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Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~
Type
Web Novel (JP)
Genre
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Rating(4.5 / 5.0, 562 votes)
5    78% (438 votes)
4    9% (48 votes)
3    5% (27 votes)
2    3% (17 votes)
1    6% (32 votes)
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
Year
Example: 2012
2015
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
88 WN Chapters (Discontinued)
3 LN Volumes (Discontinued)
Licensed
No
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
N/A
Release Frequency
Every 14.9 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #392
Monthly Rank: #705
All Time Rank: #942
Reading List
[Graph]
On 8434 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #1817
All Time Rank: #486

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.
[This is an everlasting love story.]

The second son of the Count family, Tullius Shernan Oubeniel, was a person who reincarnated from modern day Japan. That is, a person who has a single experience of death. With no understanding as to how he was reincarnated, he thought that perhaps, he might be reincarnated next time in the same way. Yet, his fear of death was greater than anything – above that, he could only do things such that he avoids death. Peculiar to this world were certain kinds of magic and one of them was alchemy. Choosing this class of magic, he was said to be able to attain perpetual youth and longevity. With that as his only salvation and goal, he had to reach out his hand towards the deepest secrets of alchemy and did so as though it was the only way for him to live. Even if there were sacrifices to be made for that end.

A s*ave maid admired him from his youth. A Count family. Adventurer. s*ave. Citizen. Aristocrat. Country. Humans. Other beings that were not human…… Just because of one man’s delusional obsessions, many lives were changed, warped, torn apart. Even then, Tullius’s footsteps never knew pause. Everything was so that he could reach the forever he longed for.

Associated Names
One entry per line
ウロボロス・レコード　～円環のオーブニル～
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Reverend Insanity (14)
Dungeon Defense (13)
Warlock of the Magus World (8)
The Dark King (3)
Your and My Asylum (3)
The Lazy King (3)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Might read
  2. My Library Of Treasures
  3. Novels That I Have Read Over The Years
  4. Favorites
  5. Mentally ill protagnoists

Latest Release

Date Group Release
04/11/24 Peppermint c86 part1
04/01/24 Peppermint c85 part2
03/20/24 Peppermint c85 part1
03/10/24 Peppermint c84 part2
02/20/24 Peppermint c84 part1
02/09/24 Peppermint c83
01/31/24 Peppermint c82 part2
01/20/24 Peppermint c82 part1
01/09/24 Peppermint c81
11/25/23 Peppermint c80
11/16/23 Peppermint c79
10/21/23 Peppermint c78 part2
10/12/23 Peppermint c78 part1
09/17/23 Peppermint c77
09/08/23 Peppermint c76.5
123…7
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56 Reviews sorted by


yepitzme
yepitzme rated it
May 6, 2018
Status: c22
I just want to start by saying that if you do not like having a villain protagonist who lies on the "chaotic/neutral evil" side of the alignment chart then this novel probably isn't for you. The story goes to great lengths to make sure that you always know what the mc's motivation is and explains why he does the things he does. You don't agree with it of course but it's fascinating to watch how determined this sociopath in achieving his goal. He also doesn't have access to bullsh*t instant... more>> win powers but relies mostly on his wits and his research to manipulate the situation to get what he wants (Think Kira and his Death Note). So far I only written about the MC because he's by far my favourite part of this novel, everything else is just bland at worst and more than acceptable at best.

Just a quick fun fact btw. "Ouroboros" (the title) is the name of a symbol of a circular snake/dragon which represents infinity so the title really reads "Infinity Record" which fits in nicely with the MC's goal and it's the tiny details like these that I really appreciate in Novels. <<less
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smite2001
smite2001 rated it
July 11, 2017
Status: c13
(+) positive

The story is, like mentioned in other reviews, really well written. It has good descriptions, decent dialogue and other things standart LN/WN often lack.

Story-wise, it is also very nice. And by that I mean dark. The world isn't fluffy, but how you could expect from a medieval society, locked into perpetual technological stagnation due to magic. The protagonist, fulled by his desire to not die again, focuses on alchemical research. Being a member of the nobility, this is frowned upon, and people try to get rid of him... more>> or take advantage of him. The novel focuses on the political going ons and intrigues, as well as the MCs efforts to further his research while avoiding those pitfalls.

(=) neutral

Long chapters. Don't be put off by the few chapters released, the word-count is really high already.

