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382 series

Outrun

Lost Rain

B67/100
In a neon-drenched cyberpunk city drowning in gangs and corporate predators, a poor thief turned investigator just wants to earn enough to get out. That plan falls apart fast—caught between stealing from one of the Big 7 and a mysterious interface that keeps issuing directives, survival becomes the only goal. A gritty first-person journey through post-apocalyptic cyberpunk streets, where every job could be the last.
Royal Road4.65· 1K
GrimdarkLitRPGMysteryPost-apocalypticSci-fiUrban Fantasy

Death: Genesis

Nicholas Searcy

B67/100
Zeke Blackwood devoted his childhood to baseball and gave up a kidney to save his sick brother — only to die on the operating table. Eons later, after Earth has been ravaged, he is reborn in the Radiant Isles: a magical realm of legendary creatures, horrifying monsters, and a war between good and evil. Fully healed and guided by the mysterious entity Oberon, Zeke begins battling his way through trolls and darkness, gaining superhuman abilities with every victory — and acquiring allies in an archer named Abby and a soul-bonded dire bear cub named Pudge.
Goodreads4.39· 1.4K
GrimdarkLitRPGMonster TamingPost-apocalypticReincarnationStats+1

Sunflower

D.M. Rhodes (Razzmatazz)

B67/100
Constantly on the run as a refugee from a brutal hobgoblin war, Burch finds an odd, self-aware sunflower during her desperate escape. In a frantic bid for survival, the two journey together across a dark, magic-filled world in pursuit of what might be the only place of safety left anywhere—a place known only as Paradise. Frightful danger lurks at every turn, the hobgoblin horde hunts them relentlessly, and time is against them. Who or what is the sunflower? And will they even survive the journey to find out if Paradise is real?
Royal Road4.63· 1.3KGoodreads3.71· 542
CozyDungeon CrawlingGenius MCGrimdarkHaremIsekai+5

Reforged from Ruin

Silv3rtongue

B67/100
Raika used to be a cultivator — living in a sect, fighting in tournaments, defying the heavens as cultivators do. She was never the strongest or wisest, but she never gave up and always stood by her ideals. Then an Imperial Cultivator destroyed her soul organs and left her crippled. In a world ruled by a millennia-old Emperor and his Blades, where enslaved Daemons serve as weapons of mass destruction and eldritch entities roam at the edges of reality, Raika is now less than worthless. But when the choice is surrender or madness, she chooses madness. Embarking on a strange new path, she will abandon humanity, sanity, and the rule of the Empire to become something far stranger and more powerful than she ever imagined. A story of slow-burn progression, expansive worldbuilding, and a protagonist who keeps transforming — body, mind, and soul — until she is truly free.
pf9.0· 2Royal Road4.55· 1.2K
Anti-heroCultivationDungeon CoreGrimdarkHorrorLGBTQ++4

Echoes of the Tribulation

Carl Dehal

B67/100
The year is 1329, and the Horns of the Apocalypse are about to sound. In a small Scottish town, a young boy begins a journey from carpenter's apprentice to one of the most powerful forces in the Host of the Heavens. A path of adversity lies before him, spanning from the Scottish Borders to the Spanish Reconquista, the Holy Land, and realms beyond. His ascension is an unceasing trial where one misstep may condemn his soul — facing mythical beasts, hordes of demons, and fell beings created by the System for the Tribulation of Mankind. Will he live by the Words of God, be guided by his own intent, or will other forces claim him for their own ends?
Royal Road4.68· 393
Base BuildingDungeon CrawlingGrimdarkLitRPGMilitaryOverpowered MC+4

SYRINE - Into the Grim Darkness of the Far Future

Wong40k

B67/100
A disillusioned gamer found himself on an unfamiliar path with no memory of how he arrived. After a disorienting encounter, he emerged inside one of the most brutal science-fiction universes ever conceived — the Imperium of Man, set in the grim darkness of the far future where there is only war. With this new identity came world-shattering secrets he had not asked to inherit.
Royal Road4.66· 700
GrimdarkIsekaiLGBTQ+MilitaryReincarnationSci-fi

Bloodsworn

Dominick R

B66/100
The Dragons have been slain, the Giants pacified, the Elves have retreated to the old growth forests, and the Dwarven forges have gone cold. Magic fled from the world as the Empire of Man rose supreme on the strength of technology — until Essence ignites, filling the world with the old powers of myth and legend. Erak doesn't care about any of it. His Oaths are etched into his Blood, and the Weight Essence has given them has only made them stronger. He serves his Queen: her shield, her sword, her guardian. Cut off from her as portals tear open the sky and release a storm of demons upon the Empire, he will fight his way to her side. Rallying survivors, soldiers, civilians, and scholars, Erak is determined to cut through every legion of Hell standing between him and his Queen. For he is the Bloodsworn, and nothing shall stop him from honoring his Oaths.
Royal Road4.73· 222Goodreads3.63· 542
GoreGrimdarkHorrorLitRPGMilitaryNon-human MC+5

