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Shrouded Seascape
Type
Web Novel (CN)
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Rating(4.0 / 5.0, 55 votes)
5    55% (30 votes)
4    15% (8 votes)
3    18% (10 votes)
2    4% (2 votes)
1    9% (5 votes)
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
N/A
Year
Example: 2012
2021
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
4 Volumes / 1130 Chapters + 4 Extra Chapters (Completed)
Wuxiaworld: 1153 Chapters
—Main Story: 1149 Chapters
—Side Stories: 4 Chapters
Licensed
Yes
Completely Translated
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
Release Frequency
Every 63.9 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #2000
Monthly Rank: #2000
All Time Rank: #10607
Reading List
[Graph]
On 663 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #28707
All Time Rank: #13260

Description

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The underground sea is pitch black and mysterious, with islands inhabited by grotesque and terrifying monsters.

Humans are not the protagonists of this eerie place; madness and death are. Begging for the mercy of those sea creatures will only lead to a gradual deformation in the darkness, leaving the poor souls struggling to survive.

If we want to regain the former glory of humanity, we must have the courage to navigate the steamship and venture into the depths of the Earthsea, with a determination to face death.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Mysteries of the Earthsea
诡秘地海
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Deep Sea Embers (3)
Lord of the Mysteries (2)
Ten Day Ultimatum (2)
13 Minke Street (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. novels you'll definitely like
  2. The best Chinese novels I have ever read in my lif...
  3. Good or Interesting Chinese Novel
  4. Personal interest
  5. Horror (no homo)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
10/02/23 Wuxiaworld c50
10/02/23 Wuxiaworld c49
10/02/23 Wuxiaworld c48
10/02/23 Wuxiaworld c47
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10/02/23 Wuxiaworld c40
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18 Reviews sorted by


yukv
New yukv
April 25, 2026
Status: c235
Very good thus far!!

The best way I can describe this is Eldritch Horror One Piece. One review mentioned its similar to Deep Sea Embers in a few places, which is pretty spot on. If someone said this was a prequel to DSE, someone might believe it XD

Really, the only main critique is that Charles (MC) keeps jumping from island to island constantly without break, but that sorta makes sense with how urgent his goal is. At one point he does face some consequence for this, but sorta just goes right... more>> back to it.

Main loop is generally going to a super dangerous, uncharted island, somehow barely escaping "alive", maybe getting some loot or some info, building up until a big story reveal of sorts towards the end of the arc or current adventure, repeat. There's a few side story parts mixed in with a little slice-of-horror-life here in there, which are a good break from the action.

This is one of the more heavy novels I've read, in that the world is just constantly depressing and gloomy and literally nothing ever goes right for Charles. Most of the time, he gets a little bit of loot as the result of years of mental scarring, broken and battered body, losing crew members, etc., all while the world is perma darkness and dreary.

I really enjoy pretty much all of the side characters. They're all pretty well written, but nothing too crazy. Very solid overall, and Bandages is the Goat. His best feature is constantly trying to sacrifice people to Sea Cthulu in order to help Charles out, such a good kid! *Pats* Also shout out to the boy Richard

All of the characters have pretty interesting backstory and motivations, most of which get explored pretty early on, revealing small hints and parts over time.

About romance, minor 10 chapters spoiler:

Spoiler

I'm not really too far in so I can't really say much about it besides that its interesting. FMC is interestingly written. Sorta a story of how my autistic ass accidently rizzed a tentacle demon baddie with a taste for raw men and now she won't stop trying to devour me (literally)

[collapse]

It's about an 8.5 for me! Definitely not as good for me personally as a LOTM, but up there with novels like Deep Sea Embers. <<less
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Eternal Liar
Eternal Liar rated it
April 4, 2023
Status: --
This would've been a great original novel if not for the fact that I suspect the writer is borrowing all their source material from the Sunless Sea and is going to be less original as time goes on, but time will prove.

So far I find the writing lacking in details, granted this is a webnovel but my gripe lies in the fact that the writer is lacking in imagination to describe the richness and mysteries of anything they encounter and rushes through some parts they could not elucidate.
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TurdFerguson777
TurdFerguson777 rated it
September 26, 2023
Status: c232
its pretty good at the start but after a 50 chapters or so it gets a lot better, I'm suprised it's so low rated, because it's better than 99% of chinese novels on this site.

Basically a guy from earth goes out on a boat one day and somehow ends in an ocean where there is no sun, no stars, and it is completely dark. He gets picked up by a ship, and eventually he becomes the captain of a cargo ship. This is where the story begins from. His goal... more>> is to find the way to surface.

