Book picks similar to
Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds by Wade Adrian


litrpg
science-fiction
computer-games
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Unwritten Rules


Adam Horne - 2017
    Unable to support himself and dependent on others to meet his needs, Kevin was slipping into depression when his best friend convinced him to play a new game called Genesis Online. The concept was simple: a revolutionary artificial intelligence controlled the game world and adapted it to the actions of the players. Even the developers didn't know what course the game could take as it evolved. Lured into the game by the prospect of earning real money, Kevin soon runs afoul of a man determined to control as much of Genesis as possible. He recruits other disenfranchised players to his side in his quest to find a way to prosper in the game. Can they stop the man who calls himself the king of Genesis from taking over everything?

Freelance Saga: Episode 1-4


Scottie Futch - 2015
    They chronicle the origin of Scott Hunter and show his journey through what amounts to an expanded tutorial in a perverted reality designed like a real-life virtual reality role playing game. Sexy monster girls, murderous rabbits, and burning biscuits abound!This story is slightly related to the story series known as Origin A.R.S.The connection is a minor thing, but it is part of a related concept that will include several different world settings with a similarly named main character. Consider these stories to be 'alternative universe settings' with a similar main lead. They are a collection of "What if" stories with a main character that has a lot in common with the other similarly named main characters, but each is their own existence with their own unique back story. Each story will also have their own 'litrpg' style of telling, but the 'game' concept is different in each one.

Dream


R.W. Krpoun - 2015
    They did their time in Iraq, hold regular jobs, and spend some of their free time playing RPGs on their game platforms and at the table. Until the day they wake up in a different world, caught up in a half-understood web of events and personalities, hatreds and loyalties that goes back millennia. All wrapped up in a place where magic is real and far too many concepts of the role-playing game are not just real, but also a deadly serious business. Dropped into a world with little in the way of personal resources and a surplus of powerful enemies and dangerous strangers, the four must find their way home while learning all too well the concept of ‘first-level abilities’. Very little is certain in their new environment save that death is very real and the opportunities to meet it are commonplace. Four gamers with military backgrounds are thrust into a world where magic is real and the five toughest individuals on the planet want them dead: it is the worst campaign hook imaginable.

Atlas Rising


Blake Severson - 2021
    Picking a druid, he charges forward into an unknown land as he tries to master an odd combat system. Luckily for him, the crafting system is ripe to make money and the game’s currency is tied to the real-world market.But a strange dungeon forces him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew. Is the company behind this game truly what it seems to be, or is there a nefarious purpose hidden below the surface?

Spectres & Skin: Exodus


R.J. Creed - 2017
    And now I have to save the world. When the biggest game developers on a dying Earth create their latest VRMMORPG, it takes on a life of its own. Impossible to control, and even harder to predict, the game world in Spectres & Skin is officially classed as a parallel universe, and people clamor to escape the horrors of overpopulation and pollution by moving over. Recent graduate Matthew Blake is down on his luck. A climbing accident has robbed him of the use of his legs, his best friend is better than him in every way, and he just cannot find a job. VR is his only escape from a life he can't stand. When he is invited to peek into the exclusive new game world, he can't resist. Is his luck about to change? No. No it isn't. S&S: Exodus is a LitRPG novel, meaning it is extensively inspired by gaming mechanics and includes a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ calculations. It contains scenes of a graphic nature, permadeath, a really judgmental user interface, and a prophecy hat warns of the destruction of both universes — and that's just week one. This is not a book about a superhero, or even a true hero at all. It's the story of the first step a perpetual sidekick takes on his long path towards Champion; a path he perhaps doesn't feel he deserves. Though he does progress, and take on challenges, the first step is always the hardest on a long journey. If you're looking for a story about an overpowered killing machine from page one, you've got the wrong book!

Fractured Earth: An Apocalyptic LitRPG (Viceroy's Pride Book 3)


Cale Plamann - 2022
    

CEO in a Fantasy World, Book I


Tristan H. Brown - 2019
    The next morning, he awoke in an entirely different body, inside of a polar opposite world. Kings and Queens? Magic? Dragons? Gryphons? Even vampires? Follow Caesar on his journey as he once again attempts to reach the top of the world, but this time, he will do it as no man, but a vampire instead!

Life as an Independent Space Hauler


Jason Hill - 2021
    Everything was taken from him and he was pressed into military service as a fighter pilot. A few years later, Jace has gotten out of military service and worked on a corporate freighter. He has grown to love space and plans to never return to earth. Dissatisfied with the corporate life, Jace finds the necessary backing to go independent. Thus, he begins the life of an independent freight hauler. This story is inspired by Nathan Lowell's Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series, Firefly, and some anime.

