A New World. A New Body. A Second Chance to Fight—for Life, for Family, and for Power.
Nate didn't want to die. But after years of battling a sickness that had left him a mere shell of what he once was, he wasn’t exactly clinging to life either.
Then everything changed.
His final breath was just a new beginning, one that led to him waking up in a world almost identical to his own. He has the same parents, same name, even the same face in the mirror. But this Earth is different. Stranger. Better in some ways, and so much more dangerous in others. Here, monsters roam the cities’ edges, newly developed cultivation arts shape reality, and dimensional zones pulse throughout the surface of the world like living hearts.
Not everything is perfect. There is a reason he was able to cross over into that body. Troubles that might be solved with the help of…
Whatever force pulled Nate across worlds didn’t send him empty-handed. Buried deep inside him is a gift—something powerful, mysterious… something extra. A spark of creation, a source of endless potential.
If Nate can learn to master it, he might not just survive—he could thrive.
However, as he will soon discover, power attracts danger, and in this world, monsters aren't the only things that hunt. To protect the people he loves, Nate will have to grow stronger, faster, smarter. Because second chances don’t come free—and this time, he's willing to fight for every breath.
About the A blending of Slice-of-Life with Gamelit. Dungeon-Core Creation and Cultivation Progression Fantasy based mechanics. Set on a modern, alternative Earth that has been besieged by dimensional zones through which monsters and beasts have been invading the planet for years. This series is a perfect fit for readers who enjoy smart, emotionally complex characters inside an ever-evolving universe, with a protagonist that is simply glad to have his parents back, while also struggling to find his own place in this new world.
What RoyalRoad readers are ★★★★★ Dungeonfall - Cool Party - Lovely dungeon story so far. Cultivation seems to work differently in the story, with the MC taking damage yet getting benefits that help him out later on. I especially like his parents still being alive, as killing off authority figures tends to happen way too often in this type of story. Overall, a lighthearted, clever story. - snowbell
★★★★★ Fantastic take on dungeon/cultivation story - I must say I have been enjoying dungeon building stories but a lot of the time they run into the same issues, stuck in one spot (forced alternate POV’s), and either murderous for the sake of being murderous or ultra nice for the sake of it being younger audience friendly. This takes a step out in a new direction and really allows more depth to the concept. Interesting take on cultivation, overall, I have really enjoyed it and am looking forward to more. - blackius420
★★★★★ Great World - So this is a second read-through as I wait for new chapters. This is a very different world and a unique take on the dungeon core and cultivating genres. I love how the two were combined and so give us something completely unexpected. I would suggest not thinking of it as a dungeon story, nor of it as cultivating. Just think of it as the personal journal in an adventure story with some dungeon and cultivating aspects.
My name is Joshua Kern and I am an anxiety riddled individual who is trying to write for a living. I've always loved reading and the escape books provide from everyday life. I've always wanted to be a writer and have finally decided to take the plunge.I am currently writing several series that span a few different genres from GameLit, to Fantasy to even a bit of Romance. Connect with Joshua Kern here: As well as at: Patreon Twitter
I was born in a little town situated somewhere in Ohio and raised in an even smaller town some place in Colorado. I attended University for a time, where I discovered that while I enjoyed Electrical Engineering and Computer Science my true passion lay in writing. I live primarily in Colorado but have been known to move around as the need arises. When not writing, I enjoy riding motorcycles, reading anything I can get my hands on, and anime.
It's a fun and interesting twist on the build a dungeon story. I only gave it three stars because it needs more editing. Since the story is being written over on Royalroad, and I know for a fact they point out mistakes, I find this unexpected. There are a couple of places where the same thing is written twice just using different words. Threw me right out of the story every time.
The premise is initially promising. But there is almost no world building. The elements don’t make a lot of sense. The MC has the ability to create dungeons and seems obsessed with doing so, but it isn’t clear how the dungeon benefits him at all.
There is virtually no character development.
