To Be a Power in the Shadows! (WN)

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

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

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

Latest Release

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


EmpuKris
EmpuKris
June 18, 2019
Status: c190
This is a misunderstanding comedy story and one that is not to be taken seriously.

The MC is OP and has some serious case of chuunibyou syndrome. He has a few screw loose on his head as you cant understand his priority at all. He is not evil but he is definitely not good also. He is a terrible leader but has the luck of a devil. But in the point of view of his follower he is almost at the level of a God.

If you are a chuunibyou it is... more>> definitely a must read as you will at least understand 50-80% of what the MC is saying otherwise dont take it seriously and just enjoy the comedy. <<less
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Storminy
Storminy
June 2, 2019
Status: c150
Honestly it’s a decent novel pretty funny if your into that type of comedy. I mean it’s funny but not on the level that will make you laugh out loud literally. A small smile maybe. Well that’s just me tbh. Anyways what I hate and despise from this novel is that I believe he is being far too dense and the girl Alexia she is too toxic a b*tch. I mean why doesn’t he stay away from her like I literally have a feeling he is going to fall for... more>> her despite having beauties surrounding him. I hate novels that reward toxicity on a level that is completely serious bullying if they belonged to the same s*x. But since they are not this tsundere Loli feels that the MC is a pooch and she is slowly falling for him.

Where is the dignity of a princess? Where is the air of royalty? Why does she make a fake relationship with such a loser. <<less
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2-DKnight
2-DKnight rated it
March 18, 2019
Status: c128
First off, don't recommend this one who only enjoys "realistic" experience or people that only use reality as a basis to determine to value of humor or anything fictional. This may sound complicated, but don't recommend this story (or force yourself) to read this if they (or you) is a hardcore realistic person. This story is a funny bs with a sh*t ton of how chunni achieves his dream. Harem, I don't care, but fun? Hell yeah!
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clowred
clowred rated it
February 28, 2019
Status: c64
Funny.. And that's all. While some stories suffer from taking themselves way too seriously, this novel belittles itself in such a harsh manner that even what it does right turns into something wrong. The protagonist is likable because of his open minded nature and self recognition of his more than juvenile desire, but because the story wants to keep him like that they also make him completely oblivious to what happens around him.
Spoiler

In 64 chapters there are quite a few events that prove that his so called "created" backstory of the world events is actually real and that the girls he saved see him like a deity instead of just using him. There is so much information given to him yet he acts time and time again like he doesn't understand anything.

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It's hard to keep enjoying a protagonist that is presented both as a genius and a dullard in the same paragraph. The rest of the backstory now is becoming quite tedious as the protagonist seems to be jumping from one place to another with no rime or reason. While it may seem that its in concordance with his plans of being the power in the shadows, the reasoning because his actions is left out for the reader to make some assumption so that the author doesn't need to worry. Cliche girl start appearing one after another, and this is now tiring.

Right now, I sincerely wait for something else to happen, but at this point I need to take a long break so that when I come back I have enough power to read until the protagonist becomes clearly defined. My review may seem to put the novel in bad light, but no, considering the amount of recycled isekai type of stories, this one is very good, and as long as you can ignore loop holes, then you are going to fully enjoy it. But for those that feel itchy when the story jumps from one place to another without putting some dots to connect, then you are going to get disappointed sooner or later.
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Chro
Chro rated it
February 19, 2019
Status: c50
I usually don't write reviews but holy hell, I had to for this.

I can't tell if the writing itself is bad or the translation is what is killing it. It's bad

This novel wants to be Overlord so bad but fails. Overlord fleshes out it's characters, gives a back story to the major characters, explains why everything happens. People are excusing this saying it's not meant to be taken seriously or it's "satire". This is a poor excuse imo, satire/parodies have a logic they follow, One-Punch Man, the biggest parody these... more>> days makes sense in its parody of other materials.

I am perfectly fine with the main character wanting to be in the background, his weird obsession, childish-ness obsession but it is executed poorly. Again, I am not sure if its the story it self or the translation.

