[08] Second chances in fantasy
[08] Second chances in fantasy
This list is specifically for second chances/age regression in fantasy, historical or VRMMO settings.
- Not transmigration stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/16246/)
- Not time loop stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10681/)
- Not second chances in modern society (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10745/)
I'll start with a big recommendation for:
1. Metaworld chronicles - wonderful series with well developed characters, magic, monsters and dragons, all set to a really well explored alternate modern Earth fuelled by magi-tech. It's the best in the genre and you should try it out!
2. Selena's Reign - only around 20 chapters out so far, but they're really well done. Beautiful descriptions (though sometimes a bit verbose) and the best depictions of a late 18th century setting that I've seen in an online fantasy. Read this for the magical second chance messiah in a gritty, Louis XIV->Napoleon type time frame world.
3. The Calamity of a Reborn Witch - more of a shoujo take on things, it's filled with political plots and conspiracies of a cinderella type heroine in a rather dark fantasy world
4. Forgotten Conqueror (this was on hiatus for a long time but restarted on the author's site)
- Not transmigration stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/16246/)
- Not time loop stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10681/)
- Not second chances in modern society (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10745/)
I'll start with a big recommendation for:
1. Metaworld chronicles - wonderful series with well developed characters, magic, monsters and dragons, all set to a really well explored alternate modern Earth fuelled by magi-tech. It's the best in the genre and you should try it out!
2. Selena's Reign - only around 20 chapters out so far, but they're really well done. Beautiful descriptions (though sometimes a bit verbose) and the best depictions of a late 18th century setting that I've seen in an online fantasy. Read this for the magical second chance messiah in a gritty, Louis XIV->Napoleon type time frame world.
3. The Calamity of a Reborn Witch - more of a shoujo take on things, it's filled with political plots and conspiracies of a cinderella type heroine in a rather dark fantasy world
4. Forgotten Conqueror (this was on hiatus for a long time but restarted on the author's site)
61 Followers
Created: May 30th, 2020, Updated: Jun 19th, 2020
Created May 30th, 2020
Updated Jun 19th, 2020
480 Chapters Every 3.4 Day(s) 14789 Readers 154 Reviews 04-04-2024
Amazing series, blends together the second chance and game becoming reality tropes. Lots of skills and MMO devices built into a solidly developed world and some kingdom building elements later on.... more>>
186 Chapters Every 31.8 Day(s) 9648 Readers 106 Reviews 05-20-2019
OP dungeon crawler who levels up in a death game world where all of humanity has been transported.... more>>
441 Chapters Every 115.5 Day(s) 20779 Readers 540 Reviews 05-26-2021
I know this is josei and many who will be interested in other novels on this list might skip over it immediately... but please give it a chance. It is very readable by a male audience (I think...? It was by me at any rate) and it doesn't focus in on smutty romance right away, but develops slowly and maturely. It does focus a lot on court intrigue and use of her pre-regression skills and ideas, which make it really great for any audience! ... more>>
375 Chapters Every 15.3 Day(s) 11314 Readers 102 Reviews 04-10-2024
Actually really good. Just lacking translated chapters, else I'd probably put it higher on this list. Translators? Where are you?
94 Chapters Every 78.7 Day(s) 9690 Readers 119 Reviews 03-01-2024
Best in the post-apocalyptic fantasy genre. Magic and zombies.
40 Chapters Every 282.4 Day(s) 7256 Readers 188 Reviews 12-14-2018
Epic sci-fi VRMMO with second chance MC turned into an NPC.... more>>
37 Chapters Every 166.7 Day(s) 1643 Readers 10 Reviews 08-09-2017
I personally feel this series was vastly underrated... >looks over at the 3.5 score on it as of now... I actually thought this was a great read though, as of where translations were discontinued...... more>>
0 Chapters Every 2862 Day(s) 16896 Readers 143 Reviews 06-24-2016
Great series, one of the classics of the genre, so much so that you'll even see references to 'the spearman' in some other KR series.... more>>
#10Volcanic Age
104 Chapters Every 8.7 Day(s) 2417 Readers 5 Reviews 03-20-2024
Unfortunately, there isn't much translated... I hope someone picks up the novel translations sometime! But you can read the manwha, which is also well done.
