21st Century Archmage

Description

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While on a school field trip in the Czech Republic, Kang Hyuk happens to stumble into a shop called “Archmage.”

To his disbelief, the shop is actually owned by an archmage… from another world! Forced to become the Archmage’s disciple, Kang Hyuk is punted into the Kallian Continent, where might and magic overwhelm and wyverns fly high in the sky…

In this world, people are either sword-wielding knights, magic-wielding mages, or spirit-wielding summoners.

There hasn’t been anyone yet who can do all three… until now.

Associated Names
One entry per line
21세기 대마법사
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
The World of Otome Games is Tough For Mobs (3)
How to Live as the Enemy Prince (2)
Return of The 8th Class Mage (1)
(Um, Sorry) I’ve Been Reincarnated! (1)
Demon Noble Girl ~Story of a Careless Demon~ (1)
Dragon Life (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Spirits | Espiritos
  2. must reads
  3. High Quality Stories for Beginners
  4. My personal favourites
  5. On Hold (301-400)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/12/22 Reaper Scans epilogue (end)
09/05/22 Reaper Scans c220
08/31/22 Reaper Scans c219
08/27/22 Reaper Scans c218
08/22/22 Reaper Scans c217
08/15/22 Reaper Scans c216
08/12/22 Reaper Scans c215
08/07/22 Reaper Scans c214
08/04/22 Reaper Scans c213
07/26/22 Reaper Scans c212
07/22/22 Reaper Scans c211
07/22/22 Reaper Scans c210
07/17/22 Reaper Scans c209
07/12/22 Reaper Scans c208
07/12/22 Reaper Scans c207
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Review
20 Reviews


keklel
keklel
Jul 29, 2016
Status: v1c8
I don't know what the author has against Chinese people (he calls them "chinks" and rambles on about how all Chinese products are sh*t every other paragraph) but it is really tiresome to have to listen to the same diatribe every single chapter. The plot and characters are really cliched. First you have this mage teleported from another dimension who is described as Gandalf, teaches this kid magic against his will, gives him a bunch of monies and then teleports the kid back to his own world to carry out... more>> revenge for him. And the reason Gandalf doesn't want to go back is because - get this - he's old. That's right, a 8th circle mage who has lived for over 200 years doesn't want to avenge himself because he's old. You'd think an archmage would have some way of dealing with aging? Nope. He's super powerful and wiped out the European mafia by himself and teleported himself from another dimension but he can't deal with aging. Whatever. The MC is the most stereotypical shounen protag. He's like the jock you always hated in school. His girlfriend is the most bland character in all of existence. The novel has only one description for her - pretty. Yep, she's pretty and that's all we know about her even though she's one of the main characters and appeared in over 7 chapters. It's another one of those single-trait one dimensional cardboard cutouts that plague all shitty 3rd rate webnovels. In one scene the MC and her go to some jazz performance and one of the jazz players get into a car accident and the MC went to take over that person's role. Like WTF this is just a high schooler's fantasy basically. Well the MC is just a high schooler but still, who wants to read that? Despite them going on multiple dates we haven't learned anything of substance about Yerin (nor the MC for that matter) other than that she likes jazz. The reason given for why the MC's girlfriend like the MC is that the MC saved her from being r*ped that one time. F*cking really? That's the lamest most cliched excuse for a romance plot there is. MC saves a girl from being r*ped, she falls in love with him. That's what I call lazy writing. Rest of the story is equally badly written. <<less
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leippy
leippy
Apr 23, 2021
Status: v5c42
Hello, I'm the current translator for this novel. Now that we're well into the third volume with released chapters, I wanted to write a review for this novel.

Setting: It's a fantasy novel set in a western world with some cheat elements. MC gets his magic knowledge and special ability to use all three sources of mana (enabling him to be a knight, summoner, and mage) but he's not super OP because he still has to work his way from the 1st Circle up. The circle system restricts what he can... more>> do, and he still has to work hard to be able to apply his magic knowledge.