The MC needs a special medicine from the Alchemist’s guild to heal but somehow not even the master of the healer’s guild can get it for him.
I started this book not knowing it was a ‘dungeon master’ book or whatever they call them these days. I’ve read a few but don’t seek them out. I really liked the characters, interactions, plot and world but oddly enough the dungeon stuff was terrible. Especially after finding out the author has many books with the same theme. The traps were unimaginative and the whole thing bland. How about a trap in the middle that triggers spikes back where others are watching or in front of where the monster is jumping? Or places that congregate monsters? Or a thousand other things I thought of to make the dungeon interesting. I was annoyed at how forgetful the mc was and the fact that he remembered to remind us of it. Forgetting to check your status after a once in a lifetime event? Forgetting to turn audio on, forgetting about your storage item, forgetting the magic technology attached to your wrist and going in blind and on and on.
I'm giving this book 3 stars though I'm not sure it deserves even that much. It's one of those frustrating books that had a lot of potential largely ruined by an author who couldn't be bothered to edit it. I do enjoy the story and the world seems interesting, but there are numerous problems.
First, especially for the first half of the book, the MC is always under a huge amount of pressure, but that doesn't really translate into tension. That's at least in part because some of the pressure seems self inflicted, but beyond a certain point it becomes tiresome and unrealistic. No one can bear up and pass things off as fine under that sort of stress.
The second issue is inconsistencies and contradictions. For example the MC suddenly knows something about how the dungeon will developed that he's never been told. It's then revealed a few chapters later. Another time we get a clear explanation of what an increase in power does, only for it to inexplicably do more.
Another issue is self reflection. On the whole this is good - allowing us to see the MC's thought process as well as giving the author an opportunity to make sure we didn't miss important details. However, in this book it gets repetitive as the MC considers the same facts about the same thing over and over again.
One of the worst things for me was about 3/4 of the way through the book. Things happen and the MC decides to take an action that he presumably intends to save the day. The problem is that he has every reason to believe it will leave him crippled or killed, and no reason to believe it will help in any way. Things go sideways in a way that made him (understandably) furious, and then immediately after things settle down he is reflecting on how much he enjoys his new life here. Later on you start to get hints of his thought processes which makes things at least somewhat understandable, but at the time and given how mad he was and how bad things were it makes him seems very mentally deficient.
There are other issues I won't go into, but those are the big ones. That's not to say I wouldn't recommend the book - like I said I did enjoy it, but it could have been quite a bit better if the author only took the time to smooth out the rough edges.
It was an okay read, except for one scene. The jace vs. the protagonist and his friends scene.
It just didn't make a lot of sense. The antagonists' motives were weird and irrational. Then there was the fact that his 4 subordinates unquestioningly followed this teenage student's leadership, even committing murder for him. Without so much as a peep about it. Are they the children of a mob boss or something? Do repercussions not exist? Are they not worried about taking such drastic action?
Another oddity was where Jace forced him to form his core using the beast cores, and then challenged him to a duel after suffering a severe maiming in the form of crushed genitals. Who would be in a dueling mindset after suffering such an injury? If anything, the antagonist should have just ordered his subordinates to kill him. After all, they've been shown not to care about murdering folks out of hand.
And speaking of the chauffeur getting beaten to death by four lackeys in front of them, the protagonist and his friends have zero reaction to that. Given that they're young, law-abiding citizens, I'd have expected to see a reaction from them about the death of the chauffeur.
All said, that whole scene felt forced, unnatural, and weird to me. It really stuck in my craw.
I really enjoyed the premise and a lot of what happened in the story, but it seems to forget itself and give repeat info or have the character consider something they already dealt with. I'm also bothered by what happens to the mc near the end of the book. We're almost immediately told that he can get past it (eventually), but it makes him weaker than literally everyone and other than some vague "he'll progress fast" comments it is pretty much abandoned to be dealt with sometimes in the future. I guess I just don't like his agency being taken and abused like that. I did push through to the end and I'm excited for book 2, just annoyed at the decision making that led to this.
