Main Character Hides His Strength

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Enemy of the world, cursed by all, Kim Sungchul goes on a quest to prevent the ‘prophecy of the end’ from coming to pass.

But no matter how much he raised his strength, there were still some things he could not achieve with physical strength alone.

Resolving to obtain the power of magic, he goes into hiding to learn magic from his most hated of enemies, The Mages.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Enemy of the World
Juin Gongi Himeul Sungim
The Protagonist's Hidden Strength
주인공이 힘을 숨김
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
The King of the Battlefield (13)
Master Hunter K (8)
Seoul Station’s Necromancer (8)
M E M O R I Z E (7)
The Lazy Swordmaster (5)
Reincarnator (5)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Favorite List : Transported to Novels/Games/Otherw...
  2. Male Protagonist (No CP)
  3. Fantasy NO romance
  4. List of Goods
  5. 8th-Grade Syndrome Policy

Latest Release

Date Group Release
01/21/24 OppaTranslations c270-272
12/22/23 OppaTranslations c267-269
09/10/23 OppaTranslations c266
09/10/23 OppaTranslations c265
07/12/23 OppaTranslations c264
06/04/23 OppaTranslations c263
06/04/23 OppaTranslations c262
05/28/23 OppaTranslations c261
04/16/23 OppaTranslations c260
03/23/23 OppaTranslations c259
03/08/23 OppaTranslations c258
02/07/23 OppaTranslations c257
02/06/23 OppaTranslations c256
01/26/23 OppaTranslations c255
12/10/22 OppaTranslations c254
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60 Reviews sorted by


LostFIN
LostFIN
July 6, 2020
Status: --
This dark-fantasy story is about an MC who hides his strength his attack power is overwhelming but he lacks magic to kill an enemy. The reason he mostly hides is due to him being called the world-enemy and is hated by most people which will hinder him from gaining more magic power by any means (school) to defeat the enemy.

He hides among the newbie where demons summons people, a place to start up or build up his magic power secretly in the enemy territory.

This is definitely giving me a refreshing... more>> feeling when he smacks the enemy. But I hope at the ending the people will give him the credit for his hard work. <<less
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Cheesetakery
Cheesetakery rated it
July 10, 2017
Status: c88
I heard it was downvoted due to the name, and I came to raise it back up. Its a great novel, although the main character only really hides his strength for the beginning and second arc. He doesn't have any reliable allies as of now, but that might be due to

... more>>
Spoiler

his betrayal by the other continental champions. He had allies before, and he also will most likely find more allies in the future. He also never changes his clothes but he said that he felt most comfortable in his hobo clothes. I just want to know what direction the story will go in after he kills the Demon King.

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Basically I loved it and I hope you try it out too! Don't be scared of the name!

-Cheesetakery <<less
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mrttao
mrttao rated it
February 5, 2017
Status: c93
The synopsis really does not do this justice.

It is a grimdark fantasy world that summons people in bulk from other worlds (including earth). Mostly to be s*aves but some to take up classes and fight demons and the like. Every system is corrupt, every person of power is corrupt.

The MC is the "strongest" (as in, highest strength stat on the RPG system) and has a goal, to kill the demon lord (one of the calamities). To do that he needs magic since the demon lord has a perfect defensive spell... more>> that renders him immune to raw physical might but weak to magic.

To learn magic MC needs to get around the fact he is considered an enemy of the state by pretty much all nations. So for the first 50 or so chapters he fakes his identity as that of a fresh summon from earth. As well as cheat his way through magic quests with raw power.

Later on the plot develops though, instead of being locked into the above idea forever.

There is also a good amount of humor mixed in. <<less
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OuRyed
OuRyed rated it
June 7, 2022
Status: c35
I always read the novel first before the reviews because there always be bad ones that'll discouraged the reader.

The transmigrated MC is one of a kind op from the start who doesn't piss me off. He sneaks into the Summoning Palace and pretends to be one of the thousands of new humans summoned from Earth. Hiding his strength in order to learn magic and kill the demon king that he wasn't able to kill with brute strength cause although he is strong, he isn't omnipotent. This novel is on the... more>> dark side where human are disgusting cruel and mostly corrupt. And nice people die early. The translation is excellent. There's nothing I could say to degrade this novel. It simply fail to keep up my interest. <<less
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lophis
lophis rated it
September 4, 2021
Status: c150
Read some of the early reviews of people who dislike the series. IMO, they are unfounded criticism and premature judgement about various aspects of the plot b/c the reviewers drop the series too early.