Plot: You have to remember this is a novel with 18 volumes. It's going to be a long ride. A basic summary of arcs so far, light spoilers:

Spoiler
    • Volume 1: Meeting the 8th Circle Archmage and becoming his disciple
    • Volume 2: Going to Kallian and getting accustomed to the new world
    • Volume 3: Wyvern school arc
    • Volume 4: Wyvern training arc
    • Volume 5: Deployment
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Character: I'll only talk about the MC. He's a shameless, arrogant type of protag who will suffer no grievances, but as long as you don't mess with him, he'll treat you well. He's a product of his strict upbringing, I'll say that. I definitely don't personally agree with a lot of his actions, and he definitely does s*upid things sometimes, but he's not a bad guy. I enjoy the fact that he has dreams and works towards them. There's some character development but I doubt his character will change much.

Regarding the racism prominent in volume 1: I apologize, I translated it faithfully but I agree that the anti-China sentiment is strong and uncalled for. Asians are racist to other Asians...

SO, while this novel isn't perfect and the characters aren't perfect either, I ask that you don't judge it based on one volume. It gets better, and I'm personally having a lot of fun translating it! It's got a lot of world-building and the world will get even bigger as our MC expands his knowledge and grows. Give it a try if you're hankering for a fantasy novel and you're tired of RPG game elements. <<less
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GuardianVillainess
GuardianVill
May 09, 2021
Status: v1c5
First impressions: For the most part this series seems enjoyable, but I feel like my brain is rotting every time a woman is mentioned to the point where I almost dropped it in the first chapter. Like, I feel disgusting just reading the descriptions. Not sure how long I'll keep reading this.

Edit: Yep, nope, this just gets progressively worse. I'm not sure what era this guy thinks he's living in, because aside from drooling at any woman he can clap eyes on, he literally tells his girlfriend of one date... more>> to eat more so that she'll be healthy enough to "pump out babies", which she just laughs at like it isn't gross at all, and the one woman who isn't deemed fit (in fact she's offensively ugly; yes, truly, she shows mercy to the world by wearing makeup) he considers old at 35, and consistently refers to her as "old spinster" when she's not even middle aged. Like, the author even references the beauty of Jeon Ji Hyeon - how old do you think she is? Older than that teacher, and with kids to boot (I'm not saying she isn't pretty, I just mean how the hell is his teacher old, are you saying Jeon Ji Hyeon is old?). Heck, according to Roald Dahl, most people don't even learn to adult until they're 30, and who doubts Roald Dahl?

And as if he wasn't bad enough by himself, the author tries to make him look less creepy by making his "reknowned" master even worse - at which point I have to add, the author suggests to us that this master is a serial rapist. MC's opinion on that? "Meh, not really the manly way to do things. Tempting, but I'll give it a pass. More importantly I'll never forgive that guy for sending me here!"

... What. The. f*ck.

So yeah; I'm not reading any more of this. And aside from this shit, the story was actually kind of fun; a bit dumb, and the protagonist has an ore-sama issue where he looks down on everyone and gets a real kick out of throwing around the various powers he lucked into... but overall not bad. Just, with the exception of that glaring problem where the world would probably be better off if dear protag-shou just never gained any power of any kind. Seriously, if he was even a team manager in some random company, irl, he'd be the guy that leads to all the female staff quitting their jobs. <<less
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Trolltractor
Trolltractor
Jul 14, 2021
Status: --
Given how great the reviews are, I gave this story a go. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

The author assumes the reader has knowledge. Knowledge of Korean culture and names. I don't and as such struggled immensely with the flow.

Characters are pasted onto the story with the dexterity of a child. They pop into existence without context or introduction, and are subsequently used with the assumed knowledge of the non existent backstory.

There is very little in the way of descriptions regarding advancing the plot. The story is... more>> written as a train of thought with a significant focus on the MC, his thoughts and speech which results in a "He said, I said, I thought and suddenly the plot has moved forward into a different place" type of story.

