Netherworld Manor

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Damien had planned it all out. He had the support of his wealthy parents, loyal friends who shared his goals, even a high-Ranked Core just waiting for him to use. One more Dungeon run and he'd be set – he was finally going to take the first real step on the path to fame and fortune as a Hero. The future was so bright, he needed shades to see it.

Was, in the past tense. Because Damien just died.

Instead of the pearly gates awaiting him, though, he's been reborn, placed in control of a Dungeon... and now might be a good time for him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about the way the universe works.

This is a slow burn Dungeon Core narrative. The protagonist will face delays, setbacks and even defeats on his path to power. Explicit entries are marked as such and it won't hurt your ability to follow the story (or my feelings) if you skip them.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2022
Author: Subcritical

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 820
Views: 88,485

Chapters(14 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

Alex BeaumontRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
There's a good amount of content to judge from here, so I feel confident to say it's well worth jumping in if the genre floats your fancy. Pay attention to the author's warning as it is a little bit of a slow burn, but up to now the content delivered has been well worth the wait. Quality wise the writing is near the top from my recent reads, without much that stood out enough to annoy me. Good job!
Style: Agree with another review as first person isn't normally my thing. But for this story and the way it's written, it fits and flows well, which is good to see. The author does indeed make it work well.
Story: There is a good amount to dig into, even with the relatively (by RR standards) lower number of chapters. What is there is done well, and I haven't spotted any inconsistencies. I also like the LitRPG mechanics, and they look to be placed to build up to something more in the future.
Grammar: Nothing stood out for me in this category, which is usually a good sign that the work has been done beforehand to clear up the manuscript. Good job here again.
Character: Damin is a fun character to follow. Others have their personalities that don't seem to stick to one-note tropes, which is a good sign. Relationships overall are on the slower side, but that looks to be by design rather than any accidental reason.
Summary: Not much more to say, really. As a TLDR I think it's definitely worth trying out. Keep the idea of a slow burn in mind for the introduction, and let yourself be pulled along with the story as it progresses.
KwayzyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Still early on, but Netherworld Manor seems to fulfill everything you'd want from this sort of story. Definitely worth a read through if this is your sort of thing, just keep an eye on the tags before diving in. Nothing jumped out that would stop me from reading, and overall it seems to be near the top when it comes to Royal Road content, quality wise.
Style: First person, which usually isn't for me. However, the author makes this work well.
Story: Still early on. World building seems consistent and well implemented, and the LitRPG mechanics make logical sense and look to be building to something cool.
Grammar: Didn't spot any problems to this point.
Character: Main character is fun to follow. The first party had their quirks, and the relationships were good there too, as was what happens next with the group.
Summary: As I said above, well worth a go if you are at all interested. The tags up to now seem to be a reliable metric, which is more than you can say for some other options out there. Good luck, author!
Damn, reviews need to be two hundred words long. That's a lot of words. Like, a lot. This many words? Maybe more? A little more. There we go.
Lightning SaixRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story has been great so far and I want to read more. New chapters have come out on time and I hope the author can keep up this pace.
The world is neat and I like how detailed everything about it is. It sort of reminds me of some Korean web novels I've read, just set in the USA instead. This is not one of those fics where stuff just happens for no reason. Everything is really well described and easy to imagine. The story is serious but the MC can be funny at times.
I know some people don't like 1st person but for me it's fine.
Grammar and style are both fine I think. I didn't see any problems with spelling or anything while I was reading. It was obviously edited. Some of the sentences are a little long.
Without spoiling, I will just say that I liked reading about the characters that we met. They all seem to have their own voice and motivation, and they act in a way that makes sense with their backstories. None of them are cardboard or throwaways.
So yeah, I recommended this one. Looking forward to where it goes from here.
Papa LegbaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Thoroughly enjoyed the pacing and progression as well as concept and characters. I actually thought that I wouldn't enjoy the explicit chapters but they were well done and contributed to the story instead of feeling like tacked on fan service. This is one of my favorite Royalroad picks. Kudos to the author!
PizzaPizzaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Well, what can I really say with this? This is just an early impression for me, but it's a solid dungeon core story played straight. No wacky parodic gimmiicks to be seen, just a great base in writing and execution.
Who this is for: People who love base building / nation building fantasy dungeon core stories. If you're looking for a story with a solid foundation (ayo!), this is worth a follow and favorite.
Who this isn't for: 'Numbers go up and things explode quickly' gratification seekers.
Ser Patrick PentRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is still early days, and although the story contains some tags I typically overlook, I honestly can't fault Netherworld Manor for anything as of this review.
Style: Pretty lovely, all things considered. Many authors tend to write action scenes that focus on the moment. But Subcritical somehow manages to make fights feel tense despite teeming with introspection. I also like how the 1st person narration and descriptions are handled, and the bits of trivia in the author's notes help fwith clarifying a lot of stuff.
Story: Not much to say yet, but five stars for the rather strong start. The worldbuilding seems pretty well thoughtout, and the litrpg mechanics are easily understandable.
Grammar: Solid. Didn't notice any problems.
Character: Damien is kinda nice (and no, not because he hummed the Seal song). He just seems like a pretty decent guy. I liked the interpersonal relationships within his initial party and felt the story's turning point benefitted from their preceding characterizations. Damien might have recovered a little too quickly from the ill that befell him, but this is still early days, and I expect he would have lots of opportunities to fully grow as a character as the story progresses.
Summary: Glad I made the time to read this. Good fun so far. And I can definitely see this story growing into its own monster.
Honurb Sotham of LusiadRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A different approach to dungeons yet still the same good Dungeon Core story.
I's a well written story, good pace, no complaints regarding grammar. Maybe slower than what's normal for litRPG's on RoyalRoad but it's not a "watch numbers goes up" kind of story.
The setting of creating a bunch of monsters with different personalities and be friends with the people of the nearby village is common for this genre, so far it does not look like we are going this route, and even if some kind of relation is created with delvers it does not seem to be the best friends forever type. (In case I'm wrong will update review)
My main point is how the dungeon works, despite it doing all that a dungeon does, everything as been given a unique design that makes this story feel refreshing and original. I love it. From this alone I recommend you read it.
As mentioned by another review, french maid demon girls are yet to be seen, but a glimpse was shown that the story is indeen going in that direction. The cover is not bait.
Strictly WorseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a really thoughtful and methodical Dungeon builder story with a well considered system. It might be a little slow for some as it goes a bit into how some of the traps were made and how the Dungeon makes weapons etc. But if you enjoy putting yourself in the shoes of the Dungeon core this could definitely be for you.
One thing I think this does really well is it gives a real possibility of failure that is very serious but wouldn't instantly end the story. This lends to many more tense moments as well as setbacks and pyrrhic victories to overcome.
Based on the picture I'd thought there might be a fair bit of explicit content but while it is present, explicit chapters are fairly few and easily skipped. The tone while somewhat horny is far from entirely focused on that.
The opening doesn't start with the MC as a Dungeon core but it gets there fairly quickly and I think the set up is good.
I.M.P.Royal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Decent story, good writing and grammar. I really can't complain on that front. No mistakes, flows well, etc. Everything comes together well. Unfortunately, there's no devilish maids like the cover has. In fact, not much in the way of other characters that last more than a single chapter other than the MC.
If you enjoy dungeon building without having to deal with needing to deal with adventure side stories or lots of quirky monsters that will be outleveled and ignored after the first floor, this is for you.
spacecowboyRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
It's a very detail oriented dungeon core take, with a lot of deep diving and dungeon creation bits thrown in. It is rather glacial initially, and can be hard to swallow at times due to how long it goes detailing traps, rooms, what have you. It really finds its stride at about the point the chapters run out, however. It's been on hiatus for quite some time now, and the writer appears to also be on a writing absence as well, so read at your own risk, there's no real resolution as of now.