The series is like many other world / game world transport kind of series. The backstory is good and gives a strong backbone to the story. The MC is a genius and successful, retires aft his sworn enemy, his father, died. Became a neet and enjoy his "retirement" (tho u dun know how old is the MC, I suspected its late 20's). Found an good game and mastered it 100% completion. Given a survey then thrown into that game world, 20+ years b4 the events of the game started.

Generally a... more>> dark, narcissist tone throughout the series. Death and gore is a thing. MC will lie n back stab to survive and since he know how the whole game will proceed, he takes advantages of it all. Although he plays the game as a hero, he now lives through it as a demon lord.

Spoiler

Although his actions are horrible in every way of the word, he is actually trying to save that world instead.

[collapse]

Generally its an awesome series with lots of twist n turn. Follow the bad guy, fulfilling the bad role and become the worst of the worst. <<less

"I can smell a scent somewhere. It is the smell of fat emanating from disgusting masses of flesh. It is the smell of greed and hypocrisy."

Don't be fooled by the mediocre synopsis, it doesn't do even an iota of justice for this novel. This is a diamond amog the rough, a once-in-a-lifetime novel that could give Berserk a run for its money.

The novel is centred around conquest, but nothing you'd make it out to be. It sets of light-heartedly, with comedic dialogue. However, it pays careful attention to the development... more>> of the plot and does not neglect it in the slightest, progressing at a comfortable pace. (Genuine comedy not those stuff in generic LNs or WNs) The novel gets progressively darker, but unnoticeably as it advances at an appropriate place into the story. At the later parts of the story, the true colours of the novel are unveiled as the comedy is dissolved and replaced with plot twists and the like. It begins to take on a more serious and gore-ish tone, with graphic depictions of torture, r*pe, necrophilia and many, many others.

Each arc is brilliantly charted and plotted out by the author, seemingly keeping readers dancing in the palm of his hand. Even the slightest detail expands into a full-blown arc within a chapter. The character development is probably the best characteristic if this novel. It introduces several characters, but carefully develops every single one, especially the ones you don't expect. The use of literature and rhetorical speech also compliments the dark and main (conquest) theme of the novel subtly and correctly.

This is one of those novels which ignites a spark of primal hunger in you for more after you're completed. This is a gem, a unique drug like NGNL which will leave its marks in the halls of fame - but will never to be seen again.

For the poor, unenlightened people who have yet to experience DD, I strongly recommend you to give it a try. <<less

Ugh! How to review this?

Its one of the best novels I have read but also its not for me.

Its one of those novels that you need to read. Why do I say that? Because you will love it or hate it. There is no in between. People that give it three stars are just trying to be special snowflakes and act like a wanabe critic. No. This you will like or hate, period.

I have given it full 5/5 becaus it is briliant but its not for me. The depth of... more>> every thing in this novel is amazing the storry also. There are some game elements but they are soon forgotten and dont matter which is good. The characters oh my I can write thousands of words it wont be enough. Recomended!

Spoiler

This Novel is good but the whole story and the character developments can be summed up into one sentence. All the characters have some kind of mental disorder. Why do I say that? Well First off the mai character is I Sociopath and/or has Emotional detachment also allows acts of extreme cruelty, such as torture and abuse, supported by the decision to not connect emphatically with the person concerned. And the other characters are also crazy as hell and have that something about them. If you read it when Dantalian and his secretary convey their love for each other but the definition of love for the two of them has a really different meaning witch is strange and disturbing but also refreshing I cant really explain it you just need to read it and when you do you will Know if you like it or not. Personally I dont like it but it is one amazing piece of literature.

[collapse]

<<less

A good LN, well writed and well translated =)

The story is pretty great.

My main disappointment is the MC, I hate it when intellectual character overthink everything and elaborate complex schemes in a few second between two sentences.... Plus I loved him during the epilogue but he clearly going in his father steps from the beginning... He seems to interact only with females and even if it's a joke for him he spend most of his time flirting.

And the worst is that everything fall perfectly how he predicted without errors... more>> as if everything is made for him while most of the crucial point seems to happen by luck even after everything is explained.

If you like mind games, go for it but just follow the flow, don't try to analyse it. <<less

The Novel is almost entirely focused on conversations and outsmarting the opponent, so if you are looking for something action filled this novel won't be for you. On the other hand it is excellently written, something I rarely come across in the vast sea of mediocre to subpar novels I normally see on this site. And while this novel too has some obvious issues, like the main characters personality shifting at the beginning of the story and the ability he chose at the start not only being pointless considering his... more>> ability to manipulate people but also barely being used and even when used it is in the most obvious way possible.

