To Be a Power in the Shadows! (WN)

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Just like how everyone adores heroes in their childhood, a certain boy adored those who hid in the shadows. One day, after living the mediocre life of a side character while undergoing frenzied training by night, he reincarnates in a different world and gains ultimate power. The young man who is only playing at being a secretive powerhouse, his misunderstanding subordinates, and a struggling, giant, shadowy organization…

This is the story of a boy who adored shadowy manipulations who might possibly reign over the dark side of another world.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!
TEIS
The Eminence in Shadow (LN)
想要成为影之实力者
陰の実力者になりたくて!
Related Series
To Be a Power in the Shadows! (LN) (Light Novel)
Recommendations
I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! (21)
Tilea’s Worries (14)
My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending (14)
There Was No Secret Organization to Fight with the World’s Darkness so I Made One (In Exasperation) (11)
Overlord (LN) (8)
I Got Reincarnated And Mistaken As A Genius? (8)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Action - Cultivation - Adventure (On going)
  2. Misunderstandings, but with major event going on b...
  3. Novels That I Have Read Over The Years
  4. Mentally ill protagnoists
  5. Isekai Fantasy | #1

Latest Release

Date Group Release
11/28/22 Placeholder c205.5
10/09/22 Placeholder characters
10/05/22 Placeholder c205
10/05/22 Soafp c205
03/09/21 Placeholder c204
10/08/19 WangMama c203
09/17/19 WangMama c202
08/27/19 WangMama c201
08/23/19 WangMama c200
08/21/19 WangMama c199
08/16/19 WangMama c198
08/13/19 WangMama c197
08/05/19 WangMama c196
08/02/19 WangMama c195
07/17/19 WangMama c194
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209 Reviews sorted by


xxluna
xxluna rated it
June 18, 2018
Status: c87
I'm so immersed on the seriousness of the story that I always forget that the MC is a chuuni in role play. Other than the, sometimes, short chapters/updates, overall a very entertaining read and I always look forward for more!
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CrispCrusp
CrispCrusp rated it
June 7, 2018
Status: c48
Very fun constructed coincidences. With the way the main character carries himself and how everyone around him sees that as make for a very fun read.
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Celsica
Celsica rated it
April 29, 2018
Status: c42
I usually write longer reviews, but I'll keep this one short. If you're an avid light novel reader who's getting dissillusioned with the bullsh*t getting published out of Japan these days, you'll be able to appreciate this parody. The humor is absolutely on point. The translation is good, and quick.

The poor reviews with serious explanations about how unbelievably lucky the MC is, or other such nonsense... It's clear who's dense here.
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Suzzie
Suzzie rated it
April 10, 2018
Status: c23
If you disregard the bull sh*t that the main character is inexplicably able to do, you will enjoy the novel. I personally enjoy the novel. Although, I sometimes find it annoying that he has to 100% act out his mob role. This means he'll basically act like a pu*sy in public (which can be painful to read at some points), but becomes a badass at night

... more>>
Spoiler

so basically people are salty that he's able to predict everything without knowing anything. He basically bullshits about being a "hero" and that an organization is hell bent to destroy them and release the demons. He happens to "persuade" the other "heroes" to blindly follow him and help him eradicate these evil pests. Basically he kind of bullshits his way through things and they somehow all happen to end up true

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Kedluben
Kedluben rated it
July 1, 2021
Status: c204
It read a lot of serious stuff, but I also want to relax sometimes and in these times novel like this is just perfect. It is mainly comedy, but you can see even some drama from side characters. Well, it seems like author is making fun of their drama. There are lot of different characters, who put on the stage at the perfect time and MC is there to always save the day.
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bkwrm
bkwrm rated it
November 12, 2020
Status: c82
MC has full on unapologetic 8th grade syndrome. All he wants is to act like a power in the shadows, which means setting up events and saying mysterious things.

