I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game

Description

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[Tower Defense & Dungeon Attack RPG]

I saw the ending to the game no one was able to clear.

But, when I came to my senses, I was inside of the game.

In fact, I was in the tutorial stage, a place where strategy was impossible.

“I’ll clear this bullsh*t game no matter what…!”

Associated Names
One entry per line
Tyrant of the Tower Defense Game
디펜스 게임의 폭군이 되었다
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Dungeon Defense (WN) (2)
The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (2)
How the Cult Saves the World (1)
The Charismatic Genius’s Guild Management (1)
I Became a Mythical Knight King (1)
Paladin of the Dead God (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Deci's Cookbook
  2. Banger KR Novels with Male Protag
  3. what i read
  4. List of excellent works, some of which are hidden ...
  5. Korean Novel

Latest Release

Date Group Release
04/21/25 MattReading c853
04/21/25 MattReading c852
04/13/25 MattReading c851
04/13/25 MattReading c850
04/06/25 MattReading c849
04/06/25 MattReading c848
03/30/25 MattReading c847
03/30/25 MattReading c846
03/23/25 MattReading c845
03/23/25 MattReading c844
03/23/25 MattReading c843
03/23/25 MattReading c842
03/10/25 MattReading c841
03/10/25 MattReading c840
03/02/25 MattReading c839
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Review
50 Reviews


TaroBoba
New TaroBoba
Apr 19, 2025
Status: c851
trying to decide whether to read a novel based on NU reviews always feels like trying to read a whole novel itself, so I’ll try to keep this short.

read if you want:

Happy ending, a protagonist that’s actually INTERESTING, really good action and planning scenes, characters that you will care about, stakes that feel real, poetic life lessons that will stay with you

don’t read if you want:

Well developed romance, “show don’t tell”

... more>>
Spoiler

the romantic relationships come out of nowhere. There’s little to no buildup, especially one of the relationships between two of the supporting characters. However, it knows its place. It doesn’t take up a large part of the book and isn’t annoying. As for show don’t tell, it’s an isekai + future knowledge book. There’s going to be a lot of explaining. Maybe my brain has been rotted from reading hundreds of isekai manhwas, but I didn’t find their level of explanation annoying.

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Note: the more you read, the better it gets. This also means that you won’t truly understand the die-hard fans’ praise until you’re five hundred chapters in with your phone in a deathgrip in one hand and a box of tissues in the other. Also, I recommend listening to “towards the sun” by rihanna on loop as you read. You’ll know why by the end.

hoped this helped and happy reading <3 <<less
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GardonVA
GardonVA
Oct 16, 2022
Status: c14
Are you sick of reading novels where the MC is just way too powerful or smart to the point they don't take any losses? Do you wish to read a novel where they transmigrated in a game? And maybe they have a loyal bodyguard who is very close to them? (I smell bl romance) Well then, you're in luck! This novel is the perfect balance of a smart and competent MC.

Our protagonist here has to use his full knowledge just to beat hellish levels and achieve victory, a victory hard... more>> and rightfully earned by him. He also suffers losses so perhaps you can expect heart breaking moments. You grew fond of a character in a single moment? Bang! They're dead. A painful yet fun experience to read, I suggest this to all who are fond of MCs that aren't way too powerful or smart. <<less
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Anap
Anap
Oct 10, 2022
Status: c14
It's actually really good, I recommend reading the manhwa version on the same site

also something you rarly see is a MC who has to work for his wins and use strategy to win the day, while still taking losses.

Basically it's a breath of fresh air compared to the normal ' MC rolls over everything with his special power'
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Infermite
Infermite
Jul 06, 2023
Status: c50
The novel is good. The translator is the star of the show, however. I don't know how he does it, but 10 chapters of high quality every 2-3 days makes binging this novel a regular event. Many thanks, translator, and hopefully this one doesn't get a DMCA.
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LastHuman
LastHuman
Feb 14, 2023
Status: c554
Okay so I never post a comment and did not even have an account, but I had to just to be a able to post a comment.

