Golden Experience

Description

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Jobs, hobbies, lifestyles—the world has advanced to a point where nothing can be separated from VR anymore. And now, a VR game was released using the most cutting-edge technologies; its name was “Boot Hour, Shoot Curse.” Our protagonist had no choice but to play solo during the closed beta test, but once the game officially launched, she made lots of friends (but not necessarily with the players), formed a huge clan (but not a clan of players), and matured as an individual.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Ougon no Keikenchi
黃金經驗值
黄金の経験値
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Genocide Online ~Playtime Diary of an Evil Young Girl~ (3)
Free Life Fantasy Online (2)
Curse Nightmare Party – Jagan Yousei ga Yuku VRMMO (2)
Apotheosis of a Demon – A Monster Evolution Story (2)
In the Land of Leadale (1)
Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Action - Cultivation - Adventure (On going)
  2. Peak Hidden Gems Part 2
  3. enjoyed my time
  4. Strong FMC/strong female characters
  5. Virtual Reality| #1

Latest Release

Date Group Release
03/08/24 Temporalis TL c116
03/08/24 Temporalis TL c115
01/15/24 Obsession Translations c114
12/22/23 Obsession Translations c113
12/16/23 Obsession Translations c112
03/20/22 A Mob of Deer c111
03/13/22 A Mob of Deer c110
03/05/22 A Mob of Deer c109
02/27/22 A Mob of Deer c108
02/20/22 A Mob of Deer c107
02/12/22 A Mob of Deer c106
02/05/22 A Mob of Deer c105
01/29/22 A Mob of Deer c104
11/07/21 A Mob of Deer c103
10/31/21 A Mob of Deer c102
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Review
11 Reviews


ilLUMIAnated
ilLUMIAnated
Nov 28, 2021
Status: c103
Before I even dive into the review, I have to applaud the brilliant work done by the translator. Seriously, after having encountered rough TLs in the novels that I've read previously, this is a breath of fresh air. The website is seamless and dialogues make sense (as they should). That alone makes such a huge contribution to the overall experience that I'll add a bonus star to the final rating.

Now, to the meat and potatoes of this review.

As the author admits in the summary and in the author's notes present... more>> in key chapters, the title for the novel initially wasn't intended to make sense. Think of it as like a placeholder, but more permanent in nature, it's there, but it is just a decorative thing with not much significance. However, things changed after chapter 87. Before I elaborate on the events that unfold in this turning point, a bird's eye view of this novel is necessary.

P.S. Since this review discusses a lot of key events that could be deemed as spoilers, please read ahead with discretion.

Spoiler

Rare, the protagonist of this story belongs to a family of martial artists that are hell bent on using the power of mind instead of brute physical strength. Having prioritised elegance over strength, rare became an existence that swung too far into two stats at the start of the game, the MND and INT. Like a certain shield loli, if you might. The difference here, however, is that she deliberately choose worse starting conditions than normal players to get bonus starting XP, about 50-100 XP, IIRC. These bonus XP let's her steamroll her starting zone and end up dominate with sheer XP value. I don't know if this counts as spoiler or not, but a character's strength is measured by how much XP they have invested/earned. Rare had a treasure trove of XP at her disposal. But, here's where things get interesting.

As mentioned earlier, Rare's family were a bunch of martial artists who single-mindedly desired to hone their minds, they didn't want to practice brutish arts like the way of the sword. To put it bluntly, they were a bunch of elitists who looked down at the act of physically tempering your body and honing your craft. Rare, being one of them, was the same. She vehemently refused to get ANY close combat skills, as she never planned to show herself to other players, only going for magic and production based skill trees was fine. She did an extremely good job at exploring her skill trees and strengthening her followers as best as she could. But, due to the elitist nature ingrained in her being and the near invincible status that she had, she never thought of exploring the public information network used by other players. That overconfident behaviour soon led to her splendid implosion in chapter 87.

Rare had died at the hands of the players, due to the lack of information on her side, she was thoroughly dragged through the mud. Humiliated, violated even. This, was a slap across her face, in death, she strengthened her enemies and ended up feeling vexed. She was sure that she'd win, but the fact that she did not had pried her eyes open. Her greed for the gold, the xp that served to strengthen her had ended up being her downfall.

