As always, Jeff Hays is a master level narrator. I absolutely love his performances and his name being attached always skews in an audio books favor.

I love the concept of the story too. No a VR game but transported to another world with RPG game elements overlayed. Loved the world building, character creation, class, and storyline in general. But if you aren’t a fan of stupid main characters, it’ll be tough to finish.

He goes on and on about what an incredible gamer he is but, given every opportunity, he makes the choice to do something incredibly stupid, get worn down to just 2 or 3 HP left, and then is miraculously saved. Or when it comes to building his character, despite his insistence on being a pro gamer that researches all options, he never expands the skill list he knows exists to even check what other options there are. He sticks to the same starter skills unlocked by default the whole time.

Will I read the next book? I already downloaded it. I love the concept too much to give up on it, even if I wish the MC would put more points into his Intellect stat. This review is for the undecided