How would you bring technology into a fantasy world? Make sense of the magics? Feed people and get rid of the corrupt nobles? This is specifically on developing a city or territory, not:
- Developing a dungeon/core (see my other list: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10742/)... more>>

First, a few worthy mentions that aren't on NU:
1. Castle Kingside (rewrite) - a lot of inspiration from Release that Witch, imo improved! Warning: it's slow. Kingdom only begins around c60ish.
2. The iron teeth - although territory development comes late in the story, it's well done and exotic, being based on a goblin kingdom
3. 1632 (published book) - an American village goes back to the 30 years war. It's much less fantastical, but has a lot of similar elements to other kingdom building novels.
4. The Eagle's Flight - highly intricate fantasy webnovel
5. Defiance of the fall
6. Randidly Ghosthound - neither Randidly nor Defiance of the Fall focus on kingdom building, but they both have elements related to setting up a post-apocalypse system city - complete the quest to get the village crystal/coin!
7. The Expansion (Legend of the Arch Magus) - [have not yet read] - recommendation from Hitexh in the comments
8. Enlightened Empire - weaker than the others <<less

Caution: bear the risk of having your taste being too sky-high standard.

Isekais are fun reads when done right, cringey when generic, and horrible when done wrong.... more>>

Sorted from Best to Worst with the ratings being pretty biased.

Honorable Mentions: The Beginning after the End (NOT ON NU) {4.35/5} It's cool, that's all I can really say.

THE LIST NOW HAS A SECOND PART IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/8455/ <<less

This is it, yal already know... more>>

Webnovels: f*ck WEBNOVEL, sh*t ASS SITE, PIRACY W

Shadow s*ave: "I can't believe I am still finding good novels to read. This is one of the best novels I've ever read and is incredibly well written. Deep plot, good apocalypse setting, characters are incredibly lifelike, real emotion. Solo leveling but done so much better in a sense. Enough said." #1.5

Paragon of Sin: "Very very very very good. MC is cool, not very generic, a different feeling all together while still being a cultivation ln. Enough said." #0.5

Birth of the Demonic Sword: "Falls off at the end but rly cool, dark, and powerful mc. Enough said." #10.5

Divine Emperor of Death: "Man has cheats but somehow it doesn't take away from the overall story. Harem as well. Enough said."   #18.5

Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner in the Apocalypse: "Very similar to God and Devil in the beginning but then changes for the worst, it feels like a self-insert type thing. Also the mc is brainless and s*upidly op. Enough Said." #26.5

Chao's Heir: "From the same author of BotDS and it greatly dissapoints. There's so much things wrong with this one that it would take me a day to get into the details. Do not read. Only s*upid ass webnovel ppl would read this, the reviews were probably botted too. I can't believe its the same author, dude must've been going threw something idk. Enough said." #40.5 <<less

A list of novels I like so I don't forget. Not in order. I try to not make this similar to FIEND's and other people's list but there aren't that many decent ones with no romance y'know. ... more>>

Some novels : Since The Red Moon Appeared, The Damned, Supreme Grandpa, Is That A Wisp?, Spending My Retirement In A Game.

P.S. I still haven't differentiated quick transmigration and world hopping so I could be mistaken about some. Thank you for understanding. <<less

A list of memorable stories I read on novelupdates that covers mostly survival stories, reincarnation in non-human beings, second chances in other worlds and novels that felt unique in some way.... more>>

More often than not, stories I included had some grim parts to them. Where I find it necessary, I'll put a warning. 

Some stories are simply positive. Not everything needs to be dark. <<less

these novels aren't ranked. all are good and i recommend all of these for you guys to read. there's no (or some may have a little) romance here,  but no harem. ... more>>

♡ contains action, adventure, fantasy, horror, mystery, cultivation, supernatural, slice of life, world hopping etc...
♡ cn, kr, jp <<less

A hundred and three novels starred by male protagonists that you might like with NO HAREM.... more>>

·····

《 Good 'Male-Protagonist-no-harem' novels but unlisted in NU 》

↠The Beginning After The End

↠The Author's POV

↠ Mother of Learning

 

·····

THIS IS NOT ARRANGED BY RANK

·····

p.s.

