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Primer for the Apocalypse #1
Primer for the Apocalypse: Book One
Emie Mercer was one of several billion people who survived the apocalypse and was introduced to a new reality where magic was commonplace and everyone had access to a system. Unfortunately, the rest of Emie’s family wasn't so lucky.
As far as world-changing events went, Earth’s reintegration into the Atlantis Alliance was remarkably tame. The post-apocalyptic universe mirrored the wildly popular, deep-immersion VRMMORPG – Atlas Online, allowing those who played to quickly adapt to their new reality.
More than a decade later, Emie manages to create a formation that relies on her Time and Space affinities to return her consciousness to the past. When she arrives nearly four years earlier than expected, Emie realizes she has a unique opportunity to prepare and train for what is coming.
Join Emie as she explores the game 'Atlas Online' in the way it was meant to be used – as a primer for the coming apocalypse.
As far as world-changing events went, Earth’s reintegration into the Atlantis Alliance was remarkably tame. The post-apocalyptic universe mirrored the wildly popular, deep-immersion VRMMORPG – Atlas Online, allowing those who played to quickly adapt to their new reality.
More than a decade later, Emie manages to create a formation that relies on her Time and Space affinities to return her consciousness to the past. When she arrives nearly four years earlier than expected, Emie realizes she has a unique opportunity to prepare and train for what is coming.
Join Emie as she explores the game 'Atlas Online' in the way it was meant to be used – as a primer for the coming apocalypse.
405 pages, Paperback
Published November 17, 2023
387 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
February 14, 2024
I typically avoid VR in LitRPG but found myself intrigued by the premise of this one. I'm still figuring out if I like the time travel subgenre where the protagonist experiences a big bad and goes back in time to try to change things. That's the setup here.
Emie experienced the System Apocalypse and survived for ten years in the new world as a Time and Space affinity mage. And I should say up front that this is a gentler apocalypse than most with the backstory of Earth being a giant experiment to see how humans do on a planet with no mana or the interface powered by it. Only the experiment has run to the point that continuing would bring an extinction-level event so the Alliance (the organization in charge of the experiment) has decided to ease the mana-siphons gradually over four years while introducing a VRMMO that is more or less a tutorial for how to handle the "reintroduction" (of mana and to the Alliance). Fortunately, they've been seeding the culture with stories of the Alliance races so orcs, elves, dwarves and so on won't be too confusing on reintroduction.
Anyway, Emie manages to go back in time to the reintroduction, but overshoots to four years before when the game is first released. So she finds herself in her almost seventeen year-old body with lots of time to prepare—not just herself, but her family who hadn't done so well in her initial timeline.
The rest of the story is her planning and executing on being better both at the game and at life in preparation for what she knows is coming. Along the way, she makes new friends, ditches toxic relationships, and generally bumbles around with intent. In a good way.
Knowing that the game mirrors reality, she also manages to "awaken" earlier than anyone else on the planet, coming to the attention of the human aliens in charge of the whole project. And I liked how that panned out.
The whole story is about a year of her preparing both herself and her family and the author does a good job keeping the pace from dragging and the timeline is divergent enough that Emie doesn't know much anymore what's going to happen—only that reintroduction is on the way and that it's rougher than people expect it to be. But maybe she can change that by being super-awesome and helping people. Which is an attitude I like and I found her altogether engaging.
The story is a little low-conflict for a LitRPG, but I found myself enjoying it. The VR split for action and relationships isn't as heavy as it could be (due to author manipulation, at least a little, because there's really no excuse for her in-game friends to be as close together in both age and geography as they end up being) but it's still enough to wear on me a little. I'm going to give this four stars for an entertaining story that I'm definitely going to add to my Royal Road follow list (because the second book isn't yet complete there).
A note about Chaste: Emie has enough on her plate that she isn't really interested in romance. There's at least one prospect, but she has shut it down (for now). So this is very chaste.
Emie experienced the System Apocalypse and survived for ten years in the new world as a Time and Space affinity mage. And I should say up front that this is a gentler apocalypse than most with the backstory of Earth being a giant experiment to see how humans do on a planet with no mana or the interface powered by it. Only the experiment has run to the point that continuing would bring an extinction-level event so the Alliance (the organization in charge of the experiment) has decided to ease the mana-siphons gradually over four years while introducing a VRMMO that is more or less a tutorial for how to handle the "reintroduction" (of mana and to the Alliance). Fortunately, they've been seeding the culture with stories of the Alliance races so orcs, elves, dwarves and so on won't be too confusing on reintroduction.
Anyway, Emie manages to go back in time to the reintroduction, but overshoots to four years before when the game is first released. So she finds herself in her almost seventeen year-old body with lots of time to prepare—not just herself, but her family who hadn't done so well in her initial timeline.
The rest of the story is her planning and executing on being better both at the game and at life in preparation for what she knows is coming. Along the way, she makes new friends, ditches toxic relationships, and generally bumbles around with intent. In a good way.
Knowing that the game mirrors reality, she also manages to "awaken" earlier than anyone else on the planet, coming to the attention of the human aliens in charge of the whole project. And I liked how that panned out.
