The body of young paralyzed Luca, a boy killed by cruel bullies, becomes home to an interdimensional traveler. This is the ninety ninth world for this traveler who has spent an entire life in each of his previous worlds. And now he is out of lives, his previous misdeeds leaving him with a negative balance of points and preventing him from reincarnating anew. Once he realizes that he must spend his final life in a poverty-stricken family in a backward world, he awakens the consciousness of the deceased Luca and ends his own physical existence, leaving all his abilities to his heir.
One such ability is the use of the Wheel. Every traveler can spend points to spin the Wheel and gain a special talent, a superpower, or... a deadly illness. Luca spins the Wheel and gains the superpower of metamorphosis. Now he can regenerate, recover from deadly wounds and even take on the shape of other beings. The young man takes on the form of the Emperor: to avoid death, help his family and, finally, to bring order to the Empire!
My Opinion: 495 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
Note: I noted a few more than usual translation errors in the version I got, but it may be because I got an early copy.
I enjoyed this novel and while it is light LitRPG, I’m not sure it is Wuxia which is part of the title. Nor do I recall anything like the cover art in the story or any asian influences at all in the novel.
The story starts in two parts. First, with Lucas, a boy with a severe disability who seems to live in a medieval tech civilization. He has a crappy life and can barely wheel himself around and is bullied. The second start is with an interdimensional traveler that reincarnates and lives lives for fun with a game-like interface that tracks his deeds, awards currency when he gains influence or does something that maintains universal balance, and grants skills and powers that can increase in power via a random wheel of fate. The traveler however, it tired of his existence, especially when he’s out of currency he needs for even one more reincarnation. Instead, he transfers this interface to the body he’s hosted in, Lucas, who gets healed of his disability and is thrust into a position where he can grow in power. Most of the novel follows Lucas, the main character (MC), as he is betrayed by those in power, gets his revenge, and grows in strength. Much of the story is about seeing just how messed up this part of the world is and how the MC, through events I won’t spoil, tries to improve things but has to constantly overcome obstacles in his path. Most obstacles are political or social in nature, but towards the end there is a little bit of fighting and action.
It’s an entertaining story, I’m just not sure it’s Wuxia, but that’s also not a genre I read regularly. As far as being LitRPG, it is. If light LitRPG. There is the interdimensional interface which shows earned karma points, called Tsoui, which are used to spin the wheel of fate and possibly get special powers or detriments. Those powers increase in levels as the MC uses them. Thus there is a progression system. However, there are also long stretches of the story where these powers aren’t mentioned and the MC doesn’t consciously do anything to improve, it's more automatic or situational.
Overall, I liked the story as I do all the author’s writings. The story is a bit darker than his other works, but it’s still fun to see the MC come through to overcome his challenges and all the unforeseen consequences.
Score: 7.3 out of 10