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Regressor Instruction Manual
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Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 667 votes)
5    64% (426 votes)
4    9% (62 votes)
3    10% (67 votes)
2    8% (54 votes)
1    9% (58 votes)
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One entry per line
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One entry per line
Year
Example: 2012
2017
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
1390 Chapters (Ongoing):
— Main Story: 877 Chapters (Complete)
— Side Stories: 513 Chapters (Ongoing)
Licensed
Yes
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
Release Frequency
Every 0.9 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #176
Monthly Rank: #166
All Time Rank: #392
Reading List
[Graph]
On 8546 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #314
All Time Rank: #357

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

One day, I was summoned to this world.

Beasts poured out, and an incredible crisis came.

My talents couldn’t have been worse.

[The player’s talent level is at rock bottom.] [Almost all the numbers are hopeless.]

Whether you have to become a warrior or a wizard.

Whether you’ve gone back in time.

You have to take advantage of everything in order to survive.

“What about it?”

“I’ll use everything I have to survive!”

Associated Names
One entry per line
How to Use a Returner
HSS
HtUR
RIM
回帰者の取扱説明書 (kaikisha no toriatsukai setsumeisho)
회귀자 사용설명서 (hwegwija sayongsolmyongso)
Related Series
Green Skin (Shared Universe)
Recommendations
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (15)
I’m Not a Regressor (11)
Trash of the Count’s Family (10)
Dungeon Defense (6)
The S-Classes That I Raised (5)
Isaac (4)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novel
  2. good sht
  3. My Cup of Tea (Male Lead Characters)
  4. Main Characters that actually push the plot forwar...
  5. list for friends and strangers

Latest Release

Date Group Release
05/17/22 Wuxiaworld c77c77
05/16/22 Wuxiaworld c76
05/15/22 Wuxiaworld c75
05/14/22 Wuxiaworld c74
05/13/22 Wuxiaworld c73
05/12/22 Wuxiaworld c72
05/11/22 Wuxiaworld c71
05/10/22 Wuxiaworld c70
05/09/22 Wuxiaworld c69
05/08/22 Wuxiaworld c68
05/07/22 Wuxiaworld c67
05/06/22 Wuxiaworld c66
05/05/22 Wuxiaworld c65
05/04/22 Wuxiaworld c64
05/03/22 Wuxiaworld c63
123…6
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198 Reviews sorted by


Ard123
New Ard123 rated it
May 11, 2022
Status: c702
I actually enjoyed it, even as someone who hates harem in general.

The MC is not likeable, he's a villain. He reminds me a bit of Cale Henituse from TCF but he's an actual villain. Both of them are weak, yet cunning. But at least, with Cale, you know he takes care of his people and not a really bad person at the end of the day. In comparism, this MC, he manipulates his companions, making propaganda, does anything for his own benefits and sometimes make other people miserable for a... more>> pretty shallow reason. Basically, he's a pretty unconventional protagonist. But, I ended up not hating or liking him either.

Surprisingly, I could tolerate his harem members. Some of them are not that clingy or obsessive towards the MC, which is a pattern that I hate and see a lot in harem, but there is one exception among them, Jung Hayan. So yeah, I hate her. Other members of his harem are okay, at least I don't find them annoying.

Other characters are okay some are pretty likeable, some don't really matter, and some are pretty boring.

There are definitely a lot of plot armour and plot holes in the story. Some moments doesn't make that much sense, it is a fantasy webnovel afterall. So, don't expect it to make a lot of sense. There's also a lot of cliche and some dialogues are pretty cringey.

Welp, even with all that I still managed to enjoy it and I think this novel has a lot of charm on its own. It has a lot moments that I like and are pretty hilarious. So, if you're interested just try it <<less
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absenior19
New absenior19 rated it
April 29, 2022
Status: --
No big spoiler regarding any power or anything worth---
Short Summary- [ That can very well decide the decision whether to read or not! ]
... more>>
Spoiler

MC is very much Passive character throughout the Novel. He is also very weak throughout the novel, you can compare him to his teammates, soulmates, Harem members. Only exceptions are the enemy who he defeat personally which are usually tr*sh in power to begin with. You will feel like, reading about the MCs sidekick rather than the MC. He always has to kiss up to people because he is weak. He gets reverse rap*d by females, get toyed by them. You will even begin to question your own orientation in case you started liking it lmao, so most people just leave at this point. You will feel: I'm aware all MCs have to start out weak
But the problem is that, this guy just seems to stay weak. And believe it is not gonna change.

[collapse]

Problems regarding BL-
Spoiler

Both Lee Ki-young and Kim Hyun-seong form a harem, and there are also a lot of heroines, so even if a BL element appeared, it was just a gag element, not to the extent that it was recognised as Bromance.
However, as we enter the mid-to-late half, Kim Hyun-seong's plot regarding it overwhelmingly increases compared to other characters, and Lee Ki-young's emotional exchanges and relationships are stronger than the heroines, and it is said that there is a feeling of bromance.
In addition, as Lee Ki-young started adding elements of her TS water, such as seducing Kim Hyun-seong by turning into a woman, or attracting Lee Ki-young after seeing the female version of Kim Hyun-seong, reactions began to appear that it was her BL drift.
Real problem will begin in Extra Chapters though [ which are like, 300- ongoing ]

[collapse]

Now Let's talk about Advantages-
Spoiler

>The charm of this novel is that the protagonist, who is in relatively unfavourable conditions in terms of force, financial power, and social position, makes full use of what he has, such as politics, agitation, and scheming, to get over the situation, and even turn it back to his advantage.

>In the beginning, the point of this work is to enjoy 'how tr*shy the main character is' rather than looking at 'how smart the main character is'.

>It is refreshing to see the skill of using clichés while at the same time destroying clichés.

>Another unique feature of this novel is its characters. Unlike mothers in which characterisation has almost disappeared,
In this novel, each character's charm, personality, and relationship to each other are firmly established.
In the early part, I heard that the characters were flat, but in the middle and late part, the evaluation was reversed. Also, giving out various illustrations of the characters can be seen as an advantage.

