Allure of the unknown
Allure of the unknown
A list of memorable stories I read on novelupdates that covers mostly survival stories, reincarnation in non-human beings, second chances in other worlds and novels that felt unique in some way.
More often than not, stories I included had some grim parts to them. Where I find it necessary, I'll put a warning.
Some stories are simply positive. Not everything needs to be dark.
More often than not, stories I included had some grim parts to them. Where I find it necessary, I'll put a warning.
Some stories are simply positive. Not everything needs to be dark.
95 Followers
Created: Jun 5th, 2020, Updated: May 13th, 2024
Created Jun 5th, 2020
Updated May 13th, 2024
186 Chapters Every 31.8 Day(s) 9653 Readers 106 Reviews 05-20-2019
A simple, but straightforward writing style. A survival game staple.
2 Chapters Every 1399.5 Day(s) 704 Readers 9 Reviews 06-10-2019
A person who has the power to control people’s bodies uses it to make them commit su*cide, and one day encounters a special target. One of my favorite novels on nu.... more>>
0 Chapters Every 2 Day(s) 1519 Readers 17 Reviews N/A
Wholesome. A magic world. The protagonist enters a forest where a man eating flower dwells.
113 Chapters Every 532.9 Day(s) 13543 Readers 358 Reviews 02-06-2019
A reincarnation into a magic world where the previous owner of the body shot himself in the head. Featuring ancient Cthulhu-like creatures, mysterious organizations full... more>>
25 Chapters Every 276.9 Day(s) 10071 Readers 214 Reviews 09-07-2020
The protagonist was destined to die. With his mediocre aptitude, there was no way for him to salvage the situation. That's until a certain person in his surroundings became a returner. Now with his superb ability to plot and his disposition for trouble he sets on an adventure... more>>
55 Chapters Every 179.3 Day(s) 23820 Readers 316 Reviews 11-26-2017
A reincarnation into a game. The author dropped it (copyright infringement). A somewhat flowery language. I haven’t noticed even a single sane character in the... more>>
3 Chapters Every 97 Day(s) 11639 Readers 108 Reviews 04-09-2024
Lighthearted. Set in a demon world.
93 Chapters Every 1.3 Day(s) 6342 Readers 48 Reviews 03-19-2022
The last representative of a powerful race spectates changes that planet undergoes. New civilizations rise and crumble. New races appear. In the meantime she’s but... more>>
20 Chapters Every 120.7 Day(s) 23498 Readers 464 Reviews 07-09-2019
A survival game. The protagonist had a special ability that he lost. And now, after many years have passed, he regains it, which entails deadly... more>>
571 Chapters Every 13.8 Day(s) 4565 Readers 65 Reviews 10-30-2023
Slightly dark. A cultivation world after calamity. When you read most novels you can approximately say what kind of events would follow, in which direction a story would proceed. But not in this case. This novel gave me quite a few pleasant surprises. A bizarre world teeming with aberrant beasts and abilities. Dangers lurking in the dark, foreshadowing, remnants of the pasts - the mix of it makes Tales of Herding Gods a quality novel.... more>>
28 Chapters Every 117.2 Day(s) 5237 Readers 116 Reviews 08-10-2019
At first it felt just okay . But soon enough the story seemed to unfold and become increasingly more interesting. On 700th chapter it still feels fresh. One of those stories in which world building isn't generic. MC is followed by troubles the whole time and when it seems like he can take a short breather another trouble - or a few at once - arrive. ... more>>
21 Chapters Every 53 Day(s) 20966 Readers 395 Reviews 11-19-2023
Reincarnated as novel’s nobody. Pretty much entertaining.
373 Chapters Every 86.7 Day(s) 18480 Readers 164 Reviews 01-17-2021
Tutorial = 100 levels. Some of the levels were very well constructed. Some were below average. Overall, I recommend The Tutorial Is Too Hard, if... more>>
43 Chapters Every 9.3 Day(s) 9216 Readers 129 Reviews 04-25-2024
It's convenient when the title says it all.
10 Chapters Every 207 Day(s) 1356 Readers 24 Reviews 09-29-2018
Dark. No magic, a perverse mc who installs cameras in his tenants’ apartments. After that he starts to involve himself in their lives.
16 Chapters Every 19.2 Day(s) 8074 Readers 37 Reviews 08-06-2023
Decent. 2nd chance. Shadow worlds slowly permeate existing ones, swallowing land. To stop a shadow world from advancing it's vital to clear quest hidden in... more>>
689 Chapters Every 494.6 Day(s) 24750 Readers 360 Reviews 09-25-2017
Reincarnation into a prince of a backwater territory. In a society that shuns witches, protagonist decides to use their powers.
