They shouldn't have pissed off a virtual world top player by erasing his character for a highly questionable "violation of game rules"—and taking away his valuable in-game possessions. After returning to the virtual world under a different nickname, an unknown newb puts everything on the line by selecting the most difficult Hardcore mode: a single life that's so easy to lose in the dangerous game world.

Being a last-year high-schooler who is four feet, eight inches (142 cm) in height is one thing, but having the muscles of a bodybuilder and the face of a middle-aged biker at the same time is another. And don't you dare to bring up shaving in front of him. Did I mention that the boy's favorite hobby is smithing?

An alien civilization offers the human race a deal—access to the Other Side and the extraction of its resources in exchange for technology and knowledge. Thanks to this, humanity opens up a whole new universe full of unusual opportunities. Alex, just starting out as a prospector, sets off to the Other Side for the first time, but during the journey he finds himself in an unknown and extremely dangerous area, from where he can only escape over the bodies of his enemies.

Jason and his friends just wanted to spend a week at the lake house. Time to relax, hang out, and catch up on old times. Then the System arrived. It only took a few hours for their world to become a real-life roleplaying game; trading some downtime for the need to learn new skills and powers while trying to defend their new home, their families, and survive. They don’t know the rules. They don’t know what’s coming next. What they do know is; they need to reinforce and expand their fort while protecting it, keep leveling up, and explore a dangerous new world.

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.

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.

Maxwell Carter works a maintenance job at a government research facility. The research lab he works at has an accident, more energy coming through the wormhole than anticipated, enough to completely rupture the shields that were supposed to contain it until they finished determining how to convert the energy into electricity. Previously harmless animals are changed to nightmare threats and people are dying, seemingly due to incidents related directly to their interests.

In a former life, Jack was gifted, meaning he possessed peculiar abilities. If rich folks found themselves in a jam, Jack could use his talents to get them out of it. Where others were sure to fail, Jack's aristocratic clientele could always count on him to finish jobs cleanly, efficiently, and leave no trace, for which his services commanded a hefty fee. But one day, Jack picked a fight with the wrong man and his old life came to an end. But, as it turned out, his story was far from over.

Betrayed by his former gang and thrown into the Rendhold Underprison, Dantes has spent the last five years scraping by. A bastard of human, orcish, and elvish blood, he's lived on the periphery of the periphery, lying, cheating, and stealing to survive.

When three local bullies pick on Iron Hills dwarf Eiravel (Val) Stonehold, she naturally defends herself. Why is she the only one who gets thrown out of the tavern after the brawl? On her way home, two bumbling dragons in human form, Axl and Livius, accost her and hand her a letter. What can the new Eternal Queen Julie possibly want with her? As it turns out, the queen wants her body.

One week. If you survive, you choose a Cosmic Power ... If you survive. Jace isn’t one to give up. Not when his sister dies. Not when he loses his legs. And definitely not when The Cosmic System takes over Earth. With nothing more than his street smarts, the clothes on his back, and a river otter companion, he must survive a planet full of vicious predators that see him as an easy meal. If he can survive? He gets to choose a Cosmic Power and a Class. A path to ascension. A way to bring his sister back.

Cast into a brutal military camp by his once loving master, Mateo feels like the last six wonderful years of his life have been a lie. With the mysteries surrounding him growing, Mateo knows that his only option is to become one of the supernaturally powerful Duelists and grow in power until he can take his fate into his own hands. That plan is thwarted from the beginning when he gets stuck with the lowest-ranked Root Card against his will, ensuring that his growth as a Duelist will always be excruciatingly slow.

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.

Somewhere faraway, the universe is in peril. But on Earth, Alan is minding his own business after a boring double-shift at the pawn shop… until he’s assaulted by a screaming archer who turns out to be a good shot. Alan awakes in Strangey Town, a zany nightmarish jungle of ideas run by a horrid deity. Things get even stranger when a clairvoyant frog confirms Alan has an affinity for magic, and that his powers are far from ordinary. He can convene with gods, bargain for souls, and tap into every known magic the universe has to offer. It's unheard of!