[collapse]

Some Disadvantages-
Spoiler

>Chance and luck play a key role in the protagonist's problem-solving process.
Therefore, if you look forward to a fierce political drama, you are likely to be disappointed.
The level of MC's plot itself is a bit low for those interested in politics or history.

>In order to show the ripple effect of the main character's scheme, the story is often occupied by a third person's point of view.

[collapse]

Now Let's talk a bit about Our MC-
Spoiler

>His actual combat ability is on the weak side, but he is an intelligent protagonist who plays with the many powerful characters in the story. However, He only has the foundation to become a genius, but not a big-brain from the start.
>Except for his intellect / luck that showed some potential, overall, he had stats and talents that made him cry out the window.
>He raised his potential to the maximum and took full advantage of his political power, personal connections, unique characteristics, and narration, so he is not the strongest, but has risen to the highest position in the world.
>His greatest strength is his personality and politics based on his agitation and fabrication
>However, apart from these scams and actions that seem likely to go around, He is a genius.
>It's not that much of a joke, of course, but he's a different type of genius from other geniuses who have great memory and calculation skills. The true value of him is to understand the situation and handle the received information in the right place. He is also excellent at understanding the surrounding situation, which exerts tremendous power on the battlefield.

[collapse]

Now my personal feelings-
Spoiler

People like to see weak MC going through adventures and life struggles and grow stronger. Usually they imagined themselves in the form of MC and try to indulge in the world more and enjoy it.
But no one likes if a MC always stay weak or never grow strong and fight. Always has to kiss asses or get controlled and toyed by girls. He even get reverse-ra*ed by girls. Every girl in his harem, was never his intention or liking. It was always a situation which was forced and he has no power to act in it. Every girl is either a crazy S&M bit** or a muscle girl who completely overpower MC and toy and devour him. No one will like any such situations.
But the worst is that, you will see these situations too many, as in too many times.
Starting 50 chp are more than enough to give you a taste of BL-S&M-Yandere and all kinds of genre. which people associate with waste people usually.
He is weak, this thing is the main focus as it is shown throughout the novel. No use, if you read whole novel and last 50 chp MC can do more, but remember he is kinda OP towards the end, but still, not OP physically. I will say it directly, never expect this MC to be OP at all. He win because there are other people standing behind him or under him. He can never act arbitrarily like chinese MC.
He is always composed---- NO NO NO noooo. Instead he is always controlled or have no choice. As this fact is loud and clear till the end, MC is not unique, not special, completely normal and tr*sh, his survival is biggest-luckiest thing that should have ever happened. That's the vibe you will get.
I am not Praising this novel, Nor I am defaming it. I am just stating all the facts and feelings I personally felt and all the anger and frustration I felt very clearly in a straightforward way.
So unless you never care about MC, and only see the bigger picture, that is Novel Plot and development of every person. Then you will love it. But if you are the guy, who like, let's say, Solo levelling, WMW, Reverend Insanity, for fuk sake, even Against the God or Martial God Asura.... Then you will never enjoy this novel. Why?
Because MC is not a MC at all. He is the person you will least like to see in a novel. That's why, I believe, almost 90% of the people, who love seeing Male Lead Plot or Narration, would be bored or irritated.

[collapse]
<<less
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Narrative
Narrative
September 17, 2020
Status: Completed
I read the whole story on jpmtl and the main character is a complete scumbag. This is what makes the whole novel amazingly hilarious

In order to not spoil the plot, here are some near examples of what he's done to give you an idea of how much of an as*hole he is:

Spoiler
    • Pretends to have some form of terminal magic cancer so he can study black magic. His whole party ends up crying buckets and go through extreme emotional stress because they think he's dying. He's forced to keep up pretending because the pity is convenient, and he's deathly afraid of what his friends will do if they find out he's lying
    • Makes a deal with a devil because it's awesome and when his own corrupted soul is discovered, he pretends it was because of fighting demons, which then causes his whole party to go on an epic quest to cure him when his soul is NOT polluted in the first place. He ends up going along because it became an almost national event.
    • Several times kidnaps his own friends or himself in order to guilt trip them or force levelup his team. There was even a time his companions were doing too well in trying to save him, he ends up giving advice to his OWN kidnappers on how to defeat his team.
    • Couldn't defeat the enemy general in a war so he summons a horde of undead and says it was the other guy who did it and we have to all join hands for peace and love.
      [collapse]
What's funny is that his plans rarely ends up going well and the chaos he sows is even greater than the actual "villains". His best skill is acting, twisted understanding of the human mind, and eye for detail. But it all goes to hell many times as he admits himself that he is not the best strategist and that's the beauty in it. In fact, demons absolutely love him and the gods have to bribe him to the Light or else he'll even cause more chaos.

His companions get a fair bit of screen time as the main character is a manipulator so there is a lot of POV from other characters.

Must read for those that like manipulative characters but not too dark atmosphere due to how light hearted he takes everything. There is a fair bit of drama as well. And many times it's because he scripted it that way
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ousainou.adeniyi
ousainou.adeniyi rated it
February 15, 2021
Status: c320
Ok. After reading over 300 chapters, I'm pretty confident that I completely understand what kind of novel RIM is. The first 30-60 chapters were my favorite, there was an actual story-line, plus all of the MC's decisions made sense and were driven by logic (even if amoral). I also enjoyed having an anti-hero MC that didn't have OP stats or talents, but rather applied his cunning and willingness to use dirty tactics to overcome any obstacle.

Now, that's pretty much where my all compliments end, because there are 3 GLARING FLAWS... more>> with this novel.

