September Update · 4:18am Sep 4th, 2021
Some minor edits and changes, but no major progress as I currently have a lot of IRL things up in the air. Gonna try to get at it more consistently, however.
Now for the recommendation
CHRYSALIS
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/22518/chrysalis
Anyone heard of Isekai?
Anyone ever hear of LitRPG?
Anyone heard of being reborn in another world as a monster?
Yes?
Are you tired of it yet?
Mostly?
Fair. But this one is worth a look.
Where one ant bro is thrown into an uncaring world as a dungeon monster, and uses his human ingenuity to survive. Not exactly novel, but this is a particularly splendid rendition of a genre staple. Anthony is a lovable narrator who is a treat to follow around through a wonderfully fleshed-out world. The world-building is superlative. And takes turns you wouldn't expect. For comparisons, it starts out in a similar manner to "I'm a spider so what" then much later takes on a more "I got reincarnated as a slime" vibe.
If you need more specifics on what happens to get you on board, here have a synopsis:
Spoiler Warning! : So Anthony starts out as a solo monster, getting some pets along the way, but all the while he's looking for his colony after a run-in with humans ended as well as you would expect it to. Eventually he finds his fellow ants and starts to help out. Then there's an event that turns things even more wacky, but I genuinely belive I would be doing you a disservice in telling you in advance
It goes in an unexpected direction, (both the stuff referenced in the spoilers and events that take after that)
What is one of the stand-out things about this series is that it doesn't get too bogged down in numbers and character sheets. Yes, those elements are present, but they neither overstay their welcome nor become massive walls of text for you to periodically ignore.
Beautiful execution of not only game-like elements, but world-building and narrative structure. With chapters focusing on other characters and their struggles, and we have quite a wide cast of lovable, colorful characters.
Highly HIGHLY recommend this little tale.
for those who've read it, please no spoilers in the comment section. Please and thank you.
I dropped Spider after it becomes too dark, and Slime after he slayed 1000 humans to become the king. Will I be forced to drop this story too, or his humanity will prevail and he'll not become an evil heartless mass murderer?
5577399
As a general rule, he actively avoids conflict with humans. The only humans he kills are the ones actively trying to murder him, and he usually runs away, at least in the beginning.
Though it's less 'compassion for humanity' and more 'I just want to be left alone and not be murdered because I have a shiny carapace' and other practical reasons.
Does he get mega OP? I've dropped so many isekai after the main character basically becomes god before the first season ends.
5577411
Depends on who you ask. The scubs living on the surface would shit their pants if they saw him. Problem is, the more powerful monsters on this world become, the more mana they need to sustain themselves, and so have to go deeper in the dungeon. And there is some TERRIFYING stuff down there. There is always a bigger fish, and the story takes great pains to make that explicitly clear.
Also, the MC has the decency to LOSE a couple times
TL;DR:
Humans on the surface: oh no a giant ant we're all going to die!
Demons on the 3rd level: HA HAHAHA! HEY! Look Gronk! Some first-level monster wandered down here, I'ma gonna pop it!
5577410
Does he become cynical and heartless egocentric psychopath, like Spider?
5577424
Not even a little. He arguably becomes more caring as times go on.
5577431
Thanks! I'll read it then.
For the colony!
Any eta on the story being updated? Really looking forward to broken bookhorse
Thanks for the recommendation. Quite interesting as litrpgs go.
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