These things are the makings of a poor story which I consider not worth your time to read even just for the main ideas the author was so poorly trying to convey. <<less
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aguy
aguy
Oct 04, 2016
Status: v2c13
An enjoyable Korean story about a youth having a fortuitous encounter and training in magic. While somewhat of a cliche concept, the execution is great. I was laughing out loud (thank goodness I live alone!), and binged the whole story so far. I just wish the translators were faster!
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zhanxian
Nov 27, 2021
Status: c128
Spoiler

What a crazy ride. The MC leverages his magic skills to become a lord and persue his dreams. He is however, an inexperienced teenager and he goes a little chuuni sometimes. There is magic, battle, beauties, and territory management. This is a really long read, the chapters are pretty decently sized and it will take a few days to go through it all.

Complaints of the harem are valid to an extent, he meets plenty of pretty women and they all slowly fall in love with him. But he doesnt really do anything with most of them, at most he might get a kiss or cope a feel and sometimes its one sided or a misunderstanding and nothing happens. However, this isnt entirely his fault due to plot reasons. It's not explicitly spelled out but its strongly hinted that his master may have messed with his personality while bestowing him knowledge. His master being a giant perveted old man that sadly missed out on the springtime of his youth due to persuing magic. This is a huge call back to the very begining joke about things going wrong when using made in china magic crystals that many people might not pick up on if they speed read.


while it is frustrating to have so many female characters that seem to never show up again, they do in fact start coming back and becoming more story relevant in the later volumes once hes established his power and is starting to make moves on the international scene. The MC has a dream to utilize all the resources of the fantasy world to make his ideal world, and having relationships with the various races are an important part of that plan so meeting beauties and princesses and having them fall in love with him while being the MC giga chad is unavoidable.
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Bananana
Bananana
Apr 20, 2016
Status: --
not much translated at the moment, but what i've read so far is good.
this is the one novel where I might actually have to get off my lazy ass for, and learn a language for if it doesn't get translated soon :P

the comedy moments in it just has me smiling and at other times full out laughing. Which is a big fat + in my book
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66382910364
66382910364
Nov 21, 2021
Status: v12c136
Maybe not the best story, but it is really fun to read. It's a nice change from the constant regression, reincarnation, and system manhwa that are constantly coming out. Apparently other people hate the first volume, but I found the mc's ridiculousness to be quite funny throughout those first few chapters.

This is also the first novel I have ever spent money to read. Thanks reaper scans for coming out with great quality translations.
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shadowkillzlight
shadowkillzl
May 21, 2022
Status: v1c8
The premise of the novel was actually cool and I liked it, but the MC sucks. He is both not funny and absolutely tr*shy personality and not like kang han so from fff-class tr*shhero. He isn't relatable. He’s just a shitty person. Also why is novel littered with racist and sexist comments. Like every novel has its biases but man is this one notable. The only people who I feel will like it are probably teenagers who don’t really care about the story, and the comedy is definitely not funny
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CEO of racism
CEO of racis
Jul 08, 2022
Status: v10c110
This story feels like it was written by a 14-year-old for 14-year-olds.

A good novel if you have nothing else to read or if you want to completely shut off your brain, but other than that, this novel is terrible. After 10 volumes, we have got little to nothing in terms of character development from the main character. There hasn't been a single moment that I've felt was tense, in fact the only things we've received in terms of his development are the size of his harem and the ferocity of... more>> his lechery.

Spoiler

Another peeve I have with the main character is the fact that he needs one of his subordinates to die in front of him so that he can harden his resolve to kill his enemies. Even if there are people after his life, he will let them walk away freely while at the same time preaching about stomping on weeds before letting them grow.

