Jingozi [Isekai Card LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

It’s just another card game—until the cards control the destiny of an interdimensional war.

Ember Lynn, a retired poker pro and social media influencer, never signed up to be a god's "prophet." Then she’s snatched into the brutal Jingozi tournament, a magical, life-or-death contest where your next hand can kill you—and folding isn’t an option. To get home, Ember must survive seven warring factions, from disciplined Samurai to fierce Amazons, hulking Golems, devout Monks, cunning Ninjas, ruthless Emperors, and the fanatical Jingozi themselves.

Now a reluctant member of the Ninja faction, Ember has to bluff, adapt, and outmaneuver zealots who treat every card like a divine weapon. But even as she grapples with secret agendas, betrayals, meddling gods, and her own demons, she discovers how to win and change the game forever.

Based on a real-world card game created by the author.

What to expect:A flawed, neurotic MC stripped of agency, forced into a world where losing means never going home. Multi-faceted supporting characters rife with trauma, dysfunction, and self-sabotage. A redemption story rather than a power fantasy—yet still packed with action, written in first-person POV.

Release schedule: Book one is finished with dailychapter until end of book one (100 chapters).

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: edkang99

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.1/ 5.0
Followers: 672
Views: 50,937

Reviews

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Community Reviews(6)

MirpletRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall: Good story. Good pacing. Good stuff. Seriously, a well-put-together story using a card game of the author's own making in an interesting world. Its a good read and I recommend giving it a try.
Style: I gotta admit the first few chapters threw me off cause I don't know anything about card games. However, once things moved into what the story is really about, I enjoyed it. It has good pacing and teaches you the ropes of the world and game as you read without it feeling like too much.
Story: An interesting story and world. As I read, there were very many things that caught my eye, from the interactions between the powers to the world in general. I am curious about many things like these other dimensions. As for the world itself, it is nicely built, and from how far I have read it is clearly setting up for a big reveal later on. As I mentioned in the style section, the way things are revealed feels natural and not rushed, which speaking from experience, is something I admire.
Character Score: It took me a bit to get in the headspace of the MC, but eventually, I got on board. There are still many things I am sure the author has to reveal but some of the things I have learned so far make the character feel real. As for other characters in the world, sometimes it feels like they are in a game which technically they are, while other times they definitely feel more alive. However, it is nothing that I feel subtracts from the story.
Grammar: I didn't find anything. All good here.
OrangemathRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A well thought out novel in my opinion, the author has clearly planned it out beforehand. Don’t even know the basics of poker, but I’m able to understand how the card based system works because of how throughly the author - edkang99 - is able to explain it.
Grammar -
The story doesn’t have any major grammatical issues, and flows really well. At no point in the novel, have I felt awkward reading a sentence or transitioning between paragraphs.
Story -
A poker themed story, with a litRPG twist to it. Which I personally think has been executed really well. The two blend in really nicely, and that’s all because of the author.
Character -
Em is a well thought out MC. She’s smart, strategic and grasps things nicely. The side characters are also fleshed out really well, they each feel unique and not a copy of one another.
Style -
I really like the authors style. I can tell they have a good understanding of their own style and are able to make use of that. I enjoy how descriptive the author can be, they flesh out each scene very well. It makes imagining each scene, character, and scenario much easier.
Overall, the novel is solid. It’s got an interesting concept, a unique set of characters, and an intriguing world. A bonus about this novel is that the author also shows - whether in pre chap or post chap notes - images of what the cards look like.
A big well done to edkang99☺️
SAH_AuthorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Jingozi by Ed Kang is a unique story, in all the best ways. I was intrigued with the poker theme, and then fell into binge reading mode as the plot thickened and the card system was explained bit by bit. This story has layers, but the author pulls it off without the confusion that can accompany such depths.
Em is a solid MC. She makes smart, but not perfect, decisions, striking that balance of keeping the story moving without MC foolishness or omnipotence being the driving factor.
You want to know more as she evolves and learns more of the world. There is a good mystery to the system that feels well integrated into the plot.
The side characters are well developed with unique personalities, and the author does a great job of the little touches that make them more believable.
The plot (which will remain unspoiled in this review) moves forward at a good pace. It lingers where it needs to, and speeds up when appropriate. Again, it's a good balance.
I like the callbacks to poker. That said, you don't need to be a poker fan to enjoy this. It is more about poker strategy than the rules of poker that are important. The game here has its own rules that the author has clearly thought through well.
It's a very well edited book (publish quality). In 23 chapters, I don't recall seeing anything major that pulled me out of the plot.
I'm writing half way through as I'm at the final leg of a roadtrip. I plan to keep reading though.
I highly recommend you check it out too!
SpartawolfRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The premise is solid - Ember, a poker player from Earth is transported to a fantasy Japan-inspired setting (from what we see so far at the time of this review), and has to use magical cards and resourses to get by and level up. The system itself doesn't feel complicated, with several feuding factions that can lead to complications.This story has great potential!
One slight criticism I would have (though not a dealbreaker in the slightest) is the transition from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2. It's nothing major since it basically shows Ember's normal life before waking up in the new world but there's no 'Truck-kun' moment to mark the change, which can be patched with a sentence or two.
Also if the card game is based on a real system created by the author, it'd be a good idea to add some more info about that to the description fiction page, even if it's just a primer on how the game is played so readers can more easily follow along.
Zer0n1gh7sRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall - I don't usually read card based system stories. Never really like them personally, but I found myself pressing the next button quicker than I thought I would. There are other things I don't personally enjoy, but they took a back seat to the action happening around Ember.
Style - This might be the biggest thing I didn't enjoy. (Even though after a few chapters in I seemed to have completely forgotten about.) First person stories. I would usually read the first chapter and then immediately leave for another story, but this one hooked me in quick. By chapter 4, I seemed to have integrated into it and filled in any mental transitions needed.
I might just give first person stories better chances now loool
Grammar - This connects to style above. I didn't see any major issues, nor was I broken out of immersion due to mistakes or grammar terrorism.
Story - There is a lot of mystery around the extended story that is slowly revealed during which Em goes through the world learning and adapting. Each tidbit giving us more to hold onto until the next one is revealed!
Character - Em rubbed me the wrong way in the first couple of chapters. But the more I read, the more she developed. Starting with extremely flawed Mc's can be brutal to do properly, many might not even continue the story just off that, but know, that if you enjoy character mental and emotional development throughout the story. This one is it.
Thank you for reading!
JaaaaaaaacobRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I would love to give this story 5 stars but I cant get over the fact that the powers aren't explained much at all. We aren't told how someone with weaker cards has a chance except "strategy." We dont understand how the basic system works which takes the thunder out of the main character having extra powers compared to everyone else.
The story itself is good and the world building is engaging and interesting but it isnt so good that it makes up for the issue with the system not being understood by the reader.