Torchbearer (Old Version)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

THIS STORY IS NOW DEPRECATED! I'm leaving it online for a few days for people to catch up on the latest chapters, and then I will take it down! :)

Thanks for sticking around for Sam's first run. I hope you'll enjoy the next one even more, it has over 30K more words throughout the first 30 chapters alone!

Find the new version here:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/73522/torchbearer-a-science-fantasy-litrpg

Samantha was a saint, in the literal sense of the word.

She was supposed to make things right for her people, to advance them beyond death, disease, and conflict.

But when she opens her eyes after testing the technology that would be their salvation, there is only darkness.------------------------------An isekai sci-fi story about AI, personal reality domains, feral robots, fighting against slavery, and surviving in the ruins of a civilization that may or may not have collapsed because of your hubris."Persona 5 and Psychonauts meet Nier: Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn'"------------------------------What's in the box?

-A female MC with a unique advantage struggling against overwhelming odds-A female MC who accordingly gets her ass handed to her on several different levels-Feelings-Computers-Computers with feelings-Cyberspace that affects the real world and vice-versa-Hardware upgrades to make software upgrades possible-Software upgrades to make cool skills in cyberspace possible-Cool skills in cyberspace that make slaying enemies possible-Breaking into other AI domains for liberty and profit-Entire worlds collapsing into the void-AI who think they are people-AI who think they are animals-An author who thinks they are a coder-Pseudo-code made up by someone who can't tell the difference between an object and a unit-A relentless fight against slavery-A story about a character who got Isekai'd through space, then got isekai'd through time. Isekai²! One story, twice the Isekai!Not Included:-Overpowered MC-Isekai Bus-Paid DLC-Microtransactions-Pay to Win-A big burly dude who gitz all the wimminz-Crabs. At least not yet.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2021
Author: Madix-3

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 157
Views: 64,359

Chapters(80 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(5)

FinnCantaraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Everybody go and read this story! The prose is excellent and well-thought out. The characters are cool and feel like real people, even if they can only beep and boop :)
The story itself is very cool and original, a great mix of sci-fi and fantasy. I don't want to spoil anything, but the setting is really well done. I especially am a fan of the coding language and all the little Easter eggs hidden inside it.
Well done, Madix! Can't wait to read the rest!
H0stRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story isn’t your usual Royal Road flashy quick-to-pay-off piece. And that’s actually alright, because sometimes you want something different. If you crave something else, something more, something with subtle depth, then give this a try.
What you’ll find is a story with genuine feeling poured into it. It doesn’t rush towards quick answers or easy expositions, it’s a slow burner that will most likely find you demanding answers from the words on your screen, unaware that it is doing exactly what stories are meant to do: make you feel invested.
Characters feel each like their own individuals, their clear personalities and ways of being setting them apart and making them come across not as if simple set pieces against a background but actual real people borrowed from a reality near you. Even small "beeps" and "boops" can have charm, and even someone like Zephyro can feel more human than he should have any right to be.
From a technical perspective, the writing clearly improves leaps and bounds as the chapters progress, the author refining and tightening the prose with each new iteration. The few tiny typos and small mistakes found do not ruin the narrative, and there's no question the person writing knows their grammar.
I have read all chapters available at the time of writing this and I say it’s worth joining along for the ride, as it continues to grow better and better.The quality very clearly goes up the further we read.
What makes it worthy of praise the most is that beyond words mechanically typed into a keyboard, the cold technical systems, and imaginary beings, real heart, feel, and personal emotion was wrapped around it, giving it a small soul of its own, and I found that to show. Few stories about game-like systems get that from their authors.
Unfortunately, I will still have to knock down a few points from my personal score because of its biggest flaw: not enough crabs.
KaeNovelsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall: This is a pretty neat story. If you’re looking for an emotional, well-written, sci-fi, isekai extravaganza, then this is the one for you! A female MC named Samantha is thrown into a series of very difficult situations. The odds seem to always be against her, but she has a few tricks up her sleeve.
Style: It’s style is not like many stories I see here on RR. Within a few chapters, I got used to the author's prose and unique system structure. I am now HOOKED for good. It’s a very addicting and satisfying read. I’ll find myself easily sucked into new chapters every time I get a notification in my follow list.
Story: Although we’re just getting started, so much has happened and some really interesting characters have been introduced. It’s an emotional rollercoaster, so buckle your seatbelts and enjoy the ride. An incredible story is being told here.
Grammar: Nothing for me to note here. The author is clearly a perfectionist and cares a lot about the reader's full immersion. Little to no grammatical errors ever slip through to the posted chapters.
Characters: VERY well-thought-out characters. Especially in some of the recent chapters with certain someone named Zephyro… Very, VERY well crafted. A lot of time and effort has gone into this story. If you’re reading this as a potential new reader, give it a try. It’s not your average book on RR. I can’t wait to see what the author writes in the upcoming chapters. 5/5 I recommend it:)
mountainroadsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Not sure what I expected, but this is better. Sometimes, you come across these little gems. Generally, I like stories with something unexpected, one that surprises me and is not repeating an old formula.
This does exactly that: The author is clearly having fun playing around with ideas and concepts, experimenting along the way. I am three chapters in and can already Tell: It's a good read, no tropes, and certainly with a distinct storytelling style. Cannot wait to read the rest!
PratzStrikeRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
I don't particularly want to post a review bashing on your story just now but you asked why people were leaving low-star reviews, and I wanna share the problem I've seen in this story so far. Short version - we have been buried in Sam's memories and shitty emotions and personal fears and everything for so long that if you had removed all of it we would have gotten to this point in half the time. I understand that it's important and vital to the story but there's been dozens of tiny plot points from the previous part of the story, where she landed on the planet and ended up becoming the Tyrant or whatever, and -we don't know any of that-. We have picked up the remote, changed channel, and come into the middle of a fifth season movie - we didn't even see the beginning of the film to get any sort of idea what's going on, we were hot-dropped into a girl following a Saracen through a city that's apparently all cyberspace or something. Everything else we've had to learn along the way, and there is practically no way you can go back and fill in all the blanks. After 45 chapters the story is to the point where anyone who wants to come into it is better off starting at the latest chapter and just reading from there. They won't miss anything.
And I love the litRPG element, and I love the setting, and I love the idea of the story so far, but the execution is a dog's breakfast. Sorry.