4.8/5!!! [Survival, Mystery, Adventure, Action] UPDATE) Liked it just as much as the first time I read it! I decided to check it out again... more>> after reading a BG novel called "Limitless Survival" with similar instances. I had no intention of finishing it LOL just wanted to take a look and add it to my lists. For those who haven't read it yet, the premise of the novel is as follows:The MC (Xiao Lou) gets into an accident and ends up in the Card World where players have to constantly struggle to survive. The setup is a bit complicated, but basically, each player is tested for their deductive reasoning, logical thinking, survival abilities, and well, their luck stat LOL or ability to make money. It starts off as a single player survival game, but as the instances grow more and more difficult, finding reliable teammates is a must. Fortunately, the MC teams up with the the police officer ML (Yu Hanjiang) very early on. They knew other in reality and discover that their tacit agreement is quite high. Together, they challenge all the different instances and create a strong team capable of leaving the card world.This is a really well written novel! It's also completely translated (it wasn't when I first read it T.T) so there's no worries there. The characters are great, though this is definitely more plot-driven than character driven. The romance is also a subplot rather than the main focus. Sometimes, things get a bit mind-numbing with all the details, but the author does a great job keeping things engaging. Altogether, it's a highly recommended work! Definitely worth my initial rating of 4.8/5. <<less

4.5/5!!! [Second Chance, Supernatural, Psychological Thriller, Infinite Flow] OOF, WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THIS NOVEL T.T I guess, first things first, it's really good if you're into complex characters and whump. By whump, I mean endless abuse on the main characters in question XD It sounds really bad, and usually, I don't enjoy angst either. It's partly why it took me so long to read this infinite flow novel (even though it was one of the first ones that I encountered). However, the mature, psychological aspect is truly this novel's selling point. You can't help but care about the characters, and the more they hurt, the more you want them to be happy. (Of course,... more>> the main thing that kept me going was the promised Happy Ending, otherwise... oof. no way would I have persisted all the way to the end.) Bah. Enough babbling.

Summary: On a seemingly normal day, the MC (Xu Rendong), gets dragged into a separate dimension via an elevator. After realizing that he has no choice but to get in, he does so and finds himself waking up in a different world altogether. Soon, he realizes the fact that he can rewind time (back to the beginning of the instance) after each death. This allows him to survive this strange world despite his otherwise ordinary qualifications. That's right, other than being able to turn back time, he's completely ordinary! It's the ML (Lian Qiao) who has the experience of being a gaming anchor who is able to guide him through the right ending. Just like this, the two of them continue working together to survive until they're able to finish their trials.

The concept of the instance worlds is similar to "Kaladeiscope of Death". If you've read it, you know what I mean. If you haven't, the basic premise is that, the players are actually people who are on the cusp of death. And, they must survive the instances so that they can continue living a normal life. Of course, there's a Final Level, and once they pass this level, they can be said to have passed the qualifications to continue living. However, the problem is that the instance world is unlike other infinite flow novels where the players have access to endless props and abilities. For the most part, they can only survive based on their means. So, surviving is actually extremely difficult.

To wrap things up. Here are some things of note: This novel is definitely a lot darker than you're average infinite-flow novel. The descriptions are also rather gorey, since the author appears to be a medical student. That's where most of the 'horror' aspect comes from, I suppose. Otherwise, it's more of a suspense or psychological thriller. If you're still interested after knowing this, I highly recommend it! I love the main characters here, and I would have really liked to see more of their story. <<less

4.33/5!!! [Survival, Horror, Unlimited Flow] OOOF, I avoided this novel the whole time because it seemed a bit whimsical for a survival novel LOL. I turned out to be completely wrong! Although the novel does have a bit of whimsy to it, the survival instances are very detailed, and the overall plot development is well-structured. As some people have said, the ending is a bit rushed. But it's not so rushed that it isn't satisfying. The author did a pretty good job tying up all the loose ends so that the story can be enjoyed as it despite the rushed ending.... more>>

Summary: The MC (Su Zimo) has been stuck in his own paralyzed body for almost four years. During these four years, he's been tortured unimaginably by the fact that he was incapable of doing anything. Just when it was about the end, however, he finds himself waking up in a small shop called An Yu Yi Yu. This shop leads to a world called the Nightmare World --- which is a world where people from his world are being dragged into regularly to complete tasks. In order to get inventory for his shop, he has to visit all these worlds without the identity of a trainer (name for people doing tasks) and solve the mysteries along with everyone.

All in all, it's a really good read! I highly recommend it! The novel does indeed have its shortcomings, like the romance --- it really should be called 'Shounen Ai' because there's really not much progression even until the end. Not even a sign of the two being anything more than fond of each other. At least, not on the MC's end. So, if you're looking for romance, this novel definitely isn't the place to go! Otherwise, the TL is good so there should be nothing to stop you from reading now if you wanted. <<less