The MC is a poster-child for sociopaths. Hard to relate to, honestly.
Spoiler

He kills off huge numbers of cheap s*aves "for science" and alters those he keeps by removing/manipulating parts of their brain, among other augmentations. While s*aves are "things" that can be disposed off at will, it is still frowned upon, so his, and his family's, reputation suffer. His brother and father get increasingly repulsed by this behavior as well. This is something the MC can not understand, as he is not doing something illegal, basically he is incapable of understanding emotions and feeling empathy. As I said, a poster-child for sociopathy.

[collapse]

(-) negative

long and frequent 'different POV' chapters. I am not saying they are bad per se, but it feels like half (or even more) of the novel is told from someone else's perspective. I kind of understand why the author did it, as the MC cannot tell other people's feelings, so you have to get that from the people in question directly. Still, less would be better in my own opinion.

many things are a little long-winded. Dialogues, explanations, exposition, everything feels a tad too long/too much to me.

================

Overall, a very good novel. The world is believable, the characters interesting and often unique at the very least and the writing is very good. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
udonsage
udonsage rated it
May 27, 2017
Status: c9
So, I been thinking about why I enjoy this light novel because the main character is absent of the morality of humanity. What I mean is that he is very much a scientist/researcher that would go through great lengths in doing experiments to achieve immorality; even doing experiments on humans.

Yet, he has ethics that make him not do experiments to those that are not s*aves such as his family.

I suppose the only reason why I am reading this now, is the big question that been lingering on my mind the... more>> whole time:

Spoiler

If he does achieve immorality, will he stop his experiments? Will he release his servants from being mind control? Is he finally going to screw his maid?

[collapse]

The only thing that puzzles me about this light novel is that it is tagged as romance. Where is the romance in this? <<less
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DDark
DDark rated it
May 5, 2017
Status: --
This is a story of an inhuman psychopath. I root against him, I wish he dies a horrible death and all the aristocrats in his world too. Besides few aristocrats it seems commoners are treated like cattle, it's like they don't even exist not even to the author. It's a decent read, interesting. Not exceptionally well written or well realized, a lot of it is fodder and rubbish. The world itself is painfully lacking in grounding and functionality, the author seems to throw generic otherworld nonsense from a hundred other... more>> other world nonsense you read recently. I continued to read it because it was interesting, but 7 chapters is all I could take. At some point what is novel at first becomes stale. <<less
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AnEmptySky
AnEmptySky rated it
April 29, 2022
Status: c65
The novel's setting is your typical isekai Swords & Magic world, with a sprinkle of religious and royal powers. Rather, what I think is this novel's selling point is its MC, a regular person by any means except they possess an almost omnipotent skill and talent in Alchemy (the magical predecessor of modern medicine). But such a trait is practically expected in an isekai power fantasy. However, what I do want to point out is his motivation. Immortality. The novel goes into detailed lengths of the reprehensible actions the MC... more>> will do to distance himself from death. He's not 'evil', afterall death is scary and painful, if you don't want to die it's only normal to try to live forever, no?

In terms of writing quality, it's pretty good. Side characters have distinct personalities. Antagonists have their motivations for going against the MC, in fact it's more like the MC is often caught up in someone else's plans and is thus targeted. In this sense, the MC is more of a passive protagonists where story events happen to him, than him making things happen. But I suspect, or rather hope, that as the story progresses this will change as the MC has to explore further and risk more for his goal instead of hunkering down like a hermit. <<less
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Invadingcat47
Invadingcat47 rated it
October 8, 2021
Status: c57
•Paranoid to the point the protagonist only trust people he had brainwashed by operating on their brain

•Treats people as nothing but a tool to reach his goal.

•Having no restraint in his alchemy experiment.

•Inhuman mindset to the point he cant understand normal humans

Yeah the Protagonist is a piece of work. Despite having an pleasant exterior personality, dont let that deceive, he is a monster willing to do anything as long as it gets him advantage or experiment subjects

... more>>
Spoiler

He regularly killed s*aves when he was a child in his alchemy experiment, but thats okay because s*aves dont have rights. He operates on people brain to turn them into his loyal s*aves, he raided an elf village turning all survivors into guinea pig. He burned the Capital City just to escape a scheme that was against him. He created modern weapons like guns and train a clone armies in secret just in case there might be a war against him.

[collapse]

What I like about it is the sense of agency of other characters, even his brainwashed s*aves have their own opinion. And his brother.

Spoiler

His brother have a truly amazing character development, his slow descent into insanity as his mental health crumble slowly throughout the series is just fascinating.

