Sword Among Us

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When he returned to the World of Martial Arts, the game was filled with blood and battles! Chen Kaixin had chased after the footsteps of the one emperor, two empresses, three princes, seven dukes, and thirteen aces for three years, but during the eve of the Sword Among Us tournament in Mount Hua, he was ambushed by evil bastards, and was killed so much that his level dropped to that of a newbie. He completely lost the chance to join the ranks of the powerful players in the game! In great disappointment, Kaixin quit the game and got drunk so that he could forget his sadness, but during that stormy night, Chen Kaixin found that he had actually dreamed for a total of three years, because when he woke up again, he woke up to three years ago, when he was still a student.

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全球论剑
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11/07/19 Webnovel c168
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10/31/19 Webnovel c154
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kkgoh
kkgoh rated it
September 22, 2020
Status: c600
Wuxia version of "Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World" (2010) which I enjoyed since Wuxia-VR is rare novel genre, and I have to give kudos for the originality.
Ok to speed read through, but you'll have to ignore lots of plotholes and dismal characters.
3.5 stars at best, but I'm biased towards wuxia novels so I'm giving it 4 stars.

EDIT: Downgrading to 3 stars. MC just straight up abandons his NPC companions in pursuit of better quest rewards, despite raising their affection rating the entire game. Readers are... more>> just being strung along. It's the equivalent of maxing out affection rating in RPGs like Dragon Age, then making a ridiculous decision at the end-game that kicks the companions away. And other players in-game actually laud MC for his "decisiveness". Wtf. This is the last straw for me for all the MC's failures.

SUMMARY
A university student Chen Kaixin somehow time travels to the past 3 years ago, before he was assassinated in a VR game (World of Martial Arts) through various betrayals. And so our protagonists must make use of his future knowledge and skills to rise to the top once more.

COMMENTS

(1) World building is decent
It's a cross-generational mesh of various famous wuxia novels -- think of the classic RPG game "Heroes of Jin Yong" (1996). Pays homage to various wuxia novels/authors... whether it's Jin Yong, Chen Wentong or Gu Long.

- References to wuxia classics are quite accurate. Kinda interesting that author (like most other CN wuxia readers) have their own camps on which wuxia characters they support. In case it wasn't clear, not all Jin Yong novel protagonists and characters are one-dimensional. There are lots of different fan favorites.

- No nonsensical builds. The various Qi Realm stages and accompanying skillsets are realistic and fairly balanced.
Players can jump Qi Realm stages to defeat someone above them, but it isn't too absurd like some other CN VR novels.
It's good that there was a long lull period where all players were stuck at Life and Death Qi Realm stage, forcing players to differentiate themselves by skill utilization, technique, experience and equipment.

- Ultimate skills are stated to have their own flaws, and learning them whether by cunning or luck-of-the-draw is no guarantee to top martial position. e.g. an all-powerful skill like "Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms" is momentum based, requires high qi usage (think mana) and requires long wind-up time.

- There are multiple non-martial professions (blacksmith, herbalist, etc) that make the game more equitable and enjoyable for all players of all ages (similar to Legendary Moonlight Sculptor).

(2) "Human" characters suck
This really killed the novel.

The MC is a one-dimensional pony. His character doesn't grow from his reincarnation. He's still a semi-naive university kid, and alternates between acting awkward and cringeworthy "suave" when interacting with females... despite having a gf in his past life.
MC gets a chance to be with his first-love but doesn't do jack sh*t and pretends to be aloof.... for no reason. What a d*ck.
MC is constantly emotional and annoyed whenever he meets the people who betrayed him (including his ex-gf), but he doesn't do jack sh*t about them for hundreds of chapters, just a one-time assassination of a bad guy. So the entire revenge plot was basically solved in one chapter.
Author then didn't know what to do with these betrayers, so they pointlessly hung around like a splinter in your skin even way past chapter 600. Ridiculous.