The Translation: Poor. I always give respect to translators, they always try their best but sometimes their best is just bad. The biggest gripe here is the grammar and sentence structures, a few mistakes here and there aren't an issue but whole chapters are just bad. Reads like a machine translation.

Overlord Issue: MC is supposed to be like Ainz, all his followers believe him to be infallible, strongest, smartest being alive. And as a reader we are given reasons as to his followers think that even though Ainz himself says otherwise. In this novel however we aren't given any reasons, it just is. Sure the MC is strong as hell but god is it boring. We aren't given enough background information with the side characters for why they all seem to be in love with him, where even the smallest look from him sends all his followers wet and wild.

MC wants to be a forgotten side character but jumps in front of an attack meant for one of the "main characters" then lives to tell the tale. Just dumb stuff.

Again, the biggest issue here for me is the way the story is written or translated, I am not sure which one is the main issue. Premise was great, execution s**ked. <<less
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rutabella
rutabella rated it
February 16, 2019
Status: c119
I've read a sh*t ton of shitty novels, I've seen some awesome novels get not much popularity (Possessing Nothing) and I've seen complete sh*t get voted to the top (mainly a lot of chinese novels for some reason). This is not shit, but it is an acquired taste I believe. This is because the whole entire manga is like a cliche story wrapped inside of a gag manga. Any plot holes are caught by the ridiculousness of the premise and it somehow works. Like a rickety car that will... more>> explode if it drops below 40 MPH you don't want to stop your reading to think about inconsequential stuff like economics, politics, and societal norms. Luckily it doesn't stray too far into politics, but it does take a shallow dip every now and then.

Do not read this expecting seriousness, this is a silly novel that is entertaining. It's like one punch man, you don't read one punch man to see if saitama will be defeated in the next chapter, you read it to see how the world reacts to ann extraordinary individual. And in this novel you read to see the juxtaposition of this embarrassing cliched MC vs a world that coincidentally mirrors his delusions.

Buuuuut it's starting to get a bit serious in the later chapters, which is worrisome. The line between serious and silly is blurring when the MC is no longer referencing his own chuunibyou tendencies anymore. IMO the story is only truly great when the story is self aware.

but even when the MC is serious and everything gets generic, its not bad. People talk about other novels as being "fast food" and they don't even realize we got the king of fast food right here. That stuff they are eating is tr*sh, this is the real micky dee's right here.

Spoiler

We got the MC fighting a vampire while his super suit is stuffed with a literal ton of gold. We got an MC infiltrate a fighting tournament, lampshading the entire trope of a fighter hiding their true strength, then bring a goddamn piano into the sewers/tunnels below so he can serenade a princess by playing the third movement of beethoven's sonata no. 14 "moonlight" while dressed as anime batman. We got an MC who has waifu's that collect other waifu's for him. He has so many waifu's that he has made tiers to differentiate the special one's from the rest of the legion. He literally has a secret society of genius waifu's that are working to pull societies strings from the shadows, lmao how can you top that shit.

YOU CAN'T

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And the best part is that the waifu's are like the dressing on this glorious mess of a salad. The actual plot is at times completely insane, other times paper thin, and sometimes pretty good. To put it another way, its a good thing that the novel isn't very serious.

read the novel, come get your diabeetus. <<less
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Xenagos
Xenagos rated it
February 13, 2019
Status: c119
This is a masterpiece imo. The novel up to now was vry enjoyable, a must read novel.
The comedy is hilarious and don't feel like that it was writen by a shut-in author (that would write repetitive and forced pseudo-comedy). The action is more into swords/skills than magic by itself.

... more>>
Spoiler

I've started reading 2 days ago, it was pleasant to read. About the translation, Tenshi's Translations was one of the best translations that I've read so far, he also had the trouble to explain some of the references, sadly he had to drop due to legal stuff and copyrights. This is just a way to show some appreciation, and it saddens me to read some toxic comments on the New Translator-san website (Xia Zixin Translations), people should be more grateful to other's work be have more humility.