[collapse]

Even if the MC's personality is kinda static, the strongest point of this webnovel is its characterization. The people in this world feels actually alive, like real people with their own dreams, goals, personality. I the MC's Brother Linus has the best characterization in the series, love him or hate him, he is belovedly well written. You can follow his thought process, see where it started and where its slowly going. Also this series is fantastically detailed, from dialogue, character voices, culture, geopolitics and history, even the origin of a character by their accent is accounted for.

It's like the Light Novel Overlord (Murayama), morally bankrupt protagonist with amazing world building. <<less
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Smurfthesmurf
Smurfthesmurf rated it
March 7, 2021
Status: c47
I've read as far as it has been updated so far, so any new readers can take my word knowing I didn't just read the first few pages.

To put simply, this is very good but very slow.

First the good stuff. This novel is probably the only one that has a genuinly evil protagonist. I don't mean "declared evil by tge author" or "declared by the world" or "yeah hes bad but there are worse people and hes just protecting his loved ones". This guy is ruthless, selfish, and will commit... more>> any amount if atrocities to achieve his goal. Doesn't matter if its children, allies, the things he holds precious. All this guy cares about is becoming immortal, he has no morality. In fact, the major personal conflicts come from his subordinates and the clashing of this morality of working for such a monster. The external conflicts that he faces aren't caused by chance. He started those conflicts, he was not dragged into them.

Now for the bot so appealing stuff. It's not action orientated (which I like). Most people would expect a lot more action out of a fantasy setting, so that may be a turn off to you. I said that the story was slow, but thats not exactly the case. Its more like the story is a bit slower than other stories if thus genre, but it updates so infrequently that it feels like forever. Thank you translater person for your hard work. Honestly, I imagine you will have a much better experience reading this when it is completed, or at least more frequently added, so as to not feel like you get scraps every now and then.

Overall, this story is a solid 4/5 for me. If it updated more often, it would easily be a full 5 <<less
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Praktiskai
Praktiskai rated it
January 15, 2020
Status: c35
While a shame its current status is discontinued, as far as novels go I love this one the most.

The protagonist seems rational and I can't recall a time I'd have thought to myself "wow, you're so dumb for not doing this". Everyone here has their minds, fears, reasoning as far as I'm aware. No one is portrayed as evil or "wrong" or without reason.

The protagonist being rather obsessed with not dying. In fact he's so interested in not dying he's willing to sacrifice the world and break every boundary for... more>> that goal. He's not a robot though and still has some feelings in him, mainly for his bodyguard and hobbies at times.

Also, good people will be harmed and worse so you have been warned, though it won't happen too often

So... yeah. A truly awesome read, perfect at least for me. This may be slightly controversial but it's at least good enough to be the best work of literature of anything in all of time, maybe ever <<less
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Nathanrohen
Nathanrohen rated it
July 2, 2019
Status: c29
This is a wonderful gem found among the many novels published. It is a shame the light novel has been discontinued because the writing of this story is so delectable that I wish I knew how to read Japenese. The MC isn't the typical stereotyped MC that died and reincarnated into another world. Instead, he died and had a painful experience existing between worlds so much that it has made him not want to experience it again. This not only has potentially changed who he was before, but makes it... more>> irrelevant because it holds no influence on his choice of finding a solution to his fear. It does appear to have the MC view things in a bit of a modern way, like how he may name things or create things, but doesn't derail the era that the world is setup in. The medieval world with magic, with alchemy, swords, religion, and an aristocrat society.

In some novels, the MC is so overpowered like bringing guns into a swordfight making it so unrealistic when fighting in the medieval era. Here, Oubeniel is limited by the resources, by political power, by his family, and the threat of the rest of the world. He is is limited by himself, as he is one person who tires out and needs to maintain his health because he wants to live for eternity. It is so realistic that he has to maintain a facade so that he doesn't become labeled an enemy of the world or state - leading to an extermination of himself and everything meant to achieve his goal of everlasting life.

This novel is rated R-15 too, so the graphic details are tame and not so vivid as some other novels can make them. It does serve to allow the reader to be creative in filling the lack of vivid details so it can be entertaining at times, but I think this novel would be better served if it expanded in going further. This would make the MC appear even more detached from humanity than already felt and would add more to express the era's cruelties as well. That would also make the good moments created to be even more savory. Regardless of some potential missed, this novel is one of the few I crave to continue reading. It is almost on the same level as that of Dungeon Defense, where the story develops well with great political intrigue. Not only is there intrigue, but there is plenty of action too!