I haven't read all of these books and only a few of them. I wanted male pov books that didn't have a dozen of females flocking hence after tons of reading genres and tags and a h*ck amount of reviews making sure there ain't no imposter in here I've finally formed a hundred (and two) "MALE PROTAGONIST WITH NO HAREM" READING LIST!!!! TADA ~ ~~

You're welcome ;D

Oh, and If you guys wanna recommend books and found out there's an imposter among us (diz books) please tell me- tell us! and even more so if you wanna recommend a good book ANY GENRE you know about please please please..? *with sparkling eyes* 

·····

⤜ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ⇻ <<less

This list is specifically for second chances/age regression in fantasy, historical or VRMMO settings. 
- Not transmigration stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/16246/)
- Not time loop stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10681/)
- Not second chances in modern society (see:  https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10745/)... more>>

I'll start with a big recommendation for:
1. Metaworld chronicles - wonderful series with well developed characters, magic, monsters and dragons, all set to a really well explored alternate modern Earth fuelled by magi-tech. It's the best in the genre and you should try it out!
2. Selena's Reign - only around 20 chapters out so far, but they're really well done. Beautiful descriptions (though sometimes a bit verbose) and the best depictions of a late 18th century setting that I've seen in an online fantasy. Read this for the magical second chance messiah in a gritty, Louis XIV->Napoleon type time frame world.
3. The Calamity of a Reborn Witch - more of a shoujo take on things, it's filled with political plots and conspiracies of a cinderella type heroine in a rather dark fantasy world
4. Forgotten Conqueror (this was on hiatus for a long time but restarted on the author's site) <<less

These are the novels that I personally enjoyed, though some of them might not be my favorites, they still had enough influence stay in my heart as a decent novel at the very least... well, most of them. (Also I'm actually back now 2022, got burnt out after reading too much reincarnation paradise)[2023 here, uhhh, oops]... more>>

*Rest of description is for when you enter the list*
{I'm back and ready to fix my younger self's s*upid tastes, some are pretty good though}

(My reviews will not be consistent with the list because I go into the read deeper rather than just a overview, make sure to check my oldest comment, it is also the most liked one, it has the unpublished reads)

[S tier is a 5 star read, A is a 4.5 star read, B tier is a 4 star read, C tier is a 3.5 star read, D tier is a 3 star read, E tier is a 2 star read, F tier is a 1 star read] 

[SS and X tier are special. SS is consistency and intrigue, and X is the top 3 with the SS tier also being applied] 

(exaggerated tier which is a new special tier has been added, this is when I give reads that just started a good tier even when there isn't enough chapters to properly review it, the tier of the read will most probably change someday)

(The special tiers will now be accompanied by a regular tier, Exagg. tier will be accompanied with a Z)  <<less

>>> Feel free to recommend me novels in the comment section below, so after I'm back I know what to binge read and give my thoughts on it.... more>>

One of the easiest to tell a novel is a 'Game Elements' is if it has a GAME SYSTEM included - most notable of it being part of the MC. Another one is that the Protagonist got transported INTO a Game World/Fantasy World - most notable are ISEKAI's.

HUGE DISCLAIMER: I only include novels that have Game Elements as mentioned BUT ALSO that I have already read from a quite decent amount of chapters to finished reading. Though do not fret for I would accept and feel feel to recommend novels to me and If possible tell me about it.

NOTES: I have tried my best to rank them based on the depth of the world/lore of the novel and it's writing. Every tier (namely Great -> Amazing -> Excellent) have a sub-tier with 1 (+) being the lowest and (+++) being the highest. I would like to say that it is inevitable that there would be a novel being in the same tier and sub-tier - that you would think isn't even on par in terms of quality. Hence why If you could tell why that specific novel about why it deserves to either to go up or down at the ranking - then I would thank you for your time telling me your point. Novels with no tiers can be only one thing - They could have been good.

