I’m Really Not The Demon God’s Lackey

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Lin Jie is the owner of a bookstore in another world.

He’s kind and warm-hearted, often recommending healing books to customers who are going through a tough time. From time to time, he secretly promotes his own work too.

Over time, these customers begin to respect him greatly, some even frequently bringing local specialties to repay his favor. They often seek his professional opinion when it comes to selecting books, and share their experiences with this ordinary bookstore owner to people around them.

They respectfully and intimately refer to him using names such as the “Demon God’s Lackey”, “Propagator of the Flesh and Blood Gospel”, “ ‘Corpse Devouring Sect’s Rites and Customs’ Author” and “Shepherd of the Stars”.

“???”

Associated Names
One entry per line
IRNDGL
I’m Really Not the Evil God's Lackey
我真不是邪神走狗
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
What, Failure to Transition!?……Success!? (LN) (7)
To Be a Power in the Shadows! (WN) (7)
I Really Am Not The Lord of Demon (6)
Lord of the Mysteries (6)
Black Tech Internet Cafe System (5)
The Ruler Of Darkness (4)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Strong misunderstanding
  2. Best Novels I Read in years (Must read for you)
  3. I can't believe it finally ended.
  4. OP MC's
  5. Guilty Pleasure

Latest Release

Date Group Release
06/14/23 Hosted Novel c456
06/12/23 Hosted Novel c455
06/11/23 Hosted Novel c454
06/09/23 Hosted Novel c453
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05/26/23 Hosted Novel c445
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114 Reviews sorted by


GGbookluver
GGbookluver rated it
February 11, 2022
Status: c148
So, the premise is basically this really oblivious guy who loves books ends up making a deal with a demon or something and isekai's into another world with supernatural elements as a bookstore owner. The story is filled with misunderstandings about the MC as he goes about meeting super OP characters and helping them in questionable ways. Also his books are weird. That's all I'm going to say about the plot, read it if this sounds interesting to you.

But I will mention some elements that lead me to choose this... more>> score.

First of all, I really enjoyed the novel in the beginning, and I still think of the novel fondly. It had a great hook, comedic moments, and I was eager to learn more about the world with the MC. Hearing about the religions, greater beings, and power systems was incredibly interesting for me.

Unfortunately, the MC wasn't very eager to learn about the world and so the novel didn't focus on it. I'm sure the story will explore the world the more you read, but it's taking far too slow (and I'm saying this as someone who enjoys slow-paced novels).

This brings out one of my pet peeves about misunderstandings, and it's how oblivious the MC is. Sure if the MC has other qualities that make him an interesting character, I don't care. But if the MC is a bumbling oblivious and unfazed by everything simpleton... I don't know man, it's just not cool. The MC doesn't seem to be interested in anything other than reading, and so his attitude towards life is in the back seat. On top of that, while knowing he is in a world with magic and other stuff, he is unable to come to the conclusion that any of his customers are supernatural beings, EVEN THOUGH IT'S INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS.

Characters are good, we're still learning about them. And in my opinion there's way too many characters that we keep switching perspective to. I can't remember who is who and what each of them are doing so it can feel a little frustrating.

I see a future harem coming, even though it's not the type of harem where everyone is romantically involved with the MC. More like a harem-vibe where there are too many female characters who are obsessed with MC. I don't mind it though.

Don't worry about the story being a simple dumb guy surrounded by females. MC is enjoyable enough to read --despite my few nitpicks, and there's a very diverse cast from young to old, male and female, a wide variety of races and divisions, religions (fictional), and personalities.

Story is really repetitive. There are many plots going on in the story depending on which character we're following. The MC has two major ones, getting stronger (accidentally) while engaging in the magic of the world and 'helping' others. The helping others plot is the repetitive part of the story and also the unique part of the story. So while repetitiveness can be irksome to a few, I'm used to it and don't view it as a major negative factor.

I'd say give the novel a go, the first 20 chapters should do in setting your expectations for the novel.

- Peace <<less
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apparentlyangel
apparentlyangel rated it
May 22, 2023
Status: c272
Dropped. It's really repetitive and the mental gymnastics each character goes through to analyze every move and word Lin Jie makes is (funny at the beginning but,) absurd.

It's weird to me because multiple times they describe Lin as unreadable, mysterious, and subliminal but they think they know his intentions so well? And multiple people with different theories about Lin interact but somehow they don't talk enough about him for them to realize their farfetched ideas are s*upid so everyone is in this constant loop of misunderstandings that can easily be... more>> solved if mf just talked.

