Overlooked Jewels
Overlooked Jewels
This is a collection of underrated/lesser-known novels that shine with solid writing and captivating stories. They may not be very popular, but they’ve got that special something that makes them worth your time. If you’re tired of the same overhyped novels and want to discover hidden treasures, this list is for you.
(Mostly action novels) (2020-2025)
Personally, this is very subjective (I don't judge a novel by it's translation quality)
Honorable Mentions :
• Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (JP) - Honestly, pretty decent. It's a survival game focused story where the FL repeatedly challenge it to complete an unachievable milestone of beating it 100 times, without dying of course. It's non-linear story.
• A Story About Becoming A Really Cheerful Girl (JP) - If you want to see a protagonist endure SUFFERING, this one is for you. Caution : it's really messed up (Search for KatTL, they are TL'ing it, not sure why they didn't make an NU page for it tho)
• Terminate The Other World! (RR) - Book 1-4 is pretty good. A female cyborg getting isekai'd—she's originally from a superhero world—then gradually regaining emotions after being treated as a killing machine. It's progressive fantasy btw.
(Mostly action novels) (2020-2025)
Personally, this is very subjective (I don't judge a novel by it's translation quality)
Honorable Mentions :
• Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (JP) - Honestly, pretty decent. It's a survival game focused story where the FL repeatedly challenge it to complete an unachievable milestone of beating it 100 times, without dying of course. It's non-linear story.
• A Story About Becoming A Really Cheerful Girl (JP) - If you want to see a protagonist endure SUFFERING, this one is for you. Caution : it's really messed up (Search for KatTL, they are TL'ing it, not sure why they didn't make an NU page for it tho)
• Terminate The Other World! (RR) - Book 1-4 is pretty good. A female cyborg getting isekai'd—she's originally from a superhero world—then gradually regaining emotions after being treated as a killing machine. It's progressive fantasy btw.
109 Followers
Created: Dec 11th, 2024, Updated: Apr 18th, 2025
Created Dec 11th, 2024
Updated Apr 18th, 2025
113 Chapters Every 13.3 Day(s) 476 Readers 4 Reviews 11-03-2024
A cultivation novel about the protagonist's inner growth, pretty laid back, has villains but the interactions between characters are very well-written and entertaining
2 Chapters Every 859 Day(s) 854 Readers 8 Reviews 07-15-2024
A post-apocalyptic world with a system, well-executed story, very good portrayal on how society will adapt after the change around the world
18 Chapters Every 8.9 Day(s) 645 Readers 9 Reviews 01-14-2025
'The hardest choices require the strongest wills.' FL willingly chooses to do evil things for the greater good. She’s fully aware that her actions are... more>>
181 Chapters Every 38.2 Day(s) 1953 Readers 14 Reviews 10-27-2023
A bit similar to Sharing-la Frontier, MC is very clever and has a lot of plot armor, so the "devs" have to nerf him, yes... more>>
178 Chapters Every 3.1 Day(s) 599 Readers 3 Reviews 04-05-2025
It's a dark fantasy with a multidimensional protagonist and a story that's very consistent all the way through.... more>>
180 Chapters Every 1.9 Day(s) 1031 Readers 6 Reviews 04-05-2025
Chap. 1-50 is bland and generic, but the story gets better later on. It's about an OP elf's journey and inner growth in a fantasy... more>>
16 Chapters Every 15.9 Day(s) 2223 Readers 20 Reviews 12-03-2024
I don't understand why this is rated so lowly. It's about a dragon being tasked to create a world, and now she created life, governs the world's laws and systems, and basically everything to maintain equilibrium in the world she created.... more>>
45 Chapters Every 10.9 Day(s) 913 Readers 5 Reviews 12-13-2024
It's a story defining the concept of being a "hero", well-written world-building and power system, the story is well executed
85 Chapters Every 1.4 Day(s) 797 Readers 6 Reviews 04-19-2025
Holy God, it's PEAK <(°•°)>, thanks @Hrllgody for the recommendations! MC is morally grey, and tends to be the "bad guy" because she knows that... more>>
57 Chapters Every 3.9 Day(s) 760 Readers 8 Reviews 04-11-2025
Chapter 204 was PEAK! It's been so long since I became this hype in an action novel. It was perfect, Perfect, down to the last minor detail. Amazing world-building and character development. Plus the abilities is really creative, and very diverse, it's not just simple abilities of conjuring fire, or becoming stronger. And the fight scenes are impeccable, so detailed, it's simply peak.... more>>
549 Chapters Every 6.1 Day(s) 1637 Readers 13 Reviews 02-01-2025