Power System:

The world's technology and power system is pretty weird and convoluted but generally it's like 19th century style, but there's electricity and magic (which is mostly cursory and not talked about much) and other weird stuff. The main power at least for humans (there are other indigenous races), comes from relics --> similar to artefacts in LOTM, they give you power for a price

Spoiler

Later revealed that people from the surface came down to study these artifacts and sometimes even made them.

[collapse]

The other main power are the weird things in the sea, these monsters are powerful and strange and there are even cults who consider some of these monsters gods.

Setting:

Apparently it is similar to the game sunless sea. There is a seemingly endless dark subterranean sea, and most people live on islands, that may sink randomly. The person in charge of an island is called the governor and they are usually the one who explored the island or descendants of that person.

Character:

I would say the characters in the novel are more 3d and the portrayl of women is better than most chinese novels, ofcourse it still not great, as most of female characters are dependant on the MC in some way or another. The MC is somewhat similar to klein, but he is a lot more indifferent and cruel - he's kind of hypocritical because he doesn't want be ruthless but he lets other's do it for him

Spoiler

E.g. Whole crew needs to survive, so first mate suggest to do a ritual sacrifice, captain rebukes him, but then doesn't stop him from doing it (whether the character is able or not, the author is acting for him)

[collapse]

Overall I'll give it 5 stars because I feel it's too lowly rated here, but in my personal rating it would be like a 4/5 (5/5 is LOTM on web-novel scale) <<less
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Saronin Jayhart
Saronin Jayhart rated it
July 25, 2024
Status: c43
It was actually pretty hard to figure out why I didn't quite like it. It has a very interesting setting and worldbuilding

... more>>
Spoiler

Reminiscent of Deep Sea Embers, but without Vision 001 and taking place before all the islands were discovered.

[collapse]

Lovecraftian style theme, with exciting moments that keep you on the edge of your seat, it's relatively well written has a great translation.

I couldn't understand why I didn't really like it, until I realized, the author reveals the mysteries from the start leaving the mystery only for the characters to solve leaving nothing for the reader to figure out and so all you can do is frustratedly shout at them for not realizing what's happening despite living in a world that should make them cautious of these things. The mysteries that aren't explained from the seem to have no development, since the characters, for the most part, aren't really interested in solving the mysteries (since doing so might make them go insane) leaving the reader unsatisfied.

Also I can say for certain he is not a cautious protagonist, at least he is not cautious compared to any of the characters in Deep Sea Embers, considering the similar setting he appears to be slow-witted, and lacking experience, never seeming to learn new precautions from any of his encounters and rushing head first into danger for the sake of a quick buck. He might be cautious by the standard of regular sci-fi or fantasy settings, but not by the standard of cosmic horror.

Spoiler

You write in your diary daily, so read the effing diary after every incident. For pete's sake use it to confirm how many crew you have aboard, their names, features and who died. You've been living in a world where crew are replaced/increased with monsters regularly for 8 years. You'd think that'd be obvious by now. Heck have two of them, one in your language and one in theirs, so that you can compare the entries. :Facepalm:

[collapse]
<<less
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SpHyNx
SpHyNx rated it
November 10, 2023
Status: c166
So ever since finishing LOTM a while back, I've been craving stories like that for a long time. Sadly, as many of you fellow readers know, they are hard to find. Shrouded Seascape is one of those that managed to scratch that itch that I had for Lovecraftian horror, with an amazing world and even better characters.

For me, personally, as of chapter 166, I believe this novel’s strongest point to be its MC. He ‘feels’ human, and his motives are relatable and understandable. Unlike those Xianxias where the MC holds... more>> an iron will to shake mountains and move the seas and all that bla bla, our MC has a reason to be driven, he struggles A LOT and you can’t help but root for him. The side characters are I would say 50/50 they are not bad per se, but neither are they amazing.

