What do you think?
Rate this book
Hardcoded Online: A Time Loop LitRPG Adventure
To hell with corporate life and the rat race. All I wanted to do was spend some time in my gamer coffin and unwind. Get away from that dreadful day-to-day and enjoy some mindless fun killing stuff.
As it turns out, when I logged into Hardcoded Online and selected the top difficulty, my time became anything but fun. As it turns out, something bad happened and I’m now stuck in a loop, at an impossible level, and with the pain feedback set to the max.
I can’t even take a step forward without a skeleton running me through with its flaming spear. There doesn’t seem to be any way out, except maybe if I manage to clear the 16,800 hours of gaming time my stupid self set before I logged in.
Unfortunately, every death I experience resets the timer to zero and I lose all the progress I had made. Good god, all I can do is choose my character and respawn to face yet another nightmare. The Armored Knight and Ranged Archer classes I tried, they didn’t help one little bit. Even the Hooded Assassin got me killed without me even getting to blink.
What if I picked a stealthier class then, maybe the Ninja? Maybe I could run for dear life and hide in the shadows? What do I have to lose? After all, I have all eternity to get better at this game and learn all its mechanics and mysteries. Yes, maybe if I do that, just maybe, I may get a chance to return home someday.
Alright, let’s do this! *picks the Ninja* Here goes nothing…
As it turns out, when I logged into Hardcoded Online and selected the top difficulty, my time became anything but fun. As it turns out, something bad happened and I’m now stuck in a loop, at an impossible level, and with the pain feedback set to the max.
I can’t even take a step forward without a skeleton running me through with its flaming spear. There doesn’t seem to be any way out, except maybe if I manage to clear the 16,800 hours of gaming time my stupid self set before I logged in.
Unfortunately, every death I experience resets the timer to zero and I lose all the progress I had made. Good god, all I can do is choose my character and respawn to face yet another nightmare. The Armored Knight and Ranged Archer classes I tried, they didn’t help one little bit. Even the Hooded Assassin got me killed without me even getting to blink.
What if I picked a stealthier class then, maybe the Ninja? Maybe I could run for dear life and hide in the shadows? What do I have to lose? After all, I have all eternity to get better at this game and learn all its mechanics and mysteries. Yes, maybe if I do that, just maybe, I may get a chance to return home someday.
Alright, let’s do this! *picks the Ninja* Here goes nothing…
- GenresFantasy
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 2, 2021
19 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 7, 2021
This is my second book by the author, the first being A Pirate's Life which I really enjoyed, so much so that I endorsed it through my monthly newsletter.
Now we have Hardcoded Online, a twist on the stuck in a game trope. Loden is depressed, and has been depressed for a long time. His friend learns about a new VRRPG coming out that sets you down in a coffin-like device to connect to the game.
Once Loden arrives in the game, everything goes haywire. He's stuck, and each time he dies (and he dies a lot) the 700 days he had planned to spend in the game gets reset back to zero.
What he faces in the game is a big boss, a bunch of mini bosses, and a #$%! ton of reanimated skeletons. At first he can barely get a hit in on them, but over time he learns how they move, and what powers their reanimation.
Of course, killing the necromancers themselves is better because that destroys what they've reanimated, but it's not always that easy.
The problem with this kind of book is that it can be repetitive, but the author avoids that by having Loden come up with new ways of having Loden deal with the enemies. Eventually, he makes it out of the starting zone and into a small town, where he is tasked with defending it against the horde of skeletons.
All this happens while Loden is on the hardest level. Every game has one, sometimes as a joke and other times as a test for hardcore players. Maybe it's the depression, but Loden picks the 'You Will Die' level.
I won't spoil the plot after that. There is a ton of action here, and for me the story line never got boring. Loden does meet other adventurers eventually, sometimes with happy endings and other times less so.
Another surprising aspect is that this seems to be a standalone book, and not part of a series. Can't remember the last time I've read one of those.
All in all, I really enjoyed this. It has clever writing, solid pacing, and interesting characters. I've never dealt with long term depression, but the writing here is really well done and respectful on the issue. It made me wonder whether the author deals with this issue herself, or if she just researched it thoroughly enough so she could write on it.
On a final note, I'm still waiting for the second book of a Pirate's LIfe.
Recommended. 5/5*
Now we have Hardcoded Online, a twist on the stuck in a game trope. Loden is depressed, and has been depressed for a long time. His friend learns about a new VRRPG coming out that sets you down in a coffin-like device to connect to the game.
Once Loden arrives in the game, everything goes haywire. He's stuck, and each time he dies (and he dies a lot) the 700 days he had planned to spend in the game gets reset back to zero.
What he faces in the game is a big boss, a bunch of mini bosses, and a #$%! ton of reanimated skeletons. At first he can barely get a hit in on them, but over time he learns how they move, and what powers their reanimation.
Of course, killing the necromancers themselves is better because that destroys what they've reanimated, but it's not always that easy.
The problem with this kind of book is that it can be repetitive, but the author avoids that by having Loden come up with new ways of having Loden deal with the enemies. Eventually, he makes it out of the starting zone and into a small town, where he is tasked with defending it against the horde of skeletons.
All this happens while Loden is on the hardest level. Every game has one, sometimes as a joke and other times as a test for hardcore players. Maybe it's the depression, but Loden picks the 'You Will Die' level.
I won't spoil the plot after that. There is a ton of action here, and for me the story line never got boring. Loden does meet other adventurers eventually, sometimes with happy endings and other times less so.
Another surprising aspect is that this seems to be a standalone book, and not part of a series. Can't remember the last time I've read one of those.
All in all, I really enjoyed this. It has clever writing, solid pacing, and interesting characters. I've never dealt with long term depression, but the writing here is really well done and respectful on the issue. It made me wonder whether the author deals with this issue herself, or if she just researched it thoroughly enough so she could write on it.
On a final note, I'm still waiting for the second book of a Pirate's LIfe.
Recommended. 5/5*
September 7, 2022
I love time-loop fiction, and so I was very excited to find one that combined it with LitRPG. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would have loved for the author to consider turning this into a series (pure fan-service, I know!)
The timeloops never get repetitious or boring - and it's enjoyable (and inspiring) to see the MC strive and strive (occasionally giving up.) It's also an interesting take for a MC to beat the game with intelligence and skill, rather than the staple of the genre to become over-powered (which I enjoy too.)
Thank you for hitting all the right notes in this book, and for keeping the narrative compelling throughout!!
The timeloops never get repetitious or boring - and it's enjoyable (and inspiring) to see the MC strive and strive (occasionally giving up.) It's also an interesting take for a MC to beat the game with intelligence and skill, rather than the staple of the genre to become over-powered (which I enjoy too.)
Thank you for hitting all the right notes in this book, and for keeping the narrative compelling throughout!!
September 13, 2021
Good book
Compelling read, with a exciting storyline which keeps you wanting to read more. Nice take on litrpg. Recommend the story.
Compelling read, with a exciting storyline which keeps you wanting to read more. Nice take on litrpg. Recommend the story.
November 12, 2024
Pretty silly
Old trope, expected it to do something unusual, but nope, disappointed. Read more like a very long fanfic than a book.
Old trope, expected it to do something unusual, but nope, disappointed. Read more like a very long fanfic than a book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews