Pens Down, Swords Up
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If you have not read it yet, give it some consideration.
I like the series a lot and compare it with 'Realist Hero in terms of fun. I am convinced it is "the next big thing no one knows about yet".
I spare you the summary you can read yourself on the series' page.
https://j-novel.club/series/pens-down-swords-upWhat I like about the series that much are the characters, story pacing, humour and vibes.
One of my most favourite scene of Realist Hero in the first volume is about the gathering of talents. It left such a strong impression to me and I loved that the author kept that throughout that series.
A similar impression I am getting from this series again and again, where the protagonist excels in elevating others while being true to his own principles and desires.
The initial summary you get from the official page can be therfore misleading about the content. Also it "stinks" of certain tropes at first I can do without aka typical school life story and harem. But in other 300 entries with the webnovel nothing of that came true.
Instead the story convinced me with a mixture of what I enjoyed most from Invaders of Rokujouma and Great Cleric. No worries - despite I love the many characters it is nowhere as difficult to follow or weird as with Loner Life in Another World or Arifureta.
There is also not the issue with the protagonist being overpowered from the start. In fact - and that also is a lasting impression which makes me like him - he acknowledges the strength of others easily and still the character developement makes him strong in his own way.
What I am trying to say, there is more to the series than the usual isekai stories you might be used to. That alone makes it worth to check it out.
The last time I was this excited about a light novel was with 'Realist Hero. And since then I have read plenty which I was very enthusiastic with, but none as much as with 'Realist Hero or this one, despite I love Rokujouma, Arifureta and Great Cleric greatly.
Seriously, the introduction to the story on the official page is not wrong - but the Royal Academy part is in comparison quite little, following the story overall with the web version.
So far in Japan six volumes have been published while I estimate the overall content of the web novel about 12-16 volumes and still growing.
The writing is easy digestible, the pacing is great, and the humour is fun. Also the fun is rather innocent, compared to titles like The Amazing Village Creator: Slow Living with the Village Building Cheat Skill which come with overly perverted stuff and making bad fun of suicide.
JNC is about to prepub volume 4 the day after tomorrow. The story is going to get really lots of momentum, but even the first two / three volumes are already worth it.
So... if you are looking for something to read - give this title a consideration.
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To add my two cents to what @Serah said:
IMHO this series starts slow, and takes a little time to get to the good parts. But by the end of vol. 3 this has become my favorite series on JNC and I'm now reading ahead in the WN.
Once you get the introduction of the school and his new friends out of the way is where the series shines the most: as the protagonist begins his wandering journey out into the world casing chaos and misunderstandings everywhere he goes.
While vol. 1 was all about the entrance exam and school life, he starts adventuring in vol. 2, and by vol. 3 all the school stuff gets pushed into the background.
If anyone out there thought the school parts weren't very interesting, then I encourage you to stick around and try vol. 2.
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@BlueDragoon said in Pens Down, Swords Up:
To add my two cents to what @Serah said:
IMHO this series starts slow, and takes a little time to get to the good parts. But by the end of vol. 3 this has become my favorite series on JNC and I'm now reading ahead in the WN.
Once you get the introduction of the school and his new friends out of the way is where the series shines the most: as the protagonist begins his wandering journey out into the world casing chaos and misunderstandings everywhere he goes.
While vol. 1 was all about the entrance exam and school life, he starts adventuring in vol. 2, and by vol. 3 all the school stuff gets pushed into the background.
If anyone out there thought the school parts weren't very interesting, then I encourage you to stick around and try vol. 2.
Exactly!
That is also why the story description on the official page feels so misleading, as it sounds like it is all about a nerd excelling in school. (sure that might be interesting at first too)
Instead it is about adventure, action, finding his way through life - it sure has strong hints of Re:Life - where the protagonist goes the way he chooses (the way of freedom) because he was regretting his past life where the studies, railroaded his lifepath.
By all means it is so much better than what I have expected from the description of the official page!
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Referenced by
Serah