When Chuck dies and wakes up in a fantasy game world, he discovers that the secret to success isn’t heroics or clever tricks—it’s sheer grinding persistence. After spending four months hitting a practice dummy until he breaks the combat system, Chuck embarks on a methodical quest to obtain the most powerful gear possible through relentless optimization. Armed with his evolving practice sword and an unwavering commitment to making his numbers go up, he tackles elemental dungeons, goblin hordes, and the occasional social interaction with the same cold efficiency.

Freddy Stern, a twenty-one-year-old cashier, has lived a plain, albeit harsh life. Having been orphaned—twice—he's spent the last ten years working and staying out of trouble. His only aspiration is to save enough money to become an archhuman. His dream gets the jump on him when he barely survives a near-death encounter and finds himself in possession of 1% Lifesteal, a bizarre talent with numerous contradictions and just as many uses.

Hi, my name's Max and I'm one of the Selected. What's the first thing that pops into your head when you read those words? A great hero, chosen from among all the billions of people on Earth? A lucky man who has ended up on an unknown world and gained superpowers? An explorer of new worlds who has discovered his destiny? Well, that's all true, but there is one but . . . Actually, if I'm honest, there are a whole load of buts. And there are rules. And the first rule of the Selected is: "Try not to die. It is expensive and impractical."

Lily Red, known as "Little Red", has trained her entire life to become a system-acknowledged scout under her Grandmother's guidance. Hunting, tracking, and trap-making—she's a master of her craft. But her dreams of joining the elite Scout forces are repeatedly blocked by a leader of the Wyld with a grudge against Grandmother. When Lily uncovers an impending invasion by Wolf Warband, brutal raiders from the frozen north, a deadly challenge offered by their war leader sets her pulse racing.

The climb through the ranks often ends with a knife in the back. Slum-dwelling orphan Garrett Walker scrounges for scraps in the wildlands beyond the walls that guard society, salvaging valuables from the ruins of fallen civilization. Offered the opportunity to compete in the Warden Academy entrance trials, Garrett seizes the chance for a better life. However, the academy holds dangers a street rat is ill-equipped to handle and he’ll have to grow stronger while relying on his wits to survive.

The 42nd Merging arrives, mass-transporting every human to a hostile new world with a System. Everyone must choose a Class, and Quest directives compel them to climb the leaderboards for categories like highest level… and most kills of other people. Jordan isn’t anyone special before the Merging, but the new start equalizes the playing field. He must exploit his versatile class to overcome powerful monsters and opportunistic strangers who kill people as a quick path to power.

Kazro never asked for the quest. With nothing but a broken interface and dogged determination, he sets out to deliver a ceremonial scythe to a princess he’s never met. But when he glimpses her in the crowd, a jolt of familiarity strikes like thunder. Before he can uncover the truth, chaos erupts—the King of the Sundust Reaches storms the city, smacks Kazro aside, and abducts the royal family for a mass sacrifice.

When Mira’s home is destroyed by gods, she makes two requests to the System that sends her to another world: to be sent to an isolated forest where she can avoid the violent path to godhood, and to gain magic that helps her live and thrive in the forest. She is granted both, though in the harshest way possible. The System strands her in a dangerous forest where half the plants are poisonous, the rivers teem with souls, and even the smallest beasts lay waste to experienced adventurers.

In the distant past, a time of magic and swordplay, there lived Harold, the mightiest lich of all, a master of arcane sciences, and a challenger of gods. After reaching the pinnacle of his power and finding it surprisingly bland, Harold waged a cataclysmic war against the gods, aiming to shatter the very system that confined him.

Bernt might have graduated from the Mage Academy, but not everyone has the money or connections to launch a prestigious career as a mage. Bernt finds himself working in the city sewers as an Underkeeper among the other rejects of Halfbridge's magery. He may spend more time unclogging pipes than fighting monsters, but hey, it's a stable job, and that's what counts. With the help of his unregistered soul-devouring demonic familiar, he'll save enough to launch his career as an adventurer—just as soon as he can afford some proper gear.