  1. Zero Direction: While it makes sense for survival and world-building to be the main focus of the story during early chapters of this novel, however, after reaching a specific point in the story...
    Spoiler

    after surviving the Tutorial and entering the main continent

    [collapse]
    ...I was expecting the main plot to kick in, however the next hundreds of chapters were spent springing from one nonsensical subplot to another, WHICH was usually driven by the continuing mental degradation of one specific character...
    Spoiler

    Jung Hayan

    [collapse]
  2. This leads to another major flaw of the novel...Its Female Characters: Now if you are expecting me to rant about this novel's harem tag just because I disagree with the notion, then you're going to be disappointed. By now, one should expect this type subplot in most fantasy web novels. The problem I have with RIM is that its FEMALE CHARACTERS AREN'T REAL... btw, I'm not just referring to them not acting like how real females should, I'm stating that THEY DON'T EVEN FUNCTION LIKE HOW REAL HUMANS SHOULD EITHER. Their entire existence is simply to obsess over the MC to a degree that I've NEVER seen, even in the tr*shiest novels out there (yep, I including those novels where the ML only has glance at a female once for her to want to throw herself at him). Now you might be thinking that since RIM's setting is a fantasy world where power means everything, then it should makes sense for harems and polygamy to exist... and to an extent you are right; however you need to know that the MC isn't simply picking up damsels in distress or the sort. He is having some of the most powerful women...
    Spoiler

    most of whom came from the same modern world as he did

    [collapse]
    ... worship him without the MC having to literally doing ANYTHING. Even he himself has admitted to being neither attractive nor capable enough for these women to constantly surround him. If that was only the extent of the issue, then while I would've still been annoyed, it wouldn't have been much of a problem for me; after all, it's nothing that I haven't seen countless of times in other web novels. The problem is that these women all become the Dues-ex-Ma-china to almost every obstacle the MC faces
    Spoiler

    1.) He is able bulldoze his way through any difficulty from the start when the head of the strongest guild in the region falls for him instantly for no reason other than simply stating she likes his tr*shy demeanor. Not only that, despite being renown as powerful independent woman, she bends over backwards at his every requests even if it conflicts with her own guild's priorities and benefits. She also doesn't seem to mind that he keeps other women around and doesn't give her the time of day unless he requires her help for something. 2.) He applies an innovative magic knowledge developed by a harem member to complete a dungeon rescue and then claims it as his own, becoming a renown revolutionary Alchemist. 3.) The MC directly informs a shady guild elder that he is suspicious of him, then walks straight into an ambush instigated by that same elder with no preparation and almost dies in the assassination attempt only to barely survive by having that same harem member risk her life for his sake. 4.) A female Dragon is forced to become one of his bodyguards/harem members when he threatens the life of her child which his side kidnapped in the first place... also that same child, (who is now his adopted daughter btw,) is already showing signs of being obsessively interested him just like rest of his harem cult.

    [collapse]
    What's worse than all of that is his treatment of his main chic...

    Spoiler

    Jung Hayan

    [collapse]

    ... she is so obviously mentally unstable and obsessive over the MC that it beggars believe on how the rest of the team don't seem to notice or care. She is always looking for ways to separate/kill any female within the vicinity of the MC, and she has now become so OP and crazy that she is a literal 'walking Nuke'. Despite all of these dangers, this has not stopped the MC from continuing to stack his harem... which constantly leads to bigger and more fatal disasters that he SOMEHOW never sees coming and is ALWAYS in shock by her extreme reactions.
    Spoiler

    My final straw was when he became unreasonably jealous of a male side-character for simply talking to Jung Hayan, so he decided to confront and accuse her despite know she literally worships the ground he walks on. This causes another one of her mental breakdowns, which leads to her attempting to nuke an entire kingdom to prove her loyalty. What's worse is that the MC had the audacity to actually to be shocked at her actions despite her past behavior. And how does he solve the disaster? By negotiating a marriage proposal...

    [collapse]
  3. MC's Incompetence: I don't mind a talentless MC. I don't mind a shameless MC with little to no morals. I don't care if he's a tr*sh of an MC who can't stop womanizing. HOWEVER, WHAT I CAN'T STAND, IS AN INCOMPETENT MC who is always rewarded despite his constant failures. There is no growth or character development for this MC. He himself is even aware that he has no talent besides manipulation (if you even want to call what he does manipulation in the first place) and relying on others to do everything for him.
I am truly surprised that this novel has as high of a rating as it does. The only reason I'm giving it 2-Stars rather than 1 is because the beginning of the novel had so much promise, plus the premise was intriguing. I occasionally see glimpses of improvement and a return to form, but it always ends in disappointment. 320 chapters in and I'm now starting to lose any hope for this novel.

<<less
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Palifa
Palifa rated it
January 26, 2020
Status: c1344
The cover art is so pretty I am sold.

Lmao no, I am just half joking. Okay review for real next..

Weak protagonist that have to use his cunningness to survive. Very manipulative and always tries hard to make his place amidst his "treasured friends" heart. On the other side it does feel he geniuinely treasure his (OP) friends, most of all the regressor the title referred to as you read it further. This part of him cause a lot of misunderstandings intended or not which make things funny as... more>> well as some prickling guilt since lots of his friends are honestly good people and I feel sorry for them to believe such a scum/tr*sh of a friend X'D.

The angst come from his friends pov instead of MC himself. Example such as in their pov MC is such a kind person when in fact MC is the complete opposite, thought of course not all of his friends are oblivious of his lies. At some points MC lies goes to far and the results are hilarious as f*ck (and also make you want to punch him).

I love how MC feels more scumbag than the villains at some parts, with how he engineer enemies downfall. When an enemy screw him over, its very enjoyable to see him suffer tbh. Bluff and actings are his weapons. He cause a lot of chaos because of his plans (impromptu or not) and this is what attract me so much to this novel aside from his relationship with his friends. His method while questionable some actually lead to good results too, even if some things he does makes me want to strangle him so much.

And there is the regressor in question, he is important to this story. His part start slow but later on when he finally get his parts.. its so rewarding. His dynamic with the MC is awesome. Its getting to long, I still want to talk more about other characters too, like my favorite female character in this story.. but I am afraid it will ruin the fun. Hint: she is equally sly and calculating as the MC.

