The Delusionist

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

"Is all we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?"

-----------------------

I dream.

Three times each day, every day.

When I wake up, I always find myself in a new place.

But my dreams... they remain constant.

I don't remember when they started, I'm not sure I even remember my birthday anymore.

My parents say it's ok though, that I was born special. I think stupid would be a better term.

That makes sense doesn't it, my brain is always foggy. I can't even seem to think straight anymore. I keep forgetting how my family looks, it's almost like I'm meeting new people every time I see them.

.....What was I saying again?

Arrghh...God damn it.

I-i can't remember.

No...no...no, it's happening again.

Stop it.

Stop it.

Stop It.

I SAID STOP THE GOD DAMNED BANGING!

I-im sorry, I think should be getting some sleep now.

I'll probably remember what I was saying then.

Yh... Just a little shut-eye.

That's all I need.

--------------------

No one knows why it happened but it did.

Planet Earth was no more, at least that's what they were told. The survivors were thrown into a sick game, nothing was illegal, empathy was dead and only power mattered. After all, only one could escape... And Galen, a deluded fool, just happened to be one of them.

How does the world burn through the eyes of a clinically mad man.

(Warning: The MC is delusional, don't trust everything he says.)

Information

Status
Hiatus
Year
2023
Author
Bitterrain

Tags

LITRPGACTIONFANTASYANTI-HERO LEADSUPERNATURALPSYCHOLOGICALDYSTOPIA

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.7/ 5.0
Followers
5
Views
3,655

Chapters(9 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(4)

  • DedlineRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Every Battle Royale story is deemed to fall under one of two categories: masterpiece, or garbage. Under the right writer, it could shine brightly ,since it depicted the worst and the best of human nature at the same time.
    This story chose a different approach. A hard one. While the MC's mind was clearly not stable enough for a moral struggle , it didn't mean he didn't have to fight his inner demons. Actually, it was what he had been doing his own life/dream. Very potential for character development later. It also gave the MC an edge in that chaos, and making his action -no matter how absurd and unpredictable - acceptable. In many other novel, the MCs always make the right choices, some of which were stupid and unfitted for the situation, for absolutely no reason. As if they had a script in their head and just follow it. This would not be the case this time. After all, the MC was insane. Still, it was too early to tell how this would turn out to be.
    His background also leave a mystery that make me intrigued. I had a vague guess but I won't say it here, of course. If that was true, the story would follow a completely different direction and I'd like it.
    Give it a try, folks.
  • Manticore12Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    It may be too early to say much but from what I've seen... Just wow. I thought the "clinically mad Mc" in the synopsis was just flavour text. But, wow... From the early chapters you can already tell there is a problem with him. And I mean a serious problem at that. Apart from the Mc, I haven't seen much of the novel. But if the Mc is this good, im crossing my fingers the other characters are just as good. And this is from a fairly new author, keep up the good work.
  • AlathentropyRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 4.5
    "It was all just a dream" is a much-maligned (and memed) phrase when it comes to story endings. However, a character convinced their current experiences are a dream, of the nightmarish variety, can be used to justify some very antiheroic actions. The Delusionist stars a character with significant psychological problems thrown into a battle royale, where he has the lucidity he lacks in waking life and has thus far been assuming the killing game's a complex dream.
    Stylistically, there's some very nicely described prose, especially in the first couple chapters, and the writer's way of blurring out words that the MC cannot handle processing was a nice touch for sure. (I have the very minor gripe that the line breaks between paragraphs are bigger than I'd prefer, but this isn't worth decreasing the rating.)
    Grammar-wise, the writer seems capable, there might have been a couple typos but none that stand out to me currently.
    The story's first couple chapters did a lot to hook me, I'm a sucker for unreliable narrators and characters struggling with mental illness and they do a lot to show the circumstances Galen is trying to escape. The battle royale portion of the story has not done quite as much to capture my attention yet, but it is still early on there; I will say that Galen being fairly open about his oddities to the other characters interests me in how it will play out.
    Character-wise, the main character does interest me a lot, and seeing how he's going to cope with this situation is a big draw of the story. The other characters thus far have not hooked me to the same degree, but assuming the character's alliance with some of them continues I'm sure there will be more chances to see their depth, and if there's underlying character reasons most of them are so willing to kill.
  • OriiRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 4.5
    The way you write description is honestly just chefs kiss Very beautiful~!! And the way you write the inner thoughts like my god~!!
    I was super immersed into it!
    Overall, reading it gave me a creepy feeling and a sense of foreboding of what was to come~
    Kudos to you!