Pygilist: The Centennial Dungeon [A Dungeon Crawler Isekai] [Books 1 and 2 Stubbed]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

100 artifacts, 100 people, countless monsters, one dungeon, and only one Centurion.

Every century, the dungeon awakens and drags people from different worlds into a fight for their survival.Parth, a boxer, finds himself as one of a hundred, displaced by the dungeon’s latest awakening.

Armed with a magical artifact, he will fight men, beasts, and monsters. But that’s not all. With the dungeon, and politics in play, he can’t punch all his problems away. Or can he?Book 1: Scorched Earth, has been published to KU and Audible.

E-Book:https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0CPDK1NXH

Audiobook:https://www.audible.com/pd/Scorched-Earth-Audiobook/B0CQ3JFJQ7Book 2: Boiling Sea is available on KU:https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0CRH5R43N?maas=&ref=

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2022
Author: Harish R. Bharadwaj

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 705
Views: 63,547

Chapters(41 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

AmalgaMat1onRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The MC is transported to an alternate world, along with others from his world and beyond, by a sentient dungeon. The inhabitants of said world do all they can to prepare the new inhabitants to survive the dungeon and flourish. Legendary Artifacts and futuristic equipment are gifted to best prepare the newcomers, but unfortanetely things aren't as clear-cut as they should be. Politics, proxy-wars, fame and fortune are all on the line, making a simple isekai adventure into something grand.
This Story has a lot of top-down world-building. People from different countries and planets come together in a futuristic world. The series starts fairly slow as it fleshes out several interesting characters, along with the MC, and provides insight on the situation they are all in. The weapons and artificts they recieve are as diverse as they are interesting. From fire controlling gauntlets, to a device that grants pre-cognition, to an item that basically turns a person into a human jet. But, the magic truly starts when they enter the dungeon. All that slow buildup pays off as the MC and his allies fight for their lives (and rewards) against monsters and other artifact holders. The battles are suspenseful, and seeing the characters use their artifacts in different ways as they grow in strength and profeciency is pure gold.
This series is a hidden gem. Great characters, fights, scheming, and a pugilistic MC that loves coffee (I can't explain why that's important, but it is).
BobBerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really enjoyed this so far. The setting seems original to me. It retains some mystery, which is good because I am one of those readers who enjoys lit RPG for the exploration of the system entailed. The characters are interesting enough and have depths yet to be plumbed. There is a central mystery in the story the resolution of which I am invested in. I'm hooked and only wish the release dates came quicker.
DisheveledVagabondRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Pygilist has some of the best world building I've read on Royal Road. It spends some time setting things up and laying down the foundation for the plot, but once they reach the dungeon, the meat of the story shows itself. And it's delicious. My recommendation for this story is- keep reading. It just continues to ramp up, getting better and better. The magic system is fascinating, the characterwork phenomenal, and the world deep and mysterious.
SashaSeerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A solid read; the elemental aspect of the MC's powerset, coupled with an unconventional take on the idea of a hot-blooded, battle crazed protag, does kinda give off the impression that author Bharadwaj is making an elaborate pun by having the story be a slow burn :)
The mystery aspect, as well as the dangers found both inside the dungeon as well as out are engaging enough to keep readers interested, but how our Pyronic Punchy Practitioner of Pugilism Parth prevails over the punishments and pitfalls as a prisoner of the proverbial dungeon (really hoped I could keep the alliteration going there) is ultimately the reason why I'll keep coming back
StukafighterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The writing style seems solid, I'm not the greatest judge on this aspect, but I'm comfortable giving it 4 stars at minimum. Same with the grammar, occasional minor mistakes, but nothing that detracts from the overall work in any way. Story and characters are where this work really shines bright, especially once we hit the dungeoneering aspects of the story. While the beginning is a bit low on action, it really lays the foundation of what's to come. There's no rush. The author takes his time while introducing us to the main character and his background. The isekai aspect is definitely one of the better parts of the story, with several parallel worlds playing an important role. The mixture of cultures and divergent humans make a very interesting setting. With the artifacts and various clans thrown in, it really takes on a whole new meaning. The lore is great, but when the action gets going, it really takes the story to a whole new level. I highly recommend reading this story, especially if one is willing to be patient. The payoff, in my opinion, is entirely worth it. I've really enjoyed the characters we've been introduced to and how they all have their own individual struggles to overcome. Their motivations are all highly personal, and the team dynamic is one of my favorite aspects. The other viewpoints that we see slowly add to the story's plot while remaining largely focused on our MCs progression.