The whole story is about a year of her preparing both herself and her family and the author does a good job keeping the pace from dragging and the timeline is divergent enough that Emie doesn't know much anymore what's going to happen—only that reintroduction is on the way and that it's rougher than people expect it to be. But maybe she can change that by being super-awesome and helping people. Which is an attitude I like and I found her altogether engaging.
The story is a little low-conflict for a LitRPG, but I found myself enjoying it. The VR split for action and relationships isn't as heavy as it could be (due to author manipulation, at least a little, because there's really no excuse for her in-game friends to be as close together in both age and geography as they end up being) but it's still enough to wear on me a little. I'm going to give this four stars for an entertaining story that I'm definitely going to add to my Royal Road follow list (because the second book isn't yet complete there).
A note about Chaste: Emie has enough on her plate that she isn't really interested in romance. There's at least one prospect, but she has shut it down (for now). So this is very chaste.
March 27, 2024
An Okay Read to Pass the Time
This book started off really strong in my opinion but I was not particularly enthralled to the plot or the characters throughout.
I was frequently drawn out of the plot by missed opportunities and small plot holes that were never revisited.
That aside there were no major mistakes in the writing or grammar. The plot was fairly linear and doesn’t jump around a ton.
I liked the premise of the book, it made it unique even though at first glance the plot seems very standard, I suppose that is part of the reason I kept reading.
I liked it enough to read the next book in the series, however I wouldn’t reread this book.
A major issue I had was that the book read more like a summary of what was happening than a story. The author told more than showed. But telling does not give enough information, and threw me out of my immersion on multiple different occasions, which was jarring.
Additionally, the main character never develops much of a personality and neither do the characters around her (still somehow they develop more of a personality then she does).
I think part of this stems from the fact that she as our main character never really connects with the people around her. It feels like she is just as indifferent to Blaze as she is to Bell. She never forms connections so whenever she acts because of other characters it is often startling.
Yet for all of her indifference she never really seems as logical as I want her to be? She acts like a teenager on multiple occasions, which is weird since mentally she is an adult. She talks so much about becoming an adult again so much so that I start to think she sees herself as a teenager, I find it almost impossible to see her as a mature adult in this respect.
I could actually see all of this stemming from her past as an adventurer and the trauma she’s probably experienced at a young age. But then again we don’t really see her actively distrusting anyone either. She never really gets paranoid or scared or even mad. Even if we’re told she does feel anyway she immediately gets over it. It’s like she’s a footnote for the readers to experience the story through.
I understand that her family is her number one priority, and she strives to be with them and keep them safe. But it’s almost dispassionate in a way. We hear that she has spent time with her family because she loves them but we never really see her interact with her family. This makes it hard for me to consider them as important as she does. Part of that is probably my own indifference but I need more then ‘they’re family’ to really justify it in my head.
In fact I came to want to read more about any of her party’s-past or present timeline, even Blaze’s point of view, more than her’s. In actuality my favorite characters so far have been Blaze, Robert, and Jur.
Our protagonist never goes through high stakes throughout the book, and even when she somewhat did she seemed indifferent, invulnerable.
You knew everything would work out. Even the times she did worry it didn’t seem real. We get told she’s suddenly worried after she hadn’t been before. There’s not enough foreshadowing for me for it to be plausible.
That being said I would recommend you read this book solely for the plot. If you read for characters in a story I wouldn’t recommend this book for you.
The plot is really good and I feel intrigued by it all. The alliance, the system of abilities, the runes, portals, and rifts are all so intriguing. I find myself at the edge of my seat and ready to learn more.
Anyway if you want to blow some time Id recommend this book, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of your tbr list anytime soon. Maybe my opinion will change as we through this storyline.
This book started off really strong in my opinion but I was not particularly enthralled to the plot or the characters throughout.
I was frequently drawn out of the plot by missed opportunities and small plot holes that were never revisited.
That aside there were no major mistakes in the writing or grammar. The plot was fairly linear and doesn’t jump around a ton.
I liked the premise of the book, it made it unique even though at first glance the plot seems very standard, I suppose that is part of the reason I kept reading.
I liked it enough to read the next book in the series, however I wouldn’t reread this book.
A major issue I had was that the book read more like a summary of what was happening than a story. The author told more than showed. But telling does not give enough information, and threw me out of my immersion on multiple different occasions, which was jarring.
Additionally, the main character never develops much of a personality and neither do the characters around her (still somehow they develop more of a personality then she does).
I think part of this stems from the fact that she as our main character never really connects with the people around her. It feels like she is just as indifferent to Blaze as she is to Bell. She never forms connections so whenever she acts because of other characters it is often startling.
Yet for all of her indifference she never really seems as logical as I want her to be? She acts like a teenager on multiple occasions, which is weird since mentally she is an adult. She talks so much about becoming an adult again so much so that I start to think she sees herself as a teenager, I find it almost impossible to see her as a mature adult in this respect.
I could actually see all of this stemming from her past as an adventurer and the trauma she’s probably experienced at a young age. But then again we don’t really see her actively distrusting anyone either. She never really gets paranoid or scared or even mad. Even if we’re told she does feel anyway she immediately gets over it. It’s like she’s a footnote for the readers to experience the story through.
