my first ever novel after 8-9 years of reading webtoons/manga

Possessing Nothing is about a boy named Lee Sungmin who has gotten a second chance at life. Suddenly summoned to this messed up world with no clear goal, he ends up working to get stronger using the little knowledge he has gained from his previous life, but basically possessing nothing else in the end.

I love this novel, a unique personality that is really realistic trying to overcome himself and his peers. The character development for Sungmin is really long, but I... more>> always enjoy it when authors do that because people aren't supposed to change so easily and fast. There are some parts that feel like a chore to read, but ultimately I think the good outweighs the bad in that case. In the end, if you're not keen of overpowered mc's that go through life easily, then this is for you, a character who struggles to crawl out of the well.

This has a comic btw; the name is Worthless Regression <<less

This novel is worth checking into. It was pretty good till all that destiny crap came up.

I first read the novel, felt that MC was b*tching too much about his weakness, left, recently read the manhwa and came back again.

58 chapters into a novel with over 400 of them is definitely not a review with a good presentation of its overall quality. However, I couldn't help but write it for people who might have held same expectations as me.

After reading the manhwa I felt pretty good, wanting to read the... more>> novel again. But after seeing all that destiny sh*t coming up I can't help but be disappointed. After reading that mountain training arc, I held some high expectations, where will the novel go after this character development. Since, I really liked all that prohibition thing.

Like it really felt that MC earned his power. I like that. Very Much. Compared to some "fateful" encounter. Yes, there was some help but still it felt "earned". Since he is talentless all that hard work made me happy. It felt like he really was an ordinary person.

As if he did not matter. Like some faceless background character in fiction. That no matter what he did, it wouldn't matter to the world. As he was just some ordinary talentless guy. That even if he regressed, the world would not care. He's not special. He's ordinary and talentless. Yes, he's the MC but he supposed to be some unspecial guy. And I'm using the word 'talentless' that much to convey how hard it would be for him make any dent in story of the world.

It was really sort of fresh after reading all about sons of heaven/luck MCs, where they have overwhelming talent or luck. And the world REVOLVES around them. That is what drew me in. That the world doesn't REVOLVE around the MC. But all that fate and destiny sh*t ruined it for me. It would have been much more fun and interesting for me if he didn't have that. Even if he's talentless, that fate/destiny sh*t ruined it.

Because before this our MC wasn't anything special. There was NO guarantee of what he would achieve like in other novels. If it was like some story about background character wanting to defy the script and become someone important. That would have been much more interesting and fun.

But it didn't. Now there's this sort of guarantee like we sort of know for sure, that he's gonna do something. That he will be someone special with some bs fate/destiny. Even if it is a bad one, it still sort of makes him like some MC. The first chapters make you feel like his regression does not matter. Like compared to other regression fictions it isn't really gonna make him OP where the MC has some heavenly destiny now. Regression didn't really feel like a 'cheat' compared to other novels. And I loved that. Because that meant he had find or do something else to make a dent in history. It felt like this might really become some interesting novel different from other cookie cutters.

And I feel betrayed because it didn't go that way. It would have so much MORE interesting read if it did. I mean, I admit that most of the story I read is from manhwa and manhwa has REALLY good art but still, the essence is still there after all. And I dunno but a bit of romance/friendship might have been fun too. The manhwa sort of showed it like that with the FL. I dunno it was pretty funny, a 13 yo making a 27 yo flustered lol. Considering, he was treated like sh*t and didn't receive much attention and love in his previous life it sort of made sense. It was funny. I liked it. I dunno if that aspect moves forward or not in the later story.

Tl;dr - I just feel that the story could have been much much much better than it is now if it was developed in some unique or different way. Can't help be disappointed : (

I'm still reading it though :D <<less

This novel is pretty good. I like the general setting, a mix of western magic and martial arts/cultivation. (Even if they aren't touched on that much). The plot is fairly decent as well, it mostly hinges on mystery.

The main character was pretty good as well... atleast during the first part of the novel. Unlike most Korean regressor novels, the main character isn't completely emotionless. Of course, I think I might've preferred him to be emotionless. Listen, I'm not against main characters suffering and crying about their suffering. However, when the... more>> main character constantly complains about life being unfair whilst being in the upper echelons of strength, it makes the main character look incredibly beta-like. I mean, dude supposedly is over 30 years old, but despite regressing he has the mental age of a toddler.

