[Can't Opt Out] : A Can't We Get Rid of the Raids LitRPG

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Sometimes, the world isn’t nearly as safe as everyone thinks. The universe is far more alive, more intelligent, more calculating than anyone actually knows, and its battle isn’t over yet. A decade since the war ended—mere blinks from conflict exploding once more—the continent’s heroes are about to realize they were always destined to be the universe’s saviours, or perhaps, the universe’s destroyers.

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For almost a decade, Emilia has been running—from her past, from the person she once was, from the war and destruction that ripped her country, her soul, her very core apart.

She has a good life. She has friends and school and the normalcy that she always craved. She doesn’t miss her old life—not often, anyways. She’s locked her ability to miss away, along with so many of the skills that made her a so-called war hero.

Emilia always knew the normal, relaxing life she carved out for herself wouldn’t last. So, when a series of events bring old friends and scars back into her life, when the government sponsored raids—ostensibly meant to keep Baalphorian citizens prepared for another war—start to spin even more out of control than they already were, when secrets about the real reason behind the war and the universe itself start to echo out into the world, Emilia knows it's just a matter of time before she has to stop running.

A winding, slow-burn horror with LitRPG elements and romantic subplots, [Can’t Opt Out] features a diverse cast of characters, all scarred and altered by the war that ravaged their continent for two decades. They are heroes, and they are broken. They love and hate and mourn for all the friends they lost during the war, for all the people they couldn’t save. After a decade of near peace—of a new world being forged around them and under their own influence—they think the war is done.

It isn’t—the universe and its enemies aren’t nearly finished fighting.

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Updates Sun-Thur.

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What to Expect:

✮ A lengthy slow burn with immersive world building, highly introspective characters, and a growing sense of existential/cosmic dread✮ A winding story told through the eyes of numerous characters—but mostly through Emilia’s—spread throughout time and the continent itself, through the real and virtual world, which may be more insidious than its millions of users know✮ Several Systems, including a technology-assisted version, a core/body-based version, a real-world raid/war-simulation version, several VR systems✮ All the diversity~✮ Bad governments and good friends from the continent and all its myriad of cultures✮ A go-with-the-flow MC who has all the brain cells but constantly only uses two✮ People dealing badly with trauma through (legal) drugs, sex, and (both legal and illegal) body modifications✮ No harem for the MC, but she is in a quickly crumbling open relationship (don’t jump on that ship), and there is an eventual, polyamorous endgame✮ Occasional, (mostly) optional smut for the MC and side characters✮ An author who cries when they kill their characters but will kill them anyways

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: BlissfullyBroken

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 98
Views: 172,430

Chapters(509 total)

What readers say about [Can't Opt Out] : A Can't We Get Rid of the Raids LitRPG

“Refreshing to to read a story that trusts the reader to figure out the world and its systems. An MC that has given up progression and wargames is forced back into the rat race naturally. By the end of the first act we want her to get healthier, stronger, a…”
BlenheimRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“A moody surreal magipunk story with LitRPG elements. A beautiful exploration of trauma, relationships, and guilt. The setting and characters drip with mystery and charm. Every layer that is peeled back only hinting at deeper ones still. Out main character E…”
GhostlyGooseRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(3)

BlenheimRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Refreshing to to read a story that trusts the reader to figure out the world and its systems. An MC that has given up progression and wargames is forced back into the rat race naturally. By the end of the first act we want her to get healthier, stronger, and saner.
GhostlyGooseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A moody surreal magipunk story with LitRPG elements. A beautiful exploration of trauma, relationships, and guilt. The setting and characters drip with mystery and charm. Every layer that is peeled back only hinting at deeper ones still. Out main character Emilia, struggles with conflicting emotions and drives, but pushes forward regardless. Overall an excellent piece of writing, that I really believe deserves greater recognition.
OchreCarpRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Can't Opt Out is a true gem of a story, and I cannot recommend it highly enough if you love in-depth worlds and complex characters struggling to overcome the trauma of their pasts. Honestly, I would read any other world Blissfully Broken creates in a heartbeat, and I will continue eagerly awaiting updates to this story, which are super consistent.
In terms of style, Can't Opt Out generally uses the approach of immersive worldbuilding, which is a technique that I quite enjoyed in traditionally published works such as Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. Information about the vast world and cultures is cleverly integrated, and it never feels like there are massive information dumps that are hard to read. I am also just genuinely impressed by how many distinct cultures and languages there are in the world of Can't Opt Out. Furthermore, Blissfully Broken's writing style is wonderfully descriptive, and I always find several lines in every chapter that particularly stand out for their beauty or humor. I also enjoy that Blissfully Broken is not afraid to experiment with form,
like the translations from Grey Sands in the most recent chapters (Chapters 346-349 and Chapters 354-357).
Their grammar and punctuation are also almost always spot on.
On the topic of the story itself, it is non-linear (with the story currently going through a flashback arc), and it is slow-building and far-reaching in its scope. I feel like there are so many places the story could go by the time it reaches its end
(it is very likely there is going to be a battle between universes at some point, which is super exciting),
and I am enthralled by all the layers of conflict that have been set up. The interpersonal drama is just as engaging as the fight scenes. However, notably, at the core of the story, the work challenges what it means to be human, and I feel like the story does a good job of tackling this topic in a nuanced, compelling way by bringing in clones, AIs, and body modifications; in par