Upheaval

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Born in a world devoid of hope, Zhu Long’s only aspiration in life was to sate his hedonistic desires. His impulsive routine comes to an unexpected end when a capricious deity offers him a chance to be remade into something greater. Upon accepting its proposal, Zhu is transported to a world that is even more violent and absurd than the one he left.

Leading an army nearly as monstrous as his new body, Zhu vows to ascend to the heavens and become a god—no matter how many bodies he has to climb over to get there.

Cover art drawn by Spaghettibastard.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: TheHsuHsuTrain

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 3.8/ 5.0
Followers: 158
Views: 39,008

Chapters(38 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(6)

JEPayneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Whew! Alright so quick disclaimers out of the way first: this story will not be everyone's cup of tea. It's a villain lead, and when the author means villain, he means villain. Far from the forbidden fruit branch of the Mills and Boon love triangle, this lead is a real piece of sh*t. For people with sensitive constitutions, they'll also find a lot of the topics discussed and how they're discussed triggering. If you're after a quick little isekai power fantasy to give you a warm and fuzzy on your morning commute, this isn't it (not that those stories dont have merit as well, but thats not what this story is about). What it is though, is a very technically well written story that provides a surprisingly sympathetic and tragic villain for people who have the stomach for it. I won't call this grimdark, because in my personal opinion too much grimdark suffers from a sever case of Edgelord™ and tries too hard. This doesn't. It's just a world that really, f*cking sucks, and that broke what little goodness existed in the heart of a strongly sociopathic boy.
Style - suffering and misery are front and centre here. The world is a crappy, crappy place and the author doesn't shy away from this. The tone and prose paints a picture of a corrupted world in broad, crimson strokes while the detail work of finer world building is sprinkled throughout. Everything is viewed through the warped lense of the MC, who I struggled to identify as even human until chapter 4 or 5, but the wait made it worth it.
Story - there is a plot at work here, and the central question of what happened here and what is going on exactly are burning questions in the forefront of your mind that are slowly revealed as the story progresses. What this was for me first and foremost, though, was a chance to view a messed up fantasy world through the eyes of someone broken and moulded by said world from birth. It works on several levels, but again, it's not for the faint of heart.
Grammar - this was great, no issues.
JellyBelly12Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So far I am really liking this story. The begining can be a bit difficult to get into due to all the creatures and races that are mentioned early on but I really enjoy the setting and I think the characters are very well written. The main character seems like an edgelord at first but over time is fleshed out and proves to be much more than just a demented psycho he potrays himself to be.
Mr johnRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Ask my first review on this got deleted cuz a I curse too much sooo take 2:
Ducking wonderful perfection charter is the greater IV ever read and I spend about 16 hours a day reading novels a true ducking masterpiece ducking read it right now till chapter 7 at the bear minimum true perfection I would ducking kiss the author if I could its so good
Zenopath (AEV)Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall I liked this novel. The MC has few redeeming qualities and the frenetic pace of the first few chapters may confuse and discourage new readers. But there is a lot of creativity on display. I guess it's not a spoiler to explain that the events of the first couple of chapters are inside a video game, but its not as strange as the alternate version of "real world" our MC comes from. I was genuinely kind of sad that it all amounted to a sort of backstory. If author puts half as much effort into the latest setting this will be a very Interesting story. I'm taking a half star off mostly because I kind of dislike the MC but I am still interested enough to keep reading. Give this story a try, if for no other reason that to see how the plot plays out when such an MC gets Overlord type isekai with all his savage army at his beck and call.
UPDATE: I am still liking this novel. My gripes with the MC have faded a bit and I don't dislike him anymore (sort of neutral now) as he is growing a bit. I suppose a character arc of him growing up was inevitable. Still not sure if he is going full villain, seems like much like the MC from Overlord, he has to struggle with subordinates that see everyone else as nothing more than resources to be exploited or threats to be eliminated (unlike Overlord they actually do need resources, such as food). That limits what he can do as they may not agree with a benevolent approach, especially since they are willing to eat their neighbors rather than starve.
I also want to note that the quality of the writing is good, and we are starting to see side characters fleshed out, which is a good sign. So if you are on the fence about reading this, you can rest assured that the MC is slowly becoming less of an angsty teen as story unfolds. There are also hints of lighter subplots and humor in MC interactions with his subordinates, so the tone of this story isn't as grimdark as I originally feared.
For those reasons, I have decided to bump my score up to
shiyaoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’ve read a decent number of isekai fictions, and this is one of the few that has felt truly unique. The setting is unlike anything I’ve seen. Dinosaurs clash against men armed with early gunpowder weapons while regenerating monsters do battle. The story’s battle scenes and tactics seem to be fairly believable while also still being fun and brutal. Originality is probably this story’ strongest suit.
Style
The author’s prose is strong and structured well. Sometimes it is humorously grim, other times it can be introspective and poignant. It has a lot going for it.
Story
Getting into the story can be a bit daunting due to how many creatures are introduced in the first two chapters, but I think it makes the story and setting more flavorful.
Unlike many other portal stories, this author does instantly plop the protagonist down in the fantasy world. We get a good idea of how behaves prior to such a dramatic life changing event.
The writer also went the extra mile in making sure that version of Earth is dramatically different than the one we live on. And because of this we can understand why the protagonist is the way he is and why he’d be willing to leave it.
Speaking of willing, I like how the author gives props for providing his character more agency than most Isekai protagonists. I won’t get into spoiler details, but it is a good departure from many of the stories I’ve read.
Grammar
I noticed there were typos here and there, but nothing that distracted from my reading experience.
Character
So far, a lot of characters have been introduced, perhaps a bit too much, but the major ones have been memorable. The protagonist is amoral person that has a very bizarre view yet explains them in a way that regular people can understand. I like that while he is a terrible person, he fully acknowledges which makes him a lot more likable in my eye. It helps that he’s funny.
In addition, the dialogue is incredibly strong. Characters often make funny jokes, but the author also has the a
HaracasRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This is probably closer to a rant, focused on what I found most sinful but that because I had such high hopes for this piece of work.
The style of writing is superb and so is the grammar, making for an easy read.
The setting is truly something to behond at least in my memory. A mix between prehistory and sci fi where beast and machine work in tandem amid the perpetual strife of interplanetary warfare and colonisation. This is without taking into account that this was the game world and not 'reality', a dystopian earth with a literal eye of sauron high in the sky judging all its inhabitants . Both do a great job to draw the reader in and leave them wanting for more.
The plot follows our mc, an addicted gamer that gets transported to his game's world after being too stubborn to quit. The difference is that quite a few chapters flesh out his character and life prior to the event which does more harm than good, I will explain why later on. He is at best an ultra edgy teen and troll and at worst a sadistic psychopath. I personally think hes somewhere in the middle though leans more to the bad side (I mean someone that enjoys watching real gore has to at least have some real psychological problems). Still, hes one of the normal ones owing to the world that has gone mad under the gaze of the eyeball god. As an example; to gain their ticket to the afterlife, a person has to take the life of another which has led to stark drop in the value of life.
This novel has so much going for it, from its world building to realistic potrayal of characters but falters on the central point holding everything together, the mc. As I stated before, the background and where he comes from does more to muddle his character than provide a stable foundation.
The game, Conquest, is an ultra realistic hyper visceral experience with a one to one realism ratio with the real world. As as avid player for years that revelled and ejoyed it to the fullest you would assume the mc would develop some sort of