On one hand, things are progressing very fast (it's a short read, after all), on the other hand some things take way too much space, to the point you almost forget about the starting point... Because of that, sometimes it's engaging, sometimes boring.

The author never manages to get into the depth of the situation he/she has created. To begin with, I still don't see where the title comes from. There is no clear evidence of a "previous life", and the hero is from the current timeline anyway and not actually... more>> dead.

Spoiler

It seems the MC might have unknowingly looped back to the past, since he gets some flashbacks of alternative timelines sometimes (it might also just be visions of possible futures) ; so the hero might have died in his previous life. But it's irrelevant to the story.

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Basically, the MC is a great wizard who got betrayed by a lot of people: his fiancée never loved him and became the mistress of the hero, his family sold his research, and his magic masters felt threatened and pushed him into the hero's party. He then had to infiltrate the demon world for three years with the hero and his mostly useless mistresses. But after they killed the demon king, they found out that all of this was a scheme by the evil goddess ruling this world. After explaining that to the party, she takes back the hero's powers and they go back home secretly. But the kingdom needs the existence of the hero and the demon king to survive (everyone obey them because of the threat of the demon king and the possibility of getting help from the hero), so their 'successful return' is very unwelcome. To escape the hopeless situation, the MC asks to be given a land that nobody would ever want (because it's too dangerous). Since he's too OP, they have no choice but to agree. From then on he has to develop his (growing) territory while the world is slowly falling apart.

Truthfully, I really liked the start. It was promising. I appreciate the fact that the MC is not driven by revenge. He understands that he was s*upid about his fiancée and is actually grateful he got rid of her. He's not jealous of the hero, just annoyed, and wants nothing but to be left alone.

But after a short while, the story becomes a very generic, sometimes boring wish fulfilling adventure. He gets everything very easily and, basically, conquers the world quickly and smoothly with 'kindness' (and a few shows of overwhelming power). From the get-go he gets an "all-powerful" and extremely loyal maid (/strategist/aide) out of nowhere, he also gets a lot of loyal citizens, skilled craftsmen and money even before reaching his land... and his magic is way too OP too. Then he gets powerful allies (and wives) left and right and everything falls apart for the (now) ennemy kingdom without him doing anything.

The pace is just weird...

It's not bad, per se, not good either. Sadly, the author failed at meeting the expectations he/she raised during the first chapters... <<less

An interesting twist on the summoned hero and downtrodden mage of the party. The Hero from my Previous Life has Died is about Elang Meister, after the defeat of the Demon King, surviving the mistakes the current hero Kim Yeomjin caused. The twist being that the chosen hero is a reincarnator, while the main character is a native of this world.

I recommend reading this story if future readers enjoy feeling catharsis from having the hero get their karmic punishment and other people get karmic rewards.

The possibility that this novel... more>> goes downhill is still feasible, so take my recommendation as a thumbs up until chapter 14. <<less