel, as theres really no conflict or action. The creepy ass romance drama is off-putting, MC is a professor who can make gold in sales, not a villain. Not recommended. <<less

reading this will ruin so much for you, the villain in this story doesn't start off with the clean slate just because the MC already inhabits him. The actions his past body took still clearly affect every factor of the story. Each character is well thought out, has depth and a driving force behind them. All plots seem to be intertwined to tell a stunning narrative.

I have great expectations for this one.

The author's other novels, 'The Novel's Extra' and 'A Monster Who Levels Up', were both amazing and make me look forward to reading more of this one. In particular, 'The Novel's Extra' was a rollercoaster of emotions, misunderstandings and repentance, with a great mix of action and heroic moments.

This novel already starts of really great with a twist on the recently popular 'being reborn into a villains body'. Instead of the protagonist acting completely different and going straight from 'I was bad, but now... more>> I'm good', there is a more subtle change in his character. This comes from a restriction wherein his actions and words cant deviate too far from the characters original personality.

Unlike the usual minor mischief committed by the villains in other novels, the past actions of the original character are atrocious and have a great influence on the interactions the MC has with other characters and their opinions of him. He starts off with many enemies and wrongdoings that he has to solve. This lead to thrilling and emotional moments when characters previously antagonistic towards the MC see new sides to him, or in their perspective, sides that he has hidden away.

Overall, my initial impression of this novel is really great and I cant wait to read more of it. <<less

i love the novels with MC being transmigrated as an antagonist/evil villain and this novel so far satisfies every aspect that my ideal villain transmigration novel is

the MC isnt dull or dumb instead he is smart and is strong from the start with some obvious borderline cheat skills Also since its ongoing I cant say for sure that it will maintain the high potential it has shown till now

but so far all I see are good points about the novel

This novel is excellent.

The storytelling is immersive, the translation is great (for the most part, small parts here and there that are confusing), and the characters are well-made.

I am particularly fond of the villain-isekai genre, so this novel is just the right read for me.

Would recommend to anyone looking for a more thought-out novel with actual character development.

The most incredibly addicting start to a novel, I'm desperate for more

The novel has the standard premise of 'reincarnating as a villainous game character and trying to prevent various death flags'. But what makes it unique is that is that the MC is not your typical 'preteen / teenager' with a superficial level of villainy. The novel contains mature characters (the MC is 33) who act mature.

The villain character was a realistic bad guy, he wasn't some cringe demon lord, he was instead a person who cheated/hurt/manipulated/offended people to raise... more>> his own status. So the MC's redemption of the character is a lot more enjoyable to read due to the development of interpersonal relationships.

Also the translation quality is excellent, I really hope the translator sticks to the project, they are doing an incredible job. <<less