Wow, just wow.

I know the book title really gives off the impression that the book is going to be generic, but I'm glad that I didn't judge it by its title! The author detailed in the epilogue how writing took a toll on her mental and physical health, to the point where just thinking about it made her feel nauseous. Yet, the book turned out to be a masterpiece. Talent is really scary. Willpower is even scarier. Imagine if she had the passion and motivation to write—other authors wouldn't be able to compete! They would definitely question their own abilities!

Anyways, unto the review:

1. Characters

Characters are really fleshed out, especially our MC. She starts out as a goal-oriented and clear-headed youth with a touch of naivety, then she gets thrust into one perilous situation after another with nowhere to turn to. Her emotions starts fading and her remaining naivety goes away like a whoosh. She can do anything to achieve her goals. She is rational than even her companion AI! She has to make life-or-death decisions constantly, and she lives on the edge of the knife. But along the journey, she makes friends, companions and reliable teammates. She sees the best the humanity has to give and the worst the humanity has to give. By the end of the book, she starts smiling again. She finds her footing again. She becomes human again.

Another important character is Adam, MC's AI companion.

Eve is another AI of the Federation and likewise,

Amber is

There are other side characters as well such as Silver Face, Four-leaved Clover (Si Ye), Su Rong, Yu Hanxue, etc. All of them have fleshed out characters. In fact, because of one of the abilities of MC , even extremely side characters also have own story and background.

2. World Building

Although MC didn't explore every city of the Second World, the world building was well done. I did hope for her to explore the non-modern parts of the Second World, but she didn't, which is sad. But anyway, it was fun. We clearly knew the major institutions of the Second World, its currency, its political system, secret organizations, mythical lore, etc. I think that was enough world building.

3. Writing

Just by reading the book, you'll immediately realize that the author is highly intelligent. She had apparently read a lot of books to write this one and it shows. The author focused a lot on action scenes and all of them are breathtakingly beautiful. Then she also focused on MC's change in personality over time and her changing relationships with her teammates. It's done so well it's crazy. The writing itself is beautiful. Just the amount of foreshadowing left me flabbergasted. Not just anyone can keep the mystery going on for so long.

No cookie-cutter writing you would find in literally every Chinese book. I don't know how a person who hated writing could write so beautifully.

4. Translation

It's nice. Gotta praise the translator!

5. Romance

You'll find in the epilogue where the author explains why she chose the ML as the ML. Before that, you wouldn't even realize that there was supposed to be romance in this book. Hahaha. But it was for the best, for romance could have reduced the greatness of this book. Our MC really wasn't in the right mind and place throughout the book to indulge in romance anyway. Given her personality, if there was romance, it would have been really weird.

There are certainly some small loopholes and a tiny touch of aggressive nationalistic sentiments, but they cover like 1 or 2% of the book, so no biggie.

It was soooo good. Thank you for the excellent translation. The chapter is quite long between 2.5k to 3k words. There was even more than 6k++ words for one chapter. MTL won't do it. They can't describe as detail as the author write. For example from foxaholic translator izzain ... more>>

Spoiler

With a sharp crack, the bullet hit its mark! The spinning bullet struck directly into the chest of the parasitic hydra, instantly perforating its body and creating a bowl-sized hole. As dried flesh scattered around the cavity, no blood flowed.

Before Kui Xin could even savor the satisfaction of hitting the target, she rapidly pulled the trigger again. Bullets continuously fired from the barrel, striking the parasitic hydra's head, abdomen, shoulders, waist, and legs! Its parasitized form resembled a battered puppet, barely maintaining human shape.

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Ah~~ you can imagine the scene. The plot is compact with no unnecessary things.

The style is a bit like a male-oriented novel, and focusing on career. From being alone and helpless, later MC find a partner and finally had a teammate who could help each other behind the scenes.

The fun part of this book is the real battles, big and small, just like watching an action movie. There are also investigations and deciphering of various mysteries, so in the end a bosses is killed (yes, there are actually many bosses). This work already has an excellent plot and creativity.

This game plot is not a simple linear plot, but a bit like peeling an onion.

When first observe the world through the eyes of the protagonist, it feel full of mysteries: cyberpunk-style modern cities + terrifying alien creatures + the emergence of player groups + cunning organizations + powerful supernatural powers + the shadow of artificial intelligence + scientists' evil plans + the second world's counterattack plan against the first world... Each point can be expanded upon to write a very colorful story.

Most authors may adopt a more conservative writing approach, such as presenting the above settings separately, and a large paragraph focusing on a certain type of setting... But the author of this book is quite confident in the control of the plot, and only uses ten chapters to throw all the above settings to the stage. After that, almost every plot is advancing in parallel, and the information obtained in each plot will provide some help to the protagonist (who is also the reader). This cruel and crazy world slowly emerges before the eyes of all readers. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

This writing strategy may cause confusion in the early stages, but as long as you are willing to follow the author's thinking, you will enjoy an unparalleled sense of immersion, as if you yourself have personally experienced the protagonist's puzzle solving + adventure + battle.

There are foreshadowings and echoes everywhere.

