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


Poppukko
Poppukko rated it
May 9, 2019
Status: --
This novel starts out AMAZING, one of the best out there for the humor and action. And then it gets repetitive, rinse and repeat. Initially, the misunderstanding is what draws me to read this whatwith the MC being completely oblivious that his LARP-ing is actually a reality instead of his mere chuunibyou delusion. But the author, just like most JP LN writer, makes our MC to be a ret*rd in anything but battle just like most JP LN/WN protag out there for no reason than to try to be funny,... more>> which works for around fifty chapters and then it just downright repetitive and s*upid. Misunderstanding (from MC part) only works for so long before he looks like a complete idiot instead of being funny. If you want a good misunderstanding story, I'd recommend reading Bakarina or tr*sh's of The Count Family because the former offers you all out misunderstanding in an obvious parody story that WORKS and the latter is a misunderstanding that doesn't make the protag looking like a moron and even uses the misunderstanding for his own benefit. <<less
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Shadowdracul
Shadowdracul rated it
February 22, 2021
Status: c203
In short, On of the biggest disappointments. The power in the shadows was such a great plot, The villains were on point, MCs power setting was on point, His subordinates were also perfect. But shone how the Author was still able to make this just one of those JP novels with s*upid, Dense MC, Who relies solely on his luck to move the plot forward. And if that was not enough The author went and made him an unfeeling little bastard who just pours cold water over every one who... more>> cares about him but by some ridiculous coincidences they still thing he was helping them. This is not comedy. It’s just repetitive bullshit, especially after the Vampire arc, He goes around doing whatever he wants without giving zero sh*t about his subordinates and his friends by giving the reason that he is a s*upid chuni guy who doesn’t know that he is already a power in the shadows. Like cmon? One of the best yet worst authors I know. Trying his best to ruin the story. <<less
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graydragon12
graydragon12 rated it
May 4, 2019
Status: c43
If you like the gag, repetitive jokes, misunderstanding taken to the extreme then look no further than this novel. A story about a guy suffer from extreme chuunibyou syndrome. It started out quite interesting with MC spewing crap about a secret cliche organization in a typical Isekai world whose goal is to revive the long dead demon lord. After years of picking up orphans, destroying countless of their lairs MC brain is still too s*upid to even think of the mere chances his crap may have so truth in it.... more>> I mean after the xth cave you blow up that all of your "underling" claim it contain sign of demonic summoning, blood sacrifice, every enemy you fight spewing stuff like "you can stop me but you won't be able to stop his revival", MC might have figure out something but nope, nope not happening. He is still the idiotic moron who think everything is a elaborate play made by his lovely underling and all the villain he kill also suffer from extreme chuunibyou syndrome.

The reason why all of his underling never found out why he is a moron cause everything he did miraculously turn into a good thing. Got lost after entering the bad guy cave ? The big bad boss came running straight at you. Don't know what the villain up to ? Spew some crap like "if I am them, I will be kidnapping the princess" and what do you know, the castle got blown up and the princess been kidnapped. This dude don't "do" anything. He just say crap and the author make it happen. If you are here to follow the gag then sure it is a nice read but after the umteenth time it happen and the MC is still behaving like a blabbering buffoon, I just give up. <<less
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Arumanfi
Arumanfi rated it
July 5, 2018
Status: c88
Love it! Highly recommended as its also full of classic cliches mixed with original dramas and exciting foreshadows for the main storyline.

The protag is not your usual japanese isekai MC and the misunderstandings even though its cliches, the translator did a great job of translating it up into the story in an entertaining way, so much so that it reads really good on the eyes.

again, highly recommended.
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Anomandaris
Anomandaris rated it
November 30, 2021
Status: c204
This novel is bad in a good way... Hold on, let me explain.

I've read all of the web novel several times - until hiatus - as well as everything available for the manga (CH 36) and Light Novel (LN 4). I'm putting this review on the Web Novel side because in all honesty, the Web Novel is actually better than what I've read of the Light Novel so far. That is not typical. Anyway, this novel is actually pretty good. Figured I'd write a review just because I was really... more>> surprised how inaccurate some other reviews are.

Spoiler

Firstly, Cid is not an idiot. Nor is he particularly dense. He's actually brilliant.

This is a guy that mastered every martial art known to man and somehow combined them all into a hitherto unknown fighting style. This is a guy that has shown time and time again to have complete mastery over his own anatomy and that of others. Cid can literally shift his heart to the other side of his chest to avoid fatal wounds. He even has enough knowledge to [successfully] experiment with an enemy's brain to essentially mind control them. His memory is also extremely good - shown as his "Wisdom of Shadows". There is such a wide range of knowledge he brought to this new world when he reincarnated it's just untruthful to call him unintelligent.