With the main character in mind, the pacing of this novel is pretty horrid. The main character will become "overpowered" in the most recent set standard for being strong. Then, he will get destroyed by someone far stronger than him. He will complain about being super weak (again, despite being really overpowered) just because someone beat him. He will then cry or whatever and make a breakthrough. Repeat.

Furthermore, the other characters piss me off so much. The author very clearly wanted a over-hanging "mystery" plot on how the main character is unique. Now, the author seems to think that every other character knows how he is unique, but can't say. It's really irritating. Furthermore, a lot of characters tend to act in a mischievous/playful manner towards the main character when he asks questions about how he is unique.

I'm not entirely sure if this was the translators fault or the author trying to make the novel mysterious. But, there are times when I have no idea who said what. This happens quite often. Also, some characters dialogue makes me question whether or not I'm reading MTL. It has no obvious mistakes however it reads exactly like a MTL, with you having to think about the sentence and re-read it a couple times to understand what the actual meaning was.

Last point is, the author keeps trying to push the story as a man who had bad fortune, no talent, surpassing everything with effort. However, it does not seem that way in the slightest. The main character survives purely by the pity of others. He has this mysterious ability that makes everyone feel good will towards him. (i.e authors excuse for plot armor) Because of this pity, he is able to get strong quite quickly. Despite getting strong faster than most people he still thinks that hes weak/talentless/can't do anything.

Overall, novel idea is decent, execution was poor. I would stick around a bit more to find out if there is any sort of character development, but theres too many problems right now. <<less

Good novel -

First of all, if you are the type of reader who likes a skilled, op, justice-centered MC, this novel is not for you. The story is not an happy story, it's rather tragic in my opinion.

This is the story of an MC that will suffer and will despair through his journey. In the beginning you will feel that the MC is lucky, but I can tell you right away that if you read till the end you won't think so.

The characters around the MC suffer and die as... more>> well. The author is pretty ruthless sometimes. <<less

I wonder if the translator (current one for past 100 chaps) can give a review?

note : I will try to remain somewhat unbiased.

Anyways, I actually rate this novel a 4/5. There’s a few simple reasons as to why it’s not 5/5 or 3/5.

1 - mogma, the author really develops as a writer, later in the story around chapter 180 or so onwards and the character development with our MC is really interesting to watch. He’s habitually a destructive thinker and always downcast. But, later on he learns how to be... more>> a bit more selfish for himself and learn that it’s okay to want things. Learning how to essentially realize that it’s okay for him to even live.

(I read as I translate so there’s no spoilers contained in this review btw)

2 - the translation quality in earlier chapters is pretty good up until about 60-80 where a certain group picked up the series and ran it through the dirt. I’ve contemplated even re-tling those 20 chapters for the readers but I thought it would just be better if I re-tl the entire series after I finish it (I’ll re-tl up until 184 basically).

3 - He does whine quite a bit in the beginning. But you need to realize that authors tend to do this for a reason and to hammer things down into you from an early stage that this will be recurring throughout the rest of the book. It’s surprisingly a slice of life in that sense; aligns with a lot of depressive nature and symptoms of generalized anxiety and chronic depression. And by all means... the character has every reason to be based on his previous life.

If you are reading this, I do hope that you give this series a shot. I know it’s a lot to ask considering just how bad the tling quality can be at times (there are some quality tled early chaps done by chamber I think). But if you can catch up to where I picked up, I guarantee you will absolutely have a lot of enjoyment with the story!

if you don’t? Well I’m an idiot sometimes lol, and I mean every reader has different tastes and ticks. So as much as I may enjoy this novel, others might not and thats just how it is sometimes <<less

This novel is indeed about a very typical Japanese beta male who was bullied for years time traveling to the past. What's special about this novel compared to your typical Japanese beta male novel is that he's trying to overcome that beta character. We readers follow him through his struggles to overcome his ordeals while he has inferiority complex from years of bullying. And he changed with each adventure. Outside of the western fantasy vs orientalist Wuxia background, this is a wonderful story about finding yourself and the struggle to... more>> get out of previous traumas and fears.

for those looking for a character who will sleep with any female character he sees or see self fulling events to soothe your own small egos, this novel isn't for you. You won't see any of the sort. Please go read some random Japanese isekai novels.

for those who are used to being the ace, the top dog, never failing in their life, this novel will make no sense to you. You will only see a struggling idiot.

