The Greatest Extra in History

No poison in this one – gets a solid rec from me.

Basic premise: MC transmigrates to a novel world (typical medieval fantasy setting with magic) where he is the 5th prince of a powerful but declining empire. The novel seems to be some kind of tragic fantasy where the imperial family (including himself) is wiped out. The character MC takes over was known as a rogue and a wastrel, but MC immediately begins changing his reputation and building up his power. Notably, in the novel, there is a protagonist who helps save the world. MC, however, to save himself and the empire, says screw the plot and begins taking the power ups that the protagonist was supposed to get. So he begins his journey to overcome his evil brother princes and the other nations that threaten him and the empire. In so doing, he discovers that some things are different from the novel (and maybe he is not the only transmigrator), but that aspect of the story is still early in its development.

In a sense, this would seem to be pretty formulaic, but it is not because its done right in a way too many novels don’t get nowadays. There is no “slave to the plot” trope – MC tosses that out the window right away. There is no turning the MC stupid to create dramatic tension – the MC is calm, rational, and simply uses his knowledge of the story to his advantage. And there is no BS “hide my powers” because “reasons” trope. MC build his power base quickly and doesn’t cower.

Admittedly, the MC powers up pretty quickly, and there is a bit of a Gary Stu aspect to the story. But I don’t mind this because the novel avoids the really crappy tropes that plague so many of these novels.

The other knock on the novel is that the other characters aren’t all that well developed – this is really more plot driven than character driven. Also, despite the tag, there is no hint of romance.