P.S. There is also a lack of insistent internal dialogue that becomes repetitive, irritating, and unneeded. Instead the thinking is shown in the dialogue between characters, the dialogue is consistent with their personalities, and tend to stay true to the society that the era has given birth to. <<less
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Hallow Cause
One and only Elfulus
April 4, 2017
Status: c11
So this story is all about a boy who died and reincarnated in a fantasy world. And this particular boy is all bent up on 'longevity and eternal youth' to avoid the crippling sensation of death. Let's start off with his personality. He is neither cold, nor is he kind. He will be cruel to the one that obstructs his original goal, and be kind to the one who does not obstruct his goals. He is logical and calm (too calm), but he does get worked up when it comes... more>> to results, whether it'd be success or failure, as long as there's results. He also does not get moved by compliments nor gets shaken by insults and ridicule. If I were to sum it all up, he's just a neutral character and at the same time acts somewhat like a villain. This novel does not mention experiences of his past life, but does explain some of the things in his past world. I also like how this novel shows multiple povs, regarding the actions of the MC. They're reactions are also quite entertaining, whether it'd be fear, shock, happiness etc. So for now, I'd rate it 4/5 (I will change this review as the story progresses) <<less
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sandro530
sandro530 rated it
October 26, 2020
Status: c22,1
Quite interesting, yet not interesting enough to continue reading. It has a quite good idea and setting, but the long chapters and the slow story progression make it rather boring for me. It doesn't help, that this has been on hiatus for 4 years.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
GoldenCookie
GoldenCookie rated it
December 30, 2019
Status: c35
Wow. If you enjoy things like Warlock of the Magus World or Dungeon Defense, this is a must read. Excellent characterization, plotting, experimentation and sociopathy galore! You probably shouldn't read it if fictional human experimentation makes you sick.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Raubtier
Raubtier rated it
March 7, 2018
Status: c20 part1
The story in itself is unique.

The main character is someone who experienced death and has developed a phobia of dying. In order to prevent his own death...

... more>>
Spoiler

He performed 'inhumane' experiments on s*aves he bought.

[collapse]

If you aren't bothered the dark introduction and the cold reception from other readers calling the MC a psychopath then read on. I found the story quite fun and addicting. The author's ability to build up tension and the unusual plot differentiates this from other generic 'reincarnate into another world' genre stories.

The MC is actually hard to hate if you truly understand human nature. You'll find his actions rational and realistic. Well, specially the realism in it. It's what drew me in though, even in a different world with magic and all that. <<less
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DDosGaming
DDosGaming
March 13, 2021
Status: --
it's story about 'that job everyone looked down upon is actually the strongest'. But with one dimensional main casts.

protagonist is phychopath alchemist who incapable of trusting people without usage of s*avery magic. And he will do anything for immortality.

his assistant is loyal and smart. Compliment him, know hard alchemist stuffs. And willing to subject to any body modifications.

... more>> that's all I can describe them. They're typical cartoonist evil scientist villain guys. They don't really have personality, just traits.

alchemists are job that looked down by everyone. But thing that it can do are pretty much omnipotent. From supersoldier to brainwashing perfume. <<less
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TurtleOfRainbow
TurtleOfRainbow rated it
October 6, 2020
Status: c10
AMAZING is the only descriptor for this that I can think of right now. It is tamer than some dark novels but maintains the level throughout and keeps you in a state of shock and amazement at the same time. Don't be deterred by the reviews and tags of a typical tragedy dark fantasy world. The writer's use of facial expression descriptions and dialogue surprised me when I found a high tier of novel writing on this site. The MC and FL are dark but keep their stance for torture... more>> to a minimum and the actions the MC takes are borderline illegal but not yet illegal. It makes it the perfect fantasy psychological thriller and the chapters are long to boot. Deserves more love. <<less
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Just Another Cynic
Just Another Cynic rated it
January 6, 2019
Status: c15
Its been a while since I dropped this one and I just happened to see it and figured I'd give it a review (so take what I say with a grain of salt).

Anyway, this novel knows what it wants to do and does it well. I recommend that before reading this you carefully discover the tags among which such gems as "stockholm syndrome", "human experimentation", "evil protagonist" and "depictions of cruelty" should give you an idea of what you are getting into. The story up to the point I read... more>> to is more or less this, though it has its action (which is pretty good) and the justification for it all is well understood by the reader.

The characters themselves are well developed and even if I could not bring myself to like the protagonist there were others who I rather enjoyed even if
Spoiler

They end up as something else entirely under the mc's fingers.

