It’s no surprise that this book isn’t a masterpiece. I was weathering the cringy moments hoping that the action and plot would make up for it. At the very least I was enjoying the lively voice acting.
*spoilers below take care*
So I’m reading and I’m getting on well enough. Suddenly I get hit by a whole bunch of successive cringe. At this particular point, the MC and his partner have just obtained a key item in the game – A powerful gem that competitive players would quite literally kill for. Only a few of the players/groups have one yet (which makes little sense given how easy it was to get, but whatever I’m game).
The MC wears the gem on a ring and at one point makes an obscure offhand comment about how he feels like a different person (nice, the gem imparts a mental effect upon the wearer – or so I assume as a reader. At the very least there is a power trope that can be built upon. lets keep reading).
Right after this the MC and his partner are in the process of stealing a bow for a quest and his partner (who’s also an IRL friend) literally says, “you’ve changed,” referring to his uncharacteristically brazen attitude. (okay now we’re getting somewhere- I’m sure the witty, spunky female supporting character who also poses as a potential romantic interest will confront him… right?) Well they break into the house by force and end up killing the npc they were supposed to steal from. Afterwards they both just sigh and shrug their shoulders. The previous concern and comment are forgotten. essentially reducing that female character to a painting in the backdrop.
Right after this they get attacked by a player group that consisted of multiple identical bulls that all happened to be bards. Okay cool idea, but anyone who plays video games with friends knows that this would never happen. But whatever, I’ll let it slide. I’ll try not to roll my eyes too much when they start to perform a synchronized dance and song to cast a spell. Oh did I mention that this player group was sent by the MC’s arch-nemesis?
Well long story short, MC and partner escape but MC’s bonded pet is killed. MC has this whole “It’s my fault he died, I should have been stronger, I was so stupid. blah blah blah” – it’s a video game… characters die… It would be fine to mope, if you couldn’t just re-summon pets. Which they do right after. (oh guess what – there’s a curse affecting their bond for some reason? spooky and random!)
Oh remember that synchronized bard player group. Well they revive in the temple right about then because they were betrayed and killed by the arch nemesis. They’re all like – “how could he betray us? He will rue the day! Someone aught to stop him!” … … …
I just couldn’t handle the cringe. People don’t act so trivially like that. I may stop at this point, but I will try to keep reading.
A few more things that I didn’t like in general- Wouldn’t almost all the parties have telepathic communication? Why can the enemy players be heard asking their “boss” questions mid combat and the like? Also why is the Arch-nemesis so strong? There should be other player mages with even half his power. Speaking of mages, I have yet to see a player mage other than the arch-nemesis… so many blatant oversights that I fear won’t or cannot be explained in the remaining half of the book.
If you love litRPGs to death and you’ve read all the other ones- go for it. Otherwise, take a book from a bit higher on the totem-pole.