I want to preface, this is definitely not a light hearted novel, although its not 100% serious either, maybe 85%. Take the title for what it is. The MC is extremely bitter and resentful after he transmigrated into a video game to defeat the demon king, but was ens*aved by the kingdom that summoned him. He su*cides to let the kingdom rot, as he refuses to save it. After death, it turns out it was a prologue of some sort, and he is given a couple cheats and a second... more>> chance to save the world, and respawns at an academy 1 year after his death, as the demon king is sweeping the continent.

All that said, the writing seems well done for what it is, if you can push past all the dark bits. This seems to be similar to novels like "Academy Heroine’s Right Diagonal Back Seat" and "A Depressed Kendo Player", both also dark books, so if you enjoyed those you'll enjoy this. I'm interested where this novel will go and will be sticking around ~ <<less

The writing itself is okay, but the whole premise, background, and plot develkpment is too wack. One of the reviewees said that based on reviews, it's better than the rating, but I'd like to argue this is only cause the review check guy on NU didn't pass the lower rated reviews as they likely didn't get far, like me. Wouldn't be surprised if u never read this rev either.

It's not worth reading for a normal reader, it is top illogical and forced. The only ones who will like this is... more>> those desperate for dissolutioned love stories. And let me say although they seem to be yandere, again, just dissolutioned. Even yandere quirks coudlnt save this <<less

Too edgy and grimdork to truly be good. In the end, the characters aren't as important as the vengeance. It's a constant weakness of this genre. A character with a single motivation is not a character, but a caricature of a human.

The author tries to mitigate this with cute scenes of ... more>>

Spoiler

being affectionate with a young daughter figure

[collapse]

. All of the light-hearted scenes revolve around specific characters. Most of the balance is with counterpart caricatures like this. They seem contrived because they honestly don't fit.

Contrast this between the blatant cruelty of

Spoiler

the hero massacring groups, stuffing deconstituted living people into jars, using explosives on temples, engaging in necromancy, aggressively stabbing all but the handful of people he likes, plotting the literal downfall of humanity, forcing people to kill each other to survive, etc.

[collapse]

It's not that some bloodthirst sparked by justified revenge isn't understandable. The setup in the hero's prologue is undeniably full of horrific treatment. But there's no real limit to the hero's targets - only limits to who he'll spare and use, or to a lesser degree actually spend positive time with. And the prologue clearly indicates to the reader some divine narrative enforcement going on in the beginning preventing anyone from perceiving him positively, which tempers the readers' willingness to see the hero constantly seeking to fill his cups with bloodorade.

To be fair, the hero summoning plot and underlying conspiracies are perhaps the more novel parts of the work. It's up in the air as to whether

Spoiler

the Goddess/system set up some sort of deliberate hero meat grinder for unknown reasons or it's just the power structures corrupting everything and treating heroes as disposable

[collapse]

. The excessive violence and lack of boundaries are clearly there to create a perverse fascination in what the edgelord hero intends to do next. Basically milking outrage and suffering in the time-honored tradition of Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer.

But there's a reason why slasher movies rarely ever rise out of the B-tier. Violence as a personality overshadows every other emotion and makes it difficult to relate. The hero constantly reminding himself (and, conveniently, the reader) of how his enemies would kill him if he lost, or of the cruelty he faced upon arrival is an attempt to mitigate the unrelatable hero and desensitization. But if you have to tell yourselves and others something constantly to justify your actions, in the end, it's not a reason, but an excuse. Which is why your enjoyment of this novel will likely be directly related to how largely your personal grievances against people who've wronged you and an approval of unlimited escalation and retaliation factor into your perception of ethics, the world and society in general. This is a story for people who perceive themselves as ravaged islands in a world of villains, with a few cookie-cutter friends in their support network. Or maybe someone in a destructive mood who wants a rather passive outlet for it

If the author found a way to balance the hero's actions quest for vengeance instead of deliberately touting the gore and reminding everyone that the

Spoiler

current people in the rage blender

[collapse]

all deserve it (which is an increasingly hollow excuse as the body count creeps into the hundreds and thousands of unrelated people), it has the potential to break its current limitations. As is, the bodycount and cruelty exceed the narrative and exposition. <<less

It's an edgy revenge story. Protagonist doesn't have any moral fiber and stops at nothing to achieve his goal: kidnapping, torture, planting fake evidence, terrorism, mass mu*der, etc. To make his actions palatable, all his enemies (or almost every character so far) are naturally of s*upid Evil alignment.

Going by the reviews, it seems it's either you love it or hate it, but so far, it's pretty decent. It's not as dark the other reviewer thought at the time they read, although it is 100% focused on revenge and MC is ruthless. It's not lighthearted for sure, but I wouldn't advise caution. I'd say it has the appropriate violence for a revenge-focused novel.