I noticed some of the poor reviews below. I must say... they must not have read very far nor did they understood what they read. They also expect a shounen Japanese like novel or expect it to be written like some amazing English novel. Seriously, this is a translated novel from another language. I'm used to reading translated works so maybe I give more credits to the authors of such works.

over all this novel is up there with those top Korean fantasy novels. They even took time to explain the plot armors. The world building needs work but that would make this novel longer into something like lord of the rings series.

Spoiler

It's fun seeing European monsters vs Chinese ghosts vs Japanese yokai vs wuxia, etc. such a slug fest of fun like capcom vs marvel.

[collapse]

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Honestly, it's a drag. MC has "mysterious powers" that allow him to get away unscathed from otherwise death threatening situations. Basically, plot armor. Author doesn't feel like putting the effort of actually making a story, and he just slaps random characters and fight scenes to keep the plot going. Random characters help out the MC and have "goodwill" towards him. They're all extremely powerful or have great influence in the world, and they all meet the MC because of his "mysterious powers." The author skips worldbuilding and even skips the... more>> character interaction part. It's just that the character becomes friends with MC immediately due to the MC's aura. Lol.

Plus, the fight scenes are haphazardly played out and not written very well, especially not a wuxia. The novel also loves to show and not tell, which is just amateur mistakes. "I don't like this food" "the house is big" "her hand turned into a tentacle and hit me" "he is very fearful" etc.

Anyways, there's not much to this novel at all. Characters, dialogue, and plot are all ruined because of the MC's thick plot armor, and the writing is also subpar quality. Can't really recommend. <<less

Great story, but don't get baited by reviewers saying this guy is average through and through. Ever heard of "all men are created equal?" Absolutely true for 90% of humans (rest are geniuses and talents), except that those 90% also start at different points in life. His "start" (or restart) is anything but average, and the rest depended on a few chapters of hard work. It's a great read nevertheless, so give it a try.

In my opinion, the 'second chance' plot destroys the story.

It might be better if the storyline is focused on the hardship. Maybe it can be 'second naruto' whose story is about 'passing the past'.

Like I said, the 'second chance' storyline destroys it. MC knows many thing about the future but as story goes by, he never realize that he could change the world with the smallest thing he did.

On the story, several characters call him 'untallented' and the others call him 'unexperienced' but I will call him such a fool... more>> person that can not realize anything. Or maybe, his brain is not responding 404 XD <<less

I didn't like this novel. At the beginning, I really thought it was an interesting one, where the MC is so weak and talentless but tries to compensate his shortcomings whit his knowledge, hard work and also rare items.

But it doesn't not continue like that at all. I mean I don't even know if he is a hard-working guy, since sometimes he works so hard but then he doesn't even train for weeks or even months.

At the beginning, there was a level system, or at least half of it. But... more>> then, it completely flipped over and the novel became a typical chinese cultuvation novel (I don't like these novels at all, whit exceptions).

Then there is also the translation that kept me away from continuing reading the novel. I know it's not fair to talk about that in the review but I just gotta talk about it so that people know what to expect. What I mean by bad translation (or maybe bad writing) is the typical chinese glorified sentences bullshit. For exemple : "Then the hero reached the Mighty Heavenly Immortal King's grave, where he expected to find the Ten Thousand Shaowung Invisible Needles which were so powerful that they could flip heaven and earth" that kind of bullsh*t sentences. <<less

I've rated it 5 stars as it is one of the most interesting novel because of how fleshed out the world it has. All of the plot and storylines are well connected (In which may seem handy at time for plot armor) but overall, give it a try as it is a fun and unique novel.

I also got to thank the current translator, betterdays, as he is great and also interacts with the community, accepting suggestions and in general just being passionate with this novel.

Btw, the FL is a treat... more>> heh. <<less

This is an interesting one. The author takes a common clichés of the genre (how everyone the MC encounters seems to like him and helps him without reason) and turns is into the main plot device. The MC goes around wondering what happened that he got this "superpower". Add a bunch of gods and demons and fate, and you got yourself a story.