I understand that her family is her number one priority, and she strives to be with them and keep them safe. But it’s almost dispassionate in a way. We hear that she has spent time with her family because she loves them but we never really see her interact with her family. This makes it hard for me to consider them as important as she does. Part of that is probably my own indifference but I need more then ‘they’re family’ to really justify it in my head.
In fact I came to want to read more about any of her party’s-past or present timeline, even Blaze’s point of view, more than her’s. In actuality my favorite characters so far have been Blaze, Robert, and Jur.
Our protagonist never goes through high stakes throughout the book, and even when she somewhat did she seemed indifferent, invulnerable.
You knew everything would work out. Even the times she did worry it didn’t seem real. We get told she’s suddenly worried after she hadn’t been before. There’s not enough foreshadowing for me for it to be plausible.
That being said I would recommend you read this book solely for the plot. If you read for characters in a story I wouldn’t recommend this book for you.
The plot is really good and I feel intrigued by it all. The alliance, the system of abilities, the runes, portals, and rifts are all so intriguing. I find myself at the edge of my seat and ready to learn more.
Anyway if you want to blow some time Id recommend this book, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of your tbr list anytime soon. Maybe my opinion will change as we through this storyline.
June 11, 2025
Nothing offensive but eminently forgettable.
June 12, 2024
fun read; slow build
This is a fun read with good characters and excellent writing. Slow progression that reads as the exposition for a very exciting story to come. There is not a lot of driving conflict or interesting events— it is about the main character traveling through time to four years before the apocalypse she lived through. She’s going to do it even better than before and save her loved ones. Aside from this larger goal and implied future drama and violence, it’s more of a cozy story involving learning, friendship, school, and family.
Slow paced with a huge focus on world building. Reads like a long exposition.
Summary: (spoilers)
Emie is from a future where the system is present and most of her loved ones have died. Her team have all been captured and her only way out is a time travel spell she had vaguely been working on. She designs it to send her back in time to the first time she felt mana.
She is sent to her first time logging into a game called Atlas Online, which as it turns out, was a primer for the apocalypse. As Emie learned in her previous timeline, everything in the game turned out to be a preparation for Earth being re integrated into the system.
Emie gives her all to the game, viewing it as a valuable training experience. She takes a much different path than her first life and becomes a beta tester for the game alongside her brother. She gains access to many features that were kept from her in her previous timeline and begins to build a guide that will survive the apocalypse.
Wanting to avoid people outside of family who knew her at 17, as she is a completely different person, she partners with a new party with various dramas. She helps most members of the party become beta testers as well and becomes friends with them despite her secrets.
At the end of the book, she has finished six months of the four years until the apocalypse actually begins. She has awakened mana in the real world, and is beginning to prepare in the real world and the game world. She has gained access to real training and teaching for concepts that remained a mystery to her pre-time travel.
This is a fun read with good characters and excellent writing. Slow progression that reads as the exposition for a very exciting story to come. There is not a lot of driving conflict or interesting events— it is about the main character traveling through time to four years before the apocalypse she lived through. She’s going to do it even better than before and save her loved ones. Aside from this larger goal and implied future drama and violence, it’s more of a cozy story involving learning, friendship, school, and family.
Slow paced with a huge focus on world building. Reads like a long exposition.
Summary: (spoilers)
Emie is from a future where the system is present and most of her loved ones have died. Her team have all been captured and her only way out is a time travel spell she had vaguely been working on. She designs it to send her back in time to the first time she felt mana.
She is sent to her first time logging into a game called Atlas Online, which as it turns out, was a primer for the apocalypse. As Emie learned in her previous timeline, everything in the game turned out to be a preparation for Earth being re integrated into the system.
Emie gives her all to the game, viewing it as a valuable training experience. She takes a much different path than her first life and becomes a beta tester for the game alongside her brother. She gains access to many features that were kept from her in her previous timeline and begins to build a guide that will survive the apocalypse.
Wanting to avoid people outside of family who knew her at 17, as she is a completely different person, she partners with a new party with various dramas. She helps most members of the party become beta testers as well and becomes friends with them despite her secrets.
At the end of the book, she has finished six months of the four years until the apocalypse actually begins. She has awakened mana in the real world, and is beginning to prepare in the real world and the game world. She has gained access to real training and teaching for concepts that remained a mystery to her pre-time travel.
August 5, 2024
This is an odd one to characterize. My best attempt would be a slice of life, post apocalypse, progression, near future fantasy.
Basically, all the gritty stuff you normally see in a post apocalypse is in the MC's backstory rather than on the page directly. That adds some urgency to her actions but the MC still has years to make friends and reconnect with her family. The amount of time they spend on the pages making friends and playing with her niece gave it a slice of life feel to me. Action is short and feels low-stakes, but that's fine because the point of the book feels more focused on her relationships with friends and family than on the impending apocalypse.
Overall it was a okey book.
I ended up reading book two but will likely not pick up book three.