For now it is still the best Korean Novel I red so far. <<less

Amazing novel with excellent character development and philosophical & psychological themes. Chapters are long but it doesn't have the wordy feel of other novels I've read that seem to be going for word count. At the end of volume 2 now, I love the main characters so far. Looking fwd for more.

This review is mostly based through the "Volume 2" review. (Slight spoil ahead)

If chapter 2 feels off to you....

This novel is amazing !

If you like dark psychological with romance (no ntr), genius enemy like no others, villain MC with 200 IQ, uniquue character personality and development, an interesting fantasy story with twist and scheme. Then this novel is for you

Just finished the first volume, and I have to say that I am fairly impressed by this one.

The story does seem to have a clear plan and clear steps, making it cohesive and properly structured, to the point where it could nearly rival with those I call "proper authors" (no insult intended, it's just a name I give to those like Pratchett and other authors that brought out well written stories).

So far, the characters seem to have more layers than your usual light novels, the writing is making use of... more>> the Korean language properly, and the people doing the translation obviously know both Korean and English well enough to deliver it in a proper form too (this is not that common, so I have to point it out).

If I had to say why I'm giving it 4 instead of 5, it would be because full mark is only for truly exceptional novels in my book, and while this one is definitely good quality, there is still this way that the story is presented that is slightly bugging me. By that I mean that the main character is presented as one with overwhelming skills in acting and reasoning, even hinting that even the gods might not be able to contend with him purely on that.

While it's nice to not have yet an other dull MC, I think it's pushed a bit too much toward "perfection", so I'm hopping that the author will use it in later volumes as a card against the MC. <<less

Awesome MC. Smart, and ruthless. Yes, he is a sociopath, but I don't care. He's badass. The fights and dialogues are epic. He's decisive and cruel. I don't care that he's not my role model. I am entertained. READ IT. NOW.

The first thing you need to know, is that this Novel has the best fan translation that I've seen yet. It is so good, that I would believe if you were to say it's copied from a published translated book. I have no way to stress this enough, the translator of this series is doing such an excellent job, that it would be worth picking it up just by that.

That doesn't mean the story is shallow, though. If you came here after reading light-hearted non-sensical stories where stories are made... more>> up and character development don't matter, you're in for a surprise. This one shows a very different side from what we are used to seeing, a very dark anti-hero main character, with a heavy psychotic personality, that will not stop until his goal is reached.

The settings are well constructed, the characters are properly introduced into the stories, and the most important of it all, everything that happens, happens for a reason. It is not just for shows, nor is it a ploy from the author, to make it seem like the plot is more complicated than it really is. The way the story is built makes the reader believe Dantalian is indeed a psycopath capable of scheming such grand acts.

While Volume 1 was about the introduction of the setting of the story, Volume 2 focused mainly on character development. The foreshadowing of what the MC's true colors are, is exciting. All in all, this is a great read. First class translations, along with a main character that possess a very strong personality. If you are into a story that is not all about "face-rolling" your way into a victory, then this is a series for you. <<less

Well this story is quite wonderfully laid down. From the characters to the political plots, everything is slowly and efficiently showed and explained to the reader. The main character Dantalian is one of the weakest Demon lord but crawl to rise to the peak not by brute force but with plots, honey words and brain wars. He's quite the pragmatic and crazy character but it's completely assumed and presented as a pure person of madness. Opposite to the other DL who respect the traditional law of bloodlines etc... He will... more>> search skillfull individuals (and as crazy and vicious as him) to fill the ranks of his vassals. In all honesty I would like to include a tag R-18 to this story because of all the psychological facts and matters going even to torture to break the mind...

Well all in all a dark and sordid story but very well written and translated. If you like well developped characters and story laying on the psychology and political speeches rather than muscles and action and bathing in a somewhat dark fantasy universe then it's a must to read. <<less

The first volume was great. No, really awesome, the game mechanics, the useless father figure, the clever/lazy main character, the drawing quality... Well done.
The the second volume came out, and I was like, what the hell is wrong with the MC? Going from a likable MC to a crazy psychopath...
Like Or Where is the lazy, clever, and humane character I read of in the beginning? When was he swapped with a nazi?
Also, when you read volume 2, the reactions displayed in the volume 1 prologue just don't make sense.

I should mention the quality of the translation though.

Amazing, truly... Too many plot twists to get bored. Too many different characters to get bland, the characters are very deep, makes it all the more interesting. The only problem that I have is that they introduced a game system where the Demon Lord can have skills but the author completely forgot about it ^^.

Well, everything is good. Nice read.

Not going to repeat the same reviews as others so tldr... The shades of mentality, the twist and the way they act is amazingly done.

