Novels With No Love Interest(s) / No Romance
Novels With No Love Interest(s) / No Romance
Novels that have no lasting romance or love interests. There will be no smut, harem (if MC attracts some people, I don't mind until it becomes a major part of the story or MC becomes interested in them), or ecchi, and BL/GL also count as romance. The list includes a personal rating and (often rambling) review/description.
Of course, it's also about my tastes, so this list will be mostly fantasy and action novels (op mc will be a common feature). I am a wordy person so I also don’t mind wordier books, too... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The list is in no particular order, but novels with <100 chapters and on hiatus/slow updating (less/around as often as 1 chap/month) will go in the back. This is because I assume people are looking for binge reads like me.
DISCLAIMER: The list is subject to change and revision - my impression changes as I think about them/read more. I cannot guarantee a novel has no romance later. I'll try to update this rec list as I read. No promises though, so my descriptions may be outdated.
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Similar lists (insert after the "viewlist/" in the URL): 68396, 3797, 46727, 20556, 7097, 25820, 47958, 19335, 48107, 50847, 29345, 44031
Of course, it's also about my tastes, so this list will be mostly fantasy and action novels (op mc will be a common feature). I am a wordy person so I also don’t mind wordier books, too... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The list is in no particular order, but novels with <100 chapters and on hiatus/slow updating (less/around as often as 1 chap/month) will go in the back. This is because I assume people are looking for binge reads like me.
DISCLAIMER: The list is subject to change and revision - my impression changes as I think about them/read more. I cannot guarantee a novel has no romance later. I'll try to update this rec list as I read. No promises though, so my descriptions may be outdated.
~
Similar lists (insert after the "viewlist/" in the URL): 68396, 3797, 46727, 20556, 7097, 25820, 47958, 19335, 48107, 50847, 29345, 44031
169 Followers
Created: Sep 5th, 2020, Updated: Jun 5th, 2025
Created Sep 5th, 2020
Updated Jun 5th, 2025
113 Chapters Every 559.5 Day(s) 16810 Readers 377 Reviews 02-06-2019
5/5: Really well thought out and has its own complex power system and world history. The MC focuses on finding the secrets of the aforementioned power system and history as he gathers power and tries to find how he got here in the first place.... more>>
90 Chapters Every 239.9 Day(s) 16221 Readers 167 Reviews 08-17-2015
4.5/5: The MC is an aging, reclusive, and ridiculously skilled eSports star playing a fantasy MMORPG, Glory. The story starts with him being forced into retirement.... more>>
211 Chapters Every 50.1 Day(s) 9863 Readers 89 Reviews 06-12-2023
5/5: I know essentially nothing about real-life showbiz, especially K-pop, but this novel presents an interesting side to it. A good read with a strong cast of main characters with some steady progression that's good at portraying fan hype.... more>>
85 Chapters Every 94.1 Day(s) 24772 Readers 466 Reviews 06-05-2025
Completed Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Mature Mystery Psychological Sci-fi Seinen Supernatural Tragedy
4.8/5: Plot twists galore. Happens in a sort of apocalypse where the world is changed and supernatural things happen. It's also really meta, in a plot-involved sort of way...it's complicated. Gets a bit harder to swallow later on but nonetheless a really good read.... more>>
259 Chapters Every 93.2 Day(s) 6331 Readers 52 Reviews 01-24-2022
4.8/5: It may not seem it at first, but it is a deeply sentimental novel. Although the start is slow and not engaging, I can't help but like it for its characterization, prose and setting (I'm especially weak to this type of novel exactly). ... more>>
1133 Chapters Every 3.5 Day(s) 41393 Readers 612 Reviews 06-17-2025
4.7/5: MC, an aspiring slacker who is willing to work for his goal, is transmigrated into a fantasy novel as the cannon fodder Cale Henituse, who was beaten up by the novel's original protagonist early in the story.... more>>
422 Chapters Every 0.7 Day(s) 8072 Readers 62 Reviews 06-20-2025
5/5: A solid fusion of a handful genres/elements/tropes. Combination of survival thriller, supernatural horror, office life, and misunderstanding that ends up pretty similar to infinite flow. Setting similar to SCP, but more individually isolated instances than miscellaneous phenomena.... more>>
107 Chapters Every 215.9 Day(s) 8899 Readers 89 Reviews 12-21-2016
3.8/5: The first part of the novel has the most comedy, it eventually gets a more serious tone later. MC is transmigrated into a xianxia/xuanhuan world, with a system that'll kill him if he doesn't get his task done - to found the #1 sect. So he begins his journey scam-, I mean, recruiting disciples that are the main characters of xianxia novels. ... more>>
24 Chapters Every 85.2 Day(s) 2466 Readers 24 Reviews 09-24-2023
4.3/5: MC roleplays his cool edgy character in his shiny new virtual reality game, only to realize he's stuck roleplaying. The name is a little goofy, but the story isn't purely misunderstandings played for laughs. I found myself genuinely attached to the characters, especially MC.... more>>
198 Chapters Every 177.5 Day(s) 3844 Readers 22 Reviews 06-20-2022
4.2/5: The life of dude reincarnated as a cat in 2000's China. It's slice-of-life and focuses mainly on his escapades and daily life as the intelligent pet cat of a university professor and his family.... more>>
498 Chapters Every 0.5 Day(s) 3071 Readers 19 Reviews 06-20-2025
4/5: A shameless misunderstanding novel about an alien MC stuck in an F-rank body, desperately trying to keep up a facade of strength after digging himself into a hole by telling lies and letting people assume things. This is not a story of completely reasonable developments, as you can assume when the story has both "Unlucky MC" and "Lucky MC" tags, but it's still surprisingly fresh.... more>>
