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The Novel’s Villain
Type
Web Novel (KR)
Genre
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Rating(3.8 / 5.0, 384 votes)
5    52% (199 votes)
4    13% (50 votes)
3    12% (46 votes)
2    9% (36 votes)
1    14% (53 votes)
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
N/A
Year
Example: 2012
2019
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
240 Chapters (Completed)
Licensed
N/A
Completely Translated
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
N/A
Release Frequency
Every 76.9 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #2000
Monthly Rank: #2000
All Time Rank: #1031
Reading List
[Graph]
On 5276 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #658
All Time Rank: #1416

Description

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

Lee Jin Woo once lived a dismal life.

He lived pitifully on a day to day basis in his five-pyeon studio filled with mold.

Then, one day, he died in a sudden fire.

When he wakes up, he finds himself inside a novel.

But there’s just one issue…

He had become the novel’s villain!

Associated Names
One entry per line
Becoming the Ultimate Villain
Magjang Ag-Yeog-I Doeda
TNV
막장 악역이 되다
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
T*ash of the Count’s Family (8)
The Editor Is the Novel’s Extra (8)
Perfect Villain Life: Universal Job Change (7)
The Novel’s Extra (6)
How to Live as the Enemy Prince (4)
I am a Gao Fushuai Villain (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Waste of time
  2. Overlooked Jewels
  3. Hunter/Awakener/Gate/Tower - Not Read Pt.2
  4. My Favorite Korean Action Adventure Fantasy Novels...
  5. Rich Protagonist / Chaebol

Latest Release

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81 Reviews sorted by


CaptainBunny
CaptainBunny rated it
July 3, 2019
Status: c21
From what I've read so far in the raws, this is a story with wonderful potential and depth. It is similar to tr*sh Count in the sense that the MC is suddenly thrust into this world that they've only read about in a story. However, Cale Henituse and Lee Jin Woo have very different personalities and starts really, because the original Cale was "tr*sh" sure but Jin Woo was a complete menace to society. So being able to get that take on how they make their own stories in a... more>> new world is really fascinating, at least to me as a reader. I am someone who very much dislikes harems, so I'm hoping that one doesn't develop but from what I've gathered romance is in no way an integral focus of this story which I'm all for. But to be honest if I had to currently choose based on what little I've read I'd want him to end up with his servant, Yoona.

Edit: It's a harem! ? <<less
70 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Centrophy
Centrophy rated it
July 13, 2020
Status: c16
Up to Chapter 12 (Act 1) this novel offers nothing but short chapters and a main character with the personality and intelligence of a slug. I would honestly find it hard to believe how highly rated it is but people here tend to rate everything fives based on nothing but potential even if that potential is never delivered. So far in the story there has been no hook and no driving force. We've had a very basic introduction to the world which is a generic modern fusion novel with people... more>> that develop super powers and go into gates to gain resources and money in Seoul like Seoul Station Necromancer or The Novel's Extra (there's towers and dungeons but essentially the same). In those novels at this point we would have had the world introduction and something resembling a plot. The closest thing to a plot is thinking that he wants to lay low and get stronger for reasons. Those reasons are unreasonable.

The thing is that the protagonist is constantly shivering and meek at everything. The fact is that he's a mess. He keeps whinging that he's taken the body of a villain but so far almost everything villainous that the character that he transmigrated into are all future developments. There's no reason to think that everyone is out to kill him. The author also spends way too much time going on about how rich this character is which says more about the author than the character.

Translation is fine but apparently super slow and uses present tense which is awkward as hell to read. Can't really recommend this to anyone as other novels have done the reincarnated into a villain role far better. <<less
38 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
hawlol
hawlol rated it
September 11, 2020
Status: c57
Lukewarm is the best way to describe this.

The Villain/Transmigrated Guy is too rich and powerful, having the power of a president. Things come to him too easily and he quickly becomes a legendary talent, sss power whatever without any hassle or challenge.

The writing is tell don't show, with lots of repeated information, introspections and info dumps. You'll be reading that he is rich and can get anything and everyone fears him, a lot. Also what happened in the previous story, all the time, even though it didn't have importance to... more>> the current scene.

The greatest fault, though, is pacing. Nothing happens. I read 57 chapters of the villain/MC training and flexing his money/power around. The story is supposed to be about dungeons, monsters, battles, but there are none in said chapters. He interacted with original characters but the 'conflict' was solved with a shake of his hand. It's just... boring.

