Rank: Super rank from the bottom to the top.
G- ; Every Super starts here whether you have a Meta-Gene, An
alien, magical, or mundane. Imagine being a healthy adult, with
proper sleep, and diet who goes to the gym three times a week for
an hour.
G ; Imagine the same thing as above, only you go to the same gym
five times a week.
G+ ; Same thing, only you receive a personal trainer for three out
of the five times you go.
F- ; This is where you start to set the standard. Be it Mundanes
that learn to use mixed martial arts, or an Alien who realizes that
they have greater muscle density.
F ; You've been on patrol, or in a gang fight a few times. You've
been combat tested all be it with petty fights between thugs and
hooligans.
F+ ; This is where you start, this is where you are a side-kick.
Not a very good one! But a Side-kick or an enforcer for a gang.
E- ; Imagine Richard Greyson when he just started patrolling as
Robin, still attached to Batman's hip. Still raw, but full of
potential.
E ; This is the rank that Batman had when he first started. Back
when he didn't even have his costume, just black cloths with a
force of will and an Idea.
E+ ; The Green Arrow when he is first back from the purgatory
island. The latest T.V. Show, first season.
D- ; This is where the Meta-Gene's, Alien's, Magic's, and Mundanes
come into themselves. They can effectively fight crime, or cause
it!
D ; This would be Arthur Curry, before he comes of age. All the
power and none of the experience.
D+ ; Cat-Women is a great example. She's been around, she knows the
game, she has the tools. Is experienced enough to fight when she
can win, and smart to leave when she knows she can't.
C- ; This is Wonder Women while she is at home, and she hasn't met
Steve Trevor yet.
C ; Wonder Women leaving the island.
C+ ; This is Superman when he first starts. Yes he has the strength
to pull the moon from the sky. But he is brash, young,
over-confident, and stupid.
B- ; Martian Man Hunter has the skills, the powers, and the
experience to do a job that he's been doing for decades, if not
centuries.
B ; Poison Ivy at the height of her power, inside a forest. Trust
me, she's scary.
B+ ; Batman in his prime with all of his intellect, utility belt,
and time to research and prepare.
A- ; Batman in his prime, with everything a Billionaire has to
offer. Such as tracking satellites, Jet-fighters, and the watch
tower. Depending on your comic universe Wayne enterprises owns the
watch tower.
A ; Doctor Fate at their prime with the 'correct' host.
A+ ; Wonder Women after years of experience.
S ; Darkseid.
Meta-Gene: With in the
D.C. Universe lies the Meta-Gene often refereed to has mutation
brought on by several concepts of science, technology, alien
interaction, etc. By selecting Meta-Gene you will be allowed to
select one active power, and one passive power that will evolve over
time. Allowing you to become exceptionally strong within your chosen
ability. Though this limits your overall versatility. It allows you
to excel in certain aspects. By selecting this origin you will have
certain background access, resources, and links to the story line
that would only come with this origin.
Alien: With in D.C.
Comics aliens have come to visit Earth several times, and are often
found to be both hostile, and friendly. By choosing an Alien Origin
you will have access to a wider of character creation, background,
and powers. But be aware, nature will often find weaknesses in
strength. You may choose a race with exceptional abilities but
weaknesses to odd and strange things will be discovered. As well as
being isolated by the people of Earth. Though not as strong as
Meta-Gene this origin allows more versatility over one specific
focus. As well as a far more diverse background setting.
Magical: D.C. Comics as
a wide variety of magical origins, characters, and abilities. Much
like Meta-Gene they to tend to hyper focus on specific abilities.
But can select to be a jack of trades as well. Creating a balance
that is not often seen in either before options. However, with magic
comes more problems. The world it self is already full of troubles,
Alien invasions, super heroes, villains. By stepping into the world
of magic you see the world beneath the world. When you see it, it
also see's you. This creates a full new avenue of problems and
issues the normal people don't deal with. Though with time and game
play the play may encounter magic eventually. Playing with magic
from the start may bring more trouble then its worth.
Mundane: D.C. Comics
has shown the world more then once, that you don't need super powers
to be a hero or a villain. Like Batman or Lex Luther you can be an
important part of the world. With a sharp mind, determination, and
force of Will you can bring the world to its knee's or save
it from it self. Mundanes will have a difficult time in the world
when they first start. Often used for experienced players only. The
player will have more control over their background then other
origins allowing for in-game help. Such as a well off family,
education, or influence. This may seem like an advantage, but
compared to the quick growth of the other Origins it only seems
fair.