778 Chapters Every 0.3 Day(s) 18374 Readers 212 Reviews 05-17-2024
I'll just put an excerpt from the story here. You can decide if it's something you are looking for.... more>>
Comments (17)
So i found a list made by user @Tallrice https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10686/ about reincarnations into different creatures
It mentioned a notable novel on Royal Road site called “threadbare” about magician giving sentience to a plush bear
"Nothing became something, awareness flooded in, and suddenly, everything was.
Button eyes wiggled, as they looked around at a cluttered room. A furry neck moved as a cloth-and-fur head twisted, using its newfound ability to look at things. It didn’t enjoy it, not precisely. If you asked it, and somehow gave it the ability to reply, then it could have told you that it didn’t know what joy was. It didn’t know much of anything."
Author is very capable at describing. However, as story progressed, It lost its initial flavor of being extraordinary
There are also notable novels Fork this life, everybody loves big chests, tree of aeons, chrysalis
Chrysalis is best perceived among them
It has many positive reviews on royalroad, some people do find it quite good. Reincarnation in tree is a relatively novel idea. At some point of time it becomes kingdom building genre. Most of kingdom building genre are prone to become boring as new chapters are released as kingdom becomes big and plot stale. Tree of aeons however never gives a breather.
Concept of world is not bad either. World where after 10 years since demise of late demon king new king with unique deadly ability emerges. If last batch of heroes is yet to die, they will have to battle otherwise new batch will appear until demon king is dead.
So no matter how strong being is it will eventually crumble. In such a situation our tree finds itself, trying to steer away from conflict which can resolve even without its intervention
Unique? Yeah. Dark? Pretty much. And in my case it left a rather pleasant aftertaste
@M.A.T.R.
bruh ur tastes are dog shit
There’s a good novel on Royal Road called "Mother of learning". Basically it’s magician caught up in Groundhog Day. There are also some notable novels on Webnovel site but alas they cannot be posted on novelupdates list
@shirlulu007
They cannot be added to nu as nu only accepts translated oriental novels. English originals can’t have a pass here
On the other hand even if I copypaste name link and will write commentary here it won’t give you same impression as if it was posted with picture, genres, rating etc
The best one I encountered lately is “psychic parasite” on webnovel. Basically protagonist becomes parasitic soul in dark world full of foreshadowing and struggle.
After thinking a bit, I’ll be adding new stories from other sites down here in description - that’s what I tried but it told me that the description limit -1500 - is reached :/
So I’ll be adding them here i suppose
5) The gilded hero, royalroad, https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/29286/the-gilded-hero It turns out, people summoned from another world are easily charmed with the title of "Hero." And they really shouldn't be.
6) Mister B. Gone
You get to read a sentient book, that has a specific request for you.
7) The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Time loop story where protagonist interacts with other versions of himself in order to stop a mu*der of a girl.
8) Returning to No Applause, Only More of the Same
Kreig was summoned to the other world 130 years ago, the last 30 of which were spent in a constant, vengeful war against any army that would attempt to subjugate him. Once he returned, he found out that only 10 years had passed.Kreig was summoned to the other world 130 years ago, the last 30 of which were spent in a constant, vengeful war against any army that would attempt to subjugate him. Once he returned, he found out that only 10 years had passed.
9) A fine octet of legs
Waking up in unfamiliar surroundings after a wild night of drinking is not exactly a novel experience, even for Rita, but when it appears her whole city has gone to hell while she was out cold, well, that has to be a first. And if she wasn't careful, possibly a last.
Now, somehow equipped with four times the number of legs she’s used to, Rita has to get to the bottom of what happened, figure out how to get back to her normal life and somehow survive in a ruined and post-apocalyptic hellscape that she was almost one hundred percent certain wasn't there yesterday.Waking up in unfamiliar surroundings after a wild night of drinking is not exactly a novel experience, even for Rita, but when it appears her whole city has gone to hell while she was out cold, well, that has to be a first. And if she wasn't careful, possibly a last.
Now, somehow equipped with four times the number of legs she’s used to, Rita has to get to the bottom of what happened, figure out how to get back to her normal life and somehow survive in a ruined and post-apocalyptic hellscape that she was almost one hundred percent certain wasn't there yesterday.
10) Big Panda and Tiny Dragon
11) The Game at Carousel: A Horror Movie LitRPGThe Game at Carousel: A Horror Movie LitRPGThe Game at Carousel: A Horror Movie LitRPG
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/65629/the-game-at-carousel-a-horror-movie-litrpg
A fine horror survival novel.
Psychic parasite is a unique novel and that’s exactly what is appealing in it. I suppose you are looking for something that have same aspect?
If you are talking about reincarnation in nonhuman beings, you can look in list made by @Tallrice
He updates it time from time. Maybe something will catch your eye?
If you mean unique premise, I remember stacking those in this list XP
If you mean something outside of nu site, you may try Henry Kuttner’s “Vintage Season”
"I like when protagonist is on the edge, his survival chances slowly draining. I prefer when numbers go down, as well as protagonist’s hopes. "
Read Kingdom's Bloodline