The characters also don't treat him like a God.
Spoiler

Like, the real reason I dropped is because Li Zhixiu wants to set up a business partnership with Lin where her company can distribute and market his books... like wtf??? Isnt the whole point why Lin Jie is considered special and godly is that he CHOOSES the books specifically for his patrons??? And Lin Jie, the one who is usually the oblivious one is the only person to see the flaw in this business because some books are only relevant in his world and some also arent for sale, but the author does something bogus and has Blackie literally devour the negotiations so that Lin Jie is forced to accept. And my question is, IF YOU WERE ACQUAINTED WITH SOMEONE WHO YOU CONSIDER A GOD, FOR WHAT REASON DO YOU FIND IT NECESSARY TO COVET HIS ITEMS??? Like, would you really ask to handle and distribute items that could shake your reality that was benevolently handed to you by a god? NO! So why did author-ge make this a thing? They literally provided reasons why this woyld be bad!!!!! Well, I dropped after this so I'll never know if this was an absolutely amazing, 100 IQ chess move that I was too s*upid to understand, but it's moments like these that break the immersion in the book.

[collapse]

If we're supposed to be deluded into thinking these characters really fear and respect Lin Jie like a God, I would expect they treat him like one. That's one of the reasons Wilde is one of my top favorite characters, because he acts like what I would expect if I met someone who shattered my worldview.

Also, why are the enemies so s*upid? I used to think that they were calculative because of how drawn out some of the arcs could be, but I realize that if you could summarize an arc within a sentence that might not be a good thing.

But oh well, it has 4.4 stars, right? 😒 <<less
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Loulaim
Loulaim rated it
January 23, 2023
Status: Completed
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" a very fitting line for this novel. It starts as a light comedy about transmigrated dude (after making a wish to have all the books in world), who owns a bookstore and sell/lend a books to various of people. Close to barmen simulator, where he listens to his patrons, advice them about their problems and giving them a relevant classic book to read.

Sound innocent enough, but here is the catch, what he thinks he is giving is not what other receiving.... more>> Even a "The Little Prince" can turn into some groundbreaking summoning manual for void creatures and patrons becoming prominent figures with absolute trust in MC. Who is, btw, still thinks that he helping to resolve mundane problems by giving some philosophical books. Insane mu*derer for him is just a lonely uncle, who lost his family and in dire need for life advice. And helping him is the same as helping a good police officer, who lost an arm trying to save people.

But the more you read the more strange everything becomes, too many coincidences piling up, strange creatures coming to bookstore, strange things happening to patrons. Is the problem with bookstore, the books, owner himself or the patrons, is MC really this clueless or clearly understands what he is doing? And, to avoid spoilers, I want to say, that this novel heavily inspired by Bloodborne and Lovecraft, so you can guess the rest by yourself.

Pros:

  • Some good humor in the beginning.
  • Overall plot is interesting.
  • Interesting world (iron city surrounded by the fog inside the dream is not your everyday japan highschool).
  • Chaotic neutral MC is pretty fresh archetype.
  • I had fun trying to guess is MC really that clueless or not.
Cons:

  • There isn't a clear goal for where plot is going, MC doesn't want anything, world doesn't need to be saved and patrons wishes not interesting. So we see a lot of development, but to what ends is unknown till the very end.
  • Plot progression and plot resolution not really well connected, we read about one thing, but in the end barely any of this matters.
  • Misunderstanding joke is overstayed it's welcome, it is good, that novel is pretty short.
For me there was an interesting trope where is MC doesn't understand horrible consequences of his own actions, a lot like in Overlord. But in OW MC is basically pawn of his own subordinates. Here he is making his own decisions without some vital information and it leads to the things MC hates the most. And he is still happy for what he is done. Quite scary imo. <<less
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grrman
grrman rated it
April 6, 2022
Status: c206
Very entertaining book about a bookstore owner who is misunderstood as being omnipresent and all-knowing. The story is centered around his store, and the books he gives to his clients being mysteriously transmuted from normal books from our world into magical books of forbidden and powerful knowledge.

What makes the story work is that the MC does have reasons to continue his misunderstandings. He isn't just an ostrich with his head in the sand. He was transferred from our world into the new world with no explanation on the setting, and... more>> most people in the world are ignorant of the true powers behind the other world. He also doesn't want to reveal that he's not originally from the world, so he gets all his knowledge from news which also covers up the fantastical events happening with fake explanations. As the novel progresses, it doesn't stay stuck in the same formula of bumpkin not knowing what's going on, but does still use misunderstandings as a source of comedy. It's nowhere near as forced as the willful ignorance by the MC in "To Be a Power in the Shadows", and is closer to "Overlord" in terms of how the MC is treated by the other characters, although the MC is not aware of the misunderstandings.