For awhile his lack of the traditional asian timidness, his singleness of purpose, and his sheer insanity keep things fun. His death on earth is pure comedy. But it gets old after awhile. He literally doesn't care about anyone or anything other than his purpose and his saving the day is so ham fisted that its hard for the reader to... more>> care about what happens in the story.

Its not terrible but 80+ chapters of the exact same routine and people gushing over his sword just gets samey. Feels like missed potential. <<less
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Ba Hai Gong
Ba Hai Gong rated it
October 5, 2020
Status: c203
This is a very generic, underwritten novel. It's vastly overrated by readers due to the MC's over-the-top chuuni antics.

The fatal flaw of the story is the MC, Cid's, motivation. He strives to be the "Eminence of Shadows", an edgy, darkness clad superhero. The EoS only defined trait is that he leads a double life as a hapless student by day and unstoppable vigilante by night. Everything else about the EoS is vague, not only to Cid's subordinates but to Cid himself. It feels like the EoS only takes action when... more>> it amuses Cid. This gives him little personal stakes in many of the conflicts he ends up settling, and the plot meanders often due to this lack of investment.

Compare this to another novel, "Is it Tough Being a Friend?". In that story, the MC is given a clear motivation early on - a childhood experience convinces him that being support is his life's role, and his ultimate destiny is to be the sidekick to a "protagonist", a person so important as to guide the fate of the world. So when that MC, Ichirou, lampshades tropes and critiques cliches, it's funny, because we readers know how invested and dedicated he is in this craft. He is enjoying himself, but he also sees it as his duty.

When Cid notices tropes, it's weird. How do tropes tie into the EoS concept? You don't need to be aware of tropes to manipulate the world from the shadows. And the author spends some chapters heavily talking about tropes, and other chapters Cid doesn't mention them even when they're obvious to the reader. This is the author's inconsistent writing on display.

Another problem is the novel's misunderstanding **jokes**. The author needs to get a new sense of humor. Cid will asspull explanations that are coincidentally always right. He points at a map and claims there's a Diabolos Cult base there. He didn't think such a cult existed and didn't think there would actually be a base there, but he was right on both counts. If you simply remove Cid's monologues about making stuff up it would come across as simple familiarity with tropes. The novel is rife with coincidences, with most problems of Cid's being solved by an outside cultist attack that he nor his subordinates have any hand in baiting out.

Good misunderstanding jokes like in "Overlord" have a setup and payoff. Setup: Ainz Ooal Gown will make a mistake and fret over it, culminating in him fearing his subordinates will lose respect for him. Payoff: The subordinate POV reveals the subordinates interpreted Ainz's actions in a calculating manner, and this reasoning makes logical sense to the reader and it's clear how the action could be misinterpreted. As a result, respect for Ainz among his subordinates deepens. "Overlord" recycles that formula many, many times, but at least it's a joke. Cid's lies actually being truth every single time isn't a joke, nor is it funny.

Finally, the novel has no charisma and has poor cast balance. Cid himself is a Mary Sue-type who is only entertaining when he's in chuuni mode. Since he's always faking his personality, the reader has little grasp on his real self, distancing the emotional connection. Cid's classmates are generally one-dimensional despite getting the lion's share of focus. Cid's harem of rescued elf & human girls, the Shadow Garden, infrequently appear despite a much stronger personal connection to Cid. I wanted to know more about those girls but can't get that in the main story.

The one exception to this is Princess Alexia, who is the best and most complex character in the story. She got involved with Cid due to a personal reason and their relationship grows from antagonistic to tsundere. The love-hate dynamic comes to a boil when Alexia and Cid take a hot spring bath together. Alexia insults the size of Cid's dick, but keeps sneaking peeks at it, revealing how she actually feels. Most of Alexia's development happened in Arc 2 and regrettably that's the high point of the series. <<less
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theduffman999
theduffman999
April 30, 2020
Status: c203
Man, This is some hilarious sh#t. It's got a feel of the overlord comedy and OP type feeling with the protagonist, but has a less detailed, more comedy focused story that overlord (Though it should go without saying considering how grandious and detailed overlord is). But it comes to it's own, and can genuinely make you laugh. Get's two thumbs up from me!
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Altair19
Altair19 rated it
December 26, 2019
Status: c113
This is novel is far from what title suggests.

