Dungeon Scholar

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Girl meets dungeon. What could go right?

A story of a good-hearted Scholar driven by her compassion and curiosity. She might be a little combat averse, but um, isn't that only logical?

Love me a good grimdark, but sometimes I want to read feel-good fiction that isn't pure action, romance, or comedy. The plot and characters of Dungeon Scholar won't be all happy and fluffy, and the world will be more dungeons and monsters than rainbows and puppies, but overall the sweet moments should overshadow the bitter. Let's say three dollops of sugar for every pinch of salt, with lemon slices left on the saucers? Enjoy.

Note: This is NOT a typical dungeon story. If you are here for the dungeon aspect, then fair warning this will seem incredibly slow-burn to you. The dungeon will eventually become the most important 'character,' arguably, or the second-most important narratively, but you might jump out the window in frustration long before that happens. At its heart, the story's core remains 'girl meets dungeon,' not 'dungeon meets world.'

(To be clear, thisdoesorwillhave a plot! It's just the more conventional story-like elements contribute to Rowena Loress's greater story, not the other way around; no conflict takes center stage until it becomes personally significant to her.

Meanwhile, have some Slice of Life.)

Updatesevery Friday

Cover made using Waifulabs

Written using 4thewords (referral code: UZJRY55368)

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: hotachan

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 1,256
Views: 440,246

Chapters(62 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

whoeverRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
What I like about this story:
An proper start of a story, instead of those boring preludes or stories thinking any book should start with Genesis found far to often found on this site
Nice complex backstories of chracters (at least as far as an can tell with so many chapters).
When you consider the motivations of the chracters there are enough hints about their backstory to understand them, but the author does not bore us readers with those backstories.
Very sympathic nerdy heroine.
Quite optimistic and positive atmosphere. Noone whines about their hard past.
The world lore and mechanics mostly get explained by the story and not by data dumps.
Very fun to read. Make sure your floor is clean before reading and you cannot startle anyone by suddenly laughing our loud.
Did I already mention that there should be more stories with positive nerdy main characters like this?
What could be done better:
Sometimes (like the middle of chapter 5) there's a bit too much world building information information compare to what fits into the story, so it feels a bit forced. There less might be more. (Even some plain data dumping might be better than people talking about it so long without anything other being conveyed).
As there are only 8 chapters yet, some part of the rating is potential (as it would be unfair to rate a story for the lack of things that should only appear later). If that potential does not come to pass, I might have to reduce it by half a star (assuming the quality of the story otherwise the quality stays the same).
All in VaneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is primarily a slice of life story, and so far there is no great overarching plot. However the story really doesn’t need it. There are several small plots and situations that challenge the main character, with hints of a bigger mystery appearing now and then. There is quite a bit of humor, to balance out the more tragic aspects, but the two blend together seamlessly. The world is interesting and the ethical quandaries caused by featuring an empath in a world with monsters are well presented and not overbearing. All in all the story manages to be excitingly realistic despite the fantasy setting. The only downside is the slow upload speed, but at least we get flawless grammar and spelling thrown in. Definitely a story to follow along with.
NnelgRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
EDIT: when I wrote this, the story was called "Dungeon's Pet". Amazing how one word can drastically change expectations...
I expected a grimdark fantasy-horror about a girl trapped in a deep and sinister dungeon full of horrible monsters and grisly death, slowly (or no-so-slowly) succumbing to stockholm syndrome.
What I got was a wholesome high fantasy slice-of-life of a bookworm learning to live outside the library, occasionally returning to a weak starter dungeon to bond over shared traumas.
And I'm okay with that.
Sondrex76Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's a good story about a bookworm with great knowledge who is lacking in real-life experience. She is competent, intelligent and logical, yet also surprisingly emotional and emotive at times.
The main character wants to be a good person, and she wants to help people, she loves knowledge, and she loves her friends.
The characters in this are great, they feel real, greatly helped by one of the skills of the main character and how that leads to more insight into even random background characters than you normally get, and even character who might seem one-note gives you the feeling that there are more below the surface.