Besides the comedy, what really makes the novel work is the action horror. The author does a good job at writing fight scenes that are not commonly seen in webnovels. The author leans heavy into horror for the non-MC action sequences with gore and fantastical monsters. There are several characters that are patrons of the bookstore that are fleshed out and help drive the plot. The side characters help keep the book from becoming one-dimensional. I think it's well worth the read if you are a fan of comedy and don't mind gore in your action. <<less
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dmonjunkie
dmonjunkie rated it
January 5, 2022
Status: c140
pretty much misunderstandings, the novel - without eminence in shadow's rampant autism to tie it down

and instead of a thirty-year old wizard that gained magical wisdom via bashing his head into trees... who's subsequently isekai'd after running buck naked into a semi, demon god's lackey stars a chinese cultural historian. said chinese man happens to be whisked away to fantasy-land himself, but for one reason or another gets to keep his book collection.... and much more upon that, by making a deal with some unknown entity under the guise of... more>> running a bookstore. basically, my dream, only realised!

anyhow, the guy makes a living as the proprietor of this run-down 'bookstore' - only whenever he recommends a book to someone, what he sees on the cover and what they see differs dramatically. the books he's loaning out actually have wacky eldritch powers built into them, and he starts unknowingly gaining a reputation as this machiavellian incarnation of the world's god

it's a bit odd sometimes as the world's basically got the same computers and communication tech as we do yet is still somehow stuck looking like 19th century europe, but it's a decent read and I might go back to it when more chapters are out <<less
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koukana
koukana rated it
November 23, 2021
Status: c456
This is a really well written book. The side characters have their own personalities, goals and ambitions, and none feel like shallow characters. The world building is really only limited to one place in their world, but it works for the story and is very well made.

The final arc could've been a little longer, but from the author's notes it seems he was on a hurry to finish, so the final arc wasn't as extensive and impactful as it could've been, still for the few chapters it lasted, I bonded... more>> with the characters more than any of the other arcs.

I'm sad it's over, but it ended in a good place, something I can't say for most novels out there, recommend it to everyone. <<less
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Roleris
Roleris rated it
November 20, 2022
Status: c304
Maybe 3.5 stars for me.

Honestly it's pretty good OP shopkeeper novel, however the misunderstanding/misinterpreting trope gets pretty boring after a while.

At first you laugh at some of the silly misundestandings between the MC and everyone else, but at some time it becomes tedious and obviously nonsense since the MC is supposed to be some kind of prodigy/genius and is amazing at "reading people" but even after learning about the magic and stuff, still misunderstands literally everything everyone else says...

Kind of a shame really, the world itself is pretty great, the... more>> magic and powers also look interesting, but all of that seems like an afterthought, sometimes barely or badly explained, and the misunderstandings are the main focus.

At this point I just want to see the all the setup be revealed and be done with it. <<less
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lukespyro
lukespyro
July 26, 2022
Status: c208
I enjoyed the novel and it reminded me of Gourmet of Another World though each has its unique twist on the static setting/character with revolving world.

Unfortunately, both share the weakness of having repetitive cycles of events with progress only possible as the stakes increase with a new cycle. Though, I was personally fine with it as the author made some efforts in making each encounter somewhat unique, though some cliches seemed necessary for easier, forced subplots.

... more>>
Spoiler

An example of the acceleration would be how we start with an injured woman and accelerate to a leading black magician and leading general/investigator with little build up. Eventually, pseudo-gods are introduced and power balance is just thrown out the window...

[collapse]

What ultimately lead me to dropping the novel:

  1. The MC is forced into situations where he can't be mistaking things as easily, but the author forces it and it leads to an initially colorful character becoming increasingly 1D in nature.
    Spoiler

    Very difficult to be able to contruct dream realms and then not realize the "cop" isn't actually a cop...

    [collapse]
  2. Powerscaling has become absurd in regards to the side characters as well as the MC.
  3. I realized that I had "read" all there was to read in 200 chapters as the plot will only scale up and I don't forsee any significant changes to the procedural nature of the series with future plot only providing either passing fancies:
    Spoiler

    A guardian gargoyle > guardian plant > homunclus...

