Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu (無職転生 ~異世界行ったら本気だす~?, literally Jobless Reincarnation: I Will Seriously Try If I Go To Another World), is a Japanese web novel series by Rifujin na Magonote and is published on internet web novel website Syosetu. It was serialized between November 22, 2012 and April 3, 2015. A year later, it was announced the series would receive a light novel release under Media Factory's MF Books imprint; the illustrations are done by a Pixiv user called SiroTaka. A manga adaptation by Yuka Fujikawa began serialization in the June 2014 issue of Monthly Comic Flapper. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the tankōbon volumes of the manga for localization in North America. On Syosetu's rankings, the web novel has made cumulative appearances as the most popular work on the website.
A 34-year-old Japanese NEET is kicked out of his house following the death of his parents. He intercepts a speeding truck heading towards a group of teenagers and pulls one of them out of the way before dying. Awakening in a baby's body, he realizes he has been reincarnated in a world of sword and sorcery. While initially indulging in his perversion, he resolves to become successful in his new life, discarding his past identity for his new life as Rudeus Greyrat. Due to his genetic factor and early training, Rudeus becomes highly skilled at magic. During his childhood, he becomes a student of Roxy Migurdia, friend to Sylphiette, and teacher to Eris Boreas Greyrat. Shortly after, a teleportation catastrophe scatters many people around the world, and Rudeus resolves to escort Eris home. During his journey, Rudeus receives advice from the mysterious Human-God and befriends Ruijerd Supardia. Successfully escorting Eris home, a misunderstanding with her leaves Rudeus heartbroken.
Two years later, the incident with Eris has made Rudeus impotent. He enrolls in Ronoa Magic University under the Human-God's advice to cure himself. There, he is reunited with Sylphiette who cures his impotency and the two are wedded shortly after. Rudeus receives a request to join his father's quest to save his mother, and ignores the Human-god's advice to do so. During the quest, he develops a romantic relationship with Roxy and takes her as his second wife. He is then visited by a dying future version of himself, warning him the Human-God will cause the deaths of everyone he cares. In order to appease the Human-God, Rudeus attempts to kill a warrior named Orsted but fails. Instead, Rudeus offers his allegiance to Orsted after being promised the safety of his family. Working with Orsted, Rudeus makes preparations in order to have his descendants kill the Human-God.
Main characters
Rudeus Greyrat (ルーデウス・グレイラット, Rūdeusu Gureiratto)Before his reincarnation, he was an overweight 34-year-old Japanese NEET who became a recluse following his high-school persecution.WN 1.P After his reincarnation, he discards his past identity and works to make his new life as Rudeus Greyrat meaningful. As such, he adopts a gentleman persona, though his past life's perversion sometimes emerges and scares those around him. Since he retains his intelligence, Rudeus was able to start magic training at three and was able to learn how to cast magic without chanting; in addition, he inherited the Laplace Factor from his parents and, combined with his youthful training, gives him a large magic capacity.WN 17.167 Because Roxy Migurdia helped him overcome his fear of the outside world, he worships her like a god, and ties his accomplishments to her.WN 1.10 During his spare time, Rudeus makes figurines in order to enhance his earth magic, which has become his main offensive magic. In an alternate future, where the Human-God killed everyone he loved, a driven Rudeus fails to enact revenge, and travels back in time to warn his past self instead.WN 16.156 Because of his special reincarnation, Rudeus is immune to curses, allowing him to befriend Ruijerd Supardia and Orsted;WN 17.166 this immunity is also passed down to his descendants.
