Versatile Mage

Description

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He woke up in a familiar world that had vastly changed.

His familiar school had become a mystical school that teaches magic, encouraging everyone to become a mighty magician.

Outside the city, many wandering magical beasts and monsters attacked and preyed on humans.

His world of advanced science changed into one that praised magic. Despite this, his ambition in life, and his social status remained the same; one of the dregs of the society with a struggling father and a disabled step sister that couldn’t walk.

However, Mo Fan found that when most people could only practice a single major element of magic, he was a Versatile Mage!

Associated Names
One entry per line
ADM
All-Duties Mage
Almighty Mage
Full-Time Magister
Quan Neng Fa Shi
Quanzhi Fashi
Toàn Chức Pháp Sư
全职法师
全能法师
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Pivot of the Sky (3)
Return of The 8th Class Mage (2)
Warlock of the Magus World (2)
The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time (2)
21st Century Archmage (1)
Lv1 Skeleton (1)
Recommendation Lists
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  2. Novels That I Have Read Over The Years
  3. Novels that I have read
  4. Leidos
  5. Manhua

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88 Reviews sorted by


nightmarch
nightmarch rated it
February 16, 2022
Status: c700
It's just one of those typical cultivation stories. Only slight upside is that Mo Fan isn't braindead and he isn't a wannabe rapist. He's still s*upid and ignorant, but at least he's not braindead like most of these cultivation MCs. I do like novels about magic, so I'll give it 2.5 stars at most because most cultivation novels are just tr*sh.

There are so many things that just don't make sense at all and just too many plot holes. Since our MC got isekai'd, I'm willing to ignore some because it's... more>> a different world from ours so the rules can be different. And I do like OP MC tropes. What I don't like are mostly the typical cultivation tropes. I assumed that this was gonna be a magic school isekai, what I got was just an MC acting like a homing beacon for endless fights after another. The twists and turns are obvious, except the reasons for them is just so mindlessly s*upid. And in typical fashion, only the MC is allowed to be special and no one else can, becaus they'll end up dead in the end anyways. This is like drafting a number 1 pick and thinking you got a superstar only to find that his ceiling is a serviceable backup.

Spoiler

Why doesn't the MC's dad search for his wife? Why? Is he just that pathetic? His wife just runs off, disappears, leaves her disabled daughter and his stepdaughter behind and he doesn't even try? What? And as for MC, you have a poor dad, and a disabled stepsister, why are you always running off and ditching them when you're trying to get strength to protect them? The ones you want to protect, to ditch to do things. How dedicated. You see? No foresight or thought about what the consequences are. Just reaction after reaction. Unless something happens, it's like they don't exist until convenient.

[collapse]

You know how MC is the only one that is allowed to be special? He is not the only one that awoken the lightning element. His classmate also awoken it. Guess what happened to him.

Spoiler

His whole family dies after he moved, by another attack by that Black Vatican cult and he's brainwashed and he kills his girlfriend right before he's freed from his brainwashing. So of course, Mo Fan is now the only one we see using the lightning element a lot.

[collapse]

And about the twist and turns being obvious? Everyone who hates Mo Fan is obviously evil because it's impossible to hate the MC, so they must be evil and no other reason exists. And of course, the evil people are definitely related to his friends literally.

Spoiler

Guess who the big bad is? You literally have to be utterly s*upid to not know who it is

[collapse]

And to those who say you have to get past chapter 1000. Why should you? You have an information gathering problem if you wait that long. Some things are just not worth it. This isn't reading 10-20 chapters, this is 200-300 chapters. By then you can infer what type of story this is going to be and what direction it's going and what tropes are going to become more prevalent since at least 2-3 arcs have gone by and a lot of the character's personalities are set.

The only thing I did truly enjoy was Mo Fan's school duels and he actually had bros this time. This is rare because usually they're jealous a**holes but these guys are actually really bros. Everything else was just boring cultivation tropes with really slow pace.

