Reborn as a Scholar

Description

A martial artist, claiming himself to be a "murderer" is defeated by a suicide attack in battle and is reborn as a first born child to a local lord. Having a fresh start, a warm family and a little sister to protect - he decides to become a better person in his new life.

Original Webtoon

Official Translation:
English, Japanese, Russian

Type

Manhwa

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

Hagsajaesaeng

La reencarnación del Dios marcial

La reencarnación del erudito

Reinkarnasi Sang Pendekar

The Scholar's Reincarnation

The Scholarly Reincarnation

Реинкарнация ученого

学士再生

武人転生史

학사재생

Groups Scanlating

N/A

Latest Release(s)

N/A

Status in Country of Origin

214 Chapters (Complete)

Season 1:
Part 1: 37 Chapters (1~37)
Part 2: 39 Chapters (38-76)
Season 2:
Part 1: 34 Chapters (77~110)
Part 2: 39 Chapters (111~149)
Part 3: 49 Chapters (150~198)
Season 3:
Part 1: 16 Chapters (199~214)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 7.7 / 10.0 (355 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.59 / 10.0

18%

15%

26%

20%

Last Updated

April 18th, 2025 9:57pm PDT - 9 months ago

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Genre

Action Historical Martial Arts Shounen
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Strongest System

Shenwu Tianzun

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The Reincarnated Armed Escort

Recommendations

N/A

Author(s)

So Yu Hyun

Artist(s)

YumClap

Year

2016

Original Publisher

Daum

Golem Factory

Kakao

Serialized In (magazine)

KakaoPage (Kakao)

Kakao Webtoon (Daum)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Tapas

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #458 (-280)

Monthly Pos #1423 (-71)

3 Month Pos #2084 (-144)

6 Month Pos #2683 (+95)

Year Pos #2724 (+123)

List Stats

On 2131 reading lists

On 353 wish lists

On 199 completed lists

On 74 unfinished lists

On 334 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

Very good

by 56lulu
2 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I like the world building, the story, and the characters. The ending was open ended but somehow I feel like it was better that way, people continuing to live their lives and try their best. Great story, recommend it for those looking for some depth, character development, and a plot with twists

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Close to my Heart

by Sirona
2 years ago

Rating: N/A

I guess this story is really close to my heart. It's light hearted and not too heavy. Some say it is bland but I beg to disagree. The story is not about revenge but more about familial love. As for the romance, it's not really disgusting. To be honest, I'd be the first one who'd dropped this due to age difference but it's not.

While it's true that the MC remembers who he was as the warrior of the seven nights however, the portrayal of the character would let you forget that he was that warrior because of how he acts. I'll wait for the next season.

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Wholesome slice of life martial arts story

by Y_Sasuke
2 years ago

Rating: 7.5 / 10.0

The premise is that the MC started as the strongest in the world, but he only used strength and this led to his downfall. He gets a second chance to be taught love and kindness from his great new family and be taught wisdom thanks to a great teacher. This leads him to new heights as a person and a martial artist.

This is the initial concept.

Then there are several slice of life adventures with his pals, where he mostly trains them.
I think there is going to be a main plot, but it was only hinted at as of chapter 198.

Edit : the main plot was covered in 16 chapters. I guess they didn't have patience or money for a full season.

So it is fine way to pass the time, but nothing great.

Its greatest demerit for me is that while it advances very slowly plot wise, the mini arcs themselves are too slow or not compelling enough for you to really care about most characters very deeply. Not that you don't care at all, but not like in the truly great series.

The ending is also very rushed, but it is fine.

... Last updated 5 days ago

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Bits are interesting

by ciel_bleu
3 years ago

Rating: N/A

MC is too OP and a Gary Stu. His personality is also bland. But i like how he helps other characters grow. The author has done a good job with respect to the interesting side characters. In fact Jin Muyoung is STELLAR as a character. I'm reading this story for him.

... Last updated 3 years ago

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Nice start but too OP and too many golden fingers later on.

by theliongirl
4 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

As of chapter 188:

The slice of life is nice, I really like the family and the mc himself. Not perverted, not overly obsessed with justice to the point of saying "all killing is bad" or something like that, not an idiot, but a realistic good guy. I also quite like the love interest - she's pretty cool, and I really liked the scenes they had together. Some of their dialogue made up my favorite scenes from this webtoon.

The little sister surprised me; it's a breath of fresh air to have such a strong (non-sexualised) female character in a story targeted towards men. It seems like reviewer ohkimch left off where the mom told her to learn some "feminine" things (understandable for women in this time period) but she comes back after that arc, and the next arc is her going out on a martial arts journey (with her brother's supervision). Yeah their parents make them learn what's expected of them (scholarly arts for the mc and feminine arts for the sister) but once they've done that their parents support their children in what they want to do. (Also worth noting that a strong (female) character isn't just based on whether they can fight or not).