164 Chapters Every 11.8 Day(s) 1375 Readers 9 Reviews 06-20-2025
4/5: A novel-feeling time travel story with a main character with a complicated past, which results in some interesting misunderstandings. I particularly like the main character, who's clever and a bit manipulative. ... more>>
366 Chapters Every 0.9 Day(s) 1145 Readers 5 Reviews 06-20-2025
4/5: A not-quite-misunderstanding novel. MC is an actor transmigrated into a minor antagonist, a betrayer of the knight order. He quickly establishes his persona as a noble-raised apprentice knight with his heart in the right place, but with a terrible attitude and plenty of underhanded tactics "unbefitting of a knight".... more>>
738 Chapters Every 85 Day(s) 3075 Readers 52 Reviews 01-08-2022
3.8/5: A more laid-back novel. The beginning is survival, but it kind of evolves into a sci-fi kaiju movie plot, and then into an interstellar empire-building one (that seems to be where it's going at 380 chapters). Most beloved characters include MC (who stays a snake for the entire novel), a turtle, and a squirrel.... more>>
78 Chapters Every 81.9 Day(s) 6545 Readers 148 Reviews 01-19-2018
4.2/5: Another relatively light novel by Lazy Cliche, this time about a reincarnated composer-turned-war-hero in a sci-fi setting as he rises in various entertainment circles. OP, Mary Sue-like protagonist.... more>>
315 Chapters Every 146.4 Day(s) 11691 Readers 164 Reviews 08-16-2019
4/5: A lighter, simple novel very focused on the main character and slowish paced (all of Lazy Cliche's novels are like that, don't let that terrifying cover fool you). Some might even say it's a bit bland. The setting is a fantasy-ish world reminiscent of prehistoric or ancient times where technology is not developed and metal is cool.... more>>
1265 Chapters Every 2.4 Day(s) 10112 Readers 68 Reviews 06-20-2025
4.6/5: a typical transmigration story at first glance, but unexpectedly has quite some depth once you get into it. MC becomes part of the game he was a diehard fan of in life after dying, now playing the role of an extra character in the game's setting: the top high school for 'players' with supernatural powers.... more>>
1178 Chapters Every 28.3 Day(s) 1615 Readers 34 Reviews 04-26-2024
4/5: Endless subplots, always about to go to a more powerful realm type of Chinese webnovel.... more>>
33 Chapters Every 52.2 Day(s) 4988 Readers 25 Reviews 05-03-2023
4.2/5: At first a bit of a genre satire but otherwise typical reincarnation/isekai korean novel, but that later takes itself into an different direction. The story stars MC, a transmigrator, as the central protagonist. His siblings have other common protagonist traits, while his incredibly overpowered father struggles to deal with his trouble magnet children.... more>>
39 Chapters Every 198.1 Day(s) 6931 Readers 84 Reviews 05-21-2017
3.5/5: Somewhat similar to Black Tech Internet Cafe, especially at the beginning, but they differ quite a lot later on. Effects of the shop's products are more explained here, too.... more>>
20 Chapters Every 65.9 Day(s) 5456 Readers 28 Reviews 11-03-2022
3.7/5: It's kind of like if you mashed TNE, ORV, and the Korean modern dungeoning LitRPG genre together. Also included is the friendship/rivalry between MC and the original novel's MC.... more>>
0 Chapters Every 4.5 Day(s) 4116 Readers 41 Reviews 04-28-2025
4/5: Pretty interesting premise. The MC is something of a savant; cold, kind, smart and s*upid all at once. He's able to see emotions, but not understand them. The story is his journey to learn more, although this curiosity for the world takes a bit of time to develop. It’s not a particularly deep novel despite this, more so a light read.... more>>
#23Yama Rising
20 Chapters Every 201.2 Day(s) 1108 Readers 16 Reviews 08-16-2020
3.7/5: Set in modern parallel world with supernatural elements and kingdom building later on (it really picks up about 100 chapters in). Worldbuilding is quite good despite the presence of small plot holes and is very well-researched in history and mythology.... more>>
430 Chapters Every 1.1 Day(s) 16795 Readers 113 Reviews 06-13-2025
3.5/5: A dungeon + hunter game-apocalypse novel; the MC has a burst of character development in the first few chapters after and causing his little brother's death, and regresses to five years ago with the help of his sacrifice. ... more>>
34 Chapters Every 143.9 Day(s) 2354 Readers 33 Reviews 10-16-2020
3.2/5: If you've ever wanted to read about an evil spirit of plague and death trying to take over the world(s), this is it. Gets a little old the more you read, though.... more>>
Comments (24)
Nice list
Although I ended up reading worlds tree without realising it was dropped
@aShinyVaporeon ahh that's good to know. If they do update again, I'll be sure to give it a read :D
Sorry for the late reply, I didn't notice this before. Luckily it was saved
Lovely list! They all look interesting (i only read TCF and King's avatar haha)
Also, I would like to suggest "Omniscient Reader's viewpoint" it's action, survival novel/manhwa and it doesn't have romance in it :3
Oh, yeah, I did read up to like chapter 300 a while ago. It's one of those novels I'm not up to date with so I'm hesitant to add it to the list, thank you for the recommend!
I'll try to catch up on it and add it in. :D
Hi, glad you like it! This is where I put pretty much all of my romance-less reads; I haven't read a new one in a good while since I'm not around this site as much as I used to be.
You can try the other recommendation lists I linked, but I unfortunately don't have any other series to recommend personally.
love this list, thank you so much!
(early spoiler for ppl who didn’t read word)
i actually drop the story when he went to the new city and was trying to save her so do you know what happens after that