Point is, Its a very entertaining story with entertaining casts, I hope more people read it too~

Fans of orv and lcf, also like this. I think its the friendship between the MC and his closest partner (in RIM case, its the regressor). And if you like the poor stat MC being protected by his friends, this is it (that, if you are ok with MC who act like white lotus when he really is black lotus).

Edit:
About HAREM tag, this one is here because I want to let it know to readers who get turned off by that tag (like me, I am here to read the friendship between MC and the regresor after all) that it wont turn into the usual harem shenanigans.

Yes it got lots of girls, but they are not MC love interests and MC doesn't even care for romance.
Initially it will look harem because MC keep getting female companions (it's the opposite in later half), thought it mostly lean on friendship and business partners since they are just using each other or manipulated into it. Even that is something he do to protect himself and to support the regressor. During this phase of companions gathering, remind me alot on the novels like reader and lout.

He does spend his efforts to be careful with a certain yandere (even this one, she doesn't feel like a love interest, this will be obvious when she finally have someone important to her that is not the MC) but its painfully clear to everyone that MC is most fond of the regressor (so does the regressor to him in later chapters).

Anyway, give it a chance... just look past the painful harem tag <<less
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rath_2001
rath_2001
March 14, 2021
Status: --
Most negative reviews of the novel on this site seem more personal than objective.
First of all, it's a question to whether or not these people actually understands, or at least bothers to understand what they're reading. The direction of the plot is inferred through the regressor, that there are future events that would lead to Humanity's downfall, and what those events are, or what exactly they're going to face are repeatedly hypothesized by the MC. It's the reason why he goes through lengths to emotionally manipulate his social circle... more>> into being overly-dependent on him, to protect himself during those events. The story, from that fact alone, is far from "Directionless" as these troglodytes argued.

Second, the women. The women, compared to most of the novels in this site have their own agendas and personality quirks. I, so help me god, can't fathom the thought process that you need to have to interpret these character's are "mindless".
I'll cite a few examples to expose how glaringly obvious it is that these people are either not bothering to understand what they read, or are intentionally sabotaging their review because they hate how unconventional it is (the MC is personally weak but is a genius when it comes to manipulation and interpersonal relationships).

The 1st girl that fell for him, Hayan, is emotionally weak and suffers from abandonment issues due to her past. The MC exploits that by making use of/creating situations in which he can increase her dependency on him, even to a point of manipulating others to isolate her. She fell in love and that's the end, right? No. She fell in love to a point of unhealthy obsession and insanity. Yes, I'm pretty sure she was clinically insane at some point. This became another plot point in the story, which either ends up creating tension or as an exploit to get him out of tough/mildly annoying situations.

You must be wondering, even if he's good at reading and manipulation, wouldn't it be too much of a stretch to know another person's emotional weakness so early? Two things:
1. They were too emotionally weak to put
up an act in the 1st place, and are very susceptible to manipulation.
2. Unique ability. He has the ability to read another person's details including their age, character traits, disposition etc. It's his go-to when it comes to searching for individuals with talent and finding out ways to manipulate them. He even said, something pure is easier to taint, or something like that. He basically leads those around him down to a dark path without them knowing, constantly manipulating their feelings or creating situations where-in the individual will lead to a conclusion desirable for him.
One of the women that has the personality of an ideal volunteer, for example, was manipulated into thinking that not all poor people are good or is suffering, and that "evil" should be cleansed regardless of one's position in life. He essentially turned her from someone who gives away food to the poor into someone who kills who she perceives as scum in the slums, a murder hobo.

Of course, not all of the women attracted to him was a result of manipulation. There are also women, 2 iirc, who are competent. One is one of the strongest warriors in the world view and leads her own guild. She initially treated him as a toy and only bothered to contact him because she noticed his disposition as a cunning snake. Their relationship is ironically the one that developed most naturally, as they only saw it from a business stand-point at first, because unlike one of the reviews in this side claimed, the MC is very much competent when it comes to politics and relationships. It's a different from the brute strength that these single-celled individuals seek, so it's understandable that they made such a ridiculous claim.

Well, does these reviewers being absolute clowns with their ratings mean you should like the novel? No, lol. The MC, on all aspects is a selfish a-hole who has no qualms in framing innocent people or manipulating his friends if it benefits him. He, for a good 90% of the novel, constantly wears the mask of a good person and ends up tricking the entire continent. Does that mean he never drops his act? He does, at some parts, where he's caught off guard or is overwhelmed by his emotions. All I ask is you rate the novel objectively instead of making excuses to give it a low rating. More so if those excuses are obvious enough for other readers to notice at a glance. <<less
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TerraEarth
TerraEarth rated it
November 12, 2020
Status: --
The novel explores an interesting premise in that it shows the point of view of an otherwise weak yet cunning individual and how he survives in an Isekai setting. The issue however is that most of the characters are not fleshed out or lively enough to the extent where it feels as if the protagonist is shuffling around pawns on a chessboard rather than living, breathing, animated human beings.

The gaming system leaves much to be desired and serves as mostly a decoration in order to dress up the story which... more>> consists of the protagonist scheming and plotting to get his way. There is no depth or visceral enjoyment to be gleaned from the system which is always a shame for me when the system is such an integral part of the experience.

The weakest link however comes in the form of its pacing. It took nearly 50 chapters for them to pass through the tutorial and the length of chapters is much longer than your usual webnovel, when translated perhaps this would be more like 70 chapters in a series with an average wordcount. When there's not much depth to the inner workings of each step of the journey there is a pressing need for the pace to be ramped up in order to keep scenes novel and interesting. Unfortunately, this is one of the slowest novels I have ever read, the only other exception perhaps being Ze Tian Ji, though admittedly I enjoyed that one a lot more than Regressor Instructor Manual. <<less
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PSpaulo
PSpaulo rated it
May 18, 2021
Status: c562
Bunch of people leaving low ratings for dumb reasons...

