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Series Group
The City of Terror
Type
Web Novel (CN)
Genre
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Rating(3.6 / 5.0, 144 votes)
5    45% (65 votes)
4    17% (24 votes)
3    9% (13 votes)
2    13% (19 votes)
1    16% (23 votes)
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
N/A
Year
Example: 2012
2016
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
1779 Chapters (Complete)
Licensed
No
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
N/A
Release Frequency
Every 138.5 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #2000
Monthly Rank: #2000
All Time Rank: #2170
Reading List
[Graph]
On 1174 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #24287
All Time Rank: #7213

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

What the hell is this? What the hell happened here?

How did my room become so ruined after a single night?

The floor and table were covered in dust, his new poster of Zhang Liang Ying that had just been posted on the wall a few days ago had already become yellow and tattered all over. Even Zhang Liang Ying’s beautiful face became monstrous, as if an old devil was looking at him with a terrifying smile.

The walls were covered by a mist of cobwebs and the fruits placed on top of the coffee table were withered and rotted to the point that the mold on them had turned black. The fruits below even seemed to have turned into mush. The aluminium framed window that the landlord had just installed not that long ago was now covered in a layer of white ash and the glass was filled with cracks and covered in dust.

The computer beside his bed was also covered by cobwebs and was accompanied by an empty water glass with a withered worm inside of it.

Dust filled the air making Wei Xiao Bei choke as he tried to breathe.

Everything seemed to be ash gray without any light, as if looking at television static.

After just one night, it seemed like everything in the room had aged for centuries or even millennia.

Mother… is this a dream?

This must be a dream!

—

One day, Wei Xiao Bei gets dragged into The Dust World, a post-apocalyptic world ruled by monsters from myths, legends, games, etc. He also gains the power to travel between it and the real world, as well as the power called the ‘Status Panel’. With this power, he chooses to strengthen himself to explore the vast mysteries and terror of the other world. What mysteries await him? And what is The Dust World.

Associated Names
One entry per line
TCOT
恐怖都市
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Dungeon Defense (1)
Going Back and Forth Between Earth and The Other World with Space Time Magic (1)
Long Live Summons! (1)
Legend of Legends (1)
Dimensional Sovereign (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Apocalypse
  2. Novels
  3. Not disappointing
  4. Not quite recommendations

Latest Release

Date Group Release
10/09/16 Icarus c2
10/09/16 Icarus c1
Review
21 Reviews


Stark3
Stark3
Jun 01, 2018
Status: c726
EDIT: Novel dropped.

... more>>
Spoiler

MC is an incredible hypocrite, especially after he's established his strength: he sees a massive conflict between monsters and humanity and just stands by because he doesn't want to use up his strength. Later on he joins the conflict, and once it's over and sees the human casualties will sigh at how sad it is. I'm like... you stood by when you could have done something and massively reduced casualties, and now you have the gall to sigh about the body count? He literally watched the monsters break through the base defenses and start slaughtering before he acted. One of his reasons by the way on why he didn't want to spend too much strength : the people were Japanese. >.>

What broke the camel's back for me was when he started making people pray to an idol he created so that he can gather the strength of belief to strengthen his internal space.

STAY AWAY EVEN IF YOU'RE JUST LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO BINGE READ

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honestly, the writing is uninspired, the MC is infuriatingly s*upid at times and gives the impression that minus luck / plot armor he'd be going nowhere. Up to c269, there's really no overarcing story line other than the MC increasing the numbers showing up on his character status. It's kind of hard to swallow the author's logic at times as well.

Spoiler

Apparently, having a skill in hidden weapons allows you to use gravel you've kicked out from the ground to kill off relatively weak monsters. I would have been fine if they were at least thrown with accuracy and strength by the MC but really... stomping on the ground to throw up gravel to kill enemies is an application of a hidden weapons skill???

Rant #2: the MC was given a skill early on where he can generate electric current. Aside from emitting it directly, he could also use it internally to help train his strength and agility... but he almost never uses it at all. An RPG min-maxer would be using that as much as he can on top of whatever attribute gains you can get by spending points, but he just leaves that option as is. /smh

Rant #3: The MC has a sub-attribute Hand Eye Coordination under the Agility attribute. For some reason tho, when the author tries to describe what happens when MC promotes that attribute, he keeps saying that it's improving the MC's eyesight : as of c726 he can see up to 6km away, and see individual dust mites in the air. THAT'S NOT WHAT HAND-EYE COORDINATION IS! /doublefacepalm

[collapse]

I'm only reading because I'm kind of fine with brain dead binging right now to go in between my more serious reads... but otherwise... stay away.