This is simply most favorite novel, no bullsh*t powercreep/harem/ smart mc/ very good story even among others characters/good humor

I couldn’t wait the eng release so I rushed the raw and the story only get better over time
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GoldenDog04
GoldenDog04
Jan 30, 2024
Status: --
looking at all these rave reviews, I doubted if we had read the same novel?

The story has both good and bad sides, but is generally quite mediocre.

Let's start with the main character. Firstly, His motivation is the fulfillment of a wish after saving the world. The problem is that this desire is not revealed.

... more>> Secondly, the main character repeatedly tells himself "this is reality and not a game, I must not forget" only in order to do the opposite.

Thirdly, the hero is presented as an ordinary person without a special past, and yet he constantly commits actions unusual for ordinary people, such as holding a cannon that caused him terrible burns or a broken arm. Even if it's not his body, people tend to avoid pain, but he is a modern man who tolerates it as if nothing had happened. You can say that it is the influence of the environment, but adaptation has its limits.

Fourthly, some of the actions of the main character are illogical and annoying. For example, why get close to ordinary soldiers or random mercenaries if then their death will cause pain? It doesn't make sense. Actions speak louder than words. The author does not manage to touch my soul as a reader, so most of the deaths look fake.
Spoiler

as an example, Jupiter, whose prehistory is more confusing than pathetic. Another distressing moment is the gentleness of the main character. Instead of severe punishment or even execution of bandits who did not fulfill their duties as a penal detachment, he went to save them, arguing that they were wearing "expensive items"

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in conditions when the difficulty is already at its maximum, the hero continues to create problems for himself.

Fifth, all strategies are superficial and the hero gives the impression not of a commander but of an ordinary player. There is no development in this regard into a hero. It's like the author hasn't even done research on these topics.

Now about the world and the narrative in general. The world itself, except for the crossroads and the lake, is barely described before traveling to the capital. Even after that, little has changed. The antagonists are idiots. Among the waves of monsters, there is never one intelligent enough to command them. In addition, for some reason they always attack the Fort instead of bypassing it or going in another direction. The author also has an annoying habit of spoiling a serious atmosphere with unfunny jokes like a knight's dog or spitting out a bucket of magician's blood. Because of this, the secondary characters look more like comedic characters from a manga, which does not fit with the general theme of the novel.

in conclusion, I will write that this is not a terrible novel, but it is far from what is described in these 5* reviews. <<less
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hypersniper159
hypersniper1
Jan 08, 2023
Status: c29
I read both the manga and the novel and I can say with a whole heart the manga is awful. The characters and MC looks/feels completely ret*rded. The novel is much better.

Overall the plot is good. That being said, there are some small plot holes which if you think about it, but they could be explained with one or two words, like "imperial knowledge." ANother is is that MC isn't the smartest or something special which was implied in chapter one, being the only person to clear super mega hell... more>> mode or something. He really isn't, anything special, but my head cannon is that no one else put any effort into clearing mega hell so.... MC is more dedicated than smart. I can accept that the author clearly didn't fully understand their character in the beginning so MC was described as smart instead of dedicated.

The characters are the most pleasant surprise for this new year. They have personalities, granted its 1-d but better than faceless characters which seem to dominate Korean novels.

The world building isn't something special or creative. But I greatly enjoy seeing it executed nicely instead of messed up in some bizzare way. <<less
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Kakipii13
Kakipii13
Sep 13, 2023
Status: c160
Taking a break because I binged a lot at once.... For the reference of those reading the manwha, the end of the arc when he recruits Evangeline is approx manwha chapter 52 and approx novel chapter 65.

Kingdom building and videogame isekai, but the Tower Defense setting makes it unique. The MC isn't on the front line and spends most of his time commanding, moving a bunch of tropps at the same time. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have to power up - he's a support class, but he isn't... more>> safe and needs to be able to fight. Once the situation at the front line starts to get a little stable and MC doesn't have to focus all of his energy just on surviving, the plot starts to come through. Has some political intrigue - as an outsider, someone possessing the body of a known troublemaker, and someone who knows the plot of the game, the MC has no qualms about using the political situation to his advantage and gets his chance to show off his awesomeness outside of battle. His only goal is the safety of his fortress, tricky politicians be damned. The hidden story behind the setting and the mystery of why this world is here and wtf is going on is the true driving force behind the plot.