25 Chapters Every 603.3 Day(s) 12652 Readers 331 Reviews 09-19-2002
Wonderful characters if you're interested in one of the few legitimate psychopaths in the genre, who is one of the only MCs I've seen in xianxia who really lives up to being a demon cultivator. Don't expect the cutesy code geass style villain who's all dere inside. This guy's legit evil.... more>>
#12Spectator
6 Chapters Every 454 Day(s) 1505 Readers 7 Reviews 12-08-2016
[have not read yet] - but got some great reviews. Looking forward to trying it out. You can check out keklel's review (he often has solid things to say):... more>>
60 Chapters Every 60.3 Day(s) 2212 Readers 32 Reviews 01-25-2019
This series supposedly gets much worse later on, but I haven't gotten as far as many of the reviewers. What I have read shows a very similar series to The Amber Sword with card game and VR elements, and characters that are pretty consistent.... more>>
0 Chapters Every 2081 Day(s) 21374 Readers 438 Reviews 08-14-2018
Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Mature Mystery Psychological Sci-fi Seinen Supernatural Tragedy
Many would rate this higher... I just think it's somewhat bland compared to others in the genre. Overall though, it has a pretty solid plot... more>>
39 Chapters Every 189.6 Day(s) 11671 Readers 123 Reviews 08-05-2023
Find this underrated. It has a great concept and fast moving plot with good action sequences and gives the sense that you're really in a game with developed game lore.... more>>
69 Chapters Every 135.5 Day(s) 2502 Readers 18 Reviews 11-12-2020
Reincarnated diviner in the modern day, with a somewhat spooky, daoist/feng shui magic system, so I think it can also be mentioned here with those... more>>
277 Chapters Every 92.6 Day(s) 15572 Readers 147 Reviews 09-10-2020
Pretty typical korean regression novel where he takes advantage of all the hidden pieces and rare classes to be the strong guy in a fantasy world... Very wish fulfilment, lots of action, pretty decent worldbuilding. Not much that lets it stand out though?... more>>
#18Reincarnator
488 Chapters Every 2 Day(s) 14894 Readers 192 Reviews 04-17-2024
World-hopping epic... and ephemeral.... more>>
17 Chapters Every 180.8 Day(s) 18612 Readers 255 Reviews 02-17-2019
Great start, lots of action and dungeons and KR society. Like most, it starts to grind after a couple arcs, but it's still readable for... more>>
21 Chapters Every 188.9 Day(s) 16846 Readers 182 Reviews 09-09-2016
Almost the same as I alone level up. Same premise, similar action, similar politics, similar faults.
#21Lucia
272 Chapters Every 109.2 Day(s) 19341 Readers 274 Reviews 12-04-2019
[have not yet read] - looks very promising. One of the next on my to read list.
2477 Chapters Every 69.1 Day(s) 10064 Readers 172 Reviews 07-01-2021
Amazing series! Until it isn't... Somewhere between chapter 300-400 it starts to go off the rails, but until then, it's definitely worth reading.
53 Chapters Every 3.1 Day(s) 14396 Readers 103 Reviews 04-18-2024
It's basically I alone level up or Seoul Station's Necromancer, with a twist. The MC is supposed to be a support character.... more>>
25 Chapters Every 407.5 Day(s) 20968 Readers 237 Reviews 11-02-2015
A classic, and kind of amusing read. It's overall poorly written and developed though, except the plot which actually manages to maintain its direction and... more>>
Comments (14)
holy sh*t ur descriptions were on the mark, might need to change my own description summaries for my novels
- Reverd insanity: disappointed that u dropped it. Sure 3rd arc wasnt up to the mark, but ur only letting urself down for not completeing it to the end, holy sh*t was it worth it. f*ck chinese gov for banning the masterpiece
FFF class tr*sh: had my reservations going in. I started with the manhua, and the art was a let down. But I persisted with the novel. and if ur into satire and shitting on the whole harem isekai friendship saves the day, this is it for u
Second rank heros manhua is going good, its arts wonderful...i cant say anything more since the translations were cut off and I cant find raws
u also made me want to try reincarnator again, overwhelming postive reviews for that one.
Thanks so much Ezlord! Hope you can find something in here!
To be honest, I don't really recommend reincarnator as an amazing work, it's too... world-hopping... But it's an action packed series, and the resets are a bit like Amber Sword, in the sense that each arc falls apart, but if you just get to the end of the arc when he jumps to another world, it usually becomes interesting again (until it gets too chaotic, rinse and repeat).
Good to know about Reverend Insanity! I will try it again then. I've been wondering whether or not there was anything after that that would make it worth continuing, but that seems like a good hint! I did like the characters, was just missing the developed side characters from the first arc. Got kind of isolated after the two psychopaths left to other places.
By "Second rank heros", do you mean Second Life Ranker? I didn't even know there was a manhua, huh. I'll try to take a look. Shame to hear translations are on hiatus though...
And good to know about FF class tr*sh hero. I wasn't even planning to read it, but you point out that it isn't a harem, which is interesting and you seem to think it shines in satire. I'll move it a bit higher up my to read list, though there's still a lot ahead of it.
Your list seems decent, gave it a follow. I, of course, also love LOTM, so seeing at the top there is encouraging, lol. But who doesn't?
I had never heard of remarried empress before. I do like josei once in a while, but so many of them fall into blind fluffy, no-angst romance too quickly and lose track of everything else... Hope this one has some character development and plot! As you can see in my list here, Rebirth of the malicious empress comes with high recommendation from me. Give it a try if you're fine with josei.