I actually like this series quite a bit, there are very dark and grim themes in this series, but the author doesn't focus too much on them. Just enough to provide context and show the appropriate gravity of the situation and then moves on which is great b/c I never liked how grimdark fantasy tends to mentally... more>> torture the reader over focusing pages on that stuff.

The character dynamic itself is interesting b/c the MC is overpowered in every sense of the word and a lot of the context of his powers is provided by his interaction with characters and the world. You get lulled with low key personality and his idiosyncrasies, then the violence and mayhem start and the author describe the horrific and hilarious reactions of his colleagues and enemies, you can't help but giggle at how absolutely bonkers the premise is, but it works somehow.

Give it a try, one of the entertaining OP MC stories ever. <<less
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AllPorpuse37
AllPorpuse37 rated it
September 2, 2021
Status: c62
I don't know if my review is helful caz this is my 4th time reading a novel.

I'd say this is so-so. The way they conveyed their words take a long words to explain unlike the very 1st 3 novels that I'd read where the explanation is very short but the meaning is long and deep.

Also this didn't give me the same excitement as the first 3 novels that I read. Don't get me wrong caz I rate all those 3 novels 5 star but this I think it's so-so

Like I... more>> said I'm still inexperienced in novel so I can't compare this to any novel than the first 3 novel that I read.

Maybe the first 3 novel that I'd read must be so good that my standards got higher so I rate this a bit low.

My first 3 novels

  • The regressed demon lord is kind
  • I'm not really the demon god's lackey
  • The king of the battlefield
<<less
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Abi
Abi rated it
October 14, 2017
Status: c108
The general gist of the story is that the MC (severely OP) seeks to destroy the calamities that are foretold in this world. The story starts with him going to learn magic in order to defeat the first calamity since he lacks magic power, then carries on with describing how he basically bulldozes his way through anything/anyone who's blocking his way. He's strong, like near-God like strong, so there aren't really any barriers to his aim so far. In fact, it's incredibly fun to watch arrogant SOBs get completely KOed... more>> by one hit from him.

The MC is brilliant to watch and though he does mow down anyone he deems his opposition, he's not cruel; in fact his personality and motivation is quite pure, just that everyone calls him the 'enemy of the world' because he's made quite a few enemies due to differing viewpoints. LOL.

I'm up to chapter 108, and the MC hasn't destroyed the first calamity yet (there are 5 so far). The focus thus far has been more a setting of the scene, but don't let this put you off as loads of events do occur and the story moves swiftly. The translation is fantastic and the story flows very well, hence I managed to read 108 chapter in the span of 2 days. As such, I fully recommend! <<less
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RikkSilirion
RikkSilirion rated it
September 8, 2017
Status: --
A quick lore/backstory explanation as to why everyone in this world hates the protagonist.
Spoiler

In the world this takes place in there are several 'calamities' which cannot be avoided. The next calamity will only happen once the current one is taken care of. There was a group of people that wanted to kill the demon king, the 'current' calamity, but once they got there they realized that if they killed him they would have to deal with the next calamity, and they weren't prepared for that, so they decided to leave and not kill the demon king. The protagonist was the only one who wanted to continue and kill the demon king. The group of people were scared of the next calamity, however, so they branded him the 'Enemy of The World'

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GDLiZy
GDLiZy rated it
July 18, 2017
Status: c91
When I first saw this novel's name, I thought it's generic OP MC story.

But after I have read it, this is amazing!

The plot is really good.I, myself really like Dark Fantasy setting. This is one of the only novels that done OP MC right.

MC sometimes hide his strength and do things behind the scene, but he himself will act if necessary.

I will answer some of the frequency asked questions.

Spoiler
  1. Why can't MC hire a mage? Because he is Enemy Of The World, hated by all.
  2. How? He got betrayed by 12 others Champions for their greed.
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muhammodalamin
muhammodalamin
October 1, 2019
Status: --
Just by the name of this novel the first impression it gives you is of a rookie author writing for the first time. But the writings is not bad at all. The premise is good.

