Synopsis
THE WEAKEST HUNTER OF ALL MANKIND!
E-rank hunter Jinwoo Sung has no money, no talent, and no prospects to speak of-and apparently, no luck, either! When he enters a hidden double dungeon one fateful day, he’s abandoned by his party and left to die at the hands of some of the most horrific monsters he’s ever encountered. But just before the last, fatal blow…
PING! [Congratulations on becoming a Player.]
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Review:
An classic. Supremely addictive and a bingeworthy!
Now, I’ve had this in my TBR for a long time, but have been putting it off simply because it was not in KU (Kindle Unlimited). When I hit a block in my KU reads, I decided to take the plunge and get the whole series. And boy, am I glad now! I have not read the webcomics, light novels or watched the TV show (all of which I’m looking forward to), so this review is covers just the Novel series (Vol 1-8).
LitRPG is a genre that’s gaining popularity in leaps and bounds nowadays with books like Dungeon Crawler Carl even breaking into mainstream fantasy lists. Not just in volume, the modern books have deeper plots, multiverse spanning storylines and enough epic-ness to rival Star Wars or MCU. This book is call back to when things were simple(r) and plot lines were more linear. Now, that’s not meant as a criticism, but rather a testament to how this book still remains as the best in the genre and will remain as a fond memory forever!
The plot is set in a version of Earth where dungeons randomly spawn and unless cleared, the monsters in them break out and cause destruction. To balance this magic, humans also randomly “awaken” with special powers (Hunter, Healer etc) to combat the monsters. The protagonist, Jinwoo Sung has awakened as a E-Grade Hunter, the weakest of the lot and considered a liability. Most of his type find work in regular industries, but Jinwoo still risks his life to be a hunter so he can pay for this mother’s treatment and sister’s school. In a fated dungeon, facing imminent death he gets a secret message to be a “Player”. The book is all about Jinwoo exploring his new status and abiltiies as we get introduced to the wider universe, the threat Earth faces and how Jinwoo’s new status can either save or doom all of humanity.
These are really short books, more like novellas, so the series is relatively straight forward both in plot and in prose. The writing is simple and direct with zero purple prose or extravagant world building. The characters also fit mostly into good vs bad with few shads of gray. After having read so much grimdark, I found this raw simplicity refreshing. Simple doesn’t mean bad. The characters are all well etched, and I found their characters, the reasoning for the actions all crafted logically making it easy to love or hate them. The moral decisions Jinwoo faces are also handled very well balancing not just his own, but the wider impact to his actions.
For me, this series is a like a breath of fresh air that certainly got me out of the reading slump, and ne which rekindled my interest in catching up to older series, I haven’t read yet. This is the perfect series to recommend to someone who’s looking to get into the genre and for anyone who loved anime.
Highly recommended!
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