I like the extra chapter and the words Adam said to Kui Xin was soo sweetttt. Make me hope the author write a chapter about only the two of them growing old together. <<less

This novel is totally worth staying up for two days. The plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, and of course, the freaking ✨action time✨

This novel is a hidden gem. I am Lord of the Mysteries enjoyer and I haven't found a novel that could rival it, in terms of world-building, plot, and characterization. Well, not until I found this novel. Don't be fooled by the goofy title, the story takes more on a serious and action-packed journey. The world-building is good, it isn't as vast as LOTM but it still has its own charm, the conspiracy about the game existence, conflict between the many parties of the Second World (including the players), they... more>> kept me up at night. And most importantly, I think the author has a better writing than Cuttlefish (sorry Cuttlefish). In the early chapters of LOTM, there's a lot of infodumps but this novel doesn't have that, the author carefully revealed the world building layer by layer.

There's a tiny little catch tho: the nationalism and the subtle problematic views about Africa

Spoiler

For instance, the wasteland in the Second World corresponds to half of Africa in real life, kinda questionable in and out itself. However, MC also once referred Africa in the First World as 'wasteland.' Like gurl, you do know that the real-world Africa is rich in resources, right? Anyway, this kinda gives me the ick. But it could also be the problem of mtling so, take my words with a grain of salt.

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This novel is amazing. I was desperately looking for a good female protagonist, non harem, sci-fi fantasy novel, and this is perfect.

The title had me doubting it for a second but I am so glad I decided to read this. If I could give this 10 stars I would.

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Spoiler

Wei Xin is the female protagonist who signs up for a game - Crimson Earth with the hopes that if she gets a beta testing opportunity, she can sell it cuz she's broke. But she and the other beta testers end up being sent to another world. They have no memories from the bodies they possess, they lack the common sense for this sci-fi fantasy second world, so some of them immediately stand out and the government of that world (the Federation) starts to get suspicious.

Wei Xin is super unlucky cause the body she possesses, also named Wei Xin and looking about 70% similar to herself, is an undercover agent for a rebel organization, and is currently working for the Federation's Investigation Department. She has to ward off suspicions and tests from both sides, with no memories to aid her.

I love that MC is just a regular person from our world at first and not OP cuz we get to watch her growth, and watch her mindset change as she adapts to the new world, and her new identity. She struggles a lot but she is a go getter, determined and not afraid to take risks, so she challenges herself, challenges her situations, and eventually attains hard earned freedom. She's not hypocritical either, she knows she's not a saint, and she puts herself first as her survival is the most important, but she also makes sacrifices for the things and people she holds dear.

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Definitely read this book, it's really good, I was almost late to several appointments cuz I got so engrossed in this I lost track of time 😄. <<less

Good writing that keeps you wanting more. The translation is also phenominal with little or no mistakes. Delivers everything you want in the tags except maybe romance, though I have stopped at chapter 38 so I wouldn’t onow if there really is romance in rest of the chapters.

This brings me to why it only earns 4 stars. If you have the premium currency in foxaholic, go ahead and unlock the chapters and read. However at the time of this review, only 38 chapters are up for free. Furthermore, despite the... more>> fact that it claims that free chapters go up every friday, this has been untrue. Therefore if you don’t want to be blueballed by this otherwise good novel, hand over your cash. <<less

High-stakes state, fast-moving conflicts, blood-pumping fighting/actions scenes with some kind of eldritch horror-aliens-gods-seamonsters, we follow the MC’s sturdy footsteps and ruthlessly rational mind, trying to figure out what exactly was this multiversal disaster about and how can she flee back to Mother Earth.

One adrenaline pump after another, this novel is addictingly enjoyable. Not your critic’s Michelin 3 stars cuisine or anything, but it’s absolutely a perfectly served hot wings bucket on a rainy weekend.

The romance is subtle but still very sweet. If you don’t go in looking for romance then... more>> you probably wont be bothered by it or won’t even know there’s romance at all. But if you are cues-seeking junkie like me, a piece of subtle hint is like a piece of candy wanting to reveal itself only to the most sensitive eyes. And they are so adorable saasjjsjakkslkakak- *incomprehensible cosmic horror noises*

Spoiler

Like c201 when Adam told Kui Xin that she is his “mirror”, his one and only “mirror”, literally a “I see myself in you and you in me, simply talking to you make me grow and change to become a better being, having you as my partner in crime, I’m the lucky one” moment, then proceeded to plead her not to take risk and probably die, told her if she died then “what would I do?”.

Meanwhile Kui Xin and her oblivious (and emotional unavailable) ass stood there dumbfounded, taking all of that artificial-neutral-network-rizz and missed half of it.

But still, that was 10x more intimate than straight up f*cking y’all they are practically soulmates

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This is one of those books that make me wish I could get amnesia so I could read it for the first time again. I love this world, I love the characters, and I love the plot! Everything is done insanely well, and it's crazy engaging from beginning to end.

I want to say though that I would never, in a million years, want to get isekai-ed/transmigrated into this book, so everybody should follow my example and make sure to stay healthy while reading this book!

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Spoiler

I would definitely be like one of the first to get caught by the government, and there goes my little life 😭

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