From what I've gathered, the theme of the story is control over Knowledge/Information is key to survival. The results are planned well yet in my opinion peeves me. Barbatos's have a network of information so she's clean of this con but why couldn't she learned human language....

Dungeon defence falls into the category of transfered into the game's world as a villain, and it follows the tropes of the format. The protagonist starts off in an extremely weak position, is incredibly intelligent, and the novel has a heavy focus on politics and intrigue. This intrigue is extremely well portrayed and the story itself is very dark. The characterization is done very well with the main characters having personalities that are both interestingly twisted and deep, but not without flaws. For example the MC is extremely arrogant, perhaps... more>> rightfully so, and although he is able to come to understand situations and manipulate others with extreme skill, he doesn't seem to account for his own potential failures in deduction. Although there is not enough of the story to understand all the main characters in this depth, there is great potential for this to happen in the future. The story itself follows the format of a slow buildup of the situation until it ends with a big reveal or conclusion in the last chapter, think Sherlock Holmes or other detective novels. Translation speed is fast, with no noticeable translation errors from the perspective of someone who doesn't know the original language. Chapters are long, though with the author's style it may be more enjoyable to wait for a volume to be fully translated before reading it. Overall, I found Dungon Defence to be a refreshingly deep and well written story. Also, the mc's experience with and opinion on harems is both novel and fresh in a world where a harem is almost necessary for a successful LN. <<less

Excellent writing style a very entertaining drama/comedy.

I have to say, this is one of the most original novels I have read till date. The story is good in many sense but the best part of all is how dark and smart the MC really is. The story isn't your typical dark story where r*pe and mu*der is common, instead it gives POVs of different characters from the main cast (especially the MC) to showcase how he views the world around him. The manipulation the MC uses is actually sensible rather than the gibberish most novels spout... more>> that the MC is smart only due to knowledge he knows, not how he actually tackles the problem with the same information as any other person. Most novels also go into development on the MC just to make things more interesting but this novel has almost no development of the MC and only consists of his schemes and opinions that make the story 10 times better. Chances are if you are very religious you're gonna hate it due to how deluded your views are. <<less

I am actually amazed by the quality of this work.

I enjoy WN/Ln's be it CN, JP or KR. But fact is, most of them fall in a prestructured formula and become dull and easily turn dull and boring after some chapters. Only a few shine and the rest turn out mediocre.

But this is good literature. Of course, not in the level of the "true" books, classics and so on. But absolutely not cheap WN literature.

The author puts a lot of emphasis in dialogue and situational building, it has good twists... more>> and unreliable narrators. Violence and s*x are not censored in any means but the author rather reminds you of the constant existence of both in the narrative universe.

Of course this work will not be for everyone. It is dark, violent, sexual, manipulative, the focused characters present mental illnesses of their own.

But it is GOOD. You will not see the formula of power ups or willpower. The characters battle with wits and schemes. The dialogue is powerful and the soliloquy extense building. Most importantly, the characters have weaknesses. They can become careless.

But be clear, so far is a tale without heroes but only mad men and women forcing their madness over other mad men and women.

I've disliked few things, far too little to even change my judgment about this work.

It has depth and the author carries his way through swiftly.

A promising title.

I hope the current translator Shalvation is able to recruit more people to help. This LN is far too good and high in the lists to be so small.

Sidenote: The WN far strays from the LN, being almost an entire story by itself. Maybe that should get translated too? <<less

Okay, I caught up to the latest translated novel and I gotta say, IT'S SO F**KING MANIPULATIVE! I actually got hype for this!

I mean, when I was reading those 2 novels, I wasn't expecting the MC to 'see' that far 10 steps ahead as he is very calculative and cunning. His personality is so dark and twisted yet at the same time kind and benevo-scratch that, he actually played me like a child who doesn't know anything and I never knew why he did those things.And it was all to get to his 'prey' FROM. THE. VERY. BEGINNING./spoiler]

*I use DD instead of the full name: Dungeon Defense

Reading the first novel, we get to see why the mc's personality became like that and it was because of his father who had 5 wives. A sack of sh*t who doesn't properly take care of his wives. Also, the first novel introduces us to the DD system. We also get to see how psychological he is towards his enemies and how he will "make use" of his vassals and his enemies towards his whim. Since he played DD, he is able to know the weaknesses of each demon lord which in turn he can basically take total control of the world.

I will leave the rest out as you have to read it in order to fully understand what kind of MC he is. If he is cunning and calculative, then he is something more... after all he 'was' the hero of DD.

Read it, explain to yourself why his personality is like that, tell yourself why he outdone us readers, and most importantly, why he wants to manipulate and take things under his 'control'.