Add that to a bad release schedule, short chapters and that's what you can expect. I had my problems with TCF but you'd better be reading it instead. <<less
27 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
TheBookWorm
TheBookWorm rated it
August 4, 2019
Status: c25
This novel is quite similar to TCF, MC being reincarnated to a young master's body that'll eventually be beaten up by the Protagonist of the original novel, but this has a more modern-like setting. Unlike Cale, Jinwoo is reincarnated to not only a rich household but a very powerful one at that (A 3rd-generation Chaebol).

The first 25 chapters is full of contents of how powerful and rich his family is (I can't count how many times I thought of how unfair the world is, lol)

It's not a bad thing... more>> though, he's taking advantage about it like buying expensive materials for his accelerated growth. Quite refreshing from the usual trend (Poor to rich) where the protagonist relies on their will power and luck.

I'm not really sure if this will turn into a harem (I hope not). I'm 25 chaps in and there is 3 potential love interests. <<less
26 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
CommanderCookie
CommanderCookie rated it
December 11, 2020
Status: --
So the story starts with the MC going being the villain and this is exactly my type cause I had enough of heroes... the chapters are good but after finding out I had to pay to read this I might try to translate the raws or not it depends on my mood tbh and I dont want to have a war with another translation group so if the current group drops this then I will immediately post up to 200 chapters but I hope you guys dont get disappointed im... more>> the next 100 chapter. <<less
23 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Incompetence Hunter
Incompetence Hunter rated it
June 29, 2020
Status: c30
The MC's action and the story are inconsistent and nonsensical. For some reason, despite having done nothing wrong, the protagonist is terrified of everybody. He gives up on a girl that is very devoted to him, and willingly is kicked out of the family.
21 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
LoneDK
LoneDK rated it
July 31, 2020
Status: c7
First time I read this I dropped it at chapter 5. Fast forwards a couple of weeks, bored me had nothing to do so decided to give this novel another shot. Dropped at chapter 7 and writing this review to remind myself why I hate novels like this. It's because of the MC. The premise is interest (albeit not original) so I had high hopes both time. However the MC is the most cowardly person I have ever read. He was given basically a free pass in life and yet... more>> he's scared of his own shadow. It's the s*upidest thing ever and I hate, hate MC like that. The reason for his cowardice is also s*upid. He's afraid of everyone because of what the character that he transmigrated into will do to them. I mean........ He knows he can just not be a piece of sh*t like that character and he'll be fine right. How dumb is the MC? Anyhow, not my cup of tea. <<less
19 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Renaxan
Renaxan rated it
February 27, 2020
Status: c207
Wtf man this novel is so good, now im quite confused why this isnt popular yet.

This is like mixed genre between TCF and TNE, MC awakened as villain of novel who are typical over rich character villlain in the beginning, like cale of TCF. Now you would think the MC gonna following his roles to save the world as how TCF and TNE works but NO. I will explain why later.

Character is superb, atleast they are memorable. Everyone has their own unique trait and really felt alive. I have no... more>> word to say about this.

Now into the plot. This is where this novel shining. MC doesnt follow his rules instead do whatever he want with his character power. People misundertanding MC character. MC does not sit and sneak to do thing hide himself, he does anything mostly alone. Demon see him as most villlainous character ever and his collegue see him as suffered talented person, etc.

Most thing I really like about this novel are its world building. If you have read The Novel Extra, you will familiar with this concept. MC travel to other dimention to do something, and this novel go beyond even further. This novel covered a lot GENRE later on.

Spoiler

MC conquered a lot world, he really work himself as villain. There's demon world, elf world, middle earth (fantasy setting), labyrinth world (framed as VR game lol), paralel world where he meet the paralel novel writers, Sci-fi world with space battleship and mecha planet, setting world dimension (MC set as generic anime chara), and last world would be world of dead (setting in apocalypse earth) and god. Man, thats quite ride.

[collapse]

For comedy and romance, theres some comedy aspect exist, as people misunderstand about MC. Romance, well its pretty late as myself only see it bit progressing after MC enter setting monarch dimension (arround chapter 160+) so you wont look this novel for it. Most liked arc for me is VR games arc which happen arround 100+ chapter. Once again, This novel manage to combine VR, fantasy, Sci-fi genre into one.

For cons, if you think overpowered plot armor is cons, then it is. Also, its harem with shallow relationship too. The MC of the original novel itself almost never mentioned too. Honestly, I find all of them fine as this is truly enjoyable.