Basically, all the gritty stuff you normally see in a post apocalypse is in the MC's backstory rather than on the page directly. That adds some urgency to her actions but the MC still has years to make friends and reconnect with her family. The amount of time they spend on the pages making friends and playing with her niece gave it a slice of life feel to me. Action is short and feels low-stakes, but that's fine because the point of the book feels more focused on her relationships with friends and family than on the impending apocalypse.
Overall it was a okey book.
I ended up reading book two but will likely not pick up book three.
October 16, 2024
A good effort, it could be better
I genuinely wanted to like this book. However, there isn’t much of a story here. The main character doesn’t have much of a personality, and not much actually happens to her. She’s kind of just living her life in a new timeline. And honestly, that life is kind of boring. I wish the author luck in the future, however, I can’t see myself reading the next book.
I genuinely wanted to like this book. However, there isn’t much of a story here. The main character doesn’t have much of a personality, and not much actually happens to her. She’s kind of just living her life in a new timeline. And honestly, that life is kind of boring. I wish the author luck in the future, however, I can’t see myself reading the next book.
July 30, 2025
#regressor: the mc, by means of time shenanigans, is transported from a post apocalyptic universe to the "beginning."
#slice of life: the storyline is character driven, with no particular effort put towards achieving a specific long term goal, such as saving the world or changing the past.
#fantasy/scifi: star wars, not star trek. This story contains elements of both high fantasy and advanced technology, but the mechanics are fuzzy, poorly understood or subject to change.
Fans of Lotus Lake may enjoy this book, though it's target audience is slightly older.
So, first thing's first. Slice of life is a genre in litRPG, but it's not usually combined with A) post apocalypse B) regression or C) crunchy litRPG (eg a system with actual status/skill progressions and a normalish MC that's not a marysue.) This creates a tension within the structure of the narrative and is causing a lot of readers to feel betrayed that the MC just "does things" while the clock on the apocalypse ticks down. 5 years is a long time to sit on your hands waiting for "the end of the world" and when we get there, i wonder if the readers who are willing to wait, will enjoy the narrative shift. Honestly, I'm not really sure what function the regression angle is actually serving in this story. The MC does a lot of things that are improbable, given a mundane start, but that's true of every MC ever. High affinities? Skillfull Enchanter? Spends xp to unlock an expensive perk, banking on the snowball effect? These tropes do not, necerilly require regressing into the past.
That being said, i support the decision in this case because the "big reveals" on the timeline (OMG, ALIENS?!?) and (government conspiracy) and (this is the tutorial for the end of the world) are the kind of big reveals that can sour a narrative. It's good that I'm going into this with eyes open. No need to drip feed me some behind the scenes revelation arc.
- 1 star because the MCs level of nonchelance in response to her whole family dissapearing and all non-manatech breaking down and some future 'betrayal' and the end of the world, and being force conscripted into the army and moving off world is surprising. Guess I'll go to highschool? Guess I'll plan a picnic for that day so my family doesn't die or whatever? Guess I'll work out in the gym a little more, since I'm already a mage? Do a little spellsword stuff? My suspension of disbelief is struggling.
#slice of life: the storyline is character driven, with no particular effort put towards achieving a specific long term goal, such as saving the world or changing the past.
#fantasy/scifi: star wars, not star trek. This story contains elements of both high fantasy and advanced technology, but the mechanics are fuzzy, poorly understood or subject to change.
Fans of Lotus Lake may enjoy this book, though it's target audience is slightly older.
So, first thing's first. Slice of life is a genre in litRPG, but it's not usually combined with A) post apocalypse B) regression or C) crunchy litRPG (eg a system with actual status/skill progressions and a normalish MC that's not a marysue.) This creates a tension within the structure of the narrative and is causing a lot of readers to feel betrayed that the MC just "does things" while the clock on the apocalypse ticks down. 5 years is a long time to sit on your hands waiting for "the end of the world" and when we get there, i wonder if the readers who are willing to wait, will enjoy the narrative shift. Honestly, I'm not really sure what function the regression angle is actually serving in this story. The MC does a lot of things that are improbable, given a mundane start, but that's true of every MC ever. High affinities? Skillfull Enchanter? Spends xp to unlock an expensive perk, banking on the snowball effect? These tropes do not, necerilly require regressing into the past.
That being said, i support the decision in this case because the "big reveals" on the timeline (OMG, ALIENS?!?) and (government conspiracy) and (this is the tutorial for the end of the world) are the kind of big reveals that can sour a narrative. It's good that I'm going into this with eyes open. No need to drip feed me some behind the scenes revelation arc.
- 1 star because the MCs level of nonchelance in response to her whole family dissapearing and all non-manatech breaking down and some future 'betrayal' and the end of the world, and being force conscripted into the army and moving off world is surprising. Guess I'll go to highschool? Guess I'll plan a picnic for that day so my family doesn't die or whatever? Guess I'll work out in the gym a little more, since I'm already a mage? Do a little spellsword stuff? My suspension of disbelief is struggling.
September 22, 2024
Very good implementation of widely-used tropes.
