Aster Loka | one_shot | Complete
~First place winner! January 2022 Royal Road Community Magazine Contest~ When all else fails, when all hope is lost, perhaps madness is less important than results. If the world is going to end, save what you can from the ashes. No matter the sacrifice. When came the monsters, So fell the elves; The rising of the Dungeon Queen, And then the sun went out.
8.70 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:11
drewhead118 | one_shot | Complete
Dr. Laura Brandie is ready to change the world. She's the lead researcher behind the KSE, a revolutionary cure for paralysis and neurodegenerative conditions. And now, by good fortune, she's found the perfect candidate for her first human trial: a man who suffers from locked-in syndrome. Brett Harmon's paralysis is total: he can't move his arms, legs, torso, neck, or face. To the outside world, he's little more than a statue that breathes... but Dr. Brandie's KSE might be the miracle that allows Brett to run again.
7.96 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:38
rkgoff | historical | Complete
In May, 1899, a hundred and fifty unassuming envelopes are delivered to households across the city. Most of them will be picked up by butlers and carried on silver trays to their recipients. All of them contain invitations to the wedding of Lady Eleanor Serrs to Mr. Ryce Penn. When the newspapers hear about it, they start buzzing. Who can blame them? This would be the wedding of the century! She's the daughter of Duke Erravold Aubrey-Serrs, and the Marvelous Mr. Penn is one of the most famous men in the country. But Penn is famous for being the city's most notorious thief. He's an unrepentant attention-seeker with a taste for gems and danger. And Eleanor swears that she's never met him. Chief Inspector Lucas Haley, Penn's long-time nemesis, is called in to protect the Aubrey-Serrs family and try to figure out what the master thief is planning. He'll need all his experience and tenacity for this case, as it quickly becomes obvious more is at stake than the reputation of an innocent woman.
55.02 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:15
Cocop (Cale Plamann) | psychological | Complete
Threedak is a simple Dhajtel. Every night she scavenges and hunts for her tribe in the great desert, relying upon her skill and ancestral memories to avoid the night's many dangers. Her life remains largely the same until one night, one of the gleaming angels that hangs in the night sky falls into her desert. Deciding to investigate, she happens upon a scene far beyond her limited understanding. The Dhajtel aren't alone. The galaxy is far vaster and more hostile than Threedak's people can even begin to comprehend. Entrusted with the knowledge and memories of a dead race, it will be up to her to forge Dhajtel society into something that can survive the storm that is to come. - - -(This novel is heavy on Kingdom/Empire Building and is an attempt at fairly hard (grounded in real science) Science Fiction) Cover credit to DrakonStorm - - - A couple authors with reptile MC's have started a discord, feel free to hang out with us.
32.31 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:51
When a dungeon starts behaving strangely, aspiring Dungeon Keeper Aster steps in to unwind its troubles. After fighting his way through deadly monsters, he finds a young girl at the dungeon's heart--a young girl with a dungeon core. Stella has just lost her mother, and on top of that, only now discovered that she, in fact, is the one who should rightfully control the dungeon. Overwhelmed and grieving, she shuts out humans... but one human still breaks through. Together, Stella and Aster will find a compromise between human and dungeon, between the dark, monster-infested world beneath the earth and the bright, human-contaminated world above it. But first... "Hey, will you be my dad?" Spy X Family meets Dungeon Core! [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
51.12 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:07
FrustratedEgo | tragedy | Complete
Follow Grant Legate's trials and tribulations through:Memories, Made, Realities, Crash, Together. Memories: A man broken by despair and depression, Grant Legate finds himself in a once-in-a-lifetime situation after receiving an Ultimate Edition copy of Continue Online. All hewishes foris a distraction from the thoughts plaguing his waking hours. He dives in headfirst, unknowing of the AIs intentions. They offer him the chance to play as one of their own, a NPC deserving of a proper send off. What he discovers during the journey shakes Grant to his very core. Made: No longer playing as a Local from the world of Continue Online, Grant Legate's adventure can begin.The Voices offer him a unique title along with a test and reward.To starthe'll have to survive underground horrors, old girlfriends, become a warrior.To winhe must become an imp familiar and kill another player, one with a dozen tricks up his sleeve. Realities: Worried for his sanity after poor in-game choices, Grant Legate's sister, Liz, blocks access to Continue Online. With no way around the restriction, he ventures into a new worlda VRMMO game based in spacecalled Advance Online. There he must help his companion AI, Hal Pal, overcome an identity crisis, race to the center of the universe to bring back his true love, and figure out where he stands on the scariest implication of all; AIs are bringing the dead to life. Crash: Grant's prior adventures tie together and he finds himself back in Continue Online, as Hermesin jail. He's forced to experience life as a digital convict and earn redemption points to gain his freedom. Each in-game death pushes his goal of helping his friends out of reach. The AIs Grant's grown to love, trustand sometimes fearare facing extinction, he holds the key to their survival. Together: The game is no longer about adventures in a new world or exploring fantasy lands. Grant's digital wife faces deletion, along with everyone else he cares for. He, and those who know this is more than a game event, search for clues to salvation left behind by the game's creators. Even if he finds them all, the Voices have one last task for their messenger. A sacrifice.