[collapse]

If you want a novel that lives up to all the mild horror that the above tags promise (horror at seeing what has happened to the characters who end up in the hands of the protagonist) while also being a fresh take on reincarnation and the effects it could have on ones psyche then this is the novel for you. Also good luck. <<less
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sukets
sukets rated it
July 28, 2018
Status: c22 part2
Somehow the author made a psycopath of a japanese beta MC. The psycopath part is good, even if the author kinda lacks the skills to write it. But the other half of the MC is that one we see on japanese beta MC, in which he is rarely spearheading the plot, instead, always reactive to events.
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Fares
Fares rated it
November 17, 2017
Status: c7
Well...

First of all let's start with MC. He says that he is a normal modern men but for some reason his talent in alchemy can be considered the best in the world and honestly he is a genius in a lot of ways even though that he was a 100% "normal adult" in his past life. Leaving that aside surprisingly he didn't bother to move his research base when he was a child nor did he consider how people think about him despite living in the world of nobles and... more>> having enough knowledge to grow a little girl from being broken child to a full fledged monster.... simply speaking he is the author perfect version of an evil airhead and cool scientist with no real explanation aside from that the MC died once. (it feels like the author didn't do any research about human psychological which is really funny because you can find the word research almost everywhere in every chapter)

Now leaving MC aside let's talk about the story its normal japanese story where all the side characters are there to make MC look cooler and every enemy is just another cannon fodder in the beginning there was some depth to the story but after ch0 it feels like the author creativity switch turned off the only difference the story have that instead of everyone admiring MC they fear him which you can also find in a lot of chinese novels that have the same theme.

Overall it's fells childish and honestly boring to read though it's better to give it a chance and judge it for yourself after all I dropped early in ch7. <<less
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MayoiNeko
MayoiNeko
October 22, 2017
Status: c16
The author has a very good grasp on how it feels to die. Thanks to that he also managed to make a very good "evil" main character with clear and understandable goals. Although most of the side characters are not properly fleshed out, but that could be fixed in the future.

I recommend this novel to people who like smart main characters with non-conventional morals.
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Mahesvara_
Mahesvara_ rated it
February 16, 2024
Status: c18
Quite an overrated novel. I got bored reading this. It's lacking in both writing-style and concept. The story felt half-baked in everything!

The take in this story is quite different, about 80% of the "Evil Protagonists" that i've read in many cases the mc's wrongdoings often have some kind of whitewashing by making other people/characters misunderstand the MC or by making it look like the MC is less evil that he appears. But in this novel the MC was actually portrayed as an evil monster in it's narration, even the characters... more>> think of the MC as if he was a cursed existence. So that's the only part I like in the story but the rest are just disappointing.

🔸Power concept: Everything is for the pursuit for Immortality using 'Alchemy' idea is so vague and in fact I don't even know how exactly the MC planning to achieve it, there's no plans nor is there any procedure, the MC just suddenly learning to do things out of nowhere! All his ideas and things he accomplished all felt to far-fetched and it's undeserved, there's no hardships nor a logical explanation for it, MC just suddenly gets to do something behind the scenes. MC is capable of doing so many things but the author never really shows how it's possible for the MC to do that or give proper logic to the experiments, everything was explained in a shallow level and most of the important experiment in the story actually happen behind the scenes, the author just skip to the part where MC completed the experiment.
🔸The Politics and Kingdom-building: Same as the one above, it was all happening behind the scenes and was brushed aside. MC isn't really smart when it comes to schemes so it's was another disappointment for me. MC is also too passive and let people walks all over him. It's like playing chess but MC doesn't eat the enemy pieces at all. He already have the means to solve his problems but he chose to ignore the attacks from his enemies.
🔸Characters: Meh. MC is basically just a paranoid shut-in who's obsessed with immortality and with the way he remains passive the whole time makes me dislike him and let's not talk about the other characters, Aside from key characters, many little villains and side characters doesn't interest me a single bit. They possess a personality but not interesting at all.
🔸Character interactions: I didn't enjoy any of their talks, although it's not without substance but many of the topic of their conversation either doesn't interest me or hard to relate. Also both the translations and raws are quite confusing and I had to reread from both sources to understand.
🔸World-building: It's shallow and it lacks logical substance to back the lore such as magic, social-classes and it's government. Also although the story is European-theme, it felt like fro ancient Japanese society from feudalism period.

There are many more things that I'm unsatisfied with but i'll end up ranting even more so i'll stop here. I had high Expectations so my disappointment is higher. ❗This novel is nothing close to RI and DD. <<less
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