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Delve
Summary – Level 1:
Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.
Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.
Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.
Did I mention that there will be math?
Summary – Level 2:
Okay, but what are you in for, really?
Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.
...
What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?
Yes!
Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–
Now!
Okay, okay!
The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?
Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?
Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.
POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.
Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.
Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.
There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.
The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.
The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?
Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!
Cover by Miha Brumec
Summary Updated: 2020-06-14
Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.
Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.
Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.
Did I mention that there will be math?
Summary – Level 2:
Okay, but what are you in for, really?
Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.
...
What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?
Yes!
Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–
Now!
Okay, okay!
The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?
Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?
Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.
POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.
Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.
Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.
There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.
The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.
The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?
Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!
Cover by Miha Brumec
Summary Updated: 2020-06-14
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 27, 2019
Up to chapter 68:
3.5/5
The realistic feeling of being lost in another world, with everything that ensues from that point forward, coupled with coherent narration, makes it stand out among LitRPGs.
The stream of consciousness when doing math and choosing skills is on point. No such bullshit as "I get a feeling that this will be the right choice" or any random Legacy to inherit point blank.
This LitRPG feels like a survival one at first, never really picking up the fairy tale adventure feeling. This can be good, because you never get the old western like fantasy feeling, but it loses on scenery and any kind of glorious heroic adventure.
It's a down to earth narration of a simple human struggling with his weakness; his moral is a bit old fashioned, "I want to save everyone" type. But to this point it was never mentioned much and it's not annoying
Long story short: this book is original, refreshing even, in its genre, but it still needs something to make a great one and it has to be careful not to fall into the pit of redundancy and stereotyped literature.
If you like LitRPGs, it's definitely better then the "recommended" books you could find on Amazon.
3.5/5
The realistic feeling of being lost in another world, with everything that ensues from that point forward, coupled with coherent narration, makes it stand out among LitRPGs.
The stream of consciousness when doing math and choosing skills is on point. No such bullshit as "I get a feeling that this will be the right choice" or any random Legacy to inherit point blank.
This LitRPG feels like a survival one at first, never really picking up the fairy tale adventure feeling. This can be good, because you never get the old western like fantasy feeling, but it loses on scenery and any kind of glorious heroic adventure.
It's a down to earth narration of a simple human struggling with his weakness; his moral is a bit old fashioned, "I want to save everyone" type. But to this point it was never mentioned much and it's not annoying
Long story short: this book is original, refreshing even, in its genre, but it still needs something to make a great one and it has to be careful not to fall into the pit of redundancy and stereotyped literature.
If you like LitRPGs, it's definitely better then the "recommended" books you could find on Amazon.
January 17, 2022
An extremely fleshed out system and setting that leaves you wanting more.
September 6, 2023
the protagonist is a very soft american
the type that likes to put his hand on aman shoulders saying his name softly to comfort him
the type that likes to put his hand on aman shoulders saying his name softly to comfort him
February 29, 2020
To chapter 82
I really have to admire the author's dedication to the game mechanics in the RPG. While a lot of litRPG pays less attention to the message boxes and skill details as the story picks up, this author just doubles down with skill trees and a main character who is determined to figure out the math behind the damage formulas... it's impressive really. I have no doubt it is a full fleshed out game system with a LOT of spreadsheets.
Putting that aside, the characters are also well fleshed out. (Though not as detailed as the formula for determining the resolution on a detection spell -- NOTHING is as detailed as that resolution formula.) Fortunately the character are much more likable than the math and it is easy to skip over those paragraphs if you don't care about the math.
The main character doesn't get some bulls** cheat power either. He's just got a well thought out build and a desire to min-max it. He found a good synergy of stats/skills and you get to follow his thought processes as he puts it together... hence all the math. He just loooves detail work. It's nice seeing an isekai without a cheat power for a change.
The world is also reasonably well thought out. As we learn more about how it works, I can see how it fits in with a world where these powers exist. For example, one Empire is powerful specifically because it forces its populace to use overly focused character builds backed up with strong support classes -- none of those character builds would be strong on their own if they defected, but in units they are very strong. Then there are independent international enforcement organizations like The Guard that are necessary to keep high level individuals from causing trouble if they go rouge.
I really have to admire the author's dedication to the game mechanics in the RPG. While a lot of litRPG pays less attention to the message boxes and skill details as the story picks up, this author just doubles down with skill trees and a main character who is determined to figure out the math behind the damage formulas... it's impressive really. I have no doubt it is a full fleshed out game system with a LOT of spreadsheets.
Putting that aside, the characters are also well fleshed out. (Though not as detailed as the formula for determining the resolution on a detection spell -- NOTHING is as detailed as that resolution formula.) Fortunately the character are much more likable than the math and it is easy to skip over those paragraphs if you don't care about the math.