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ubergeek1812
ubergeek1812 rated it
February 12, 2019
Status: c119
The beginning are great. Chunni overload.

Late chapters kinda... boring? (At 118 it start looks interesting again tho)

Easy read, comedy part is okay. Don't get this novel serious.
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Siikalahna
Siikalahna rated it
February 9, 2019
Status: c119
Before I started reading this novel, I read some of the reviews (Those that rated the novel highly as well as those of the opposing opinion) so that I have some information about the novel as I'm diving into it.

The story started with an interesting premise and while it is pretty much a one-gag type of novel, for a while the story seemed to have potential to become something more than what it was. However that potential was not only ignored by the author, but apparently (based on the story)... more>> they decided to go the opposite direction and make it even worse.

I've caught up to the translation and have come to the conclusion, that the main character was, without a single doubt, an utter idiot in the beginning of the story, as well as losing brain cells as the story goes onward. I've lost any glimmer of hope for salvation for this story.

Would've given 1 star, however while the story, the main character and pretty much all the other characters are utter tr*sh, it didn't (at least yet) reach the point of making me drop it. <<less
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ZeroBlink
ZeroBlink rated it
January 25, 2019
Status: c113
Here to answer One Simple Question: Is it Shit?

Absolutely Not!

A fairly childish but fun comedy novel. In style of Onepunchman.

... more>> The MC is overpowerd, but unlike Saitama he found the answer to the "boring" nature of being overpowered.
He tries to Be flashy and to manipulate the stage forcing dramatic events or as the Manga anime like to call it, he has "3rd grader syndrome".

Since he want's to keep his powers a secret he often makes a fool out of himself intentional, which can be quite the spectacle. I really enjoy that part of MC.

Characters are decently fleshed out and there is not much to complain as long as you keep in mind it's a silly novel.
It employing that Disgaea style of humor. Which I personally love. <<less
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AROCH
AROCH
September 11, 2018
Status: c112
Honestly, this is hands down one of the greatest novels I have read.

I read some reviews on here and saw that many people say that this is childish and not serious at all. Well if you really want something serious then read this with an open mind and try to put yourself in the shoes of the characters. Feel their emotions and feel what they must have felt in that moment and I promise you that it will get really serious and dark if that's what you're into.
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Nvelist
Nvelist rated it
September 11, 2018
Status: c112
2 words to this story MC - BADASS CHUUNI!

Hahahaha, really a badass chuuni.

Coming from me, this is 5 star for me. Literal hilarious, funny, awesome and badass.

... more>> The plot is so intriguing that it somewhat a definition from Everyone Else is a Returnee towards modern mediocre overseeing and knowing the plot of its movements but more to chuuni and delusion coming from the protagonist, bwahahahaha !!!!

Definition of a mob when you got there as a failure being one but sssshhh let the guy dream to that part XD

Master over the sword, master over the power and master over 'fufufu' (- me to this LMAO!) <<less
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kublikhan
kublikhan rated it
August 31, 2018
Status: c100
This is a good light hearted novel with many comedy elements. The novel also an overriding plot good enough to want you reading more with interesting side characters. MC is a ridiculously OP chuunibyou who's strength is only matched by his s*upidity. Yet somehow his chuunibyou delusions end up as reality with his idiotic antics working out in his favor.

I recommend this novel to anyone who wants a light hearted fun ride that leaves you wanting to read more.
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hikigayaaaa
hikigayaaaa rated it
June 24, 2018
Status: c88
Seriously funny.

OP MC isekai done well.

