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403 series

Meek

IanFlat

C50/100
After failing as an apprentice cooper and a town guard, Eli finds his place at the Rockbridge archives as the oldest junior scribe — and he's good at it. Then he completes an apparently insignificant project, and the brutal reaction shocks him, setting off consequences that shake the world. Eli gains powers: rare and inhuman abilities. He progresses slowly, steadily, and not without setbacks — and changes in ways that blur the line between hero and monster. Set in the Valley, the only human empire to survive a Final Battle, the story follows a soul that may prove the war was never truly over.
Royal Road4.56· 677
Anti-heroSecondary WorldSoft MagicWeak to Strong

Abyssal Road Trip

Redhand (Glenn Wright)

C50/100
Julia is a practical person. All she wanted was a home and family to call her own — a small piece of the world she could say was hers. Instead of arriving home one evening, she finds herself in the Abyss, trapped inside a cursed body. The curse may have caught her, but she certainly won't let it — or anyone else — tell her how she has to live. To escape, she will need to become strong enough to descend to the Abyss's deepest reaches, where the most dangerous secrets lie in wait. There is darkness in the Abyss, and a darkness within her that might draw it in — but she'll need to risk its strength if she ever wants to get home.
Royal Road4.38· 764
Anti-heroGrimdarkHorrorLitRPGNon-human MCReincarnation+2

Silhouette

GrimCat

C50/100
One night, a bioweapon escaped its laboratory in Zalcien, only to die in a dark alley. One night, a young man lent a helping hand, only to die alone in the dark. One night, a deity of death saw two lost souls and offered one a second chance in the other's body. Now a strange creature made of darkness, James must deal with his new form in a world where superpowers, heroes, and villains are commonplace — far from the Earth he knew. As he learns to use his powers and meets allies and enemies, James faces the paths of heroism and villainy and chooses a third way somewhere in between. Follow the story of a lost Earthling soul as he becomes Silhouette, the mysterious power in the shadows.
pf7.0· 1Royal Road4.53· 704
Anti-heroComedyCozyGrimdarkIsekaiNon-human MC+7

Reborn as a Dark Lord

Timothy W. Long

C50/100
Vincent Logan's day couldn't get any worse: fired from his corporate job, nearly dying of a heart attack, and then suddenly thrust into the body of the recently defeated Dark Lord Morthisal. Trapped in a fantasy world with powers he can barely control and a reputation that precedes him in all the wrong ways, Vince has to navigate a post-war kingdom that wants nothing more than to see him dead. Armed with nothing but his wits, a few magical artifacts, and an insatiable craving for chicken wings, Vince sets out to open the most unlikely business venture for a former evil overlord: a tavern.
Goodreads4.31· 609
Anti-heroComedyCozyIsekaiReincarnationSecondary World+2

The Heroic Villain

Charles Dean

C49/100
Once the promising young CEO of a successful corporation, Lucas abandoned everything after a horrific accident and retreated into virtual reality, lazing about in a carefree digital life. When his escapist paradise is threatened with deletion, Lucas is forced to act — and do what he does best: take charge. This time, however, he returns not as a hero but as the villain. He overthrows local lords, assumes command of the evil Imperium's forces, and begins designing a dungeon no player would ever want to miss. As he evolves his monsters and builds an entourage of minions to become the greatest villain the game has ever known, Lucas realizes it won't be nearly as easy as it seemed.
Goodreads4.15· 1.1K
Anti-heroCompetent MCDungeon CoreLitRPGVillain MCVRMMO

Surgecaller

Todd Herzman

C49/100
Huon is weak — a surgecaller who escaped into the wilds with only one goal: survive. Now he is Oathbound, forced to fight in an arena and become stronger than he ever thought possible. As he realizes he can grow powerful, a new goal forms: kill the dragon rider, the Immortal of Fire. His goal is impossible. To succeed, he'll have to advance beyond anything the realm has ever seen — in a world with magical beasts where surgecallers can cultivate essence to strengthen their weapons, enhance their bodies, and wield elemental magic.
Goodreads4.23· 1K
Anti-heroCultivationHard MagicSecondary WorldWeak to Strong

Prehistoric Barbarian

Mangroowe

C49/100
The future became a peaceful utopia in the Core Regions — no crime, no wars, no conflicts, even rude behavior is rare. People grew complacent and lazy. The main character isn't a hero or a typical protagonist. Calling him an opportunist would be the least offensive description. In an age of enforced peace, he sticks out like a sore thumb — particularly when nobody is around to notice a few shady happenings.
Royal Road4.61· 297
Anti-heroSci-fi

