The end of the world is not such a bad thing for Russian weapons engineer Vlad Nardoir.
Really his world ended six months ago when his wife died, and ever since then, things have been downhill. Soul-crushing medical debt. Favors to the Russian mafia. Now, asteroid. For Vlad, this is life in a nutshell.
But, in a wild twist of fate, he has found a way out. A chance to start fresh in a brand-new ultra-immersive MMORPG called Viridian Gate Online. Making the leap might kill him, but again, death is not such a bad thing for a man with nothing to live for. Even in the virtual world, however, old grudges burn true, and the past is not as far gone as it seems. He must use his quick wits, rugged persistence, and peculiar set of skills as a weapons engineer to make a place for himself in this new world, or be forcibly dragged back into the very life he fought so hard to escape.
My Opinion: 297 pg, $4.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Another origin story for another character from the main series. This time it is Vlad, the Russian weapons engineer.
There's a bit of touching backstory at the beginning, which kinda has a huge flaw, but serves as a way to create emotional motivation for the main character (MC). The use of this hook is done well and the first 15% of the story, though super light on RPG stuff is probably my favorite part of the story since it’s the most original.
However, past that point things just aren’t surprising because they involve the main plot of the VGO series and if you’ve read that, then what happens in this story won’t really be a surprise. Questions like: Will Ina survive this fight? When will Vlad meet Grim Jack? Will Vlad fix the cannons in time? Or will the good guys win a fight? All those things are supposed to be places of tension, but they’re not. Because if you’ve read the main VGO series, you already have the answers to all the big plot questions. There is new material that tells you about the MCs class, how he uses his abilities and real world knowledge to craft, and some small adventures. But it wasn’t enough to push the story into good for me. It’s not bad by any means, it just didn’t hit good for me either because there weren’t any real surprises in the story.
Score: 6 out of 10