[collapse]
<<less
49 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Draqe3195
Draqe3195
Sep 02, 2018
Status: c146
This is the translator. I won't rate this 5/5, since being realistic this novel is not really top novel material, but it is a fresh experience. This novel is not your stereotypical apocalypse novel where the world the MC stays in is apocalyptic. The build up seems slow at first but it is actually quite fast. Compared to most Chinese novels, the excitement starts around chapter 130+ but everything before that is just the character building up strength (the boring part technically). One of the reviews here might say that... more>> the MC is hypocritical, but that is also what makes him human. And then about the comment about the Japanese, I would like to provide an explanation on that. Most Chinese parents (like mine) would actually teach their children that Japanese are bad people all because of the Nanjing Massacre (if you don't know read up on it, it's interesting). People who read 3 chapters and write reviews are not credible enough to actually tell the story.

P.S. If you tell me that I'm defending the story because I'm the translator, then yes, I will defend the story I chose. <<less
25 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ReadsWebNovels
ReadsWebNove
May 07, 2018
Status: c3
Sigh. Another one?

There are a ton of CN fantasy apocolypse novels, and they're all the same. MC has a military/assassin/time reverter/underdog identity, giving him an advantage over others. People backstab people in a dog-eat-dog world. MC begins gathering a party/building a nation.

Spoiler? The author or translator will inevitably drop the story because there's no end goal to the story and it's just kind of chugging along and growing stale.
22 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ARATA-J
ARATA-J
Jun 03, 2018
Status: c357
The main character is s*upid as duck, story building sucks, character seem like going no where and sloppy bromance which can givee you chills and creeps. I just read this novel due to having no material to read but ''enough is enough'' at some point, even you run out of material.

Author need to take some threpy class like literally. I thought when reach 300 will get better but somehow reading up 357 I just lost my willpower rather my intelligence keep going down to the point I got fed up.... more>> I higly recommend you to not read this, if you got too much spare time and energy please do porcee. (You dig your own pit) <<less
18 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Ner0
Ner0
May 06, 2018
Status: c21
This story is about a random dude summoned to battle zones in another plane where he must fight monsters to upgrade his strength and get abilities. The plot is divided between the real world and the time he's summoned in those battle zones, but he can still utilize his power in the real world.

Apart from the fact that the MC managed to kill a monster one level higher than him by rubbing some salt on its wounds (I'm not kidding), and how the summoning to the dust world select only... more>> drunk men (and drunk women?), it is a good read. (seriously could have believed it was made by a Japanese with these outrageous ideas).

I don't personally like the MC, he's a brain-dead muscle guy but the story is well described and interesting overall.

Edit:

Okay, it was interesting, before it became obvious that there was no plot progression. The following chapters are only the repetition of what happens in the first 10 chapters... <<less
11 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
faerro
faerro
Apr 21, 2020
Status: c301
I originally gave this WN a 4, but had to drop my rating to a 2. The author becomes unbearably racist with his writing later on.

For example, the MC says he is going to kill two German dudes for looking at him with hostility because they are foreigners/non-Chinese and it doesn't matter if they die. At the same time, he says he will protect the French girl the German guys are guarding because she is half Chinese and it is his duty as a Chinese person. Super racist.
8 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Shadoerunner
Shadoerunner
Jul 16, 2018
Status: c76
Thanks for the chapter! This chapter was my finally awaited one, the main character has some sense drilled into him. I hope to a lot more interesting problems and solutions in the future.

If you like end of the world stories as well as slice of life, this story is a perfect mix. Can't wait to see what the next chapter holds in store for us.
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ResidentialPsycho
ResidentialP
May 31, 2019
Status: c12
I voted for this series hoping to get a horror novel on here... I was incredibly disappointed. That is not what this is.

Admittedly, the protagonist only has an IQ of 7/10, which would roughly be an IQ of 70 and which makes him borderline mentally disabled. At least, the author knows the MC is Not Smart. While reading some of the decisions the MC makes, I had to take a moment to stare at my computer screen wondering why he made Choice A compared to a safer, more logical Choice... more>> B or why he isn’t aware of another option. The train of logic the MC follows is really... unique. It feels like he’s only making choices for the plot rather than making choices according to his character. This is an excellent series for facepalming, if that's what you're looking for. According to his stats, he has high willpower, which is apparently not enough to refrain from ingesting strange objects, controlling his hunger, sticking to his career path, or attending school. Even though he was in the military, his discipline is shockingly weak.