Seed-Ling, God-Ling, God-Kin.
Seed-Ling: Is an individual that has been chosen by a God or a
powerful divine being. The spark of divinity is planted in them and
over the course of their life it germinates and grows. But, like
any seed it has a chance to grow, or die.
God-Ling: Is an individual that grew from a Seed-Ling, the divine
spark is sprouted and has begun to grow. They come into power,
their body, mind, and soul begins to change. They also begin to
speak to their Patron/Matron. With proper power, and nurturing this
stage can be quasi skipped.
God-Kin: Is an individual who's divine spark has sprouted, grown,
and taken root. Every God-Kin is a 'Chosen child' of a God/Goddess.
They are not the Demigods of legend and story. These individual's
are tiny possible God/Goddess. If and when a God/Goddess are
killed. Their power flies towards the nearest God-Kin. So, though
being a God-Kin grants you great power, its also a great
responsibility.
(G) Name of Ability.
(F) Minor.
(E) Basic.
(D) Intermediate.
(C) Advanced.
(B) Expert.
(A) Master.
It sucks. I can tell you put a lot of effort and passion into this work, but you gave this story all the wrong types of limits. This is wish fulfillment not buts or ands. This isn't even the good type, but the one of a cuck. He does all this crap to help others, yet he doesn't get anything in return except more responsibility, and when he gets women he purposely gives them away.
Also this is a vr world nothing changes, you could kill all the characters and just start a new run of the game with benefits. No consequences all reward. So pathetic for any person.
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Do you like reading about an MC who helps everyone and is rewarded with more responsibility?, an MC who gives away the women who are attracted to him to other men?, an MC who is content being a side d*ck that women go to release stress?
Well believe it or not you just found the right novel!
Currently at chapter 38 the MC is in relationships with 3 women who whore themselves for political favors and a prostitute who is in a relationship with another man.
You don't believe me? Read it. I swear what I wrote above is true.
Ps. Don't get fooled by the other reviews.
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This story is a wonder. It takes characters that we all know and love, and creates tell a story from an angle few have seen before! A look at the magical underbelly of the world of DC is something to see. 5/5 ?!
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I've read up to chapter 74.
I do not like the MC, he's not human enough, like what kind of guy mentions consistently that it doesn't matter to him if his lover has other d*cks in their life? (There's been two s*x scenes at this point, but a ton of s*xual tension. - I'm not into the abstinence/edging play that's happening here.)
Outside of this, and the matter that less than a week has passed IRL (which irks me) : I really thing the author has a good handle on DC and the world in the VRMMO feels realistic and badass at times.
I just wish the MC wasn't a cuck. This would be right up there next to Super Detective in the Fictional World imo if the MC wasn't a monk (it's okay to be Primal, want your lovers to be yours.. The worrying about 100% consent thing is super weird too - she's decided it's okay to bed you, why care about ulterior motives that don't harm you?).
edit: I've made peace with what it is, like I can see it being the MC being high on love/empathy, so I'm not going to be upset about it and review 1 star like I thought to.
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the short version: it's a f**king masterpiece, read it!
you want an actual explanation why it's so great... well it's your time you could already be using to read the first chapter.
Here you go, the long Version:
Dream Engine: Beta Tester... D.C. Comics is about your average office worker, named Erik, who is lucky enough to get into the beta of a new gaming system called "Dream Engine. This system allows the user to play a game while sleeping, featuring full immersion similar to dive-mmorpgs we know from other novels like SAO or the Matrix.
Erik is chosen as a beta tester for the DC Comics universe, for which he is a huge fan, allowing him to literally start a new life as a hero.
Assisted by an amazing AI that evolves with every chapter, named Dawn, becoming more and more like-able with every chapter, he creates his new self with a rather unique, handwritten, cringe-worthy background story. Surprisingly that background is accepted by the system giving him massive benefits at first only to reveal the drawbacks later in the story, causing massive changes, forcing him into situations that can easily cause a GAME OVER if not handled right.
Now to the points that make this story, at least for me, so outstanding:
Worldbuilding:
As Erik enters the world, he immediately realises the realism the generated world brings along, including that his avatar actually has his own personality with which he can talk and which will continue to live in the world when Erik is logged out, continuing along the path they have established together.
Although the game is a single player experience, it doesn't revolve around the player alone. Events continue to happen, no matter if the player is present or not, although he can trigger them early. This gives the whole story a very dynamic feel.
Furthermore, most novels throw their MC into close proximity to their favorite hero, making them a relative, side-kick or even antagonist, to start the juicy bits right off the bat. This is not the case here.