MC shows his douchebag-like behavior in other ways too. After keeping this first love at arms-length for over half a year, he randomly shows her attention and jokes about how it's only natural that he would want to be with her. Then goes, "Haha, that's just a joke"... while his ex-gf is present. Literally. Because he still has ambiguous feelings towards his prev life gf that betrayed him. What an as*hole!!

Human side characters are one dimensional and completely useless, as @jacobpaige and @selweron alluded to.
MC always comes to save the day since no one else can handle it on their own. The only point of other powerful companions to MC is just placeholder deterrence. Think of it like encampment on a position.
MC defeats baddies -> occupies new resource site -> has his powerful companions camp on it for protection and extraction. Rinse and repeat.
Female side characters are just ornaments and constantly being tr*shed by male martial pugulists. Even the "best female ranked players" are far far behind the top male players.
It's a damn WUXIA in a VR GAME. It's supposed to be more gender equitable. What happened??

The story shines when it goes into "Heavenly Sword Dragon Sabre" phase, but poorly executed. There were hints that the AI might be semi-sentient (esp with various wuxia novel characters) which was fascinating, but eventually nothing progresses and their just revealed to be a little smarter in their responses. Think of all the robocall scams you listened too, and how annoyed you got when you realized you were speaking to a robot. Would have been so much more interesting if MC could truly interact and deviate plotlines from wuxia novels.

(3) Signs of pointless nationalism
Author/MC was really waffling on this subject.

MC's companions expressed their outrage that "foreign players" were entering China's territory to harvest skills/resources/etc. MC pointed out that their own Chinese players were making incursions to other countries too (Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam) so they shouldn't complain.

Within the span of a few chapters, MC turns around and starts being a d*ck and threatening foreign players that he comes across, even though it's repeatedly stated that all opportunities are fair game.
Spoiler

Some Jap player wanted to get martial skills from one of the wuxia characters Xie Xun (Golden Mane Lion) and his quest conflicted with other Chinese player quests. Jap player was strongest until MC arrived. MC threatened to kill him whenever he encroached China territory, before decapitating him.

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So the only person allowed to be arrogant and domineering in this world is the MC? Nobody else? <<less
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Reise
Reise rated it
September 22, 2019
Status: c75
Its not really as bad as the reviews say. 1 star is a bit too low for it. The Virtual reality feels as though im playing a wuxia game because of its mechanics. If any of you play Chinese wuxia games, you will understand since there are no concept of levels but rather stats are given after you practice skills and level them up which means more skills equals more strenght. It can also mean practicing one skill to its peak equals more strenght too.

The MC isnt overpowered in a... more>> sense because countless pros are better but are staying lowkey. MC does not have any godly items nor does he rely on overpowered skills. The skills that he uses can be learned by others and what sets him apart is his usage of such skills because of his experience which allows him to know the appropriate countermeasure for skills used by his opponents. MC is not as ruthless as other chinese MC since he looks down on killing and prefers to stop before any irreconcilable grudges form. At first, I was annoyed but then I remember that he is playing a VR game which means his enemies can come back to life and constantly annoy him so what MC did is quite appropriate since they will stay out of each others way afterwards. Dont get me wrong though, he kills too but only those who are truly scum.

Romance is decent as of current translated chapters. There are girls who are infatuated with MC. MC does not think with his lower part.

Overall, 1 star isnt a justified rating as compared to other novels so I would rate it 5 stars. <<less
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darthpsykoz
darthpsykoz rated it
September 4, 2019
Status: --
I am quite shocked by all the negative ratings, are they there just because it's from Qidian? I always like a good returner (time travel to before) + VRMMO type of novel. So far, the characters are very different from the typical "young masters" or I will kill anyone who annoys me stereotypes and I will give it a good rating just for that. Of course, it has just been 40 chapters, so my review may change in the future, but I'll give it a 5 star for the moment... more>> and also to counterbalance the 1 stars. <<less
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selweron
selweron rated it
October 11, 2019
Status: c301
@edit April 26, 2020

It's a decent VRMMO novel. MC's character is amazing, plot flows seamlessly, some side characters are a bit generic, but in general it is fine. It lacks 'something' to make me interested/hyped that's why my low rating. Otherwise I can't say anything bad about the novel - it actually really feels like he is a student playing a trendy game. If you have nothing else to read then this novel is perfect for killing time. The novel picks up after around 180 chapter too. Definitely better than... more>> Rebirth Thief and other tr*sh in this genre.