I would also argue that he's not dense at all. Cid has what we could call advanced-chuunibyou syndrome. He sees facts laid before him and explains them away according to his own delusions. Except in this novel, his delusions are quite accurate. Ask yourself this - at the beginning of this novel, how did Cid arrive at the most plausible "play" when he told Alpha what the goal of Shadow Garden was? You can't come up with a believable scenario like that without being intelligent and constantly improv-ing on it for years without being extremely clever... even if Cid thought it was a 'big fat lie' --> Queue misunderstandings trope. My point being that your average Joe would not be able to master advanced ciphers, acting skills, medical knowledge, martial arts knowledge, magical knowledge, etc. by being dense. All of which he taught himself, by the way. From what I've seen so far, Cid is stuck between self-delusion and straight up not giving a fu*k. That is not dense.

As a comparison, Tilea from Tilea's Worries is a complete and utter moron. She is a moron that causes her own misunderstandings by being s*upidly strong and s*upidly dumb. Ainz from Overlord is s*upidly strong but not s*upid. Ainz is extremely self-aware of his own limitations and is a seasoned - and intelligent - Yggdrasil PvP player, but he doesn't know much beyond Yggdrasil. That's why Cid is far smarter and far more capable than both Tilea and Ainz. As an individual, I mean. I'm not arguing 'Cid would win in a fight' so hold your pitchforks.

Another thing other reviews have gotten wrong. This novel is mainly focused on comedy - not romance. The Harem tag I think is only here by virtue of Cid being surrounded by girls obsessed with him. Maybe it will amount to something at the end of the novel, if it's ever finished, but right now he has absolutely no romantic interest. Cid is not a sociopath either - I'm looking at you Qrow454. Cid has shown before that he cares about the girls. He is just so self-deluded that they are not his priority.

Spoiler

But if you notice anytime one of them is in danger, Cid saves them. Not a single person in Shadow Garden has lost their lives as a result of Cid saying "meh, me like roleplay better".

[collapse]

This novel scratched an itch that I didn't even know I had... High fantasy, check. Overpowered MC, check. Comedy, check. Exaggerated clichés constantly being made fun of, check. This combination actually never got stale for me. But know that this combination does not ever change throughout the entire novel, for better or worse. Take that how you will.

I'm giving the novel a 4/5 primarily because of the (1) inconsistent translations and (2) extremely shallow characters. The translation is definitely iffy for the majority of this novel. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's straight up MTL. The characters were also pretty shallow and I'm certain were only created to satisfy XYZ stereotype for another cliché. Now for full disclosure, this would royally pi*s me off (like it has in other novels) if this WN took itself more seriously.

But the fact is, this novel knows what it is and stays in it's lane. It stays interesting precisely because it treats itself as a joke. It's a popcorn-flick web novel, if you know what I mean. Don't think too deeply about it and enjoy.

[collapse]

In all, the novel was pretty fun to read and I wished there was more. As I said before, I think the WN is significantly better than the LN so it's a shame this has been put on hiatus. If you're so inclined and have an hour to kill, give this novel a shot and read the first couple chapters. If it's not your cup of tea, you'll know real soon. <<less
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plsRespawn
plsRespawn rated it
September 18, 2019
Status: c42
Made it to chapter 42, and started reading the comments to see whether the flow changes later (it doesn't). Let me say that it was entertaining the first couple of chapters... but at a certain point I just have to throw my hands up and say I've had enough. The premise just goes on, and on, and on, and on, the joke would be great if it was a short story but by chapter 42 I was starting to get tired of the MC. He is dumb, like really dumb... more>> not just typical Japanese MC oblivious, and his reasoning is dumb. I've read a lot of LN's and this might in fact be the dumbest MC that I came across. Entertaining at first, but driven into the ground by about chapter 40.

There is no growth in the MC, no growth in any of the relationships between MC and the other characters other than him stumbling through earth shaking situations with his chuuni acting and obliviously shaping their lives. Because of the my lack of caring about the MC I end up not caring about his shadow org, the evil org, what their end goal is, etc.