Overall, its truly great novel. Its soooooo goooood. I'm never using cringe word in any of my review before but here am i. Highly recommended if you like TNE and TCF kind stuff. Worthly 10/5 <<less
17 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Zeyro2Zeyumi
Zeyro2Zeyumi rated it
April 26, 2020
Status: c15
Nothing about this character is villain besides being born in the Villains body. Seems like its just s*upid and wasteful for it to even matter besides to give the main character starting money to "live and grow". Caught up to what's translated but so nothing of value happens in 15 chapters. I don't actually expect him to become anywhere villainous more like a rich good guy protag.
16 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
AsTheNameDictates
AsTheNameDictates rated it
May 12, 2019
Status: c2
I'm giving it a 5 star for now as the story is in my "Fav. Genre/Plot"

Kinda like TCF (My current No. 1) and hopefully this novel will not disappoint me...

Score/Review may change depending on the plot progress and hopefully i'll be able to find a site that I will be able to read the mtl (TCF have one) so that I can calm myself while waiting for the Eng. Trans.

Thank you for translating...
14 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ajmc93
ajmc93 rated it
September 12, 2021
Status: c22
For anyone thinking of starting this, first off, chapter 21 of Active Translations is chapter 57 if you follow the numbering order from the Towel City translations. Apparently Towel City separated the chapters into parts without clarifying.

With that out of the way, the novel is plain, bland. I had just stroke gold reading "The Villain wants to live" and "I became the First Prince" by the same translation group and thought that they only picked up great novels. I literally only picked it up because I saw it displayed at... more>> the AT main page, I was wrong. I thought I had read 56 chapters of nothing happening, turns out I had "only" read 21 chapters of nothing happening.

There are no conflicts at that point in the novel, and thus, no hook. He is super rich and is using his wealth to get rapidly stronger, that's fine. But there isn't a single event that causes tension in those first 21 chapters and as such the story is boring.

Half of the time the MC talks about how flawed and cliched the original story was and the other half he spends it talking about how he can power up by buying this and that with his knowledge of the original story, all with grandpa's money.

No fighting, no struggle, no fun. <<less
11 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
sersafir
sersafir rated it
September 1, 2021
Status: c101
OK, so this novel was extremely good.

At first I'd give it 5/5, at least, for the first 45-65 chapters.

I don't know how or why, but everything began declining and rolling downhill and the author made stupefying decisions. Right now it's like we're reading some boring history book about events the MC has decided to take a more passive approach in dealing with. It's not fun anymore. He's just reacting to things, not actually doing things.

On a whim, characters change. Effectively extremely long arcs which should have implied character growth are... more>> relegated to filler. I would go so far as to say this might as well not be called a harem at this point.

The author also doesn't clearly explain anything. There's random scene transitions. Like it's just assumed we know he used the crystal to warp, but the author writes it in the most braindead way possible. The comments section is occasionally filled with readers saying "what the hell is going on?"

Spoiler

As an example, the author introduces the "elf" heroine in the same way he introduces all the other heroines. How the "hero" met them, and how the stories diverged as a result of meeting the MC. What makes the elf heroine unique? Strictly the main character saved her entire race, remade the world tree, brought her people food, donated huge sums of gold, and she clearly appreciated him. Her loyalty and devotion causes her to rise to high elf. The author also describes her "full" chest even expanding when she rises to high elf.

The main character says he finds the elves beautiful to his second in command. Admits to feeling shy meeting the queen. She even sings for him, and he uploads the songs, gaining her worldwide popularity as well as raising funds to sustain the well-being of elves for the future.

The main character does the same for a demon girl. She and the elf fight with each other trying to impress the main character.

Then for whatever reason, I guess the author got sick of her character decided she fell in love with the main character's brother. Why?

Because her brother wrote "Thank you for the song" in a youtube comment for her. I'm not even kidding. And the main character hires a professional deliveryman to bring her love letter. His brother slowly becomes more popular with the elves as well as taking her as his lover. Oh, and she apparently gets youtube from the human realm in the elf dimension.

Do you know what's particularly weird? The main character hasn't even f*cking kissed a girl yet. He's introduced as reincarnated into some hypersexualized handsome guy that makes girls drool, learned karma sutra as well as having abilities that massively increase his charm.

And yet the big b**bed elf queen from his harem dropped out to be with the random youtube commenter. Truth is, the author probably realized the MC needed to keep his v*rginity because he can't write romance for his life. 100 chapters in and the main character has not even held hands with a girl ffs.

[collapse]

2 chapters were dream nonsense. 1 chapter was filled with an explanation of advertisements that dragged on way too long.

