Joe vs The Inferno [LITRPG APOCALYPSE]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

As of 05/02/2025- Apologies for no new chapters after Chapter 21. I'm afraid my laptop has kicked the bucket and I do not write on googledocs or anything so I have no backups... Please hold the line while I try and figure shit out. Apologies again! - hfry

Joe thought he’d found his escape from the rat race—a quiet life stacking shelves and taking rides in Betty, his lovingly restored 1971 Datsun. But when the Inferno erupted, levelling half his town and threatening Earth's existence, something out there decided Joe was one of the tools it needed.

What he found inside the Inferno wasn’t just fire but a system. A warped and random system that didn't adhere to the normality.

Partnered with Betty, now a sentient ally with the voice and sass of Betty White herself, they navigate a chaotic world of eldritch horrors, bizarre abilities and a plot that threatens not just their realm but countless others.

With danger closing in, Joe must find his footing and stop the Inferno before he loses everything.

Schedule: 3 weekly chapters on M/W/F at 16:00 GMT

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: hfry

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 5.0/ 5.0
Followers: 25
Views: 6,401

Reviews

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Community Reviews(2)

MilcRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall it's a five and a follow from me.
The style is easy to read and the prose flows very well. It's reminiscent of more traditional fantasy stories in places and adds a sense of familiarity as you're reading along.
Grammar and whatnot is top notch. Nothing is perfect but I haven't found anything that broke my immersion so it's a cut above a lot of the stories on RR!
The story pulled me in quickly. I found myself liking Joe and rooting for him to succeed. There is plenty of action in what I've read so far that's well written and communicates the danger and risks in a visceral fashion. It's exciting almost from the very beginning. There are some great jokes and references in the story.
I want Joe to get another Meat Cannon in the near future! There seems to be a kind of Sanity Check function coming as well that I hope will allow the author to go as wacky as he wants with the story. Might be just be me but I'm getting Lovecraft tabletop game vibes in places.
Joe is a likeable everyman who's maybe a bit down on his luck. He comes across as 3 dimensional and perhaps a little flawed but a decent bloke that it's easy to want to win. Betty is excellent, providing a humorous sidekick (who maybe thinks she's the MC?) for him to bounce off. Other characters have been thin on the ground thus far but the pair of new friends(?) they meet in chapter 11 are well thought out and provide a nice contrast to the Betty/Joe relationship.
All in all I'd say this story is well worth your time if you're looking for an apocalypse/isekai/litrpg crossover that knows what it's doing and has plenty of laugh out loud moments in it.
Mohammed OsmanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The 5 stars is 100% because of how creative this story is. The author is not trying to subvert tropes but instead push the genre in different directions. The blurb doesn't do it justice. Everything from the apocalypse setup, the system for progression, and the characters themselves stand out for originality. This is the core strength of this work. The story is VERY psychedelic. But not in a abstract or unapproachable way, although there are strong indications that the state of the characters' minds is a top concern and mechanic. I think there is less humor and more horror than the blurb advertises. The more you're into wild visuals, situations, and challenges the more you'll like the story.
Grammar and writing quality is good. Not really stylish or with flair, but it gets the job done and there are hardly any mistakes anywhere. Pacing is good, there isn't much padding and things happen in every chapter. The cast is small as of writing this review. I thought it was cool that the MC isn't a loner or Mr. Badass, it fits the story where no one really knows what's going on. I prefer stories where characters start out weak and get stronger through grit and taking chances, and this definitely fits what we've seen so far. Each character does get a cool gift on entering the Inferno so everyone has their own unique flavor in terms of skillset. As for scope of the story, the setup and world building hint that this is a full sized adventure book. There's lots of story left.
I highly recommend this story to people who want something different within the System Apocalypse subgenre.