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382 series

Ten Thousand Tragedies

NMR-3

B60/100
Death is the greatest teacher, and 721 has a lot of learning to do. The Martial Arts Alliance stands at the precipice of defeat as war threatens to consume the world — its sects and great families rotten at the core. As a slave soldier of the Red Dawn Sect, 721 is not allowed a name, feelings, or thoughts. His death is not a tragedy, only a statistic. But death isn't the end for him: every time he dies, he wakes up again 24 hours before it happened. With only a vague memory of who he once was, he will rise to the highest peaks — his road paved with his own bones.
Royal Road4.65· 437
CultivationGrimdarkMilitaryMysteryPost-apocalypticTime Loop+3

Tales From the Terran Republic

SlightlyAmusing

B60/100
It's the thirty-second century, and humanity is now part of a galactic civilization spanning hundreds of worlds. Savaged by natural disaster and centuries of war, humanity has fractured into several separate populations — all of which loathe each other. This is a gritty, drama-driven story that swings between action, dark comedy, and horror. There are no good guys here — it's less "good versus evil" and more "bad people doing bad things to worse people." Pick your favorite rogue, kick back, and enjoy the show.
Royal Road4.65· 387
Anti-heroComedyGrimdarkMilitarySci-fiVillain MC

Pilgrim

Harmon Cooper

C59/100
Danzen Ravja was abandoned at birth and raised by the Diyu Brotherhood to be an assassin. After one last disastrous job, he walks away and retreats to remote Genshin Valley, hoping to disappear in a small village and rebuild an old monastery. But his past follows him. His former teacher has put a contract on his life, and every assassin in the kingdom is hunting him. Worse, Danzen carries a dark secret: he is half-demon, and any spilled blood unleashes a horde of demons that will slaughter everyone around him.
Goodreads4.30· 1.3K
Anti-heroCultivationGrimdarkSecondary WorldSoft Magic

The Legendary Builder

J.A. Cipriano

C59/100
Arthur never expected to wind up in Hell — and certainly not because he found an ancient sword in a pawnshop. Hell is not as he imagined: a desolate wasteland under siege by an all-consuming void known as the Darkness, which will devour Earth next if not stopped. Trapped with no way home, a ragtag army of women, and a sword whose only power is to modify the abilities of those around him, Arthur must somehow turn the tide. As he fights his way through Hell's ruling class, fallen archangels, and the Darkness's champion, the penniless orphan slowly becomes something the ancient conflict has never seen before: the Builder of Legend.
Goodreads3.84· 1.6K
GrimdarkHaremIsekaiSecondary WorldSoft MagicWeak to Strong

Tal, The Risen

A. Stargazer

C59/100
Tal is one of the elite undead soldiers of the Zozheim empire, resurrected from the corpse of an uncounted sacrifice. He does not know the man's name. He does not care. The body is his now. They say Tal exists to serve — and so he drowns and murders and pillages in the empire's name. But one thing is becoming clear: he exists. And soon, that fact will terrify his creators and their enemies alike.
Royal Road4.65· 364
Anti-heroBase BuildingCultivationGenius MCGrimdarkHorror+8

Path of the Last Champion

TheWanderingWind

C59/100
Nar was born in darkness and was meant to die there — a slave, shackled by a sin long forgotten, doomed to a life beneath the surface. His eyes were never meant to see the Infinite Nexus or the wonders of the Endless Labyrinth. He was never destined for power, a class, or the System. But he made the choice few sinners dare: to Climb. Now he must forge a hybrid tank/DPS class, conceal a secret that could destroy his party, and achieve the impossible to save his dying father. With every step toward the City Without End, Nar unknowingly draws to a close a play that has spanned eternities — and no one is expecting him.
Royal Road4.59· 841
Dungeon CrawlingGameLitGenius MCGrimdarkLitRPGMystery+4

Pyresouls Apocalypse

James T. Callum

C59/100
When the virtual reality game Pyresouls could not be beaten, it turned very real, unleashing an apocalypse of undead, monsters, and a system of levels and stats onto the world. Years later, Jacob Windsor has fought with sword and shield to survive Post-Collapse Earth, where only ancient Guilt-soaked weaponry can harm the monsters from the game. When an enigmatic artifact capable of sending one person through time falls into his hands, Jacob takes the plunge into the past of Pyresouls itself — armed with knowledge of game mechanics, secret loot, and well-honed swordsmanship. But every choice he makes has long-reaching ripple effects on the timeline.
Goodreads4.31· 1.2K
GrimdarkLitRPGPost-apocalypticRegressionStatsSystem Apocalypse