Does author even knows what it mean to be power in shadows.

I expected powerful and intelligent MC manipulating events as he desires without showing himself in public. But MC Here appears like a hero saying catch phrases in public, announcing his and groups name like team of super hero. On top of that MC is delusional, he so immersed in his role plays that he fails to realise seriousness of situations and everything happening around him is real, due to sheer luck... more>> and coincidences everything turns out right in the end, which people misunderstood as part of his plan.
If he is half the intelligent as Lelouch or Light then he would have made good MC.

Other than MC. Plot and side characters are very well done.

Spoiler

During vampire arc he ignored his sister's safety in the city that filled with criminals and at same time ghouls outbreak is happening. He slept the night without searching for her, next morning he started roleplaying without caring what happened to his sister who didn't returned last night. Any sane person would have started searching for her. He is basically treating everything as a game. As of chapter 113 he is trying to sabotage his subordinates company to roleplay as bigboss.

As for his ultimate goal other than strengthening himself, he has done nothing to achieve it. Grasp on World situation, potential enemies and allies, intelligence network, funding source, etc everything is done by Alpha and girls. I feel like Sid and Alpha have swapped the roles. Alpha being true MC, Sid is her Puppet.

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manahax
manahax
September 3, 2019
Status: c62
Imagine going to a comedy club but they only told knock-knock jokes for 2 hours. The same knock-knock joke for that matter. That is this novel.

I know what the author is going for, but I feel the comedy would be greatly enhanced if he didn't keep using the inner monologue to explain what we can easily imply. Like it is a pattern that MC's random actions seem to impact the plot, we get it, so leave some of the antics he does in the air for us to subtly understand.

... more>>
Spoiler

Like for example, the scene with throwing the knife at the map. We already know that he is making stuff up. We don't need that to be explained in the next line.

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It isn't a bad novel but it isn't something that you will binge from beginning to end. It has a hard time keeping your attention. <<less
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mokura
mokura rated it
August 21, 2019
Status: c199
This webnovel is incredible. I have read it many times through and its manga aswell. It is hilarious, great characters, awesome MC, fights are cool, there are even little twists... All-in-all its a masterpiece. I cannot recommend this novel enough.

Read it. You WILL like it. You might die of laughter.

If it would be possible I would give this 6/5. Look out for its inevitable anime that will break all sales records.
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The Prodigal King
The Prodigal King rated it
August 9, 2019
Status: c196
This novel is a damn good entertainer it's about a chuuni protagonist who wants to beat nukes.... I mean you gotta get that the MC is a gag and despite all this some people are complaining about him being dumb.... It's a mix of misunderstandings and coincidences and the mc's chuunibyou completes the circle and makes it hilariously entertaining... It's a good read so ignore the complaints and just go for it
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onnyfp
onnyfp rated it
July 13, 2019
Status: --
First of all, treat this like a comedy with action scenes sprinkled in. Don't ruin your own enjoyment nitpicking every little detail about the plot, setting, or whatever.

If you like Overlord, you will like this novel. Just like how Ainz is just bluffing his way through to keep the image of a perfect ruler, so was Shadow. He's really just bluffing his way through the story, acting all mysterious and all knowing about the story, which turn out to be real.

Now, you may think this guy is so chuuni, but... more>> that's the point. He knows he's acting chuuni, he's intentionally chuuni. He thought everyone just play along with him. But it turns out everything he said about Diabolos was true, and people treat him seriously. <<less
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Lotusreichart43
Lotusreichart43 rated it
July 3, 2019
Status: c190
A very great story about a chuunibyo MC who wants to become a power in the shadow.