The problem lies with MC. MC is a eunuch. He's an old man rather than your typical Young MC. His looks are described as ugly. If you dont want a harem than make the MC a skeleton or a monster like an overlord. Don't give hopes of the harem and give us an ugly old enuch... more>> MC. He would rather keep a low profile than gain more power. Why not disguise yourself with another face and rampage as much as you want and gain those palace tokens. Then you could leave as soon as the trial ends? Damn. He can't even change his name. And the author gave the title "MC hides his strength." he should at least be able to hide his name. Here, reincarnation to the past is common. You will see reincarnees everywhere. What's Unique about MC then? Heck MC isn't even a reincarnee. He's just somebody who struggled to rise to power in the past to raise his physical stats. Then understood there is a limitation with a physical body. So he was starting to learn magic. <<less
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lungshao
lungshao
September 24, 2019
Status: c157
Brutally awesome, no wishy-washy character type, sometimes uniquely creative dark comedy with a simpler plot. The author totally rips from famous movies sometimes but it kinda works. Also, trying to get more "depth" from this type of story ruins the fun. Fun characters too.

Can't wait to read more.
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happyfanatic
happyfanatic rated it
July 20, 2019
Status: c151
The main character is like a cross between Saitama of one punch man, and Gordon Ramsey, inhabiting a dark fantasy world (Game of Thrones-esque). The neat thing about the story is that as overpowered as the main character is when it comes to combat (and cooking), his archenemy is not a being, but a physical law of the world in which he resides. And he doesn't really understand alot about how that law works.

The author doesn't just dump the character's whole history early on but dribbles it out bit by... more>> bit as the story progresses. His interactions with other characters are entertaining. The character can be very callous about other people, he's definitely not an admirable person, but occasionally he will try to save someone's life. Frequently though he will abandon other people/won't go out of his way to help them, unless its more convenient to do so. <<less
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fir537
fir537 rated it
December 22, 2017
Status: c- -
The MC reminded me of MC from the World After the Fall (because I read that first before this). Basically OP MC mixing up with nonOP characters, sort of hiding his true strength.

... more>>
Spoiler

MC did some weird stuff in his past, and is now a most wanted man within the Otherworld. He, due to needing magic powers to defeat the ones at the top of the world, decides to return to his beginning. No idea if there was any time reversal magic of sorts, but he went back to the place he was first summoned. MC is part of the ones considered original summons, those who was summoned to the Otherworld via the Summoning Palace, the first batch. His other fellows are either dead, became a returnee by going back to normal world, or became people with powers in the Otherworld. He himself can return, but chose not to, and for some promise he made, decides to destroy the world (sort of).

So MC went back to his summoning fort, mix in with the newbies summoned over, and decides to go the magic path. He most likely went pure warrior the first time.

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Havent read much yet, so all I can think of is MC being too selfcentered. He mightve lost faith in humanity from the 25 years living in hell, but he seemed to not even attempt to pretend.

Ill update this when I read more.

Finding issues with the translation that annoys me, but I suppose most westerners wont care. I just never really liked names being reversed, even the western names. <<less
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sleed
sleed rated it
April 30, 2017
Status: c61
Edit: looks like the author made a turn to his writing pattern, wich put MC back to meaningful action and it's interesting what will happen next, giving me the feel of anticipation wich was the one thing made me invest attention on this novel, so from this point on I'm convinced this novel is like a pendulum most of the time, well written, and im sure it will accomplish what lots of xianxias try to emulate. What is still lacking is the definition of what is good and the act... more>> of fundamentally question what is he fighting for. This is gonna be left to the reader, I'm Sure this is going to be close to a indifferented massacre (like whats really at the cause of the root evil), just killing bad guys who happen to be obstacles in MC path on becoming the next dictator, by accident that is. But I'm pretty sure, that is what's on the end of the line here, excepting and omitting the assassin regresor, wich I think it is not going to matter really.

Original review:

Started good but lacks the ability to differentiate the essential plot from the superficial actions in between.