Quite similar to LOTM. A player (with a very mysterious past) plays a gacha game he enjoyed, but suddenly, he realized that the events in the game he is playing is identical to what's happening to the real world. ... more>>
0 Chapters Every 139 Day(s) 917 Readers 4 Reviews 01-09-2025
Surprisingly good despite the generic title. MC is a true gamer. Based. DMCA'd
257 Chapters Every 12.6 Day(s) 1745 Readers 11 Reviews 10-26-2024
"Love is war" This is more of a romcom than a power-fantasy academy novel. I really like the character development, but it was quite short. Despite the side-characters being well-written, they are not fully fleshed-out.... more>>
270 Chapters Every 5.9 Day(s) 689 Readers 5 Reviews 02-05-2025
Completed Action Adventure Fantasy Gender Bender Martial Arts Psychological Sci-fi Shoujo Ai Supernatural Yuri
Moshi Fanren but it's gender-bender transmigration
193 Chapters Every 2.1 Day(s) 1378 Readers 6 Reviews 04-19-2025
It's actually really good, the plot, the character dynamics, and the overall story telling is well-executed. The world-building is also well-written, the setting, the power system, things like magic, aura, skills and the world's history. I thought it was gonna be just ecchi, but wow, it's pretty darn good. And the Protagonist's personality is very unique, for a novelpia series, that's very commendable, there's nothing generic about him, except for the fact that he's a transmigrator.... more>>
38 Chapters Every 8.1 Day(s) 995 Readers 6 Reviews 03-20-2025
Goblin Slayer but it's Magical Girls
112 Chapters Every 2.3 Day(s) 434 Readers 1 Reviews 04-11-2025
Quite similar to Gospel of Blood or LOTM
135 Chapters Every 34.1 Day(s) 1119 Readers 24 Reviews 12-10-2023
Very cruel and unforgiving, apathethic FL, she doesn't care about betraying allies or killing her former classmates just to obtain the "peace" she wanted.
126 Chapters Every 3.8 Day(s) 2306 Readers 17 Reviews 04-11-2025
Quite unique, I can't really describe it, but I enjoyed reading it. Currently in hiatus
108 Chapters Every 7.8 Day(s) 1203 Readers 17 Reviews 03-09-2025
Despair, despair, and more despair. MC became broken mentally after dying more than 900+ times while reincarnating continuously, unable to die, her personality became twisted.... more>>
10 Chapters Every 0.8 Day(s) 710 Readers 10 Reviews 04-07-2023
Just read it, it's only 10 chapters, quite short with an unexpected plotwist. But the real question is, who killed the hero?
15 Chapters Every 14.3 Day(s) 965 Readers 6 Reviews 10-04-2024
It's pretty good, same author as "I Pulled Out Excalibur" it's one of the most popular novel in novelpia, the start is a bit rough... more>>
156 Chapters Every 1.3 Day(s) 1096 Readers 6 Reviews 04-19-2025
Very cunning MC. The story is about MC using her rizz to pay off her father's debt. Has a gloomy atmosphere, and she's quite pitiful
204 Chapters Every 1 Day(s) 1110 Readers 4 Reviews 04-20-2025
A japanese romcom with a twist, and it's written by a CN author. FL is very manipulative, the story is very consistent and has good world-building. Unique power system, I really like the character dynamics, especially the character growth of Nagine and the main cast... more>>
Comments (27)
Try this one, It's LOTM inspired with a really good story
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-speedrun-manual-of-miss-witch/
@bruhbble
Hahaha it was called The Cannon Fodder Turns His Sister Into A Soaring Phoenix
@Sareza yeah they werent related but it felt like the author had some... fantasies.
Hahaha if there are even worse maybe you should make a list of worst novels? Would be interesting
please, try this one. If you like "Transformation or Death", you will like this:
-https://www.novelupdates.com/series/about-the-case-of-destruction-flags-being-demolished-after-a-nichiasa-loving-otaku-was-reincarnated-as-a-villainous-student/
Try Martial Elf
@Reaper66y lol, just because I've read it doesn't mean I need to include it in this list, it's around 6.5ish/10 for me. And the start was pretty confusing, the MC never mentioned his/her former world and the author just assumes the reader knows wuxia terms right off the bat even though the setting is clearly set in a high fantasy, quite weird to use wuxia terminology in a fantasy setting, especially associating martial arts with elves
@Sareza Fair enough, but for me I just thought of it as just fusion fantasy and the worldbuilding and action made up for anything else
I don't know the exact standards for something to be overlooked but I would like to recommend this one.
It's an isekai death loop, a bit too early to say for sure but I think it has potential. (Hopefully not recommending it right before it becomes tr*sh
)
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-163417413th-soulslike-hero/
Made an account just to follow this list
Good stuff my man keep up the good work