Thiago_Gomes_333Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Honestly, this has been one of the most difficult reviews I have ever written. And not because the story is bad, poorly written, or anything like that — quite the opposite. The difficulty comes from the fact that the work has been in development for a long time, and I no longer remember many specific details beyond its overall context. Still, I want to make one thing very clear from the start: never judge a story solely by its rating or score. Most authors begin writing for free while juggling their personal lives, work, studies, and responsibilities. This case is no different. That is why I am genuinely happy to see that Harish has returned to the story and clearly intends to bring it to a proper conclusion.
That said, let’s get to what really matters.
The beginning of Pygilist immediately reminded me of Japanese isekai stories such as Arifureta, at least in its core concept: a group of people is transported from their world to another in order to face an unknown threat. This initial similarity caught my attention both because of the mild nostalgia it evoked and because of the careful execution of the early chapters. I distinctly remember that the author did not rush straight into action. Instead, he chose a much more challenging — and, in my opinion, far more rewarding — approach: taking the time to develop the characters, properly introduce them, and show how each of them copes with such an absurd and unexpected situation. After all, it is not every day that someone is torn from their world to fight for a society they have never even heard of.
Despite the time the author takes before reaching the actual battles, the narrative never feels dragged out or padded with unnecessary filler. On the contrary, every chapter contributes meaningfully to the development of the world, the plot, or the characters. The author manages to keep the reader constantly engaged, almost on edge, curious about what will happen next and what new pieces of information will be revealed abou
YohaoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is simple yet really well put together. The simple premise of being summoned to fight for survival in a dungeon opens the doors for a whole extremely interesting world(or more like 4 worlds).
The world building is definitely one of the strong points in this series, the author clearly put a lot of thought into it.
The magic system mostly based on the artifacts is really curious and opens a lot of possibilities for interesting dynamics and fights ! Speaking of them, the fights are really well done, the action is clear without leaving any doubt about what happened in it.
The characters are a work in progress, there's a lot for so few chapters and I feel most of them didn't get as well explored yet, but I believe we will get to see more of it now that the tension is at its apex and they are going into the dungeon.
Anyway, I'm really glad I found this series as it's really well written and has a lot of potential for the future !
Thanks for writing and happy new year !!!
jjhuttoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is definitely better than 4 stars. I have seen the things that have 5 stars on this site. This is on par. What you need to know:
Good fight discriptions. Not just nonsense slapped on a page.
Slow burn, definitely an easy paced build without a ton of cliffs.
Characters are not deeply scarred or conflicted, this is ALMOST slice of life with some occasional high stakes.
Very interesting and flushed out powers.
Political intrigue, that while not terribly deep is definitely enough to keep the pages turning.
I'm going to keep reading, and I think you will too, just give this bad boy about 5 Chappies to heat up.
mendosumRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm leaving this honestly to bump up the ratings, I suck at writing wholly positive reviews.
It's an enjoyable read. The characters are culturally diverse and colourful, I like that. It's really well written - particularly the fights. The world building is interesting, there's no horrible exposition dumps or anything too. Parth is a likeable ML and I genuinely enjoy his almost nonchalant attitude to being isekai'ed.
This was sort of a lazy review and I apologise but I'm sleepy and wanted to do this before I forgot.
I'm excited to see how this develops.
Leahcim ZanathaxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An interesting take on isekai. It shakes up the formula quite a bit, and I find it fairly interesting.
The grammar and spelling are well above average for RR, there's an interesting plot, and even signs of character development so far!
The Pygilist isn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but its very solid and, even better, it has none of the tropes that I hate. The characters act intelligently, and their actions make sense within the context of the setting and the situations that have been set up for them - in other words, people who were complete non-combatants their entire lives aren't suddenly murder hobos, but neither are they rendered completely helpless in situation where people and things obviously out to do them serious bodily harm, though they may hesitate a bit.
Which is completely fine. I think a lot of people would hesitate to use suddenly gained magical powers at maximum lethality and effectiveness until pushed a bit.
I like the Pygilist. Give it a shot. Maybe you will to!