MC is selfish, tr*sh and everything, he says it multiple times, everyone knows it, so what to expect from a selfish, weak and tr*sh character thats only concerned with his own safety? fairness and kindness?

So why some people can't get it when the MC does selfish things? He's not some beta jp MC that has a set of traits but acts completely opposite to it, some people expects a selfish scum to be kind or something? He will act kind when he... more>> can get something from it, like the selfish bastard he is!

Yeah most of the time it ends up having good side effects, funny stuff happens, but his only concern is to look good to his targets and make them dependant on him, which he achieves most of the time, he also seems like a saint to the public which is also what he wants.

Its fun to see how everyone reacts to his actions, specially when theres other character's POV to show it, its great that we know whats really happening and his true intentions behind the scenes while seeing the characters reactions all around him, how people got fooled and how great the MC is.

MC is smart and cunning but he's not a genius, he won't make a epic plot that unfolds 300 chapter's later, most of the time his plans get wrecked and he has to improvise, but he is lucky and thank's to his special traits and 'disgusting' magic, he's favored by powerful woman and Devils, while Gods needs to buy him out because they can't afford to have him as a enemy, in the end he's ready to backstab them all at anytime if that fits his goals, which is to be safe and well off in the future.

If you want to read a novel that presents a MC that will step on others and even condemn innocents (at least in this time line) to be executed as heretics just to look good and build connections, then this is for you, and it stays true to it, at least for now, I'm almost 600 chapters in and he's still the same weak (compared to his peers) and selfish scumbag, its not a redemption story, so don't be disappointed when the MC don't do the honorable thing because you wanted him to better himself during the journey, he's beyond that ^^ <<less
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kkgoh
kkgoh rated it
January 9, 2021
Status: c80
A so-so KR binge read written in 2017... if you can ignore the numerous plot holes. For a moment, I thought I was reading about a JP beta-male who had nothing better to do but think up inane Rube-Goldberg plots.

First 20 chapters were an absolute mess of plot development, gets slightly better thereafter after switching translators, but not by a huge margin. Read if you have nothing better to do. The synopsis said the novel won some Joara 2019 award, no idea what that is. Since this novel started 2017... more>> maybe it eventually gets good enough, but it's a slogfest at the start for sure.

It got the auto +1 star NU buff since it's a KR novel. Don't really wanna raise flags, but not sure why there are dozens of 5-star ultra-short reviews posted on the same day/within a day of each other. Most are written from accounts who've never reviewed before -_-

SUMMARY
A weak protagonist is isekai'd into a survivalist world, armed only with a power that forces him to establish social connections. No reason for why he or others were isekai'd. That's about it.

COMMENTS

(1) Nothing really innovative... except the "scouter" trait

The MC is a copy of Raistlin ("DragonLance", 1984) and Loki ("Marvel", 1950?), who were cunning, physically weaker protagonists "forced" into Machiavellian roles, in part due to their own ambitions, and in part due to their stronger counterparts who were prototypical heroes Caramon/Thor.

The "scouter" to evaluate growth potential is fairly interesting and might have been the first of it's kind used in survivalist novels. This somewhat novel concept is the only reason it's barely 3 stars, else would've been 2 stars for sure. Note that NO ONE else can view their own growth potential, only their current stats. This forces MC to try to actively recruit party members.

The only other novels I can think are "S-Classes I Raised" (2018) and "Omniscient Reader" (2018). This is the main plot device that drives the entire novel and most of MC's actions, which is actually a fairly interesting idea, but it fails in the exact same way as S-Classes, because there were much better ways to utilize their powers instead of being sneaky/manipulative/controlling.

(2) Inept, inconsistent and pointlessly manipulative MC

Author woke up one morning and decided that he just REALLY wanted to create a dark MC in an isekai world, but clearly didn't know how to go about doing it.

Unfortunately the MC isn't really all that smart or manipulative. As some other reviewers mentioned, MC's "plots" backfire in spectacularly s*upid ways. Reviewers saw that as dark comedy, I saw it as a completely inept protagonist.

MC starts out having a meal with his sister, and feeling remorseful for the people he wasn't able to save at the beginning. We're inclined to believe he's at least of some good/neutral alignment.

In a few chapters, because MC's aware of his lower growth potential, he suddenly switches personality to be pointlessly manipulative for no reason. Even though the Regressor is a genuinely good guy that wants to work with him, even though the Tank is his good buddy, even though the Mana girl is devoted to him. So NOBODY was going to abandon or betray the MC, but MC is so incredibly insecure that he comes up with s*upid plots that end up making things worse, which completely snowballs and ends up with him constantly lying and committing homicide to cover up his s*upidity. Well done.

This was done SO MUCH better in "Omniscient Reader", where the Regressor was a crazed maniac and MC couldn't trust him.

Spoiler

MC saved Mana girl, who ended up being devoted to him.
Because he was so antsy about his own future role in the new world, he wanted to bind Mana girl to him while being a main part of Regressor's party. This, despite constantly being able to view their attitudes and dispositions with his scouter "Mind's Eye" skill.

So what's the point of having the skill? Shouldn't the logical development be to a wise sage/indispensable team leader and advise those around him on how to develop?

But no, instead of continuing to bind Mana girl to him, he immediately proceeds to cavort with other women in the survivor camp, right in front of Mana girl. Because MC wants to be a pathetic little politician, act manipulative and "consolidate power" among weak humans.
This, despite the fact that he's #2, #3 in the survivor camp.
Despite the fact that he's one of the few capable fighters.
Despite the fact that his position is secure.

So it blows up in his face when Mana girl goes cray-cray and murders other women around him.

Ugh. MC is basically one of those pathetic side characters in dramas that accidentally murders someone, tries to cover up the crime and fails. And because this is established so early in the novel, it's like poop covering him that he can't get rid of.

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(3) Author clearly never played RPGs

You have STR/AGI/VIT/INT/LCK/MAG. There's no CHR (charisma) attribute typical of RPGs.
MC only has high potential for INT and LCK.
Yet, when he's given the class choice of Fighter/Wizard/Archer and the rare Commander class, he chooses...

