No More Levels [STUBBED]
Self-Published
Community Rating
Description
Now available on Amazon here:https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0FHFDYLN3?maas=&ref=
Life sucks when you’re a potato farmer.
That’s why Rin can’t wait to turn sixteen and conquer the nearest beginner dungeon. Only then can he acquire a powerful class in the Game of the Gods and begin the earnest grind to leveling up. With enough monster kills, he might even become someone truly strong, just like his father.
In a world where levels mean everything, it’s a perfect plan.
Until it all falls apart.
What to expect:
* This is a full-length standalone novel. It is not a web serial. There is no book 2. The end is the end.
* 45 chapters (plus a brief epilogue).
*Chapters published daily, including weekends.
* Cover art by Lucian Acatrinei
Information
- Status
- Ongoing
- Year
- 2024
- Author
- Benjamin Barreth
Royal Road Stats
- Rating
- 4.6/ 5.0
- Followers
- 862
- Views
- 43,750
Chapters(6 total)
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Community Reviews(10)
- VisiorexRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0I am super impressed with this work. It suffers a bit from pacing that's quicker than necessary, but it's necessary to fit the story into the length the author intended. I saw no glaring issues with grammar or spelling, and was pleasantly surprised by the diction. It was clear, deliberate, and very fun to read. The main character is relatable in some ways, but I don't feel that their journey was typical in the sense that we don't explore their development as a person; it's more the development as player of the Game of the Gods.
Read it. You won't regret it.
To the author: thank you for this really neat story. I'd be intrigued to see more content out of this world, but would understand if your intent is to wrap everything in a nice bow and move on to greener pastures. Well written! - Jeffhowell3Royal Road★★★★★ 5.0Short, sweet, fun and not complicated. It was joy to read and I'm so glad the author had a plan and finished it. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) word word word word a a a a. A a a a a a a a a a aa a a a. A a a. A a
- XtraRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0It starts with a very strong begining. It is a easy read and the characters extremely well developed. The mystery helps keep the story going and it does it wonderfully for the entire start. There are so many good moments and lots of details and this is a book I would definitely keep reading even if at times it can feel like plot armor or too much lucky coincidences.
This is my personal preference but there is some jarring shift after he leaves for the next dungeon...
The story just feels off with the turn it takes after he leaves the first dungeon. The writing is good but the plot and events don't seem as compelling when he is fighting alone. Also the soul bound ghost feels random and I wish he had a different type of companion because the relationship is not very strong and very tropey. There were just a ton of coincidences that worked in his favor after he left on his own. It feels transactional instead of meaningful. - PhoenyxRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0I had a blast reading this story. The characters are fun and it has lots of nice LitRPG stats and skills. My favorite part is that this is a fully fleshed out story with a definite ending. Far too many times have I started a series and it just starts to meander around adding more and more things without ever coming to a conclusion and then eventually gets abandoned.
this is a great read and I truly hope the author writes more, I will definitely check them out - FuzzyBeriahRoyal Road★★★★★ 4.5I very much enjoyed this story about a young man's unorthodox rise to greatness after initial adversity. It's entirely self-contained in one volume, which is a nice change of pace from the many, seemingly endless progression fantasies on RR. The protagonist is a pleasant character who wants good things for other people, but is forced to confront his own naivete when disaster hits him early on, and overcome it. His mechanisms of power growth are relatively unusual, and allow for some clever ideas. There are some anticlimactic elements that keep me from quite giving it five stars, but it's well worth the read, and I greatly appreciate having the chance to read the whole thing here.
- SirLance4LotRoyal Road★★★★★ 4.5A good short story. An interesting take on how magic works in a fantasy world. Well written grammatically as well. Typical characters for such a shirt story as their depth is hard to plumb in such a short time, but still well written in the context and time. Definitely worth a read of you have an afternoon free. As with all good short stories, I wish it could have gone on longer.
- NikrieRoyal Road★★★★ 4.0A story that feels a bit confused as to what it wants to be, only you wouldn't know that until the very end. It initially feels like a pacing issue but the final chapter and epilogue make it clear that it's really a story structure and character issue.
Positives first:
Style:
The style is good. It was fun and pleasant to read with a good flow that made it easy to follow what was going on in fight scenes, calmer moments between characters and the exposition that explained how this world and it's magic works. The magic system itself isn't very complicated but that leans well into the fact that this is a standalone novel and there isn't time to really build and flesh out a more complex and unique system.
Grammar:
The grammar was very good. Word usage made sense and there were no glaring errors that stood out to me as I was reading.
Now for the other half.
Story:
This is two stories that blend together very poorly. The first story is as advertised: a young man who enters the game of the gods and needs/wants to become stronger even as he faces unexpected challenges and setbacks. The second story is about who Rin actually is and the nobles who are targeting him because of who he is.
The issue the story comes across is that the second story feels like it is the main story, and its connections to the actual main story feel coincidental. This ends up in a feeling of whiplash when the second story about the nobles suddenly comes to an end with the main villain abruptly exiting the story.
As a result of this imperfect meshing, there are a lot of gaps present in the noble storyline that never get filled. And they never get filled because they ultimately don't matter to the main story. As an example (minor spoiler),
Who the Cartwrights are doesn't really matter when the end goal of the story is for Rin to end up in a place that has absolutely nothing to do with them. At the same time, the question feels important because the main villains of the story are targeting him solely b - grand_idiotRoyal Road★★★★ 4.0The novel really handle the revenge plot well. The MC doesn't transform into a murder-crazy maniac, in fact he just really tries to stay out of the way until trouble finds him. His goal seems to be just to get stronger and experiment with his limitations. However the plot lines so far doesn't feel forced and its quite natural. He did have some fortuitous encounters but nothing insane, considering he has a God supporting his development.
The only bit of critique or rather warning I can give to potential readers is - do not go in expecting a smart mc. His solution to most problems seem to be getting stronger instead of finding a way out of certain situations or preparing in a different way. Even then he doesn't really explore the potential of his abilities until he receives a fairly obvious hint. Which might still go over his head lol.
It's a fun story and feels lighthearted at times despite everything - ShaneL2018Royal Road★★★ 3.0The Game of Gods concept is a well-worn one, but the idea of craven, etc, is a nice twist. It definitely needs a rewrite to fix broken/jarring elements. The cursed concept needs a bit of work to be more relevant, but the character acting consistently irrational after Chapter 30 makes it hard to read unless you are skimming...he's already killed and fought
- oldboynineRoyal Road★★★ 3.0Started out pretty strong for its genre, but sped through the final 5-7 chapters with very little preamble. Some characters at the start were reintroduced at a whim and then forgotten and overall felt weak.
Spoilers:
The whole challenges thing is super rushed, a few sentences after a dungeon, and then each major hurdle lasts less than a chapter. There were more words for his taming of the first few mobs than the entire fight with the terracotta wyvern. His fight with with the lord felt way to cliche and again, way too short. The final boss, supposedly a kingdom level threat, was less than a chapter.
I get that you wanted this to be a complete story, but you can't go and ruin the pacing because of it.