This is an isekai fanfiction for World of Warcraft in which the protagonist transmigrates to Azeroth and is now on the cusp of adulthood after living there since birth. As a disclaimer, I have never played any games related to the Warcraft franchise, so my knowledge of the games is surface level at best. This means that some references may have flown over my head, but on the other hand, I can't comment on any lore inaccuracies or the like. Despite this unfamiliarity however (and the awful cover/description for the... more>> novel), I actually really like this story and its down to earth nature. I think it would be best to have played World of Warcraft or at least have some basic understanding of the setting.

From what I have read, the setting of this novel actually predate the beginning of the events of World of Warcraft by 17 years, as it is in line with events in Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal. Jesse, our protagonist, is essentially powerless at the start aside from his future knowledge, having lived most of his life growing up in a humble family. Jesse's main motivation in the story is fairly simple: saving up money to buy a house in Stormwind for his parents. This is due to him knowing that his parents' home in Lordaeron faces danger in the future, and he feels attached to his parents in his new life. The events of the novel center around Jesse working jobs for money and slowly becoming stronger to earn more. Very slowly.

It's this kind of grounded nature which I like though, as it makes Jesse's victories and survival feel earned despite the danger of the setting. While Jesse is a fairly smart and cautious person, he struggles a lot as essentially every outing he goes on involves a life-or-death battle. Jesse's problems are further complicated by his proficiency being in

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shadow magic, which he simultaneously has to wield with risk of being corrupted and prevent others from discovering that he is a warlock.

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It's this underlying tension and risk management that is interesting to me, and Jesse is also no stranger to failure or making mistakes. Jesse gets stronger, but he has the actual blood, sweat, and tears to back it up. That's cool to me.

This isn't really an action-packed story however, as there's more of an emphasis on dialogue and Jesse's relationships with other characters. In manga terms, more seinen than shounen. Jesse mostly travels with his dwarf friend Greed Thunderfist, and they complement each other well. Jesse also interacts with World of Warcraft NPCs such as

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Archmage Malin and Ursula Deline

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. These NPCs are fleshed out as full characters as opposed to short cameos, and it's enjoyable to see Jesse integrate himself with the world's people. I actually like the dialogue in the story as well; there's a sense of maturity in writing in how the characters talk such as by speaking indirectly. It's a level of finesse that's not common in webnovels in my opinion and grounds the story more.

One of the best arcs in the novel is when

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Dalaran is invaded by Teron Gorefiend

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. Aside from what this obviously entails, this section is a particularly good example of Jesse's risk vs. Reward struggle in becoming stronger.

The translation from Gravity Tales is readable for the most part. There's some of the usual gender switching here and there and some particularly rough chapters in terms of presentation, but it's mostly alright. This is my favorite novel on their site currently, and I think if you can get past the fact that it's slow slice-of-life World of Warcraft fanfiction, then it's an enjoyable read. <<less

Down to Earth and HILARIOUSLY Slow.

Our protagonist is a transmigrator that's already lived in the world for 17 years. In those 17 years, he has basically been kicking rocks, scrambling for copper and silver to pay his rent. We don't learn much about our protag's time playing WoW, but he does have enough knowledge to raid, understand the story and potentially avoid danger. But he is basically locked within the boundaries of Stormwind doing odd jobs. The story takes place around the end of the Orc invasion btw.

He has no... more>> system. No cheats. No gold finger. He also doesn't have great wits, instinct, an unshakable will or anything of the sort. He has mediocre martial talent with swords, and no talent what so ever for magic. But surely he has to have something right? It can't just be weak misery-p*rn. Well yes,

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After being tortured by Shadow Magic he realized that he could try to memorize a spell incantation. Shadow Magic accepts all who desire it. He currently knows Fear and Summon Imp where I'm at. His power is amplified by a staff he looted from a dead Orc Warlock. But there's a pressure not to use Shadow Magic because it corrupts the user.

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Is that a cheat? Kinda?

The narrative flows like a slice-of-life. Our MC has the knowledge but barely uses it. Don't expect epic high octane action for most chapters. It's not even that good as a slow burn honestly. There's a lot of talking for the sake of it. Not much prose or scene building. You'll need some amount of knowledge about Azeroth before touching this.

Not terrible, just not good either. This is what the 3 Star rating was built for. <<less