A Well Written Blend of Cultivation and Dungeon Management
I started reading this book only intending to read a few chapters at a time and ended up reading the whole book in one day.
Like the headline says, this book is a blend of cultivation and dungeon management with a unique spin on things. I won’t go into specifics, it is an enjoyable variation.
The main character is not some overpowering superhuman who just accumulate abilities and skills and doesn’t need anyone. He does have a unique ability. He starts out at a major disadvantage and… is still not overpowered! There are people in his life that helps him and hinders him. It is a refreshing take on a soul transplanted to another world. It’s grounded and human.
This is a fantastic idea on the origin of dungeons. Mechanically well-written. Has moderately fleshed-out characters whose personalities and actions are understandable, albeit shallow (or mysterious, if you prefer). It's also excruciatingly slow in development. It repeats internal monologues, rejustifies previously justified points of view, and drags the MC through layers of negligible advancement with very little hope for his future. It's like Wheel Of Time-level slow and introspective. Four stars because I can see a lot of slice-of-life readers really enjoying this. Just not my thing.
An interesting take on dungeon building and cultivation. For the most part characters make reasonable decision decisions, as if they were real people.
Depth, character development is not amazing , but we learned enough about them to generally like the ones are supposed to like and dislike the ones we’re supposed to dislike.
The dungeon building is a little bit slow , and the cultivation is a bit haphazard. But when taking together, and add in the fact that the character has a life outside of some monastery or isolated dungeon, course existence it seems to work.
I really enjoyed this book! It's a really interesting mix of Progression, cultivation and Dungeon-Core/ creation. The MC is likeable especially because of his horrible luck and how he comes with it. I liked the friends he made, they are definitely trouble! I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
This was insanely interesting. The magic framework was unique. We really don't have a martial framework but there were mentions. Very few spelling issues. (Which I found to be AWESOMENESS) And we might have had a few slow spots but the story moved well.
This is a great start to a new series. It’s a combination of a dungeon core and cultivation story. It finds a way to blend these that I haven’t seen in other books in this genre. It’s unique and also adds a lot to potential story growth. I can’t wait for the next book.
I love this book and that the character Is flawed he's not perfect he's damaged yet he still somehow comes out ahead. It's not just about being powerful and rampaging through your enemies,but it's about enjoying the moment and taking care of your family and doing the best that you can do, that I really enjoy
I enjoyed this one. A departure from what I normally see in cultivation stories with some fun twists. A little lighter on crunchy numbers and descriptions than I would like to see but still a very fun read.
I liked this book. You had cultivation in it as well as dungeons and a stat sheet, not to mention the main character has a sense of humor and wit which made me laugh quite a few times...I look forward to book 2
This was a lot of fun to read. It blends the gamelit and the cultivation elements really well. The dungeon core/ building is really good, too. I'm really looking forward to the next one.
I usually don't like reading books with only one book but I took a chance I really enjoyed reading this book great characters but alas I just to wait now for book 2 and hopefully 3😔
It definitely was different and the Mc had a hell of a first book,but i couldn't put it down and was definitely well worth the read. I really look forward to the next book in the series 😀
Love the premise of this book. Solid storyline and good characters. Some odder moments but that’s just a difference in how I would do stuff. Can’t wait for book 2. Was sad when I hit the end of the book.
So the book is written just well enough that you're willing to keep reading but my God the plot holes and plot armor are incredibly thick so be warned. There's almost no character driven development almost the entire thing is just plot driven progression.
I enjoyed the characters and world building. Slow, but builds as your reading. The character state blocks are hard to read if using dark mode on kindles. Also probably should have had one at the very end.
Dungeonfall is a solid dungeon story. It's playing with the conventional tropes in a fun way by pairing both the core and adventurer into one person. All in all it's worth a read for fans of the genre.
As long as it does not turn in to another harem series that is ruining the genre as if a fantasy world doesn't have enough ways to keep people involved