I’m sure anyone who had a “writer friend” in high school can remember reading said friend’s first “original” project about an edgy, self-insert teenager who gets isekai-sucked into a fantasy world where he’s suddenly the star, collects an endless harem of barely-legal girls, slays dragons, demons, etc, turns out to be half-demon, himself, and becomes an overpowered king… all before he wakes up from his dream at the end of the book. Awful grammar? Poor description? Pairings that lack any real sense of chemistry?
It’s all there in Proud Immortal Demon Way by Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, a webnovel that has taken social media by storm with thousands of followers to receive high praise from a lowest-common-denominator male audience. One reader, Shen Yuan, sees everything wrong with this webnovel and spams the comment section from start to finish, binging through all 500+ chapters in a few weeks. As he curses out loud and posts his final comment, Shen meets his untimely death and accidentally speaks the secret password to be reincarnated directly in the world of the webnovel he hates so much.
That is the beginning of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System gives a thrilling beginning for what is one of the funniest novels any anime fan could pick up for one simple reason: self-awareness. It’s good writing that breaks the fourth wall with how terrible of a setup it actually is and then twists it in a sort of Monty Python sense of humor until you’re left laughing at every scenario.
After waking up, Shen realizes what’s happened immediately, and so we skip the generic “where am I” moment to jump right into the twist where Shen realizes that he has been reincarnated as Proud Immortal Demon Way‘s…villain. When it all clicks, he recalls the end of the novel and what’s in store for him. It is then that the world’s “system” activates and delivers him a chance to save himself. By exploring the world, tying up loose ends, discovering hidden side plots, and completing quests, he can change the course of the novel and potentially save himself. However, if he manages to perform badly then he’ll be rejected early from the system back into his now-dead body.
There are not many choices for Shen Yuan (now Shen Qingqiu), and so he plays the part of the sadistic villain, obeying the system’s restrictions and hints until he manages to unlock the OOC feature. Then it’s time for him to rewrite a terrible webnovel!
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System has all the cliches and tropes you can imagine.
- Time Skip Arc? Check!
- Tragic Backstory? Check!
- Deus Ex Machina? Check!
- Mary Sue Character? Check!
- Video Game References? Check!
- Protagonist With Plot Armor? Check!
- Harem of 3,000 Demon Girls? Check!
- Inconsistent Characterization? Check!
- Battle Royale/Tournament Arc? Check!
- Chinese Internet-Exclusive Lingo/Memes? Check!
Yet because The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System is a webnovel taking place within a bad webnovel and also being told from the reader/villain’s perspective, all these tropes are twisted again, and again in a way that you can’t do otherwise. In doing so, it all feels cleverly executed with wit and charm that leaves you pleased for sticking around for an extra 10-30 pages every time you pick it up.
You’ll be ripping through every chapter with a smile as you read iconic lines such as:
Shen Quingqiu’s adaptability was, as always, as incredible as a record-breaking-dick. —p.193
And classic internal panicking like:
I can’t tell you that the only way to completely cure the poison is to take a trip to pound town with you, okay?! —p.244
So what happens when the OOC feature is unlocked? What about when the girls that should be joining the harem get killed off or lose interest in their intended protagonist, Luo Binghe? What about when Shen replaces love interests roles to aid Luo in major character development points?
What about when approaching the ending of this first volume, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System starts to build the relation with Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe beyond their master/disciple dynamic they’ve had for most of the book? What does it mean going forward when Shen starts to think that he’s falling in love with the person who is scripted to kill him?
And that’s not even the real plot twist in the final chapter. The first volume ends tragically, with but one more plot twist that you wouldn’t see coming despite every trope in the book being ripped to shreds.
Like with Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s other books, the English edition contains footnotes to explain Chinese metaphors, cultural references, and internet slang. Appendix glossaries come with character profiles, character design artwork, and pronunciation guides, making it possible to enjoy everything, even for those unfamiliar with Chinese pop culture.
Volume one is over, and I cannot wait for the next three volumes to release. The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System is an absolute treat anyone who likes (or hates) isekai anime should pick up.
Available now wherever fine books are sold and on Amazon Kindle.