Spoiler

Wizard. Because he can get 3 measly stat points vs Commander which only gave 1. And because the Regressor acted antsy about the Commander class but wouldn't elaborate. And probably because author was just trying to directly copy Raistlin/Loki without caring if it fit the story.

This despite the fact that MC's scouter skill that can see potential.
This despite the fact that a normal piece of equipment can give MC 3 stat points.
Are you f**king kidding me??

Shouldn't any RPG player worth their salt be trying to develop Leadership type skills (*cough* Commander) that can enhance the overall team DPS or whatever?? Why the hell would MC pick Wizard when his MAG stat is completely tr*sh?!

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(4) Retcons retcons

It gets worse.

-- Author clearly realized he f**ked up. So shortly afterwards MC gets ANOTHER class change option. Despite there being no Level, EXP or whatever to prompt it. Tadah, here's a class change for you.

Well done.
Spoiler

MC chooses Alchemist, because again the Regressor prompted him to.
And doesn't even make any sense from a class promotion/specialty subclass from Wizard. Usually there's a Mechanist/Alchemist class entirely separately from Wizard/Magic class. Why the hell would Alchemist be a promotion class from Wizard??

Author probably tried to make it a subclass (similar to AD&D) like Fighter/Mage. But yet he obviously worded it as a promotion class, because all the choices were clearly meant as offshoots of Wizard.

Ugh. So again, wtf is the point of having the scouter skill to detect growth potential?

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-- The survivor camp that was established as being completely weak humans with little/no growth potential by the MC. Instead of telling the Regressor that they have no potential and shouldn't waste their time training them, MC pointlessly tries to play along with the Regressor's ideas. For no reason other than to pointlessly ingratiate himself with the Regressor.
Within a few chapters it's suddenly shown that the survivors do have SOME potential (more than MC). So he continues to cavort with the females, which again blows up in his face with Mana girl.

Ugh. So s*upid. What's the MC hiding his skill for? That people will dissect him or ens*ave him??? <<less
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masudissa0210
masudissa0210 rated it
November 12, 2020
Status: c100
Absolutely amazing novel.

The MC is rational and without a doubt the most black-hearted scumbags to ever exist. He's practical and somewhat brutally honest with his words but is also great at acting innocent and defenceless that nobody, other than one character who resembled him and could read him, could see that he was being manipulative and lying. What are you waiting for, you should get to reading this gem!
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WhimsicalWrongdoer
WhimsicalWrongdoer rated it
April 18, 2021
Status: c400
The novel has promise, but fails to live up to it.

-Places, people, scenes, items, buildings, basically nothing is described properly. Usually not even in one word. Most of the main characters are not even described hundreds of chapters into the story.

-The conversations are AWFUL. It is almost never indicated whose line is it in a conversation, leading to a lot of confusion and misreading and rereading. God, it is terrible.

-There is a constant requirement for suspension of disbelief, as the characters are not acting consistently to their established values and... more>> characteristics, nor by the laws of the universe.

-World building is super amateurish. You can see 14 year olds building more interesting worlds.

-Magic is inconsistent. Has no established rules. Its nature changes from page to page. This is the characteristic of bad stories where magical handwaving is to become the driver and resolver of plot.

-Most of the characters are poorly written, one dimensional memes. The biggest offender is Jung Hayan, the most prominent female character, who has absolutely no right to exist beyond the first few dozen pages. Basically, she is a neurotic, obsessive, depressive chick who stirs up trouble multiple times per every single page by being jealous of chicks hitting on the MC. Half the novel could be deleted if we summed up and skipped these parts. Justhayanthings.

-None of the characters earn their power or place in the world's hierarchy. For example, MC spends a few weeks of researching alchemy, and he suddenly becomes the foremost expert in the history of the world. Hayan sometimes thinks about magic, and within a few months she becomes the strongest mage on the continent. And so on.

-The story is basically an infinite loop of plotholes. Many major storylines come from the fact that the MC does not think it is important that he asks a few question of the regressor, and he doesn't tell him that he knows he is a regressor. <<less
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SSS-Class Kitten
SSS-Class Kitten rated it
October 25, 2021
Status: c722
He's a "tr*shy bastard" (to quote himself!) but you just got to love him for it because everything he does has it's reasoning behind it! And with the often extreme lengths he goes through, (schemes and all,) you can't say that he doesn't care dearly for those close to him. It actually gets pretty heartwarming at times which makes his 'tr*shiness' all the more entertaining. (There were moments when I definitely laughed out loud from his inner monologue!) Just keep reading and in time you'll start to understand his... more>> true feelings and motives behind his horribly tr*shy actions. ;P

As for the relationship aspect of the story; this was actually the first harem I've read and I surprisingly didn't find it to be too cringey! He really does have a special bond with each member of the group and I found myself enjoying each interaction and completely invested in the different relationships regardless of whether it was my otp of not. (... Let's just say I'd be a major fan girl of the 'Legendary Swordsman and Alchemist book series' ;P I wish the novel had ended in a shounen ai after all those sweet moments they gave us haha!) And for all those comments complaining about Jung Hayan as the love interest, rest assured she's not the only one in the harem! You'll get a chance to watch a connection develop with the other characters too. (Lee Jihye for example, has SO much character development than from when she was first introduced.)

All in all, it's just been so interesting to really get into a tactician's head. Especially someone who is definitely a brains over brawn type. It's genuinely fascinating to me to see how every little decision is always part of a much grander plan, and getting to read how all those choices end up unfolding was the most entertaining and satisfying part as a reader, almost more so than the story itself. Of course there are moments when you want to shout at him to stop over complicating things- I mean are all the countless lies he weaves really necessary? Wouldn't it have been simpler for him to just straight out tell them what he's thinking?! But our MC just wouldn't be himself without the use of scammy theatrics. And you'll grow to expect it (and dare I say... love it??) as time goes on.

