Bloodwraith thought of himself as an effective villain, until a single adventurer destroyed his entire lair. With his last breath, he switched bodies with the adventurer and discovered that his world was built on lies. Alien beings from another dimension were using his world as a game... and now he was one of them.
The problem is, Bloodwraith has no experience being an adventurer. He was a mage, but his new body is only good at hitting things. He relied on undead minions, but now he has no choice but to depend on other people. And worst of all, strange boxes are constantly appearing in his vision, describing the world in unfamiliar, nonsensical terms.
Taking over the world is off the table, because the alien gods might be watching. To survive, Bloodwraith will need to learn the truth about himself and his world. And that means acting like an adventurer, at least for now.
My Opinion: 366 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
The premise is that an NPC villain body swapped with a player and then got reset. Only from the villain's perspective it was more of a fantasy magic spell he cast at the last minute before his lich body was going to be destroyed. The novel goes through the entire noob experience of learning about RPG game mechanics but it's all from the perspective of this fantasy villain who thinks of it in his cultural terms. The blue boxes are sent from some mysterious gods who know everything and have strange powers to improve the body of the adventurer he is in. Gaining power from XP is viewed as some strange necromancer magic that steals the soul power of defeated enemies. The main character (MC) constantly fights with his bodies inclination to do good versus his pragmatic evil viewpoint of doing things like: murdering the quest giver and stealing everything, or poisoning a whole town for the XP.
The game mechanics are solid and consistent through the story. Fairly standards D&D style character sheet with leveling giving 5 stat points to assign and various skills that can be learned, and improved through use or practice. The MC is never over powered and when faced with tough odds the author never breaks the game rules established to get him out of a jam.
Overall, I had a really good time with the story. Though I’ll admit, most of the stuff that happens is familiar LitRPG slice of life adventuring, it’s told through a unique lens that gives it a fresh feel. I was only a little disappointed that the story didn’t take more of a villain's approach. Still, good action, good RPG mechanics, and some very good story twists.
Score: 7.8 out of 10