The richest and luckiest players of the video game "Thousand Tales" get their minds uploaded to its virtual paradise world, while Stan can barely buy a handheld console. Instead of sulking he plays, and grows, becoming a skilled craftsman and seafaring explorer. The game's ruling AI, Ludo, helps him find the hope and inspiration missing from his real life. When the AI starts asking for favors and having him reach out between the real and digital worlds, Stan has a chance to turn his life into an actual adventure. But first he needs to earn the most valuable prize of all: his freedom. "Crafter's Passion" is part of the emerging "LitRPG" or "GameLit" genre, combining science fiction with the world of gaming. ----- On Island East-2 stood Stan, in the dungeon, with the rickety raft. He dragged it out to the beach, scavenged more wood and some interesting shells, and paddled his way back west. The raft disintegrated just as he got within sight of East-1. He held onto a chunk of wood to help him float but couldn't carry the rest in his pack. All he could do was start swimming! A scary fish swerved into his path but he managed to detour until it lost interest. Finally he sprawled onto the beach with a bunch of stat penalties for being wet and tired. Belatedly he realized, "I probably ruined everything in my backpack." A note said, [Nearly everything you're carrying is safe, like coins and a sealed bottle, but that can be a problem with other items. There are several ways to get waterproofing.] That sounded reasonable. He'd assumed that jumping into the water with a load of items was harmless, but that was his own fault. "Fine." He headed west to Central Island across the bridge. So far he just had that crude backpack full of loot, and he couldn't carry much more without a better pack. He looked over the junky resources he'd scavenged, then the items he'd looted off his party members' bodies. None of the equipment was listed as magical, and the item descriptions were starting to give him more serious labels like [Crude Wooden Bow] for Alaya's weapon. Even he could probably make something better with a little practice. He could make something better! That could be fun. Besides, he'd swiped this gear from people he'd agreed to help, so maybe he could replace or upgrade the stuff by way of apology. Stan headed over to the Crown & Tail's workbench to give it a try. Along the way he jumped around for the fun of bounding up the sunny shore. He tapped the bench of tools and tried to fix up some items, but it buzzed at him. [Equipment repairs require access to improved crafting stations.] The bartender directed him to the "maker workshop" a ways inland from the beach. It looked like an old fort, a squat wooden cabin surrounded by a spiky wall of logs. Why not a giant golden palace? Probably it had been built by the players using the game's own physics. That was pretty neat. He walked right in through the open gate. Inside was a craftsman's playground. Saws, drills and other tools covered some of the tables. A whole corner was devoted to colorful glassware and bubbling fluids. A green-robed figure was busy at that alchemy station, pouring beakers one into another and making puffs of steam. The only other person here was a smith in a leather apron and goggles, making a pleasant rhythmic ringing of metal. Behind him loomed a forge where slabs of metal were glowing cherry-red. Stan looked around and asked, "Is this stuff open to the community?" The alchemist turned around.

    He had no specific plans for his new character. Little did he know that his new nickname Rosgard would become the game's next greatest legend.Even the game's Crèche zone may contain items of interest if you're observant enough. Rosgard's find didn't just change his own life drastically — it enveloped an entire game world in a turmoil to boot! The adventuring player becomes a valued prize for Waldyra's leading clans. Our hero has to conceal his real name, since he's in danger in real world as well, and that's no game anymore. There are millions at stake — and the currency in question isn't Monopoly money. Rosgard holds the key to wealth and power in both worlds.Should you play your own game or throw in your lot with the strongest? This is the question that needs to be answered by the protagonist, whose luck is incredible. Whose side does one take without becoming a pawn in anyone's game?Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones is a perfect example of a classical LitRPG novel. The events in the virtual world and the events in the real world mesh closely together as the plot thickens and becomes more and more dynamic from one book to another. The series has thousands of diehard fans in Russia! Now in English — for every true fan of the genre!

    Perks are the main reason Walkers put their lives on the line. Every time a dungeon is cleared the first time, a Walker gets a choice of three perks that could change their lives.Not every Walker makes it out alive. When someone dies in the dungeon, their soul is fragmented into four shards, which can be purchased for dungeon points. Collecting all four shards and taking them to a temple of the Goddess means the dead can live again. There is a sub-sect of Walkers that makes it their goal to bring the dead back from the dungeons— they’re called the Rescue Squad.Stern is intent on joining the ranks of Rescue Squad. Finally done with his six months at the academy, he is about to make his first run through a dungeon. It will not be easy— he doesn’t have a crew, or a team, to run it with. Stern is an irregular— someone born with unusual perks— and unfortunately, looking like the blighted. Being seen as blighted has made Stern’s life hell, but he keeps pushing on, intent on making his goal real.Despite his hardships, he’s been blessed with the unusual perk of his life-long friend, Pawly. Pawly is a polydactyl Maine Coon, who is protective of her friend and eager to help him reach his goal. With his friend beside him, Stern is ready to start his adventure.(This book contains non-standard relationships and touches upon adult situations.)