Earth is a weird planet. It doesn't have magic. It doesn't have non-human species such as Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs. It doesn't have access to a system that turns mana and accomplishments into levels of self-improvement.
Earth was an experiment, with magic artificially suppressed. Now the experiment is ending, the magic is returning, and Earth will be reintegrated into the the normal magical galaxy. It's going to be a rough transition for a world that thinks that high-tech means better physics and better software. To ease the transition, the galactics have started 'selling' an online game that is actually training for the new real world.
Emie has an advantage. Years after the true reintegration, things have gone wrong enough that she risked her life to send herself back in time. She was half successful: She sent her memories back. The game is a rough approximation of what will be the new reality, but she stands out enough that she becomes a real participant when the new reality arrives.
"Primer for the Apocalypse" inverts some Isekai tropes. Emie is not reborn into a new fantasy world, but into her old mundane world. She does find herself in a LitRPG-style world, but it is our world. She does battle monsters - but the battles are simple, and peripheral to the plot, and we don't see much of them. Most of the page count goes to following Emie as she becomes an active agent in an Earth in Transition.
PftA is a web novel. It can be read online, or it can be begun online if you want to try it before reading the published novel. This review is linked to book one, which sets the stage and follows the protagonist in the time before the magic comes back to earth. Earth's actual transition begins in book two, which has also been published.
Earth is a weird planet. It doesn't have magic. It doesn't have non-human species such as Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs. It doesn't have access to a system that turns mana and accomplishments into levels of self-improvement.
Earth was an experiment, with magic artificially suppressed. Now the experiment is ending, the magic is returning, and Earth will be reintegrated into the the normal magical galaxy. It's going to be a rough transition for a world that thinks that high-tech means better physics and better software. To ease the transition, the galactics have started 'selling' an online game that is actually training for the new real world.
Emie has an advantage. Years after the true reintegration, things have gone wrong enough that she risked her life to send herself back in time. She was half successful: She sent her memories back. The game is a rough approximation of what will be the new reality, but she stands out enough that she becomes a real participant when the new reality arrives.
"Primer for the Apocalypse" inverts some Isekai tropes. Emie is not reborn into a new fantasy world, but into her old mundane world. She does find herself in a LitRPG-style world, but it is our world. She does battle monsters - but the battles are simple, and peripheral to the plot, and we don't see much of them. Most of the page count goes to following Emie as she becomes an active agent in an Earth in Transition.
PftA is a web novel. It can be read online, or it can be begun online if you want to try it before reading the published novel. This review is linked to book one, which sets the stage and follows the protagonist in the time before the magic comes back to earth. Earth's actual transition begins in book two, which has also been published.
January 20, 2026
I was never excited
This is definitely closer to a comfy slice of life read than any kind of adventure and plenty of people really enjoy that. The author does state in the blurb that the "apocalypse" was pretty tame, but I really didn't expect the story to be as tame as it was.
On top of a lack of general adventure, the story was mostly 'tell' instead of 'show' resulting in walls of text explaining minutiae, and very very very little adventure, which I find boring.
Even then, the adventure that was in the book? It was incredibly lackluster. For example, the main character gets two attack spells nearly right away: Compressed Space Bolt and Gravity Bomb. Sounds pretty cool, right? Here's how the first fight she used them in went: "The enemies were grouped up so I used Gravity Bomb and then Compressed Space Bolt. It went exactly how I expected it to. People around me exclaimed in excitement that it was amazing!" That's paraphrased, but the point is that the author described *literally nothing* about what the the spells did or even what effect it had on the enemies. Absolutely nothing.
Obviously, the author doesn't feel that describing combat is all that important. That's alright and normally I would just move on from the book and not bother reviewing it because I'm not the intended audience. But that lack of description and general skipping over of information is pretty pervasive in the rest of the story too, which I feel is important to point out for people who may want to buy the book instead of reading it on Kindle Unlimited like I did.
It IS better than most stories that have weekly chapters posted online, though, so it's worth checking out if you're interested. Especially if you feel that the points in my review aren't all that important in a book you want to read.
This is definitely closer to a comfy slice of life read than any kind of adventure and plenty of people really enjoy that. The author does state in the blurb that the "apocalypse" was pretty tame, but I really didn't expect the story to be as tame as it was.
On top of a lack of general adventure, the story was mostly 'tell' instead of 'show' resulting in walls of text explaining minutiae, and very very very little adventure, which I find boring.
Even then, the adventure that was in the book? It was incredibly lackluster. For example, the main character gets two attack spells nearly right away: Compressed Space Bolt and Gravity Bomb. Sounds pretty cool, right? Here's how the first fight she used them in went: "The enemies were grouped up so I used Gravity Bomb and then Compressed Space Bolt. It went exactly how I expected it to. People around me exclaimed in excitement that it was amazing!" That's paraphrased, but the point is that the author described *literally nothing* about what the the spells did or even what effect it had on the enemies. Absolutely nothing.
Obviously, the author doesn't feel that describing combat is all that important. That's alright and normally I would just move on from the book and not bother reviewing it because I'm not the intended audience. But that lack of description and general skipping over of information is pretty pervasive in the rest of the story too, which I feel is important to point out for people who may want to buy the book instead of reading it on Kindle Unlimited like I did.