The Tracker


B.A. Monaghan - 2017
    Roland grew up halfway to nowhere. His father is human and his mother is elf. Being Half-Elf would always bring difficulties and it also brought about innate magic. He heads off for adventure joining the Adventures Guild. The world is tough and Roland is an innocent. He discovers he is unique in more than one way. Danger is everywhere especially for those who adventure. He makes a decision that will affect him for the rest of his life. The he realizes he has made a rash decision. It might turn out good or it might turn out bad. He just doesn't know enough but he is committed. His unique gifts are needed and he heeds the call for help.

Challenges of a Scribe: A LitRPG Duology: Book Two


Michael Deyhim - 2021
    On their travels, Edward works to overcome the challenge of reintegrating with his siblings and parents. They try to work together in search of a brighter future, all feel the strain of losing their home and livelihood. Edward is not the same boy as when he left home and must balance his hard-fought independence with his role as brother and son.Despite optimism for the future and escaping the destruction of Azalon, a dark threat looms over the family’s hope of rebuilding. Edward’s skills continue to progress, but will it be enough to protect the family’s fragile beginnings? Overcoming his own fears and personal demons is the biggest challenge Edward must face as he chooses a future with his family, or one of an adventurer.

Tempest


D.B. King - 2022
    He always assumed he would take the vows and become a monk, but his plans are thrown to the wind when he receives a letter from the Grand Sage to attend the Schools of Elemental Magic.Gifted with the system known as the Codex of Ascension, Zephyr intends to master the various elements in record-breaking time. Alongside two other students who bear mysteriously similar origins, his school year promises to be more than he could have ever imagined.

A Demon Lord's Virtual [Magic Life]: First War


Nathan Valerio - 2019
    From building his village into a town, producing food and protection and more, the real troubles have only begun for him in his [Magic Life]. Not only will he have to face animals, monsters and other demon tribes that appear like grass, to advance he will even have to go against other gods, angering them to carve out his path as a Lord player but his troubles aren't only in the game. The real world is slowly changing along with the game and he will have to start adapting as he slowly unfurls his wings.

Press Start


Thomas Whipple - 2019
    When he found his old console from when he was a kid, he dusts it off and sets it up. He played his old games, but he had finished them all long ago. So, what does he do? He takes a trip to the local game shop to browse the used titles. Browsing the old cartridges, he finds one that he never heard of: Dark Ages: The Death of Magic. When a store attendant tells him that game is rumored to never have been beaten, he had to have it. Occupying all his free time he finally beats the unbeatable game. What happens next, he never would have guessed. He is introduced to the System. Something that has always existed but not everyone knew about. Join Dean as he is introduced to the seedy underbelly of a world where the myths of magic from the past read like history. Joined by his childhood friend, he must survive in a world of magic hidden from everyone. A world that has remained secret through the blood of those who have discovered it. And to top it all off, he discovers that his childhood friend—his best friend—isn’t even human.

Path of Darkness


A.P. Gore - 2019
    The mine will consume his life any day. Will this offer to farm inside a game be any better? He wants nothing but to farm in the real world, and he’s given that chance in a VRMMORPG. With a new lease on life, he accepts it. But when he’s robbed of his only tool to farm sufficient quota, he has no other option but to enter the deadliest forest of the region and die at the hands of a druid to obtain a skill that will help him reach his goals. However. Death awaits at every step in the forest, and he can’t die more than thrice. What will Jon do? Find out more about Jon's epic journey in BlackFlame Online. You can expect below things from this book series. 1) Farming. 2) Unique Classes. 3) Town Building. 4) Epic large scale battles. 5) Forbidden Spells.

PWNED: A Gamers Novel


Matt Vancil - 2014
     Reid is having a rough week. He's not sleeping well. He's just been saddled with an impossible project at work. And his girlfriend has disconnected her phone and left him for Fartherall Online. When Reid dives into the massively multiplayer pwn-or-be-pwned world of Fartherall Online, he's only got one quest in mind: to find and win back the love of his life. After all, it's just a game-how hard can it be? Written by Matt Vancil, creator of the Gamers movies, PWNED is the lost chapter of the Gamers movie franchise produced by Dead Gentlemen Productions and Zombie Orpheus Entertainment (The Gamers, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, and The Gamers: Hands of Fate).