Data Dragon Danika

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

After a great deal of preparation, Danika begins her new digital dragon's life in a very small way. They say the "Living Jade Empire" creates individualized quests. They say it can read your mind. They say you can find your heart's desire. They say that there's never been a game like it, and they're right but… they're also wrong. The game is a data mine, built to retell the old tales that humans have been telling each other since language was invented. It doesn't read your mind, but it reads your search history, your favorites, and your blogs. The "Living Jade Empire" is literally crafted from fables, legends, fantasies, and maybe just a bit of stardust. But in the end, will the game be able to figure out what Danika wants most? Will the desires of other players take priority? Or, will playing it change her, until she desires what it can give her? A journey is always made up of many small steps, and this game has still only just begun.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2019
Author: gusdefrog

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 1,332
Views: 3,865,359

What readers say about Data Dragon Danika

“I'm having a great time reading this story. It's cute and funny with good characters and a fascinating virtual world full of interesting quirks and fun little twists. I especially like the messenger animal mechanic. This is not a hack and slash heavy action…”
whatbmRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I don't usually like VRMMO stories, they're often far too destructive with more emphasis placed on the game system than on the characters. Not so with this one, the focus is on character development and the MC isn't a psychopath. I look forward to reading t…”
CloudmireRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

whatbmRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm having a great time reading this story. It's cute and funny with good characters and a fascinating virtual world full of interesting quirks and fun little twists. I especially like the messenger animal mechanic.
This is not a hack and slash heavy action conquer one mountain only to discover it was just a foot hill kind of VRMMO story. This is a slice of life story about the trials and tribulations of a 20 something girl discovering a new game with friends and romance, good times and bad.
One thing that I like about this story is that it's not all set in the virtual world. Too many VRMMO stories talk about the "real" world at the beginning and then never mention it again even though the main character can't possibly spend all their time in it. The main character has real world problems and interacts with some of the other characters in both environments.
So far (start of book 4) there is no overarching evil or nemesis plaguing the story trying to inject heavy drama or urgency into it. That’s not to say there's no drama or sad and happy moments, but the ones so far have all been the everyday kind of situations that we all can face.
I don't usually like stories that switch up the POV, but each time the author does it here it works really well. It can make me rethink earlier actions as seen from the alternate POV and gives good insight the personality of that character. The same is true for the side stories, which are mostly from another characters POV. Those side stories seems to me to give great color and depth to the world.
Bottom line, this is a go to guilty pleasure that never fails to entertain.
CloudmireRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't usually like VRMMO stories, they're often far too destructive with more emphasis placed on the game system than on the characters. Not so with this one, the focus is on character development and the MC isn't a psychopath. I look forward to reading the continuing adventures of Danika.
The prose is simple but effective, and you'll only be dissapointed by the grammar if you're particulary picky.
DotakiinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a very lighthearted story, with a moderately large cast of diverse characters who, for the most part, avoid being repetative or feeling one-dimensional. I have noticed very few mistakes throughout the book, and none that hampered my enjoyment. Some points are lost on the story due to a lack of overall plot structure, but slice of life style works don't usually get good story scores, and the later chapters are showing promising developments.
Thank you to gusdefrog for providing content of this quality for free.
Endless PavingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This a great slice of life sort of story with a little bit of romance that isn’t too bothersome. Not that I disaprove of a good romance or anything.
The story is virtual reality sci-fi, which means it’s basically adventure fantasy with the usul interruptions of actually being a living being.
The characters have distinct personalities and work well together. There isn’t as mich depth as some stories go with characyers but its not the type of story that needs ridiculously complicated protagonists and antagonists.
The style is heavily slice of life, the life being sliced being mmo video games and a lot of the nuance that goes with it. There aren’t any real villians so far, opponents maybe, bit no true antagonists. I’m eager to see where the story is going.
Luke ScheffeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a LitRPG story with a dragon MC, what more do you want to know!?!?!?
Matt598Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
"Even if we mess things up someday, it's okay as long as we don't give up, right?
It wasn't until the end of the story i found the one quote that will probably linger on in my mind and that's stated above. Just the culmination of how it all turned out was amazing from revealing aspects of the main character as if they're no big deal to the complexity of the relationship as it evolved. This was just a very enjoyable read well done!
NobleGuileRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Tl;dr it's a cute, feel good read that will put a smile on your face.
It's an adorable read about Danika playing as a tiny dragon in a mmo. Feels very slice of life in style and the plot lines so far are small quests, but are interesting to read still.
No issues with grammar and lifelike interactions with characters.
Looking forward to more chapters :-D
OskatatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Let me first say this:
Yes, it's about a fantasy setting VR MMO. No, the focus is not on the amazing monsters defeated, creative fighting tactics, pvp or ultra rare equipment. Yes, those things come up, but they are not what makes this story.
Data Dragon Danika is about interpersonal relations, interactions and personal growth. The characters are fully fleshed out and they develop as the story progresses. It's more a slice of life, with an additional plus point (for me) that real life is not ignored. The people are people, both inside and outside the game. It gets a touch metaphysical near the end though.
So for a cosy slice of life that is guaranteed not to just make you laugh, but probably also cry, pick up this little gem. Let Danika and friends take you through a journey of folk tales and together learn the lessons it can teach.
(for a quick fix of adrenalin filled action with generic OP MC, generic harem and more generic plot, try something else)
redria7Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
(written in the 3rd book)
I am not generally a slice of life fan. I am following many stories on this site, and just about every one of them has a pretty grand plot driving it forwards. Despite that, DDD relentlessly demands attention. The author has built a fascinating game world, and has delivered on several interesting personalities to explore the potential and boundaries of that world. There is also romance and emotional moments building up the characters and relationships as the story develops.
As a daily release, this story seems designed to give you a smile and a giggle once a day, then move on.
Done Well
The world building is excellent. The environment the author has created as a world for their characters is interesting and diverse. It will also leave you disappointed with every other MMO though so... You've been warned.
The character interactions are well done too. As a slice of life story, this is an important one. There is joy in watching how each character reacts to the situations thrown their way by the author.
Good Enough
The characters. This is actually something that has been improving in the third book, but newer readers progressing through the earlier books might be put off by it (if it isn't just me). The main character Danika is a bit of an unreliable narrator. When the POV follows her (as it does most of the time) she doesn't do a good job of representing her own emotions, and sometimes even the emotions of others. This has the unfortunate side effect of making the characters sometimes seem flat in situations that should be emotionally charged. As time has gone on, this has improved, especially with more alt-POV chapters that are being released in the thrid book. There is a lot of depth to the emotions and reactions of Danika that have been missed in the earlier books that is very evident in these scenes.
The Things I Don't Like
As someone who generally doesn't follow slice of life stories, I find myself wondering sometimes where the story is g
octonusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Our protagonist plays games for enjoyment and for a living, and makes friends while trying to make progress.
Extremely slow pace, with emphasis on relationships over progression. A well-written story that makes a nice contrast to the regular high-intensity, high-stakes stories on this site.