World hopping? As in like reincarnation Paradise? Where he goes world to world completing missions and gets stronger in the process? I mean if you haven't done Re paradise yet YOU HAVE TO. It is by far among by top 3
Lotm is f*cking gold, anyone who says otherwise was prob born with their ass first. Trafford trading club gives similar mysterious vibes, imagine Klein was reincarnated into a devil trader instead of lotm world. But i dropped it, the pacing wasn't for me, I mean maybe everything comes together in the end, but I got no patience for that. Maybe one day
I added remarried empress for the hell of it, I mean she wasn't a push over character and the plot was really well written. Honestly if you are up for some drama and justice done right, I would read it. Unfortunately the translations cut off, at least it cut off at the main part. But you can just read the spoilers in the forums which is what I did. It didnt have blind fluffy no angst Stockholm syndrome type romance, I thought it was very well written, and enjoyed it even though I am not for romance..well...Ig thats incorrect. I like romance only if the mc is a female and is a women with a head on her shoulders. When its a male protag, I just expect solo badass. I def will do the rebirth recc u gave thanks
I honestly dunno whats ahead on your list, but if you can bump FFF class to your top 3 to do. Its so worth the read, its hilarious. Mollian.
u wud understand my mollian ref if u had read it >(
Side characters do deserve some fleshing out, I think the other does touch base with that a little more, But honestly like Re paradise it isnt about charecter development, and more about the mc reaching aptheosis through hard work. In fact I even got a quote from Reverend made into a poster for my wall
" Ambitious mountains with steps firm as steel,
taking large strides with unwavering determination
taking risks to seem the essence of the universe
my heart still seeks to rise beyond the heavens"
I swear that novel taught me more about the wisdom of life than anything my parents said to me
@Ezlord
I love LOTM, but at the same time, I found the writing style disappointing in many places. What drives me crazy is he keeps on emphasizing the MC is so great because of the acting method, and yet except for the Seer and a hint at the Clown stages, he hasn't acted properly in any other stage... in fact, they even went to great lengths to talk about how Klein digests his potion after insights into things, which was exactly what the author said was not acting method... drives me crazy...
Okay, rant over now, I love LOTM for the most part.
World hopping in this case is more like layers of a world, think Inception, Master Hunter K, Menocht Loop on RRL.
By Re:Paradise, you mean https://www.novelupdates.com/series/reincarnation-paradise/? I have never heard of it before. The reviews are really mixed?
I have not read Trafford either, but I have seen good reviews, so I'll give that a go.
And lol... learning wisdom from a novel about a psychopath.... suspicious!
Thanks for the recs! I'll bump up tr*sh, but my top to read are right now Spectator, Ouroboros record, Seaborn (RRL), Terror Infinity, Ultimate Evolution, Rakuin no Monshou, Fantasy world epsilon (RRL)... so many things that look promising... I'll add tr*sh in there...
@Ezlord Huh... so I read the first chapter of FFF class tr*sh, and that was actually decent.
It's probably not something. that will hold my attention long, but I definitely respect the idea and satire there. I've moved it up a bit on the list.
Also read tree of aeons, but had to drop that one. Good concept, but bad execution.
look here u dumpling. Aeons is gold, and u need the electric chair if you dont think otherwise
in srs ness i do hope u give the series a second shot after you run thro ur train list
fff gets better after his 6th restart, dont tr*sh it to the land fill yet
u gotta messege my profile from now on, i dont get pings when u reply.
which LOTM were u reading? he does act all his way thro. Name one where he doesnt act. Sure towards the later half the rituals were given to him, but he was acting till the last min. Take miracle master or even attendant of mysteries
Never read any of those so I still got no idea what world hopping means
if you got no patience for my beloved tree book, then forget Trafford. Its so praised but i wanted to rip it in shreds for being frustrating.
from one psycho to the next duh
You need to read Travelling to the future, It's not easy to be a man. You won't regret it if you give it a chance, perservere past early arc. Although imo I loved it all including early arc.
Oooh, I’m glad I stumbled upon your lists cos they’re right up my alley lol.
On this particular list, have you read tr*sh of the Counts Family? (Just asking because it might fall into this category)
Thanks for your reviews <3
Thanks so much! Glad you found some titles here!
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten tr*sh of the Count's Family! This list is meant specifically for second chances, whereas tr*sh of the Count's family is a transmigration story - I am planning to do a transmigration fantasy list sometime too, but was taking my time and planning to read a few more titles first.
Naah, not my cup of tea. I enjoy reading something new and unique. And modern settings with usage of second chance dwell too much in the past. Basically the reason i m on this site, is that oriental novels have few ideas I haven’t seen before.
On the other note do you use forum subdomain of nu? I wrote a message to you there but, alas, I m not sure if you will see it and whether i ll get reply notifications