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The author managed to craft a story that displays the shameless nature of humanity. Greed is one big driving force, allowing one to improve. But that very greed is also a curse, consuming all those that revel in it. Even though it would've been a lot better if the charcters, specifically the NPCs under Rare were more fleshed out and given time to mature in these 103 chapters I've read so far, the underlying message from the author building up to that turning point was what has me sold. If not for the very well measured placing, I might've dropped it at the turning point that is ch. 87. But I will stick around to see this through to the end.

So, should you give it a shot? In my opinion, if you liked Genocide online and want something that's a wee bit more tame in comparison (the full on slaughter fest doesn't occur until the second event arc starts, which is quite a long time) then this would serve you quite well.

My final rating (2 stars taken off for dull, almost too shallow NPCs; 1 star added for translation quality and overall reading experience) is 4 stars.

Edit- I tried reading the raws using a combination of Google translate and DeepL, and as much as I like how much chaos the newer chapters (the mastermind arc- ch 246 onwards) bring to the table; I also deeply dislike the lack of the MC's perspective during key developments. Rare's plans are being experienced in full from other player's perspectives, at times these chapters can go on for seemingly forever but when they congeal into a single mass- it's all very cohesive. I'm conflicted now cause I like where the story is headed but the MC's perspective in my opinion are much more enjoyable than some pe*vert in a latex bodysuit. <<less
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Gacitua
Gacitua
May 16, 2021
Status: c67
Very good novel and translation, tough it's a shame that the translator's website doesn't seem to have a way to comment.

If you read until the curtent transslated chapter and still like the novel, keep reading, it only gets better.

EDIT: Suggestions for the translator (RAW Spoilers)

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Spoiler

Change the term "Demon" in Great Demon to Devil, and change Great Demon to Archdevil, since unlike a Demon and Demon Lord which comes from the Spirit evolution line (Elf/Dwarf evolution) Angels and Devils come from the Homunculus evolution line.

Also, when the time that [REDACTED] evolves into the human's evolution disaster, instead of calling the evolution "Evil Human" and "Good Human" I propose calling them Sin/Virtue of Humanity, because it sounds more like a race than an adjetive.

For the Vampiric disaster evolution, instead of "True Vampire" I suggest using the "Vampire Progenitor" term.

Lastly, for the Beastman disaster evolution, instead of "Spirit Beastman", use "Sacred Beastman"

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rialm
rialm
Mar 07, 2021
Status: c57
So far a very interesting novel with a compelling female MC.

The translation is very good.

This seems to be a faction-building novel so far. MC subordinates a bunch of entities (beastkin, monsters,...) in the first few chapters.

... more>> Might be boring if not for the intelligent observations and remarks on the side. I am genuinely interested in MC and her life outside VR which, so far, has only been hinted at.

Sometimes, the perspective switches to other characters. It will be interesting to see how important those will become.

That's as much as I can say so far. Why leave a comment so early? I am afraid I might forget to...

And the translation is really very well done! If I don't leave a comment, it'd be a shame.

Good job translator! <<less
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TotallyNotT3mmie
TotallyNotT3
May 17, 2021
Status: c68
Great translation, good concept, well written, honestly there's nothing I can complain about here it's just all good. Thank you translator (s) for letting me be able to read this.
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LupenTheWolf
LupenTheWolf
Aug 24, 2023
Status: c111
Okay, so it's been a while since the last chapter was uploaded, but according to the translator's website they aren't totally abandoning the novel. They just have some unspecified IRL stuff going on that prevents them from translating.

