Engineer of Ruin [Isekai, Progression]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Every month the long night comes, driving monsters into a frenzy. Villagers like 13-year-old David fight to survive until dawn, while those born luckier live in fortified cities, sheltered from the terrors of the world. Witnessing deaths of fellow villagers breaks the limiter on David’s mind, setting free the memories of his past life as an engineer. Aided by the scientific method and a power to harvest memories of the freshly dead, he wrangles the world’s volatile magic to carve out a better life for his family. With the arrival of an intelligent monster to the neighboring forest, the village faces imminent doom while the vile knights meant to keep them safe want to lay hands on his alchemist mother instead. But David is an observer no more and what he lacks in brawn, he will make up for with a sharp mind and audacity. Be they a nightmare taking form or an heir to the great noble houses, none can threaten his family and live. What to expect from this story: * Weak-to-strong, competent lead * Generalist main character using a unique power * In-depth magic system with epic battles * 5 chapters a week Edited by Mike Myers

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2026
Author: SneakyFrog

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 931
Views: 63,596

What readers say about Engineer of Ruin [Isekai, Progression]

“If you are reading this review I strongly urge to stop and start reading this piece of art, that's my best advice for you. No? You wanna know more? Ok, let me tell you a bit more. Are you looking for a power fantasy? Maybe one of those novel where the MC's…”
BrainstormRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“The starting is not off but pacing is right. I like it. The pain he felt and memories came to him ,hahahaah he can't sense mana and want to learn ,Good 👍. I am hoping for more Good novel. And thanks for this . I am giving this review on my own”
Boy with Seven ChakrasRoyal Road4.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(3)

BrainstormRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If you are reading this review I strongly urge to stop and start reading this piece of art, that's my best advice for you.
No? You wanna know more? Ok, let me tell you a bit more.
Are you looking for a power fantasy? Maybe one of those novel where the MC's plans always work as long as s/he pushes hard enough? Happy outcomes at every turn, perhaps? Do yourself a favour and run away from this novel, you have many novel like that in RR, this is not one of them
I was lucky enough to be able to read the "first draft" of sorts, and although this version is a bit more "tame", is one of those few novels that properly earns its grimdark tag.
On the other hand, you will also find a work with actual human characters, with flaws, desires, hopes, and, when they are not just surviving whatever the long night throw at them, also some goals and dreams.
Do I sound like a fanboy? Damn right I am! The novel is very well written, have deep characters, amazing world building with tons of secrets that I'm looking forward to keep unveiling together with the MC, and great combat scenes with usual either deaths or at the very least injured characters.
Did I said that this a real grimdark work? Because David doesn't get any "free" piece of power ever, everything has a cost, often in blood, either obvious or hidden
Summing up: get away from this if you are of the faint of heart, but if you are interested in a great novel, with real characters, real, dangerous combat, amazing worldbuilding, and a MC that actually earns every piece of power; then hit that "Start Reading" button.
And if you have any doubt, question, or comment; talk with the author, he's super nice and open to constructive feedback (which for me is a definitively great point towards reading a novel in RR).
So, start reading now and thank me later.
Your welcome 😁
Boy with Seven ChakrasRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The starting is not off but pacing is right.
I like it.
The pain he felt and memories came to him ,hahahaah he can't sense mana and want to learn ,Good 👍.
I am hoping for more Good novel.
And thanks for this .
I am giving this review on my own
FrogenRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The main character effectively dies and the story cares not in the least. As effectively once the memories of a past life are gained they take over and become the new mc. Which means effectively we go from following the child just trying to learn magic and help his mom to a factory worker who doesn't care about his new parents all that much and feels out of place in the village he was born in.
This feels like a betrayal in a way as the character we have been following for over twenty chapters by that point ceast to exist and no one seems to care. This is even shown in a switch in plans. Before he was interested in opening a dialogue with a certain monster that save his life twice but the new mc decides to have a fight to death instead.
Also I don't like what the new factory worker mc means when it comes to memories. Before it was a kid with no context for what he was seeing. This could led to interesting misunderstandings such him thinking a bull dozer is a war machine and trying to recreate that with magic.
Now we have someone with context for the memories in our factory worker mc. Which feels like a less creative path to go forward. So in conclusion I have only read a couple chapters after our original mc is gone but I miss him and don't really think I can continue to read a story that just deletes and replaces the character I have been following since the beginning without even fully recognizing it happened.