I should not exist.
All children like me are stillborn, or die in infancy. Those who cannot grow stronger, die. No empty child has ever reached a year of age, yet I am now thirteen.
It has been a long and miserable thirteen years, where the best I can manage to do is walk with difficulty. Sometimes, I cannot even manage that.
My clan has paid dearly for every minute of my life. And money is not so easy to obtain, here at the edge of civilization.
Perhaps I might have lived in this state for many years. A cripple, strong in mind but feeble in body. But when some unexpected guests came to our estate, everything changed. I would die at last – or, I would learn to survive on my own.
My Opinion: 625 pages, $5.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
The philosophy of the story and mechanics reminded me of the Underdog series, where the MC seems to be broken because of his zero level and unable to survive in a world where levels means everything. But that flaw turns into the characters secret boon as he discovers a way to exploit the system for unheard of rewards. There’s still lots of hard work, creative thinking, and in the case of this novel fishing, but it's that kind of game mechanic exploitation story.
It has an interesting, if almost purely cultivation start. But at the 14% mark, the RPG aspects of the martial arts world are explained including: stats, levels, and cultivation cores. More details and specifics related to the MCs unique progression path are given as the story goes on and the details become relevant. I also liked how the ideas were translated by the MC from the native world concepts, with their own particular names, into earth culture and gaming terms. It reinforced the reincarnated into a new world background.
Overall, it’s an interesting story where you see great strides in progression from a character who starts off crippled. I will note that if you need a story with lots of fight scenes, this won’t do it for you. There’s not much combat till the last quarter of the story, though there are many other types of conflicts and a good bit of tension from other sources.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Alpha Zero (Alpha LitRPG Book 1)