With that out of the way, I can do the review proper. There are three main things about this novel that I particularly enjoy and that have contributed to my giving it 5 stars.
1. Despite playing a typical humanoid race, Rare plays the game as if she's a monster player. The fact... more>> that even after spawning in she had the choice to play on the "Good" side, but still chose to be a villain says something about her character, and if it were ever known to other players they'd definitely question her sanity.
2. At one point Rare uses her followers to create her own little dungeon and manage it for giggles and EXP. She called it an "Amus**ent Park" which I found rather humorous, given it's accuracy after thinking about it. Dungeon management themes are hard to get right, especially here since her "Dungeon" was non-traditional, but I thought it was handled well here. Just enough details to catch your interest without boring the reader with minutia.
3. The system the game functions on is... Enigmatic to say the least, but it follows all the rules that have been revealed so far and appears to be consistent. A good part of the fun is uncovering the mysteries of the game's inner workings right along with Rare and her friends.

So, those are the major things I enjoyed, but it isn't perfect. Next will be my gripes.
1. The characters that Rare interacts with are mostly NPCs, and while a few of them have distinct personalities, most of them are kind of bland. I do understand that she's essentially building a faction of monsters, but you'd at least think that her closest NPC allies would have more personality than "Abandoned as kids and then became bandits." Even the other players aren't totally immune to this ether, as most of them will come and go while showing no more individuality than a stone on the roadside. This does have the effect of making the main characters stand out all the more, but the overall effect lessens the feel of the world outside of the MCs.
2. The game world seems to have some fairly deep lore, and what little the novel shows is quite interesting. But outside of a handful of specific details that impact Rare and her friends, we're left ignorant of the rest. What we're shown screams that there's more to find and learn about, but as of c111 we don't know much. I can only hope that more of the game world's lore and history are revealed in later chapters. This kind of tease always rubs me the wrong way.

Overall, I would recommend others to give this novel a read. The current translation quality is superb, so that's a plus too. <<less
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RosieRoses
RosieRoses
Apr 23, 2021
Status: c63
Really well written thus far and I’m enjoying it immensely. The translation is also very well done!
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Hosh
Hosh
May 19, 2023
Status: c111
As someone who'd currently in their VRMMORPG novel phase, I didn't think I'd write a review on any of these guilty pleasure-ish novels of mine but this one is just so good I couldn't resist.

The first few chapters start off as classic VRMMORPG Power Fantasy. MC gets overpowered quickly and overwhelms everyone, flexing her powers. By this point I have no particular impression except that 1. The MC is intelligent, 2. The way the MC gets overpowered isn't nearly as ret*rded as the majority of other novels, and 3. The... more>> translation quality is insane.

The protagonist in this novel is made out to be evil or a villain but still manages to remain likeable. And tbh from an objective standpoint. Most of her actions aren't even particularly horrible.

But then we reach chapter 87. This is where it goes from 'good VRMMORPG novel' to 'Top 10 favorite novels of all time period'. I can't use the spoiler tag worth sh*t so I'll be as vague as possible. Stop scrolling if you wish to remain as spoiler-free as possible.

The writer manages to develop the protagonist in a way that doesn't make it seem completely out of sync with the rest of the story. The protagonist makes a pretty understandable mistake out of her own hubris and gets frustrated. Its excellent in

    1. It keeps the Power Fantasy vibe in that the consequences aren't severe and the MC gets their revenge pretty early.
    2. You don't feel frustrated at the MC's s*upidity
    3. And lastly, You understand and can relate to why the MC is frustrated and develops from this incident. This honestly turned the MC from a 7/10 to 9/10 character for me.
If you've read those hero revenge stories, chapters 1-87 is similar to the prologue and afterwards is when the story is really starting.

The translator also made an update somewhat recently so there's a slim chance the translation might continue. Knowing me I'd probably lose interest in a few months because ADHD but I'd just like to commend him even if he doesn't return because if you've navigated novel updates enough just giving an update and trying to continue translating 1 year after going on an indefinite hiatus is something only a true hero would do

Now onto the cons:

    1. The POV changes, these happen fairly often and they're annoying at first but later when the paths of the characters intersect it gets super entertaining.
    2. The NPCs are barely developed. They're occasionally entertain but for the most part they're more just goons for the MC to order around but well, you're reading a VRMMORPG novel.
    3. The translation quality. The translation quality is good, insanely good. Hence why when it ran out and I had to resort to MTLs. Its was painful af and I barely made it half a dozen chapters
    4. The translator left off at a pretty rough spot. I felt the story really got much more interesting after the breeze of fresh air that was chapter 87, so when I read 20-ish more chapters and ran out, I felt immensely blue-balled
All in all:

Plot:8.5/10

Writing: 8.5/10 (The descriptions gets a bit excessive and the setting really doesn't get much love but everything else is excellent)

Setting: 10/10 (Where this novel really shines for me, the world is a classic fantasy world, interesting but nothing remarkable, but the game the story takes place in and its mechanics are not only unique but also insanely well though out. Eg. The way evolution works (It lets you learn more, better skills but doesn't boost your stats) and the way magic works)

Action: 8.5/10 (The action is a bit more realistic (?), people don't just chain together attacks like its DBZ like in most other VRMMORPG novels. Unless you're cracked in stats like the protagonist, you need ambushes, teamwork, or strategy to actually win as opposed to pure control skills, which I like but I can see why some other people might not)

Entertainment Value: 9.5/10 (Drags a bit before 87)

Characters: 7.5/10 (MC is excellent but nobody else comes close in terms of writing)

Translation (When they're not on hiatus) :9.5/10 (Perfect translation quality but they're somewhat slow. Yes, I'm nitpicking.)

Conclusion: This is peak if you go in with the right mindset. Don't expect LOTM level plot or writing. This is like a Souls Game, the priority is to have fun but if you wish to focus on the plot you'll find its still pretty amazing <<less
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cavler
cavler
Jun 28, 2022
Status: c610
I enjoyed this story.

It is a typical 'lets play a game' story, with lots of worldbuilding and lore.

What I dislike however is the absolute gigantic cast of characters. More otten than not I question myself, who is this again? It's especially annoying if this happens during the alternate perspectives. Additionally there is mayor character neglect, where a lot of them devolve into the occasional mention here or there, it is something I find unfortunate and regretful. There is also fairly little character development, but that was euprisingly ok for me.

Other... more>> than that it's just fun to read how the MC completely dominates the game, and the epilogue is handled quite well. <<less
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Boredom529
Boredom529
Aug 05, 2021
Status: c87
I was mostly enjoying this story except maybe all the side character pov's (these can be rather excessive and do little to advance the plot in most cases) until chapter 87. As of this chapter I'm not even sure I want to read the next one.

Rather major spoiler below.

... more>>
Spoiler

The author decided that the MC was going to die in this chapter ahead of time and starts it with her ressing afterwards. This was pre planned as they had written the MC gradually starting to feel invincible.

This would have been fine except for the fact that the author has her turn into a brain dead moron when she is supposed to be an intelligent MC and has her die to a bunch of idiots who shouldn't have even known she was coming to set up a trap specifically for her. There is also the issue of them even being able to damage her as she had gone through several massive power spikes since the previous event.

It would have been less s*upid if one of the other cataclysms had randomly shown up and killed her to teach her not to get ahead of her self and that she wasn't invincible and I would have cared alot less. The author also had her forget that she can teleport to her minions without using castling which was an ability that made no sense to introduce as she had a better one already. The whole thing was just a poorly written excuse to teach the character a lesson.

All in all a really sh*t chapter and I might read the follow up chapter that supposedly goes into more detail later on but this really killed any trust I had in the author.

Rant over.

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Monokrom
Monokrom
Apr 25, 2021
Status: c64
very good and very interesting, too bad the translator of this translation, I hope the next chapter will translate. I love this novel.

The plot is clear, the story is interesting, there are no cheats in this novel, the MC only uses the right method. There is no special ability for MC, only smart MC.
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Blithe
Blithe
Mar 23, 2022
Status: c79
So far so good. I love the MC. I just like the fact that she indeed does what she likes. I love her free spirit you can say. There is very little novels with mmorg and female protagonist as their tagline. This is one of the good ones.

Only problem is that I’m personally not a fan of multiple POVs. To me I’d rather skip Blanc’s part of the novel. I would’ve preferred if the novel only focused on Rare, you know ?
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