Armor

C.B. Titus

C49/100
Created as the ultimate dungeon trap — a living suit of armor that devours any adventurer who dons it — this cursed mimic has spent eternity serving a master who delights in betraying heroes at the moment of their greatest triumph. When the newest member of a quartet of dungeon crawlers dons the armor, something shifts. Maybe it doesn't need to spend eternity in the dark waiting to devour would-be heroes. Maybe it can take over this new identity, masquerade as an adventurer, and leave — betraying its master and its purpose to find a new one. The only problem: hopefully the new companions won't realize their friend is not who — or what — they think.
Goodreads4.29· 917
Anti-heroDungeon CrawlingNon-human MCSecondary World

Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

DrunkMinstrel

C49/100
Wang Tian Gu, the Tyrant who massacred countless warriors in Jiang Hu for 600 years, has died — taking with him the Soul Reversing Sutra, one of the Eight Treasures of Jiang Hu. Through a whim of fate, he transmigrates into the body of a young woman in a world far different from his own. This new world is ruled by levels, status, and skills, where heroes and demon lords clash and beautiful warriors fight for dominance. Other transmigrators have already planted roots here, backed by divine boons and cheats. For them, this is a game. For him, it is reality. Watch as the Heavenly Poison King raises havoc upon this world — all for the sake of his Dao, and for the sake of revenge.
Royal Road4.33· 735
Anti-heroCultivationGameLitHaremLGBTQ+Overpowered MC+5

Juchū Kaisen (Worm/Jujutsu Kaisen)

Daoist Mystery

C48/100
After the events of Gold Morning, Taylor reincarnates into a world of sorcery and cursed spirits, born into a family of sorcerers. Her new life carries curses of its own: orphaned, raised by a clan of evil sorcerers, and scorned for being born a girl within it. Taylor's only desire is to survive, grow stronger, and find freedom.
Royal Road4.60· 406
Anti-heroGrimdarkHorrorIsekaiOverpowered MCReincarnation+2

[PLACEHOLDER ARCHIVE - SHH]

Vitaly S Alexius

C48/100
updated book at: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/73967/somebody-stop-her-superheroes-apocalypse [This is a placeholder archive backup of an old book, kept here only to fight copyright trolls in the future]
Royal Road4.60· 383
Anti-heroComedyPost-apocalypticSchoolSci-fiSuperpowers+1

Re:Hero — Starting Over As The Strongest

LaughYeAmer

C48/100
Demon King Erizen thought all Heroes were insane. For one thousand years he ruled the continent of Thalmyra while lunatic bands of Heroic Chosen Ones tried and failed to end his reign — until a random peasant girl from a back-end village manifested the Holy Sword, led a Crusade to his door, and ended his life before dying herself seconds later. As he died alongside the smiling Heroine, Erizen could not understand: why did heroes not care for their lives? What gave them such suicidal strength? When the System offers him reincarnation, he makes the only choice that makes sense — he will reincarnate not as a Demon King, but as a Hero. If even a peasant's heroism was enough strength to kill him, then this heroic Demon King vows to become nothing but the strongest.
Royal Road4.42· 704
Anti-heroComedyLitRPGOverpowered MCReincarnationSecondary World+1

Necrotourists

Adsterhappy

C48/100
Lord Archlich "Boss", the greatest undead of all time, could conquer the world with his mighty collection of undead knights, dullahans, shadowlings, resurrected expired food, and skeletons. But that's too much work. So why not tour the world he hasn't set foot in for over a thousand years? From the mighty Holy City of Aon — home to the greatest undead hunters on the continent — to the mystical Sorcerer City-States, Boss will tour them all. Hide your artifacts, hide your religious sites, hide your long-held traditional values. Boss will ruin them all, unknowingly.
Royal Road4.56· 632Goodreads4.50· 2
Anti-heroComedyNon-human MCOverpowered MCSatireSecondary World

The Young Lady is a Reborn Assassin

DWS

C48/100
Jensen Weller was the world's most infamous professional killer — a shadow in the night who struck fear into the hearts of politicians, businessmen, and terrorists alike. Living life under fire, he always knew his number would come up. After finally falling during an intense gunfight, he awakens trapped inside the body of a teenage girl. Now afflicted with an extreme compulsion to laugh boisterously at the drop of a hat, the newly renamed Maria Walston-Carter must attend the nation's most prestigious boarding school and do her noble family proud. What initially seems to be a peaceful existence in a magical world undergoing an industrial revolution soon proves to be anything but — Jensen's skills as an assassin aren't ready to be put away just yet.
Royal Road4.48· 680
Anti-heroCompetent MCLGBTQ+ReincarnationSchoolSecondary World