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The only thing this novel has going for it is its premise. <<less
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lelmyleague
lelmyleague
Dec 02, 2022
Status: c2
I only read 2 chapters, but that already told me enough about the novel. The novel is written as if you're reading a diary, so it's boring to read. Well, I should've known, it's written by a Korean person. Everything between the MC and his master is forced. Somehow, the MC was the only person who entered into the store that had talent for magic. And his master somehow is too old and lazy to go back into his world to take revenge, so the MC has to. I mean,... more>> this just feels like lazy writing. The author obviously hates anything Chinese related. The author just can't stop mocking them every single chapter. Plus, the MC is not likeable. We're told about his backstory, but it's not enough to feel any connections to him. He grew up in upper class and is somehow good-looking and tall. He's also somehow a genius in magic. Furthermore, he has everything going for him conveniently. The only thing the author tells us about the MC to make us feel any sympathy for him is that his parents are stingy and strict. LMAO, imagine complaining about your parents being stingy and strict when you grow up in the best possible environment. I mean, the MC is just not likeable based on first impressions. I don't care if he gets 'better'. Likewise, I'm dropping this novel anyway. <<less
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ARodz
ARodz
Oct 30, 2022
Status: Completed
I saw alot of 1 star ratings and I was a little sceptical about it but I decided to be hopeful about the novel and the start of the novel was really good and that was it...

I won't say this novel is generically bad but it's definitely cannot be considered good because it has too many irritating and hateful things about it.

I hate the fact that the author tries to convey a certain message through the novel which ultimately reveals how less he cares about this novel to write the... more>> way he did. : ( <<less
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hyahhaa
hyahhaa
May 22, 2022
Status: c196
First of all, what I feel about the author is that this is their first (or maybe one of the first) novel they've written. Ngl but this feels like an amateur works, as they're repeating some repeated things repeatedly, and so far I found a bit inconsistency in the plot. MC also has thicc plot armor, often "luckily" survived at a war, and getting an enlightenment at the right place and the right time. MC got plenty of babes so easily, too easily even for me who have low standard... more>> for that kind of things. Side characters also have low development, some characters even didn't have any name (maybe the author is just too lazy)

Spoiler

And mark my words, anyone who the author didn't give a name until the end will die. Once again, mark my words!

[collapse]

The novel itself feels like a shounen manga, with "crimson blood burn with passion" thingy often getting said from the MC. Maybe the author tried to add a bit poetry to the novels, but it feels cringe instead. I think maybe the author needs to try harder. Oh or maybe the real meaning lost within the translation process? Idk. Not that I didn't appreciate the translators, as the translated chapters are perfect so far. I just got a bit of complaints for the web, as sometimes the next button brings me to not to the next chapter, but to a random previously translated chapter. Maybe it's just my phone that didn't have the spec required but the web also eat a lot of my RAM, sometimes reached 1.5gb if I read the novel for some time.

I got many complaints about the novel, but it's still pretty enjoyable for me, as I'm only reading this lightly

I won't rate the novel, as I'm still not finished reading yet <<less
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Stompound
Stompound
Nov 19, 2021
Status: v6c53
The story is fun and some of the ideas are clever and fresh. I enjoy the growth rate of the MC and many of the characters have fun personalities. The story is also relatively easy to read and follow along despite the somewhat long chapters.

As for negatives, there are far too many beautiful women getting involved with MC and nearly all of them are barely around for a chapter or two at a time at best. It's difficult to remember their names, never even mind what their physical descriptions are,... more>> because of how fast they are swapped in and out of the story. And nearly every other character in the story is basically motionless or useless when the MC's story is not being told. It feels like the world is dead unless he's nearby. <<less
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Drett
Drett
Feb 02, 2023
Status: c35
I am dropping this, now to explain;

I didn't get super far, It's a shut-your-brain-off kinda novel and honestly I wouldn't have much of a problem with the story save 2 things.