Unfortunately, the MC is really uninteresting. I mean, his superpower is receiving favors. Besides that you get an absolute loser who wasted his previous life and wallows in... more>> misery. He is flat, without character, basically a robot. All the time he is described as normal guy, but he does not behave normal. There is no food he likes, places he wants to revisit, people he met. Everything his fueled by his complexes. Here the slow pace of the novel really does not help - other MCs are plain but cause explosions everywhere, this MC is just plain.

I really wish that the author would take the same approach he took with the goodwill cliché and would apply it to the girls/harem (?). Why is everyone and their dog a girl? Gods? Demons? Mysterious beings? All appear as small, cute loli girls. C'mon, I'm tired of that shit. [Note: So far this happened "only" twice, but that is already twice too many]

The mountain of suffering arc was really cool, but then again, he only managed to pull through because he received some big favors. Ugh.

Overall I conclude: Favors mustn't drive the plot! 4* because there is nothing wrong with this story, just I find it boring.

e: 3*, it really was not a good reading experience <<less

4/5 at its best.

I have to say the genres of a clever ruthless protagonist, some sort of gamer/power up system all hold a soft spot in my heart and I must say I am bais to these genres.

However having said that; "Possessing Nothing" is one of two light novels that doesn't just rely on these tropes like c*otches to get readership. It holds an invigorating story that captures you with its theme. No story in this LN website has focused so well and faithfully to one theme and explored the... more>> meaning of "working hard" and the hardships attached to gaining power while facing the fact that you probably will never be the strongest. It is this exploration of psychology of this theme that outshines its almost frustrating, middling character development and relationships. You are never really given a reason to why the protagonist falls in love with the primary romantic interest character.

Having said this, one of the more vexing points in this LN that others may find, is that the protagonists has more plot teachers than super mario party has friends. It is filled with fortuitous encounters with teachers that help him. Having said this, I do not find that to affect my enjoyment of the light novel.

Overall, the exploration into the hardships of working hard to get stronger has never been explored so well in a LN and I can probably say with certainty; given the standard of LNs in this website; that "possessing nothing" does it the best; it is not perfect by any measurement but it is a good read. This exploration of this theme is the only redeeming quality that I find endears me to the main character and is the reason why I will continue to read this LN- probably without dropping it. However with most LN that rely on these tropes; they tend to have a good start but as the LN progresses you will find that the arcs will consists of the character going from point A to point B to slay Monster A in order to get reward ABC. They tend to be filled with just empty characters whose dialogue contains no aura of character and are there to advance a plot point or give the MC a certain item or teach him a certain technique in order to conquer the next trial. And having read the later chapters, I find that to be case; not to the point where I will drop the entire LN but to a vexing amount. <<less

What's not to like about Possessing Nothing?

An originally relatable character experiences character growth in the face of hardships and becomes stronger and stronger. There are hints of romance and the growth in the number of skills is manageable and the combat system is still easy to understand. The action is there, the characters are present and relatively memorable, and the translation is even pretty good.

Sorry, the translation WAS pretty good.

As a preface, I am Korean and am able to read at some level in the language. Asian Hobbyist is, in... more>> my opinion, the single worst translating site out there. The quality of the translation isn't quite as bad as google translate but it's not at the level of many single-person sites and the sheer amount of ads is staggering (Rainbow Turtle translated way better even when she was still using machine translations as aid during LMS). I would even say that Asian Hobbyist is worse than Qidian because at least Qidian doesn't block half your screen with ads and prevent you from reading constantly, they just block some chapters with ads that disappear after one watch.

5 stars novel (for now the quality of these novels usually drop)

but 4 stars right now because of Asian Hobbyist

Chamber's Cleanup Service was so much better..... <<less

Okay, this main character ruins the entirety of the story...

People are forcefully transported into another world, not just the main character, but you see the others that may have transported into this new world, may have trained in magic or martial arts, within their own world... The main character sees this as unfair as he never trained in anything in his world which makes him a "no class", he called the people who trained their all lives in another world idiots just for possessing unrivalled magic or martial arts... At... more>> that point it is just on you, they may be talented but it doesn't change the fact that those people trained in those arts. <<less

The story spends an excessive amount of time on establishing the setting and is not very concise with it. The beginning drags on. However, the action scenes are exciting, and things start to pick up more when the MC goes to Hush Mountain. If you can reach that point, then I recommend continuing and giving it a chance. I enjoy the fight scenes and battles. I actually feel like more chapters could have been spent showing the character developing instead of becoming so strong after a time skip, but that's... more>> my preference. Unfortunately, the current translated chapters end when the series starts looking really good.

