Summary
When it comes to isekai, the majority of manhwa take place in a fantasy orhistorical settingreminiscent of medieval Europe, utilizing popular cultural motifs to craft the world. Because many manhwa use the same type of setting, authors often use different methods to distinguish their story. One of those methods is introducing modern technology, philosophy, or culture through a character who specializes in that field.
Protagonists who bring their knowledge to a fantasy world are often adults who worked in that field before their isekai, and for story reasons, they need to use their expertise to help those around them or help themselves adjust to the new environment. With their introduction, the static medieval settings are able to go through a revolution, whether ideological or technological.
Updated July 19, 2025, by Oluwatokiloba Folami:The Isekai genre has captivated fans with its tales of ordinary people being transported to extraordinary worlds. While it often includes action, magic, or the supernatural, a unique subgenre has begun to shine: one where the protagonists apply their knowledge from the real world in a less advanced world or era, using it to bring revolutionary changes to their new world. They apply concepts such as engineering, medicine, and business in unique ways and for different purposes, whether to gain wealth that enables a comfortable lifestyle, respect from individuals and earning a place in society, orlove from a beautiful (or handsome) suitor.
11The Holy Power Of Modern Medicine
Modern-Day Medical Knowledge With Magic As A Conduit
Yusung is an exceptional doctor with a variety of skills and a kind heart, dedicating enough time to his craft that it is believed he is always in an operating room. He dies in an unfortunate traffic accident andreincarnates in a fantasy world of magic.
In this world, he can utilize mana and magic with his medical knowledge to get astounding results. The people begin to consider him a saint, as all he has to do is lay his hands on them, and they are healed. This skill pisses Yusung off, as he believes the effort he put into learning medicine has all gone to waste.
1050 Tea Recipes From The Duchess
Rule Over The World With Tea
The Duke married the spineless Chloé Battenberg, whom he would ensure had a comfortable life as long as she did not interfere in his business. But everything changed when the main character reincarnated in her body. Declaring her stance, she demands the only joy from her previous life: tea.
Tea is not a highly appreciated beverage, so Chloé Battenberg changes things,introducing different tea recipes and sweet treatsfrom her past life that revolutionized this world. She also uses her tea and sweet treats to dominate society, putting vain elites in their place and gaining the respect of several characters, with her husband’s love as the icing on the cake.
9My Secretly Hot Husband
Using Modern Knowledge To Dominate By Crook
It is a wonder to the nobles how the beautiful Letitia Grey chooses to remain with Lord Erden Halstead, a monster they all view with contempt. However, he is not the monster they say he is, with a face beautiful enough to keep Letitia’s heart.
A Korean woman inhabits Letitia’s body and uses her knowledge of the modern worldto commit devious scams and fraud. She made a demon go bankrupt via a scam and even used modern manipulation to form a cult pushing the narrative that Korean is the language of the Gods. Even readers of the manhwa could not believe their eyes at the manner in which she executed her rug-pull scheme.
8Doctor, Live Again
Acquiring Medical Skills While Applying Modern-Day Medical Solutions
Unfortunately, a modern-day doctor falls victim to an ongoing war as he tries to save a patient. He reincarnates in the Murim world of a book he finished reading recently. Armed with the knowledge of both the modern world and the Murim world he is in, he gains allies and martial arts skills as he starts his journey to become the greatest physician.
On this journey,the main character applies medical skillsand knowledge to cure supposedly uncurable ailments and carry out supposedly impossible surgeries, while boosting his expertise as an apprentice of the most powerful doctor in the Murim world. He also introduces medicinal techniques and substances such as penicillin that seem advanced for such an era.
7Resigning And Healing in Another World
The Cultural Exchange Between Two Worlds
Isekai doesn’t always happen when a person dies. Living people can go to other worlds too. Cho Isu was tired of his everyday life, doing the same things over and over again. However, one day he is given the chance to travel to another world. With nothing left to lose, he goes through a portal andbegins a new life, experiencing new things and making new memories.
Through meeting people and making connections, it’s not long before Isu becomes an important part of the community. Not only does he have access to expensive spices, but he also has recipes and foods to share. This manhwa focuses on Isu’s daily life, making food and doing chores, but it does have some exciting moments that shift the momentum of the story.
6The Apothecary Prince
The Prince Is The Royal Doctor
In some cases, characters are reincarnated as someone who needs their skills most. This manhwa features a doctor who isreborn as a sickly princenamed Lachiel. In order to save his new body, he uses eastern medicine and acupuncture to fix what is broken. His efforts earn him a game-like system that tracks his body parts and organs, keeping him updated on his health and condition.
It’s only after he’s taken care of his own body that he begins to introduce medicine and sanitization to the rest of the kingdom. He uses his castle as a clinic, hires nurses, and performs check-ups for people. Hs goal is widespread access to medicine, especially for the common people who need it most. Through experimentation with local herbs and magic, he’s able to replicate the machines and technology on Earth.
5Life Of A Quack Healer
A Doctor Doesn’t Need Magic To Heal
Medicine is the most common field of study used in isekai manhwa, because it’s a useful tool that displays the difference in setting. In a world without vaccines or antibiotics, common first aid would seem incredible. This story revolves around Kang Seunghyeon, who wasgiven the Healer classafter being isekai’d. Unfortunately, he didn’t gain any healing skills or magic, so he could only help others through manual treatment.
Unlike other manhwa with a similar concept, Seunghyeon isn’t a doctor. He only has common knowledge about wounds and diseases, but he can act like a doctor through his skills, which allow him to properly diagnose, create medicine, and perform surgeries. Since he can’t participate in the fantasy world’s style of treatment, he must use what he knows from Earth.
4The Genius Murim Fitness Trainer
Learning Ancient Martial Arts Safely
The Covid pandemic caused a lot of changes around the world and even in creative works. Due to the virus, Ganghyeok was forced to close his gym and start streaming to support himself, and the stress was making him bald. After a night of reading comics, he is transported into a story as Mujin, a Shaolin disciple learning martial arts. Unfortunately, the techniques the disciples were learning were unhealthy for the body, so he decided to teach everyone how to properly exercise.
Knowledge of the body has advanced greatly in modern times, which has helped people learn how to improve their bodies without injuring them. Mujin wants to introduce proper form and technique, diet, and recovery methods, buthe’s inside a Murim comicwhere things like tradition matter more. It’s an interesting combination of modern and traditional teachings.
3Academy’s Undercover Professor
The Combined Power Of Math And Magic
When modern knowledge is implemented in isekai manhwa, it’s usually more tangible or noticeable, like new building blueprints or a new remedy for a sickness. In this manhwa, the author uses math and programming to influence the magic system. The story is about an isekai’d man who often changes his identity. Due to a terrorist attack, he’s forced to take on the name Ludger Cherish, a new teacher at Ceoren Academy. However, the original Ludger was involved in some shady business, and the new one must figure out what it is.
Many manhwa don’t bother to explain how magic works, but in this one, it’s done by creating a formula and executing it. By applying programming methods, Ludger is able to shorten the amount of time it takes to cast a spell to less than a second. As a teacher, it’s the focal point of his lessons, and he continues toteach by integrating modern mathand science.
2Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With The Lamp
Doctor Princess Lives Another Life
Many shojo manhwa use modern knowledge in their stories, but it’s mostly in passing as a tool for the protagonist. Unlike those, this manwha is centered onmedicinal practices being introducedto the fantasy world. After being reincarnated, Elise finds herself back in her original body as a young woman. Hoping to make up for the mistakes from the past, she devotes herself to being a better person.
To that effort, Elise introduces medicinal practices from the modern world. This goes from simple tips like washing hands to setting up clinics in churches. Her goal is to provide as much care as possible and ensure everyone has access to medicine. This is just one part of her rehabilitation, but she continues to be a doctor despite being a princess.