380.09 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:22
Just imagine a world in which the gods have to answer your prayers. You might think that such a world should be a paradise, but would all-powerful beings really be pleased about being teleported out of the shower? This is the direct Prequel to Until Death. Reading Order of the Multiverse-Books
88.09 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:44
Some dude falls into another world and decides he’d rather live as the Heroine than go out and fight to death as the Hero. He might have changed his mind if he’d read the terms and conditions, though.
1.55 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:57
B. A. Baker (Thedude3445) | mystery | Complete
In a future of robots and CRTs, Atlanta is the most powerful city in the world. And in that city, twentysomething slacker Morgan Harding dreams of being able to live a normal, peaceful life... until they're given cybernetic superpowers and forced to become a hero. Together with a mysterious sentient robot and an overworked college student, they must keep Atlanta safe from the technological threats that arise... pretty much constantly... Sigh. ATL is divided into several novel or novella-sized stories, and the entire first season is online on Royal Road for you to gobble up like a robot filling up at a power socket. And if you're itching for more, always know you can read the story at its official website too. Please vote onTop Web Fiction!You can vote once a week on each device for this story (and any others you enjoy!).
185.72 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:02
DragonOfRochester | satire | Complete
One author decides to become a dick. The others band together and decide not to play. Then the System Armageddon happens.
5.19 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:08
Monsoon117 | horror | Complete
There once was a world formed by a god known as Gaia. She filled the seas and crafted the skies. She dominated her world with a fist of iron and ice. That is, until the Darkened One came. Born a mere man, The Darkened One traveled across the land like a plague, tearing Gaia's control away. In his legends, he stood tall and towering with skin gray as ash. If you defied him, he would eat your flesh from your bones, savoring your screams. He killed kings, brought nightmares to life, and devoured the remnants of Gaia. His legend will be told throughout time. Care to hear of it? Here is the sequel: Jehovah's Harmony Here is my other fiction: Biomancer: Songs of Sirens Proud initiate of The Order of Phantasmal Architects. A group of authors of quality original fiction. See link for other great works though not as good as mine...jk
115.78 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:33
officialleehadan | one_shot | Complete
Daramethe was a hedgewitch until lightning struck her for a second time, and she gained incredible, devastating power. Her husband is a blacksmith who loves his tiny electrical wife, and would like prophets to stop kidnapping him.
6.80 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-13 10:50
In a world of sky islands orbiting around a core of mist, humanity is besieged with countless threats. When a young girl from the slums unwittingly becomes one of those threats, she finds herself capable of horrific things that she can't help but learn to love... Vigor Mortis is a lighthearted story about existential terror. Come for the horror, stay for the hope. Updates Fridays. Enjoy the read!