    Working as a private investigator, her latest case takes her and her partner to Palm Springs, where a shifter is being harassed by a local businessman. But with pack politics and rivalries, this is far more than a property deal gone bad.Far worse, for Lexi, is that her local contact is her long-time nemesis, the gay vampire detective Dick. If the case doesn’t kill her, working with him again might!Note: This book was previously released as part of the Legacy of the Shadow’s Blood.

    A sheep-herder turned Noble. Their path to ascendance through cultivation. Conquering dungeons and using them to grow has long been the most efficient way to become a powerful adventurer. The only thing keeping the process from being easy is the Beasts that inhabit these places. Questions plague those entering this particular place of power: Where do the "rewards" of weapons, armor, and heavy gold coins come from? Why is a fluffy bunny charging at me? For abyss-sake, why are there so many monsters? Cal has all of the answers to these age-old questions for a very simple reason. He is a Dungeon Core, a soul forced against his will into a magical stone. With the help of an energetic friend, Cal grows a dungeon around himself to bring in new sources of power. When a threat he doesn't fully comprehend bares its many teeth, Cal is determined to survive the attempt on his life. Unfortunately for adventurers, the only way for him to achieve his goal is to eat anyone that enters his depths.

    Most humans struggled to pronounce Khjurhnalva, so we opted for the easier version. They had a message for us: forces that had eradicated their species' males were now heading for Earth.Hungry for our resources, the alien hordes annihilate everything that stands in their way. The space elves offered us access to the System and asked for very little in return. After all, cooperation was vital to the survival of both our species.I, Mathew Alexander Dunphy, know all of the above is bullshit. I saw the truth with my own eyes and heard it from their beautiful, delicate, deceitful mouths. No one believes me, though. They call me mad.What reason could the space elves have to lie?Planet-wide survival reality show?Ridiculous.Don't miss the start of a fun new LitRPG Series in a system apocalypse setting and featuring mad scientist powers along with plenty of laughs. Oh, and killer aliens. Lots of em.About the MAD world: Not all game-mechanic systems hand out levels, stats, and skills. Sometimes it offers super powers and leaves the progression up to the user. What is LitRPG without the fan-favorite blue boxes, though? Instead of STR, DEX, AGI, expect them to house crafting-based notifications.

    You can live, laugh, and love. You can feel pain, hatred, and anguish. This world allows you the full range of human experiences while also granting abilities unheard of. Will you unlock the secrets of magic? Will you study the blade or bow? Will you attempt to recreate the technology of the world you left behind? Anything is possible!***No matter how many times you die, it still sucks.For Hudson, the virtual world of PrimeVerse isn’t all bad. It’s beautiful; much nicer than overpopulated Earth. It almost feels like a vacation except for the volatile wildlife, lack of any amenities, and — oh yeah — the inability to log out.Exploring the world, learning his class, and leveling skills is all fun and games until a powerful rogue player with a vendetta shows up to wipe out Hudson and his primitive tribe. Thrust into a conflict he didn’t create, Hudson is forced into a cycle of respawning where he learns that even death can be used as a tool. So much for that vacation.It’s not like he signed up for this. Or even went willingly. But when life hands you lemons… use them to kill the dog-size spiders that are trying to eat your face.PrimeVerse: Forced Login is book one of a brand new LitRPG series that explores an uninhabited, newly created virtual world with game mechanics and a whimsical MC who, despite being uploaded against his will, sets out to make the best of it.

    His father's death left him only with a glass amulet, his trusty spade, and two level one skills. Six months in the backwater city of Outlast, Wick has finally decided to make his move for a brighter future. It may cost him the beating of his life, but he lives by the Sprawler's Code: The strong live long, but the bold get the gold. Follow Wick on the beginning of his new life as he explores new powers and manipulate anyone foolish enough to get in his way. Story Does Contain: Male Lead, Fast Pace, Slightly Overpowered Protagonist, Greedy Protagonist, Right of Passage, Multiple Magic Systems, Mystery Story Does NOT Contain: Harem, Ultraviolence, Horror, Mopey Protagonist 2nd Edition with Edits