One thing is for sure, this is a story you will get invested in. Major props to the incredible translators who always put out multiple chapters at a time! They worked so hard and did a fantastic job <3 I haven't completely finished reading it yet so I'm not sure how I'll feel about this story after the ending, but I can say that at the very least I've thoroughly enjoyed the journey and recommend you ignore all the low ratings and give this novel a chance. :) <<less
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Ludoret
Ludoret rated it
October 11, 2020
Status: c877
Really enjoying the novel so far. The MC is not as much of a scum as I expected while reading the reviews in this site. He obviously treasures his friends and really adores the regressor. Yeah, he could be merciless and manipulative, but only to the enemies who provoked or tried to kill him first. He's practical and somewhat brutally honest with his words, but is also great at acting innocent and defenceless that nobody, other than one character who resembled him and could read him, could see that he... more>> was being manipulative and lying. I could see lots of potential for this novel.

Edit: As for the harem, I don't really see it as a harem. Most of the MC's relationship with the girls are just business-like and he's focused on the yandere heroine, who is like a ticking time bomb. He's actually more fond of the regressor than any of the girls other than Jung Hayan, the heroine.

Spoiler

Nevermind, he's a freaking scumbag! But a very hilarious one. I can't count how many times I lol'ed while reading about his shenanigans and how his lies ended up blowing to his face!

And Kim Hyunsung, the regressor, really made me cry. You can tell how much pain he has and how much he suffered, with Lee Kiyoung adding to his pain like the tr*sh he is. But nothing could convince me that Lee Kiyoung never loves Kim Hyunsung. Lee Kiyoung truly loves and treasures his lovely regressor and their relationship is the best part of this novel for me.

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Honestly this is my favorite Korean novel so far. A personal favorite and one I would read again. <<less
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Pendragon05
Pendragon05 rated it
May 22, 2020
Status: Completed
If only not for the thick plot armor, this would be a top tier novel for sure.

... more>>
Spoiler

The MC is really cunning and we can say he's a top class actor. What I just don't like is the fact that every conflict he face will be solved in his favor. I have nothing against how he defeated his first enemies like the first Korean villain and the Japanese villain. But it started downhill when he met the republic's number 1 man (branded as a really strong character and calculative like him) mysteriously this man fall in his trap easily like it's always went in his way. This supposed calculative number 1 in republic is an idiot like obviously it's a trap but the author decided that this character will be dumb for the MC to overcome the precarious situation made by 1 of his dumb harem girl. Honestly at this point I know that all of the enemies will fall into his submission easily even though these enemies where far stronger and superior to him. And it became real starting when he got a mythological class job with op items plus op machinery that it made me realize that the author made a plot that is convenient towards the MC. If you like a story were the MC is cunning but has a plot armor and almost no challenge, this might be worth it for you.

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Mahesvara_
Mahesvara_ rated it
January 15, 2021
Status: c239
Masterpiece.

This book is the epitome of the word "Satisfaction"

The Protagonist is scheming all the time, he likes acting like a victim (while in reality he's the evil mastermind), he manipulates both allies and enemies, and the best of them all is the psychology logic is convincing but the best thing about the novel is of how he annoy and destroy his enemies with mind blowing schemes. The schemes on this book is a master of foreplay it knows how to pull you in and once you get through all those... more>> teasing– it will then give you a very satisfying ending. *Insert Ahegao face*

The way the MC manipulates his allies is also one of the best points of this novel can offer. He manipulates them by taking advantage of their emotions. Simply put– just think of it similar to a dating sim, he tries his best to increase the affection/trust of other people around him.

Among the novels with evil protagonists our MC here is everything you could hope for. I also love Ainz from Overlord, Dantalian from Dungeon Defense, Leylin from WMW, Roland from ELCL but Lee Kiyoung from this novel is just a step higher in my heart. He the real tr*sh of a protagonist his selfishness knows no bounds. But as the story goes he also developed emotions for his friends he started caring for them a lot but "Self priority" is still one of his rules. Even after reading many novel with evil protagonists there are times I still got amazed of how cold, unforgiving and cruel he can be but that's a plus points too. This novel made me laugh, angry, cringe, cry but among all the emotions I feel 70% of the novel is excitement. I'm so inlove with this.

The novel never lose it's charm over time. It has a great start but the later chapters is even greater. -I'll definitely reread this again after some time as I can't afford to buy all the premium chapters. I'm really depressed rn since I'm forced to stop reading this. :&Lt; If you want to binge this novel for free, wait until 2024. :3 <<less
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tomthegreatest
tomthegreatest rated it
July 26, 2021
Status: c68
TLDR: Would recommend this novel to newer to readers, but not to more experienced readers.

I really can’t say that I enjoyed this novel. I enjoyed most of the novel, but the parts where the MC starts “scheming” just seem so unrealistic that I was finding it very hard to maintain my immersion in the novel. While I will admit that I have no idea how humans would behave when they are put in a scenario similar to the ones in the book, the way that the characters acted was so... more>> awkward that I felt like I watching a puppet show made for kids. In other words, it felt like a DM in DnD trying to force the party to go down a route that he planned out instead of improvising and going with the flow even when his planned route clearly didn’t make sense anymore given the circumstances.

In addition, I physically cringed multiple times while reading this novel because of the MC’s pride. Not only does he always comment on how he is the best manipulator and schemer whenever he successfully completes a “scheme, ” but he feels like he deserves all of the attention and power that he received from the other people. I wouldn’t have minded it if it was just once or twice that the MC said/thought stuff like this, but he does it so many times within the 68 chapters that I read that I really wasn’t able to justify continuing to read this novel. Like I cringed more times reading this novel that an actually chunni one like Power in the Shadows.