Solid 4/5, could even be a 5/5 if not for a couple of things. (Edit: I've since changed it to 5/5 because I like it enough that I don't care about these things anymore.) Sometimes the story pacing is odd. Would like to see more details about certain aspects, but avoiding them keeps the story moving. At the same time, it sometimes spends a lot of time on things I don't care about. I understand why he doesn't, but the MC really just needs to strangle answers out of the aide already. Also, reading a little bit ahead, this seems like it's going to avoid romance which I would prefer, but now maybe it won't? so I'm a little anxious about that.

There's a manwha called "Chitra" that has a similar premise - the female MC is in a commanding position and uses gacha characters to defend her fortress and do kingdom building stuff. Apparently also adapted from a novel on ridibooks, though that novel isn't listed on this site so I'll recommend it here. One of the series closest in the spirit of execution of its premise to this one, though it does have romance. <<less
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Charion
Charion
Aug 15, 2023
Status: c170
I'd like to preface this by stating that I have nothing short of praise for this novel. What seems to be a simple game transmigration premise with base defense elements, has quite detailed character development and a plot that is still shrouded in mystery with a lot of intriguing elements which are slowly unraveling themselves as chapters pass.

What makes this story most engaging alongside its premise and character interactions for me, has to be the MC. The way he plans against threats and how he interacts with characters keep me... more>> constantly checking for updates on the story as there is plenty of action and suspense to keep me checking for updates.

As of now this story is of great quality and it seems likely to keep improving as it goes on. If you like an MC who has to deal with the odds stacked against him yet without any overpowered abilities that remove the stakes then I'd recommend giving this novel a shot.

Lastly, as a side note, props and thanks to the TL of this novel, there's a consistent release schedule with a bundle of chapters to read every time it updates. <<less
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Ah Yin
Ah Yin
Sep 08, 2024
Status: c825
I spend like a week reading this non stop after I fell into a slump and I couldn't stop crying. The story is heart wrenching, beautiful, and deep. It doesn't feel like reading a novel, it feels like Im reading a journal of a someone who genuinely tried their hardest- and saved the world.

I thought I already read all the great novels here but it turns out Im wrong. This novel is a literal miracle, it started off with cliches, and from then it blossomed into something so beautiful it... more>> makes me cry, laugh and rejoice with the characters.

I loved strong main character, I hate weak main characters. And I think power wise, Ash is weak... But mentally, he is so strong. And it doesn't feel otherworldly, in fact, it feels very human. He is afraid, he makes mistakes, he regrets, but he stand up again and march on. It's not all overpowered unflinching cliche main character, it's a very human main character, and that's what make him so beautiful. And that's why his companions followed him. Not because he's strong, or because cheat like ability, or because of his charisma. It was simply because he tried, his best, his all, into saving the world.

I feel terribly sad the novel ended, but the author said there will be epilogue (?) to come in the future so Im looking forward for that. For those who is wondering whether to read or not, go for it. He may not be your preferred typical main character, but the story is worth it.

The translation is also amazing, eventhough there's times names changed, it's understandable because there's lot of chapters. The fact that they finished translating it alone is amazing. Without the translators, I wouldn't know such amazing novel existed so I wanted to thank them.

Edit : I praised Ash too much here, but I would like to say the side characters are also very amazing. Each of them are in depth with background, manner of speaking, hobbies, wounds and thoughts. I loved each and every single of them, eventhough at the start they come off as unlikable. Heck even the monsters have their own story to tell, and it doesn't feel forced at all. It makes you truly think twice about the world itself- Like Ash said, a human is someone who, despite the wounds and conflicts, tried to understand each other, and in the end, able to look at the same direction despite their differences.