Overall, this novel is mediocre. <<less
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stamatok
stamatok rated it
February 12, 2021
Status: --
I really enjoyed this novel. I really liked how all the MC had far from perfect as well very diverse personalities. (He is not the MC that we deserve but the one that we need) Even though the plot armor is strong, mistakes and sacrifices were made. I also really liked the constant backstabbing and the jealousy to the level of of mu*der.

Mo Fan do whatever he pleases him without consideration of the consequences but he is not a mad dog as he is often characterized in the novel as... more>> he bites only the ones he knows he can bite with his strength either in the form of his
Spoiler

contract beast, demonization or totem.

[collapse]
.

I've read until the 3133 and I am really looking forward for the last 100 translations.

PS. The translation except some sites that the are going very very slow is sh*t BUT A big thank you to translators because without them I would be able to read this novel. Either way you get used to the bad translation. <<less
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atomsphere
atomsphere rated it
November 5, 2020
Status: c320
It gets better, slowly. The first couple of chapters are rough. If the premise scratches the itch, maybe give it a try. Just don't expect too much from it. The mechanics are not well thought out. The isekai implementation is gross. I heard it gets "good" like 1200+ chapters in, but that's a big investment if you're not enjoying it along the way. It's not a series I'd go out of my way to share.
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Jaden875
Jaden875 rated it
July 15, 2020
Status: c1315
Chapter: 1315

I've been waiting everyday for this lightnovel translation since chapter 600, and the reason I made this post was to enlighten the many people who want a good lightnovel to read. I've read nearly all the mainstream lightnovels and nothing can compare to versatile mage. Such a unique and amazing cultivation system as well as likeable characters who grow as the MC grows. The MC is a proud and funny character who is also very quick witted and intelligent. I find it hard to believe they can mix such... more>> great comedy with the darkness that exists in Versatile Mage. One of the greatest lightnovels to ever exist.

Edit: Chapter 1589

I feel like I can understand why people wouldn't like this lightnovel. It isn't some shounen garbage where nobody dies and all the characters are 2d no brainers. The villians in this lightnovel are the only villians that I can say are both smarter than the MC and deserve every piece of the power that the author gives them. This novel comes out with its light hearted jokes and then you get to see the inhumane things that people would do to there fellow people. This is no romeo and juliet fan fic, this is more real than any other shitty f*cking lightnovel out there. Give it a f*cking read.

Edit: Chapter 2626

Still pretty good. People keep dying and the enemies seem to always reproduce a lot faster than the MC can kill them. Some op abilities are shown but never extensively detailed or explained. Also by this time the quality of the ln has gone down signifcantly but it still makes for a good read. It's just that the author keeps portraying the world as one where all the other character other than the MC and his crew are greedy and cruel people who will do anything for power which we get the same sh*t happening but in different places and abilities. So now for the last 800 chapters or so it is just repeat after repeat. Hope it ends soon so the quality might not go down again. Still would reccomend <<less
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Rou Azure
Rou Azure rated it
June 11, 2020
Status: c1309
I really love this novel. The beginning of the story and the development are really slow though it fit for the novel as the story ongoing there's a lot more potential shall prevail.

This novel is recommended for fellow readers who like novels with OP+shameless with 'no rule can ground me' MC and this is really a shounen type novel that spell justice too.

There's a lot negative review thats why I give it 5 star. But personally I'd give this a 4 star.
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eceo
eceo rated it
April 22, 2020
Status: --
The author of this novel writes with a sh*t ton of inconsistencies, has no clue what an actual female is, nor how they behave, and the protagonist he created has an abysmal IQ.

Still, the story is bearable if you skip 2/3 of every chapter. When you sense bullshit, just skip a few paragraphs. Hopefully you’ll have bypassed the bullshit. Maybe the small, tiny, little, minuscule, itty bitty redeeming parts of the protagonist will pull you through.

Maybe.