Rather than the stats actually using the mean to be the average, it appears the stats were calculated by averaging the maximum and minimum values rather than the true mean, making them fairly insensible and irrelevant. What is this bizzaro math?

The writing is poor with an awkward tempo regardless of action or inaction. If the MC is in a dangerous situation, all it takes is one blink, and Plot has saved him without any drama. The writing is weak and dull, especially for an action series. Even when the protagonist is in the midst of a life-or-death struggle, there is no anticipation for what happens next. Throwing out a bunch of stat panels is how to pull someone into a game, not a novel. There are plenty of web novels which use stat panels well, but this is not one of them.

There is adventure. However, there isn’t any horror, suspense, or comedy. Even the adventure itself is unappealing and can't garner my interest as a reader.

The MC is a character with low IQ, who is essentially a metaphorical robot controlled and manipulated by the plot. No other characters have any substance at all eleven chapters in. There are a fair number of inconsistencies as well, although they're not as plentiful as in some other web novels I've read.

Incredibly dull and not even remotely exciting. Not recommended unless you're looking for a story that can give you plenty of lampooning moments. <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
LoreCarN
LoreCarN
Jan 29, 2020
Status: c320
So.... there's nothing too wrong with the story...

A good modern-apocalyptic-novel, until now no racism found in this one, no idiotic arrogant ym, no romance (not yet, cause there already a couple love interest), MC not idiot, not hot blooded or cold blooded.

The pace are a bit slow.

So, this actually a 3.8☆ > 4☆ novel.... pretty much an interesting novel.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
FateXero
FateXero
Nov 25, 2018
Status: c100
In this story the MC wakes up in a post apocalyptic world inhabited by monsters. The people brought to this world are given a game system with stats and skills which they can level up via killing monsters. Unlike most novels, there are evolution points one can gain from killing monsters instead of exp for levels. They can invest these points into one of the many stats to improve their overall level. Also, thankfully, they can travel back and forth to their original world while carrying over whatever stats they... more>> gained in the "dust" world.

Ok so is this novel as bad as some people rate it? Well yes, and no. It's the kind of novel that can really rub some people the wrong the way.

First off, the bad.

The MC is frankly kinda bland. He's one of those cookie cutter MC that is kind to those he loves and brutal to everyone else. I've seen complaints about him being a hypocrite and while I agree, I don't think it detracts from the story to much. After all, I feel it's human nature to contradict one self sometimes. Especially in a world where ones convictions and morals are subject to change in order to survive.

It is upsetting though, when the MC is a racist. This is something that infests many novels and it does nothing but make the MC unlikable. Anyways it's off topic but I don't like it when authors or translators try to justify why having a racist MC is an ok thing when it's not. It's actually fairly easy to make the enemy a certain country while also not making the MC racist.

Another flaw of the novel is it's lack of good supporting characters. This is one of my biggest complaints in most novels besides the MC being bland. Most of the side characters don't have much of a personality and don't contribute much to the story.

With that out of the way, lets talk about the good aspects of the novel.

First, I really enjoy game element novels and this one does an pretty good job with it. I've rarely seen novels which so such a good job breaking down the usual strength, agility, etc. Stats into sub catagories so well. Also the story keeps things rather mysterious regarding this new world which keeps me interested to see where the story will go. The battles are not bad and the abilities of the MC are kinda boring but have a unique enough twist to them to keep me interested. For instance instead of flat our electricity, the skill if further broken down into volts and amps.

So yeah, the novel isn't great but if you like game element novels like me then I would recommend it if you have nothing else to read. <<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ieatp-ssy
ieatp-ssy
Nov 24, 2018
Status: c180
NovelUpdates doesn't allow fractions (of the stars) in ratings, but let me say that my ratings would have otherwise been about 3.8-stars for this novel. Definitely not enough to be a 4-star novel, but very strong on the 3-star side.

Premise of the story is simple. Man wakes up in an 'alternate world, ' that appears post-apocalyptic, with a computer game-panel in his head, numeralising his combat capabilities. He goes off, and fights monsters. From here on out, everything is predictably what you think it would be.

