Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Reincarnation (1)
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I absolutely love anime.
No matter how much people called me an otaku or whatever, I couldn't stop loving it.
That was just how it was.
After all, just about everyone in South Korea must have felt that spark of "this is fun" while watching anime at some point.
Unfortunately, though, Korean society treated anime like something you only watched as a kid for a little while.
If you kept watching it as a middle or high school student—or even as an adult—they didn't hesitate to brand you an otaku. It was a pretty shitty society.
But even if they called me an otaku, I still loved anime.
It went beyond just liking it—I even dreamed of creating anime that would make America and Japan quake in their boots.
That's why, despite having grades good enough for a top university, I didn't hesitate to go into a four-year animation program.
"...I should've just gone to an engineering school back then."
In the end, I wound up holed away in a tiny room, slaving away as an animator.
Right now, I was working as a key animator on the anime adaptation of Korea's famous web novel, SSS-Class Regressor Monopolizes the Academy.
That might make it sound like I was at the forefront of Korean anime production.
But in reality, after the big Korean platform greenlit the adaptation, they outsourced it to a Japanese studio.
That Japanese studio then outsourced it to a Korean one.
And that Korean studio outsourced it to me, a freelancer.
In other words, sub-sub-subcontractor.
If you compared it to India's caste system, I was basically an untouchable Shudra.
And in practice, that's exactly how they treated me.
📰 Breaking News Today's SSS-Class Regressor Monopolizes the Academy Episode 7 is a total collapse of quality lolololololol 💬 Comments — Anonymous The protagonist has no nose in the 14:12 scene lmao what is this Voldemort??? — Anonymous ↳ Reply This guy's nose is impressive lmao — Anonymous This is the pinnacle of K-anime from our mighty powerhouse nation ruling the world!!! — Anonymous Flag in my heart is flapping hard — Anonymous Are there really people watching this garbage? Dungeon Chef is airing in Japan at the same time??? — Anonymous ↳ Reply Fr, anyone watching this trash at that time must really love our country lmao. Promote 'em two ranks if they drop dead and bury 'em in the national cemetery lolol — Anonymous They say everyone who watched this had their blood pressure explode and died already. Take the post down ㅠㅠㅠ — Anonymous Korea should just stop making anime;; Making this dogshit and then bitching about our small anime market lmao I'd checked an internet community site just in case, and they were absolutely roasting the newly aired Episode 7 of SSS-Class Regressor Monopolizes the Academy.
"..."
I'd kinda known it already.
That the anime we made was seriously lacking compared to Japanese ones airing at the same time.
On top of that, we were working with a shoestring budget that led to all sorts of production errors, while Japan's Dungeon Chef was made with a jaw-dropping luxury budget.
No wonder we couldn't compete. Losing was inevitable.
But I'd thought we'd at least put up a good fight—like, "we lost, but we fought well." Not get unilaterally torn to shreds like this.
I wasn't the director, but as someone who'd contributed to making that anime, it didn't sit right with me.
"Ah, my blood pressure..."
My mood was absolute trash.
Just a few years ago as a kid, I'd dreamed of making badass anime.
But as an adult, here I was, stuck in a cramped room eating shit from everyone online. It felt so damn unfair.
I turned off the internet, flopped onto my bed, and let my mind wander.
What if—just hypothetically—
in a world where Japanese and American anime weren't so dominant,
maybe I'd have a real shot at making something that could shock the world.
As a Korean, creating great anime felt damn near impossible.
'God, if I get another life, please let me be born in an era where American and Japanese anime are nobodies.'
And right then.
I thought I heard a weird "Got it" in my ear.
I slept deeply, woke up, and...
"Nngh."
"Oh my! Baron, it's a healthy baby boy. Congratulations!"
I'd been reincarnated into a fantasy world where American and Japanese anime weren't just nobodies—they'd straight-up ceased to exist.
"Nngh..."
No, fuck.
This crossed the line way too far, you bastard god.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In this new world, I was born as the second son of the Tersion Baron family, named Raguna Tersion.
The baron's youngest son. In other words, a noble.
I, who'd been an untouchable in my past life, had successfully landed a cushy noble status in this fantasy world.
Of course, a baron was at the very bottom rung of noble society—basically the official errand boy for the higher-ups.
Surprisingly, though, as a noble-born, I had one incredible talent.
'Talent for magic.'
That's right.
This new body of Raguna's had insane magical aptitude.
How insane, you ask?
"...Unbelievable. Your affinity and potential for mana are both perfect. You're a once-in-a-decade—no, once-in-a-century genius."
"Raguna! Please, become the Magic Tower Master's disciple and lead our tower one day! With your talent, you could make us the top on the continent!"
"With your gifts, you might even master a Level 10 archmagic like Meteor Fall! No, you definitely will—so how about we start studying together tomorrow?"
Basically, all the old fogies in the Magic Tower were swarming me, obsessed.
But I had zero interest in becoming the Magic Tower Master's disciple or leading the place.
Why? I'd already spent 16 years of my past life slaving through school from elementary to university. No way was I doing grad student-level drudgery here.
'And what the hell would I even use Meteor Fall for?'
Unless I planned to wipe out all the dinosaurs—er, dragons—and turn 'em into oil, there was no point.
So I ignored the mages' constant pleading and just picked the spells I wanted to learn.
The only reason I'd decided to learn magic in the first place was simple.
To live as comfortably as possible in this world, which had way more inconveniences than 21st-century Earth.
After leaving the Magic Tower and returning to my family, I busied myself with the noble life of lounging around and freeloading.
Our family wasn't filthy rich, but as a noble house, it wasn't a big deal for me to live leisurely on my own.
Of course, I didn't forget to step up and show off whenever they needed a mage.
I figured I'd coast through life as a total NEET until I died.
But unfortunately, my expectations were completely shattered.
"Um, Raguna. Raguna!"
Standing before me right now was a woman so stunningly beautiful she barely seemed human.
Silver hair cascading to her waist, ruby-red eyes.
Her face alone could topple a nation or two, and her status was nobly unmatched.
Why? She was the pampered jewel of one of the empire's four ducal houses.
'Serika El Grinebalt.'
One of the empire's most beautiful women, and barring royalty, the highest status around.
And this woman was gripping my hand tight, saying,
"I have this one favor I really want to ask you... You'll do it, right? Yeah?"
Any guy with normal tastes couldn't refuse her.
Unfortunately, I had to fight back a sigh as I listened.
Because I had a pretty good idea what she was about to say.
"That anime you made? It was so much fun. So, what I'm saying is..."
Serika's eyes sparkled as she continued.
"You're making a Season 2, right? If so, any idea when it'll come out? Or at least, could you spoil the rough story for Season 2...?"
"..."
Goddamn it.
I should've never started making anime in this world.