Dinosaur Dungeon

Alex Raizman

B66/100
Newborn Dungeon Cores must choose what entity they help contain, and that choice determines what monsters they can summon. After being executed for crimes forgotten in death, Tira is given the chance to make that choice. She chose Acekorah, the Primeval Terror — a being so dangerous few cores will risk trying to contain it. The danger wasn't important. Tira remembers dying. Because the Primeval Terror walked the world long before the races of Man, Cores bound to him can summon beings from beyond the veil of time. Forged in the fires of Tira's wrath, the dinosaurs will walk the world anew.
Goodreads4.40· 863
Dungeon CoreGrimdarkMonster TamingNon-human MCSecondary World

Demon Card Enforcer

Tharsult

B66/100
It's Drop Night, the one night every decade when the gods hand out cards to a lucky few. If you get a deck, you're a deckbearer capable of great feats — such as controlling frightening monsters. Wolfe, top enforcer for the Grimm family mob, has already been overlooked on two previous Drop Nights. People of his ilk seldom receive cards, as the gods tend to favor those who follow divine mandates. Against all odds, though, Wolfe does receive a deck at midnight — including a rare card everyone would kill to have. With the rival street gang the Cobras fielding six deckbearers and cutting into the Grimm family's trade, someone has to do the dirty work. And it isn't going to be the spoiled children of Big Man Grimm.
Royal Road4.66· 630
Anti-heroGoreGrimdarkLitRPGProfanitySkill Collection+1

CyberGene

Sixbees2

B66/100
Every century, the MALswarm invades — adaptive aliens of blood and steel led by Titans that decimate billions and leave behind raw Warp Energy. Humanity seizes this power, transforming into beings of mutated flesh and cybernetic might. Yet the promised utopia remains a lie, and New California's underworld schemes to profit from the impending Fifth Swarm. Two destinies collide amidst the chaos. Ripley — a cybernetics savant battling to save his dying mother — operates in the shadows of a gang-owned nightclub. Diana, engineered for perfection, fights as an officer of the law to forget her past. When a monster is unleashed, they steal its infinite potential to warp their futures. In a city where salvation and damnation are inseparable, Ripley reinvents himself from the wreckage of his enemies' cybernetics as a mercenary, while Diana's mutated blood crackles with lightning as she purges corruption. Against a grand conspiracy of aliens, rogue AIs, shady corporations, and organized crime, their alliance — and conflict — determines if the world will plunge into darkness or embrace the light.
Royal Road4.66· 606
Anti-heroBase BuildingCozyGenius MCGoreGrimdark+9

Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Carrarn

B66/100
The young, sickly Irwin has seen nothing but bad luck in his short life. When his brother returns with a magical card for him, his luck is about to change — but not necessarily for the better. Irwin is sent off with a group of youths to placate a group of sorcerers, armed with only a strange utility card granted by his brother and a prayer to stay alive long enough. A card-gathering story with crafting that grows increasingly central as the series progresses. Slow-paced, starts dark, with a weak-to-strong arc.
pf5.0· 1Royal Road4.60· 1K
CraftingGameLitGrimdarkIsekaiPost-apocalypticSecondary World+2

Cruel Violet

Dreamer's Riot

B66/100
It's been centuries since the world fell to the mist and crystal, changing the flora, fauna, and the very air. Humanity slowly returns from mountain refuges, mastering crystals and the strange clarity they offer. Now, at age five, every child receives a crystal inlay ring that reveals their calling — a specific area of excellence and a unique method of growth. Everyone has a calling. Everyone but Violet. For eleven years she has been the only child with no calling, learning to adapt to the ridicule and pity with a carefully worn persona of warmth and kindness. Then she finds herself with blood on her hands — and finally understands how to feed her calling, and her appetite.
Royal Road4.67· 418
Anti-heroDungeon CoreGoreGrimdarkLitRPGOverpowered MC+6

Atlantis Rising

Evan Currie

B65/100
A war was fought. Humanity lost. Demons now rule what was once mankind's domain, the great works of civilization lie in ruins, and the surviving humans live under the yoke of their conquerors. Not everyone went quietly, but at the end of it all the demons stood victorious. In one nearly uninhabitable corner of the conquered world, a very young woman comes of age walking in the shadow of destiny she does not yet understand. The demons have one final lesson left to learn from humanity — and it begins with the smallest of sparks.
Goodreads4.28· 1.6K
GrimdarkMilitaryNon-human MCPost-apocalypticSecondary WorldWeak to Strong

