A Certain Middle-aged Man’s VRMMO Activity Log

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38-year-old Tanaka Daichi’s childhood dream of playing a VRMMO has finally come to life. As he creates his character, he decides to choose skills that are considered useless by others, since he has no interest in playing like a main character. Follow the adventures of Daichi as he strives to use his mismatched set of worthless skills to achieve his dream goal of simply being able to enjoy an alternate life in a virtual reality.

Associated Names
One entry per line
OVRMMO
To Aru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki
とあるおっさんのVRMMO活動記
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
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Recommendation Lists
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  5. Novel Recommendation

Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/28/15 Word of Craft c5
09/28/15 Word of Craft c4
09/18/15 Project Accelerator c3
07/17/15 Project Accelerator c2
04/04/16 Ohanashi c2
07/10/15 Project Accelerator c1
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31 Reviews sorted by


nguuuquaaa
nguuuquaaa rated it
July 25, 2016
Status: --
It was enjoyable at first with all the cooking and crafting, until the PvP part.

It seems the author really underestimates hardcore gaming to make a working middle-aged man better than EVERY PvP maniacs, I repeat, EVERYONE of them. It's suspiciously questionable how the heck the Fairy Queen lost against a casual player while she can casually weep out top-ranked players herself. And why the heck nobody bothers to solo the dungeon EXCEPT our extremely casual MC.

The difference between casual and hardcore can be described really simple, a naked hardcore curbstomps... more>> fully-armed casual. Yet, our MC, with 2 hours gaming a day, out-leveled, out-geared and out-ranked every hardcores. Either MC is a superhero in disguise, a cheater who tampers with the game using external tools, an advanced android from the future or a monstrous whale in a heavily pay-to-win game.

I actually hold favorable opinions towards slice-of-life novels, but this one generates exceptionally high hate rate from me. It's dumb. It belittles hardcore gaming. Gamers should really stay away from this. <<less
153 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Diskat
Diskat rated it
July 13, 2016
Status: c57
A decent read, but also highly unrealistic.
... more>>
Spoiler

People's expectation of thieving skill is currently at a low level, yet the protagonist is able to get his thieving skill to level 50, even though he plays only 2 hours a day. You also have to remember he does every little thing, like cooking, mining, blacksmithing, etc making leveling very inefficient, yet somehow he's able to catch up to those who would be training into those skills.

What about people who would play this game almost more than 2 hours a day? They don't exist. Or if they do, they're just even more inefficient that Earth. Everyone is also more s*upid than Earth. Seriously, the average warrior in pvp only smashes people overhead with their swords like a hammer? That sounds s*upid.

And the trap room with the treasure chest, it's like nobody ever heard of a mimic. Even though it turned out that it wasn't a mimic, they're in a dungeon full of traps.

[collapse]
<<less
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kingcubery
kingcubery rated it
May 24, 2018
Status: c12
I normally don't leave reviews, but seeing the high rating on this story I just had to leave my two cents here for anybody interested. Aside from the poor translation quality on the earlier releases, my main problem with this story is that none of it makes any sense. The author almost immediately contradicts himself whenever it is to the advantage of the hero and the hero himself consistently makes nonsensical decisions that somehow work out amazingly for him. Some examples after the spoiler tag.

Spoiler
    1. Off the bat, the author establishes that experienced beta testers have gone through the game and figured out that certain abilities are worthless in the game. The biggest offenders here for me are the "useless" abilities of cooking and making medicine (there are many more). Anyone who has read any kind of story like this knows how OP abilities like this are, so I felt quite iffy about this but was willing to stick with it to see how the author developed the idea. Instead of some kind of discovery or advancement of concept, the author just makes it so that vendor npc's "run out" of potions and food (on like day two of the game) so that now our MC is one of the only available sources for these highly necessary items. And NOBODY has any clue that this is going to happen. How crazy would it be if the company in charge of a video game changed a fundamental part of supply and demand with literally no notice AFTER letting beta testers and the main player base come to their own conclusions about how the system works. What is the point of the whole beta test period then? There is none. It is only there as a cheap way to quickly elevate the status of the MC.
    2. On the topic of bad decisions, the MC is cooking rabbit steaks early on in the story and is surrounded by a crowd of people who "force" him to cook them steaks all day long. He doesn't try to just leave or simply say no. He s*aves away cooking for these people all day for literally no reason. The author mentions that the MC bumped the price up a supposed '20 times' eventually, but in less than two sentences he also says that the new price is essentially chump change for the leveled players. I mean it shows a basic lack of understanding for market principles and economics that is almost infuriating. Being forced to cook takes valuable time away from the MC's ability to level or do what he wants. If players that are 10 to 20 levels above you still NEED this item, then why doesn't the price of it reflect it's level of usefulness?That's the whole point of supply and demand. When the demand is insane, you should move the price until until the model reaches equilibrium so that you don't experience a loss in efficiency. As one of the only sources for food and potions, it's almost brain-dead that the MC would sacrifice his valuable leveling time for pennies on the dollar.
    3. Finally, as an example of both bad decision making and plot armor rolled all into one is the duel scenario in (I think) chapter 11 when the "Mohawks" (let's not even get into the low-key racism) show up again and try to force the food and potions out of the MC. I was pretty excited here because it looked like our guy would actually make a smart decision for once when he tells them to turn around and they notice the 100+ queued people scowling angrily at them. It would have been so easy for the MC to say "I'll give a potion or two to whoever ices these fools" taking advantage of his monopoly and popularity in this industry. Instead, the MC accepts a duel challenge from someone that out levels him massively -- someone who specializes in one of the strongest known game-play styles at this point -- and destroys the guy using kicks. Wutface? I just couldn't take it anymore.
[collapse]

