Dungeon of Assassins [LitRPG Through the Eyes of the NPCs]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A LitRPG story exploring life within a vast VR MMORPG. Not through the eyes of players, but through the sentient NPCs that populate them. In this world of perfect immersion, every NPC has only one life.When they die, they’re gone... forever. However, this does not apply to the immortal “heroes” that suddenly appear at spawn points, hungry for quests, loot, and amusement. They steal, pillage, and wreak havoc, never caring how their “fun” shatters the lives of the locals. And worst of all: You can’t get rid of them. Slay one today, and tomorrow they respawn, ready to cause chaos all over again. The NPCs have another name for these so-called heroes:revenants. Their endless arrivals are feared and cursed asthe Plague,a blight upon the world, disrupting every village, dungeon, and sanctuary with their immortal intrusion. When the game's timeline unexpectedly jumps forward two hundred years, NPCs gain access to their own status screens, finally giving them a chance to choose their class, feats and skills... and thus shape their own destinies. Follow Malvorik, a mage turned dungeon core, and Weylan, a shepherd's son turned assassin, as they navigate this perilous world. A world where players can be the heroes you need… or worse enemies than the monsters the game throws at you. What to expect: Immersive Worldbuilding:Experience an intricate world from the perspective of sentient AI NPCs within a VR environment. The game generates quests and monsters for players, but no one ever thinks about the struggles of the NPCs whose village is attacked by wolves or caught in a warzone between desert tribes and a northern kingdom. What happens if a quest is too inconvenient for the players to care about it? Multiple POVs:Enjoy various perspectives throughout the story, with later chapters primarily focusing on Weylan's viewpoint. Narrative:Although the story began centered on a Dungeon Core and its dungeon, it has evolved. The dungeon later primarily serves as a sanctuary, headquarters, and wise mentor for a group of NPC adventurers. Content Warnings:There is no harem or sexual content in this story. Updates and Schedule:Uploads are once a week on monday.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: WritingDungeonCore

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 693
Views: 415,385

Chapters(229 total)

What readers say about Dungeon of Assassins [LitRPG Through the Eyes of the NPCs]

“This is one of the most refreshing takes on LitRPGs. Instead of focusing on a player or human, the main characters are the NPCs that inhabit the land, which I find just so unique. The plotline is very unpredictable, which makes it very entertaining to read.…”
167fiveRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“In many Royal Road stories, even well written ones, the general direction of the plot is not too difficult to predict. While the MC may begin the story with serious problems, one can usually see how they will be able to overcome them. Even when the hero doe…”
Fnord13Royal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

167fiveRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of the most refreshing takes on LitRPGs. Instead of focusing on a player or human, the main characters are the NPCs that inhabit the land, which I find just so unique.
The plotline is very unpredictable, which makes it very entertaining to read. The characters all seem to have their own personalities and traits, even though their technically AI. I also like how the author didn't waste an entire arc on the characters just lamenting and questioning who they are.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. I'll be looking forward to see how it'll continue.
Fnord13Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
In many Royal Road stories, even well written ones, the general direction of the plot is not too difficult to predict. While the MC may begin the story with serious problems, one can usually see how they will be able to overcome them. Even when the hero doesn't seem fated to become so OP that they eventually dominate the whole setting in which the story takes place, one can often predict well in advance the final outcome.
While such stories can often be enjoyable to read, there is sometimes something to be said for an unpredictable story. Of course, unpredictability can be taken too far, if the story reads as if the author is simply throwing every random event that occurs to him into the plotline. But I think the author of Dungeon of Assassins has done a fairly good job so far of navigating the plotline between these two extremes. One reason why the author has so far managed to both create a very unpredictable plotline and also give the reader the sense that the plot makes sense is because one of his central characters has been programmed with the trait "May You Live in Interesting Times". Since the story takes place within a program running on a supercomputer, it make sense that an NPC with such a trait would experience a plotline at least as unexpected as this story.
Another reason why this story is unpredictable is because it contains a character, Malvorik the Dungeon Core, who is intelligent enough to create entirely new species. It is sometimes difficult for an author to create a character who is both much more intelligent than they are, and also believable, but I think the author has so far done a good job with Malvorik. He is one of the major reasons why I like this story so much, and I hope the author will find ways to make him a central part of the plotline.
One thing I do think worth noting about this story is the way the author includes computer generated images of his characters. So far, that has added a good deal to the story's appeal, at least for
PrimoGoodbodyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Ive seen this story multiple times and didn't read it for the simple fact I dislike vrmmos or vrlitprgs if since often times the have no stakes. However this story immediately changed my mind. I read all the chapters to current in one sitting in one day. It was that good from the characterization to how it feels like tabletop and to how the characters each one is alive and in on way canned it feels as if they are true living breathing lifeforms after a fashion. Which i just love that and how they strive to better their world and exist the perspective switches are interesting like cartoons. Especially the villains it makes me excited to see what they're up to and how next they might be thwarted by are N.P.C.S. Thanks for writing this author I hope for at least 13 books and a movie.
RandomWyrmRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It’s an excellent book that I have just caught up on. Lots of plot twists and character depth and development. Very cool premise as it’s from the NPC and player perspectives. It’s cool seeing how the npcs view the players and the enemies and challenges seem realistic and not to easy/ main characters not OP. Would recomend to anyone even if they are not fans of VR/ game books. One slight thing is that weylans progress seems slow level wise but I get that it’s a different leveling system than that I’m used to. Also feel bad for reviews who stop the book to early as the style changes and all the characters come together so the guy that reviewed saying the dungeon was the only good bit at chap 16 missed out in my opinion.
chicken kingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Great book very well done
most books do one thing better than others but with this one both characters and world building are perfect and both serve the plot equally
speaking of witch I can’t wait to see where this story goes next, I’m getting close to the end of book 3 and am only slightly sad that more info on how the npcs and ai are going to beat the players(if at all)
the only problem that I have with this book is the same problem I have with everything
needs more gun
but that’s a me problem and the author has provided an well thought out reason to not listen to me
if you want to know what it is then go Read this awesome book
lopy2323Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
i think this books deserves 5 stars. because its charterers i find interesting and the worldbuilding is good i like the theme of the story and the work with different perspectives i find very good it does not becaume desterbing like in a lot of story's the story has a lot of potential and i cant wait to see where the story is going
DeLinthRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Sorry, I'm no native-speaker - so this is translated via maschine. Let's go:
Dungeon of Assassins is one of the most refreshing LitRPGs I’ve come across on RoyalRoad, precisely because it dares to shift the perspective. Instead of following the usual player-hero viewpoint, this series immerses us in the fragile, dangerous lives of the NPCs—the villagers, students, dungeon denizens, and adventurers whose existence is usually taken for granted.
And that choice of perspective changes everything.
Here, death is permanent. NPCs don’t respawn. When they risk their lives, there’s no safety net. This adds a tension and weight to the story that most LitRPGs lack, giving every encounter real stakes. Players in this world are both saviors and destroyers—called “heroes” by some, but regarded as a “plague” by others, disrupting lives with their respawns, their looting, and their disregard for the world’s natural order. It’s a brilliant duality that gives the setting immense depth.
The worldbuilding deserves special mention. Book 1 in particular makes use of many POVs to flesh out the setting, showing how ordinary people perceive the rise of quests, dungeons, and revenants. Far from being a distraction, these multiple perspectives draw the reader into an expansive, living world where every person matters. Later books then tighten the focus around Weylan, whose journey blends personal growth, shadowy danger, and the wider conflict between NPCs and revenants.
Another highlight is the dungeon storyline. Malvorik, far from being a typical monster factory, becomes something much richer—a sanctuary, headquarters, and wise mentor figure. This twist allows the dungeon to serve not only as a place of danger, but also as a foundation where NPC adventurers can gather strength, share knowledge, and carve out a future in a hostile world. It’s a clever subversion that enriches both the character arcs and the meta-narrative.
From a technical standpoint: yes, the author occasionally stumbles wit
LrockoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a well written and interesting book. I personally love the different perspectives of the main characters and side characters. The story lays out a good setting for itself(set in the far future) and provides good explanation for why the characters are sentient. It's also interesting to see how npcs view players, with all the issues they cuase. One of the best things is that npcs or our mcs aren't questioning there sense of self which normally puts me off from these types of books set in vr worlds. The author goes out of there way to interact with readers, something I like to see from smaller authors whose stories I love as it shows they care a lot about there world the making. Whilst having memories as a dungeon core is very powerful the switching to a kind of slice of life perspective in an exciting classic butler/assassin way is a lovely balance. Tldr: Author is great, word building is reasonable and different perspectives and take on vr make this story feel fresh! I'm looking forward to more chapters.
general schnapsRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I feel very mixed about this.
The first chapter starts of somewhat intriguing with the npc weylan. My first impression on many characters that was quite positive* .
On the second chapter, however when we change pov to the dungeon core .. boy talk about infodumping. I dont know how many words& pages were dedicated to discussing the minutiae of dungeon lore and mechanics but its definitely too many. Some "dialogue" sounds like a lecture or seminar - a total snoozefest - made me want to skim or skip most of it. I don't think it is necessary to reveal all the mechanics and lore to the reader. It is okay to leave some stuff out and trust us - the readers- to figure it out on our own. Interrupting a scene just to have a character explain the ins and outs of some Assassin skill interrupt all momentum and tension.
(*up to chapter 7, when this review was written)
Graf MagaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
So the story is mostly about a bunch of sentient NPCS living in a game world that are aware of the players. They are calling them "the plague" which everybody who had played a video game in there life can understand. Because they players can respawn but npcs cant. So there is a massive imbalance in power. These NPCS try to do what the players are to lazy to do and that is a great premise for a story. The most characters are great and i believe most of them would deserve there own story. And that is also my biggest criticpoint in the story. The story goes more in the width rather than depth. I catched myself more than one time skipping a chapter looking for the continuation of chapter because i wanted to know how that particular Character goes on and then going back to the other chapter where i left off. The story could need more focus on fewer Chars rather than a whole lot.
But nonetheless the chars are well written, the story is engaging and deserves all the attention it can get and i hope to read a lot more of it.