    Destined to be a hero.Half-Orc. Half-Human. All Champion.Lugor is a Half-Orc, and in his world, that's a very dangerous thing to be.He dreams of becoming an Adventurer, slaying monsters and delving into dungeons. Unfortunately for him, one cut to his skin could reveal his secret. He's forced to spend his days in his small village, working at the Smithy and keeping his head down.But when his world is turned upside down in a monster attack on his village, Lugor seeks training at the Adventurer Academy, where he can learn to become the Champion that he was born to be. It won't be easy, especially whilst contending against an arrogant mage who is determined to see him fail.With a steadfast Dwarfen Elementalist and a sarcastic Dark-Elf Necromancer by his side, Lugor sets out to prove that just because he's Half-Orc, doesn't mean he can't be a hero.

    What Dave doesn’t know is that Earth as he knows it, is really a virtual reality simulation and Emerilia is a world imbued with futuristic technologies to mimic early MMORPG’s. He just wanted peace and quiet, to build a house, do some fishing, to take some time to find himself once again. What he found out instead was a cause, he found out the biggest lie of his life. He found out the truth about Emerilia and the lies of Earth. What's the best way to control slaves? Make them think that they're free.

     In 2056, the world’s most powerful AI System, ARKUS, comes online. Created to extend human lifespans, it quickly designs new kinds of nanomachine therapies, in addition to making world-changing discoveries in health science. It also develops an advanced VR headset that uses consumable nanomachines to allow users to experience time faster in virtual worlds. Two years later, ARKUS releases World-Tree Online. The game’s time-dilation makes it so that one hour of playtime feels like one month to those in-game, allowing humans to live extended, virtual lives that feel real. However, shortly after an old gamer named Vincent joins World-Tree Online, an update begins that stretches the time-dilation to one year for every five seconds. Players are unable to exit the game during the update—with an estimated wait time of three hundred sixty years. While trapped in the game, Vincent discovers an exploit in the physics that might take him higher up the World-Tree than he ever expected. Unfortunately, he crosses paths with the last moderator in the game, a young man named Lucas that uses his mod abilities to torture and subjugate other players. Lucas is willing to abuse his power to conquer the World-Tree, but Vincent’s exploit might just be the key to stopping him.

    War and rebellion roil the nation, sowing chaos among the surrounding kingdoms. Darkness often finds a foothold when chaos reigns, thriving on the torment of the mortal realm. In times of great need, the light calls upon beings of destiny to stem the tide. Though you may blaze your own path, know that you have the power to shape the future. Choose well.Forced to join a virtual world, Luke Rivers delves into Drezkarn, a land of swords and magic. For a fantasy game, things don't start off the way he imagined and he quickly finds himself in terrible situations. While his frame of reference for fantasy RPGs was limited by a rough childhood, the experience of a life spent fighting for survival pays off.

     Playing as a unique class while surrounded by aliens, pirates and warring guilds, he and his squad are tasked with protecting new players and enforcing the rule of law. But Kaiden has other ideas; he is intent on proving his innocence. The keys to his freedom lie hidden in the game’s seedy underbelly. And as he’ll soon discover, the bloody trail that led to his arrest is more twisted than he could have ever imagined.

    When an assassin's bullet takes his life during his victory speech, he is conscripted from the afterlife by the Lord of Light, Lucidus. Slate is thrust into the game-like world of Somnium where he has been reincarnated into the body of a parasite and given one mission: evolve or die. If he can channel the monster inside and utilize his military and political experience to establish Lucidus' personal army, the Scourge, he might have a chance to evolve before his many enemies find him and send him to a permanent death.

    Unless they do something drastic... But when a daring plan to unseat the Tyrant King goes awry, Roark finds himself on the run through an interdimensional portal, which strands him in a very unexpected location: an ultra-immersive fantasy video game called Hearthworld. He can't log out, his magic is on the fritz, and worst of all, he's not even human. He's a low-class, run-of-the-mill Dungeon monster. Some disgusting, blue-skinned creature called a Troll. At least there's one small silver lining-Roark managed to grab a powerful magic artifact on his way through the portal, and with it he might just be able to save his world after all. Unless, of course, the Tyrant King gets to him first ... From James A. Hunter, author of the litRPG epic Viridian Gate Online, and eden Hudson, author of Legend of the Treesinger and the Jubal Van Zandt Series, comes an exciting new litRPG, dungeon-core adventure you won't want to put down! "An excellent start to a series, this book has everything I look for in a fantasy novel: action, intrigue, and evolution!" - Dakota Krout, author of the Divine Dungeon and the Completionist Chronicles