Main Character Hides His Strength

Road Warrior

B65/100
Sungchul Kim reached the pinnacle of power — then failed to stop the first of five prophesied Calamities because he couldn't wield magic. Branded the Enemy of the World, he must now travel in disguise among the weakest people in the Other World: newly arrived humans from Earth, the very group most likely to expose him. His goal is to steal the knowledge of magic from those who hate him most, before the Calamities destroy everything — not out of heroism, but because of a promise he made long ago.
Goodreads4.20· 1.8K
Competent MCGrimdarkIsekaiOverpowered MCSkill CollectionTransmigration

Young Flame

Joroboros

B65/100
After the tragic loss of her mother, Solvei and her tribal family of áed — a nomadic race of beings made entirely of flame — flee their pursuers through the wasteland. When unexpected events separate Solvei from her tribe, she finds herself alone and vulnerable in unknown lands. With no clear path forward, Solvei must grow as both a person and in strength to survive her uncertain future.
pf6.0· 1Royal Road4.67· 366
GrimdarkNon-human MCSecondary WorldWeak to Strong

Neon Dragons

LunaWolve

B65/100
Everyone is obsessed with Neon Dragons — the latest highly immersive cyberpunk aRPG from Sparksoft. But when our late-twenties protagonist's PC broke days before the game's release, all she could do was watch content creators play through it, limiting her knowledge to what she saw in those playthroughs. Things change drastically when she wakes up inside the body of a 15-year-old girl inside the city of Neo Avalis, six years into the game's past. She can level herself just like a character in the game, and with everything she's read and watched about Neon Dragons, she sets her sights on solving the mystery of the enigmatic Wall at the edge of the play-area. But she quickly realizes that this game is very real — life in a cyberpunk future is full of danger and intrigue, and the world has some surprising differences from the game she watched.
Royal Road4.36· 1.3K
CozyGameLitGrimdarkIsekaiLitRPGOverpowered MC+4

Unfathomably Cute

Strahdsillystraw

B64/100
Brooke believed she understood the tug-of-war between entities seeking to end or save humanity. She believed in the Vanguard — heroes granted immense power via contracts with the eldritch. She believed she would have no part in any of it, and above all, she believed in a path back to some semblance of normality. She was wrong. Follow Brooke and Roosevelt's incomprehensible journey as they contend with forces beyond understanding. As she delves deeper into the abyss, she'll find new allies, horrifying phobias, and a healthy respect for anything with more than two mouths.
Royal Road4.68· 234
GrimdarkHorrorPost-apocalypticSci-fiSuperpowersUrban Fantasy

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son

Dean Koontz

B64/100
Detectives O'Connor and Maddison delve deeper into the mysterious life of Victor Helios, trying to uncover his ultimate goal, while members of Victor's "New Race" begin to show they are not as perfect as he assumed. Randall Six continues his quest to escape from Hands of Mercy as Officer Harker descends into madness, and Erika Helios discovers some of her husband's unfinished creations. Mysteries are revealed and revenge is exacted as this horror epic reaches its apocalyptic conclusion — a story of fast-paced action, gripping horror, and thrilling adventure, adapted by Chuck Dixon with illustrations by Tim Seeley and Scott Cohn.
Goodreads4.24· 1.6K
GrimdarkHorrorMystery

The Way

Mike Ignatov

B64/100
A raging fire devoured the world of the Ancients. Where great cities once stood, there is nothing but ruins swallowed by sand. In this wasteland, strength is the only currency that matters. A young man who enjoyed his childhood without paying attention to the world around him pays a devastating price for that ignorance. Cast out and humiliated, forced to look into the eyes of the man who took everything from him, he resolves to become one of the strong — to avenge his father's death and bleed dry the bastard who destroyed his family.
Goodreads4.39· 725
GrimdarkLitRPGSchoolSecondary WorldWeak to StrongWuxia

Land of the Elementals

Aaron Oster

B64/100
Life is cruel — Arbor learns this the hard way when everything he loves is taken from him in a single night. Left alive by the men who butchered his family, Arbor has two options: give up and perish, or rise up and fight to take back the life he's lost. To do that, he must leave behind the only home he's ever known and venture into a world far more dangerous than he could ever have imagined — a world filled with magic, monsters, and mythic beasts powerful enough to destroy entire nations.
pf6.0· 1Goodreads4.40· 575
GoreGrimdarkSecondary WorldSkill CollectionWeak to Strong