The Power of Ten: Book One: Sama Rantha, and Book Two: The Far Future

RE Druin

C59/100
Some time ago, a planes-traveling archmage invented a video game to train people on Earth for a coming catastrophe. The gods seized the opportunity to take the templates — and even the souls — of some of those characters for use in other worlds. Sama Rantha is one of those characters. Being a Hagchild and surviving after your Hag Curse fails to murder you at birth is much, much less fun than setting it as your race at level one on a gamescreen. Book One follows Sama's Road to Ten in a traditional LitRPG fantasy setting, heavy with gaming terms and rules-lawyering as she min-maxes her heart out to survive a world intent on killing her. Book Two shifts to a sci-fi/fantasy/psionics mashup as Sama is sent into a grim dark galaxy she'd rather not be in — but the heart of a powergamer never says no.
Royal Road4.32· 1KGoodreads4.67· 3
GameLitGenius MCGrimdarkIsekaiLitRPGMilitary+5

Bloodstained Blade

DWinchester

C58/100
When the sword awakens, it has slept so long that it has forgotten everything but hunger. It is a weapon made to feast on death and blood — the more bodies it leaves in its wake, the stronger it gets. Bloodstained Blade is a fantasy GameLit where the main character is the blade itself, not the person wielding it. Expect the wielder to die and be replaced as the Ebon Blade pursues its own goals, no matter the cost.
Royal Road4.61· 788
Anti-heroGameLitGrimdarkLitRPGMilitaryMystery+4

Magical Girl Mafia

Nihilea

C58/100
Becoming a magical girl should have been the happiest day of her life. Bleeding out alone on the pavement, she couldn't help but disagree. The contract saved her — but closure wasn't part of the deal. How could she rest easy after a hero abandoned her to die? She wants answers, and if that means playing for the villains, so be it.
Royal Road4.65· 304
Anti-heroGrimdarkLitRPGPost-apocalypticSuperpowersUrban Fantasy

Arena

Holly Jennings

C58/100
Kali Ling competes in the RAGE tournaments—the Virtual Gaming League's elite competition where the world's best gamers fight to the digital death on national TV. The pain is real, even if the weapons are digital, and every bloody kill is broadcast to millions. Chosen as the first female captain in RAGE history, Kali is at the top of her game—until a teammate overdoses. Now she must confront what the tournament actually is, because the VGL hides dark secrets, and the only way to change the rules is to fight from the inside.
Goodreads3.75· 1.6K
Competent MCGrimdarkLitRPGSci-fiVRMMO

Cherno Caster

Akaso

C58/100
Betrayed and murdered for daring to expose corrupt deeds, Brunhilde Krahe is snatched from death by the capricious hand of cosmic coincidence and reborn into a bizarre world of magic and conspiracy — eldritch knowledge in her brain, cosmic fire burning inside. She copes with her own death the only way she knows how: by continuing her work in the new world. Ruthless mafiosos, corrupt politicians, lowly gangsters — there is more than enough work for an investigator with no qualms about hyperviolence. Do not make peace with evil. Nuke it.
Royal Road4.65· 288
GrimdarkIsekaiLitRPGMysteryOverpowered MCReincarnation+3

Respawn

Arthur Stone

C58/100
You are no one. Level zero. Empty of mind and memory — your past stripped by the inscrutable System. A long, difficult road lies between you and remembering who you are, punctuated by one death after another. In the world of S.T.Y.X., information is your only resource, but those with experience rarely care about your plight — and some make it their mission to kill you. Your life counter ticks lower with every death, and no one knows what happens when it reaches zero. The luckiest players are the cheaters. Perhaps cheating is the only way to win.
Goodreads4.35· 871
GrimdarkLitRPGLoner MCMysterySkill CollectionStats

Don't Fear the Reaper

Sturmwalzer

C57/100
After years of hard work and a fateful reunion, Frank dives into a new world only to get knocked down again. Cursed and left for dead, he refuses to give in to despair. Rising against the chains that bind him, he faces vile horrors and terrible evil on a treacherous journey to save his companion's soul — finding allies in unlikely places and enemies aiming for his life, all while a kingdom teeters on the edge of turmoil.
Royal Road4.54· 851Goodreads3.55· 29
GameLitGrimdarkVRMMOWeak to Strong

