Thousands of years ago a race of ancient beings called the Game Masters came to earth. They built a worldwide crystalline computer network. Its purpose, to test humanity's mettle using VRMMO style games.
Centuries later college girl Amy Prescott accidentally awakens the long slumbering network. Now trapped in a VR simulation based on her fan girl fantasies, there appears to be no way out.
Amy soon finds herself traded to the Half-Orc Bashir as his reluctant concubine. Stuck as a character with high sex appeal, but little defense seems more than unfair. Amy must learn to master the secret skills she needs to survive.
Will she escape the game? Or be forever trapped in virtual reality?
My Opinion: 122 pages, $0.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Change in format. Originally split into three short stories. In the space of a week, the author combined the three into a single story and deleted the serial aspect of the series.
*The novella starts off with a graphic sex scene. But overall there is little sex in the story, only about 7% of the text has sex scenes. Still it is there.*
The first question. Is this LitRPG? The RPG mechanics are a little loose at first but are constant. There are stats, a character sheet, game missions, and the use of class skills eventually. The main character (MC), Amy/Arwyn, is transported to a game world where she eventually even uses her vast gamer knowledge to find a place for herself.
I’d say this is the first successful example of a LitRPG romance. There’s also a little erotic fiction in there (less than 7% of the novel) so be aware when you’re thinking about reading it. Despite the first scene (1-3%) which you can skip, the emphasis is on romance, not sex.
If you like paranormal romance stories and LitRPG, you’ll probably like this one. Personally, I skipped the graphic sex scenes that only made up a tiny portion of the story (7% of the novel). The romance stuff was ok for me. It’s not my genre but I do recognize that it followed the pattern of well received romance novels. Relucent attraction turns into passion. Which blossoms into a love so strong the MC is willing to risk it all to save the man she loves. Even though it’s not really my thing, I couldn’t help but root for the MC as she grappled with her emotions and fought for her life in the two fight scenes in the novella.
It was well on its way to a 7 until the last 15%. The story takes this stupid pseudo sci-fi twist to force the MC back into the simulation to save everyone with her feelings.
Don’t worry, like any good romance novel, the MC and her love interest end up together at the end.
Score: 6 out of 10