Clearing an Isekai with the Zero-Believers Goddess – The Weakest Mage among the Classmates (WN) Chapter 228 Discussion

It's your typical isekai where the weak becomes strong and game-like elements but DONE WELL, really well. The story feels simple and easy to read; of course it is, it's a shonen.

MC starts with a interesting handicap, which is a physically weak body and poor mana, no goddess but one wants to bless him because he's weak.

Spoiler

The relation between MC and the goddess it's complicated, but it works because it's not a one-sided deal.

MC accepts being an apostole of an evil god in exchange of her blessing, MC needs that blessing to compensate for his handicap and you later on learn that the evil god it's in a precarious situation too, so there's a reason why it happened, not just because he's the MC he receives an OP blessing, because he doesn't, it's just a little help that he expects to return someday with full gratitude, that's why it doesn't feel forced

[collapse]

Even tho he's weak and understimated at first, it doesn't become a cliché novel where he gets OP and gets revenge on everyone who looked down upon him, because they actually are likable and relatable; they are not bodhisattvas, but they aren't bad, they're just like normal people with their cons and pros which is why they feel real. The Light Hero who was supposedly the chosen one it's just a kid who cannot bear the burden of saving the world and the politics behind it, he doesn't feel like a character made to be strong and badass and that's it, he feels like a human. When the Water princess didn't pay him any mind at first and you think "This is gonna be another trope when MC gets revenge on c*cky character who looked down upon him in the first chapter" but no, she did not see any talent on MC, so she didn't even bother because that was her job; to seek talents for her country. We cannot blame the princess for something no one would expect to happen, which is the MC getting stronger (He starts with a handicap) and even she admits that she should've taken a closer look, and then become friends.

MC doesn't become OP or a Gary Stu, he still has his kryptonite, unlike Solo Leveling which becomes boring because theres no drama, MC it's just too powerful for something interesting to happen, that's not the case here. MC needs his friends backing him and his friends need him, that's why there's a reason to pay attention to them, because it's not just necessary for the story to continue or because it's important to MC, but because they will feel important to us too; they are there for a reason and the author use them very well. I very often find women in shonen novels very annoying, because they feel like a decoration but here I felt like they really are doing something (Unlike Orihime in Bleach or Lucy in Fairy Tail lolololol)

What I feel annoying is the ever dense MC which is classical of isekai shonens, but I think it is a little justified here.

Spoiler

MC unique skills are

RPG player: It just gives you different perspectives, like seeing what's behind you without looking back and so on.

Clear mind: It's just that, he can mainting a calm mind and think of a solution in situations where most people would panic, but combined with RPG Player you later on learn that the reason why he doesn't feel fear or even libido it's because of these two skills, he's simply thinking coldly because it became a habit after months of doing it with life threathening situations, plus the RPG Player skill with is like a third person in videogames. (Normally in videogames you feel tenser in first person than in third person, because there's less than you can see and you feel it like it's first hand)

This issue is addressed by the goddess, which tells him to not ab*se of this ability because the feelings are what makes him human.

There's also the spirit user which borrows mana from the spirits, but it isn't OP, you need water spirits to use them, and when he travelled to the fire country he got his ass kicked, because even tho he's skilled, he's naturally weak and depends on borrowing mana from his friends

The goddess also forbids the thechnique of becoming a spirit to gain power, because it is not reversible by conventional means and he would be reduced to an empty (of emotions) but powerful shell

[collapse]

I think the world building it's really good, because it feels like it is working without the MC, everyone is doing something, and it doesn't feels like the world was made for him to step on and save the world, he just happened to be there, the same as every character in the novel.