- You might wonder if the description is a lie after starting this short story, but it turns out it’s somewhat accurate; you just don’t meet the covergirl until the very end of the second chapter and she’s one of three protagonists. The story has both a similar writing style and gritty fantasy setting as the author’s New Dark Lord series, but specifically focuses on a variety of downtrodden characters trying to pull off something akin to a heist.
- A story from the author of Kin of Jörmungandr with a similarly large focus on internal observations, this is a regressor revenge fantasy with a setting resembling Hellpoint‘s which opens up far more quickly.
- A grimdark story focused on a group of monster outcasts (eventually) forming an adventuring party. It’s very well written but also occasionally gets quite brutal… although it does feature an appreciable amount of comic relief. Think along the lines of Goblin Slayer (minus the sexual aspects) told from the monsters’ point of view.
I Woke Up as the Villainess’s Friend. I Don’t Want to Be the Next Dark Queen
- A ‘transmigrated into an otome game’ story with the twist that by happinstance the protagonist ends up filling the role of aspiring dark lord while also being presented as a heroine. It reminds me a bit of Tori Transmigrated and initially only really suffers from far too long dungeon expeditions. This game world supposedly puts little focus on combat, so it’s weird the author decided to spend so much time dragging battles out with constantly escalating encounters.
- It took a little while, but eventually I saw what the author meant when they said they were writing by the seat of their pants rather than properly planning things out. On the one hand the spontaneity is interesting, but on the other events don’t really feel connected and quite a few loose ends begin to accumulate by the end of the second arc. Another thing is that rather than a psychopath the protagonist comes across more like an autist; namely her obsession with completely arbitrary rules and hatred of being touched. Hopefully the rewrite ends up better.
- From the same author as RED above, I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be some kind of murderhobo asshole-protagonist parody (it starts off with notable KonoSuba vibes). The problem with parody though is that it’s very easy to actually become the thing you’re supposed to be mocking.
- Developed an instant dislike of the protagonist. No interest whatsoever in following her second attempt at fulfilling her destiny.