Dying for a Cure

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Just when Vince was on the crux of starting his life, he found out it was going to end. Cancer. Inoperable. Less than a year to live.

Then he's summoned to the magical world of Earris and thrown directly into battle. He quickly learns that everyone in this world has a Skill, even him. Though hisappearsnot to be useful...

Once he gets his bearings, he sets his mind to two goals: curing his cancer, and getting home. But willanythingin this world really be that easy?

NEW CHAPTERS MONDAY - SATURDAY 8:30AM, US CST (1:30pm GMT)

What to Expect:A young, immature MC who is selfish and self-centered and has been sheltered from the consequences of this behavior, exploring a world where the inhabitants see and treat him like the child he still is on the inside. This is a coming-of-age story and his growth will not be immediate. This MC will spend a lot of time being UNDERPOWERED. You are not supposed to like where he starts, but want to see him grow. The worldbuilding is rich, the plot development so subtle you are actually intended to miss some of the carefully-laid hints until later reveals. If you think you see this story heading in a very predictable direction with very obvious hints, don't be so sure. Wait, and I think most of the time you will be pleasantly surprised. This story rewards patience.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: StrongHorse

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 2,279
Views: 871,030

Chapters(91 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

chickyinvestorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style: Love it.
Story: An absolute must read especially for those who prefer a 'not-so-OP' protagonist. Bit of slow at the beginning but it picks up the pace.
Grammar: Nothing overly distracting.
Character: A bit of unrealistic at the beginning where
Ferrith answers each and every question of a supposed 'orc.'
But it's part and parcel of making worldbuilding easier so it's alright. I agree with all others that the MC is unrealistically foolish, entitled, etc. However, that's who the character is. Besides, lots of kids (especially western teenagers) act that way.
BMan28yyeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story so far is phenomenal! The writing is descriptive and well thought out, and the same can be said about the story. Hints, jokes, puns, twists and turns, they're all in there. I find the characters to be well thought out and developed, with there always seeming to be more than what is shown. It's super interesting and I hope that StrongHorse continues to keep on writing! I recommend that anyone reading this(if anyone even does) reads this story!
JohnnySunshineRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
While I do like this story I found it a bit difficult to like the main character initially. The MC starts out fairly immature and a bit entitled. This is OK however since there has already been some character growth in the first arc. The world building is well above average and there a plenty of plot threads that appear to be going interesting places.
JujubeanzRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Pretty engaging and well written. Things just feel... slow compared to ch 1. So I wish I had skipped it. As he meanders around learning about the new world, I feel like he gets thrown some "freebies" by a lot of the people he has encountered so far. I am waiting to see the dark underbelly of the seemingly good natured church and politics he has been throust into. That being said my expectations would be different if I didn't read such a high octane introduction.
tinypauseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So far, I LOVE this story. It has a nice balance between hashing out the rules of the world with actual people running around and doing things.
And as the review title says, I made a RR account just for reading, and to make a review like this! I reccomend Dying for a Cure greatly.
TacojackRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
As I watched the protagonist interact with the abilities and powers that be, I had a nagging sensation that I had seen things like this before. However, the execution of this premise is honestly the first of its kind that I've ever read. This was slightly confusing to me at first, so I held off of reviewing until later. The author posted a note explaining that the most recent chapter is the crux of this arc, and that readers could now take their entire experience seriously enough to review it.
Taking a moment to review showed me where I had seen things like this before.
I run homebrew LitRPG campaigns for my friends and family, and I take the millions of words and hundreds of stories I've read to create premises, plots, NPCs, powers, and even System syntax for the players interested in that stuff. Despite the enormous amount of stuff I've read(likely totaling in thousands of hours funneled down this drain), my players don't tend to have as much variation in play styles. Normally, they go through a couple of growing phases as they become comfortable with the game, or with the LitRPG system they chose while making their character, or even with the species they settle with. Our protagonist acts like one of any of my veteran roleplayers with 4 years of experience playing my games who likes mysterious campaigns on his 1st-time playthrough of a campaign with this type of power system. I haven't exactly run a campaign where this type of power-up is the only power-progression method, but the time-travel shenanigan, careless/summoning NPC, and rich, mysterious NPC who knows more about the plot than you do all sound like a GM who really wants the player(s) to become invested in his story.