Describing long winded events that lead to a minor plot event feels like it was put as filler. I don't like 400~+ chapters for this theme. In anime, I think this could be made because it the show attribute is very high in that medium. In the later part of the novel or has a tendency to feel more like your are watching a video game, sung chull picking up items and extense narrations on the individual battle progresion. I think the merit of this theme should be in short, discrete purposeful actions. Not a continuum of endless contingencies made by accident the primary focus. If the MC is the silent, cold chilling and calculative person they he is and the premise is more than we are watching a powerful, super experienced genius the events should be able differentiated to what's important from the incidental for this particular plot and theme. The essential of this premise is the MC being able to act on his plans, I think MC should explain why such plan is the best and also what context has made him choose this path (not only circumstance hopping). This is not a novel about an extraordinary MC executing his plan. This MC making his 'plan (latter this only becomes a profound intent) ' work for the contingencies. His only ever truly planned event was the first arc, when he starts as a newbie. The only thing in his mind is kill the demon Lord. And gaining two stat points, Nothing else. Everything else after that feels more like a kind of strategy, divorced from the crucial part (thinking), taking opportunities since even he gave us the illusion that everything was going to be calculated and skillfully executed in the first arc. slowly it starts losing its brightness because really this novel had only two excellent potentials:

1 to be drawn in as the MC executed his plans, showing only the execution and critical build up, for a long chain of persevering clues on what he really is thinking. Serving as an inspiration of not bruteforce but feats of intellect based off extraordinary uncompromised principles used against evil

The 2nd potential is kinda the inverse

2 to be incentiviced, to look outwards, MC mostly describing his plans and showing, of its execution, mostly its consequences. Letting us to infer the status (essence) of the world in a cohesive, adventurous way. (Because we know the MC, he is not a mystery based on the narration style. What then would be interesting would be a combination of cause and effect in realation with MC actions, and his past. Never losing the underlying grand scale architecture.)

Why this two are the only option? Because the MC is OP: the only thing than would differentiate him from a thug would be his principles and values (wich never come out). that is the primordial driving force, what would make this strike story heroic; not having fear of doing justice and exterminate the evil because it's evil; being conscious of what's right. (I.e its a virtue being fundamentally able and smart). MC didn't lose its ability to fight evil. Instead what the evidence implies is

MC never knew what he was fighting for. This thought never even crossed his mind. This novel is about how MC was wrong doing push ups; he should have made more lemonades (alchemy). Solution;Not getting smarter but more and more concrete-bound

He ALREADY invested like probably two hundred years in building that strength. But instead of working in his strengths he just suddenly decided to become a magician. Why? Because his concrete bound mentality only allows him to think in terms of 'kill-fixin'. Thinking that a dictatorship is practical. He thinks that human beings are fundamentally s*upid and naturally evil with a tendency to crookedness. Only he can ens*ave by force and be a good s*ave master. Well that's wrong. The evidence this far tells this is whats happening. This is not a thinking hard about planning for the best good novel. The title should be

" MC hides his strength because he wants to become a dictator magician"

There is never a discussion about values here, principles or fundamental values. This is guess the BIG SURPRISE at the final of the novel. And endure the endless indistinguishable slaughter until MC discovers that he killed the world. Being strong doesn't allow him to command his future but only to adhere to a thin line taking him from of killing because they are crooked (everyone is here) except MC ofc. were are to read Thru all the countless, principle-less, concrete bound events in a novel about not about a hero but what becomes" the strongest butcher". I guess that we are infer the following, since MC never tells us what is good or what he stands for I think I can guess; he is good because he kills without thinking. the chapters get repetitive. Not only showing but describing again and again the same point, I thought that only on the beginning he would be this concrete bound, how ever this feels more like a pendulum, oscillating in between whats important and kinda important and more and more until this novel becomes arbitrary description of the entire and direct MC perception. Making this now about a brute's log on killing enemy's, wich happen to be sometimes powerful. The style losses the feeling of sharpness and becomes substance less. Like an edge that has acquired so much volume that now could only kill by means of weight. The character focus is like, a silent but supposedly furious drill sergeant, straining his sight, popping his veins out of his forehead, and showing its grinding his teth, just to observe a black ant crossing the dinner table, describing like an old man each step the ant takes; writing it in paper but never omitting to describe each step. I think if there is killing I think it has to be preceded by a very good reason. Abs when you kill more than one there had to be clearly defined principles based on values. Approximation to human like is like 4 digit redundancy does to a rocket traveling to the moon; it may launch of from the earth, but out probably never arrives the moon. <<less
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fanobody
fanobody
April 1, 2017
Status: prologue
Like NoobaLoob said there is a big problem of logic in this story. The MC take the long route to become a magician when he could just take a magic item that let him use magic.
Spoiler

But the big problem is why is there a test for newby? In The King of the Battlefield in was said it was because of salomon but there is no reason there, just because crazy magician summon people to make them s*ave and give thing to other people for no reason. Take concept from Reincarnator like one monster that suposed to be unkillable.