The MC does act a little bit childish when he's a kid, and I agree with that narrative choice (the romance would feel a lot creepier otherwise). He's truly been reborn and it feels like it; just because he has some memories of his past life doesn't mean that his brain is fully developed. Also, in his past life he wasn't some old grandpa like one reviewer said, he actually seemed to have died pretty young? No age is mentioned but I'd say in his early 20's? Early 30's tops.

The story does get a little bit boring after he grows up; I don't feel like there's enough struggle shown. Everything happens smoothly for them, and any bumps are easily overcome. I really want to see him deal with failure.

There's some set up for stronger enemies and some plot about his reincarnation so hopefully something good will end up happening with that.

Other than that the other problem I have is with lack of explanation and motivations that don't seem realistic. It feels like things jump around a bit? I think might partly be due to the translation not being clear and partly because some scenes and information from the novel didn't make it into the adaptation (haven't read the novel but some of the reviews do mention that this is a problem with the adaptation).

I'd give it an 8 at the start and then it drops down to a 7. It seems like there's still a lot left to go so hopefully it gets a little better and this is just the boring point in the story.

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All of the top comments are idiots. Here is why

by Trek184
5 years ago

Rating: N/A

Okay, so even the top comments that "like the story" dont appear to have read since they say things that straight up Aren't true. The main character reveals his identity as a reincarnator to a number of former allies and enemies. Directly contracting the top comments. I won't argue with the people who say the story is bland, I dont think it is but that's a taste thing. I think slice of life is bland and repetitive but others don't. See what I'm getting at here?

Mainly I want to make clear that the MC's reincarnation is a major ongoing plot point. Previously he was feared and hated and now the he has spent over a decade with a loving family he has changed.

To the person who said that once he begins to travel the story goes stale... I declare you an idiot.

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Bland story, boring characters and cringy MC

by deathcoy
5 years ago

Rating: 5.0 / 10.0

Theres a couple of demonic cultivator master reincarnated and became the good guy but with PTSD kinda manga & novels out there but this one is different in that it has a slice of life mixed in.

I generally don't like the bad guy turn over a new leaf and maybe the past catches up to him, that whole shenanigan. The whole story and premise more often than not feels so contrived with boring narrative that gets pigeonholed into the cliche plot development troupes. Furthermore righteous & upright MCs that only kill to protect but shielded by incredulous plot armor are usually the most one dimensional characters with narrow character development, are immature and naive. Plot and all the characters can only go down 1 predictable way.

Art is really good and i do somewhat enjoy the slice of life segments and banter though they are cringe worthy at times. However the plot, the character development for MC and supporting cast end up lacking, reasons mentioned above. Moreover manhwa dwells too much on the righteousness & justice plus the greater power, greater responsibility debate, its annoying shounen level philosophical crap. I guess author tried to live up to the 'Scholar' in the manhwa title but the execution is pretty bad, i'd describe it as immature.

Theres also the fact when MC reincarnates(still retains memories etc), he somehow regressed into a retard childish personality(and mentally too). Can you imagine a 100 year old grandpa trying to act cute like a friggin child? Cringe as hell, it gets better as he grew up, barely, but damn he is still childish trying to be daddy's boy even as an grown ass adult(i kid you not!!!). Seriously whut?!?! Gave me fatal goosebumps. This is my greatest pet peeve with this manhwa, a grown man with decades of experience, harden personality, went through lots of tempering and hardship, stepped into the boundary of the highest power etc, just lost his mind and turned into a cringed filled abomination of a childish immature brat, its disgusting and repulsive. The author wanted to go for a carefree, happy go lucky character with comedic elements but he missed the mark by a few lightyears. If theres a reason not read this manhwa, this is definitely it!!!

This also means the plot moves at a snail's pace as quite a lot of chapters are dedicated to the growing up phase and especially slice of life episodes. Also, author should have just dropped the reincarnation theme, cos usually it ends up being an afterthought and don't get much attention later on.

That said i do like the creative ways the MC plays around with his opponents and makes a fool of them but thats the only thing i like about him. Also the state of the murim world is pretty much at peace, different from the chaotic & perilous murim in other manga/novels. It is a refreshing change but also means that story gets quite boring and dull because well, its too peaceful cos nothing much happens. In my honest opinion, author should have squeezed in more political turmoil and power struggle in the shadows(plot is really begging for it) to make the story actually feel like its progressing and also to add some spicy to the already bland storyline.

