Cheat Magician Life That Started From Being Judged Useless Chapter 22 Discussion

You might think that chapter 22 is a little early to rate, and you might be right (after all my last rating was 5 stars, but I instantly regrettedgiving it 20 chapters later) . However I have noticed some flaws that show underlying problems with the story.

The place that it is most evident is conflict and setting. While there are other problems, these two core elements suck.

Let's start setting. One of the most important parts of a fantasy setting is how you go about worldbuilding. This author doesn't know how to worldbuild. They add very little details, and what they do add often henders the story telling process.

For example, one of the worst offenders. The setting has a 20 hour day. Originally, I thought this meant that the world had a different time system (many older cultures around earth didn'tuse the 24 hour system either) , but it actually meant the world has shorter days. Normally a detail like this used correctly would either explain an aspect of the world or directly influences future events. Instead it is used as a 'two moon' detail. It's shoved in to show the reader that this truly isn't like earth. The problem is that this could be an amazing worldbuilding element, but the author doesn't really get it. Like the fact that a 20 y.o. Person in the setting would only be 16 in earth years. This would fundamental change how every character is perseved. But, it doesn't because we all know this isn't what the author was intending, and was just suppose to add a nifty deatail to the world.

A lot of the setting is just random worldbuilding details that doesn't help the reader understand anything. This is a problem since worldbuilding sould also either help define the setting or help move the plot. The next problem is conflict. Since it might have been a minute for you, here's a refresher. The conflict (s) are the driving force of the plot which causes a character to take action. A conflict can be caused, defined, and appear in many different ways. Whether it's Billy is struggling to make a friends at his new school, John is stuck on a deserted island, or sir Dove saving the world from the demon king. Many traditional fantasies have one central conflict. But some stories like sitcoms and slice of life have episodic conflicts (new conflict each issue). There is also a few other such as arcs, multi-pov, etc. The point is that every story needs a conflict to be entertaining.

Well, what about this story's conflicts. It's ill-defined, inconsistent, and boring. The author has a pampering problem. Whether it is because it's a self insert or incompetence I don't know. But the MC is too coddled. After the first 4 chapters he faces no set-backs, tension, frustration, high-stakes, major arguments, crime, survival, prejudice, goals/ambitiouns, financial ills, long term injuries, romance, comedic set ups, drama, mysteries, adventure, or death.

I like hardworking and average protagonist, but this character is basically writing a diary for the first 20 chapters. Now some diaries are really interesting, but they usually have use character vs. Nature or character vs. Society conflicts. The MC is majority of the time in a city and liked by most people. Now there are definitely attempts at creating conflict, but every time the author is at the top of the driving board, he climbs back down. The author sets-up a potential conflict, then immediately solves the problem. Peeps on a friend, he says sorry and she forgives him. Someone pulls a knife, he scares them and they run away. Boss thinks he's a spy, he tells the truth and they believe him.

I think the author has a fundamental misconception on what a conflict is.

If I stub my toe, it will suck. But just because something is frustrating or a problem doesn't make it a conflict.

If I stub my toe right before a dance audition and I don't think I can dance. That potentially can be a conflict. It sets up potential roads the plot can go. I could convince someone dance in my place, try to cause the audition to reschedule, or maybe even try a radical new routine where I dance on one leg. It has clear stacks where if I might fail the audition.

But you know what's also not a conflict, I stubbed my toe, but I can still dance perfectly in my upcoming audition. It just two events that happen, and this is how everything is written.

If the foundation of the house is rotten, it is going to eventually collapse

Now here's the thing, the author is going to eventually realize somewhere after chapter 22 that they needs something else. Most likely something bad is going to happen to his classmates or some giant monster will appear to add tension for the MC to get off his ass. Then the MC is going to save his Classmates or come to realize that he was wrong about the situation. The author will then throw sh*t at the wall and hope it works to create a central conflict. But without any previous good worldbuilding, they will probably start adding new details at random. Maybe a new country or faction. Maybe some grand master dungeon. Or maybe they will go with the zero follower goddess and time travel to the past. Who knows. If the story actually gets good it would most likely be around here. But it won't be the same house that is currently up. Then the problem is going to repeat. The author is going to build a new house every conflict, because they don't know what else to do. Each time the quality will likely change. So who knows maybe the author with roll multiple 5 out of 5 after this, but I wouldn't count on it.