Probably not this is a pretty shitty MC... Y’know what, just read something else. Desolate... more>> Era? Swallowed Star? Second Coming of Gluttony? Those are pretty decent reads. <<less
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Bachingchung
Bachingchung rated it
September 26, 2019
Status: c250
For starters, I like the premise of this novel but it was poorly executed. I'm also cool with the no Science thing, since I just see it as a parody or something so I easily let it go. However, the author obviously write a new chapter on a whim, that's why there are a lot of inconsistencies and problems with the MC's personality such as,

1. MC wanting to lay low, then suddenly goes berserk and provoke the Big Kahuna of the street.

2. Some plots are suddenly dropped like it... more>> was never mentioned. Like the Pearl University main campus. Wtf happened to the main branch?

2.1 The promised rewards are forgotten, in fact the MC was given a new task instead.

I'm not sure if the author did this on purpose, but whether it is or not they are both horrible in the end.

3. The MC is so moody, at the beginning he won't bat an eye to save someone else, then he suddenly became heroic, then the petty tr*sh will revert back as his main persona.

These inconsistencies is such a bummer and could really break the immersion.

There were a few more, but my brain chose to forget them already.

I started to read this again, and I wanna increase my previous rating to 2 stars. I got to ch. 400 but the plot and settings are just so messed up, the characters just teleport city to city, there's no coherent details to explain the MC and other characters travelling. And how many school competitions is he gonna go to? Seriously, he fought with rebels, cults and beast invasions and yet the author is so fvcking obsessed with putting the MC through school just to fight in school tournaments and such. <<less
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vladi21k
vladi21k rated it
October 18, 2018
Status: c3233
This is my initial review after reading the first 200 chapter:

"So far a very nice fantasy novel that takes place in the present. The MC is a nice guy, while managing being not too naive and not too s*upid. He gets a cheat like item and a cheat like ability, but nothing too outrageous. The side characters are interesting and have a personality, a rare thing indeed. The world is also interesting and the magic system is very nice.

Can't really think of any cons so far, which says something. Wait,... more>> there is a con, don't read the manga, the novel is so much better.

Overall I wholeheartedly recommend this novel. Go read it, its great."

And now is my updated review after reading the whole novel:

Versatile Mage offers a fascinating world with a unique magic system that keeps readers hooked from the start. The main characte's cheat is not too overpowered, which is a refreshing change from other similar novels. He is also not overly s*upid and naive.

However, the book's major issues detract from its overall appeal.

The characters are not well-developed, and their interactions can be one-dimensional, making it difficult to connect with them. The World Championship arc suffers from this problem, as it becomes tedious to read through battle scenes where only two characters at most willinteract, while the rest merely serve as spectators during group fights. Furthermore, the reincarnation story is not revisited after the first 50 chapters, leaving readers wondering whatever happened to it.

The most significant problem is the ending. After more than 3000 chapters, the book concludes abruptly, leaving most of the conflicts unresolved. The final battle is uneventful, ending with an agreement between the parties involved. Moreover, one of the central villains ends up helping the main character, while a barely mentioned character becomes the main villain at the end. The ending is so disappointing that the translators haven't even bothered translating the last ten chapters.

Overall, Versatile Mage has some exciting story arcs, and the world-building is impressive. However, the poorly developed characters and the unsatisfying ending prevent it from reaching its full potential. I would only recommend this book to fans of the genre who are willing to overlook its flaws. <<less
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jeffrey123
jeffrey123 rated it
October 14, 2018
Status: c2521
The novel starts getting good and amazing from and after the bo city arc, the world setting is interesting and lots of incidents seems unrelated but turns out connected so you need to be patient, this world is similar to our world and the novel has many famous attraction and top mysteries written which make you easy to understand and follow the story, last but not least, there are many worlds in this story which mean magic world will have contact with science world eventually
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Cracyflo
Cracyflo rated it
June 6, 2022
Status: c222
In short:

Save yourself from this mindless, uninspired, directionless wishfulfillment fantasy and read some good stuff, like the things I mention down below. Now on to the real review.

I must say, to see so much praise for the Novel baffles me. I mean sure, if this is the first story from a chinese novel you get to see, I would say it would be really good as well, but holy hell does that break down once you go a bit further it falls appart....

... more>> The world this Novel portrais is the following.