I gave it 3 stars because honestly, on the positive side, the writing is not bad, and the humor hits once in a while, but the premise becomes so stale and the MC, in my opinion, becomes so unlikable that I just didn't care about it at all. Also, some people might enjoy this type of story definitely and the translation is top-notch all things aside (Good job translator). <<less
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josh1002
josh1002 rated it
June 5, 2019
Status: c180
TL;DR - If you want to enjoy the story to the max, put all your prayers of happiness and safety to the girls surrounding the MC. You will NOT - and likely cannot - relate to the MC, because he is what a chunibyo would be to a homos*xual so far in the closest, he's in Narnia.

If you're tired of every single familiar trope made in LN and want to make fun of it, then you'll enjoy this story... But you might cringe at the MC.

I personally enjoyed the story... more>> and am personally invested in a few of the girls. The greatest, most glaring problem I have though... Is the MC himself.

Cid, the protagonist of this story, is a psychopath/sociopath in that he has abandoned everything for sake of his chunibyo dream of being a [Power in the Shadows]. And unfortunately, he abandoned logic and common sense in this as well, so now you have a comedy!

The thing that ticks me off is how little the MC cares for about other people. For example, Alpha, the first girl he finds and helps? He wasn't actually out to help her, but rather, was thinking of experimenting on her and he accidentally cured her of her disease. You will find that with each of the girls, this will be the same damn thing happening again and again.

Often, you as the reader, will be rooting for the protagonist to succeed in his goals right? That, after his struggles, you wish he will find happiness.

Well, you won't in this story. You'll be hoping something wakes Cid up from his delusions and start caring about the girls he has met. You will be rooting for the girls happiness and safety, while taking pleasure in the MC's suffering. I don't mean to sound like a sad*st for wishing misfortune on Cid, but the bastard already has what he wants and he only needs to open his eyes to see it.

So go and read the story. You'll end up rooting for the people that surround Cid, and take pleasure in the MC's pain. <<less
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ydim
ydim rated it
September 22, 2018
Status: --
Let's be clear: the main premise is the protagonist is obsessed with enacting his chuunibyou fantasy to the point of pursuing power to withstand a nuke. If this does not establish that he is insane and a gag character enough for you, I don't think anything else could do it. So if you do read the novel, keep your expectations within the bounds of the first few chapters and what their setting. A good novel usually follows through with their premise, as does this one.

I'm taking the time to write... more>> this only because many here seem to be complaining that the main character is this or that, when, as described above, all those choices were intentional so you either have to take it or leave it.

That is all. <<less
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yoyotam3
yoyotam3
October 3, 2022
Status: c150
I got to c150 and the humor was funny at the start, but it just doesn't change at all. This story is just the same joke for 150 chapters-Absurdly strong MC does something that helps other people but doesn't realise it. It's funny at the start, but it stops being funny when it's done for the 20th time and nothing has changed. The MC doesn't realise his strength or what he is doing, which is fine because that's the nature of the story. For example, One Punch Man don't constantly... more>> introduce super strong enemies which the MC can't beat or have the MC change significantly because Saitama being able to kill things with one punch is the core of the story, but it DOES have a bunch of interesting side characters that develop over time. This story doesn't do that- It's like if one punch man had 0 interesting supporting characters, villains, or anything like that, just repeated finding an enemy and punching them to instantly kill them and everyone being surprised at how strong he is. I really don't understand why this novel and other misunderstanding novels like I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire are so highly rated when they really aren't funny at all. <<less
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Zackarov
Zackarov
May 15, 2019
Status: c144
If you're edgy you might like this, but I don't so.

this is the first novel that I read that goes from 5 stars to 1 star gradually.

it was interesting at first, but then it slowly becomes a pain in the bu*t to even read a sentence.

what I like about misunderstand story is when the misunderstanding slowly gets resolve over time. But this one is "you got misunderstand, here a bigger one, here more pile of shit, and another one, etc."
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RarestProGamer
RarestProGamer rated it
April 1, 2019
Status: c57
What truly killed the story for me is that MC never ever tries to clear the misunderstanding, that pure satisfaction that comes after clearing all doubts and the side characters realizes that you are actually strong not weak and pathetic never comes. As the story takes the whole gag just too far that it becomes dry and stale and no longer enjoyable!