The world is interesting, while we haven't been shown too much detail, what is shown and hinted so far seem to indicate a world far larger than we have seen with even the greatest things we have seen being only glimpses or tiny pieces of a greater whole.
The skill system adds something to the story rather than restrict or subtract from it, and is integrated well into the story and world in a way I feel makes sense.
Monsters and creatures seem to have alien mindsets, though we haven't gotten much detail here (mostly because our viewpoint is that of the main character) I am curios where it will go from here regarding the nature of monsters and what it means to be a person, and what it means to be human. They are by no means the main theme, as far as I have perceived so far, but they are there in the background, and the story is, likely, far more about the nature of good and evil, or at least of the difficulties of trying to be a good person in a complex world, and how everyone have a story.
All in all I greatly enjoyed this story so far, the characters are great, the world interesting, and the main character quite different form most main characters I have read, but definitely interesting and likable.
WonderAllRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Follow the MC as she struggles to contain, control, and acknowledge the incredible power of her own extreme nerdity.
Learn about this rich and detailed word though the MC's own research and experiences.
Enjoy a cast of flavorful and fun side characters.
Just don't go in expecting a typical dungeon-core story. Thus far, the dungeon itself is very much in the background. This is not at all a weakness or flaw of the story!
This story reminds me a lot of Ascendance of a Bookworm. Fans of that series should enjoy this story as well.
jklmRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really like this one!
Each character feels very distinct from the get-go, and the author does a very good job of introducing you to the world without too many info-dumps.
I like the complexity of the guild system, and how the main character is already a part of a vibrant life when the story begins. She has an interesting personality, and seeing the world through her perspective really gives it a lot of flavor.
I am excited to see how things with the dungeon develop!
luda305Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is an absolutely great story. In short, it details (so far) about a year or so of a late-teenage female Scholar (like a mage, but more academically focused) and she makes a connection with a nascent dungeon, grows closer with her adventurer friends, becomes more powerful, and learns a great many life lessons.
There are two points which make this very unique that I'd like to mention.
First, the author does a ton of research and worldbuilding for almost every chapter; there's a depth there that just doesn't come up at all on Royal Road. Kudos.
Second, the protagonist is remarkably innocent in a geeky scholar way that is exceptionally realistic. I don't even know how to put it in words. It's fluffy but nerdy? Dunno. I love it, especially as she is not driven to increase her power or any of the myriad of other reasons that adventurer mages have.
sillystringRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Finding this on RR is a bit like finding premium sushi at McD’s. I almost want to say: Sure you’re in the right place? But mm, sushi.
What I expect from RR: hotheaded prideful protagonist hacks n slashes
What to expect from DS: sweetly shy protagonist employs logic n avoids action
What I expect from RR: lots of dumb, annoying, and/or evil side characters to make us feel for the protagonist
What to expect from DS: generally good people, an interesting and diverse cast of non-idiots without detracting from the likable protagonist
What I expect from RR: hook followed by direct plot line
What to expect from DS: hook followed by slice of life in immersive world and where’d that hook go again
What I expect from RR: hopefully not too many grammar errors but whatever is readable enough
What to expect from DS: wow this is clean writing with some neat turns of phrase:
“The only ugliness marring its epistolary perfection was the conspicuous absence of a signature, like a gaping hole, a missing punctuation mark.”
I could go on, but basically I like this rare gem so far and am pleasantly surprised to find it among the isekai LitRPGs, xianxias, harems etc cluttering the site. Mind the Slice of Life tag though.
Aaron Sofaer (aka Pastafarian)Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Well-executed and well-envisioned, the story of this immense nerd of giga-nerd proportions being gently drawn out of her shell and pulled along on adventures has been an absolute delight. As someone whose reaction to combat is generally "avoid it" and whose reaction to a library is the urge to build a fortress out of books and then disassemble it into my brain, I feel both seen and pandered to in this story. Five stars for sure.
KrossedRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's a great read but is currently a dropped story. Honestly it didn't end in an absolutely horrible place, so I think if you want to read it anyway that fine.
I binged it start to finish and really enjoyed it. Would love it if it gets picked back up again, but I think the odds are slim.
Thanks for the great read.