The girls are top tier, very flesh out, diverse personalities, and all of them have understandable reasons to follow the MC. The pacing is great with the plot revolving around the MC accidentally support his organization achieve their objective.

Can't wait for the LN vol 3 to see Yukime.
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Nitpicking Reader
Nitpicking Reader rated it
June 25, 2019
Status: c187
This novel is a masterpiece!

The MC is literally nuts and he knows it.

The plot is nice, the characters are well developed, the MC is likeable even though he got mental issues. Even though what he does is for fun he's actually doing good deeds and the right thing, he is also caring even though he doesn't show it aka tsundere.

One thing is missing from this is that the protagonist doesn't care about love :' (it's a shame since he got a nice harem.
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TheSinofPriDe
TheSinofPriDe
June 10, 2019
Status: c180
For me this novel is really good although there are novels like this that the world revolves around the MC everything he said and do happens. He even made up a cult and a story then it came true, he shows up n something important happen it that was connected or important to the story it was like everything is about him anyway there are many cliche happen in this novel or even harem although he did not know that he had a harem. To sum it up I really... more>> like this novel so please ignore those idiot who says bad thing about your translation or work just continue please!!!!!? <<less
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cleesus
cleesus rated it
June 4, 2019
Status: c132
IT definitely starts off good and is entertaining and fairly funny, but the MC never progresses and it gets extremely repetitive. Around chapter 100 is when I started to give up hope that this was going to go anywhere. Overlord does this style of comedy better imo because at least the MC in that story progresses
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Amplify
Amplify rated it
May 1, 2019
Status: c142
To be a power in the shadows is a decent novel, the premise is somewhere at the junction between Overlord, One Punch Man and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Overlord - because the main character has an incredibly powerful giant organization at his back, filled with absolutely loyal members who worship the very ground he walks on.

OPM - because the main character is ludicrously overpowered compared to everybody else, though few people (outside his organization) realize it at all and he's only truly gotten serious a small handful of times.

Haruhi Suzumiya... more>> - because for all his delusions and play acting the main character does, he does not even realise that he has an incredible organization or near unlimited wealth at his fingertips, he doesn't even realise that the enemy he pretended was real at the start is indeed real or really realise much of anything at all. He pretends that many incredible things happen or that he knows everything and he is accidentally right about it all, while living a fairly mediocre life and worrying about money constantly.

It's certainly an entertaining read I will give it that, but there's one major fault with it that means I'll be stopping reading it here: in Overlord the main character does his mediocre best and his minions love him and the results he accidentally gets, while they attribute the successes to his (perceived) intelligence and the end result is the MC feels moe and loveable. In this novel however the way the MC has done things has more than a few times caused the seven main girls closest to him (among a few others) to cry tears of frustration or sadness through some of his misunderstandings. This, if nothing else, is unforgivable.

I can't punch this idiotic riajuu in the nuts and he does usually make it up to them one way or the other sooner or later, but those tears cannot be taken back and it doesn't leave me feeling good about the MC at all. <<less
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Elivi
Elivi rated it
April 2, 2019
Status: c133
Pretty good. The beginning of the novel is a bit lame and crappy but the more it process, the better the author writing skill. Later arcs are filled with nice action scenes, believable character development and edgy-ness, good one to be exact.

The author seems to know that he is writing an edgy, self-satisfying type of novel so he level-headedly approach it with good characters, nice story procession and a lot of comedy, making this novel quite the stress-reliever.

In the end, this novel is quite niche and not for everyone but... more>> I think it has done it job quite well, being an edgy novel that is pleasant to read. <<less
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Isekaiguy9
Isekaiguy9 rated it
February 22, 2019
Status: c119
I personally find the humor very appealing. Has me cracking up each time I read through it.

To be fair it is not a story for everyone. Storytelling tropes and strategies are used for jokes.

dont expect a very serious story here. It's just a hunourous self aware romp through a fantasy world that unintentionally bends to the protagonist's will. Don't expect a huge struggle or conflict in this one.
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