In my games, I try to avoid this sort of situation, as my experience with these sorts of things has shown me that my players' sanctity of choice is infringed upon, which becomes a point of contention that makes them lose interest in the long run. Perhaps they'd like it as a one-off event tha
baelrathRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Who would have thought Dying could look so good. With an 8pack no less!
Great story so far, full disclaimer, this is a story with a flashback/forward prologue. Author says chpt 12 to get back to there. This hasn't been an issue at all so far. As soon as you get past chapter 1 you're already interested in the world building.
World so far is stacking up against our kind of Ogre, the odds are most certainly not in our favor. Should be exciting to see how MC navigates his way.
Story is certainly interesting, twists usually get added each chapter (chapters are usually made into mulitiple parts). We have some intriguing plot points that are just begging for the MC to run smack into them and burst that chaos wide open.
Grammar and mechanical and all that are flawless. Story is a smooth read.
Characters are not cookie cutter which is nice. So far everyone seems to have an edge as this is not a nice world to live in unless you've found your niche. MC has certainly grown from prologue sneak peak to even coming to the world first. I look forward to their growth.
Give it a read. If nothing else but to find out whats happening to all the Ogres...
deus vultRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I totally agree with mc for the most part. even when he does stupid shit like talk when people told him to shut up because there are monsters around, it's not that bad. mc obviously looks down on natives of this world. and for good reason, I guess. they were not described as weak as warriors but compared to humans they were obviously less intelligent.
so much so that a college dropout that is not even considered that smart. but there he is a world level genius. he can come up with plans they never even thought about, and those just don't make sense to them. and it's not condescending kind of smart, it's just a bit frustrating for him I guess. the thing about being able to progress the world's tech by a couple hundred years also makes sense to me. at the point they are he only needs some surface level knowledge to really make a difference. not to mention magic can also make the difference. the church also limits their knowledge.
as for the rest of the locals, most of them are brainwashed by the church. so obviously he doesn't listen to their advice. even though it's pretty obious his skill could cure his cancer all along. just by sucking the lifeforce out of it. he already sucked the lifeforce out of himself, but he didn't do it partially I guess.
I honestly think it's kinda stupid, but it's not that bad I guess. I don't know why he never really thought of it, but I don't blame him for his incompetence. I don't expect much from the main character. if I'd landed in a fantasy world with a bunch of barbarians I'd also be frustrated, too much to care. I don't think I'd rant about it, but the fact that nobody takes him seriously despite him being from a much higher world doesn't make so much sense.
Clear HeartRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
If this story was average, I'd have rated it one star because the main character annoys me that much. As it is I can only justify knocking off a single point.
Why? Spoilers.
The spoiler-free answer is 'He's consistently missing the obvious solutions and it undermines my enjoyment of the story by having to deal with his bumbling.'
CoerbRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I am liking it so far. Bear in mind it starts with a fast paced, action heavy prologue then settles in to 30+ chapters of world building and exposition. So far it hasn't really delivered on what the prologue was selling, but it could end up there and be more satisfying for it.
I find the world to be interesting if a touch generic (low tech fantasy with a church organization, adventurers and a magic college, with a system and everyone has a skill). The brand system has potential to turn out good.
MC ranges from believably fish out of water to dumb, to frustrated about his situation. I think he's supposed to be a somewhat immature teenager so I can mostly accept it. I like that you really do get a believable sense of the otherworldliness of this place and how alien it is to him.
Dialogue wise characters can all feel samey. Old priest, psycho adventurer, college professors all have a similar 'voice'. More differentiation would be good here.
I do worry about all the random plots the author is opening up. It seems like a lot of ideas and so far not much action on the part of the mc or feelings of accomplishment.
If you expect plenty of action, skill use, growth, maybe pass for now but if you like a slow burn with an ambitious plot with plenty of setup give it a try.