Overall; I truly believe that this is a hidden gem that just needs a bit more exposure. It's truly been a long time since I last felt goosebumps when reading a novel, and this one managed to do just that. <<less
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jimdakid
jimdakid rated it
December 19, 2023
Status: c241
I like this novel a lot. The setting reminds me of Deep Sea Embers, but the main character is not as OP as Captain Duncan. Instead, there is a greater focus on the SCP-like artifacts and beings that lurk in the underground sea. The pacing is quite fast, but I do not feel like the writing quality suffers for it. It helps that the translation quality is top-notch.
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Seraphic
Seraphic rated it
November 17, 2023
Status: c147
There's a couple of Lovecraft-inspired webnovels that have been or are being translated, but this one stands out to me as specifically capturing the essence of a ttrpg like Call of Cthulhu. There's horror, sure, but it's more of an action story about surviving a world that's very much hostile to humans, even if it means gradually losing your sanity along the way.
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puukkiss
puukkiss rated it
April 3, 2023
Status: c15
Nice. So far, not bad. Yeah, comparing it to LotM might be banal, but as there aren't that many stories in steam age/sea only LotM sea arc felt closest with otherworldly Cthulhu islands/power.

World building seems solid, giving the feeling of a lived in world of steam punk, sea, and monsters. Side characters have enough flavour to remember them.

Only critic I could say it was too on the nose with when their minds were controlled. As if readers have a bad memory to remember simply facts. Plus, only two female characters... more>> introduced so far were sexy ladies... Hopefully some normal woman side characters will show up...

Translation: Good. Reads smoothly and there aren't any clumsy places. (But English is my second language, so who do I know?) Also, for now, updates are at a good pace.

Will read on as it is translated. <<less
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japuncess
japuncess rated it
August 30, 2024
Status: c500
This is the first time I am posting a review in this website because I wanted this book to get more recognized because it is so underrated currently. Coming from an avid light novel reader, I read ch, jp, korean novels, the notable ones include Er gen novels, Lord of the misteries (and the 2nd one), Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Return of the Mount Hua sect to name a few,

I really enjoyed the level of writing and plot Shrouded Seascape has. It is quite similar to LOTM, however the setting... more>> is different, since in this world, everything is happening inside the earth/deap earth. This means that technology isnt that developed, things are happening mostly between islands and seas (yeah pirates and exploration is the main theme here). The catch is that SCP related stuff is in play here, in LOTM terms, sealed artifacts, although it is called relics here, and it also has certain drawbacks when used. Although the power level isnt really as defined as in LOTM, it has its unique ways of gauging the characters strength.

The best thing about this novel is that, although it has a slow start like LOTM, it begins picking the pace fast as we encover more and more mysteries, and islands. Begininning from the main character, we feel like we are learning about the world at the same pace as him, as I am in like the middle of the book currently (i think), each chapter makes me anticipating of what is coming next, as every solved mystery always leads to another intriguing mystery.

Lastly, my favourite part about this novel is the characters, and the dynamic between them. Although the author mainky focuses on MC's development, like other authors do, this author doesnt abandon the side/supporting characters. He develops them with the MC, and also shows how their character progresses throughout the story. The MC and the side characters also shares a strong bond, and some scenes in the story can be really emotional (yes, beware). Unlike LOTM, this story has its share of romances, however it isn't written too strongly like other harem novels. Actually, I kinda got depressed reading one of the sad chapters.

Well, this is my review, and I hope more people give this novel/book a chance. I really like fantasy/dark fantasy novels, and I feel like if you like reading er gen novels (especially the timescape one) and LOTM then you will enjoy reading this novel!!!

You can read this in Wuxiaworld app btw xD, the translation is nice!!!! And maybe you can see my comments too (Daoist TenDongs) <<less
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Oldfour rated it
December 20, 2023
Status: c240
This book is great! If you want an unusual Chinese novel that has lots of fresh stuff this is it! It has cosmic horror, lovecraftian stuff, and scp stuff! Very early on you realize that the horrors of the sea are so bad that even when you win, the wounds to your psyche may last for life. The writing is unique, and there are monsters I've never even considered before!
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Braindean
Braindean rated it
July 25, 2025
Status: c565
Honestly, this novel was pretty decent for the first 400 chapters or so. It was like a worse version of Lord of the Mysteries, although that still means it was alright. The MC Charles is an idiot and just threw himself into s*upid situations all the time, but reading about the supernatural stuff in the subterranean seascape was enjoyable.

