Reviewed by Isabel Pitts ||
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Chinese author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX) is a series of books that may catch people’s eyes at their local Barnes & Noble. The book is originally an online novel. It has recently been printed and translated in English for overseas readers. I will review the first two books in these prints. These books are like Chinese period fantasy novels, and follow the protagonist trying to navigate a new way of life.
Book 1 opens with our protagonist, Shen Yuan, reading the Proud Immortal Demon Way. You are reading a web series about someone reading a web series. The only difference is, Shen Yuan is passionately ranting about the awful plot of Proud Immortal Demon Way. It’s cliche, following the orphan Luo Binghe through his tortuous youth as a disciple of the Cang Qiong Mountain sect. This is a great sect among the cultivation world, like magic cultivation. The leader of this sect is the loathsome Shen Qingqiu, who mistreats Binghe during his entire childhood. Shen Yuan uses his rant as a great way to introduce the main characters in a short period of time. Luo Binghe is thrown into a pit and cast into The Demon Realm, realizes he has demon blood, and comes back to exact his revenge on Qingqiu as an adult (young-adult). Shen Yuan’s greatest grudge against this storyline is how Binghe gains himself a harem of daughters by defeating their fathers in battle. It is sloppy, and ridiculous! After Shen Yuan vents his frustrations in the comment section of this series’ final chapter, he is bombarded with its fans asking why he paid for early updates if he hates it so much. This gets him so heated that he comically chokes on a dumpling, and dies at his computer.
He wakes up in an unfamiliar place to an unfamiliar face, until a robotic voice invades his ears. To his horror, he realizes that he is one of the characters in that terrible novel. Not only that, but he is the villain, Shen Qingqiu! Book 1 follows Shen Yuan, now Shen Qingqiu, learning cultivation, and how to make the novel end better. The robotic voice is the System, and it informs him that he must do what he thinks necessary to give Proud Immortal Demon Way a more satisfactory plot. Essentially, it’s daring him to do better by forcing him to be different, while staying in character, lest he wants to die forever. Shen Qingqiu has an advantage of knowing every character and their actions in general depending on the time he finds himself in. This knowledge already gains him favor amongst the other characters, who assume he is exceptionally wise. While doing this, he also must get on Luo Binghe’s good side. If he does not, he will end up in a pickle jar for the rest of his days. Yes, this is as hilarious as it sounds in the novel, and why it is so fun. This kind of plot is not done often in novels, and it is very funny to see how a modern person would interact with the fictional world, especially one with historic culture.
Shen Qingqiu has become an honorable leader, and liked much more than the original character, now that he has been given more depth than being ruthlessly nefarious. He has somehow gotten control of the plot so it functions in his favor, as well as Luo Binghe’s. His main focus in this mission is to keep Binghe happy in his youth, until he realizes that he is a Demon Lord (so he does not kill Qingqiu). The two have actually grown close, and Binghe looks up to Qingqiu as a result of his kindness. Everything goes according to plan, then the Cang Qiong Mountain is attacked by the Demon Realm, and Binghe’s fall is inevitable. Somehow, this book deals with darker themes like abuse, and demonic power, and still has me laughing out loud as I read it. I am cheering for Qingqiu because he is trying so, so hard to not be pickled.
Book 2 opens after Luo Binghe falls. The reader already knows from Book 1 how Binghe goes through a demonic character arc, so Qingqiu is living in fear for the three years that he is away. The people of his sect may think that Qingqiu is mourning the loss of his beloved disciple, but he is counting down the days. When Luo Binghe returns, he has a dark aura around him. He is cruel, manipulative, and feared by everyone. However, the original plot of this resulting from Qingqiu’s cruelty does not exist anymore. So the reader is just as confused as Qingqiu. The second book delves into the complicated relationship between Qingqiu and his rogue disciple. Binghe kills people and frames Qingqiu, yet he also saves him from being attacked by other demons. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Qingqiu’s attempts to gain Binghe’s favor have worked very well, too well. Binghe has developed an obsession with Qingqiu. We get to see Qingqiu’s confusion and terror with this new dynamic, as he still wonders if this means he will die at his hands nonetheless.
New realms are explored in Book 2 as well, such as the Demon Realm. Shen Qingqiu is trapped in the Demon Realm at the order of its Demon Lord, Binghe. He escapes, he also dies a couple times. Yes, a couple. The way MXTX plays with mortality and reanimation in her novels is interesting and almost comical. Upon his second resurrection, Qingqiu is in the classic disguise of a fake beard and big hat that allows him to wander around with common folk. A big motivator for these characters results from the commoner’s gossip. He finally has a chance to listen in on what his sect, and Luo Binghe have been up to in his absence. Luo Binghe is essentially an emo teenager, but if they were allowed to steal corpses of their former sect masters. Book 2 ends with Shen Qingqiu (disguised) in the middle of a heated conflict between Binghe and one of his (SQQ’s) own friends.
MXTX’s The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System is a light read, and very entertaining. It deals with a concept that is incredibly fun and engaging. The use of comedy to narrate dark themes, like corpse reanimation, is very on par with Gen-Z’s humor. I think, despite his own opinion, Shen Yuan was very effective at improving this harem novel.
