After The Mountains Are Flattened

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

In the world's most popular fantasy game, Saana Online, Henry Lee has repeatedly lucked his way into many earth-shaking roles. He’s been a premier duellist, undefeated commander, founder of a cult, owner of a kingdom, and shadow leader of history’s greatest guild. With so many achievements under his belt, it seems that only one final hurdle stands in the way of his happiness—the game itself! He just wants to quit already! However, thanks to a prank by his best friend slash mortal enemy, Henry finds himself farting around in the starting zone yet again. This time he is accompanied not by the gaming world's elite but by the turbonoobs that are his real-life mates, the monkey zoo of incompetent social gamers they attract, and one braindead idealist who thinks he can somehow mould this bunch of trash into a guild capable of toppling the very regime Henry is leading. Facing no genuine opponent and armed with game-breaking equipment, totally unfair insider knowledge, millions of troops, an unbalanced class, and bottomless pockets, will Henry Lee somehow fulfil his dream of an uneventful retirement? Or will the supreme cheat-magnet be dragged screaming back once more into the never-ending, blood-pumping world of online adventure?

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2017
Author: Enchi

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 520
Views: 969,986

Chapters(373 total)

What readers say about After The Mountains Are Flattened

“This post-maximalist novel exposes the life of a true patrician on the greatest path there is: the climb. Through the inner thoughts of the protagonist and his interactions with the mostly intellectually inferior world, a comprehensive, original, cohesive a…”
XolidRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“On top of the impeccable grammar, and the vastly superior storytelling talents of the author, the MC (despite being strongarmed into doing pointless things by a ~friend~ massive prick) is absolutely, and hilariously OP. And me likey an OP MC. Yet he's not O…”
Zeal IskanderRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

XolidRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This post-maximalist novel exposes the life of a true patrician on the greatest path there is: the climb. Through the inner thoughts of the protagonist and his interactions with the mostly intellectually inferior world, a comprehensive, original, cohesive and ambitious world-building is impressed on the reader. Each chapter is filled with subtleties that add to the humour and depth of an already excellent story.
Truly, this pinnacle in the world of web-novels is the occasion to expand the soul for appreciative readers.
Zeal IskanderRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
On top of the impeccable grammar, and the vastly superior storytelling talents of the author, the MC (despite being strongarmed into doing pointless things by a ~friend~ massive prick) is absolutely, and hilariously OP. And me likey an OP MC.
Yet he's not OP simply because "muh stats muh lvl 9999". The author succeeds in giving off an accurate rendition of what someone with way, way too much time on his hands, would end up being after playing the same game for a dozen of years.
Why? Because the universe becomes beliveable. There's a set of rules. Everything happens for a reason. There's no bullshit. The MC doesn't get a sudden power up for the sake of laziness. The MC doesn't fight against enemies that just happen to be stronger and stronger, but are just weak enough so that he can beat them.
Nope. Not in this story.
It's just perfect. Got absolutely no qualms about this one. 10/10 worldbuilding, and genuinely made me laugh. It's a shame this doesn't have 10x as more readers.
DarhadRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Sometimes a piece of fiction strikes out to you in a completely unique way. You respond to it differently than others. This story was that for me.
This story has been painstakingly crafted. The love and effort gone into it is immense. Additionally there are stories within the stories that are very compelling. The 'flavour text' has some very interesting implications. The era of 2050 is interesting in itself and whilst for many people it broke their immersion I found it to be a great introduction. The global geopolitical landscape, the Scandanavian region's governance systems all are quite interesting concepts, none of which are more than background text and throwaway lines.
I would call this the closest VRMMORPG equivalent to the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy which I would say is probably the highest praise I could give.
This novel at times can seem like a vehicle for satire, but it satirises it's own attempts at satire too. Like Henry, this story is unique because it is unashamedly itself.
I'm currently not even halfway through but thoroughly enjoying it. I believe this is a hidden gem and deserves a look, even if it's not your cup of tea.
The prose is a bit verbose sometimes and it's hard to follow everything going on. There can be alot of things to digest at once and sometimes you aren't in a state to be able to be able to pay attention to every word. The plot is engaging and believable. Whilst initially seeming needlessly convoluted the tapestry unravels and you realise that whilst Henry is a massive Cog, the machine he is in is more so. Grammar is high quality and the characters are quite interesting. At times I felt like I was being baited into thinking characters were one dimensional almost intentionally. I enjoy Henry a lot as a protagonist. Flawed and Vulnerable but also fun.
Enchi, thank you. So far this story has given me a lot to think about, in terms of myself, my role in my life, my take on my future plans and the future of governance and politics. T
ElorieRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Below is a sample of the fun stuff herein:
“So did you gain any abilities?”
Donkey Bro pouted. "With the months we’ve spent together, all I am to you is a show-pony performing tricks at your command.”
“So I take that as a no. Well, if you end up being able to create them yourself, try learning invisibility. It’ll synergise with your chomp.”
“I’m already invisible. In the eyes of this image-obsessed world, the ugly have never registered.”
Henry resisted the urge to kick it.
EmpireofTrustRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Buckle yourself down and prepare yourself for dense prose if you wish to attempt this winding and misty tale.
As with all my reviews I reveal no story except a description of how easy it is to swallow.
This one requires big boy pants with the option to loosen the button as its big, some even may sally forth with gargantuan or a pathetic wink at wordplay point coyly to the title.
The author is a beast putting out large word counts for every chapter painting worlds within worlds like nested Russian dolls to infinity in both directions.
Worth the effort if you can put in the time and brain power to encompass the story.
Not a light read, if you are looking for that close the tab or perhaps bookmark it for when you have time for cogitation.
GrasenrackRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Henry is a highly cerebral character. If you like reading about someone who thinks about a lot of things despite only being able to DO one then this fiction is for you.
Henry is quite possibly the most powerful being in the game but his entire persona is built on being a behind the scenes character. It sets up a delicious dichotomy of calculation and ability to effect real change while considering what ramifications those actions will have.
A refreshing change of pace from many high-power characters who take action without considering consequences.
HerringSaladRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’m a long-time lurker on this site, finally signing on mainly because I wanted to write a review of this wonderful tale, which has become one of my absolute favorites.
The story is a sort of epic black comedy version of a LitRPG. It’s set in a VRMMORPG called Saana Online, beloved by everyone in the world except our MC. 17-year old Henry is basically the worst munchkin in the history of the game, and probably the universe. He has done everything he could possibly do in the game, and all the impossible things too. He has won every PvP, finished every quest, killed every secret boss, found every item or piece of equipment. He has won the guild wars, ruled an empire, and grown immensely rich. He has flattened mountains… and now he’s sick and tired of the whole thing, and just wants to quit.
But, of course, that can’t be, and he’s dragged back into the game again, seething with quiet rage. He gets persuaded to help some real-life friends of his through a beginner’s tournament, and so he’s off to the games’ worst-designed beginner zone, to deal with such contemptible beings as noobs, social gamers and role-players. Words can’t express the depths of his loathing.
This sounds like it will be a wish-fulfillment-type of story about being secretly OP and face-slapping your opponents, but that’s not it, not at all. No, the key to getting this story is understanding Henry. He is a sort of wish-fulfillment character, but at the same time a hilarious send-up of that kind of character.
He’s a genius at gaming, and he’s been able to devote all his time and energy into reaching the very heights of this game, living most of his life in this amazing virtual reality and becoming master of all he surveys. He’s utterly, ridiculously OP, but it’s all earned. He’s won every level, every skill, every equipment and every in-game piece of currency. Compared to him, all other players are noobs. Who wouldn’t want to be him?
But at the same time, he’s a tragicomic figure. He’s an obsessive-comp
KoboldPatrolRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
(as of chapter 104)
17-year-old Henry has been playing THE fantasy VR-MMORPG for many many years (even more than his age due to time dilation in the game), reaching every peak, his alter egos among the most famous in the game in many different roles without anybody connecting them to each other and to his true identity. After all that time he's become filthy rich (both in-game and in RL) and so very bored and wants to quit but is blackmailed into one last role so that he can finally find peace. He'll only have to keep up for two more weeks, playing with his real life friends who are total Noobs to win a PvP tournament...
The story follows Henry while training in the new role, his first combat class in years. Being the genius and perfectionist he is, wanting to spice it up to escape the boredom and in order to improve his non-combat interests, he starts another half-dozen parallel pursuits in addition to creating the ultimate combat art out of dozens of existing ones (the "how" would be a spoiler). During the first two volumes (~1000 pages on RRL), the tournament "main quest" has only been a side focus: a huge part of the story is about the preparations for the combat role, evil player machinations that threaten both the game world and Henry's assets (which of course can't be ignored by him), his online enemies finally noticing some connections between his roles and, most importantly, Henry becoming more mature (the "how" would again be a spoiler). I can't decide whether the pacing of the story is slow or quick: On the one hand, after over 1100 pages we're only on real-life day three, on the other hand, so much happened and with the in-game time dilation the game-time is a multiple of the real time. I'll settle for "neither too fast nor too slow".
The MC is pretty OP from the start. I usually don't like this in stories (no struggle = boring) but here it is done excellently. The OP-ness is due to his unparalleled experience with the game and in using the skills from t
MajesticFishRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've been following this novel for a while and since I do not know how to write a review, I will only say this: it's good, give it a try, at the very least I promise you won't ever be disappointed with the world building, ask the author or away for more world building info as well if you'd like
Sky3FallRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really like this story. I'm not going to talk about the absolutely divine world building or the incredible character development, but rather about one single fight scene that I would say is the best fight scene in the entire story, and definitely one of the best I've ever read. I'm talking about the Loki vs Henry arena fight. This fight is so good because it perfectly illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, and their decisions keep true to their personalities.
The general premise of the fight is simple: Henry tries to trap Loki in a Gate and Loki tries to kill Henry before he's trapped. As the fight progresses, we see Loki swap between masks and Henry switch between styles. This difference is very important. Loki switches between personas, with each persona being one that he developed to learn that combat style, while Henry learned each style individually, without a mask, like a thousand-armed Buddha. This difference perfectly ties into Loki's desires. He wants to know how Henry can survive without wearing a mask, and as he battled he himself switches between masks while Henry never does, reinforcing his desire.
Henry, in the other hand, is also staying true to his character. He doesn't go for the one-shot or pull some op combo out of his ass. No, he sets up his Gates and weaves rings of plans and lies around Loki. So many stories set up characters as strategists and yet when those characters make decisions it's all "har har plans go wheeeee". Not for Henry. His entire battle plan revolves around countering Loki's mask switches while leading him into traps, as well as building contingency plans in case Loki moves unexpectedly. My favorite part of the fight is a direct result of Henry's faithfulness to strategy. It's when Loki realizes that he lost. He mentally lists a series of Henry's win conditions and realizes that no matter what he does, Henry has set up the situation so that Loki will lose. That's just top tier writing right there.
Lots of ba