However, then Charles reaches the surface and the novel nosedives into being completely garbage. Up until then, Charles' main driving motivation was to reach the surface and go home. It was the... more>> entire reason he did anything at all. As soon as he actually gets to the surface and realizes it's a wasteland, he loses all intrinsic motivation to do anything. After that point, the only reason Charles goes out of his way to do something is because of some urgent external threat like the darkness being stolen or whatever. He stops doing stuff for himself. It'd be like if Klein Moretti wasn't trying to reach Sequence 0 but just did stuff because he would die in a week otherwise. It's so boring to read about a protagonist with no motivation. <<less
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grrman
grrman rated it
August 18, 2024
Status: c728
It's a very good novel. It's about a MC who is struggling to retain his humanity in an actual insane world. It's a novel about exploring the seas while being the lowest being on the food chain. Whether it's monsters that want to eat you, the call of the seas slowly corrupting your mind, or otherworldy beings driving people insane, our MC struggles through a dark world full of mysteries. It's a harsh novel that does a good job at staying grounded in human emotions even while exploring islands and... more>> concepts that are hard to comprehend.

The strongest part of the novel are the emotions. The author does a good job at building a supporting cast of characters and periodically switching POVs so we slowly get a more accurate view at what's going on around the world. The shift in POVs help us see things from a regular person's point of view because our MC is very different from the rest of the world. The author does a good job at world building and setting things up for the future. There are lots of characters and places that reappear and are relevant in the far future. I've never read a SCP type novels so all the concepts seem very fresh to me. I think the author does a good job at explaining things so the reader doesn't have to be familiar with Lovecraftian myths.

There's lots of mystery, action and horror, but also quite a bit heart warming moments and light hearted scenes. I think it's a very well rounded novel, that keeps you on the edge of your seat and is hard to predict what's the next twist going to be or who is going to survive a scene. <<less
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QinQing_Chen
QinQing_Chen rated it
October 3, 2023
Status: c124
For now, I'll put it as 5 star. It's about a person of our world that is sent to a world with steam-punk and Lovecraft theme. He is desprete and obsessed to go back to this world. That is peaceful compared with the one that have alot of Lovecraft monsters in it. It is more like action story actually. Some people might found it like a game... But since I never play it, so I can't say it is alike or not. anyway, I read the Mtl. So some nuance... more>> might not be felt, but this is quite a good story that also have theme of sea. <<less
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Fog Technique
Fog Technique rated it
December 31, 2025
Status: c80
very interesting with great cosmic horror setting, however I do not like the romance and women. I dont like how the female explorer forced herself onto the MC and coerced him into s*x (clearly r*pe) when the MC has a wife, unless you find it hot or some shit.

the cosmic horror isn’t exactly well done either. The author relies too much on shocking descriptions of eldritch monsters, which is not very immersive.

my greatest dislike is that the author also clearly plagarized the setting and many of the items (eg Echo... more>> currency, underground sea, coral archipelago/Principles of Coral, sunlight filled mirrorcatch box) from sunless sea game. I would likely enjoy this more if I haven’t played that game, but since I have, the plagiarism is glaring and cringe, reducing this otherwise alright novel to a shitty fanfic.

I would recommend this novel if you are a simp, haven’t played sunless sea, and enjoy cosmic horror. The authors other work dao of the bizarre immortal was simply peak, but this one is unfortunately a let down. <<less
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miscreant
miscreant
August 24, 2025
Status: c202
Considering how much lore is directly picked up from Sunless Sea I'm unsure if it should be classed as a Sunless Sea Fanfic. The novel uses the same currency (echoes), has things like Mirrorboxes for sunlight and even has things like the Uttershroom and talking mice. I wonder if author also plans to copy the Zubmariner expansion of the game.

It then has some loosely based SCP elements although the numbers don't match the actual SCP site and a bit of Lovecraft although it does seem that through translation from English... more>> to Chinese to English the actual quotes have been warped. For example "They who enter an eternal slumber are not dead. As time stretches beyond our understanding, even death finds its own ending." was meant to be "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die."

Having said that story is perfectly serviceable so there's no issues there other than it's heavily inspired from certain other stories. <<less
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deniss18
deniss18 rated it
March 8, 2025
Status: c45
It hasn't been long since I started reading this novel. From the beginning it had caught my attention so I started reading like crazy but as you read on you notice some things, or well, for novels of my taste this doesn't seem to be one of them.

First, the protagonist despite having a diary clearly doesn't read it, come on man if you're in a crazy and dark world, keeping track of your crew and situation is good but if you don't keep an eye on it after each mission,... more>> what's the point of having it?

Second, this is completely my opinion but the truth is that novels with some romance or at least a love interest are off my reading list.

I feel that love makes the protagonist deviate from his goals or change them just for her.

If you're going to have a romantic plot even in the background, put the label and thus avoid wasting one's time.

I've been looking for Lovecraftian stories that don't have any romance, 0.

