[- New chapters in October-]
John, a former VR-RPG fantasy game tester, finds himself out of a job due to the rise of robots and AIs. Devastated and drowning his sorrows at his favorite pub, he has a mind-bending encounter. A mysterious figure, seemingly a hallucination, reveals that John is living in a simulation and sends him back twenty years into the past.
Caught between questioning reality and embracing the unexpected time-travel twist, John’s mission is clear: amass wealth and alter the future. But the means to his fortune lie within exploiting THE game he once tested. However, there’s a catch. His in-game character is inexplicably locked as a girl priest, leaving him questioning the implications on his reality. Will these changes within the simulation manifest in the real world too?
As John navigates the dual challenges of understanding the simulated reality and mastering his gender change, he sets out on an adventure that will test his wit, determination, and understanding of the true nature of existence. Join him on this mind-bending adventure as he confronts the boundaries of existence and strives to reshape his destiny.
Very fun gender-bender LitRPG with some very interesting ideas. Author just rewrote it and restarted updates, hope to see a lot more. :D
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Premise starts off good. The characters introduced and the direction of the novel are interesting. The main actor contemplates his own gender change occasionally. There are some stipulations to this throughout the early novel. The importance of the main actors journey and what’s at stake are rough and not polished, but are present. The style, tone, grammar, and basic integrity of the novel devolve at around chapter 20. All the buildup and plot devices used up till around that point plateau and the novel doesn’t go anywhere. The inception of the actors being in a simulation of a simulation doesn’t go anywhere. The assassin sent to end John never feels like John is in any danger. The namesake of the novel doesn’t actually happen very often and when the main actor does do ‘exploitation’ it doesn’t have a huge impact. The circumstance in which it’s done doesn’t describe it as such. The lack of details in world building extend this issue. In the later chapters there is mention of John’s past (future) experience to indicate expectation for where future events may lead but it’s not enough. I’d say the one good thing after the story devolves is there is no romance. The novel is already exploring many plot ideas all at once so by not having romance it’s not being stretched as much. The story still breaks down for me but at least it’s not as bad with heavier romantic events included. Although, the later chapters contained a lot more insinuation I’d say detracts from the story being told at that point. It’s messy.
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