The writing isn't that special. It's a fairly nice premise, but the author doesn't cover his basis. Example: In his previous life, the main character was poor. In his new one? The main character is rich. He's in a novel about his own world, so he decides to investigate if an old restaurant he liked is available. He finds out it is! The same people from Earth with them. You know what anyone would do in that situation? Find out how your family is doing now that you're dead. What does the MC do? Does he investigate the fire he died in? Who started it? Nothing. Doesn't even think as a result of lazy oversight.

Most characters don't develop at all. It's nice that filler characters aren't given too much of a spotlight, but in a way they're worse this way, they don't develop in any meaningful way. At least with normal filler, you might get an enjoyable story. As soon as they serve their purpose, the author forgets them. I completely forgot several characters because the author described them one time had them do a few things, then dropped them. Recall the knight expedition he made into his gate? Rachel still seems to get the occasional mention, but there's no intimacy at all between her and the MC. She also never seems to grow as a character, or have some kind of meaningful arc. The author implied they were important people in the novel but apparently not this one. The author's memory span is about the same as a goldfish.

Not to mention, the author seems to despise china and japan. They're practically just evil for the sake of being evil. They feel like arrogant wuxia villains for the protagonist to dump on.

TLDR; it starts out good, then turns to garbage. <<less
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Nuage
Nuage rated it
July 25, 2021
Status: c13
I think the novel could have been passable or even good, if not for the terrible narration/MC.

The author is obviously still experimenting with a light version of the "amnesia" trope where the MC wakes up and doesn't know who he is. But it fails completely. The MC is a coward who is terrified of his own shadow, so how could he shine in a situation which requires steel and cunning?

As far as I read, there is no time dedicated to strategic thinking. The MC is in a the flesh of... more>> a villain with a powerful background, and who is hinted to have already done many misdeeds. So, the MC's first decision is to... Cut off his ties with his powerful family and hope he doesn't die. He could use his power for good, to prove he's on the right side, or even use his knowledge of the original story. No, he'd rather cower in the corner and ignore the situation.

Well, sorry this is not my kind of MC/story. I'm out. <<less
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
God_Asura
God_Asura
January 24, 2021
Status: c240
well let's start with my assessment of the novel, and why the note, the premise of the novel itself is quite interesting, not that it is innovative, of course, but the way the first chapters were made was somewhat original since normally in the reincarnation novels in a novel, the protagonists are reborn in difficult situations whether for money or some conflict or other things, the writing I would say is average, the whole story is just the protagonist going in one dimension and dominating it from in a different... more>> way, almost all dimensions were like this, the dimension of God was the one that was most explored in terms of domination, but the novel is just that, the MC gets stronger conquers one dimension and goes to another conquest one dimension and gets stronger, this cycle is repeated several times, I've read the entire novel, I'm from 4 stars not because the novel was good, it was interesting, but nothing at the level of saying it scored, for anyone who wants to spend time with a law light weight, it's simple, there's a good choice, my advice is to read with an open mind, just have fun.

Now let's mention the good and bad points of the novel

Good points.

Comedy +

Comedy is really funny, even if the characters are not so charismatic, the author knows very well how to make laughs out of interesting situations.

Repetitive but not boring cycles +

The novel is practically a cycle of the protagonist gaining power by going one dimension, dominating it and gaining more power there to conquer another dimension, but the author knows how to create different situations that in most cases is pure comedy, the novel should not be taken to seriously just read with an open mind and laugh.

World building +

As I said before, the protagonist jumps from dimension to dimension dominating each one of them, even with the repetitive cycle the author knew how to create a very unique and different world, the world of god for example is practically unique, the way the author He used several mythologies and divided them into a single world. It was just perfect.

Reinterpretation of mythologies +

Well, as I said above, the author knew how to create worlds and explain them very well, but the way he put together different mythologies in a world making them synergistic, not only that changing different facts, and quoting the history of these mythologies differently, but very well explained, the author did a good job at that.

Negative points.

Rapid development-

Even having a good creation of the world, the author did not know how to explore, each world not more than a few dozen chapters, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth. The author was also unable to develop the characters because of the speed that the novel was progressing, reaching the point that even some very important ones were forgotten there by the final stretch. Because of the rapid development is the author's somewhat average writing, the characters have practically no charisma, hardly marking the readers.

Poor character development-

As I said above, the author did not know how to develop the characters, both because of the speed of the novel and because of his writing, which practically only revolved around the protagonist, giving no space for other characters to develop or mark the audience.

