Because the women he manipulates are so obviously unbalanced, it doesn't feel like he's a great mastermind most of the time. It's also revealed there's a reason he's so successful at that aside from perceptiveness.

Similarly, many of his plans and wins aren't impressive. There's a major one near the beginning where all he actually did was go visit someone and say a few sentences, but it gets dragged out for so long because throughout the MC is reflecting on it like he's walking on a tightrope and brilliantly succeeding.

It seems like the story overall implies that he's not so weak as the system suggests in the first chapter and/or clever enough to use what he has so effectively he competes. But the text itself repeats that he's weak over and over. He'll improve, but it only tells us about it by pointing out it's pathetic compared to others. That's just discouraging to read again and again.

He himself goes back and forth between, "I suck, no point in trying to do x" (often when the author doesn't want him to do something that makes apparent sense) and "Mwhahaha, I'm brilliant" (when he wasn't all that or the author wants him to do something odd).

There wasn't enough action. The beginning made me feel like there would be at least a little more than there is.

I also have A Very Serious Personal Problem with characters who can do magic, but don't and don't care—mf'er, that's effin' magic! M-a-g-i-c!! Why??!! He does use it, but I resent that he isn't more into it. Like I said, personal problem.

There was so much focus on talking, manipulating, and the characters... But as the story continues, they're all 'over the top.' Little interesting psychology to enjoy, mostly just silliness. Overall humor level was smile-not-laugh for me.

(Although also entirely harem, I have laughed way more at I'm The Fated Villain [up to chapter 237] and Gu Changge pulls off better manipulations. Changge is a better villain all around. Though it goes downhill quickly too, I ❤️ Gu Changge. He is appalling and adorable at the same time.)

I picked it up because rumor had it that he was a villain character. He is, but... it's too comedic a story overall. Comedy villains often feel like the opposite to me. Not what I was going for when I picked it up.

Plus, he's trying to seem at least semi-good most of the time and... he's merely a bland kind of evil in secret. Yes, I'm saying he isn't evil enough, he's just a scumbag.

(Reverend Insanity and Warlock Of Magus World have much better villain MCs. But don't let anyone trick you into thinking that Otherworldly Evil Monarch's MC is actually evil.)

Mercenary lady paved his way for him. Like literally no reason to and in this novel it wasn't stated what advantage he gave back to her. Of course, she ends up in love with him and that's the reason why.

Okay how about his sister-like yandere girlfriend? He manipulates her and uses her but doesn't trust her love, instead using it as presents for her work. How about that random japan girl who just happened to be a big masochist trained by his alternate self? No story literally she became plot armor to justify how he gets money and important information.

Last but not least the girl who is smart and his *soulmate*. I love her but it makes me wonder where her guild leader is when she is using so much of her guild resources (and again this novel doesn't explain how our MC gives back the amount of help), do they not care anymore? Okay let's say I accept the plot that this chick who has no good stats but is manipulative and sly like our MC managed to climb the ladder and be influential in the same way our MC does. Then why would she give it all away to mc? Because she loves him of course.

Don't kill me because there's more. Reading from the reviews there seems to be a dragon mom and dragon daughter who will obsess over him. Nuff said, plot armor.

But OMG that bastard! That absolute tr*shbag! Look at what you did to Hayan! Not only look what you did to Hayan, but what did you do to Kim Hyunsung!!!

This beautiful, handsome regressor who already has trauma from the first round... although he distrusted everyone at first, he was finally healing because everything was getting better and it seemed like things were going to be OK... Through a convoluted series of events (which were engineered by the tr*shbag), he even got the regressor to confess and talk about his regression... you were talking about being partners and sharing the responsibility of making the world better... and then... and then...

Kim Hyunsung was actively suicidal near the end, being forced to watch Lee Kiyoung's funeral and thinking that he had mu*dered his best friend, his guild partner, and the only person he trusted with the secret of the regression. Massive amounts of mental trauma. While Lee Kiyoung was actually, comfortably sitting in another alternate dimensional space, watching his friend Kim Hyunsung going through some pretty tough emotional sh*t and feeling touched. Not realising that Lee Kiyoung had planned the whole thing from start to finish.

On one hand, he is an absolute tr*shbag. One the other hand, I am impressed that he won over the ML. Not even Light managed that.