Ashlani's Reincarnation

No_Creative_Name

C57/100
As a soon-to-be chieftain, Ashlani's responsibilities were numerous, complex, and often boring. But as a recently reincarnated keelish — a reptilian pest — his responsibilities narrow to three: survive another day, keep his belly full, and kill anything that interferes with the first two. And, if the opportunity arises, take revenge on his best friend turned murderer. Ashlani was shot in the back by the man he was closest to during his inaugural hunt as chieftain-to-be. Post-mortem, he was greeted by a [System] and named the elect, singular keelish representative. Now his focus must be on continuous growth and evolution — to awaken to his grand potential and lead his new people into a new age.
Royal Road4.64· 401
Base BuildingGameLitGrimdarkLitRPGNon-human MCOverpowered MC+3

Dragonheart Core

Atenburgh

C57/100
To take a dragon's hoard is to challenge death. The greatest of the sea-drakes wakes on his silver throne — but there is no silver. His hoard is stolen. He rises screaming, chases the thief to the ends of the world, and is shot from the sky. But dragons do not die easy — especially not one with such festering hatred. A dungeon core rises from his corpse. If he intends to survive so near the cove of the pirates who slew his past self, he'll need to master his new powers quickly. These are dragonslayers; they won't be felled by mere mushrooms or spiders. Beneath the lawless Calarata, the young dungeon core must fight to endure — and one day, return death to the man who killed him.
Royal Road4.60· 775
Anti-heroCozyDungeon CoreGameLitGenius MCGrimdark+6

The Calamity of a Reborn Witch

Vera Anne Wolfe

C57/100
After a gruesome death, Carina was reborn in Lafeara as Lady Maura, the unwanted half-blood of an impoverished noble family. The previous Lady Maura was publicly executed as part of a conspiracy to conceal the murder of Queen Eleanora. With Maura's memories to guide her, Carina prepares to follow her predecessor's path into the palace as a lady-in-waiting, using every ounce of courage, cunning, and intellect to ensure her survival and fulfill Maura's revenge — all while concealing her true identity and the ice magic that comes with her frozen heart. After all, they still burn witches in Lafeara. As Carina becomes further entwined in the hidden witch covens, their history and magic unravel dangerous secrets long forgotten. Everyone wants something, and the most treacherous players in this game of mortals and witches are the gods themselves, who have their own sordid plans for Carina's frozen heart.
Royal Road4.59· 785Goodreads4.15· 26
Genius MCGrimdarkIsekaiLGBTQ+MysteryOverpowered MC+4

Hail Thy Gods

Godric

C57/100
Born under the oppression of noble houses who believe they have the divine right to rule, Kalon dreams of restoring glory to his people. For a thousand years his people have toiled under the galactic nobility — so long that most have forgotten their once great empire. Starting from the lowest caste in the galaxy, Kalon must break the system of oppression to rise and see his dreams realized. Allegiances will sway as conflicts ignite across the stars. Worlds will burn, empires rise and fall, and republics shatter as gods grown deaf to suffering are challenged by the forsaken. A sci-fi xianxia blending cultivation and divine blessings, with slow progression and a competent, daring protagonist.
Royal Road4.59· 777
Anti-heroBase BuildingCozyCultivationGenius MCGrimdark+5

Iron Blooded

ReeceBrooks

C57/100
A realm where humans battle monsters and the good die young. Four weeks ago Will woke up in a new world filled with monsters and magic. Thrust into this new reality with nothing more than a class called "Soldier" and a leveling system he has never seen before, Will fights just to survive. When he stumbles across a dying stranger, a mysterious quest line activates. Now Will must head to the front lines where humanity wages war against a ruthless Goblin Horde. There he will join the standing Kadian Army and forge his name from the fires of legend — facing goblins, hordes of the undead, cultists, and demons.
Royal Road4.50· 870
Base BuildingClass SystemGrimdarkIsekaiLitRPGMilitary+3

Goblin Teeth: A Monster Party LitRPG

JimQuill

C56/100
Daggat was born different — a variant monster with a random gift to shape his fate. After faking his death, he sets out on a relentless quest for freedom, power, and a place to call his own. With a mind sharper than steel, a gaze that bends wills, and a tyrant's instinct for control, he gathers a band of outcasts: a savage warrior sibling, a cunning rogue sibling, a cursed and forgotten spider from the attic, a worm with the soul of a dragon, and the last ogre of a shattered family. Each carries their own scars — physical, spiritual, emotional. Together they will claw, scheme, and fight through a world that wants them dead, forging an adventuring party that seeks not just riches and glory, but the power to decide their own fates.
Royal Road4.64· 345
Anti-heroGameLitGrimdarkHorrorLitRPGNon-human MC+2