But, there's a few hooks,... more>> and in these hooks like the interesting strength of this novel:

  1. The MC is a grown-up. Not some kid. He has the perspective of an adult, unless the matter at hand is women, in which case he's as pure and untainted as a 3-year-old. Hey, this is a Chinese novel, after all.
  2. He's not 'stuck' in the post-apocalyptic world. At some point, he goes unconscious, and wakes up in the real world, and he does things in real life again. He goes in and out of the post-apocalyptic world.
  3. As the story unfolds, you'll notice that the things happening in the real world affects the other world, and vice-versa. As of chapter 180, the correlation isn't explained, yet, so this could turn out to be unexpectedly brilliant plot twist, in the future, or it'll fall flat like in most other CN novels, and the clever spark of an idea is going to be totally wasted.
I'm reading the English translation of this novel, whereupon the translator had attached a reader's note, on the very top of the 1st chapter, advising that you should read up to chapter 10, before giving up. I second that advice.

So far, this has turned out to be an action-filled novel when he's in the post-apocalyptic world, but manages to stay exciting and not totally dumb, when he's in the real world. It's definitely worth a read, and I'm really, really, really hoping this thing doesn't jump the shark, any time soon.

Enjoy! <<less
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TheAvidReader
TheAvidReade
Nov 22, 2019
Status: --
Lacking. There’s no direction. Other reviews say the plot slow but at there should be some sort of goal. No goal here that’s really interesting. Just him gaining special skills and gaining a better appearance. Idk really I didn’t read too far. It’s just s*upid how he’s brought into the apocalyptic world. BY DRINKING????? And y is he risking his life to gain some special skills if he could live comfortably in his own world. Seems s*upid.
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Wujigege
Wujigege
Feb 24, 2019
Status: c255
Disappointing. I gave it a lot of chances: ignoring the fact that characters switch between male and female in the same paragraph.

It becomes drudgery to read.

The world building is actually good but the author seems to shoot himself in the foot by discrediting non Chinese mythology.

... more>> Supporting characters are so bad that I look forward to the protagonist being alone.

Lastly, a pet peeve of mine which was also in the Dungeon society novel : What is the deal with being 2 metres tall? The authors seem to be obsessed with height in both novels.

A guy going from 1.7 m to 2.09m is not cool. It's creepy <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
An Earnest Reader
An Earnest R
Jun 11, 2018
Status: c57
Hi there, an earnest reader here. I'm doing this to support the translator at gravitytales.

I'm pretty picky with my novels. If a novel is terrible to read, then I just stop reading. I don't usually care if it's mainstream or whatever, but the ones I do read, I believe have the capacity to be great.

This novel I'm just trying out, it has a pretty similar idea to a novel called Ultimate Evolution, entering a mystical realm where you can grow stronger while still accessing the modern world. I can tell... more>> you Ultimate Evolution has a slow start, it was hard to keep reading as the foundation of the story was still shallow in the beginning, but as you continue to read you suddenly realize that you can't stop.

City of Terror has a similar power up system to that. Which I have to say, "Mmm, okay.", but that's not really important. What's important is that, this like the great novels I read, is being given a lot of love by the translator, or at least they're good at doing their job. This is really important, because no matter how great the story, if we can't understand it, how are we supposed to enjoy it?

So for that we can say translating team CHECK.

As for the story, we can't always just judge a novel by it's beginning. It's the foundation, there is still a lot of information dumping going on, and character growth is still happening. The story setting is putting him a low beginning, but as we all know he is gonna get OP, we just have to wait and read.

Trust me on this one I've been reading for 3 years, so I have a lot of experience. I witnessed the ending of ISSTH (Deathblade#1), which was pretty cool.

So give this novel a try, I hope that our translator and editor don't give up. A huge amount of chapters attract readers, good grammar helps them understand, and a steady release keeps them waiting for more. I wish you luck. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
mikaelhg
mikaelhg
Jun 10, 2018
Status: c56
Super racist novel in the later chapters, when the MC meets weird but always inferior non-Chinese people.

If you enjoy mentally shouting "NO, PUT THE POINTS INTO INTELLIGENCE YOU SIMPLE IDIOT" to the MC every chapter, this is the novel for you.
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
5degreesmiopia
5degreesmiop
Jun 01, 2018
Status: c47
Ok. So, it is a novel about a guy going between the "dust world" were he can gain points to incriase his abilities and atributes and the real world. Its really the same mecanic as the "dungeon" has in many other novels, this "double life" is honestly nothing original

The story is very ok-ish. No real motive or driving force behind it other than the "getting stronger" idea. The MC is rather unninteresting and dumb. He could really use some points in his intelligence stat.