It IS better than most stories that have weekly chapters posted online, though, so it's worth checking out if you're interested. Especially if you feel that the points in my review aren't all that important in a book you want to read.
May 5, 2024
I like the idea of using VR in a LitRPG universe, but it's rarely executed well. For this book, I got confused a few times if Emie was experiencing VR or reality, her original timeline or her current timeline.
I overlooked that for the most part, and just went with the story, but something else kept bothering me. In her first timeline, she lived through many awful experiences, and was determined to fix things in her current timeline. I expected her to feel something about it, or show some kind of trauma, but she never does. The tone of the story was light and breezy.
For example, when she sees her parents for the first time in fifteen years (after they had died in the original timeline) she's just happy. Personally, I'd have broken down in tears, and not stopped hugging them until they pried me off. All of her emotions were surface level.
For me, the book depended on the world building and the mechanics of the system. It was pretty interesting, especially the VR parts of the book. I also liked the glimpses of what happened in the original timeline, and how far the two timelines diverged from each other.
Overall, it was an light, easy read.
I overlooked that for the most part, and just went with the story, but something else kept bothering me. In her first timeline, she lived through many awful experiences, and was determined to fix things in her current timeline. I expected her to feel something about it, or show some kind of trauma, but she never does. The tone of the story was light and breezy.
For example, when she sees her parents for the first time in fifteen years (after they had died in the original timeline) she's just happy. Personally, I'd have broken down in tears, and not stopped hugging them until they pried me off. All of her emotions were surface level.
For me, the book depended on the world building and the mechanics of the system. It was pretty interesting, especially the VR parts of the book. I also liked the glimpses of what happened in the original timeline, and how far the two timelines diverged from each other.
Overall, it was an light, easy read.
December 17, 2023
Book one
I found this book by accident. Don't know why it never showed up on any of my list.
It's a good read that mixes time travel, VR, school, and probably later apocalypse.
It's being written on Royalroad so feel free to jump on over once you finish with this book.
The author probably should have used a sub title and used Year One.
I saw other reviews saying the story just kind of stopped. It did. At the end of the first year.
This was perfectly fine in my opinion.
Now for the problems. I personally have a very strong dislike of authors using IRL or tens.
You don't say IRL when talking to someone, so why would you have your character do it?
Tens is not a unit of measurement. Either give a number or don't. Tens doesn't actually tell the reader anything. Is it 20? 30? More?
I posted mistakes like those on Goodreads.
In my opinion both of these are a result of rushed or lazy writing. You are making a world and should worry about the details.
7/10 Remember that this is my opinion only. You are free to disagree.
I found this book by accident. Don't know why it never showed up on any of my list.
It's a good read that mixes time travel, VR, school, and probably later apocalypse.
It's being written on Royalroad so feel free to jump on over once you finish with this book.
The author probably should have used a sub title and used Year One.
I saw other reviews saying the story just kind of stopped. It did. At the end of the first year.
This was perfectly fine in my opinion.
Now for the problems. I personally have a very strong dislike of authors using IRL or tens.
You don't say IRL when talking to someone, so why would you have your character do it?
Tens is not a unit of measurement. Either give a number or don't. Tens doesn't actually tell the reader anything. Is it 20? 30? More?
I posted mistakes like those on Goodreads.
In my opinion both of these are a result of rushed or lazy writing. You are making a world and should worry about the details.
7/10 Remember that this is my opinion only. You are free to disagree.
August 17, 2024
Overall I quite enjoyed this book. The characters have personality, the world seems interesting, and the MC is rationally trying to improve things on her second time around, but isn't all-knowing either. Her main attack skills feel a bit overpowered (and not in an interesting way) but so far combat is only a small aspect of the story so it's not a big deal, and she is limited by mana.
I do have a few concerns about the story though. First, it's mentioned that if Earth isn't integrated then no one will survive. The way it's discussed, especially in the next book, it's not meant as in 'we'll kill ourselves off eventually', but more like there's some sort of expiry date on Earth. If that's explained, I missed it. Why is having Earth continue to be manaless not an option?
Second, as Emie continues learning it becomes increasingly clear how little she actually knew in the previous timeline. So how exactly was she able to come back in time, a feat which it's implied has never been (knowingly) achieved before?
Neither of these concerns are particularly significant though. I definitely enjoyed the book and recommend it if the blurb appeals.
I do have a few concerns about the story though. First, it's mentioned that if Earth isn't integrated then no one will survive. The way it's discussed, especially in the next book, it's not meant as in 'we'll kill ourselves off eventually', but more like there's some sort of expiry date on Earth. If that's explained, I missed it. Why is having Earth continue to be manaless not an option?
Second, as Emie continues learning it becomes increasingly clear how little she actually knew in the previous timeline. So how exactly was she able to come back in time, a feat which it's implied has never been (knowingly) achieved before?
Neither of these concerns are particularly significant though. I definitely enjoyed the book and recommend it if the blurb appeals.