-The MC is a hardcore Chuunibyou and I highly doubt that the author is ever gonna cure it because of the title of the story which begs the question... more>> that the characters who misunderstood him are ever gonna realize? I don't think so because our MC just tries way too hard to keep his mob character and maintain the BS status quo. I would love to give it another try if there is a chapter in future where at least one character realizes that he is no what he shows he is but I neither have the patience or time to wait that long but what's TRULY FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR ME it is that the protagonist is dense as bricks. There should be a tag for the novels "dense protagonist" & "ultimate dense protagonist" and our protagonist of the said novel falls into the later category. So you have a main lead who has incurable 8th grade syndrome, is dense as goat and lady luck whoring around him which turns into every prediction he makes in the story out of his ass ends up right (which is most of the plot)

Final Verdict:- If you are looking for a underdog story with misunderstood main character and has a secretive personality BUT also knows when to stop the whole act and not drag it any further then keep looking because I went into this novel with that expectations. <<less
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aratacchi
aratacchi rated it
January 1, 2019
Status: c41
Almost similar to overlord setting when there's an MC who lead powerful bunch of ppl that think their leader is the supreme leader who can do anything.
But the truth is their leader is only strong, it's just that! But the thing that makes this LN different from Overlord is the MC keeps thinking all the things that he do are just a chuuni roleplay so "it's not real. Bad organizations? No that is just my imagination", while Overlord MC knows that all the things that happened around him are... more>> "real".

OP MC : check

Harem : check

Lucky MC : check

Smart MC : No

Just for the sake of his roleplay, this MC choose an edgy option everytime. Moreover his ignorance about the real shadow world around him is really annoying. He keeps thinking that all the thing that happened are just an accident that somehowe suits his chuuni role play.

"This is just roleplay, and those guys are a normal bandit/bad guy so no biggies. Demon lord? No no that's just a fairy tale" Aww come on! When will this MC open his eyes to see the truth in front of him??

If you somehow can stand this MC attitude, maybe you'll enjoy this LN. <<less
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tfate
tfate rated it
September 7, 2018
Status: c120
This novel makes fun of all the cliche in harem novels. It's actually very funny, so I see people complaining about info dump, but it doesn't even feel like an info dump cause it's still entertaining to read.

I think some people are taking this novel seriously even though It's a comedy, if you're an edge lord who doesn't like humor then this novel isn't for you.
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boritosh
boritosh rated it
August 3, 2018
Status: --
Some people seem to be mistaking this comedy novel as a serious piece of fantasy, even if it's already an isekai. Don't take the story seriously and it's pretty funny. It's not one to get invested into but it is definitely one that makes the hours fly by when reading.
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Kyself
Kyself rated it
April 15, 2018
Status: c120
The main character is a full-blown, off-the-walls chuuni. It was fun to read in the beginning how he tries to justify the existence of magic and ends up losing it, all in the quirky voice of his inner monologue. My one gripe is his ability to create overpowered and over-efficient equipment. Training is one thing, but snowflake-y craftsmanship doesn't feel like it belongs here. I appreciate how good the translation quality is at the very least.

EDIT: The writing really is quite stylish and fun to read, but you'll be disappointed... more>> if you want something with some sort of dilemma or character growth.

EDIT 2: So far it's only happened once, so I wouldn't worry about crafting ALL THE THINGS. The author is absolutely crushing it with his writing style. The quips come very organically. <<less
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eatanddrink
eatanddrink rated it
January 9, 2021
Status: c204
I really like this novel, this is one of those rare time where I like the manga so much that I want to read more about it.
Most complaints that I saw are about the MC which is understandable since not everyone would like the concept that he represents. He might see weir at first, but he is actually very intelligent and dedicated, it just that his effort was spent on being mob or "shadow". He purposely disconnects himself from as many things as he can so that he can... more>> achieve his goal. He actively makes himself as bland as possible in front of most people.

He is an OP character that invents his enemies which gave me an "OverLord" Vibe and I like it. He always thinks that he isn't strong enough to be the "shadow" that he wants himself to be and that a lot of the people that he fights off are just small-fry bandits. He also does something that I find very funny and that is doing something that suits the character that he tries to play which leads him to make smart decisions without him knowing it. He is very naive and childlike where he will put his own life on the line just so that he can act cool as if he's in a play.

Overall I have no problem with MC and the rest is hilarious. <<less
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luckymorris
luckymorris rated it
August 20, 2019
Status: c128
Alright.

The comedy of this novel is based on misunderstanding, I can dig that, it was funny at first but here's the thing about misunderstanding, when the character is being thrown TONS of evidence that this is a misunderstanding, it stop being funny, it becomes frustrating. And that's exactly what happens in this novel, the misunderstanding stay the same, when really it should have been cleared up and then introduce a new one, that's how it should have been done.

Second point, don't introduce romance if it's to just have a f*cking... more>> dense MC that won't catch up on the feeling. That's, once again, frustrating. It's alright, you can introduce female characters that doesn't get wet when she met MC, so do that if you don't go anywhere with your "romance".

