Is I Became the Villain the Hero Is Obsessed With Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read

Quick facts
Format	Manhwa (shōnen), 60 chapters
Run	on hiatus
Community score	MangaUpdates 7.3
Content	Fantasy violence, mild fan service

Overview

Da-in transmigrates into the body of Egoistic, the villain of his favorite hero webtoon, a grim story where the heroine Stardust is meant to save the world. Rather than trying to escape his villain role, Da-in decides to lean into it, secretly staging fake terrorist incidents as Egoistic to force Stardust into fights that make her stronger, all while keeping his real motives hidden. It works, mostly. What he doesn't plan for is Stardust's growing suspicion of the mysterious villain slowly curdling into fascination, and then something closer to obsession, with him.

What it does well

The premise carries real comedic and dramatic weight. Playing public menace while secretly rooting for the hero to succeed gives every confrontation a layer of dramatic irony that the story uses well, especially early on when the gap between Da-in's real intentions and Egoistic's villainous reputation is at its widest. Stardust's arc from suspicious rival to genuinely fixated admirer gets more character work than you'd expect from the premise alone, her feelings develop out of real observation of Egoistic's contradictions rather than existing just to justify the title.

The pacing throughout is breezy and easy to binge. Individual arcs move quickly, incidents escalate and resolve without dragging, and the comedic tone keeps the read light even as the stakes nominally involve villain terrorism and hero battles. It's the kind of manhwa built for a quick, entertaining chapter-a-day habit rather than a slow, weighty read.

Where it falls short

The structure repeats itself often enough to become a real weakness. A new heroine or capable woman gets introduced, Egoistic causes an incident that draws her in, she clashes with Stardust or gets pulled into his orbit, there's a public-opinion win, and then that character mostly recedes into the background as his growing team. Run that loop enough times and the plot starts to feel like a formula rather than forward motion, especially since there's no consistent long-term antagonist giving the overall story a throughline. The expanding harem-adjacent cast will also be a turnoff for readers who want a tighter, more singular romance rather than an ever-growing team of women drawn to the lead.

Verdict

This is a fun, fast read built on a clever inversion of the villain-protagonist trope, and Stardust's arc in particular gives it more heart than the premise promises. But the repetitive arc structure and harem framework mean it works best in short bursts rather than as a tightly plotted whole. Go in for the hook and the comedy, not for a story that's constantly building toward something bigger.