  1. The ridiculous oversexualizing of just about anything. If there's a woman in the text you can bet the MC wants to f*ck them. I get that at the beginning he's still a teenager but holy shit. It feels like it was written by an incel who's never touched a woman. Every time you meet a woman his heart races, he blushes, and hits on them. And not only that, he's a hypocrite that goes "Oh no, I'm such a gentleman for doing this". There are times that he's a pretty likable guy, mainly when he doesn't try to f*ck anything that moves. He helps villagers, forgos his comfort to save folk and so on, often times he does more than he's required of him that's why you can like him.
  2. You're overdoing it brother. Even after being transferred to another world and almost f*cking dying he doesn't change his actions in any real way. He still overdoes anything he does, just like in his world where he would flaunt ridiculous amounts of money, he will utterly humiliate people even when he is aware he's gonna get in trouble.
MC likes to think... more>> of himself as special, thinks he does good stuff but is utterly black inside, and thinks he punishes bullies, and is obsessed with s*x, and yet he doesn't f*ck. He's literally a delinquent incel.

My main issues come from the MC tbh. I hoped he would mature a bit after being stabbed in the stomach but nah. The story and the world are pretty decent and the other character are often enjoyable even if they're only there for a short time. Make the MC an actually decent guy and I might've actually read this a lot more. <<less
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LehmD
LehmD
Sep 28, 2022
Status: c221
Your average korean fantasy novel. I really dont have much to say about it. 2.5 stars rounded to 3 considering the novels I rated as 2. Ending is super rushed

... more>>
Spoiler

MC gets from 7th to 9th circle in like 2 days. Even getting to 8th circle is pretty much impossible for humans.

[collapse]

and wish MC was a bit more relateable.

Spoiler

sometimes he just does weird stuff. He will slaughter hundreds of people and a few scenes later will be relucant to kill an enemy because he is not a psycho or whatever. MC has a harem because why not but barely gives any of the woman attention. You will forget half the girls even exist because they wont be brought up for half the novel.

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Give it a read if you like other similar novels about magic/transported to another world <<less
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fangyuan
fangyuan
Aug 22, 2022
Status: c217
Since the last few chapters were still locked and the story is pretty much done, I decided to stop reading at 217 and call it a day. I think the novel is really a cookie cutter Korean web novel that bears some similarities to Toika's novels. Plot is average, characters are decent, plot armors are present now and then, MC is kinda insufferable, romance is cringy, and the final arc is a letdown. A lot of underutilized potential as well since we know that there are other realms with different... more>> power structure. Nevertheless, the novel is okay-ish and something you can consider reading when you are out of novels to read. <<less
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MyRAMEN
MyRAMEN
Mar 09, 2022
Status: c7
The story only started getting good after MC left the forced kidnapped training area. However, although it got more interesting, every chapter had lots of words. It seemed that the author tried to write how traditional published novels are, however with the story pace chosen, it ends up mostly being filler than a useful edition to up the story quality. The writing style is pretty repetitive. It seemed that there were a few comedic writing here and there, however it didn't get translated well (likely more due to language/culture difference... more>> rather than translators quality). This novel can serve as a time waster, however, at least for me, there are more worthwhile books. The writing style chosen for this book is also somewhat niche on the translated online novel communities, which I do not take a part of. But then again, looking at other revs who read far into the book, I would've likely rated it as a 2 instead of a 3 if I kept reading. <<less
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bjpm
bjpm
Jan 17, 2023
Status: Completed
Nice Korean story with actual developed harem. Some of the romances are somewhat hurried but that's kinda normal in harems and not necessarily bad. The story develops into something I didn't expect, but it was an enjoyable ride. The ending is pretty good IMO but lacks closure. Most of the things that would have made it a lot more satisfying to finish are left as "it is cannon that this and that is planned to happen in the future I didn't want to write about". So although is satisfying, it... more>> would have been a better ending to have those events actually written out instead of implied that they were cannon in the nonexistent future. <<less
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brokenglish
brokenglish
Oct 01, 2022
Status: epilogue
Idk why this isn't ranked higher. This is superb. All characters are likeable. Decent world-building. No backstabbing bastards. MC is not a wimp. Not many chapters but still satisfiying. A breathe of fresh air compared to the 1-2k Chinese ones with repetitive formula. 10/10.
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