The Way Ahead

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

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Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

What do you do when you don't fit in?

Edwin never really felt many connections to other people, but as a physics student, that was fine. He didn't really need it, anyway. He was content to peel back the mysteries of the universe... not that there were many left to find. Modern-day research was just too well-established, too well-trodden for any single enthusiast to make any significant headway.

But that doesn't apply tootherworlds. Not ones where magic and Skills run rampant, where well-defined roles and Classes dominate much of society with little room for novel experimentation from its residents. That kind of world would be perfect for an overeager, newly-minted Alchemist to make his mark.

Things are never that easy, though.

The Way Ahead is a very slice-of-life story following the story of someone trying to find his place in a world that doesn't know what to do with him. Expect lots of science, lots of alchemy, a few sarcastic quips by the System, and lots of exploration involving the world, self-discovery, and above all,science.

After all, further research isalwaysrequired.

Updates Wednesdays.

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Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2021
Author: NorskDaedalus

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 5,148
Views: 5,270,949

Chapters(182 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

South linksRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Actually finally founding a story where science is involved, It was a long time and a long searching for story chin fall stories with science science and magic together in a fantasy setting, And by the 4th chapter of this novel I started to like this novel if 5 stalls for me bull
destravousRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Not everyone has it; this story is about a character who starts out with a rather low emotional inteligence. Don't let this fool you into thinking the character is uninteligent like many other reviews would have you believe though. Inteligence is a catch all term for the huge spectrum of things that can be learned; the main character of this story happens to be focused on the nerrower slice surrounding science and chemistry.
Forced from their home, the main character has no choice but to learn how to interact and connect with others in order to survive. So far I have enjoyed reading how the main character tries to solve everything with science, while gradually realizing not everything is about that. The character growth is slow, and may not be everyones cup of tea; still, I've found it an enjoyeable read this far and am looking forward to each chapter.
arkcosRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
35 chapters in, and I'm probably signing up for the Patreon once the next month starts. I've really enjoyed it so far, even though the character has some definite flaws. No Mary Sue here, and a slow walk to power, if he ever gets powerful, will be a fun adventure, instead of having it handed to MC. Some high and low points, but interesting the whole way through. I've definitely enjoyed what I have read so far, and it is a good intellectual take on an RPG system world. The offset of having the smart, PHD level MC? He is socially flawed, like a lot of smart, PHD level people, can be. Realistic, without being too broken.
There are absolutely points in the story which might turn some people off, but they don't last too long, and amount to struggles for MC to overcome. Don't let these few chapters detract from the overall story, as they help build up his character, along with the world around him, while being resolved in a very satisfying way.
Highly recommend if you're looking for a new LitRPG with high quality writing, with little to no glaring editing mistakes. Looking forward to reading more from the author :)
BasaniRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Leaving aside the title, this is a great story so far. I like how the protag feels like a real character, and how the world feels properly lived in. I hope the protag does keep wanting to push science and knowledge forward and publish their knowledge - that's always an interesting premise but is rarely done well. And in this world, with the science of skill advancement fairly set in stone, any democratization of that seems like it would be helpful.
I really like the skill and path system and how it brings the choice between focus and breath into such stark focus. It seems strange that the system is taken for granted to this extent - there don't seem to be any religious beliefs around it or any mythology about how it arose, or at least, we've not seen any such yet.
No other characters seem to have been developed much yet, but it's still early days and the story is still at its strongest when we're limited by our protag's eyes and mind, howsoever flawed they might be.
The action sequences have been fun, and I really hope we have more explosives back into the story soon.
I've been really enjoying this, and look forward to reading more of it.
Galaxy876Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The overall style of the novel is really good. The system should feel similar to the usual blue box trope and yet it doesn't, somehow feeling more organic with it's interaction. The MC's adventures are realistic as well, he's not able to magically build a shelter for example, though he does figure out how to start a fire. His build, which is clearly important in this universe, is highly dependent on having the right tools at the right time and being able to make those tools through the scientific method is a huge boon to the story. SCIENCE. A
DiamondninjaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall, I love this. It has my favorite litrpg mechanics but in a less cut and dry boring "game" way and in a more free flowing adaptable way... I stuck at these but.i like it!
Style: grand! Clear writing, good Grammer from first person narrative. The mechanics are unclear but that's because he's still learning them which is rant interesting but they're coming along well!
Story: classic litepg start of "whelp, I'm yeeted to a new world" but the mc is logical, easily distracted and seems real and is a pleasure to read.
Grammar: solid 10/10. Haven't seen any mistakes yet.
Character: really only the mc so far and I mentioned him under story. We recently met 3 new characters but language barrier has kept that from enlightening us but seems promising so far.
In conclusion: this seems to be a rising star for any who like litrpg for the growth factor and interest in the system mechanics and exploration.
The release site is crazy so far with the writathon but hopefully it'll keep on pumping out even afterwards. 🤞🤞
Finally, I really wish these review text boxes told you how many words you have because I have no idea if I've reached 200 or not yet?
fgonfiveRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
There's another story I won't name here where the main character praises science and curiosity, then proceeds not to be curious and fails to do science. It's sadly typical of the genre, because in our culture science is this magic thing that people do to produce plot devices.
The Way Ahead is a treasure, because what we have here is a bona fide scientist who is actually driven by curiosity. He does the little things that scientists do, like getting potholed on tiny weird questions no one else thinks about, or actually recording his research data. It's fantastic. Give it a read, if for no other reason than to understand what the other "science" stories are getting wrong.
The characters are great, the world's about what you'd expect from a fantasy LitRPG, and the System has enough intelligent design decisions behind it that there's more than one way to approach it. Highly recommend.
Ombre37Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The setting and way of the "system" work is pretty rarely find, and the MC is neither the pussy-japaness-beta with is non-harem harem, or the sociopath mass-murderer and hangsy chinese-kind of Isekei. Wish is a great, great boon for me.
Story for now is logical, with neither over-the-top choice, no deus-ex-machina to save the day, or cheap trick and twist so often used by many author. I also like the choice the MC make (for is path, and in a whole) and how he LEARN OF HIS MISTAKE and don't do it again (most of the time). Real changed with time, and real adaptation and character grow.
Yeah, pretty a good time to read. With some bit and hint of humor and fun sometime.
OrphicleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Howdy, I see you started this book off strong. Good grammar, flow, and logic? Mighty rare around these parts. Be careful with your product however. See, if it's too good, you'll attract a cataclysmic wave of bookwyrms that'll destroy any sort of civilization. I'll see you around cowboy. *tips hats*
xXSB101XxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Edit: 7/20/2022
Story has completed and I enjoyed it for the most part. Self note- full book is 496,000 words.
This is entirely a "niche" novel. This is a more "scientist experiment" type of isekai, with a few different things on top of that to make it stand out more compared to the general isekai.
To get the easy parts out of the way, grammar is professional, and there's not a single mistake I recall having seen, 5/5. Style is also slightly different, it focuses entirely on the POV of the main character, which is a neat difference compared to the usual "mainly MC, with various interludes" that you usually get on this site. Overall 4.5/5.
Here are the main things you should know about the story overall. It is entirely slice of life, in the sense that there's no real overarching "drama plot" happening. It truly is a story of a scientist turned alchemist simply exploring the world, and the system, in order to improve himself and give himself the ability to live in this world. The world also has it's unique traits that I haven't seen/usually see in other novels like unique/uncommon races (avior/fae), unique/uncommon system (entirely 'path' based, no stat points), and some world building/ country political building I haven't really seen in an isekai yet. Overall, I believe even if you aren't really "Science!", there is still stuff you can find enjoyable from this isekai. 4.5/5
There are a couple of bumps though, which you might have seen in the other reviews of this novel.
First is there is a short "slavery" arc. I know that there are some people who get uppity from seeing these in isekai, so if that's a deal breaker, you can go off. For those who don't care, it's only 10 ish chapters and not stretched excessively.
Second, while all the characters that appear in this are extremely well written and feel real, there is a bit of a issue with the MC you don't usually see. He has some minor, well, decent size social anxiety (not for a harem, there is no harem). I personally