The MC is a sociopath, all is a game to him, even when people who are close to him had a traumatic experience, he doesn't give a shit. He could kill the ones that cares about him if it were fun. Problem is, the character isn't actually described as such, he talk about friends and such but act as a sociopath, it's not clever writing, it's bad writing.

Now, the novel did gave me some laugh, and the fight are pretty cool, hence the 3 stars, but the frustration upon reading this novel just made me drop it. Try it, maybe you won't get as bothered as me toward certain things. <<less
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hose246
hose246 rated it
July 5, 2022
Status: c147
Is this novel well-written? No, not really. But is it fun? Hell yeah it is.

First off, it is better if you not take this novel seriously, and you should also close up your brain to truly experience this novel.

This novel is basically about a person who wants to make a secret organization and operate in the shadows, so he makes up a bunch of fairy tales that's actually the truth.

The MC is overpowered, and he mastered the skill of going along with the flow and acting as a mob. He's... more>> absorbed in the act of being a mysterious master in the shadows and an ordinary person in the light. He got subordinates that worship him as if he was god, and views his each and every action as plans that have been calculated to the extremes. But he actually only got the intelligence of an ordinary guy, but his ability to go along with the flow and his luck always causes weird shenanigans whenever he went, and that's why this novel is so fun.

The novels focus in in neither character nor world building, but in the essence of making itself as enjoyable as possible. Yet, the characters in this novel is actually pretty fun to read. The interactions between characters are funny, and it's interesting to explore how certain characters' reasoning got to certain conclusions.

The fight scenes are pretty cool, and the MC is a master at setting the scenes for his own introduction.

In conclusion, it is better to read this novel without using your brain, the structuring of this novel is quite bad, and the characters can sometimes be slightly unrealistic, but all that won't be a problem if you do not use your brain. It is better to enjoy and savor it with the pure intention of entertainment. <<less
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Maple-Leaf
Maple-Leaf rated it
December 24, 2020
Status: c203
It’s hilarious. The coincidences and idiocy all roll together beautifully. As someone’s said before, don’t expect some intellectual MC who actually struggles to reach his position. He’s ret*rded through and through, and follows his dreams almost amiably.
Most of the bad reviews I’ve seen are about how little he cares about people’s lives. Yeah. He doesn’t. Not really. In fact, he doesn’t take the world seriously. It’s just a stage for him to execute his play. The side characters are mobs, the passerby’s are NPC’s, so on and so forth.... more>> Liking this aspect might be a little biased because it’s always bothered me how close an MC usually gets to his new parents/family. Like, you’re not actually their child are you? Also what the hell? Someone cozying up to you for a few years (depending on when they transmigrated) makes you treasure them eternally? Anyway this is besides the point. Claire is an as*hole IMO, their parents scarcely care for him (or at least, aren’t shown doing so), but I’m not going to try and justify his actions. He’s not doing it because he has a good reason, he’s doing it because he doesn’t care.

I feel like trying to explain it is dumb because honestly I didn’t notice it until someone pointed it out. He cares but he doesn’t care. That’s pretty much the only conclusion I can make.

It’s a cycle of being smug that no one knows he’s Shadow and laughing at him being smug than no one knows he’s Shadow. It’s great. <<less
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aShinyVaporeon
aShinyVaporeon rated it
October 19, 2020
Status: c183
4.5/5, rounded up. The story is about a ludicrously OP chuuni kid being isekai'd and making a secret organization and mysterious, unfathomable persona to match, and people misunderstanding him to be that persona, while he misunderstands them as playing around with him. This is the entirety of the story. It's cheap humor, but funny.

Stuff you'd probably want to know:
... more>>
Spoiler

As many reviews have pointed out, this story is pretty much purely comedy. Everything that happens is just for comedy. Serious things may happen, but it's all for the laughs.

Try to read it through a lens of comedy, otherwise it loses the flavor.

Yes, the MC is dumb. He never stops being dumb, and he is just staying a 'capable' organization leader due to luck, his OPness (which he actually built from scratch), and his actually capable but misunderstanding subordinates (who are also dumb, in a way). His motive is purely to pretend to be a power in the shadows, and he thinks his subordinates are just playing along with him, when they actually think he's being legit. His whole life centers around this game of pretend thing, and nothing else is important. He stays in that character for the entire series. You'll have to accept it.

[collapse]

Anyway, similar to One Punch Man. It's really good for some, but not people who can't see it as a comedic fiction, I guess. <<less
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