City of Sin - Book 1, Chapter 7B

“Destiny is a matter of Choice not Chance,

It is not a thing to be waited for but a thing to be Achieved”

.....................

The story sets in a mana blessed world, Planet Vermillion, where every being possesses a System.

At the edge of his life, Zero, a man without a System, finally loses everything and embraces his death with a tired yet relieved expression.

As if by fate, the owner of the system approaches Zero through a screen and gives him a chance to connect with the System, however Zero denies it in exchange for a chance to change or undo all the mistakes he has done in his life.

The owner of the System accepts Zero’s wishes but at a certain price and sends Zero back into the past.

Still without a System, but with the knowledge of the future and various skills honed over the years, Zero begins his new journey to change everything he could.

Save everyone who needs to be saved and kill everyone who needs to be killed.

However, the more he moves forward, the more he realises that the ‘truths’ which he had known in his previous life are much more complicated than what they seem.

Balancing his previous beliefs and the new found mysteries that could shatter his perspective, he still keeps moving forward despite things getting more chaotic with every step.

As if fate itself wanted him to fall, an unknown disaster approaches him from behind and a familiar screen comes in front of him

[Ummm… Zero. It might be a bit late but… Looks like I have messed up big time]

Eighty years ago, Qi Shijiang was a crosstalk artist who was a good performer.

Eighty years later, he borrowed a body to resurrect himself in the entertainment circle.

Despite living again, it’s really not easy to reenter the old profession.

As far as this face is concerned, no one believes that he is talking about crosstalk. No one believes that he does not rely on his face to eat.

– What is the use of this magnificent beauty? ?

- Description from Novelupdates

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

The world had changed when the System arrived, alongside the Cataclysm that filled the world with monsters. The technology was gone, replaced by classes and skills that allowed the people to fight back. When Devon ended up as a Blacksmith, a class that didn’t grant Intelligence, he had to face the reality, that his old career that he loved - mathematical sociologist - was over. Instead, he had ended up as yet another discarded member of the production class, overshadowed by the existence of the System Shops to the point of total marginalization. But, what if all he needed was to reapply his scientific thinking to the System...