One of my FAVORITE EMPIRE BUILDING NOVELS. It's a complete speedrun from the Bronze Age to modern times with magical realism too! Look, neither realism nor logic are the point here.

I MTL'd this because it was so good. It's exactly the kind of empire-building novel that is my weakness. It features a calculating and intelligent MC who is still moral and upright, a cast of intelligent and heroic characters, and a cast of silly but also intelligent and kind competitors for the MC.

Perhaps my favorite part of this is how... more>> much you grow to care about the side characters who are part of the MC's empire. Their stories are complex and interesting and the author never truly forgets characters, even after they've died.

General warnings:

Spoiler

Humans are not the dominant species in this, so beware if that turns you off. Violence but not much gore. Parasitism

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Premise:

MC is a human in a "normal" and "modern" world like Earth. There is a very popular game in which the characters play as Gods to a world in chaos. There are many ways to win the game, but in the end, there should be one religion. MC is the number one player of the game with the highest ranking. He's undefeated. After a game against the 2nd ranked player, MC and 31 players are transported into a dark space where an entity approaches them and tells them that they were selected as players of the game to go to the real world the game is based on. They will have the opportunity to play the game for real and be Gods to this world. The winner will then be able to have all their wishes fulfilled.

Spoiler

Except five of the 32 players decline and "evil gods" take their place.

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1. Is the MC Op? Yes and no. He is very observant and intelligent with a unique personality. Other than that, no.
   Spoiler

   MC does face several challenges, but he's the kind of person to have plans within plans so that he's always prepared. He's also fairly manipulative.

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2. Is there romance?
   Spoiler

   No. None. MAYBE could be something with the 2nd ranked player but it's more like they understand each other. MC is highly logical and confident while 2nd is more fiery and spontaneous but still meticulous.

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3. Is there more to this story than empire-building? Yes.
   Spoiler

   Questions about divinity, fate, old and new gods, exploitation, self-determinism, the danger of religion

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4. Is this easy to MTL? Yes, very easy.

Final rating would be 4.5~/5 <<less

Mind games. Thats it.

MC is the kind that doesn't fail unless purposely. This kind of trope might seems problematic since the arcs will be predictable yet even thought you know the MC will be winning the game, it's the process on how he achieve it that makes it a delight to read. It's quite logical and not just some sloppy plot armor shenanigans.

MC isn't the main focus since he is a just like a manager, but That isn't a caveat since the other characters doesnt have a personality of cardboard.... more>> One of the uncommon writing style amid the clichés.

If you think you found a plot hole, but turns out it's a plot twist. Great Detail but not to the point of overwhelming info dumping. Over all it's a Joy to read, reminds me of 31st Piece Turns the table with the premise of Gods playing with the fate of the world <<less

Now that it's nearing the end, I can safely say this is a 5 star for me. It's an atypical format and writing style for webnovels, with more focus on the ensemble cast rather than the protagonist himself, something I really like because of how well the author weaves everything together. Despite the protagonist literally being a god and the best player, there's none of that 'I'm the center of the world everybody loves/reveres me' shtick so many webnovel authors unfortunately love to pull. Every single character important enough to... more>> be named has their own distinct thoughts and opinions and personality, which is very impressive considering the pretty large cast.

All in all a very good read, maybe not for those who crave continuous action or instant gratification or the likes, but a read that won't leave you feeling frustrated or s*upid due to glaring plot holes or sudden nonsensical developments or repetitively endless plot points. Great translation as well, although there have been plenty of minor errors in the last twenty or so chapters. <<less

It's good but could have been even better.

It just feels like there is no planning and author's making up things on the fly. Other than that some questionable pacing sections are also there.

Though overall still an entertaining read if you can get past those.

the first arc of this book does not miss. It's heart felt in it's own way. You care.. You really end up caring and it suprises the hell out of you when that happens. It isn't simply a good civ which are hard to write in general it's a solid story. And in it's own nerdie way it has heart.

The problem is the second part of the book after the huge time skip. Instead of rebuilding our new next gen characters it does a really poor job. But it does... more>> do a good job of building the players out a bit better. Since we spend a lot of time in the POV of the new gen players not really fleshing them out as thinking beings just brings the story down. The's so much less kingdom building and civ improvement stuff so you get a bit bored. Overall though it's well excuted story but boy it could have been better if it didn't lose it's connection halfway into it. But I think of this book two different stories if that makes sense. And 1 part is nearly a 5 and other part is a solid 3ish. <<less

4.5 stars! An exceedingly unique novel that had a lot of interesting ideas, but had a weaker ending than I would have liked (but at least it has an ending at all!!)

The majority of the story is consistent and fun to follow, with one of the final player battles being the peak of the story for me.

However, towards the last 60 or so chapters, I felt like the author continually introduced too many new concepts and threats that weren't properly built up, so the conclusion wasn't entirely satisfying.

Still, this... more>> novel is so unique in its concept and was executed well enough that the positives definitely outweigh the negatives, especially considering how good the first 2/3 of the novel are. <<less

Something like a litrpg version of the bible.

It is fun to read but it's hard to get used to time skips. However it is totally part of the story coz it tells you stories of different generations, different protagonists. (Eg 80 years/ 200 years later~) The characters you get attached too gets poofed. They are gone or dead of old age. But it still fun to read but tedious at times.

This is super underrated

The logic and story is nice

Very well-rounded politic and strategy genre I've ever read (Not that I've read that much of this genre)

Highly recommended. Consistency and continuity of the story, character development, point of view of the MC and other characters. And the most enjoyable thing is that the ending didn't disappoint and actually made me want to read the continuation of the journey of MC and other constellations.

Great world building, reasonable MC and cast of characters with character development and personality.

One of light novel that I read worth recommending and be remembered.