Red-Black Course

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

In the distant future, every crime, no matter how small, gets you thrown in prison. However, it’s equally as “easy” to get out – by winning a series of deadly virtual reality games against the wardens and their different machinery, the Red-Black Course.

Rex – a young boy thrown in jail for reasons he can’t remember.

Zain – a teenage tyrant of the cells stuck because of an offense he didn’t commit.

Follow the story of the two as they form the most unlikely team to beat the virtual world, uncover the truth behind their pasts, and reclaim their futures.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: Marowalker

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 21
Views: 27,116

Chapters(89 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(3)

MomentieRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Spoiler Light, Short Review;
Red Black Course, or 'RBC' is one of a small number of novels I've read that captures some of that 'Anime-Spirit' while also being appealing to regular webnovel fans - No easy feat.
Volume 1 is quite the rollarcoaster - Introucding you to a seemingly bizare world where petty crimes get you placed in maximum secruity prisons and freedom is determined by bicycle-soccer!
This 'whacky' setting gets compounded by the young protags Rex and Zain - But before long and through their eyes you start to realise all is not what it seems - That underneath the inital premise, and sports-prison facade - Is a story almost entirely about the people in it.
I've had the plesure of also reading volume 2 (I'll wait for it to be out here and perhaps for a future volume before I delve into spoilers so don't worry but;) and thanks to it I can safely say that what Walker has really excelled at with RBC is writing characters you want to know more about - People who's lifes are often runined by the odd-world they live in.
The likes of petty criminal Mitch, who while primarily comic relief of a sort, is also a friendly-gaint, someone who never lets prison life get him down for long.
The wardens who seem almost absurdly corrupt, but as you read through the end of volume 1 and later still volume 2, you'll find have maybe been pushed into corruption, rather than it coming to them all naturally or in equal amount.
And foremost of all, Zain and Rex - These two young men are obviouly the beating heart of the story and in an almost tragic fashion - They complete each other as it were, filling in for one another's weaknesses and slowly becoming awkward best friends.
There is definetly an 'anime-spirit' to their bond too, as you'll watch them go from relucant, to super powered allies of convience, to fist bumping bros and the real acheivement is that it does indeed evoke those same sports anime vibes - Even in the format of an english webnovel😊.
So all told I'd highly recomm
TriteHexagonRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
RBC follows the story of two inmates, the intelligent Rex and the freakishly strong Zain, wrongfully detained in the futuristic Infinity Prison, as they attempt to win their freedom via the prison’s own Red-Black Course. In this “course”, this mismatched team will have to play a series of virtual reality games against the prison’s various wardens, trying to thwart their blatant cheating in the games.
This concept is very interesting and executed well. The pace of the story is quick and snappy, focusing on the games and the colorful set of wardens the main duo has to face. Each game has a completely different ruleset and is being manipulated behind the scenes in some way, forcing our protagonists to combine both pre-made strategies and adapt on the fly. Our protagonist duo also carries the story very well, having distinct personalities with great chemistry together.
The trade-off for this quick pace is, however, a chronic lack of worldbuilding and character background. The characters are interesting and well-characterized, but we know next to nothing about them or the world they inhabit.
Another point that dampered my enjoyment is the straight, no-nonsense prose. It’s not bad or anything, with 0 grammatical mistakes in sight and very great flow, but it’s also not very engaging either.
Still, those problems are very personal nitpicks, and other people might find this style perfect for them. If you think those things aren’t going to damper your enjoyment, I highly recommend giving RBC a read.
XiellionRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This is a flashy fast-paced novel that keeps you high on your heels! No fillers, just a straight to the point death game party! Most characters were pretty goofy, all of them had some pretty interesting interactions, ranging from rivalries, wholesome friendships, high stakes and personal feuds.
Volume 1 SPOILERS
As the review title suggests, I love the flashy flashy stuff of this novel. Motorcycle football, hot twin mommas, sassy robots, wacky wardens, card games, zero gravity deathruns, and even gacha games! All these concepts are jam-packed into this story and I'm all for it! The wardens all had their charms as they played the roles of antagonists in the story, so none of them felt bland to me personally.
Overall, it was a pretty good conclusion to the story.
Volume 2 SPOILERS
I'll have to be honest, but Volume 2 is pretty lacking compared to its predecessor. I really couldn't the feel the hype and vibes that the novel used to bring to the table. This might be because there doesn't seem to be any stakes in the story anymore. It's basically just Zain effortlessly cruising through the "obstacles" placed before him.
Don't get me wrong, Leo started out as a pretty interesting idea serving as Zain's rival, but he honestly didn't really feel like a threat to be feared despite being said to be levels above the Zain. When his identity was revealed, I was surprised and even thought it was funny. However, it didn't feel satisfying. I was expecting something....else. I don't know, I just find it weird that a real soccer player is important to the plot.
Bruce feels like a weaker version of his former self. His beef with Zain just hits different now. The tension between them isn't really that....tense.
In conclusion, not really a fan of Vol 2, and I kind of think it's better if it ended on Vol 1 since it already felt like it was over. Although, I do think that Vol 2 could have been good if it had stakes.
If I were to guess what else could be lacking, it's that there doesn't s