May 10, 2024
Starts strong but loses traction
The book starts strong and jumps right in. Does well for the first third and then starts slowing down. The narrator isn’t too overpowered but is likable. There were also plenty of things hinted for the future and plot lines for the sequel coming together.
A few points that bugged me though:
A) For someone who lost her entire family in the apocalypse, she really doesn’t spend that much time with them. Yes, she’s trying to save them in the future, but they are a large afterthought, even her brother who could be gaming with her at least part of the time.
B) Her friends from high school get put on the metaphorical bus early on and are never mentioned again. They aren’t central to the plot, but for an apocalypse book, the narrator definitely doesn’t care what happens to them.
The book starts strong and jumps right in. Does well for the first third and then starts slowing down. The narrator isn’t too overpowered but is likable. There were also plenty of things hinted for the future and plot lines for the sequel coming together.
A few points that bugged me though:
A) For someone who lost her entire family in the apocalypse, she really doesn’t spend that much time with them. Yes, she’s trying to save them in the future, but they are a large afterthought, even her brother who could be gaming with her at least part of the time.
B) Her friends from high school get put on the metaphorical bus early on and are never mentioned again. They aren’t central to the plot, but for an apocalypse book, the narrator definitely doesn’t care what happens to them.
March 24, 2024
Interesting
I like it!!! When I read the title it intrigue me, when I read the quick synopsis I was hooked. Now I have finished the book and am already looking forward to the next one.
I do enjoy this genre of books however one where the lead character goes back in time to not only try and save her family but to get a better start in what she acknowledges is an inevitable future is a new concept for me. I have read lots if books where the main character has gone back in time to try and change things yet I believe this one is different. I recommend this page turning book to everyone to check out and then you will probably wind up doing what I am going to do. Buy It.
I like it!!! When I read the title it intrigue me, when I read the quick synopsis I was hooked. Now I have finished the book and am already looking forward to the next one.
I do enjoy this genre of books however one where the lead character goes back in time to not only try and save her family but to get a better start in what she acknowledges is an inevitable future is a new concept for me. I have read lots if books where the main character has gone back in time to try and change things yet I believe this one is different. I recommend this page turning book to everyone to check out and then you will probably wind up doing what I am going to do. Buy It.
March 10, 2025
What a great new series and interesting take on the regressor theme. In this instance, the System isn't some malevolent, inexplicable mystery; we quickly learn its origins and that it's generally a pretty well-intentioned and well-planned intervention to save Earth. The protagonist, Emie, is also not the last survivor of humanity, coming back in a last desperate gambit to prevent extinction; she's back for entirely personal reasons: to save her immediate family. This makes the entire book relatively low-stakes but still very engaging and entertaining. I can't wait to jump into book two immediately.
December 16, 2024
Cozy and relaxing slice of life litRPG
This book is hard to rate with the same measuring stick as many other fantasy and LitRPG's because the style of storytelling is much less focused on dramatic scenes and instead just keeps a steedy pace, keeping me entertained while also keeping up the excitement. The main story is focused on throughout the book, and there are very few side stories or loose threads.
There are certainly improvements that can be made to the book and structure of the story in general, but the writing is good and the story is entertaining!
This book is hard to rate with the same measuring stick as many other fantasy and LitRPG's because the style of storytelling is much less focused on dramatic scenes and instead just keeps a steedy pace, keeping me entertained while also keeping up the excitement. The main story is focused on throughout the book, and there are very few side stories or loose threads.
There are certainly improvements that can be made to the book and structure of the story in general, but the writing is good and the story is entertaining!
didn-t-like-it
August 12, 2025Note to self: not for me.
It feels like a weird mix of slice of life and apocalypse, but in a boring way.
I'm not super into the regressor who will save the world, a bit too done, but then there's this which is so hands off that it might as well be just about a VR game and leave the apocalypse out.
Small personal annoyance: I'm two hours in, and the MC complains so much about being low level and newbie items, I'm getting fed up.
It feels like a weird mix of slice of life and apocalypse, but in a boring way.
I'm not super into the regressor who will save the world, a bit too done, but then there's this which is so hands off that it might as well be just about a VR game and leave the apocalypse out.
Small personal annoyance: I'm two hours in, and the MC complains so much about being low level and newbie items, I'm getting fed up.
March 29, 2024
Finally, a system world tutorial.
Captured, no hope to escape? Send a copy of your mind back in time and learn to survive better. My only disappointment was not finding out what happened to the original. The premise and world background is good, but you only get a taste of backstory. Great for a weekend read, I'm looking forward to the next episode.
Captured, no hope to escape? Send a copy of your mind back in time and learn to survive better. My only disappointment was not finding out what happened to the original. The premise and world background is good, but you only get a taste of backstory. Great for a weekend read, I'm looking forward to the next episode.
May 31, 2024
Great read, a real sleeper pick. You won't be disappointed!
I didn't have really any expectations for this book as it just popped up on my KU listing. Wow am I glad I took a chance. Great concept and very well hashed out story. I even tracked down book 2 on RR and I am guessing it will hit KU soon. Book 3 is underway on RR. Don't miss out on this great find.