Update: Dropped at 58. The writing itself is just too weak for me. <<less

Great story overall if you enjoy diverse side characters with more depth then most novels. World building, setting premise. All this is great but the MC isn't. The author takes great enjoyment in telling you how week the MC feels. You read the all about it, while he trains and after fights and even in the middle of fights. And this no surprise to the reader or the MC because the author establishes it early that he has this complex then proceeds to brow beat you with it every ten... more>> chapters.

It's like your favorite ice cream but with a fly on it. <<less

MTLed the story when everyone had it dropped. This is one of the better novels on NU. The MC is a struggler. He returns after dying but doesn't automatically become this genius god... he is still tr*sh. The story follows him as he struggles to overcome his inferiority complex, his weak body, and his enemies. The MC takes on trials and suffers for his gains.

Imagine how much his suffered in the trials of Mush where you have to sacrifice your sense and desires for blessings.

Imagine getting having a trial where... more>> you are stuck in your own mind for the equivalent of 1000 years. No one else, just you. You spend that time training and your still no where close to the geniuses when you overcome that trial.

Imagine sacrificing and working hard and that's still not enough to overcome challenges and enemies.

This is a story about a struggler working towards overcoming the world through sacrifice. O yea, there is also romance, friendship, competent enemies, masters and plot twists. <<less

Give it about 3 out of 5.

Not officially rating it as I am no where caught up and doubt I will ever be due to the crap translation at 80+.

Pretty sure it gets better with Betterdays, but that means have to go through 104 chapters that looks like it is poorly MTL edited. No thanks.

... more>> Leaving out the issue with translation and not including it as part of my actual rating.

1/5 MC: Whines. Dear god, he just whines. 'Woe is me, I am talentless, woeeee is meeeee.' I like sometimes that he is bit of a realist, such as killing certain folks. But other than that, he is a whining b*tch the first several chapters. He still freaking whines that he can't measure up to people even later. It is annoying. No one cares, no one wants to keep being reminded how much of a loser MC is/believes he is. That self monologuing gets old.

3/5 Story: Interesting concept, but it is really nothing new. There are other stories out there that go the whole summon to another world regard. In fact, there are probably better ones out that that include the time reversal/second chance aspect as well.

3/5 Combat: It is okay, it isn't super exciting. It isn't over the top either at times- in a keep on dragging many chapters later one fight way. I feel the pacing is just mediocre.

2/5 Characters: Erm... I haven't seen many that are long-term. Well, don't get attach to anyone. There may be actual reoccurring characters down the line. I don't know. I stopped at c80 since translation took a nosedive off a cliff at that point. Still, none seem to leave that much of a lasting impression or at least to me to make them rememberable.

Overall it is just alright. But I wouldn't read this longterm if you just pick this up. If you do, I hope you know Korean cause translation really turns to sh*t at c80. I guess that is to be expected, this novel went through several translations and some were already bad quality, sometimes poor. I was really hoping it wouldn't turn out to be impossible to read; but guess that was to be expected. So only read this if you can stomach the bad MTL at 80+ Otherwise don't get your hopes up and find some other novel that has been properly translated, instead of going through so many translators like a h**ker in a red light district.

Regardless I learn a valuable lesson out of this. And that is to look ahead at translation quality if a novel is translated by multiple people with ongoing chapters; before starting to read something that may or may not be worthwhile. <<less

• I can see why people like it, but I can also see why people hate it. It is an interesting fusion of several genres. The one that most people would be caught up on is probably xianxia. There are many ways people can get stronger in this world. There's magic, martial arts, mercenaries, litches, etc. The cultivation part was very unobtrusive at first, even though the main character is a cultivator. However, as time goes on you arrive in a nation that is literally right out of a Chinese novel, young masters and all. I can't say I'm a huge fan.
  There was a chapter where the MC had an enlightenment moment that made me cringe so hard that I physically got itchy.
  These new developments make me wary of the future of the story. There was a decent enough mystery as well as a definite goal the MC was striving for. However, in the past ten chapters my opinion of the story has dropped from a strong 5 to a weak 4. With how fast it changed, I'm not confident in it just yet.
  Read at your own risk. Also, though I won't name names, this translation had been dropped and picked up more times than any other story I know. One of these websites has terrible translation quality.