PS: I seem to have underestimated the sheer amount of Novels with Game Elements... also I'm not expert in identifying Alignments <<less

LIST 1 - 10 ARE THE TOP 10 NOVELS I’VE READ. FYI, my standards are exquisite, meticulous and flawless. You can trust my list. ... more>>

SO FAR, I HAVEN’T READ THE REST AFTER #11 BUT THIS LIST GENERALLY HAS GOOD REVIEWS AND ABOVE 4 STAR RATINGS. 

#ANTI BRAINDEAD MCs ALLIANCE. 
#SOME ARE BL

#HANDSOME MALE PROTAGONISTS <<less

Just a humble compilation of KR novels that I read this year. Disclaimer: My thoughts might contradict yours and thus I apologize in advance. Order... more>> is not important.  <<less

i dont like pie from the sky and lucky mc(i get jelaus), i dont like dense mc(i myself can do dense staf), dont like sliceOfLife, dont like selfsacrificing hero, dont like destiny chosen. dont like revenge as final goal.... more>>

btw, why no mc throw pepper in face of thugs? pepper nowaday is really cheap. carrying pepper better than carrying knife or bat. <<less

No description.

I hate harem. Why? Because most of the time it leads the story to a direction that's not pleasing. And most of all I don't... more>> fantasize about having thousands of girl on my lap.  Hell I'm not even interested in romance . Anyway this list contains novels that have zero harem and maybe it will have novels that have romance, but almost all of them are not focused on romance
So enjoy (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧ <<less

Shounen Novels but its not on order some are harem but what can i do mostly korean novels like harem no shoujo on this one all of them are Male Protag.... more>>

I made this list if you really like those op korean novels this list is the only one worth reading on my opinion on shounen or Male mc novels.

i put some new good kor novels hope u guys like it <<less

I feel really bad when I start reading a good novel thinking that it's quite good and doesn't have useless & annoying harem  it turns... more>> out to be one. It's seriously annoying. This list contains novels which aren't harem . Mc have only one wife/gf or none at all. Let's start( uh..... I'm quite new to nu so don't mind my listing style & they aren't in order) <<less

A list of stories with main characters who range from selfish and socially awkward to just plain flat-out jerks. Sometimes the author tries to hide it, other times they show off with shoddy justifications.... more>>

Doesn't necessarily make the story bad, though it never makes the story better (unless that's the kind of jerk you need...) <<less

GENRES: either Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Martial Arts, Mystery, Psychological, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life, Supernatural... more>>

A compilation of my favorites (CN, JP, KR) in alphabetical order.
*read the comments for additional recommendations (original novels)
*will update when I find and read new interesting ones <<less

if your bored read this list, it will entertain you trust... more>>

PS: Mount Tai

if you guys have anything to say, feel free to say it in the comments. This list is more inclined toward romance but it does have some books that are Action only or MC only and have no romance.

There is no order, almost all if not all books are pretty good to most people

this list does include BL but it's only like once or twice! <<less

A list of KR novels that I completed or I enjoyed based on my tastes~ so if you don't like it, don't come running at... more>> me with a pitchfork k? <<less

Korean Novels about men who have either reincarnated, got a second chance, transmigrated, woke up in another body; into noble sons, side-characters, villains, extras. They sometimes have animal companions, and definitely have loyal followers. ... more>>

*SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME AND WANTED!

Part2- https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/81960/?ft=yes <<less

Ranked from highest to lowest.... more>>

Little to no harems.

Welcome to give suggestions.

Other list-

The Perfect Run

Paragon of Destruction 

Mother of learning <<less

To be fair, i am not actually a fan of light novel. but, there are still some gems in this site that i genuinely like. Novels on this list are mostly korea and china, since i really hate jp light novel and their troupe (harem, boring generic op MC, forgettable world building,...). if you can find some good jp ln, please tell me. And 1 is the best and follow.... more>>

Will update when i come across novels worth recommending. <<less