I consider myself to have a pretty high tolerance for absurdity and logical loopholes when it comes to fantasy writing, but in this case it feels like being slapped in the face over and over again by the author. It seems like almost every 1500 to 2000 words (or every chapter basically) you're going to be presented with a situation so s*upid that it will break your ability to suspend disbelief and leave you pondering why any of this is happening. I know I mentioned it was a minor thing earlier, but this problem is seriously exacerbated by the terrible translation quality for chapters 4+ that makes you have to read and re-read entire paragraphs just to understand what is happening. My honest recommendation would be to skip this and pretend like you never cl**ked on the title in the first place.
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ccostin93
ccostin93 rated it
March 31, 2016
Status: --
A fun read.

Compared to other VRMMORPG stories out there, here the MC is living a leisure life.
Instead of fighting all day long, completing quests, meeting deadlines, he just lives his life inside the fantasy world.

As of chapter 37, the accent is on crafting/innovations and defining the unique play style.

It looks promising, with hopefully more interesting fact revealing themselves.
19 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
GregLuck
GregLuck rated it
January 8, 2017
Status: c46
It start of with a good story and premises, but further and further in the story is getting more nonsense and tasteless.

The fact that the MC only play a few hours a day and yet can keep up with the top tier maniac player is already unimaginable. Of course there's no player level in the game and only have skill lvl, but the MC somehow is always the first and become the finder of new things, and the other player won't even think of trying to do what MC doing.

Each... more>> player only got 10 skill slots, and somehow our MC which is half-assing in picking some ordinary combo are the first in everything. How come you can defeat an opponent who's skill all honed to just one single purpose while you are only half-fighter whose time spent more in cooking and crafting.

It's like every other player are a fifth grader playing their first game who can't even think of anything than following online guide.

A maniac player will exist and always exist in every game, and yet this casual old man somehow one-upped them while half-assing.

Also beside that there's that sentient AIs, is it truly a sentient AI or is it connected to other world I don't know. But, in my opinion "The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor" are better than this, sure if you like slice of life, my pace, happy-go-lucky thing, this novel is totally for you. <<less
15 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Gilly
Gilly rated it
August 24, 2016
Status: c68
It's not looking so good for the future of this story. There's a lot of things that are done right, but these recent chapters show that the Author has no clue how to keep the variety strong in the story without violating their own plot points. It's also a little... unrealistic, even for a game company in a fantasy novel, to do what they did ~chapter 66. There's some great things about this novel, but there's also some pervasive issues that are coming to light-- there's no clear goal for... more>> the protagonist, power levels of dungeons and characters are incredibly inconsistent with the lore and the MC isn't supposed to be particularly handsome and he's definitely not charming yet everyone falls in love with him. I hope it gets better, and I'll keep reading it because it's not that bad yet. But it's pushing my level of tolerance. <<less
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Tasear
Dream Seeker rated it
May 19, 2016
Status: --
This honestly is really good slice of life web novel series. The character feel somewhat life in these episodic chapters. The plot of this story is life and how to spend your leisure.
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Loriel
Loriel rated it
November 12, 2016
Status: c79
Its nice at first but when you get to the MC's interaction with other characters, suddenly, the title kind of becomes irrelevant. He becomes so in demand that the fun reading you had at the beginning just becomes undone and you find yourself annoyed at the MC for being what most people know of as a stereotypical Japanese MC where the other characters run roughshod over him and he just takes it. Granted, he isn't a coward, but as things go on, his reactions to these interruptions become predictable, with... more>> just a le sigh and then end with a "can't be helped" expression.

As you read, you'll just become annoyed at the interactions and soon you'll start to feel like an addict every time a new chapter is released, hoping for the faint hope that this chapter won't include another whiny drama filled character that interrupts the MC from his hobbies which I found to be the charm of this novel in the first place. I gave a 4 because while I'm disappointed now with how things are going, I still enjoyed the beginning part of the story line. <<less
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SeventhTale
SeventhTale rated it
June 10, 2017
Status: c89
Please ignore that 'middle aged man' in the title. The story setting is inside the game, there's even ALMOST no connection of his age in the story, that it feels like even a teenager as an MC is fine too.

This story is one of the best slice of life I've read, when it comes to adventure. The best thing here is how he improve his character though trial and error or how he encounter things that only he can do or know. I really recommend this one, it is relaxing... more>> and very fun to read. <<less
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
heishiken
heishiken rated it
March 1, 2016
Status: --
Very Fun, casual Light Novel. Definitly worth a read, as it has charm to it that you just can not explain.
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
alaskame
alaskame rated it
December 16, 2017
Status: c110
I didn't plan to review this novel. But after I read all the other reviews, I don't think that the novel deserve all the bashing.