The plot is:He take the long route to become a magician to kill an enemy with an immunity to physical attack. To do this, he go to a tutorial. The tutorial is a copy from reincarnator that summon people to kill them? It also give advantage to people for no reason. He could just have used artifact that do magic for him, but it is convenient to the plot so the MC don't do this.

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The base concept is good and average story telling I would rate 3/4 star.
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Ayane
Ayane rated it
September 17, 2023
Status: c60
This is a dull work unless you really enjoy stories with an OP protagonist. The writing and characters are never witty, the plot is a one dimensional flat line, the moral conflicts are black and white superficial problems suitable for middle schoolers. It reads as if author thinks adding in r*pe and mu*der makes the story deep.

The first arc with the trials of the summoned is the stronger part of the series. There is intrigue with the different factions in the MC's group, the sub-plots with the supporters behind the... more>> scenes, as well as MC having to figure out a way to solve hard tasks while hiding his powers.

I liked the dynamic that there was a group led by an idealistic leader who believed in distributing resources equally, but he had to deal with freeloaders leeching off his group. Then there was another group of houndlooms who have a strong leader with good work ethic. There's a bit where MC has to try to influence these groups like manipulating chess pieces.

Unfortunately the author kills off most of them, including the supporters behind the scenes. This killed off the only good part of the story. After that MC is basically a one man plot solving everything easily, with random NPCs sprinkled into the mix. At this point the lackluster writing really shines through. <<less
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Grynthax
Grynthax rated it
July 22, 2021
Status: c56
I think the biggest issue I have with this story it's pretty confusing about what's going on which you know, I can get past that but when you get into a cadence of (A -> B -> C -> A ->) that kind of just ruins the story. Patterns are fine if they're infrequent or spaced out enough for you fully enjoy A to C before going back to A. Like, if your entire story is pick a target, target retaliates, destroy target, pick new target, then I don't fully... more>> understand why you're writing a novel about it. I genuinely feel like you should only start doing these sorts of cadences when your story is already explored right? These sorts of methods should only be employed when you genuinely don't have a story to tell, which then begs the question. Did the author just not have a story? <<less
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HelluvaReader
HelluvaReader rated it
April 14, 2019
Status: c148
I enjoyed it for a while.

As there are no translations anymore, I read some spoilers and have to say I'm disappointed with what is going to happen. The only thing that kept me reading was the OP'ness of the MC but it gets boring pretty quickly. I still voted it a 5 because I enjoyed its premise.

Spoiler

But it's best you drop the story after the MC kills the Demon king.

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sgrey
sgrey rated it
November 25, 2017
Status: c116
This novel is pretty dark, but can be interesting. However the setting is depressing and is difficult after a while. MC is a loner and just treats everyone as shit, arrogant and thinks he is always right. He doesn't want to get information available to him because he thinks it is unrelated to him, without even knowing what that information is. The pacing of the novel is actually good. Most things are not stretched out unnecessary, but the author sometimes screws up with that. The author also keeps things that... more>> can enhance the novel, world building and character development from the reader. For example he doesn't say clearly what happened, what kind of promise MC made, etc. Why keep it a secret? Also the fact that MC is too much of an as*hole is a drawback sometimes. He could at least treat Bertelgia better. Overall not a bad novel, but the is a foreshadowing of a bad end for MC. The author can spin a good ending or a bad ending at this point. <<less
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Niko1975
Niko1975 rated it
June 4, 2017
Status: c34
It's very good novel and I think it has a great potential. Surprisingly it's dark story (although not to the point of depression), but as you can see in tags it's about Owepowered Protagoinst so it's doesn't matter how much dark story is the main thing is that MC is not some pu**y.

But what I can not understand is that he is never changes his closes in this 34 chapters, and other characters always recognize him as someone with worn down military field jacket and jeans (aka, most humanee closes... more>> he found).

Well I don't know what preferenses you have, but this story to my liking, so i'll give 5 stars.

P.S: sorry for bad engRish) <<less
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