At the beginning you might think the pace is super fast but give it a chance. I dont want to spoil anything, it really isnt. World building is not this ones strong point but the cliche unique scenarios. 9/10 for me.
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NotYourFather
NotYourFather rated it
June 10, 2018
Status: c82
One of the best comedy novel I've read so far. However I will not recommend it since the translated chaps caught up with the raws already and the author is kinda slow in releasing new chaps. Also tenshi-sama, the tranlator is now asking for new novel recommendation bcause of it. But all in all, it was verygood for the laughs.
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tatsuyax
tatsuyax rated it
May 17, 2018
Status: c59
I loved this novel, although it does not really have a consistent plot but it still manages to hook the reader up. The story is hilarious, MC is op as fu*k but wants to act as an mob character

... more>>
Spoiler

In the starting of the story he lies to his subordinate about some shady organisation and an evil curse put on them, just to look cool in front of her but it is later revealed there really exists such organisation with the same name along with the evil curse and his own mysterious organisation is fighting against it moreover the best part is that he is still unaware of the truth and still thinks his subordinates are just playing along.

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ninthlite
ninthlite rated it
May 12, 2018
Status: c53
This novel is incredibly over rated, as this novel is also incredibly shallow. Its nothing more than a generic power fantasty, but the author minimized everything in the story because he had no idea what to write. No need for characters, if you can just drop in some characters without even introducing them and just have them worship the character. The author really puts zero effort into writing any of the chapters, as they are so shallow. The conflicts are not built up to, its the the MC walks randomly... more>> around then kills someone and some generic peerless jade beauty is amazed.

tl;dr generic power fantasty. No effort put into writing anything in this story. The setting is nonexistant, the characters are non existant, the MC has no personality, the combat is boring (the MC is sooooo op), there is no humor, all the characters exist to worship the MC.

Compairing this to one punch man does a severe injustice to one punch man as its the opposite of a power fantasy as it trys to break down the cliches in shounen genre, and actually has interesting characters balanced with good humor <<less
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poppylover
poppylover rated it
May 10, 2018
Status: c52
This is the one-punch man of the isekai genre.

Protagonist thinks he's roleplaying in another world but he is actually in that role. His subordinates look up to him as if he's God because of all the misunderstandings and lucky breaks he got.

This novel is hilarious, actually had me laugh and clap like an idiot.

especially
Spoiler

the part where the princess confesses to him and he just gives her the middle finger

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OfficePony
OfficePony rated it
April 27, 2018
Status: c40
Yup... that good-good. First series since Praise the Orc to make me feel like giving a proper review.

Grammar: 4/5

Story: 3.9/5

... more>> Writing: 4.6/5

Loving this series thus far. Not enough out there to really give a proper review, but enough to get a good feel for the Author's writing style. The translation quality is fairly good, waaaaaaaaay better than most translation teams out there. The story is a cliche given a twist and sprinkled with bits of intrigue to make a nice and tasty Plot that isn't offensive to the senses. The writing is a beautiful combination of Misunderstandings and Sheer coincidences xD I cannot praise this method of storytelling enough for its comedic value.

Looking forward to reading more of this series. <<less
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Bakaleaf
Bakaleaf rated it
April 27, 2018
Status: c40
I rarely comment Japanese novel now a days especially tag with harem as majority of them are fake and just put it there to attract reader.

Now although this novel is still far from being a harem since MC has yet to fall in love but the chemistry of misunderstanding and seriousness of his surrounding is fun.

Others might call MC idiot or dumb but all I can see is an MC being true to his self through his own action. It was stated at the very beginning on what the things... more>> he admire most and although he arrive to an answer and was a bit disappointed he still chooses to continue hoping that one day he can make a difference.

It's not really a bad novel who ever written this must be a genius, no more weak to strong MC the common trend here we have strong to weak MC which is more unique. And how he is so pro on his action as a mob (side) character is really funny despite all his action became epic in the eyes of his followers and all of them are merely coincidence.

And the last thing that make this novel great is its simplicity, you can see scheming every now and then but it is to simple that is makes one read it with satisfaction.

sadly I stop reading at chapter 40.....

the pain of waiting another chapter lol it has been awhile...

falloutexile3 - when he did that did you not read that his follower made a follow up on his guess? although he might did that in random but since it was proven with a fact then I say what is wrong with that? <<less
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