Dungeon Walkers brave the depths of the dungeons for personal gain— clearing a dungeon means dungeon points to purchase gear with, but more importantly, perks. Perks are the main reason Walkers put their lives on the line. Every time a dungeon is cleared the first time, a Walker gets a choice of three perks that could change their lives.
Not every Walker makes it out alive. When someone dies in the dungeon, their soul is fragmented into four shards, which can be purchased for dungeon points. Collecting all four shards and taking them to a temple of the Goddess means the dead can live again. There is a sub-sect of Walkers that makes it their goal to bring the dead back from the dungeons— they’re called the Rescue Squad.
Stern is intent on joining the ranks of Rescue Squad. Finally done with his six months at the academy, he is about to make his first run through a dungeon. It will not be easy— he doesn’t have a crew, or a team, to run it with. Stern is an irregular— someone born with unusual perks— and unfortunately, looking like the blighted. Being seen as blighted has made Stern’s life hell, but he keeps pushing on, intent on making his goal real.
Despite his hardships, he’s been blessed with the unusual perk of his life-long friend, Pawly. Pawly is a polydactyl Maine Coon, who is protective of her friend and eager to help him reach his goal. With his friend beside him, Stern is ready to start his adventure.
(This book contains non-standard relationships and touches upon adult situations.)
My Opinion: 481 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
*Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
This is one of the easiest LitRPG stories to read. The dialogue and world building are done so well it’s effortless to get lost in the dungeon dive story and the pages just fly by. Within 5% of the story I like the main character (MC), I’m aware of his perceived weakness, and there’s enough world building done through conversation that I understand why the MC is going into a dungeon. It’s just smooth writing that draws you in and gets on with the adventure.
Most of the story is a slice of life dungeon diving with some occasional backstory on the MC and his companion, and some world building. The dialogue and action is good and there’s enough conflict between other characters to make the non-dungeon sections interesting.
The last 25% of the story is almost entirely relationship building, leading predictably to a polyamorous relationship. It’s not poorly written and other readers who love romantic relationships will probably like this last 25% a bit more than me. I would have liked to have seen that built up relationship developed over the course of the entire novel and not kinda squished all together at the end with very little adventuring breaking it up. I will also note that though the story does infer sexual relationship, there are no graphic sex scenes in the story. Which may be a negative for some readers and a plus for others.
On the game mechanic side of things, it’s mostly an upgrade system rather than a detailed class or skill system. Three upgrade options come after completing a dungeon for the 1st time and depending on how well the dungeon was completed the dungeon also gives out dungeon points that can be traded for special goods, weapons, armor and other gear like runes. It's not a complex system and since each dungeon diver gets specific upgrade options for them, there’s a lot of possible builds for each character.
Overall, the story is entertaining, though for me it does get a little predictable towards the end. Readers that like a casual slice of life adventure story will enjoy the story, with fans of the author’s other works likely to really enjoy the end of this novel.
Score: 7.3 out of 10