The main character doesn't get some bulls** cheat power either. He's just got a well thought out build and a desire to min-max it. He found a good synergy of stats/skills and you get to follow his thought processes as he puts it together... hence all the math. He just loooves detail work. It's nice seeing an isekai without a cheat power for a change.
The world is also reasonably well thought out. As we learn more about how it works, I can see how it fits in with a world where these powers exist. For example, one Empire is powerful specifically because it forces its populace to use overly focused character builds backed up with strong support classes -- none of those character builds would be strong on their own if they defected, but in units they are very strong. Then there are independent international enforcement organizations like The Guard that are necessary to keep high level individuals from causing trouble if they go rouge.
June 9, 2022
Early in the book, during the time of the first "Delve", the MC dies … but wow - a miracle, in the very last second he gets the ultimate plot armor - and immune to damage skill. Then few pages later he recaps that he miraculously avoided death for times for two weeks. So yeah, Idiot MC, Plot armor, no story, looser probably still virgin Autor with huge problems interacting with girls and so on. If your are looser like him, try reading something more helpful...
July 17, 2021
Slow start, but a quite enjoyable portal-type LitRPG. I especially liked how certain quirks were handled differently. For instance, the MC was *not* magically given knowledge of the language, making for a rough time at the beginning.
Exceedingly crunchy at times, but all from the viewpoint of the MC trying to understand the system. Which makes it more enjoyable, for all that it is math.
Exceedingly crunchy at times, but all from the viewpoint of the MC trying to understand the system. Which makes it more enjoyable, for all that it is math.
December 13, 2022
Детинско, бавно точещо се лит-рпг, с досаден акцент върху статистиките и страници и страници таблици с показателите и уменията на героя. Въпреки това е сред най-популярните в момента в сайта RoyalRoad, което е показателно, предполагам, за типа хора, които са му ползватели.
April 6, 2020
3.5 stars
Chapter 79 - 02/14
Solid read but nothing amazing here. Great ideas, lots of character calculations.
Picking up plot intensity with Majistraal city defense shield.
Chapter 79 - 02/14
Solid read but nothing amazing here. Great ideas, lots of character calculations.
Picking up plot intensity with Majistraal city defense shield.
September 30, 2024
A fun isekai litrpg that loves to get into the math of abilities.
Rain wakes up in a forest in a fantasy world for no discernible reason. He quickly finds an adventuring group that takes him to a nearby city where he must scratch together a living by fighting slimes in the sewers. Rain’s single mindedness and earth education in math lets him strategize an uncommon class creation that is centered around aura’s (area of effect magic centered on the user-mostly support abilities with some offense) and meta-magic that applies stacking mathematical buffs. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this even if the writing/main character is pretty naive and I loved the commitment to very explicit math in the text and behind the scenes (the comment sections on royal road with people liking to their own custom spread sheets is really fun!). I will say that the author’s initial promise of the MC not being super special is true in that there is never an initial bonus that sets him apart from any other person in world, but he does become embroiled in world politics and pretty clearly is working towards fixing the word’s system in a way no one has ever achieved. So if you’re looking for just slice of life, this is not that. There is over a million words at the time of this review.
Recommended if you want to try a fantasy litrpg, especially a very math heavy one.
Rain wakes up in a forest in a fantasy world for no discernible reason. He quickly finds an adventuring group that takes him to a nearby city where he must scratch together a living by fighting slimes in the sewers. Rain’s single mindedness and earth education in math lets him strategize an uncommon class creation that is centered around aura’s (area of effect magic centered on the user-mostly support abilities with some offense) and meta-magic that applies stacking mathematical buffs. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this even if the writing/main character is pretty naive and I loved the commitment to very explicit math in the text and behind the scenes (the comment sections on royal road with people liking to their own custom spread sheets is really fun!). I will say that the author’s initial promise of the MC not being super special is true in that there is never an initial bonus that sets him apart from any other person in world, but he does become embroiled in world politics and pretty clearly is working towards fixing the word’s system in a way no one has ever achieved. So if you’re looking for just slice of life, this is not that. There is over a million words at the time of this review.
Recommended if you want to try a fantasy litrpg, especially a very math heavy one.
