The Villainous Queen Wants to Level Up

[ohyun]

@konpyuutasan

Would you be willing to recommend a few? I think I've basically exhausted most of the korean and japanese ones.

 

[konpyuutasan]

@ohyun

Ah, well, pretty much the same here regarding the Korean and Japanese ones-- I'm making an effort to catch up on the Chinese take on the trope. One that does stand out, although it isn't a villainess story as such but because the MC really is a villainess-- imperious, ruthless and homicidal-- is "Peerless Alchemist" (aka Peerless Refiner). That one is unfortunately in a bit of a limbo as far as translation goes and I'm not sure it will be continued or become available world-wide in some official translation. The other one that comes to mind (that I wouldn't recommend, though) is "Black Belly Miss". I found it repetitive after a few turns around the same kind of intrigue, but that one is fairly popular. It's more of a "Cinderella gets Revenge and its Imperial China" kind of story and I found the plot/counter-plot a bit weak.

I'm currently reading "The Evil Lady Will Change" which starts off rather differently from other stories in the genre -- but I'm also getting the feeling that maybe "villainess" has become such a trope that it's starting to get included just to get eyes on it, like the isekai keyword....

EDIT: caught up on "Evil Lady Will Change" -- MC not an actual villainess in this story, as noted below....

 

[ohyun]

@konpyuutasan

Thank you for the recommendations! I've already read Black Belly Miss (though it got boring really fast) and The Evil Lady Will Change (though it wasn't very villainess at all). However, I have not read Peerless Alchemist, and it sounds pretty good (I can speedread to ignore any minor translation problems, so it should be fine as long as it isn't too jarring).

I've tried using the search feature of Mangadex to narrow down the best rated Chinese manhua (that suited my tastes), and it turns out that that none of them have reached over a rating of 9, which is why I thought to ask you for any underrated recommendations.

 

[Kazeiro]

Pretty headache inducing plot, read at your own risk. I'll be reading for a few more chapters because I'm a masochist.

 

[Retrodictionary]

Typical cheap satisfaction... all pay-off with 0 build-up to establish it. But I'm in the mood for this kinda thing, so I can't complain too much.

 

[Sollay]

ugh just no.

 

[jophess]

It's getting to the point where these titles are being generated by AI...

 

[FStubbs]

Is this a ripoff of Cheating Men Must Die?

 

[MochaCaramel]

PLS THE COMMENT BELOW ME- anyways I kinda think so too that it’s a rip off

 

[jhs_reika]

The story in this manhua is extremelly forced and irrational. The MC who's supposedly casted as the villainess was somehow became the ultimate victim who's always bullied by everyone. What's worse is that almost all characters (except for the cop in chapter 7) were persistently and irrationaly keep supporting the heroine even though the MC has always argued and proved her innocence logically. The MC who is basically just a normal girl and not really smart and efficient (much less like Su Luxia in "Cheating Men Must Die") was thrust into an awkward position in which she can't do much than just trying to survive, one step at a time. I think this manhua would be much more acceptable is the MC is transmigrated as the heroine rather than be the villain. The less than stellar translation is also making this manhua feels worse.