If I have something to complain it's that the romance come in droves (no harem) and a bit abrupt, although it ended beautifully in the end, I couldn't see how some characters fell in love, especially when they treat each other like siblings early on.

Overall, I love this story, and I regret reading it. Because I know there will be no novel to rival it for years to come and I probably have to think about this novel for years to come.

I wish I can ramble here forever, but if someone read this, seriously go read it. You see lower reviews come from people who only read a bit of chapters while people who read until the end praised it so high. It's hard to describe, but you won't regret it.

Edit2 : I saw someone complain Ash act like he belong in the 'game' world as soon as he 'posessed' the MC. Yes, by I quote that because it's explained in latter chapters, I don't remember when, but it's a literal plot twist... That maybe kind of expected tbh, how do you expect a modern human to perfectly pretend to be a royalty so flawlessly?

Spoiler :
Spoiler

He never really 'posessed' anybody in typical sense.. He is actually himself all along.

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Pootischu
Pootischu
May 22, 2024
Status: Completed
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." -Revelation 13:1&3

There's hardly any word to describe the sense of grandeur, despair, tragedy, and the valiant human will in the setting of this novel.... more>> You will feel despair, you will feel relief, you will experience struggle, and at the end of the day, you will hope for the peace of mankind. All the sacrifices, the suffering, the close brush with death, none shall be forgotten, and healing is a big part of the narrative, for both sides.

This is a very high quality writing, full of actually witty problem solving and stellar characterization. With 670 chapters translated so far, the quality only improves as the story goes. I can safely say that the author already have clear picture on what to write since the beginning, and it never felt dragged on. This is a story with an ending, and the details never miss from the original goal. Even the translation is very consistent and stellar. There's not much I can say beside read it.

Spoiler

When their bones are picked clean, and the clean bones gone,

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;

Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;

Though lovers be lost love shall not;

And death shall have no dominion.

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GrayMao
GrayMao
Aug 16, 2023
Status: c170
This novel is great and addicting to read. The execution of every battle, the characters - their story, how I condemned them for planting their own death flag lol. But srsly, the plot is thick and full.

Every battle, the author explained the details vividly to the point I feel like, I'm there in the middle of battle. This novel shows how real battle is, not only about hope, longing, suffering, struggling and my source of stress every damn arc - death. It's like there is a wheel of names of... more>> all characters and I gotta guess who will I be shedding tears.

If you ever played defense game, you might understand Ash, our MC. Imagine you are the player and this character you've meet is merely a character we control in the game - it is extremely difficult to accept the values in the game as the reality, just because you are breathing the same air as them.

And I also like that the focus is not only about the defense and dungeon - there is a backstory that we, who is players behind the screen doesn't know. It is like the world is filling up the gap to present us with this plot - this is how I will describe Ash's POV.

Villain? Hmm. Monsters? NPC? Not all, but each of them have their own story to tell.

Setting, characters and plot - it deserved a 5 star. Lastly, I'm really grateful someone picked it up. I was about to give up miserably when news that it will be dropped at 63 (translated) originally but hell yeah, a generous soul decided to saved us (those who waited) and continued translating this. Yo the best, thank you! <<less
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BadassPanda34
BadassPanda3
Mar 18, 2025
Status: c825
The glazing this gets is insane. I have 6 major complaints:

  1. The story likes to carry itself as a realistic, gritty world where people die and actions have consequences, yet the protagonist is utterly incapable of making hard decisions. His plot armor ensures he will always get bailed out of any dilemma despite whatever series of terrible decisions led them into it.
  2. Endless moralizing - it feels like every single chapter contains a 3 paragraph monologue about how people have to be optimistic and cleave to their principles in times of strife. We get it bro, your story only has one theme. This also creates a negative cycle with point 1 - you don't get to soapbox about taking the hard road when the universe contrives to bail you out at every turn.
  3. Every single named character no matter how minor has a sob story, and get it twisted the main narrative will grind to a halt so it can cut away to deliver their sappy backstory, each of which is thematically identically to the rest, in excruciating detail over the course of 6 or 7 chapters
  4. Despite having well over a dozen named female characters, and over 800 chapters, with at least 50 chapters of content coming from the perspective of a supporting female character, it consistently fails the Bechdel test. I am not sure the author has ever spoken to a woman. I guess it's better than all the isekai and regression slop out there which is just blatantly misogynist, but you don't get credit for clearing a bar that's 10 feet in the dirt.
  5. The author is a devout follower of the Unspoken Plan Guarantee, a common trope that asserts that any plan to which we the readers are privy shall fail, and any plan to which we are we not shall certainly succeed. It only takes you a dozen or so chapters to realize this, and once you do the 50% of every arc becomes an exercise in boredom as the tension evaporates the moment the protagonist intimates at the existence of their hidden scheme.
  6. It's way too long and repetitive to the point of absurdity. Every arc reads the same way, and tries to provoke the same emotional responses in the reader at the exact same moments as every other arc. If you could quantify and chart the push and pull between protagonist and antagonist in every individual arc, those charts would have similarity scores of 1.00. It feels like the author has like, 4 or 5 ideas, which would be totally sufficient if they had written something 100 chapters or fewer, but instead of doing that they just repeated those 4 or 5 ideas in the same exact order a dozen times.
There is one really well-written character though - ... more>>
Spoiler

the Goblin King

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- who appears about halfway through the story. He stands out for being a truly complex character amidst a cast of relatively one-dimensional cutouts so I will give that credit where it's due. If you do read this story you can just stop after that arc because it doesn't get any better. <<less
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Rs69
Rs69
Jan 12, 2024
Status: c500
My favorite so far.

I like the concept, the story and characters.

Best points:

- unexpected events

- credible story

- solid scenario

- excellent translation

Bad point:

Spoiler

My beloved ❤️Salome❤️ died 😭😭

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Hosh
Hosh
Jun 29, 2023
Status: c10
A bit of a premature review but I have nothing to do so whatever

An excellent novel. The writing is pretty good, the plot...I haven't seen much of it but it seems decent. The MC is smart and rather resourceful. The side characters are likeable. One thing I particularly like about this novel is that it doesn't shy away from death, which makes sense considering how most action video games work in general. The death scenes somehow manage to work despite the fact that some characters die pretty much immediately after... more>> their introduction.

I have 1 singular complaint however. The MC.

Now this MC isn't 'bad'. I've seen far worse. He's among the top 40% at least. He's also not bland and, as I said before, fairly smart. Its more his character, or, well, personality, so to say that I don't like.

When characters die, he feels insane guilt, even when he knows there was literally NOTHING ELSE he could've done. It was either Option 1: They die or Option 2: Everyone dies and yet he whines and cries about it. Even when the people who dies he's literally only had 1 singular conversation with and some of them he doesn't even know.

He even feels bad for the game characters he sacrificed before being transmigrated when it is implied to him they aren't even real people and were just actual, inanimate, unliving, game characters

Maybe I'm just some kind of unfeeling monster but if it were me I wouldn't bat much of an eyelid.

When characters who he barely knows die he also loses all of his intelligence and becomes a bumbling fool.

There's gonna be a very minor spoiler down here so stop scrolling if you want to remain squeaky clean:

Theres this one time a few characters are dying, One of which he has talked to once and isn't on particularly good terms with. In a high-stakes situation, this f*cking moron screams 'STOOOOOOOOOOP'. Even when he knows the monsters are basically just robots obeying the leader's every command and that said leader can't even hear him.

How about you at least try to come up with a way to minimize any more losses instead of standing there shrieking?

Have you ever considered your allies are literally right beside you doing something that requires undivided attention and that if they get distracted and fail everyone will die?

He also has this ret*rded philosophy where since they share the same body, everything the previous owner did is also his responsibility and some kind of sin that he must bear. <<less
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Zaverxi
Zaverxi
Oct 09, 2024
Status: c825
TFW people write reviews after only reading 10 chapters lol... There are very few stories that grip you from the very first chapter, if you don't have the attention span to read further than that, go watch TV or something.