    [collapse]
    .
<<less
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draco5666
draco5666 rated it
July 22, 2022
Status: c267
started off pretty decently but fell out the way quickly.
its fine for a misunderstanding novel but at some point its just people being freaking ret*rded to the point of needing help wiping their own bu*t and being absolutely fanatic over him for doing it.

i recommend "please stop summoning me" for a better version. Though its not been translated as far along.
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Dg2
Dg2 rated it
January 25, 2022
Status: c167
This is a misunderstanding novel. However, the plot doesn't suffer from repetition what so ever. It keeps moving forward which is more than what a few novels couldn't do.

The general story is about a guy who has a bunch of eldritch books which he thinks are regular books, but for the denizens of this world they're like the holy scripture of cultivation.

The power level of this world seems legit so far. There hasn't been any new realms of cultivation appearing out of thin air. Though cultivation is a 'loose' term... more>> in this aspect. Honestly, the real selling point of this is the unique power systems hinted and developed. Ex: You got a Bloodline, Faith, Sword and Black/White Magic Systems.

If what I mentioned above doesn't ease your worries, then know this is unlike a CN. This one reads more on the lines of a western mix with subtle JP tropes. However, you may get a little annoyed with how 'dense' our MC is. Though, when he talked Old Li through a blood sacrifice ritual... while in another room.... that was golden comedy.

Rate 4.6/5 <<less
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Okabe_rintarou
Okabe_rintarou
November 27, 2021
Status: Completed
It's a masterpiece.

Simple as that.

If you love misunderstandings, if you hate a good novel being stretched to milk the readers, if you enjoy good humour, you have come to the right place. And binge readers. It's only going to take 3 days to finish it at most.

Not gonna spoil anything here. You must read it to enjoy it.
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Zythnel
Zythnel rated it
July 31, 2021
Status: c78
Quite a good read so far. "Alive" world with every characters having their own agenda and motives. World building is okay.

So far there's not much going on but I can see where it's building up to with the recent development.
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Seregosa
Seregosa rated it
February 28, 2024
Status: Completed
Worth a read if you're into misunderstanding comedy with half-assed horror/psychological aspects.

But really, it's a pretty fun novel the first 1/3. Then it drags on and on and on and towards the end, it feels like the author just gave up and wanted to end it asap. The ending s**ked.

The misunderstandings were fun at first but the author never really expands on it. Various characters feel oddly mechanical and one-dimensional, all have to misunderstand the protagonist by making up their own story for why the MC is so awesome, it... more>> feels very forced after a while as coincidence upon coincidence piles up and the MC never fails to completely delude himself into thinking he's somehow normal, blinding himself to the obvious. Then, suddenly, the author clearly lost interest or finally realized that the horse he was beating was not only dead but turned into minced meat and then just abruptly made the MC realize everything and the entire story was ended as fast as possible while glossing over tons of things that should've been arcs.

At the end, we realize nothing has really happened in the entire story. The MC never developed properly, nothing much transpired in the "world", he never left to explore various clues or hints... We don't even get to see a proper end to it all. We're, from start to end, bound to a single place in a single city and major villains turned into cannon fodder in a bid to end the story.

Sucks even more when you realize the author even stopped thinking about the misunderstanding comedy part towards the last 1/3 of the story. From being pretty fun, it ended up just a dreary subpar storytelling experience.

Still, I give it a 3/5 because it's worth a read if you don't have much else to read... I started reading this soon after it started getting translated but I kept putting off reading the last 100 chapters over and over again because they were unappealing. But now I've finally completely read it and been disappointed, so I can put this behind me never to look back. <<less
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Sam2s
December 16, 2023
Status: Completed
I really felt the ending was rush and the story can still be stretched too like Charlotte, Red, Greg, Melissa, Claude, Cherry and a lot more of characters sad to say, Im going to miss Mu'en and Silver and also what about Doris? It still have alot of room to continue but for the story to end abruptly have still have a lot of questions in mind I cant help but wish for the Author to have a second story about this or just an after story, you know? I'll... more>> really miss this characters so much and also a big thanks to the TRANSLATOR and the AUTHOR for giving such a good and fun novel to read to pass boredom

I refuse to believe that this is the end of the story I want season 2 of this even though its nothing but a pipe dream I'll gladly wait for it. <<less
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orchid5642
orchid5642 rated it
May 27, 2023
Status: c547
7/10

Missunderstanding is the main 'PLOT'. You will get a plot armour about how things happended is because mc's will.

... more>>
Spoiler

it's not entirely wrong. Because I guess it was his subconcious action. But even MC in the end wonders what his fellow bookcustomers think.

[collapse]

MC is chaotic netral. The most interesting point in here is MC doesnt make a group with sole purpose. He accepted every customer come to him.

His customers come from different background. He doesnt have any favorability toward his costumers
Spoiler

and majority of them is enemy of other customers.