456.61 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:39
Queenofthefuzzybugs | one_shot | Complete
That night, she was bored and illegally downloaded and installed "Life is but a Rose", the most cheesy and terribly rated otome game of 2001. Just as promised, it was laughably bad. She heckled the game the entire night, finishing it at dawn. As she fell asleep she thought, "Did monkeys write this? How could they let the characters be so dumb, if it were me I wouldn't be that stupid..." And then she woke up in the body of a child "Camilla Florentine." The dumbest character of them all: the villainess. Bad ends and death flags are all that await the arrogant and proud Daughter of the Duke. But only if she went according to the script! As long as she makes her own "Escape Route", surely nothing could go wrong... "Huh? I activated a hidden route? Who cares about that! Love flags or whatever, I've got a great job lined up and can live how I want, screw the game's fate and capture targets! I'M FREEEEEEE!" Runs out the door. Years later: "Why did a Capture Target follow me to a completely different country??????" *** A sweet, silly story written over three days. Lincensed under: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
19.86 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 17:37
saithorthepyro | tragedy | Complete
Story is completed The Travelers. People from earth reincarnated in the country of Aetheria, powerful and skilled users of the System who have arrived in this early modern world just in time to aid Aetheria against the many foes and threats facing them. They can and will transcend all powers of this world in order to make their adoptive home country safe. This is not their story. This is the story of the Scaverians, a people at war with the expansionist power of Aetheria and the otherworldly people known as the Travelers, their grand superweapon. Ever since they refused to stop supplying the Aethereans with weapons and tools for their conquest, the Aethereans have been dedicated to driving them underground. Their deities and elder dragons are dead. Their last great fortress line has fallen. The only thing protecting them now is the gargantuan Malden river, and that they are considered an unimportant front by the Aethereians. Now, they have one final plan. A concerted blow with the remaining nations still fighting, targeting the one advantage the Aethereans have. For one scrapped-together regiment of Scaverians, their target is five Travelers, relatively weak, inexperienced, and on leave in the rural town of Halice. It is an operation few are expected to return from. Releasing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9 AM MST
50.45 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:06
This is book 2 of the series! If you haven't read book 1 (which you can find here https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/34776/new-game-reborn-as-a-reluctant-demon-lord-book) then you should probably do that first to avoid spoiling yourself in the synopsis. But that's just a suggestion. If you want to be confused, go ahead. Have I used enough space so that you can't see this in the preview yet? Okay, good. ----- For a [Demon Lord], not even death is the end. So, after death, I found myself revived once again in the world of Placeholder as a grotesque monstrosity. That was my first reincarnation, but it would not be anywhere near my last. Disillusioned with the admins and their quests, and wanting nothing more than to fix the mistakes of my past, I set out with a new goal in mind. To bring back the woman I loved. Or maybe... to ensure that she never died in the first place.
248.68 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:06
Freya Stone | contemporary | Complete
Remdia, a once peaceful country, sends an army towards the unprepared nation of Caledorn. This single action sets off a chain of events that will uproot the lives of everyone involved. A recent graduate suddenly finds himself in enemy territory, struggling to shield his birthplace from angered citizens. A news broadcaster must present a horrifying report while maintaining her perfected poise. A doctor steals an ambulance in an attempt to aid the injured. A student is evacuated from school, while a father tries desperately to escape a prison. Watch the war unfold through the eyes of those most impacted while the bloodshed increases. A relay of short stories where each chapter follows the perspective of one person through a difficult time.A massive shoutout to the brilliant cover artist as well, Snooki.
20.14 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:08
Mad Sadie | contemporary | Complete
There is a button. It is red. It will be pushed. Semi-CYOA type story. Volumes are standalone. New ones appear like magic for every writathon.
61.70 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 11:09
[This is a reimagining of the story The Tutorial is Too Hard by Gandara.] On New Year's Eve, Lee Ho-Jae decides that he wants to die. The universe seems to hear him for the first time in his entire life, and just as the clock hits 00:00, a message pops up inviting him to the Tutorial. Lee Ho-Jae accepts. But at the prompt to choose the difficulty level, is there anything the former pro gamer can do but pick the very hardest--appropriately titled Hell? And so begins Ho-Jae's true descent into Hell in every conceivable form, thrusting him into a world where pain is the currency needed to gain power, and the only ally he has is his own flesh and blood. It doesn't take much for the human mind to crack and crumble, but to build it up again is even harder. In the spiral of white madness that Ho-Jae finds himself tumbling into, will a hand reach towards him and pull him out, or will he just drag them down with them? [This version of the story has now been concluded; the story continues in "A Gamer's Guide to Beating the Tutorial" from the same chapter as it ended from] This story is loosely based on the concept and story by Gandara, but is apart from the setting and name of the main character different on almost every conceivable level. You do not need to read the original story to read this, and doing so will change very little of your experience with the story. It is almost recommended not to read the original if you enjoyed this one since the original has a vastly more lighthearted tone in comparison. Thank you, and I hope you'll enjoy the story!
138.19 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:40
Mike Spivak | horror | Complete
Fate conspires to unite Cody, a grieving man who lost all he held dear, and Suzy, an eldritch abomination from beyond the stars. Together they attempt to save humanity from yet another end of the world. They will travel beyond time and space! They will face madness, violence and greasy food! They will laugh, cry and fight for the sake of all mankind. Spoiler: Spoiler They will also fail. This story will update infrequently for the last of its run. WARNING: This story contains violence, swearing, sex, many depictions of suicide and dark subject matter. Reader discretion is advised. This story is considered NSFW.
78.71 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:11