Up till now the novel is pretty much a slice of life which is exactly what I expected. The first part show a good growth of MC up next are pretty much grinding and crafting. An enjoyable ride though.

I quite oppose the idea of MC is too op and not realistic. Well the MC is surely too lucky and quite powerful but the writer already try... more>> to explain the reasons. And on top of that the game system here is not traditional lv up to up your stats style kind of game. Still if you expect a perfect game engine based novel, this one might not be your cup of tea.

All in all, if you want a light slice of life novel this one is quite good. <<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Poor_Hero
Poor_Hero rated it
February 7, 2016
Status: --
i love mc's personality so far, realistic and does his best to enjoy the game in his way. His goal is not to be the strongest in the game so I like how he spends his life in his pace. The development of the story is not fast or slow so it's good and many events happen. It's entertaining to see an archer's point of view in the novel sometimes.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
LtlYodA
LtlYodA rated it
January 28, 2016
Status: --
It's a very nice LN about a VRMMO Game with a main caracter who have a very fun (old fashioned) vision of the game. I like the craft feeling, and the build data at the end of the chapter.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
legend143
legend143 rated it
January 22, 2016
Status: --
I first thought that it was a rip-off of OSO but I was pleasantly surprised with the story. Though I have to admit that I read the manga as well because the chapters stopped releasing at 13 so I am excited that someone is picking up this Novel once more.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Spiritsong
badiyee
December 20, 2015
Status: --
Note: I read up to chapter 13 per review

This is a genuinely heartwarming VRMMO "slice of life" LN. Probably may need to read the manga to get a visualization, but the real comedy is in the words as it tries to visualize the actions. Its not a plot-heavy story, in fact its very light. Yet I recommend reading for people who really like a "how do I live a life in an 'The Sims' like story", except that its a VRMMO game that has a different setting.
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BQDJ
BQDJ rated it
November 14, 2015
Status: --
This novel is very interesting. It's about a MC who likes to be unique so he chooses "unusual" settings for his character in the VRMMO, it's not "unusual" settings at all in other novels but weirdly, in this one, "archery", "alchemy" are uncommon so he ends up being a trendsetter.

Highly recommended for the people that like gaming novels.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
mystichead
mystichead rated it
November 5, 2015
Status: --
A light Epic funny "slice of life" ish read

It should be hard to ruin this lol... its too episodic

but so good
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Buffelephant
Buffelephant rated it
May 23, 2016
Status: c49
Decent read. Light hearted virtual reality game exploration. Instead of playing the game by clearing dungeons and leveling, the MC explores the dimensions of the game. What does wind magic do, what can black smithing make, and etc?

Telling the story in this manner is great for world building, but on the down side the story drags on for to long. It really becomes slow and boring at parts. Not a good story for people who binge and read tons of chapters a day but decent for reading a chapter or... more>> two waiting for releases. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
rdawv
rdawv rated it
March 29, 2016
Status: --
Impressions as of ch.36.

A VRMMORPG story about a player who wants to spend his time in peace, playing the game the way he want and focusing more on the mundane like cooking and crafting? Sounds very familiar. It’s like Death March in that the story is like a happy, light hearted jaunt in a fantasy game world, minus the harem.

The premise of the story is that the MC prefers to buck the trend by picking skills to suit his own play-style. Initially ridiculed for his choices, he diligently trains them... more>> up and uses them in combination with other skills for maximum effect. But really though, where to find a MMO where bow classes are unpopular? You’re bound to run into Legolas clones everywhere.

As in many other VRMMORPG novels, this results in him getting the attention and friendship of other players for his unorthodox combat methods and useful side professions, making him popular despite his wishes to lay low and enjoy the game by himself.

One would find his ‘enjoyment’ to be questionable, as he is a middle-aged working man in real life who returns home to spend a few hours grinding and training up his skills in-game. Much of the novel is focused about his in-game activities, in fact when ‘real life’ was mentioned it was only to talk about daily maintenance like logging off to sleep or coming back from work. Other than his mellow personality and patience, there are no mentions or ties to his real age as his in-game avatar is a young man.

Even the VRMMORPG game itself is billed as a mellow, do-as-you-like game. Right off the bat we’re told the game is about having another life where grand quests about defeating demon kings and the like don’t exist. In short, it’s a fantasy version of Second Life (a real game).

Each chapter is relatively short, Chapter 36 of the web novel is only Chapter 8 of the manga adaptation. There have been several different translators but the quality is relatively maintained and consistent. It’s about reading the everyday gaming of a good-natured player. Some would like it. Others would probably want something with more plot direction. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Jselvy
Jselvy rated it
July 26, 2020
Status: c112
A light enjoyable novel. Make no mistake this is not great literature but the reading equivalent of chewing gum. There is just enough of a plot in the meta to drive interest. No harem really but a lot of female fun. It is a shame that the translation seems to have stalled for the last 2.5 years.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
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