[collapse]

Spoiler

Like wilde and joseph or cherry and miss ji

[collapse]

It really interesting, this type of groups is the first I found.

Spoiler

it looks like he make people doesnt satisfied without any enemy because their powerful background. Because he will make their enemy himself to make them not stray away to much

[collapse]
.

But I dont really like misunderatanding part and it also drag quite a bit.

It not your average plot indeed. What look like the most normal continum of one event will not apply here.

But the ending is good. It matchs with his standing around his customer. <<less
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Taffyman
Taffyman rated it
July 25, 2022
Status: c186
I get it, CN novels like their little misunderstandings! Nobody understands anything in this novel and everyone goes out of their way to misinterpret things and speak in riddles between themselves that make them misunderstand each other further.

At a certain point, you have to solve a misunderstanding - that doesn't happen here. MC just chills all day, talks random nonsense to his customers (by misinterpreting their problems), hands a demonic book (without his knowledge) and continues being ignorant while every danger solves itself without MC's knowledge or he somehow solves... more>> it by misunderstanding something and though most of it is pure luck.

If you like this sort of story, you'll probably grow tired of it, because I just described the usual repetitive cycle of every encounter here. <<less
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bakaemon
bakaemon rated it
March 20, 2022
Status: c196
This chapter marked the greatest achievement of misunderstanding. The series of events somehow managed to domino their way into "sasuga Boss Lin-sama". The plot is supreme, I'm crying in laughter lmao XD.

Truly the greatest misunderstanding comedy I've read. I am not exaggerating.
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HappyLulu12
HappyLulu12 rated it
January 21, 2022
Status: c70
I'm really impressed by author s mind. He must has a hive mind to make this misunderstanding story so hilarious and somewhat logical.

Really enjoyable to read. The number of male and female characters are somewhat equal. No bs romance or dumbass death seeking characters. Most characters have decent personality not like those twisted mind degraded Japanese or Chinese characters I've often seen. Although the misunderstanding is somewhat too repetitive but I still make me laugh from time to time so I can bear with it.

MC gives off a chill vibe... more>> but still has everything under control effortlessly which is the thing I like most in this novel.

I'm kinda skeptical at first since it is a misunderstanding genre and I'm not very fond of this genre since it requires a very skilled arthur to make it readable or else it will be a story that have a bunch of s*upid low iq people hangout with each other doing cringe stuffs under the protection of plot amor, and the summary isn't very appealing at all. But now I glad I picked this novel since I was too bored.

The first few chapters may seem very unappealing (it took me like 3 days to read just 4 chapters, that show how boring it can be) but if you keep reading I will sure become much better <<less
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Gayle
Gayle rated it
December 13, 2021
Status: c34
A person walks into a bookstore. There they meet the bookstore's seemingly ordinary owner. The owner recommends to them what he believes is an ordinary book. But to the person the receives the book, it is a tome of great power or knowledge. The person leaves the bookstore, making incorrect assumptions about the owner's identity. They use their newfound power or knowledge to accomplish some goal. This causes someone else to learn about the bookstore and the process starts all over again.

Overall, this story is okay. It has the one... more>> premise and it is entertaining (though nothing amazing) until you grow tired of the premise. The bookstore owner is the main character but the focus on the story is his customers, the power his books give them, and the misunderstandings that result. Entertaining events happen because of him, but another than his recommendation being the spark for those events he isn't really a part of them. Most of his "screen time" is spent being oblivious to what is happening around him or giving motivational speeches to his customers. These motivational speeches are irritatingly shallow and naive. Part of that is intentional. His pretentiousness is meant to be humourous. But a lot of the time it is clear that the shallowness and naivety is on the part of the author rather than his character.

The translation is good. Easy to read and understand. <<less
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alominus
alominus rated it
October 16, 2021
Status: c70
An extremely fun read, as long as you don't take it too seriously. It's fun to see the MC make vague fortune cookie sayings and have the side characters jump to conclusions from them. The MC is pretty much an idiot, nothing more than a snake-oil salesman and late-night fortune teller with an overinflated ego, and not sure if it's intentional by the author (I'd like to hope it is), likes to treat extremely simple and obvious ideas as if they are something profound. The leaps of logic that characters... more>> make are truly laughable but it's part of what makes this novel charming.

Edit: Although I enjoyed what I read of this novel, by chapter 65 I was fed up with the author's rambling and over-explaining of the obvious. The MC's obliviousness and pride in being a walking fortune cookie got old quickly. I gave it 5 more chapters then called it quits. <<less
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