Rudeus' relativesPaul Greyrat is Rudeus' father. He discarded his noble lineage due to its restrictive life styles, and becomes a proficient swordsman who is skilled in all three sword styles: Sword-God, Water-God, and North-God style. He is described as a playboy and an adventurer with sharp intuition. Following the teleportation incident and unable to find his family, Paul falls into a depression and drowns his sorrows in alcohol until his reunion with Rudeus.WN 5.45Zenith Greyrat is Paul's first wife and Rudeus' mother. She also left her noble home, the Lateria, due to its restrictive life style, and sought to become an adventurer with her skills in healing magic.LNS 1 Paul saves her from people attempting to take advantage of her and she falls in love with him.LNS 1 When Lillia becomes pregnant with Paul's child, Rudeus convinces her to forgive them. After the teleportation incident, she is teleported into a magic crystal. Though Rudeus saves her, Zenith remains listless and unresponsive to outside stimuli though there are moments where she could express her thoughts. It is later revealed she is in a dreamlike state, but is conscious of events around her and is enjoying her everyday life with Rudeus' children.WN 21.227Lillia Greyrat was originally Paul's classmate in a swordsman dojo. A crippling injure forces her to leave her position as a princess guard, and she becomes a maid to Paul and Zenith.WN 1.2 An accumulation of desire for Paul causes her to seduce him and becomes pregnant in the process. After working through the revelation with the family, she is taken in as Paul's second wife and becomes closer friends with Zenith. Rudeus' behavior as an infant scared her, though swears her loyalty to him after he helps to keep her in the family.WN 1.9Norn Greyrat is Zenith's daughter and Rudeus' younger sister. She was with Paul after the teleportation incident and loves him dearly.WN 5.45 When Rudeus fights Paul, she becomes fearful of him. She eventually overcomes her fear, growing close to Rudeus' wives, but remains distant towards Rudeus.WN 11.107 Norn talents are considered average, but her hard work allows her to exceed her peers.Aisha Greyrat is Lillia's daughter and Rudeus' younger half-sister. From her mother's teachings, Aisha takes it upon herself to manage Rudeus' housework. She is extremely talented and intelligent, but dedicates herself to housework instead of furthering her skills.Rudeus' wivesSylphiette Greyrat, normally called Sylphy, is Rudeus' childhood friend who is part human, elf, and beast race. Due to her Laplace Factor, a genetic material granting its owners enhanced magical abilities if trained at a young age, her hair is green.WN 17.166 Rudeus' influence helped her learn how to cast magic without chanting. Following the teleportation incident, her hair changes to white after exhausting her magic supply.WN 9.81 Because of her magic abilities, she is assigned to be the bodyguard of Ariel Anemoi Asura under the identity of a male named Fitz.WN 9.82 Due to the Asura Kingdom's conflict for the crown, Ariel and her bodyguards enroll in Ronoa Magic University.WN 9.83 Sylphy has no maiden name, and takes Rudeus' name after marriage. She gives birth to a daughter named Lucy Greyrat and a son named Sieghart Saladin Greyrat.Roxy Migurdia is a demon from the Migurdia species which is known for their telepathy, blue hair, youthful appearance, and longevity. Because she can't use telepathy, she leaves her village due to feeling isolated from her peers.WN 5.S Unable to make a stable living as an adventurer, she becomes a travelling tutor and eventually becomes Rudeus' teacher. After the teleportation incident, Roxy helps Paul search the world for survivors.WN 2.S She becomes Rudeus' second wife after rescuing Zenith.WN 13.131 Her daughter is Lara Greyrat who is the prophesied savior of the world.WN 19.197Eris Boreas Greyrat is a noble girl and distant relative of Rudeus. She is a tsundere character with a short temper, but has potential in the Sword-God style. During her journey to return home following the teleportation incident, she grows to love Rudeus. When they admit their love for each other, Eris leaves to train in order to be worthy enough to be by his side.WN 6.63 From her training, she becomes a proper swordsman who can control her temper and evaluate her opponents. She becomes Rudeus' third wife and gives birth to a son named Ars Greyrat.Ronoa Magic UniversityZanoba is human God Child (神子, Miko), a person born with special abilities.WN 6.56 His ability grants him superhuman strength and endurance. Since his youth, he had a fondness for dolls, and beheaded people whose beauty were doll-like. He comes into possession of Rudeus' figurine and decides to become his figurine-making disciple.WN 6.56 Lacking the magic to create figurines, Zanoba buys a young female dwarf named Juliet to forge his creations for him.WN 8.71 Later, Zanoba comes into possession of an automated doll and uses it as research. He and Rudeus form a powerful bond of friendship and mutual respect and he quickly becomes one of Rudeus' best friends and most trusted allies.Elinalise Dragonroad is an elf and Sylphiette's grandmother. She was teleported into a magic crystal 200 years ago and has no memories of her former life. Because of this, she was cursed and requires sex to disperese the magic built-up inside her. As a result, her children suffered and scorned her, causing her to distance herself from them. She was Paul's former comrade and enrolls in the university with Rudeus in order to prey on the males. Touched by Cliff's earnest confession, the two begin dating, eventually leading to marriage and a child.Cliff Grimoire is the grandson to the pope of Milis, a religion similar to Christianity.WN 5.S He was raised in an orphanage for his safety, and is enrolled in the Magic University for the same reason. Cliff is considered a genius but is unfit for battle. He begins dating Elinalise and researches ways to contain her curse.Rinia Dedorudia and Pursena Adorudia are