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: 3,880
Views: 479,146

Chapters(47 total)

What readers say about Discount Dan

“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…”
Keith Allen JohnsRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“This is a top-tier story on RR. The style, the story, the characters, everything is well above RR standards. This story is situated in the universe of the backroom. This universe is well known on the internet, like a little brother of SCP. But you don't nee…”
LitchiRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

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!
LitchiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a top-tier story on RR. The style, the story, the characters, everything is well above RR standards.
This story is situated in the universe of the backroom. This universe is well known on the internet, like a little brother of SCP. But you don't need to know anything about the backroom to enjoy this story. Discount Dan just uses the backroom to create a background at the start of the story. (not at all like "A Nerubian Journey" which respects WoW fully.). The universe and world-building become extremely unique, complex, and engaging.
First the Characters. There is something excellent about the two MCs: The human the main one, and his new monstrous friend. This duo creates a perfect dynamic for us to enjoy the character arc. They have wildly different POV. The side characters all have an interesting backstory and have full personalities and motivations.
The story. It's a spin on a dungeon delving with countless monsters and factions. Something that I love is the items, the loot. Every piece of equipment has interesting power, all of which is unique and crazy. It creates a vast array of unique superpowers. Contrary to many power fantasies, the enemies are strong with each mad powers. Same with the environments. The monsters and Bosses have their own mini-stories and riddles. It's the new items and new monsters he will find that make this story a trap for us readers.
The grammar is perfect; I'm not a native English speaker. As for the style, it's engaging and full of tension. The best is its great humor.
To be partial, the bad points. Even if there are almost no bad points.
Our MC is chased across the mad universe by The Flayed Monarch (synopsis). She is the head of a massive faction, and our MC should be chased by crazy powerful people. But they don't find him, except for the weaklings. Yes, there is an explanation, but I find it too slim. Anyway, there are enemies and monsters everywhere, and it doesn't disturb the flow of the story.
The second point is that
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?
Crimson BladeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I simply love this story, it has slapstick humor wrapped in cosmic horror and 80 wall paper. It manages to create a picture of an ever-changing crazy environment with rules that are ever present but flighty as the wind. It is a confusing mess, one of those that simply have to be picked apart out of curiosity, one of the stories where it is the most fun to learn of the secrets of the world (backrooms) together with the main character.
The characters are very engaging and memorable, the character development is also well done, not to fast or slow or anything in between. Story is a solid masterpiece so far, there are goals to be achieved, which have concrete repercussions joust as they should.
I read a chapter and another because it's joust, too engaging to stop. It is a fusion of many things, not all good, and that makes it even better, the blend of mechanics storytelling and world building are a true delight to behold.
Give it a shot, more is not needet, you won't stop till you find yourself in my skin, hopefully not literally, in love and having to write about it to others, which hereby I have done.
Ps. only for those who like to listen to music while reading, I think this treck fits awesomely to set the mood for this story, I'd recommend listening to it only while reading this book, it fits joust too good: (Chill Ponk playlist)
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.
CartermanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A glorious tale of Grit, overwhelming stacked odds and far reaching consequences. If you're anything like me... you'll be vexed once you finish the latest chapter. But in all seriousness a fun read with alot of forethought and yar olden culture memes. 10/10 give it a read.
In simpler words; GIVE. ME. MOAR!
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.
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.
HopscotchRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Oh boy! This little jaunt down adventure lane is not like the others, in the best ways possible.
You get your heartwarming companionship juxtaposed with absolute naked desperation to survive and a dash of “wtf, but that is kinda hilarious” and you have….gestures animatedly at good books!
I guarantee this one is going to leave a mark on the litrpg front and is an absolute gem. I’m coming to the story late, bought the first audiobook, looked around and found more of this beautiful sauce. Honestly I haven’t looked back. Join us…I mean me. Become part of the collective…I mean one of the fans. And above all, don’t forget to follow the HOA rules because the signal never sleeps…Errr…tell everyone?
Finger-painted smiley face in rust-colour :)
(it’s not all, or even mostly horror, but there’s the right amount of it)
LupasaerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
And even those who’ve never heard of it before. You will enjoy this, it’s comedically gorey, with plenty of rpg elements and hidden lore sprinkled throughout. And you definitely can’t beat having a buddy around like Croc(the bestest boy!). Plus all the twilight references are hilarious and well timed for comedic effect.