Overall this is for you if you... more>> are looking at something simple and straight-foward. Its an uncomplicated, casual read to pass time and see a guy shoulder bump a Kuo-toa to death. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
reddir
reddir
Mar 01, 2019
Status: c260
So...a mixed review.

TLDR: fun, light, nice to binge, don't take it too seriously, good for easy reading.

First off it is a nice light read to just binge - no serious plot points or details to remember. And if you forget anything the author seems to repeat anything important a few times before it pops up again. I liked the simple easy read. Also the TLs seem to release new chapters at a very quick pace, which is a huge plus for me.

There are a number of tropes here - the... more>> ones that mattered to me are the [Status] window, the eventual inventory, the tropes of differing individual powers, the MC being the only one (so far) who can customize their stats, the "other world", various mythologies, good guys, bad guys, good sensei, various relationship ones (for the MC, who is the focus for pretty much everything).

I thought all the tropes were honored nicely without doing a deep dive into any of them.

So, some bad-ish things. The author repeats sometimes - seems a lot more frequent because it is so blatant and directly 2 or 3 times in a row so that it is annoying when it happens. The author does seem to have inconsistencies in the rules, but it isn't really critical. The translators do make spelling and grammar errors and such, but since it is just a simple easy read it did not bother me that much. <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Fatsquishypanda
Fatsquishypa
Jun 02, 2018
Status: c47
The main character is simple-minded and his interests go along with what others have said. His main goal at the moment is to get stronger. A goal most main characters tend to hold when it comes to stories like this. Going to a different world, or unlocking an ability or opportunity to change their life. And though I personally would do things differently than the main character here, I can see where he comes from. His main goal is getting stronger and surviving longer in the so called "Dust world";... more>> All so he can in-turn get stronger as the cycle continues. Show-casing a game like stat system with a straight-forward increase in ability as he kills creatures and takes risks in this alternative world. Returning to the real world, able to display his changes quickly and change his life. He is far from the smartest main character at the current time, as his stats clearly display that and his straight-forward and sometimes questionable decisions tend to frustrate the reader. I can say as long as you can stick around and learn to enjoy the story, it can be quite enjoyable.

I personally rate this a 4/5 as the kind of person I am, I like to see the development of the character and to see his gradual and sometimes quick rise in strength or ability. To surprise others, or surpass himself and to see and imagine how I can more vividly imagine such a world where you can fight monsters and creatures beyond your normal comprehension. Besides, the slight under-tones of perverse or flirtatious vibes that are given off around the female characters the MC has in his surroundings makes it interesting to a degree. I can't give this a full five as it does get frustrating as I said before, the MC can make some quite questionable decisions from my own point of view. But I have to respect the way the author has written the main character and am looking forward to further translation of the story. Hope my review helped! <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ReaderShade
ReaderShade
Jul 28, 2023
Status: c642
I came into it with some expectations. It seemed okay, but slow at the start.

You know, the usual leveling up stats, but has some twists. So at the start having main attributes that average your sub-attributes seemed great. However, it got annoying at some point, because the author skips over or changes parts of stat aspects as you get deeper into the story.

... more>>
Spoiler

At points the MC becomes something of a second rate chad and then there's the whole interc**rse moment where he did it, but also didn't mean to. So the consent is blurry and everything seems to be catered to him.

[collapse]

At the start of the novel it drew me in, but as it continues it just goes down hill. Although, I didn't continue after chapter 642 due to the translation becoming messed up. <<less
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KirbyReviews44
KirbyReviews
Oct 25, 2019
Status: c400
This novel is a decent apocalypse survival game story. It has a strong similarity to God and Devil World except the world hasn't devolved into an apocalypse, the MC is just sent into a weird apocalypse world periodically where he can gain strength and special skills. The monsters and enemies the MC faces are well described and the fights are well written.

In terms of overall plot, it moves pretty slowly as there's a lot of time spent on just the MC adventuring in the apocalypse world, meeting crazy strong monsters,... more>> slaying some, running from some. If you read the first few chapters and really enjoyed how the author describes the way the MC survives in this world, then it doesn't hurt to keep reading. Just keep in mind that the overall plot moves pretty slowly. At ch400, I still don't know much about the rules of the apocalypse world or what's the end game villain or the general plot direction. There's some hints about it after ch300 but not much.

In terms of writing quality and describing settings and action scenes, this is way superior to God and Devil World. However, there is very little romance in this novel, just slight teases. The MC is still a virg*n at ch400. I can't think of much else wrong with the novel. If you enjoy an apocalypse survival style novel, this is a great read. <<less
0 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
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