Qing Baker thought he had problems. A dead-end job, mounting bills, and a sick younger sister. Then he wakes up in a world where magic is real, monsters are hungry, and the only way home is to level up. Thrust into Elrydisan, a realm of swords and sorcery, Qing must quickly adapt to his new reality. No tutorials. No respawns. Every fight is a struggle for survival, and death is a one-way ticket to becoming the enemy.

Syl, an archmage who tirelessly fought the monsters spilling from the magical Gates and Towers, yearns for a life free from the chaos of battle. When he is assigned to an Aurian magic academy to guard an undercover princess, he is happy to be no more than an unremarkable class three student with dismal practical scores. Right up until people start trying to kill them both.

Dace Tolman’s life has been overturned. One moment he was in his apartment and the next, he and the rest of humanity find themselves in a strange world of monsters and magic. A new world. There is nothing benign about mankind’s new home. The Proving Grounds is a world seemingly designed to enhance those worthy of its gifts—and to kill off the rest. Every day is a struggle against the System and its creatures. Can Dace survive its challenges?

Kidnapped and presumed dead, Kizu returns ten years later – just in time to enroll at an elite magical academy. His education under the witch who kidnapped and raised him was… unorthodox. Now, three years behind every other student his age, he is ranked as the overall worst student at Shinzou Academy. But Kizu is determined to quickly change that. Not just for the sake of mastering long-denied schools of magic, but to investigate his older sister’s disappearance.

Ascension is a blessing of the gods, a chance to strive for glory. Jake Khesh is an orphan living from day to day, yearning for the chance to do more, to be more. Blessed by the gods with the chance to Ascend, Jake seizes the opportunity. With an unfamiliar Class, a mysterious Patron, and limited knowledge, Jake faces the task of hiding what he is from the Triarchy Inquisitors while gaining the power to reach the next Tier. For him, unlocking the truth of his origins is just as important as fame or fortune.

Before meeting his pathetic and all-too-predictable demise in the middle of a pie-eating contest, Zack was living the high life: schlubbing around his parents' basement, subsisting on pizza, video games, computer screens, and web novels. He had it all . . . while still being a big, fat nothing. But when he's forced to ditch his pudgy mortal corpse, Zack finds himself taking the place of a recently-killed demonic sect elder known as Slifer, who—even as an elderly man—is one serious badass.

In rust-choked streets and hollowed-out cities, there is only one way out—Terra Mythica, a virtual world so immersive that time warps, hunger vanishes, and even the most broken can live like kings. Jace wasn't supposed to make it in. He cheated death, and now it's catching up to him. As the reluctant protégé of Hades, Jace finds himself thrust into Mount Olympus University, where gods manipulate Travelers, and the line between real and digital blurs with every step.

With cities ruled by cultivators who wield qi to warp reality itself, and a vast wilderness teeming with deadly spirit beasts, mortals often find the first floor of the World Spire to be as punishing as it is extraordinary. That's why, when Samantha unexpectedly receives a quest to become a cultivator herself from the mysterious System, she seizes the opportunity. But she soon discovers that in the fearsome and unfamiliar landscape of cultivators, a single misstep could have dire consequences for both herself and her spirit bond, Silas, a Lunar Hare.

When the Doom System appeared, it shattered reality overnight. People took superhuman abilities, their only defense against a world that no longer made sense. But just as humanity began to adapt, the System changed the rules. Now, survival isn’t just a struggle. It’s a competition. For Hiro Johnson, staying alive has become a full-time job. The System twists the streets of New York into death traps, pitting survivors against monsters, hunters, and each other yet rewarding them with powerful skills and weapons.