Every person except the protagonist and his family and after that his closest friends are either a**holes and want you down and dirty for no apparent reason except for f*ck you.
or are completely incompetent and need the help of our Saviour and Hero Mo Fan.
or both of the above.
There is no inbetween except for his friends and family, who, by some magic, are more competent than others.

Everyone else, is either an as*hole because they are a looser and wants everyone else to be a looser to or is a villain who does bad things cause evil...I wish there was more substance in this, because the motivations for the characters in this piece of work is.... surface level stuff at best and at worst just plain inexistent, even with the main character.

That is a problem many novels have but it's very extreme here. Mo Fan get's everything that is exceptional about him just handed to him on a silver platter.

Spoiler

I mean lightning is powerfull and rare and so is fire right? F*ck that our hero has both as the only dual element user ever known in existence, what a coincidence. Don't worry it get's even when he get's darkness magic as well, Mo Fan just wasn't awesome enough. No possibility for you to use the EM? Well doesn't matter, that necklace you got is the best EM ever created and sh*t like this doesn't exist any more. It basically does everything you need and more ESPECIALLY for a multi element user, how f*cking convenient....

The hunter group let's him, a person with 0 experience, 0 credit to their name AND who is hiding their face and through that their identity, enter their elite group solely because he has the lightning ability? Are you kidding me? He could die all the same with the amount of experience he's got, even with lightning AND fire, that just makes NO SENSE. At that point lightning should not be called the rarest element but the golden ticket to every show

[collapse]

And DAMN ME if the MC does not have scizophrenia, one moment he makes super smart and rational descisions and plans and at others he acts as if his IQ does not surpass 85. He's a hothead, yes, but that does not mean that he has to act on EVERY s*upid decision his brain can come up with.... man, I can't really like the guy. His family is poor, his father sacrifices everything for him and he goes out there on a whim and makes the most s*upid decisions in the world that could get him killed, often times, but hey, he's the MC, so nothing to worry about, that plot armour is gonna save him right?

Just unbelievable.... when so many issues are just screaming into my face "lazy writing" that I can't even turn of my brain and ignore a few things to just enjoy a story? You know it's a stinker...

It's sad, that this story get's the attention to adapt it into other generes and other gems like "the mother of learning", "lord of mysteries" and "throne of magical arcana" which are just several times better do not get adapted.

Thank God the reviews at least reflect the popularity and quality of (most) of those works.

cheers <<less
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ranguun
ranguun rated it
September 4, 2021
Status: c3210
Just some random comments regarding my opinion:

Pro:

  • Great world building: I like the setting in a world that is sort of a mirror image of our world where you use magic instead of technology. Some main areas (e.g. Magic city) are described really well and have interesting recurring arcs (and side characters) set there.
  • Interesting side characters: There are many side characters (friends/family and foes) that do have personality that goes beyond a blank sheet of paper and MCs friends/family do get a few short storylines without the MC directly involved.
  • Magic system: Even though it may seem at bit confusing at the beginning the magic system is quite enjoyable and easy to get used to along the story. My try to describe it briefly: Mages normally can awaken one Element (e.g. Fire or Space element) per tier (Novice, Intermediate, High Rank...). Each Element has a star pattern which needs to be connected/constructed to release a magic spell (7 for Novice magic, 7x7 for intermediate...). Elemental magic that does not require mind power (e.g. Fire, not Space) normally have three different spell stages (each stronger than the other) in novice and intermediate tier (not sure for higher tiers).
  • Plot: I highly dislike major plotholes if I think they are plain obvious or ruin the storyline. And as some other reviewers here complain about the issue why there are no guns etc just because everything is replaced with magic in this "mirror world", I don`t really have a problem with such an issue. I am here to read a novel about a magic fantasy adaption of our mordern world and I honestly do not want there to be any sort of guns, be it magical or classic, in this novel as I think it woukd take a lot of its charm.
    I also cannot follow the criticism about the plot being too predictable/shallow. I do find many of the arcs' plots very interesting and quite intriguing. Especially that there are many ongoing plots and places that have a major influence in the story.
  • MC: I like the MC being somtimes shameless, brave, ignorant, badass, straighforward and even when he is being relentless and/or ruthless. He does have some character development but some habits or attributes stay the same. But as I think he develops in a good way and I (luckily) seldomly thought along the lines: "He should have done that instead" or "He should not have spared them", which I very highly appreciate as I really dislike it when a MC spares (some of) their foes "just because" and it bites them later on.
Con:

