Discount Dan

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Noclip In, No Way Out…All Dan wants is to find a way home. He’d settle for a beer, a bite to eat, and a place to sleep off his hangover.But, in an endless, ever-changing dungeon cobbled together from twisted carnivals, abandoned shopping malls, janky laundromats, and condemned insane asylums, getting a bit of shut-eye is harder than it sounds.Dan has accidentally “Noclipped” into the Backrooms—a bizarro, extra-dimensional Alice-in-Wonderland world, overrun with horrific nightmare creatures known as the Dwellers. No one ever gets out. Hell, forget about leaving, if Dan wants to survive the week, he’s going to need to harness the strange game-like magic of the Backrooms, make some very sketchy allies, and carve out a little safe haven to call his own.And he’s going to need to do it fast because Dan is being hunted. The Flayed Monarch of the 999th floor has marked him for death and no one walks away from the Skinless Court with their hide intact…

What to Expect:

-NOHarem

- LitRPG and hard stats.

- There's an artifact-based "deck-builder" system.

- Lots of violence. Lots of loot. Lots of skills and titles.

- Gratuitous and creative swearing, which might be a turn-off to some.

- There is a dog who is made entirely out of Croc Shoe material. He has googly eyes--this detail is non-negotiable.

- Loosely set in the Backrooms for those who might know what that is, but it won'taffectyour enjoyment of the story if you don't know what it is.

- One reviewer summarized it pretty well:"It's like an adult version of Infinity Train, but one that eloped with Dungeon Crawler Carl. It's just beautiful."

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: Shadow Alley Press

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 3,868
Views: 475,574

Chapters(47 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

wjconstantineauthorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Okay. Real talk: Discount Dan is not a person — he’s whatever cosmic joke wrote itself into this story. One moment he’s trying to get a beer; the next he’s noclipped into a dimension made of abandoned laundromats, twisted carnivals, and hell‑ish malls.
There are nightmare creatures called Dwellers trying to rip his guts out. There’s a magical rule system with stats and loot and titles that makes zero sense and yet somehow works. And somehow in the middle of all that chaos, Dan decides “yeah I should open a shop” and starts selling stuff to survive.
Also: there’s literally a dog made of Croc shoes with googly eyes. I’m not making that up.
I laughed. I yelled. I was terrified at random junctions. I stopped asking “what is reality” around chapter three. Every time I thought, “okay this can’t get weirder” — it did.
If you expected normal? Nope. You’re in a nightmare labyrinth — and Dan is running a bargain bazaar in it.
DRailyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It is a unique store based story that has an excellent balance between the actual shop management and action.
The power system is more or less reflavored magic cards in many ways, but with it's own fun thematic twist on it appropriate for the setting.
The characters are great. The whole main cast had an excellent balance and the titular Dan is a fun underdog character that just happens to have preference for powers that could be considered a "war crime." He is a good guy that helps out others without sacrificing himself or acting like a martyr.
ThunderfunkyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Madness and it is delicious. Horror and Litrpg can never go wrong. Or maybe it can, I don't know. This definitely didn't, though. I look forward to more shenanigans, as well as a future Discount Dan commercial in the vein of Crazy Eddie. Random words so I can reach the 50 word count.
WinglessRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
For lovers of Dungeon Diver Carl and The Daily Grind this is a MUST read. It's stunningly outrageous, funny, wholesome, and horrifying in all the right ways. I honestly like it better than DDC and I've subscribed to their Patreon! Sacreligeous I know but it's true, Discount Dan is a true gem in the wild.
And Dan's best friend? A mimic! The most cutest wholesome and HUNGRY mimic best friend a man could have. Who's a good mimic, you are! A seriously lovely supporting cast written beautifully.
The world building is spot on, it's exactly what I would want from a back rooms story both horrifying and beautiful and very exploitable. So far the MC is shaping up to be an exponentially powerful new faction in the tangled mess of the backrooms with a clear goal of escape at the end of a looong tunnel, I think the author is building up to at least 3 or 4 books.
And the abilities! True backrooms inspired procedurally generated abilities that tickle that itch just how your twisted mind likes it.
All in all Discount Dan won a die hard fan in me very quickly and I'm eager to see where this story takes us!
ausl0serRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is the good stuff.
Great and unique worldbuilding, characters that don't stray too far into the weird for weirdness sake zone, compelling story.
As both an Ohioan and construction worker myself, Dan is a very relatable and enjoyable character :D
Read up chuds
word count is stupid as hell
gexgeckoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If you like Twilight, you'll love these books!
If you really didn't care for Twilight (especially that one scene where that werewolf plans to groom a newborn baby), you're wrong, but you'll still love these books!
If you've never heard of Twilight... first, go out and learn something about the world, for God's sake man, what are you doing with your life!? After you do that though, you'll love these books!
BarnescandoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Like the title says - this is a Dungeon Crawler Carl fans dream - similar premise, a man out of his world and into a fresh hell of levels, monster and magic with a adorable inhuman sidekick.
The comparisons are abound, snarky codex entries, cool and unusual powers and abilities, mad monsters and more
But Discount Dan has its own spin on the tale, its own unusual aspects that are more than fun to witness - 5 stars, my only complaint is there isn't more of it.
ExtraAxolotlRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Discount dan is a great blend of trippy reality bending horror and goofy shopkeeping. The item/ability descriptions and wacky flavor text for achievements keep things light hearted while also being full of references. Overall the plot is compelling and the characters have depth, I'm excited to see where the author ends up taking the story.
Jakob H. GreifRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I just found a story to scratch that Dungeon Crawler Carl itch, promptly binged it ... and now i have two series where I'm desperate for updates.
A delightfully creepy setting, the best animal (for a loose definition of the word) sidekick in all of fiction (yes, better than even Princess Donut or Donkey from Shrek) and an amazing lineup of enemies.
Toss on an artifact-based "deckbuilder" system, and I'm sold.
Now, where is that "bribe the author for more chapters" button?
Keith Allen JohnsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Love the humor and the character development. The main character is easy to pull for and I actually worry when he gets in trouble. Nicely developed emotional appeal to him. The creativity of the items is fun. Curious to see where it all goes and how he gets there. Bravo!