November 3, 2024
This is an ongoing web serial type story that you can find on Royal Road. It is a fantasy LitRPG that is heavy on math and system screens. Rain is a construction worker who is inexplicably transported to a fantasy world in his sleep. Thus starts his slow progression using the system of this world. The progression feels realistic and I like the pacing. I don't like the way Rain seems to know a lot about everything such as algebra, calculus, electricity, generators, science, etc. and introduces all this stuff to the fantasy world. My biggest complaint is the way Rain constantly makes jokes and references to Earth pop culture in his conversations. It just brings me out of the story since it is obvious the author is catering to the reader. This story does have too much math for me....I will usually skip over those parts. There is also an internal almost cultivation type progression later in the story that I found confusing at times. Perhaps largely because Rain was stumbling trying to figure things out for himself. Overall l like this story and I want to see where it goes. This series has been going for at least 5 years and the author seems to release about 3 chapters a month at best. Note that I have read 269 chapters.
November 11, 2025
This book can be classified within many sub-genres of fantasy (progression fantasy, isekai fantasy, and even magitech, slice-of-life, or high fantasy at times), but I'm most taken with it as serious/realistic/hard fantasy. While the story certainly has lighthearted moments, the author takes the story and world seriously enough to give the story surprising staying-power. In the serious moments, it reminds me of Melody of Mana or A Soldier's Life. Interestingly, it plays into a lot of other tropes that I wouldn't think would work together, but it puts them together quite well. The slower pace helps reconcile any fun trope or slice of life / science detour with world as a whole. Rather than coming off as hacked and smashed together, vibes from One Piece or Dungeon Robotics seem natural rather than absurd. Elements of The Way Ahead (science detours) and Adventures on Terra (slice of life detours) become enrichment rather than bogging down or cringing the story. I can see how the series wouldn't be for everyone, but on the whole I'd say it's quite good.
July 9, 2024
In Chapter 157 : Speculation
I really liked the crunchiness of the system. Trying to understand the system and Its limits using actual scientific method. Experiments, spreadsheets, and math formulas.
MC is a good guy, trying to be a hero. But actually not that strong in battle. He chooses to achieve his goals by boosting Power of Friendship to 2000% using auras and meta magic.
I really liked the crunchiness of the system. Trying to understand the system and Its limits using actual scientific method. Experiments, spreadsheets, and math formulas.
MC is a good guy, trying to be a hero. But actually not that strong in battle. He chooses to achieve his goals by boosting Power of Friendship to 2000% using auras and meta magic.
September 30, 2023
Online webserial (unfinished, but I'm currently up to date with the latest chapter).
If I have more going on in my head, the books I read become simpler. This book is about the simplest I can go in that sense, nothing complicated going on with some nice things to keep me hooked and entertained.
If I have more going on in my head, the books I read become simpler. This book is about the simplest I can go in that sense, nothing complicated going on with some nice things to keep me hooked and entertained.
August 25, 2023
Pretty darn solid, and improves over time.
January 9, 2024
Top tier writing. I love the pace and character building. Please keep it coming, and I look forward to when this is published.
June 3, 2025
stopped at 268
February 11, 2023
Don't know much about the page count, etc, but I found this one here and I'm up to date on the royal road story, so I'm adding it.
The premise starts with an isekai, can't speak the local language, and decides to aim to be a support-type character in a world that doesn't really have people who view that as a viable path.
Hijinks ensue.
I've been enjoying this one, and will happily keep reading.
(intriguing - this is now showing up as being updated yesterday. I very certainly did not do so. not sure what's going on.)
The premise starts with an isekai, can't speak the local language, and decides to aim to be a support-type character in a world that doesn't really have people who view that as a viable path.
Hijinks ensue.
I've been enjoying this one, and will happily keep reading.
(intriguing - this is now showing up as being updated yesterday. I very certainly did not do so. not sure what's going on.)
February 20, 2020
To chapter 81
Starts off a little bit uncertain, but really loving it now!
Semi-rational fantasy isekai about a real person being put into a world with simplified rules based on a D&D-like game. Good characterization and pretty fun exploitation of rules. The way the main character finds uses for the Purify spell is awesome.
Starts off a little bit uncertain, but really loving it now!
Semi-rational fantasy isekai about a real person being put into a world with simplified rules based on a D&D-like game. Good characterization and pretty fun exploitation of rules. The way the main character finds uses for the Purify spell is awesome.
April 1, 2021
A very slow paced "story" and a pseudo-analytical airheaded protagonist reactively doing stuff don’t go well together. This is really just a story about a guy witlessly exploring the authors LitRPG system (and an alien culture) with his random observations, impulsiveness and competent mathematic ability.
-Dropped Ch 27
-Dropped Ch 27
May 24, 2020
This is currently a work in progress which I've really enjoyed reading. I find myself always looking forward to the next chapter of Delve and setting aside other books to come back to it.
June 8, 2021
Keep wanting to revisit this every few months to continue following the adventures!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews