well... think of it this way, if magic was in the world, but the only place it got by the best experts in the land was just the equivalent of a lighter, water was just a glass of water that cost more to make than just carrying water around with you.
Unless you have a god cheat for magic you have to compare yourself to the people around you, and if they can't do anything interesting with magic... you are a bit stuck
Just out of shear ease of use and entertainment value, it would be better to bring manga into the world then try to level up magic as an average person, you could make quite a bit more headway that way.
Personally I would love to use magic, but if I wasn't granted hacks, then I would have to look at where everyone else is, and if all anyone else can do is something like a fireball or ice arrow, I would probably have more fun trying to bring in modern tech rather than dealing with magic.