Life is a Side Quest

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Alexander hates video games, comics, and anything else he deems unproductive. When he receives a notification that he has become a wizard his first thoughts are, "No thank you." Yet, this unexpected system, complete with stats, levels, and quests, thrusts him into a real-world RPG. Join Alexander as he is forced to face the terrors of geek culture head on or perish. The first arc is told through the eyes of Alexander and a high schooler named Ridley. It tells a slowly escalating story of a world realizing that the supernatural is invading their reality. Encounters swing between humorous clashes and darker, more chilling events, as the world's mythology makes itself known. The story and action gain momentum around Chapter 15, so I hope you stick with it that far before deciding to keep going or set the series aside. Enjoy your read!

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: JW Chambers

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 722
Views: 152,448

Chapters(92 total)

What readers say about Life is a Side Quest

“I enjoyed the strong start to a book that is comedic but setting up for strong character development down the road. Characters are amusing and unique so far! I am looking forward to seeing them meet and interact. I’m very intrigued to see what is going to h…”
DamselinthisdressRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“definitely had a great time reading this. The main character is like a Sheldon From Big Bang theory given magical powers. If you have a hard time getting into this genre, this is a great gateway to it. honestly, you can really tell how well-thought-out this…”
NatarRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(5)

DamselinthisdressRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I enjoyed the strong start to a book that is comedic but setting up for strong character development down the road.
Characters are amusing and unique so far! I am looking forward to seeing them meet and interact. I’m very intrigued to see what is going to happen with Ridley.
NatarRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
definitely had a great time reading this. The main character is like a Sheldon From Big Bang theory given magical powers. If you have a hard time getting into this genre, this is a great gateway to it.
honestly, you can really tell how well-thought-out this world is and I’m excited to see what happens next.
XDMDRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Thus far, the protag seems like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill person bordering on NPC-level self-awareness. HOWEVER, upon being thrust into this novel chaotic unordinary leveling system, begins causing mischief in his workplace! The trope of starting in the future helps set the mood for what's to come which seems like quite the heroes journey for our unsuspecting leading man.
Eager to learn more about his exploits moving forward! Good job, Chambers! You're doing the thing!
dan_whoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Wizards in table top RPGs have some stereotypes about being very orderly, studious, and often with more brains than social skills. Alexander fits these stereotypes and has a few interesting deviations from them too. Fate (the DM) also seems to be focused on pushing him outside of his comfort zone.
Alexander is a dedicated corporate drone though so early on most of his thoughts for his new powers are how to increase workplace efficiency and get people off their phones when they should be working. Ridley (the co-star?) is the exact opposite of him and it gets interesting when they eventually run into each other. Overall the characters are gradually revealing their personality and changing as they get into more adventures. I'm eager to see where this goes.
Jaco van BurenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
It's an urban / current setting were a system is introduced moderated by a former normal person (former D&D GM). The MC gets one of the 5 (!) available wizard (class) assigned to him. However, the MC just wants to be a normal corporate drone. He works for a online store called Congo where he strives for a middle management function with HR.
MC seems to a bit the spectrum or may is just normal socially inept; anyway he sounds like Data’s little brother. This results in the MC getting al kind of somewhat funny situations.
Story is overall nice. I have one minor remark. One side character (also a hero / classed person) sometimes uses a dialect. I personally dislike that since it makes here dialog less readable.
Keep up the good work.