"Erick Lash", mostly simply called Lash, was created with a magical background, which gave the author a chance to let us experience a Gotham not seen before, filled with the mystical from start to end... and hell he delivered.
Given only low powers, well, like in every game at the beginning, Erick and Lash work together to get a feel for this new world they found themselves in, getting familiar with their own abilities and start forming connections with the people around them... only to be thrown into the maelstrom of the magical society due to their "background story" playing tricks on them... Fun!
Personality and character building:
As I have praised the world building above greatly, there is something that cannot be missed to make the world complete, side-character.
In this mystical Gotham, Lash comes across countless people and beings he interacts with, befriends or antagonises. All of them are very well described and truly feel alive. I mean, if after 70 chapters you still remember that one door guard of Lash's apartment then the author did something really really right.
As a male "hero" in this new world he, of course, also gets a lot of attention from the opposite gender, and once more the author does a fabulous job in describing both their appearance and giving them enough time to open up and show their true personalities. It is nice to see how they change after meeting with Lash.
Note: this is not a harem story per se, although Lash gets into a relationship with multiple women throughout the story.
Erik and Lash's interactions themselves are quite amusing in the beginning but as they progress in the story they meld into each other more and more, until they become pretty much on. Only occasionally are there mentions of Erik sharing his information about the DC Comics stories with Lash arming them with knowledge of what could be coming. To balance this out we get to know more and more about their morality, be it on the battlefield where he is willing to get his hands dirty to protect others or in the bedroom where he is unwilling to take advantage of women in their times of weakness.
Lash stands out as a paragon of justice, judging others not by their race, gender, s*xual orientation or religion but solely by their actions on a case by case basis... something I know I would never be able to do no matter how much I were to try.
Pacing and writing:
From what I have seen, the pacing of the story is very good. The further down the story you get, the more Lash will be involved in events almost back to back, but the author never forgets to grant brief pauses in between where interactions with his close ones happen and we get to see their interactions and reactions to whatever happened.
DC-Heroes:
As already described above, Lash is living his life in Gotham but doesn't get in contact with Batman or other DC heroes for quite a while. It is built mainly on his own achievements and growth in strength, at least in the beginning.
Once he does create connections to them, it is done in a very believable circumstance often giving us a glimpse of their personality. Superman's kindness, Batman's caution, The Flash's giddiness... I just love how they are depicted.
Note: once more, this story mainly focuses on Lash and his own achievements and not the DC heroes. Although he is, later on, often working together with them, the focus will always be on him and feature mostly interactions with them.
S*xuality:
I had to single this one out as it's a topic that may or may not be a criteria for some reader to straight out say NO to reading this novel.
In this novel s*xuality is handled very openly, although Lash is straight himself, several character in his friend circle are shown as bi or gay, mainly women.
If you are not good with something like that this novel may strike you the wrong way.
As mentioned above, Lash will not create a harem per se, but be in a poly-amorous relationship with several women. This means he has several lovers and all of them are aware of that fact and each other, of course they too may have several lovers themselves. All based on open acknowledgment.
The depiction of actual s*x scenes, not just mentioning the deed, is also present when Lash finally gets it on with one of his Lovers.
Personally I don't like s*x scenes being described in novels that don't have a focus on this topic since it diverts attention from the story. Luckily they are not occurring that frequently to do so, but actually help showing Lash's morality and firmness in declining invitation.
One again, if you are uncomfortable with this or are actually looking for this to be in the focus, this novel is not for you.
Fazit:
I guess this has already become far longer than I originally planned, therefore, firstly, thank you in case you actually managed to read through this whole review.
I love this story because the world and its character seem to be truly alive, they have a lot of variance and actively grow together as the story progresses. I especially love the scenes that happen because of the butterfly effect of Lash's involvement with the other heroes and villains.
I am looking forward to many more future chapter of "Dream Engine"
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The story is great, but there is a single aspect of the story that the author ruin for me.
The relationship, the relationships on this story is such a clusterf**k that it ruined the whole story for me.
There is seemingly no loyal person in the MC ingame love life, and the poly relationship is just so poisonous for this story.
Its not like the relationship are just things you can brush off, but its a core part of the story.