After completing the entire novel, the only complaint I have is that the bonus chapters aren't available anywhere. The story is amazing, every single character gets their own story arc and character development, and the twist halfway through the novel is honestly something I have never seen in a novel before,... more>> which is rare. And the second half of the novel has the MC adapting to that in addition to all the pressure and tension of getting through the rounds.

And the MC is not overpowered, 99% of his actions are exploiting gimmicks and doing everything he possibly could to survive. He's not even strong, for that matter, except towards the very end, and that was still a gimmick. His abilities are 100% support and defense, all his associates are the ones actually fighting and being OP.

The romance is light but still prevalent through the novel, and is even plot related, so it doesn't feel forced or interrupt the plot like most do, which is good. As someone who dislikes romances, even I felt like cheering the two on lol.

In short, 100% recommend this. It's a novel I'm willing to read a second time, all 825 chapters of it. For me, that's huge, I have less than 10 novels I'm willing to read more than once out of the dozens or even hundreds I've read of tried to read so far. <<less
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Uday_1
Uday_1
Mar 28, 2024
Status: c395
I gave it a shot due to all the positive reviews and WOW It deserves it!.

I want to praise this story so much but I want to keep it short. Just believe all the positive reviews you see because they are all so true. 11/10
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iadzulf
iadzulf
Mar 10, 2024
Status: c560
I think all transmigration novels always revolve around the question of identity. Whether the transmigrated character is the original or not, is it fair to the original soul, etc.

Yet, it always stems from the same principle question, famous from the standpoint of philosophy. Theseus once had a ship, but then it got replaced. Thus, is this ship still the same as before?

Ash 'Born Hater' Everblack. The author successfully tried to put us into his perspective, of how this problem can be alternatively viewed as a propeller for moving forward.

With beautiful... more>> poems from famous poets, I really enjoyed my time reading this story. With mixed flows and sufficiently fleshed out characters, I can't tell you how much I am excited to read the next chapter at the end of each one.

Thank you the author for writing this masterpiece and the translator for such an amazing translation! Cheers! <<less
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rizzmaster173
rizzmaster17
Jan 04, 2024
Status: c470
An insanely well written novel. Amazing plot, characters, character development, MC and plot twists. What seems like a generic transmigration fantasy novel, slowly becomes something I hold dear to my heart.

Ash - The MC. He is not insanely overpowered, he is a normal human being like you and I. Good character development, especially after Wave 15. Made me cry at like 2am. He is undoubtedly one of the most 'human' MC's I have read. One of my top protags.

The pasts of the characters are well written, and they also don't... more>> revolve around the MC, and actually have character, personality and actions. The plot is also enshrouded in mystery, and makes this novel more exciting, it is also unpredictable. The author also doesn't spare characters, which is another point for me. I highly recommend this novel !! <<less
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AnnaHime
AnnaHime
Sep 26, 2023
Status: c76
Been reading this web novel lately and it's surprisingly good. If you're tired of the same old overpowered MCs that just breeze through everything, this one's a nice change of pace. The protagonist here actually has to put in effort and, believe it or not, faces some real challenges. It's refreshing to see a character that doesn't just steamroll over everything.

Checked out both the manga and the novel and, personally, the novel's where it's at. The manga's okay, but the novel just hits differently. The characters feel more real in... more>> the novel. Not super deep or anything, but they've got personality, which is more than I can say for some other stories out there.

The world-building isn't groundbreaking, but it's solid. All in all, if you're looking for something different to read, give this a shot. It's a good mix of action, some laughs, and a few "oh snap" moments. Worth a read in my book. <<less
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Lebiram
Lebiram
Aug 13, 2023
Status: c160
This is a very good novel. Likable MC who isn't super powerful, who faces wins as well as loses, he's also pretty smart. The story is interesting, as well as the rest of the characters who have their own personality. All in all, 5 stars!
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