Also unlike other VRMMOs, him going back in time has some real effect on the plot, his emotions and behaviour, not just future locations
Spoiler

The woman who hurt him in the past life-- when he meets her first time irl at around c160 he literally WRECKS her verbally and shuts her down. It is realistic and satisfying. I have to praise author because the character he created is not one-dimensional or dumb.

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The author worships females. ALL OF THEM are the fairest beauties from legends and tales... he studied women in detail it seems, just take a look at some of his descriptions:

Spoiler

She was their department princess.

Her voice, which was as mellow as pearls, refreshed the minds of all the people who heard her.

When she sensed the gazes of the people in the hall on her, the beautiful girl under the veil gently put down the teacup in her hand. Until then, she still had not taken off the veil over her face. Besides a faint air of mysteriousness and allure, there was also a hint of cunning and wisdom in her charming eyes.

This small action of hers was incredibly charming and attractive, and she gave off the air of a woman who was highly dependent on a man.

He had to admit that her figure and face were extremely alluring. She was the type of woman who had the face of an angel and the curves of a demon, and she was even top class and knew how to control her feminine charms. It was very difficult for a man to attack her.

She looked like an immortal who had descended to the mortal world.

She had some freckles on her face, which made her especially similar to the girl-next-door who looked pretty and was quiet. She was very adorable.

The girl did not get down from her bicycle. Her delicate body appeared curvaceous and charming under her black and tight-fitting tracksuit, which was very eye-catching. It could not be denied that the girl was very beautiful! The tight-fitting tracksuit made her look healthy, energetic, beautiful, and ethereal. She was the type of girl that boys normally liked.

She was known as the Great Beauty of the disciplinary committee. Her tall and attractive figure, fair skin, and face that could easily cause a man to want to dominate her made quite a number of boys at the entrance feel their hormones rage, since they were still undergoing puberty. They might not even be able to sleep well after that.

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This perfect world where every female is an angel breaks my immersion :D <<less
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jacobpaige
jacobpaige rated it
September 12, 2019
Status: c55
It feels like 80% of this series is fights and training, and since the MC can't lose fights or face difficulties in training, both are very boring. Add onto that that his opponents are just cookie cutter xianxia villains with no depth, and his allies are just cheerleaders with no power, and there's basically nothing even remotely entertaining in the VRMMO sections. And honestly, the RL sections aren't good enough to carry the series, even if they weren't less than 20% of it.

Its not the worst entry in its genre,... more>> but its not really worth reading if you're not desperate either. <<less
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Lazy Dude
Lazy Dude rated it
December 24, 2021
Status: --
great premise but falls flat.

reincarnation was useless, no op skills, no system nothing just his s*upid knowledge of the future that doesn't do jack shite to his situation.

his past life experience? nothing too... the MC might as well cross the street and get hit by a truck.... maybe get a restart and an op skill this time.

the one who reincarnated the MC must be laughing his ass off...
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muhammodalamin
muhammodalamin
May 25, 2020
Status: --
Hes weak. Doesn't have any cheat. Whats the point of his future dream? Hes far behind other people in the game. I dont see anything that makes MC unique. He doesn't have the highest comprehension nor does he have highest affinity. So there are many people better than him.

HE has dream from future. Why doesn't he use those skills from future? Why does he need to find and drool over novice techniques. ?
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