  • MC: I do not like the double entendre of the MC and his quite flirtatious attitude towards almost all young females. It does not go overboard with this side of the MC so it's still tolerable for my taste.
So all in all I like this story as one of the best if not the best long CN I read so far. I... more>> am satisfied with the ending of this novel (read it machine translated) which is often very hard for most novels. I don't know regarding the side stories as they are still ongoing at the moment. I highly recommend giving this novel a try and read beyond the first major arc (I'll call it roughly Bo city) as it is the initial conflict/motivation for the MC to the rest of the story.
Thanks for reading my ramblings, have fun! <<less
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God-Slayer
God-Slayer rated it
June 8, 2021
Status: c1200
Story is good.

But there are many sh*t in MC.

  1. Every time anyone call him shit, but he not react or taught them lesson. Like he has not DIGNITY.
  2. He sees and have option to save people and bring justice, but he ignored it, so he was IMMORAL.
  3. He is big SHIT, because everytime he help people, and the same people attack his relatives, he does nothing.
  4. In National Team, many times people harm him by calling him shit, substitute. But he react nothing, he knows the National Team need him, without him impossible to win tournament. So National Team need to favor him, but they called him shit, and he does nothing, then there is the MC Is a big Shit.
  5. And Academy manager, many time give him many works to do or not, they take the resources, and he works like a dog without any dignity, in near the end of his life. And again academy do the same, because they know MC is a pet dog.
  6. He just leave the National Team, without National Team, he able to take many resources by himself, and by doing mercenary mission. But just like, his was without dignity, a big Shit, a pet dog, a big Idiot.
It was the good novel with worst, hell sh*t MC. My worst horror of reading this novel.
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Areus
Areus rated it
December 25, 2020
Status: --
I have read through the machine translations. The ending was very good even though the pain of reading through long less interesting "fillers".
Spoiler

The angel Michael and Ramiel (Holy Court) being the last villain is very unexpected. I thought it would be "The lord of the dark plane" (Wen Tai) or the most powerful magical beast but I havent read through past ch3120+ and the pathernon mother being the high priest of black vatican is just shocking. I knew that even pathernon would have black vatican members but I never thought that it would be the high priest as the mother of pathernon. Mu Bai and Zhao Manyan's character development was also good. Him dissappearing after calamity of bo and reappearing at Ancient Capital and then joing the supporting cast after he joined

[collapse]
It has a very slow plot progression (i.e. The totem hunt arc felt like forever, mostly uninteresting as well.). I can recommend goblinsguide as mtl for VM because its very good for mtl. You can say that MC is an idiot but it doesnt only have his POV. Maybe you'll be bored while halfway at world collage tournament training arc, but youll miss a whole lot since it gets good at the end, which is the theme for these reviews.
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justacuriousguy
justacuriousguy rated it
April 4, 2020
Status: c1200
Give it a try

It is very bad at the beginning but as the story goes on the plot develops like many character and we learn about some stuff which appeard to be illogical like ... more>>
Spoiler

the reason Bo city got attacked

[collapse]
But dont think it gets better at a fast rate it takes about 700 chapters to get real good and after chapter 1200 I consider it to be one of the best or the best novel ive read so far it was heartbreacking in these chapter enough to make a grwon man cry

It was my first novel and I started it after I read the Manga and couldnt wait for new chapters (my new problem is that I have to wait for new chapters now as well) There were many Plotholes in the novel but I really like the magic system it isnt really clear to me that magic completly made science unneccesary but it was acceptable the magic system is logical and because everybody learns the same spells I like it even more at the beginning there were a few problems with the spells but after getting to be an interdiate mage it got resolved

