The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine Volumes 2 and 3 Review

In Volume 1, Ailette dies and is transmigrated into an S-Class novel – to be exact, to a few years before the novel actually begins, which is called the tutorial. Here, Ailette needs to become stronger to make sure she survives, but she soon ends up in a dungeon full of undead. Thankfully her reincarnation perks and money are of huge help!

After surviving the secret dungeon, Ailette becomes its owner. She decides to make use of it and  forces the undead beings into servitude… to create a farm! She’s planning for the future, and she knows she can have her skeletons grow ingredients for her potions. Bia, the daughter of Count Gillette was destined to die in the dungeon, but she’s now survived it and this changes the story Ailette knows. Of course, Ailette can’t help but take advantage of the situation, especially when Bia’s grandmother, Cartelaya—a cardinal of the Vatican in this world’s religious order—comes to visit.  Cartelaya has a secret power that proves to her that Ailette is special; too bad that Bia’s overheard this as well… or is it? It seems that Bia has become Ailette’s first ally, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure Ailette succeeds in all her endeavours.

However, Ailette doesn’t have much time before she’s thrown into another dungeon, this time at the Vatican. In fact, it so happens that the day she visits, it’s the same day that the protagonist of the novel, Tesilid, is thrown into an A-rank dungeon together with all the children* who have come to the temple to apply to become stigma bearers like him and his brothers. And this is where Tesilid’s sad story starts… but not this time, as Ailette is with him! She’s slowly changing the story, but the world’s god(s) doesn’t seem to mind it.

In fact, Tesilid is there to help her become stronger and fulfil the missions by giving her extra perks and useful assignments, which also bring Ailette to find out the truth about her mother in this world. She’s still in the tutorial stage, but Ailette has overturned the story to her advantage. Now, she’ll have to live with the consequences (hopefully for the best) of her actions.

There is a lot to unpack in these two volumes as Ailette is thrown into one adventure right after the other. She’s basically dungeon hopping as the story progresses, whether she wants to or not. The problem though is that she’s still in the tutorial, and she’s supposed to raise her skills in the Count’s mansion, not being able to leave the area as the missions’ levels have been ‘debuffed’ (aka lowered). It’s through a loophole that she’s able to leave, and the problems arise as the debuff doesn’t apply to outside dungeons! Thankfully, she has the support of the protagonist and of [[unexpected family]], in addition to all the skills she’s bought through the item shop since her reincarnation.

Ailette aims to create her own fate and not follow what the story dictates. The creator of this world lets her do as she pleases, although some other gods aren’t too happy about that. In this world, people believe god has abandoned them, and it’s only thanks to Ailette’s secret power, the divine advent, that the people’s perception of god is changed… which seems bound to create a fair bit of trouble for Ailette. Gods for Ailette (and the readers) look like an administrative company with department heads and assistants trying to fix bugs in this world and follow all the bureaucracy that is needed to make sure this world is up to standard. It’s kind-of funny to see the gods set up like this.

The story is a mix of shojo and comedy as Ailette is not the classical heroine. She’s not afraid to work hard when it’s needed, but she also thinks there’s no hurt in using shortcuts when she can, whether through god’s gift or the item shop she can access where she can buy all the skills she desires… as long as she has the money.

The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine is written by Irinbi and illustrated by Grrr. It’s published as a web comic with weekly releases on Tapas, while Yen Press publishes the series in print format in the English language. Volume 4, 5 and 6 are already out.

Our review copies from Ize Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distribution.