Hal Mason's still going to find surviving the System Apocalypse challenging. While bringing in his latest fugitive, Hal's payday is interrupted by the translucent blue boxes that herald Earth's introduction to the System - a galaxy spanning wave of structured mystical energy that destroys all electronics and bestows game-like abilities upon mankind. With society breaking down and mutating wildlife rampaging through the city of Pittsburgh, those who remain will sacrifice anything for a chance at earning their next Level.

The Hunt has descended upon Earth, bestowing deadly powers upon ordinary individuals and pitting them against one another. In this treacherous game, players must vanquish their adversaries to claim their power. With each triumph, Hunters unearth unprecedented abilities that evolve in strange, unexpected ways.

Noah was once a Mecha pilot leading the defense of Earth against the invading Parasites. Now he is just one lone man stranded on a strange planet, with nothing to do but endlessly fight and devour beasts to increase his strength in the hope of leaving that forsaken place. A new opportunity arose the day a spaceship crashed on the planet. Follow Noah as he escapes, enters the wider universe, and discovers the truth about what happened to Earth.

Thomas Lowe was destined for a life of mediocrity, working a dead-end job in rural America. But fate seemed to have other plans for him. One card changes everything. While he's gifted a power beyond imagination, he also unlocks a prophecy that puts him in the crosshairs of Ancient Clans and Noble Houses that have existed since the dawn of the first era.

Pax, a cunning street rat without a class, navigates life in a city constantly threatened by monstrous beast waves. He's dedicated to keeping his crew safe and fed, especially after his family vanished without a trace. But when his best friend is captured, Pax risks it all—even his freedom—on the eve of the Awakening.

Eric Thornfield’s life is about to get a lot more complicated. After losing his high-level character in his favorite MMORPG, Major Online, he thinks he’s done with gaming for good. But when a mysterious coin from a street vendor opens a portal to a new world, he’s thrust into a reality that combines magic, monsters, and the most intense leveling grind he’s ever experienced.

When the apocalypse strikes the world Kyle Mayhew calls home, he is thrust into a struggle for survival. Alongside his Central Health Autonomous Diagnostic Drone (C.H.A.D.D.), he will have to overcome mutated creatures, ruthless marauders, and his grandfather’s legacy to carve out a new home.

Eleven years after the Mana Apocalypse, nineteen-year-old James Summers has more on his mind than just the flailing economy and a country full of monsters. Orphaned and living with his grandparents, he's given up on college in favor of working at the Coney Island Home Depot while pining for Sally, his cool, beautiful colleague.

Ominous obelisks land on Earth with a single message: Join the games to give humanity a fighting chance to survive... Or roll over and die. Too bad for them, Warren isn't the rolling-over type. Cancer may be kicking Warren's a$$, but he's not about to let aliens destroy his home and everything he loves (which is mostly just his dog, Buck). Besides, what does he have to lose? Better to die with sword in hand, bleeding out from a head wound than in some hospital bed...

Have you ever come across those stories with heroes who knew just how to get things done? The ones who were masters in five different martial arts, and knew ten ways to skin a bear after killing it with their bare hands? Yeah, that wasn’t me. Hell, I had trouble asking a girl out on a date. But someone in clerical must have made an error. Because I got ripped from an airplane on my way home after my last day in the Coast Guard. I mean, come on, I wasn’t even in one of the hardcore branches of the military or anything!

Diving into a revolutionary new video game, Marcus and his friends escape a stagnant society, entering into a world that defies their wildest imaginations. But from the moment that he logs in, Marcus finds himself separated from his friends and thrown into a remote village under attack by a horde of goblins. Forced into battle, Marcus rallies the beleaguered villagers and, with their help, manages to drive off the invading creatures. With the village in ruins and their supplies spoiled, the villagers turn to Marcus for help in rebuilding the village.