As a light hearted martial world story with a side of slice of life, this is a barely OK read. If you expect a more engaging story or looking for something serious or different, then you'll be severely disappointed. The concept has potential but the execution is horrible.

... Last updated 5 years ago

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Boring

by rorikon
6 years ago

Rating: 4.0 / 10.0

I don't understand what all the praise is about. I read 25 chapters and nothing really happened. I don't care to read a slice of life about a young lord. Also the main character acts way different than his supposed badass past.

... Last updated 6 years ago

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Very good

by PZcolo
7 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

Definitely among the best reincarnation stories imo. The world is set in an old Korea style setting with impressive martial arts, so murim with no cultivation or magic (so far at least), so being the MC a reincarnation of the previous strongest man on earth and him starting practice martial arts sice 3-4 years old, its actually believable that he is very powerful when reaching adulthood, that's a big plus.
The story is progressing slowly which might be an issue for many but I don't mind and has been slowly setting the world and players of the story. There is clearly a story unfolding regarding the princess but it's too soon to know anything.
The second is that the MC is good, he doesn't go overboard bragging, doesn't go on killing rampages, is measured and hides his talent while doing the "dirty work" behind the scenes maintaining a low profile and he uses his brain for a change, also, he may sound like a goody two shoes but he's quite brutal at times and doesn't flinch from killing which is always a plus in my book. Furthermore, his interactions with other chars are interesting and feel natural, well except for that pathetic guard that should have been fired in the first 10ch or so. As for ohkimch comment regarding sexism, all I can say is "what do you expect?" this is not set in modern age, equality of gender didn't compute in those times, I would actually say they are quite liberal given the setting.
Last but not least, the artstyle is very good, the flow is good and the use of it for comedy is both funny and charming/cute.
All in all, this is one of my favourite manhwas at the moment and really hope it can keep it up.

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Entertaining

by ohkimch
8 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

Art is nice, and the comedic expressions are very well-done.

Characters are well-developed as well. MC is an OP youngin', but there are valid reasons for his ridiculously strong martial arts. It's not like his skills just popped out with a simple "he's a genius" explanation.

That said, I do have to note his reincarnation really only comes into play regarding his otherwise inexplicable skills. His is kinda childish (through progressively less-so) and his attitude towards his parents in this life is respectful and surprisingly loving. (The family fluff is adorable and heart-warming.)

He does refrain from calling his mother "mommy" in favor of the more formal "mother" (which I suspect was '엄마' and '어머니' in the original), but otherwise, his age/experience does not carry much weight in his interpersonal relationships or general bearing. At least until he starts meeting people from his old life.

His mentality being closer to that of his current physical age is actually a blessing imo, though, because his love interest is around his age. If he behaved as his cumulative mental age, any romance would come off more than a bit pedo-/ephebophilic. So. It's better to think of him as a teen with the skills of a grown man.

His family and even some of the servants (especially Kyungho) have their own personalities, and their interactions with the MC don't feel forced or one-dimensional.

I even liked the female characterization (mainly represented by his younger sister) up until chapter 36. The rest of the female characters are the hackneyed "to be admired and protected, but rarely seen or heard" type, but Seoyeon's determination, eagerness, and aptitude in martial arts was refreshing.

It's not often you have a female character physically talented without her body being exploited for fanservice.

Then came the usual sexism - which was obviously disappointing after being spoiled(lol) by decent female characterization. The mother's character is wholly unremarkable and part for the course in terms of soft, genteel maternal figures in manga, and she is the one to ruin Seoyeon's character for me.

At chapter 36, her mother forces her to begin learning "feminine" things, like horticulture, cooking, and refreshments. At Seoyeon's understandable protests and insistence on continuing her physical training, their mother says, "You can, my daughter. You are a girl...be a girl even on the inside."

This, on its own, is irritatingly gender role restrictive and sexist, but worse in light of what the mother says to admonish the father about letting their son choose his own path in Chapter 5.

I'm speaking of when she says, "We should first respect his decision to pursue what he wants to." This is in response to the father seeming overexcited about his potential genius as a scholar (rather than a martial artist).

I will say that the female characterization is marginally better than what we normally see in vaguely historical fantasy manga/manhwa, but...

Well, chapter 36 was about when I dropped the series last time, in favor of Gosu, but hopefully I'll be glad to stick with it on the re-read.

Atm, would rate it about a 6 or 7?

Edit: glad I did a re-read, if only for the characterization and development of the main character. His personality is refreshing, too, in terms of shounen archetypes. He's jovial, but not an idiot, and friendly, but not a pervert. It's super fun to see him curbstomp his adversaries, too.

... Last updated 8 years ago

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