I like that the MC gets an op talent and item but the item only reveals its real opness in the later chapters and that his talent isnt as Op as it seemed in comparison to other not so strong talents with much resources the MC is really op but money limits him hard and that balances much and I like that he cant skip grade too much in the end it changes but its reasonable

ok the MC isnt the smartest person out there but r we ? I mean ok sometimes the MC is unreasonable but mostly its all a pretty normal guy who suddendly gets thrown in a new situation but is op

he has bad temper is a pe*vert but he protects his family isnt anationalist (a bit but compare it to other chinese novels) and isnt sexxist (I mean even those guys who want gender equality sometimes think about tiddies right I mean I do)

And a big plus for this novels is the cool plots I mean it isnt cool that the whole world resolves around the MC but this those events and stuff r mostly unexpected and pretty good to read

another big plus r the side characters they get much developed and many die in a reasonable way I mean the MC doesnt develope much but his relationship to side charactes does much and these character r 3 dimensional

At the end the author is like a noob at the beginning but develops himself with the novel so it gets better and better and I hope this goes on yeah and I think those who didnt give this novel many stars r those who couldnt stand the bginning but guys pls dont rate novels if u dont even read a tenth of them I mean I read 50 chapter before I even decide if I go on with a novel

you cant rate a novel without reading most of it

So give it a try if u got interested and r patient because its wort it <<less
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wait321
wait321 rated it
February 20, 2020
Status: c132
Cliche cultivation story. Poor MC gets cheat powers, items, and luck. Rich arrogant peers pick fights with him for jealousy or no reason at all. Tons of tr*sh talk to fill up space (about 2 chapters of pointless insults for every chapter of action). Same as other stories in the genre and tiresome to read.
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MTS
MTS rated it
May 26, 2019
Status: c473
this is my honest opinion.

it's a great read if you don't go in with expectations or rely too much on logic. "Like why they don't have guns while they have airplanes?"

most of the negative reviews are emotional especialy that 1 stars review, they didn't get what they came for or they compare it with other novels.

read the manga and the novel this combination will help you like the novel more.
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timma
timma rated it
April 5, 2019
Status: c385
Very underrated.

I like the MC a lot. It's a similar feel to Library of Heaven's Path and other lighter webnovels that still get real at moments. I was honestly surprised by how much I like it.

Anyone who says there's no character growth needs to break out their old grammar books and learn again.

Baddies are okay, better than some.
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Ninad Khobrekar
Ninad Khobrekar rated it
November 27, 2018
Status: v1c240
  1. Amazing story line keeps you totally engrossed in wondering what the outcome will be even though it's quite obvious that the good will triumph over evil.
  2. The author has taken sufficient care to kill most of the characters just when they start to become appeasing to readers. So you will always be on your toes wondering who it might be next.
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ItsAlive
ItsAlive rated it
October 29, 2018
Status: c1280
Updated:

An entertaining magic "cultivation"novel with a decent magic-system. At least at the early levels it has properly set up rules, but the further it progresses the more blurry it gets.

Like a majority (all?) of the chinese MC's, he gets early in the story his own shiny cheat item. To be fair, it's a long term cheat item that allows him to get the double amount of magic-elements compared to the others mages. Besides that it has decent worldbuilding and fights.

The main issue is the character of the MC. He has... more>> the typical op virtues young master behaviour (pe*verted brat).

If you can ignore his character traits it's some entertaining shounen like novel.

<<less
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aNonYm0U5
aNonYm0U5 rated it
October 3, 2018
Status: --
That tragedy tag seem more reasonable as I read this story. The MC just knows how and when to raise flags unconsciously. I feel bad for him and his family. I would read this more but in a much later date. I just can't stand the way MC acts so dumb sometimes. The thing I noticed the most about this story is: the authors unplanned plots. Like he found the idea of an MC transported to a parallel world with magic appealing so he resolved himself to write one. But... more>> didn't prepare any deeper/complex setting, world building and characterization. He/she probably just went along with the flow. <<less
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