I didn't have really any expectations for this book as it just popped up on my KU listing. Wow am I glad I took a chance. Great concept and very well hashed out story. I even tracked down book 2 on RR and I am guessing it will hit KU soon. Book 3 is underway on RR. Don't miss out on this great find.
July 1, 2024
Wow, this is great!
Look forward to the next book. I love the practical approach of the main character, without making her some sort of genius who can do anything for some reason. She will probably seem like a genius compared to other characters, but we can see how she earned everything over time.
Look forward to the next book. I love the practical approach of the main character, without making her some sort of genius who can do anything for some reason. She will probably seem like a genius compared to other characters, but we can see how she earned everything over time.
Read
July 12, 2024System apocalypse returner
A fun take on the system apocalypse returner type of stories. In this one, the MC returns four years before the apocalypse to a point in time where the greater universe is being introduced via a video game. I would recommend this to anyone who likes either system apocalypse or returner stories.
A fun take on the system apocalypse returner type of stories. In this one, the MC returns four years before the apocalypse to a point in time where the greater universe is being introduced via a video game. I would recommend this to anyone who likes either system apocalypse or returner stories.
July 22, 2024
Desperate time travel finds positive relief
In a desperate situation, caught and imprisoned, our hero found herself back before the magic was released to the public, and did her best to get ready to protect her family and friends. This first book was good. Planning on reading the second.
In a desperate situation, caught and imprisoned, our hero found herself back before the magic was released to the public, and did her best to get ready to protect her family and friends. This first book was good. Planning on reading the second.
August 11, 2024
Very well written, but lacks a per-book climax and conclusion
This story feels like it could almost be real with its mundane, even story pace. This is the kind of story that relaxes the reader and explores litRPG fantasy without doing anything epic and without following typical storytelling technique. It might even be a longer story that was simply cut in half to make a more typical book size. If the next book is good enough, I would like to see both books narrated as a single release.
This story feels like it could almost be real with its mundane, even story pace. This is the kind of story that relaxes the reader and explores litRPG fantasy without doing anything epic and without following typical storytelling technique. It might even be a longer story that was simply cut in half to make a more typical book size. If the next book is good enough, I would like to see both books narrated as a single release.
March 6, 2025
solid
Regressor + VR that gradually becomes real. I liked it.
To be fair, it’s almost sedentary in pacing at times. The MC is trying to prepare for the coming transition. So it’s a lot of training and planning. And she’s doing a competent job of ‘hiding’ her knowledge. No *real* peril, thus far.
I’m going to buy the sequel.
Regressor + VR that gradually becomes real. I liked it.
To be fair, it’s almost sedentary in pacing at times. The MC is trying to prepare for the coming transition. So it’s a lot of training and planning. And she’s doing a competent job of ‘hiding’ her knowledge. No *real* peril, thus far.
I’m going to buy the sequel.
January 16, 2026
I rate this story as "OK".
The three stars are because I actually finished the entire series.
The good: It is a light, fluffy read.
The bad: The story is a little inconsistent, and the worldbuilding is not very fleshed out.
I'd say its a very light fantasy read with the stakes never feeling very high and the magic system being glossed over a lot.
The three stars are because I actually finished the entire series.
The good: It is a light, fluffy read.
The bad: The story is a little inconsistent, and the worldbuilding is not very fleshed out.
I'd say its a very light fantasy read with the stakes never feeling very high and the magic system being glossed over a lot.
November 22, 2023
Enjoyable read
This is a slow burn story. I like the primary character. She is not OP and works hard to learn what she thinks she will need to help her friends and family. Just feels like real people.,
This is a slow burn story. I like the primary character. She is not OP and works hard to learn what she thinks she will need to help her friends and family. Just feels like real people.,
December 25, 2023
Excellent LitRPG book!
Loved the MC. She is smart and has an inside track without being grossly overpowered. I enjoyed how the author entwined elements of time travel, LitRPG, academy/school and combat. I can't wait for the next book!
Loved the MC. She is smart and has an inside track without being grossly overpowered. I enjoyed how the author entwined elements of time travel, LitRPG, academy/school and combat. I can't wait for the next book!
January 4, 2024
Meandering about without direction.
This never had a proper story. There is exposition to set the stage, then just a lot of faffing about. I reached the end and did not realize the book was over, I honestly was still waiting for it to start.
This never had a proper story. There is exposition to set the stage, then just a lot of faffing about. I reached the end and did not realize the book was over, I honestly was still waiting for it to start.
February 1, 2024
Great Beginning
I really liked this book! Well paced and interesting magic system.
Good writing for the most part. Only a few times was the writing confusing, mainly around seeing the thoughts of multiple people within the same scene.
I really liked this book! Well paced and interesting magic system.
Good writing for the most part. Only a few times was the writing confusing, mainly around seeing the thoughts of multiple people within the same scene.
March 10, 2024
A fun stt
A interesting world and how mana is being put back. I like the main character and how she works hard to fix her future and save her family and friends. Give this a chance
A interesting world and how mana is being put back. I like the main character and how she works hard to fix her future and save her family and friends. Give this a chance
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