Anomaly [Dungeon Diving - Mystery - LITRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

They called it a blessing. He called it a death sentence.

On his 16th birthday, Felix became one of the Chosen—granted access to a powerful system that turns people into legends… or corpses.

Most Chosen get stronger by the book. Felix broke the book in half.

Instead of regular loot, his first dungeon gave him a glitchy artifact with no stats, no explanation, and one baffling detail:Level 1.Nobody’s ever seen an item with a level. Nobody knows why it picked him.

Now Felix sees portals no one else can. Dungeons that aren’t supposed to exist. Messages that shouldn’t be there. And the deeper he dives, the more the system glitches—like reality itself is trying to hide something.

The system is watching. The enforcers are coming. And if he digs too deep, he might not just break the rules.

He might break the world.

*Chapters uploaded daily until the end of May - Then 3x per week*

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: P.C. Knight

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.1/ 5.0
Followers: 790
Views: 120,144

Chapters(41 total)

What readers say about Anomaly [Dungeon Diving - Mystery - LITRPG]

“Not the typical start for litRPGs. Unlike most MC’s Felix is none too happy with getting a system and to be forced to become a ‘chosen.’ Even if the system promises power and the ability to become a living legend, the likelihood of that happening is too sma…”
ZoracRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“Anomaly is an awesome take on the dungeon-ridden worlds of an earth that suddenly got integrated with a game-like system. The prose is snappy and simple--in a good way. The author doesn't dwell on exposition and endless descriptions, he throws you straight…”
EthanKantosRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(8)

ZoracRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Not the typical start for litRPGs. Unlike most MC’s Felix is none too happy with getting a system and to be forced to become a ‘chosen.’ Even if the system promises power and the ability to become a living legend, the likelihood of that happening is too small and Felix does not particular want the ‘honor.’
It is not just the MC that is not thrilled at him being chosen. We are quickly introduced to parts of the MC’s past and his families personal loss because of this gift.
Unlike many litRPGs where the MC just goes out and starts whacking things with a stick, Felix tries to prepare himself for the real danger and likely death coming his way which is a refreshing change from stories where the mc just gets a system and becomes a hero. Felix has to learn how the system works, how to fight and how to survive.
Throwing the MC into a trial where he will either survive and prove himself worthy of being granted the system or die adds some early stakes that force the MC to learn fast.
Style: The style is clean, easy to follow. No getting lost on tangents and info dumps that would be better off spaced out.
Story: The story pulls you in and keeps you engaged as you wait to see how Felix is going to survive.
Grammar: The grammar is good, no blaring mistakes that pull you out of the story looking for a spellchecker.
Characters: The characters are engaging and dynamic. Felix’s interactions with his family early on show the relationships and fears they all share.
Overall a fun and engaging read, looking forward to more.
EthanKantosRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Anomaly is an awesome take on the dungeon-ridden worlds of an earth that suddenly got integrated with a game-like system.
The prose is snappy and simple--in a good way. The author doesn't dwell on exposition and endless descriptions, he throws you straight away into the what we are here to read: dungeon diving, and how that affects the main character, Felix. It's on first person perspective so it has an easier time presenting Felix's thoughts and an perspective into the terrifying reality he won't be able to escape.
As far as grammar is concerned, there aren't any major hurdles that are worth mentioning. I haven't spotted a single typo or anything immersion breaking. Nice work, P.C. Knight.
Felix is your average teenager. He's no chosen on, gifted in all sorts of strategic thinking and martial arts, even though the system has designated him as Chosen. He's as relatable as main characters come, a teenager just trying through adapt through adverse situations. Though he is isn't super intelligent, he's not dumb either, which makes the fights and decision he takes all the more meaningful and engaging.
Anomaly resembles Solo Leveling, but right out of the gate you know it takes a different direction. There's no aura farming moments and easy wins, Felix is in for struggle and hard-fought battles. It's too early to tell in which direction the story will head, but the hint at the large world outside Felix's city give ample room for the author to implement numerous cool tropes and system mechanics.
Overall, this story is full of potential, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.
KirstarRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A diverting read. A fun premise which some interesting twists. Couple of things that bother me though.
I am writing this whilst reading chapter 37.
I still have no idea about the wider world. From context its a medieval type worlds, but nothing written down.
If 20% of 16 year olds are chosen why is it not required that everyone go through basic training? The hero wakes up chosen on his 16th and is surprised and has to rush training over the next week.
Sometimes the hero rushes to spend his points other time he waits several levels. You would think he would spend them right away. This is unless the memory issues happen as points are spent.???
The ??? points, if the tree is linear why have the option to spend points, it would make more sense for the talents to auto select. The author could still have the same surprise from the hero about the different talent trees etc.
Professions came out of nowhere
All in all I am enjoying it but there is a woolly feel about things like they are not set in stone. Looking forward to how the story progresses and if some of my guesses are correct.
Moriarty23Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Reminds me a little bit like solo levelling in that the MC can grow in power in ways that the other characters can't. However, in this world, chosen can grown in power and level up, unlike solo levelling.
Felix is a pretty relatable character tbh. Pretty socially awkward for the most part, masking his emotions with wry, self deprecating humor. Thrust into a world he never wanted to be involved in and forced to live this way of life would be daunting to anyone. But he pulls himself up by his bootstraps and makes do.
The other characters we've been introduced to so far have been pretty decent overall. Although I will say Obsidian is great. Who doesn't love an eccentric trader? More of him please.
In some of the more recent chapters we've started to see more of the personal side to the heroes rather than just the adventuring side. This adds a sense of depth to the world and makes it all feel a bit more real. I personally feel like Calla is hiding something, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.
Overall, I'm enjoying the mystery of the story and the world is interesting. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here.
Farstone_Royal_RoadRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Follow Felix as he learns the system. The twist? It's broken and he doesn't know why.
Marked as an "Anomaly" Felix needs to learn the "how and why" of this system and the adjoined glitches. He's already hunted by a much higher psychopath and now he needs to get bigger and better.
I like these kinds of stories and look forward to seeing how Felix grows and develops.
stemcelRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
Ponderous: The story aims for gravitas with short sentences that would normally share understated or incommunicable impact- but this sort of sentence is like a punchline. It doesn’t work at all if you haven’t told the joke first.
So it’s like a non-stop series of punchlines without jokes, as the author gestures significantly in this direction or that, waiting for applause. It’s not there, man. There’s nothing to clap for nothing has happened. You have to put some meat on the bone before you can cash in.
Unearned: Mother/son interactions, the MC’s internal monologue, the interactions with fellow adventurers or the shopkeeper- all of these skip right past establishment and into snark, expectation, etc. The MC interacts with girl-he-just-met like other MCs interact with childhood-friend-grown-distant-lawful-good. He interacts with mysterious-shopkeeper-who-showed-up-out-of-nowhere like other MCs interact with crazy-town-uncle-who-scams-people. But we didn’t build those relationships. MC transitions seamlessly from “I don’t know how to fight and I’m flailing hopelessly” to “fighting is how I feel ALIVE and it makes everything clear” which are both attitudes that MCs can reasonably have but you don’t get there after unmanfully stabbing one spider and surviving a fight with a suit of armor. This isn’t seamless in the sense of “wow that transition was so smooth I didn’t even feel it” it’s seamless in the sense of “those two pieces won’t hold together without a seam”. And they don’t. These problems are apparent in chapter 1 and so far have only grown with additional chapters. My disbelief suspenders can’t keep this patchwork together. I had hope that more chapters would salvage the first, but I’m not seeing it. I’ll read a few more, and I will change my review if the story is somehow salvaged.
bimbimRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
Style
The style simultaneously intrigues and frustrates me.
Some parts of the setting are very enjoyable, they have a certain Discworld-like whimsy and chaos, but outside of that, underdeveloped. The world is inconsistent in what time period it is set in. It feels like generic late medieval setting, but inconsistent. MC is from a very poor, isolated place, yet he can read. Everyone in the party can read. In fact, I haven't seen anyone where I suspect they can't read. the MC and other party members talk like teenagers do now.
Also, the story is written in a way that does not feel totally out of place in a contemporary setting. Things are described in ways that feel very out of place for someone from a medieval setting. Sometimes the banter between party members feel like slang I would get from modern teenagers.
We barely get anything from most of the places, but the places the author does expand on are interesting.
Sometimes the author succeeds in painting the atmosphere very well, and sometimes it feels very hamfisted.
Story:
There's a lot of things sprinkled in the story which sound intriguing, and I hope the author manages to deliver on it.
No complaints except the pacing, which can feel inconsistent.
Grammar:
No complaints, haven't detected any grammatical errors.
Character:
The story's weak point.
I know next to nothing about the MC except that he's from a small village, used to be poor, his age, that he lost his father, has 2 siblings.
His attitude is jarring at times. Unearned confidence after just 2-3 days in.
Forgot which chapter it was, but he was willing to bet 50 gold, more money than he ever had just a couple days prior. He and his family used to be so poor, they didn't have good, unspoiled food reliably btw.
Sometimes he just knows things, while he barely knew anything about the system a couple days prior.
The other party members are equally confounding.
At first, they're rightfully suspicious that he's bringing danger to the party. After he explains, .
BamboozledRoyal Road
★ 1.0
The first eleven chapters are engaging. They're well-written enough to get you invested in the characters and the plot. Then, the quality of everything takes a steep nose-dive.
After ch 11, it feels like several chapters were mysteriously yoinked from the now-disjointed narrative, and the characters begin acting like erratic NPCs.
I would honestly assume the MC became an unreliable narrator and is going through a schizophrenic breakdown inside a glitched dungeon, and everything we're reading after chapter eleven is some catatonic dream if it were only the content that became unhinged, but the writing style also tanked.
I was honestly so, incredibly disappointed. Everything was going really well for eleven chapters. It's like night and day.
Style: The author overuses similes and becomes addicted to breaking up narration line-by-line to intentionally slow down the reader to make things more dramatic. It is good in moderation. The author did not show moderation.
Story: Standard by-the-numbers litrpg. Enjoyable and engaging for 11 chapters, but then begins to make absolutely zero sense, which is such a shame because it felt like it was about to be a fun litrpg fantasy story.
Character: Great and on the verge of feeling fleshed-out for 11 chapters. Then everyone becomes paper thin dialogue units flapping whichever way the wind blows to force the narrative in seemingly-random directions. I really like the characters for the first 11 chapters, but then everyone goes craycray.
Grammar: Good.
TL;DR: I really liked the first eleven chapters but then felt like the author let their seven year old sibling take over from there and it just isn't the same.