Madman in a Fantasy World

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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The world overflows with light novels, anime, web novels, and, of course, their dedicated fans.

I was one of those fans, happily enjoying my leisure time until one day, a thought struck me out of the blue.

“Huh? Couldn’t I get reincarnated?”

You know those common reincarnation tropes, right?

Someone leaves a 5700-word comment ranting about a web novel’s plot, and bam—reincarnated. Or they point out a plot hole, get told, “Well, you try it,” and whoosh—white light, reincarnation. Or they die a mysterious death only to wake up in a strange place, uttering the classic line, “This isn’t my ceiling.” Or they get sucked into a game they’ve played for over 10,000 hours.

In those stories, there are always at least two worlds: the original Earth and the world of the web novel or game.

So, couldn’t my world actually be a web novel world?!

If my logic was sound, then I, too, could be reincarnated.

“Damn! I’m a genius!”

Wait, did that thought actually come from my brain?

My friends always tease me about having the IQ of a goldfish, calling me a certified idiot.

Could I actually be a hidden genius?!

No, wait. Perhaps there are others who’ve already successfully reincarnated.

Think about those web novel comment sections—people ranting about perfectly good stories just because they’re not to their liking.

What if they’re pretending to be idiots while secretly building up to their own reincarnation?

Of course, they might actually just be idiots.

“Wow… the world is vast.”

Who knew there were so many geniuses out there!

I can’t fall behind. I need to start my own build-up, starting with reading the top-ranked web novel.

Since I want to reincarnate into a fantasy world, I need to find a novel like that. Luckily, the current number one is an academy fantasy isekai, so that’s perfect.

There are multiple ways to reincarnate, but I don’t want to die, so I’ll go with the 5700-word comment strategy.

And so, my journey toward reincarnation began.

Step one: Read the entire novel. It could be a slog if it’s boring, but luckily, as the top-ranked novel, it was a captivating read.

“Oh shit, look at this frustrating protagonist! Just kill them already, why bother keeping them alive? They’ll just come back stronger later, tsk.”

Honestly, it was so engrossing I almost forgot my original goal. So, I slapped myself.

“Snap out of it!”

The influence of a top-ranked novel is truly terrifying. To be so hooked after just a few chapters…

“You lack effort!” My reflection in the dark phone screen said.

Right, my reflection is right. I severely lack effort. I need to put more effort into putting in more effort.

Anyway, step one, finishing the novel, is complete.

Step two: Write the comments. While reading, I realized this novel is genuinely good! It’s number one for a reason. It’s captivating! There’s nothing to criticize!

But I have to write nitpicky comments to reincarnate.

[IsekaiReincarnation: Author, I don’t understand the protagonist’s actions. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I don’t get it. It’s definitely not because I want to reincarnate, you know?]

[IsekaiReincarnation: Ah, lol, the protagonist is such a pushover. If I were the author, I would have never done that, lol.]

Writing comments on every chapter, I noticed something. Early comments had many people sharing similar criticisms, but their numbers dwindled as the story progressed. Had they already departed for another world?

I need to reincarnate before the vanguard finishes everything!

Thus began my relentless effort. I meticulously crafted comments at first, but as I ran out of ideas, I started getting lazy.

[IsekaiReincarnation: Ah, that’s not how you do it. The author is clueless about reincarnation.]

[IsekaiReincarnation: Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate. Ah, I want to reincarnate.]

Two years. I invested a whole two years. This level of dedication should surely be enough to earn me reincarnation.

But laziness crept in, and I resorted to using a macro—a custom-built one that automatically generated comments by combining pre-written words.

[IsekaiReincarnation: ??Reincarnation☆Now Reincarnating$$All Survive☜☜100%Clear Proven※ ?This Man Will Do It For Free?Extras Also Available￥ Specific Conditions §§True Master§§★★@@@ Instant Reincarnation]

Something like that. Basically, stuff I grabbed from the internet and modified. Whatever. Any Korean should be able to understand my gibberish.

I watched YouTube while slurping ramen as my macro automatically commented on each new chapter release.

Then, on the second anniversary of my endeavor, my efforts finally bore fruit.

[MintChocoMaster: Damn it! Stop it, you crazy bastard!]

As soon as that comment appeared, I scrambled out of bed and knelt before my computer, clasping my hands in prayer. When I opened my eyes…

“Yessss!!!!!!!!”

I had succeeded!

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When I opened my eyes again, it wasn’t to an unfamiliar ceiling… but to a small, unfamiliar room.

“Damn. Missed the ‘unfamiliar ceiling’ line. How could they deny me that?”

The author crossed a line, but that’s not important right now. There’s something more important to do after reincarnation. With a slightly excited heart, I uttered the magic words:

“Status!”

I spread my hand in the air as I declared it. And then, poof—a familiar translucent blue window, just like in webtoons, appeared before me.

[ Information ]

Name: Luke

Gender: Male

Age: 20

Year: 1st

Magic Power: 0 / 0

[ Skill ]

Inventory (F)

[ Stats ]

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 0

Stamina: 10

Stat Points: 0

What’s with this perfectly balanced stat distribution? And I’m super smart, so why is my intelligence zero?! Isn’t this a bug?

There are so many things wrong here. Racking my genius brain, I’m pretty sure a character named Luke was never mentioned in the novel. Does that mean I’m below even an extra?

“Wow. A genius on Earth, a nobody in this world?”

Talk about nerfing the protagonist! And the single skill I have makes things even worse.

“How can I be enrolled in an academy with ‘Inventory’ as my only skill?”

I bet Luke was dead last out of the 200 students here. And now that’s me.

“Uh-huh.”

And to make matters worse, in a world dominated by magic, my magic power is zero. Not because I’ve used it all, but because my maximum magic power is zero. I’m just inherently magically inept.

In “A Commoner Became a Hero in the Academy,” there are swordsmen and mages, but even the swordsmen use magic to enhance their swordsmanship, thanks to the author’s convenient world-building.

“Well, a reincarnator needs some handicaps to make things interesting.”

My character being magically challenged is one thing, but let’s take a look around this room. It’s a tiny, cramped box, barely bigger than a closet, with plain white walls. A small, single bed and a desk that takes up half the remaining space are the only furniture.

“A dorm room?”

The academy in the novel is strictly meritocratic. Classes are divided by skill, and so are the dorms. The worst dorms were mentioned only once, early on in the novel, when describing the academy’s facilities. Naturally, there was no detailed description, so even having read the entire novel, I had no idea what they looked like. But seeing it now…

“It really is shitty.”

How can anyone live in a place like this? I would have dropped out already, tsk tsk.

Anyway, that’s not the point right now. Today is a momentous day, marking the culmination of my two years of effort! I’ve seen my status and successfully reincarnated. I can’t contain my excitement.

“Author, prepare to witness the twerk of joy!”

I announced to the empty room and started shaking my hips.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door. Who dares interrupt my celebratory dance?

Knock knock.

When I didn’t answer, they knocked again, followed by a voice.

“Luke, are you there? It’s Rayna from the student council. I have an urgent message for you.”

Right now, messages are secondary to my twerking. I’ll just ignore it.

“I can hear someone inside, but I don’t understand why you’re not answering. I’m coming in.”

The doorknob turned, and the door creaked open.

“There you are, Luke. What in the—?!”

The woman who introduced herself as Rayna stopped mid-sentence, her eyes wide as she took in my mesmerizing hip movements.