the candidates to become the leader of their village. They are from the beast race with characteristics of a cat and dog respectively. Initially delinquents of the school, they are tamed by Rudeus and begin taking class seriously. After graduation, Rinia incurs a huge debt and is bought out of slavery by Rudeus.WN 19.191 Meanwhile, Pursena eats the village's emergency supplies and the village chef places her under Rudeus' servitude as a result.WN 19.198Nanahoshi Shizuka is one of the two teenagers Rudeus failed to save before his reincarnation.WN 7.78 She was transported to the new world and is found by Orsted. Due to the transportation, her body's time is frozen and she needs medication to dispease the magic buildup inside her. She begins researching magic circles in order to create a portal home. Like Rudeus, she is also immune to the effects of curses.Ariel Anemoi Asura is a potential heir to the Asura kingdom. Her bodyguard includes Sylphiette and Luke Notos Greyrat, a playboy knight and Rudeus' cousin. Ariel is wise, charismatic, but vents her stress out through sadistic acts.WN 9.83 She and her bodyguards develop a strong friendship during their time together. Ariel intends to become the queen to honor the people who died for her. In the timelines where Ariel is queen, the Asura kingdom thrives while it perishes in other timelines.Other charactersRuijerd Supardia is from the demon race known as supards.WN 3.23 They were manipulated and cursed by Laplace during war between humans and demons, and developed a stigma of being murderous monsters. Under manipulation, Ruijerd killed his son who was able to free him from Laplace's control. Following the death of his species, Ruijerd travels the world in order to dissolve the stigma against the supard race.WN 3.23 Ruijerd's hair is cursed, causing those around him to become fearful. His time with Rudeus encourages him to shave his hair.Human-God is a mysterious entity which lives in a pocket dimension located in the center of the Earth.WN 16.157 He is able to appear in the dreams of humans, and has a magic aura that makes people trust him. He has precognitive abilities, allowing him to see the many futures that occur. Since the beginning, the Human-God attempts to earn Rudeus' trust in order to kill his family.Kishirika Kishirisu is the demon empress known for her demon eyes powers and the ability to betow others with demon eyes. She is engaged to Badigadi, the demon lord of immortality. Badigadi has an older sister named Atoferatofe Raibaku, a skilled swordsman who likes to conscript people into her demon army through the use of a magic contract.Orsted is a species of the dragon tribe, humanoids with powerful abilities. He is considered the strongest of his kind, giving him the title of the hundredth Dragon God. Orsted is trapped in a time loop by his father, the first Dragon God, and needs to kill the Human-God to escape.WN 18.187 His father's magic allows him to distort the Human-God's precognitive abilities, see a person's destiny, but causes his magic powers to replenish at a slow rate. In addition, the Human-Gods curse causes people to detest Orsted.Perugius Dola is one of the warriors who defeated Laplace during the war between humans and demons. He resides in a floating castle and has eleven familiar spirit plus an angelic humanoid named Sylvaril serving him. He awaits the day Laplace is reincarnated in order to kill him again.Laplace was the instigator of the human demon war. Originally, he was the second Dragon God, but was split in two during a confrontation with the Fighting God.WN 17.166 His first half is the Demon God Laplace, known for his magic powers and hatred of humans, and his second half is the Technique God, who sided with the humans during the war. Laplace is prophesied to instigate another human demon war, eighty years in the future; his death is necessary to open the entrance to the Human-God's dimension.WN 17.166Publication and conception
Rifujin na Magonote published his work on the online web novel website, Syosetu; the first chapter was uploaded on November 22, 2012. In November 2013, the author announced his work was to released as a light novel under Media Factory's MF Books imprint; regardless, the author stated his intentions to continue publishing his chapters online. The illustrator for the light novel is a Pixiv user called SiroTaka.
After publishing the first parts of his work, Rifujin wrote that he intended the series to last at least a hundred chapters. Due to criticism towards his work, Rifujin considered ending the series prematurely, but was inspired to continue when his work reached the first place on Syotsu's daily rankings. Originally, the story arc where Rudeus' reunites with Aisha was supposed to be completely different from the published work. The author intended to have Lilia die off-screen, and Aisha to be hiding under a different identity. However, he found Lilia's death to be anti-climatic, and decided against her death; as a result, he had to rewrite the story arc in order to have her survival and lack of contact make sense. Rifujin stated the story arc may be bizarre due to the changes, but expresses no regrets in his decision; he noted Lilia's survival made him reconsider Zenith's condition in the story.
In the May 2014 issue of Monthly Comic Flapper, it was announced that the manga adaptation of Mushoku Tensei by Yuka Fujikawa would premiere in the June issue; though Yuka is the author of the manga series, character designs are credited to SiroTaka. Media Works collected the individual chapters into tankōbon volumes; the first volume was released in October 2014. In January 2015, Seven Seas Entertainment announced its licensing of the manga series for localization in North America under the title Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
On Syosetu's rankings, the web novel made cumulative appearances as the most popular work on the website. The light novels have appeared on Oricon's charts and have also ranked on T-site's novel popularity polls.