I didn’t care that the MC was not a good person or did I care that he just had this random-ass harem that just sorta materialized around himself, but any novel that causes me to physically cringe this much will never be rated highly. The only reason why I gave this novel 2 stars instead of 1 star is because if you cut out all of the cringe, this novel was actually really good. I don’t mean this a bad way, but I feel like the only people who will enjoy this novel will be the people who have not read that many novels yet as they haven’t built up an aversion to the cringe that will be experienced in this novel. So I would recommend this novel to newer readers, but not older ones. <<less
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natsuriayuko
natsuriayuko rated it
January 17, 2022
Status: c855
It's possible to love the novel yet hate its characters, and this is exactly its epitome.

Reading the novel feels like reading an extremely twisted yet lighthearted version of every dungeon adventure story you've ever read. Is it dark? Yes, it is. Is it funny? That too. Are the villains likable? Sadly so. They make you cheer them despite being disgusted by their actions. It makes you question your morals, and the thing is, the writer does it real well. No, it's putting the brilliance of this novel lightly. This... more>> is a fcking gem.

The author is really adept at making the readers immersed into the story. He can make you laugh at things that should disgust you, and make you cry despite knowing everything is a staged play. All the characters are like living, breathing individuals. I bet this is the type of story anyone with a psych background would love.

While it boasts a good array of characters, plot development and world building, there are 2 downsides. One, there are some changes in POV and dialogues that will initially confuse you because author doesn't say who is talking, but it's part of the charm, discovering the identity of the speaker based on how s/he speaks. Two, a lot of chapters are frustrating to read once you reach the middle (around Ch200s). I'm talking about frustrating characters btw.

The MC is a tr*shy guy surrounded by questionable and dangerous people in good people facade, and also vice versa. Sometimes he's smart, sometimes he's s*upid, especially when it comes to his harem but he's equally entertaining. And the women? Oh, the women! This is one of the novels where the harem is so well made, I'm not even put out by the idea. But... certain girls just make you wanna wish they'll disappear from the story. Of course, later on things will be explained but sht, you have no idea how many times I wanted to drop reading the novel, but I can't make myself do it because afterwards, my patience is rewarded by amazing chapters sprinkled in between the annoying ones. I'm cursing the characters one moment, and laughing hysterically the next chapter. By the time you reached Chap 330s, you'll be converted to a fan.

In short, it's painful to admit but reading this is like taking crack. I both love and hate it. It's addicting in a bad way. This is something I'll recommend to an acquaintance but not to a close friend. Perhaps I'll recommend it to a frenemy, who knows. <<less
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AddicitveReader
AddicitveReader rated it
January 11, 2021
Status: c232
I like this novel because our MC is weak. He isn't strong so he has to think and try to use as much as he can to ensure survival. He isn't perfect and no overly smart and that makes it better. Sometimes his plans go wrong, he's no perfect person, and so he attempts to find a way out of the predicament or just use the situation as much as possible.

As for the harem right now they're building some but not really a ton of character but maybe they will... more>> in the future.

Note: This is based on what I have read up to in english and props to active translations for their quality uploads <<less
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dkrndnjs
dkrndnjs rated it
January 2, 2021
Status: c250
I'm tired of reading angst webnovels so this novel is healing me as whatever the MC planned or do it'll be really funny lmao

Spoiler

tbh there is angst actually. But afaik its only on the first timeline

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It is a slow paced novel, but it gets interesting everytime the story progress. The development of the MC (he's tr*sh from the beginning until now but at least he treasures his colleague now) is real fun. I don't like harem but the harem in this webnovel quite acceptable for me. At last, I have a high expectation for this webnovel.
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whitespade
whitespade rated it
December 5, 2020
Status: c419
One if the top novel in this site. The MC is a real despicable guy that will do anything for his own sake, however he do has a good sense of honour and responsibility to people under him and people close to him thus the readers feel gratified that the MC use his power for good. His harem is topnotch with all the women powerful in their own way and help MC in his quest for safety. However as I said before our MC has a sense of responsibility towards... more>> his people thus he is not just a scum that use women. The way he try to juggle these dangerous women are a hoot in their own right too. His 'love' towards the original protagonist is also a relationship that developed towards something meaningful and we feel gratified that our MC able to help the protagonist towards his desired future.

This is highly highly recommended towards everyone. The MTL is fairly readable if you have a good fortitude. <<less
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rageouss
rageouss rated it
December 30, 2021
Status: --
I hate the MC, he's weak in all aspects. Even his supposed intellect / scheming is weak and gets him in more trouble than if he would just shut the f*ck up. He gets caught up in schemes all the time, gets checkmated every 50 chapters but always gets saved by the girls that like him, I keep waiting for the author to give a motive for why all these woman like him but there's nothing, he's just WORTHLESS. It's so annoying to see him getting humilited constantly because of... more>> how weak he is but as soon as he's out of there he goes 'I'll need to gather more information' b*tch.. How about you find out how to get more powerful ffs. Weak to Powerful tag is a pure lie, there's no such thing here dude. I keep hoping this guy will wake up and start trying to get strong but the more I read the more he lessens his want to get stronger. The only worthwhile aspect of him is how he manipulates people.. Only

He always does the wrong sh*t with the yandere FL, he always thinks himself too smart and thinks people don't notice how he's a snake that's worthless if not for his connections. Instead of building a relationship of trust / love he only manipulates her even further, no wonder the girl is getting deeper and deeper into batsh*t crazy territory. Every outburst of her mental illness is almost always caused by the dumb sh*t he did, it's infuriating really. <<less
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VillageMoron
VillageMoron rated it
April 17, 2021
Status: c500
Starts off good. Then gets better, and better, and better. It's simply a masterpiece, my only criticisms would be there is like one 10 chapter gender bender arch which is "meh". Personally, I f*cking hate gender bender sh*t so that criticism is very subjective.

On the other front, the MC is really good, I would put him next to the MC of Reverend Insanity in terms of quality and they are pretty similar in disposition. Machiavellian MCs are so, so awesome, I have immense respect for authors who manage to write... more>> them well. It's not easy to write smart characters after all. The world-building is great, the author's ability to get you in the feels is good, the progression, pace, side characters, love interests, antagonists, all done to perfection. Also translation quality is acceptable and very quick (30-35 chapters a week) <<less
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