Overpowered Murderhobo

Solomon Abraham

C48/100
Elliott Carpenter was murdered once. He never found out who. He never found out why. But he made sure it would never happen again. Over the next century, he became the most powerful being on Earth — untouchable, unkillable. That did not go unnoticed. When a dimensional barrier sealing Earth is broken, Elliott and his companions are dragged to another world by someone who knows exactly who he is — someone who may finally have the answers he's been seeking since the day he died. With his trusted murder-maid, his adorable murder-doll, and a reluctant young mage who came to kill him and is rapidly regretting it, Elliott sets out to find whoever summoned him — conquering countries and capturing gods along the way.
Royal Road4.61· 227
Anti-heroComedyIsekaiLitRPGOverpowered MCSecondary World

Knights of Eternity

Rachel Ní Chuirc

C47/100
When she awoke to find Valerius, leader of the legendary Gilded Knights, towering over her, she thought she'd gone mad. She was the Fury — mistress of claw and flame, armies trembled at her name. Now she lay chained and broken, a prisoner in her own home. Only yesterday, she had a different life: a nephew struggling to beat the villain Zara the Fury in an arcade game, an uncle with a big booming laugh, and a gun that changed everything. Now she finds herself trapped inside the body of the game's most feared villain, in a world that is anything but virtual.
Goodreads4.32· 286
Anti-heroClass SystemIsekaiLitRPGReincarnationTransmigration

Grimoires and Gunsmoke

Duddlered

C47/100
Fantasy collides with the modern world in an epic struggle for power and survival. An emperor born from divinity and a dragon harbors aspirations for godhood. In a twisted act of ambition, he orchestrates a deceitful pact with a devil and sets in motion a quest to harness unclaimed souls from another realm. His pathway to divine ascent takes an unexpected turn when a rift opens in Ohio, bringing him face-to-face with a resilient human community unprepared to bow to a new deity. As magic clashes with machinery in the skies and fields of Ohio, alliances are tested, friendships forged, and the true cost of ambition laid bare.
Royal Road4.52· 646
Anti-heroIsekaiMilitarySci-fiSecondary WorldSoft Magic+1

Department of Dungeon Studies

JPwrites

C47/100
Nox is an alchemist by trade, but he dreams of magehood. Fate dealt him unfavorable cards, yet he has learned to compensate with scholarly pursuits, tenacity, and sheer grit — qualities that catch the attention of Woodson University's scouts. The Department of Dungeon Studies values the mind and its ability to overcome all limitations. After all, they stripped the divine of their titles, turning gods into Dungeon Lords and their domains into Dungeons. The department will give Nox the tools to achieve his ambitions, and his limitations will push him to the forefront of arcane discovery. More immediate challenges remain, though. Nox lacks the means to pay the university's ridiculous tuition. Only alchemy and smart business deals will earn him the hundreds of gold coins he needs.
Royal Road4.56· 575Goodreads4.29· 684
AlchemyAnti-heroCraftingCultivationDungeon CrawlingLitRPG+3

The Dramatic Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Story

Fatomir

C47/100
In a world where Elves and Goblins are real, where Wizards and Witches cast terrible magic, and where level-100 Heroes lead parties against great evils, Dungeons are essential — places where stories are written, loot acquired, and legends born. And the narrator of this story is a Dungeon. Known as the Playwright, this Dungeon Core invites adventurers to the "Stage of Forgotten Fables" for a dramatic dungeon delve unlike any they have experienced before. Told from the perspective of the Dungeon Core itself, the story shifts between multiple POVs to show the growth of its characters. The LitRPG elements of levels, skills, and classes are present, though the focus leans toward narrative over number-crunching.
Royal Road4.60· 343
Anti-heroComedyDungeon CoreGameLitGenius MCLitRPG+2

Five Element Overlord: I Can Upgrade Everything!

KaeNovels

C47/100
Li Hao is transmigrated into a Xianxia cultivation world and thrust into the life of a servant in the Azure Cloud Sect. He has the worst quality trash five-element spiritual roots — in any other's position, he'd be chopping wood and eating inferior pills for the rest of his life. However, he binds with a system that can upgrade everything. A burnt, poisonous pill? One upgrade away from a priceless Marrow Cleansing Elixir. An old cracked butter knife? A few upgrades from a blade that slices through Demonic Serpent Scales. With his upgrade ability, Li Hao climbs through a world of sects, clans, and royal dynasties in constant war — accumulating magic items, spirit stones, and wealth along the way.
Royal Road4.13· 733
Anti-heroBase BuildingCraftingCultivationLitRPGMystery+4