** A Light Novel featuring a weak protagonist tasked with the impossible mission of saving a Virtual Reality world that has moved on without him. This post-apocalyptic sci-fi is brimming with drama, conspiracies, and action. **
As the Santa María spaceship travels the galaxy in search of a new home for humanity, all passengers must remain in cryosleep and log into The Novus, a Virtual Reality MMORPG designed to train the younger generation in building a civilized society.
Not only is this place a utopia, but it’s also a fresh start for seventeen-year-olds Alan and Astrid, who have just started dating. "Life in The Novus will be awesome with you by my side!"
But an emergency pulls Alan out of the system—a catastrophe that endangers the lives of the Santa María's population and their mission.
What will he find when he returns?
Three years have passed. Astrid has become one of the strongest warriors, and Alan... is now the weakest User in the virtual world.
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*** ALSO AVAILABLE IN webnovel.com UNDER THE USERNAME 'REYEZWRITING'
*** ALSO AVAILABLE IN royalroad.com UNDER THE USERNAME 'REYEZ'
- I’m rebooting this storyMar 10, 2026
- 100 – [VOL II – Ch17] (Healer Competition Arc) — The friends we leave along the wayJan 7, 2026
- 99 – [VOL II – Ch16] (Healer Competition Arc) — Otherworldly BeautyOct 27, 2025
- 98 – [VOL II – Ch15] (Healer Competition Arc) — Deadly PenaltyOct 6, 2025
- 97 – [VOL II – Ch14] (Healer Competition Arc) — Witholding InformationSep 25, 2025
- 96 – [VOL II – Chapter 13] — PrioritiesSep 18, 2025
- 95 – [VOL II – Chapter 12] — Living IronOct 2, 2024
- 94 – [VOL II – Chapter 11] — Sonata of the FallenSep 11, 2024
- 93 – [VOL II – Chapter 10] — In the Land of the Faceless, a Pretty Face is QueenSep 1, 2024
- 92 – [VOLUME II – CHAPTER 9] — Hello there, fellow guilders!Aug 16, 2024
- 91 – [VOLUME II – CHAPTER 8] — Forced Guilt (Part 2)Jul 25, 2024
- 90 – [VOLUME II – CHAPTER 7] — Forced Guilt (Part 1)Jul 11, 2024
- 89 – [VOLUME II – CHAPTER 6] — Gears in MotionJan 9, 2024
- 88 – [VOLUME II – CHAPTER 5] — Healing CapitalismDec 1, 2023
- 87 – [VOLUME II – CHAPTER 4] — Holding onto SecretsOct 23, 2023
- Content Warning
All Rights Reserved-
Hiatus - Updated Mar 10, 2026
Last updated 4 months ago
- 333 reading
- 92 plan to read
- 7 completed
- 11 paused
- 39 dropped
![City of Desire [Kingdom Building]](https://cdn.scribblehub.com/seriesimg/mid/31/mid_634341.jpg)
Don't be fooled by the Ecchi and Litrpg tags, or by the lengthy JPLN style title. So far, this story is anything but lazy or contrived. We are only six chapters in but it has already subverted expectations multiple times, and introduced several interesting ideas that I hope to see developed. The plot has a "Rip Van Winkle in Lord of The Flies" feel to it, with good tension and the potential for genuine character driven drama.
Mild spoilers:
the story begins with a fluffy teenage teenage couple in a shiny new MMO world, but we soon learn that both characters are more complex than they seem. A mysterious shipboard disaster pulls the boy out of cryostasis, and he returns after two years of in-game time to a world rife with internal politics he can't possibly understand. He is also pathetically weak and his sole ally is an AI who can barely understand humans. His only hope is to find his none too stable girlfriend, who may or may not be happy to see him after so long.
Obviously this is an early review, so I can't speak for the finished product. But there is enough here to give me a general idea where the story is going, and to make me excited to see what happens next!
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Very interesting development and a rich universe created with really cool characters and the story is based on a very good premise I recommend it to everyone
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Okay time to give my review even though I'm not very good with it but gonna do my best.
So, this novel is very good, and despite starting in a very fast paced rhythm, author picks up everything during the progress while introducing new characters and plots, balacing it with starting plot and perfect close it by the end of volume 1 while keeping it open for volume 2, which is NOT a easy feat for many authors.
The MC starts weak but his growth is apparent during the progress while making you his fan and rooting for him.
And the girls... well sh*t, what can I say, they are the best part of the novel much to our grim because... You can't help but root for them all to have a happy, satisfatory ending seriously, it's boderline tragic that this novel doesn't have a harem tag, everytime I do a speedrun with this novel I can't help but pray my boy Reyez see the advantage of an harem in this no matter how "unrealistic" it may seem at first glance, despite me being ready to support him till the end.
I'm really looking forward to volume 2.
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