???/5!!! [Survival, Infinite Flow, Horror, Comedy] Wowwee! This novel kind of reminds me of another infinite flow survival novel, but based on my foggy memories,... more>> it seems that this novel has more detail. And thus, is more likable! Of course, because I read mostly MTL, there's no telling how off my actual initial impression is. However, there's no doubt that I enjoyed the novel quite a bit, and I'm looking forward to rereading it in the future (hopefully with the TL further along QAQ).Summary: The MC (Wen Juanyan) is a fraudster that ended up being dragged into "Nightmare Live." Nightmare Live is a organization that captures souls from reality and forces them to survive through various inhumane, horror/survival instances for the sake of the audience's entertainment. As a fraudster, the MC stands out by beating everyone back with lies. However, it soon becomes very clear that fate is not very kind to him — not only is he being constantly dragged into doing the most extreme mission tasks, there's also a mysterious evil entity following him every step of the way ;)Things to watch out for! This is a slow romance, so don't expect any progress any time soon. The author teases a bit with some big moves right away, but in reality, all the MC wants is the ML death LOL And this goes on for a loooong time. This is also not a team-building kind of infinite flow project. The MC shines as an individual, and the people around him are often just tools to make certain things more convenient (although he does care more than he admits). I like that the author switches things up rather than constantly drawing on the "fraudster" trick. There's always something new and exciting within the instances, and each one is their own detailed world (like seriously, these instances can go on forever sometimes!).All in all, definitely worth the read! The MTL is also not bad if you plug the raw directly into GT. Though you will have to purchase the rights to all the available chapters to read the story without disruptions (the author puts up a lot of false chapters to prevent pirating.) I won't be giving it an official rating for now, because I most of what I read is in MTL XD and idk how long this text will actually be. But based on what I've read. This already a fave for me. Probably 4.5+! So 5 stars in all~ <<less

???/5!!! [Survival, Infinite Flow, Supernatural] This is indeed a great read, and it has a relatively low threshold of acceptance too! I mean, a lot of unlimited flow novels have horror or suspense themes. And it might be a bit too hair-raising for the less brave (LIKE ME xD). With his novel, the horror themes are kept at a minimum (only the first arc truly had ghosts and the like, though there were also some instances that were a little creepy later.)... more>>

Summary: The MC (Xing Ye) discovered that his brother had died unnaturally. And, while he was investigating the cause of his death, he ended up being dragged into a separate space through a QR code. This separate space is a virtual game world (the person's consciousness is dragged in but their body stays outside and no time passes in between), and the task of all players is to find the true endings of all the different instances and make it to the Final Level. During the MC's very first instance, he meets a cute and mysterious Mirror (the ML) that he takes with him along the way.

When it comes to the characters, I think the author did the best! Not only is the cast varied, but they also all have their complexities without dragging down the plot. The romance is a little strange because one is considered a prop while the other is a player, but the author does it pretty well and builds the relationship slowly. As for the setting, I thought it was quite unique! Of course, there are a lot of similar unlimited flow novels out there, but there are several key elements in this one that I don't see often in other novels.

As always, because I read most of this novel through MTL (which is abut 70% readable -- it gets a bit miserable because the MC's strategic analysis doesn't translate all that well, but I bore through it T.T) I won't be giving this a full review despite having finished it. I will give it a star rating though! In my eyes, this novel will undoubtedly be worth 4.50-5 stars. After all, I read it all the way through despite the messy MTL. If you're interested, I suggest trying it out now! It's really only certain parts of the MTL that are not comprehensible. And, if you have a good enough understanding of the plot and instances, it's not too difficult to make sense of those parts. OH, btw. The first two or three chapters of this novel are really awkward. LMFAO I almost quit because of that, but luckily I persisted!  <<less

???/5!!! [Infinite Flow, Survival, Psychological Horror] TBH, my impression of this novel is very mixed. I think that the world is very detailed and there seemed to have been a lot of attention paid on setting it up properly, but I always feel like there are gaps. This is not the fault of the story, but mostly on the fact that my comprehension began to slip by a LOT after all the action LMFAO. I thought this would be like your typical infinite flow novel. Fast-paced and focused on problem-solving. However, it ended up being more action-based than anything. OK, idk if I'm making any sense, so let's go with the summary first!... more>>

Summary: The novel starts like your typical infinite flow novel. The MC, Bai Lu, is dragged into a game world inexplicably and is forced into an instance where he has to solve puzzles, fight baddies, etc. in order to survive. The tone of the novel is very mature, but it's not completely dark. I mean, in most infinite flow novels, the situation seems to be hopeless for most people. But, here, players can directly watch others clear instances and make use of that knowledge to clear the instance themselves. Like this, we also get to see the reactions of the older players to Bai Lu's style of playing --- which is heavy on surprise tactics that seems to have been thought of as soon as he had entered the game.

I don't particularly mind that the MC is OP, but others might XD It's true that he's a bit too all-knowing. And that there doesn't seem to be much tension in the instance themselves. It's more like a playground that the MC casually strolls around on as he gets into conflict with other players and guilds. (I don't dislike this concept, to be honest. It means that you get to truly know the characters here, at least, but yeh, it's a bit weird.) The side characters, especially, don't feel like side-characters at all. The author gives each of them a complex background so that they can stand steadily throughout the story and not just fade away like in most other infinite flow novels (where the MC's team is just casually watching him clear instances lol.)

ANYWAY, I won't be doing a full review on this novel cause I didn't make it halfway. The untranslated half (after RM's translation) it was really not easy to read -- so I gave up mostly for this reason. My current impression though... well, how to say it? I think that it's interesting and worth taking a look into, but it's also a little bit of a bog sometimes. I'm not someone who likes action all that much, so I guess this makes sense. If that's more your style, you should enjoy this story more than I did. I won't be giving this novel a rating either because of the reason mentioned above! However, my preliminary rating would be around 3.75-4.25 stars out of five. Not bad all in all, a better than average read, at the very least! But, perhaps not my kind of story in the end. <<less