Kyler Stragos was once a thousand-year-old vampire, ruling as the Lord of Blood over a realm devastated by the vampire apocalypse. But even the mightiest fall. When he finally meets his end, he's the last vampire lord standing, killed by two heroes, whom he drags with him into death. (At least he has that.) But death isn't the end. Instead of eternal darkness for this soulless being, Kyler awakens in a strange world, no longer the ancient predator he once was. His new reality is a role-based leveling system in which only the strongest and rarest classes have power.

Cooking has always been my passion, but at forty-nine years old, I’ve come to terms with the fact that not everyone can appreciate a truly magnificent dish. Until I walked straight into the magical world of Innothlig. Here, the gods are worshiped through food, and only the most talented chefs can hold their own at the prestigious and highly competitive cooking academies. I don’t know how I ended up in this world, or how I’m suddenly back in my twenty-five-year-old body.

Crafted by a team of visionary storytellers, Alpha Clash emerges as a riveting sensation of origin stories encompassing heroes and villains in a world unprepared for their arrival. Witness the start of the events that will shape the world and go on to shape the universe!

When Sam’s new video game system arrives in the mail, he unexpectedly finds that it isn’t the one he sent in for repairs, and instead he has received some sort of limited edition model. He soon finds out how unique the model is when after downloading his newest game he is transported into the system and expected to play through the role of his character without access to the real world, or any of the informationally packed strategy guides he is used to using. Handicapped by his own impatience to start playing, Sam is left to figure out the new world which he has fallen into. He has no ...

After flunking the entrance exam to his dream university, Temaru Ryūta is left behind by all his friends and becomes a shut-in while preparing for next year's exams. This is only the beginning of his bad luck, because one summer day he is inexplicably transported to another world, where people like himself are expected to become Adventurers.

When a Hero goes bad, it's up to a thief to stop him, in this big-hearted and witty fantasy adventure that's perfect for fans of role-playing games. Working-class thief Styk thought heroes were to be admired. Then one tried to kill him, and the attempt on his life left the town of Plainside burned to the ground, hundreds dead. Given a chance at a new life by a mysterious stolen artifact, Styk sets his sights on justice. OK, more like revenge.

Planet Earth's greatest artist, Marcus Korol, crashes on the surface of Grimworld, a planet with a base-building system, which Marcus has to master in order to survive and prosper. Even if he can cope with the monsters there are slavers and cannibals nearby. Staying alive, let alone prospering, is a daunting challenge that even a battle-hardened general would find difficult. Yet perhaps art can succeed where warfare would fail.

Craig's goal is a simple one: complete the World-level quest given to him by Daimon, the mysterious immortal with the power to halt the progress of time. While his world remains in limbo, an instant away from total annihilation, Craig must tackle the challenges set forth by the quest. With nearly two centuries of experience under his belt, it should be easy. If only he were competing against himself. Marsh, his most bitter rival, has been sent to this world as well and given the same quest.

April 3rd, 3:46 AM. Planet Earth merges with the magical world of Arcadia, and a system gives humanity a choice: 40 years of indentured servitude, or entering a tutorial as a user to fight against the chaos incursion. Will doesn't hesitate—but the system thanks him for stepping into the fight by throwing him into an impossible tutorial. With little chance of survival, Will has a simple response: “Screw it. Might as well fight fire with fire."

Disaster has been averted—for now. Earth is still in danger, and the Integration marches ever onward. Yet Ethan's journey has found him stronger than ever, and his experiences in the loops have left him on the cusp of grasping skills that can disrupt the flow of time itself. The Empty City looms ahead, holding within it answers to both the nature of Firmament and the purpose of Integration. His allies' sacrifices linger behind, driving him forward. And new forces are emerging, some eager for revenge, others vying for control of him and all that he represents.

The world has been remade. Transformed by the touch of the World Tree, Earth has regressed to a pretechnological age. Machines no longer function, nations have fallen, and the remnants of humanity struggle to survive in a world brimming with danger . . . and power. But from the ashes of civilization, Ethera—a mystical energy that grants supernatural abilities through a game-like system of stats, spells, and magical evolutions—has emerged.