I'm thinking of reading on because even though I don't like romance, I admit that the world where all this happens is interesting, as are the creatures. <<less
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MyRAMEN
MyRAMEN rated it
February 6, 2025
Status: c44
TLDR: The world setting and the lore is honestly what carries this novel. Think of the game sunless sea, as it is a novel with a similar concept. Everything else honestly kinda feels out of touch of reality at times. Especially in his adventures, as all the plot and settings were abrupt and pulled out of the authors arse. The Subplot romance was very good, but again, other than the good points, everything else was honestly pretty dry, and lacked development. You also aren't very attached to the side chars like his crew as most have little screen time and they always die and get replaced in time

I guess it's an unpopular opinion, but the novel was somewhat dry. The world setting honestly carries the novel very hard in my... more>> opinion. The subtle sub plot slow romance was also very well done, and isn't leaned into / focused on too much which I liked. Everything else in the story, although has interesting features, they were honestly all pretty weak in depth and plot.

The story tries to be of horror genre, but honestly, it isn't scary, especially when compared to classics like My House of Horrors. All the development and execution parts were lacking, in turn, you really only get Lovecraft type settings and lore, but not actual horror scares.

Though the main plot was nice, the same can not be said on the arc plots. The settings for each adventure are honestly all pulled from ones arse, and you can tell. The author does this to make the world more "mysterious" and "scary" but most of it honestly didn't mesh well with each other. Examples being

Spoiler

Giant butterflys, Giant hands from underwater, rabid talking mice, invisible c*ckroach? Locusts?, fake lantern sea creature, vampire city, sci fi things, paper creatures?????, et cetera

[collapse]

If you looked at the spoiler, they really are, entirely in essence, just, random. It really felt like things were just added to add diversity and the "mysteriousness". A lot of these being things that just break any sense of reality for me, especially when crafted into a world together.

The plots were just the same. You basically get random seperate by itself short stories honestly. You never know what you are getting into, but for this novel, it's honestly a negative due to the inconsistencies of world crafting and also the lack of buildups and development. Though I've only read 44 chaps, which is a lot but at the same time short, seeing more spanning plotlines and foreshadowings would be nice. Like how Surviving as a Barbarian and Strange Grief Wants to Retire.... So far we've only seen this in his Subplot romance, none for his adventures.

The world lore settings on the other hand, and the general world settings that setup the world, is really again, what carries the novel in my opinion. <<less
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ghostdj0
ghostdj0 rated it
October 18, 2025
Status: c399
The world is interesting and enjoyable but it feels too long-winded.

The MC is an idiot, he's not bad but also doesn't have any qualities that make him stand out when compared to other masterpiece novels. The MC here is simple, he just has the goal of going home to the surface, and in the face of that he goes headfirst anywhere with clues, the problem is that he's not an analytical thinker nor with unique thinking patterns nor with personality quirks, he's just an average guy who's desperate to find... more>> home. He will be good for a normal world but not enough for a cosmic horror type world where mysteries are everywhere. He doesn't link clues from all around nor does he have apparent advantages.

The world is unique but is not explored enough. We know there are a lot of secrets and the world is an unknown, but we don't see all that. For 399 chapters, all I read is a cycle of our MC sailing and finding an island and looking for clues for the surface and then a bit of rest and then again another voyage to another island which spoon feeds him information about the next step and so on.

This novel doesn't have a power ranking or a developed path of ascension, whiel it's hinted at and sometimes we see characters who are very powerful and a power system is mentioned, however the MC never actively works on them and they are not explained by author. The MC just has his goal in mind and doesn't care to look for power which is s*upid in this seascape.

The only reason you keep reading this novel is because the author keeps hoodwinking us into thinking that we reached a major plot point, and then it appears to not be a major point.

The MC gets his powers from random stuff he does without much thinking so it feels just that the author keeps him at minimum power and just gives him enough for him not to die. For example, his power at this point mainly consists of him using his relics, he got his first boost from a relic that made him Acrobatic, his second relic gave him lightning and then he got info into how to merge his powers into himself, he also got a prosthetic. He's basically a nobody.

We get hints that he's unique and is a chosen one but nothing shows out of this uniqueness.

The world is unique but we don't know what's under the sea and we don't explore the power ascension and we don't see the MC actively solving mysteries.

It just feels like the MC is being pulled along throughout the story.

It's honestly underwhelming, I thought that even if this novel wasn't as goof of lord of mysteries then it would at least be enjoyable, but it just feels like a waste if time. <<less
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