No really important challenges-

Well the novel itself doesn’t really have any weight, it doesn’t even cause a feeling of tension, or that something can go very wrong, the protagonist gets absurdly strong at an alarming speed, almost leaving no way to have challenges, and like the novel practically revolves around the protagonist, we do not see him go through any difficulties, the secondary characters are almost irrelevant, almost having no prominence in the work on most occasions, of course there are some chapters that were focused on secondary characters, but the number of times that this happened and extremely small compared to all the chapters centered on the protagonist.

Well that was it, I will reinforce it again, do not try to judge the novel, just read and have fun, if you have nothing else to read it is a good choice to spend time. <<less
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Loosergirl
June 6, 2019
Status: c5
The setting is dungeon gates spawning monsters, similar to a number of other Korean novels (e.g. I Alone Level-Up, Evolution Theory of the Hunter, I Never Run Out of Mana). Novels like these usually touch on the collapse of social order among those who hunt monsters. Lee Jin Woo transmigrates as a cannon fodder villain in such a world. The way he suddenly wakes up as a rich but tr*shy young master is very similar to Cale Henituse in tr*sh of the Count's Family. However, the butler is replaced by... more>> an attractive female secretary. <<less
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ColaArcie
ColaArcie
March 6, 2020
Status: c73
This story is full of misunderstanding but still entertaining to read...

reasons why I like this novel:

1. Its a transmigration story and im into it. Story where characters trying to adapt in there surroundings with their own abilities.

2. The MC is Villain. And looking in villain P.O.V. is really fun.

*19. First impressions and first greetings (1)
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
LongXi
LongXi rated it
February 4, 2022
Status: --
So how do you read this masterpiece? It's simple; all you have to think is that this novel is a parody to almost every trope and genre out there. Also, you might say say that everything is going too smoothly for the MC and that the story is sometimes too bland since MC is too op and has incredibly thick plot armour. Well you're correct, ding ding ding! Just look at it as if the MC is there to make a mistake that leads to new plot, then compare every... more>> arc to the genre it's attempting to parody and make a fun out of, then you'll see where the essence of the novel really is. But hey if you think that it's still bad and not what you expected it to be, with the villain trope and all, go read "the villain wants to live" I think that is what you're looking for; this and that are two very different type of novels. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
creepy addict
creepy addict rated it
January 31, 2022
Status: c75
it's just writer's dream

MC is an idiot and everything goes smoothly for him

there is no fun reading about how wealthy and powerful he is, and there is no hardship, wherever he goes they call him master and serve him for eternity, there is no real fight in it, everybody surrender or becomes his s*ave, there is no trajedy in it, there is no real villain, everybody support him, there is no logic in his skills, I can write hundreds more shitty problems about it, it's pure garbage and believe me... more>> I'm contently reading many novels and this is the weakest one <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Plopthedog
Plopthedog rated it
August 9, 2021
Status: --
Pretty flimsy story. Each chapter feels extremely short and devoid of any substance. You can't emphasize for any character because literally not enough is given to you by the author. MC himself is pretty vanilla. Relationships feel extremely shallow and character interaction is incredibly robotic. I do want to note that a strained relationship does not get solved within a couple days. It was extremely off-putting to read MC mending broken relationships with close attendees so quickly despite years of horrid ab*se. If we look at the conflicts and "speedbumps"... more>> MC has to overcome, well there are none. Conflicts are pre-emptively solved most of the time.

The best way to describe this story is that it feels like a point and click adventure game but you're skipping your way through the cutscenes. Sure you'll miss out on the explanatory bits but you'll still understand enough of it to form an simple outline of how the story goes.

The concept itself has been done over multiple times too so don't expect anything new. I have to say it's kinda ironic the author wrote a story about another cliché story when this story is pretty cliché itself.

Give it a 2.5. So it rounds up to a 3. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ExtremeRampage
ExtremeRampage
September 25, 2019
Status: c7
With these few chapters I can't say much about the content yet (no rating either), the MC is reborn as the title says, the villain of this dramatic Korean Novel he has read.

But he isn't just an average villain but a real pos and obviously doesn't want to continue the "original body owners" evil ways, since he'd die miserably in the future. The setting is a typical dungeon crawler with humans having special powers and dungeons with monsters showing up all over the world.

Hopefully, there will be more chapters in... more>> the future since this has the potential to be a hit like "tr*sh of the Count's Family" or "The Novels Extra". <<less
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