Chapter 1

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I absolutely adore anime.

No matter what others call me, a weeb or whatever, I just couldn’t stop loving anime.

Well, it’s kinda inevitable.

Because surely, among the people living in South Korea, there are hardly any who don’t find watching anime interesting at least once.

However, regrettably, Korean society treats anime as something only kids should watch briefly.

And if middle schoolers, high schoolers, or even adults watch anime, they’re often labeled as weebs without hesitation—it’s a pretty messed-up society.

But even though people called me a weeb, I still loved anime.

Beyond simply liking anime, I set my goal to create anime that would make America and Japan tremble.

Thus, despite having decent college entrance exam scores that could’ve gotten me into a prestigious university, I didn’t hesitate to enter a four-year animation department.

“…I should’ve just gone to engineering back then.”

In the end, here I am, locked away in a tiny room, reduced to being a slave making animations.

Right now, I’m working as an animator for the famous Korean web novel “SSS-Ranked Regressor Dominates the Academy.”

Although saying this might make it sound like I’m one of the leading figures in Korea’s animation industry.

In reality, this novel was originally picked up by a large Japanese animation studio after its adaptation rights were bought from a Korean platform.

Then, the Japanese studio subcontracted the work to a Korean animation company.

That Korean company subcontracted again, this time to me, a freelancer.

In short, subcontracting upon subcontracting upon subcontracting.

If you compare it to India’s caste system, I’d be like the untouchable Sudra class.

And truthfully, my treatment matches that of an untouchable.

[Today’s “SSS-Ranked Regressor Dominates the Academy” Episode 7 has animation errors lololololol]

– At 14:12, the protagonist is missing a nose lololol what is this Voldemort nonsense lololol

– This guy’s nose is legendary lololol

– THIS IS WHAT THE MIGHTY K-ANIME LOOKS LIKE!!!

– The Korean flag in my heart flutters proudly

– Are there really people who watch this trash? “Dungeon Chef” is airing in Japan right now…

– Literally, those who watch this garbage must love our country lolol Give them a rank promotion and bury them at the National Cemetery when they die lolol

– They say those guys watching this anime had their blood pressure explode and all died. Please take down the post ㅠㅠㅠ

– Korea should just stop making anime altogether; what kind of trashy stuff are you creating while complaining about the small market size lolol

When I checked out some online community sites just in case, the comments were roasting the seventh episode of “SSS-Ranked Regressor Dominates the Academy” mercilessly.

“…”

I sort of knew already.

We all knew our anime wasn’t on par with the Japanese ones airing at the same time.

Plus, we’re doing this on a tight budget where mistakes happen, while “Dungeon Chef” has an extravagant budget that makes your jaw drop.

Of course, we’re no match. Losing is inevitable.

But… I thought at least we’d lose with dignity, not get completely demolished like this.

Even though I’m not the director, as someone who played a part in producing this anime, I didn’t feel great about it.

“My blood pressure’s rising…”

I felt so disgusted.

Back when I was a kid, I dreamed of making incredible anime.

Now that I’m an adult, I’m stuck in this cramped room getting cursed at by strangers. It feels so unfair.

With that thought, I turned off the internet and lay down on my bed.

If, hypothetically speaking…

If this world hadn’t placed Japanese and American anime on such pedestals…

Wouldn’t I have had more opportunities to create mind-blowing anime?

At least making extraordinary anime as a Korean seemed almost impossible.

“Lord, if I ever get another life, please let me be born in a time where American and Japanese anime are mundane.”

At that moment,

I thought I heard the strange voice “Understood” near my ear.

After a deep sleep, when I opened my eyes,

“Kyaa.”

“Oh my goodness, my lord! You have a healthy son! Congratulations!”

I had reincarnated into a fantasy world where Japanese and American anime didn’t exist.

“Kyaa…”

Damn it, Lord, you piece of crap, this is going too far.

***

I was reborn as the second son of the Baronage Terison, named “Ragnar Terison.”

The youngest son of a baron family. In other words, a noble.

Though I was merely an untouchable in my past life, I successfully reincarnated as a noble, the golden spoon of the fantasy world.

Of course, a baron ranks at the very bottom of noble society, essentially serving as lackeys.

Surprisingly, however, I was born with an extraordinary talent.

“The gift for magic.”

Indeed.

My new body, Ragnar, possessed an insane talent for magic.

To give you a clearer idea,

“…Impossible. Your affinity and potential for mana are both at a perfect level. You’ve been born with a talent that appears once every ten years… no, once every hundred.”

“Ragnar! Please, become the disciple of the head of the Mage Tower and lead our tower in the future! With you, we can surely make it the best on the continent!”

“Your talent might allow you to master a 10th-level ultra-high-tier spell like ‘Meteor Shower’! No, you will definitely learn it, so how about we start studying tomorrow?”

Something like that—basically, the old wizards in the Mage Tower went crazy over me.

But I had no intention of becoming the successor of the Mage Tower.

Because in my previous life, I spent 16 years of elementary, middle, and high school buried in studies, and I didn’t want to repeat that miserable grad student life here.

“Besides, why would I bother learning something like Meteor Shower?”

Unless you plan to wipe out all the dragons in this world to turn them into oil, there’s no reason to learn such spells.

So I ignored the continuous advances of the mages from the Mage Tower and only learned the magic I wanted.

The sole reason I decided to study magic in the first place was simple:

To live as comfortably as possible in this inconvenient world compared to 21st-century Earth.

After leaving the Mage Tower and returning to my family, I lived a carefree life as a noble.

Our family wasn’t super wealthy, but since I was nobility, nobody really minded me relaxing all the time.

Of course, if my family needed a mage, I occasionally helped out to keep appearances.

I expected to enjoy my lazy life until death.

But alas, my prediction was completely wrong.

“Hey, Ragnar. Ragnar!”

Currently, standing before me is a woman whose beauty surpasses human limits.

Silver hair reaching her waist, crimson eyes reminiscent of rubies.

Her face alone could easily destroy a few countries, and she boasts an incredibly noble status.

Because she is the prized daughter of one of the four dukes in the Empire.

“Serica El Grinevalt.”

One of the most beautiful women in the empire, and simultaneously the most noble outside of royalty.

And yet, this woman is holding my hand tightly and asking me something.

“You must help me with something, right? Will you?”

Any normal man wouldn’t be able to refuse her request.

Unfortunately, I had to suppress a sigh as I listened to Serica.

Because I already had a rough idea of what she was about to say.

“The anime you made was really fun. So…”

Serica said with sparkling eyes.

“Of course, I assume you’re planning to make a second season, right? If so, do you know when it will come out? Or at least, can you share the rough outline of the story for the second season?”

“…”

Shit.

If I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have started making anime in this world in the first place.

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