So if you hate unloyal female leads and poly stuff then this is definitely not for you, and people who hates ntr will probably be turned off by it
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With a great but truly great regret I drop this novel... And I can say that this, if you came for the same reasons as me, is not for you. I was coming for a badly written harem story but! I found that what is mentioned below is very true, things that do not make much sense or logic... They are 3 protagonists who fight in a world where... sadly I can't relate to myself as any human, I have my defects and my virtues... But I can't allow certain things that this novel allows, free s*x outside the harem... You know If there was another man in the harem I wouldn't like it but I would let it go... But s*x for political favors? I'm sorry but they seem disgusting to me, that attitude is only forgiven if he puts bread in his mouth and water. Because at the end of the day we are all subject to the same needs... But lowering oneself through lust is one of the lowest attitudes that I can at least believe... At the end of the day what makes us human is that control we have over our flesh not that we sedate its weakness
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I have been reading this series for a while now.
It's amazing in terms of taking the characters we all know and love and adding them like flavoring to the story. Make no mistake; this story is indeed set primarily in the DC universe of characters. Our hero interacts with the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman and all the rest. Yet, the story isn't about them. It's about our hero, of course.
The story starts off slow, in the sense he is not immediately rubbing elbows with the usual DC cast of characters. Yet, the chapters are entertaining, enthralling and keep you eager to read more. The story portrays very well what it might be like to enter into a virtual reality game in the DC universe.
Our hero quickly becomes absorbed with his new "life". It's a real pleasure to read how he gets his feet wet in a world filled with mystery, magic and costumed vigilantes. Everything is consistent, and builds up from what has come before.
He's not a copy of Superman, or Batman or any other hero. He is definitely a unique character that becomes more unique as time goes on. I've always been attracted to stories of self-discovery; people that become more than they were as the story develops. This story has that in heaps and heaps.
The chapters aren't short either. When a new chapter is available, I set everything else aside so I can sit down and dedicate a lot of time to reading. I don't want to get interrupted or distracted so I can fully immerse myself in the story.
It's so amazing. In fact, I love this story so much that it's one of the reasons why I decided to finally break down and create an account here on Scribble Hub. There are other amazing stories on here I enjoy, and I've finally reached the point where I just had to make an account here.
I'd love to see this story formally published, but since this is a fan-fic I know that is pretty unlikely due to copyright laws. Still, once I'm done with this review I'd love to make a donation so the author can be motivated to keep up their good work. Is there there a way to make a one-time donation that I missed? I can't see a link to a site like that.
I'm trying to think of something I can say negatively about the story, but it's difficult to do. There are the occasional grammar or spelling mistakes but they are so minor and so infrequent I can't point to anything. The same goes for knowledge of the DC Universe.
The interactions with the standard DC Universe cast of characters are consistent and believable, with a few quibbles here and there. I keep in mind though that there are reasons why people may be drawn to or set against our hero that have been explained previously in the story.
If there is one thing that seems odd, it's that our hero seems to be holding his heart back a bit. I feel that there is a story behind him not fully committing to some interactions that we have yet to understand.
I look forward to reading much, much more. Author, please keep up the good work! Again, your story is one of the reasons why I finally broke down and created an account here on the web site. I just enjoy your story so much. =)
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The MC is a cuck... I honestly shouldnt have to say more but I will.
The writing for sure gets better as you read but starts bad.
The main character is willing to kill but he is a goody two shoe, ie doesnt ever take anything for himself.
He is willing to let all the girls hes attracted to, and they are attracted to him, sleep with anyone they want. I hate harems as they are never done correctly but this is by far the worst ive ever seen.
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ok I will tell the truth, the auth has a good history, a good idea, sound development, likable protagonist, but he has a giant flaw, the way he portrays the relationships is unnatural, mechanic, and distorted, he says that's because they aren't human, but man the stranger person in the relationships in this novel is the MC (he can incorporate another species, but his core is human), he is like an NTR protag, who thinks he is in the command, but the only thing is he doesn't f**k (he can, but he is a "gentleman") but already say to the girl that's an open relationship and she can f**k around (that's it, I'm not kidding, he don't develop, that happens very quickly).
girl - I like you
MC -i like you to
girl -lets f**k
MC -nope you aren't at your best (he is right don't f**k her while she isn't sane)
MC (right after being a gentleman) - but instead of it I want an open relationship and go away now and find a boy or girlfriend for you, and f**k him before I f**k you.
you can develop slowly the relationship but, holy lord you are premature in the polyamory (the way that looks in your novel, seems like a marriage) and slow to have s*x, have some consistency, please.
You can make an open relationship or polyamory, but you need to make it logical.
I removed it from my library because I liked and I tried to read 4 times, but the way you portray a relationship is horrendous.
I add again to write this review.
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