Chosen by the Zealots [Sci-Fi Post-Apocalypse LitRPG]

Salt Blossom | sci_fi | Complete

All Adam wanted was to join the US Marines and escape the ghetto. The omnipotent Goddess of the space colony Astraea decided otherwise. Marked as Her Chosen, Adam is loaded up with futuristic tech and shunted into an alternate world, where the skies bleed red and corruption seeps into the land. His task is to travel this world, hunting, fighting and saving the Goddess's lost War Maidens, who have succumbed to corruption and transformed into monsters. The more War Maidens he saves, the smoother the taskin theory. However, the War Maidens are a zealous sort. Adam, as their Goddess's Chosen, is precious to them. He is to be defended at all costs, and may the Goddess have mercy on anyone that dares to threaten him& Updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (UTC time). Support the series on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

74.86 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:21

Entangled Fates Book 1 - Quantum Beginnings

Joe Kuster | sci_fi | Complete

"By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it." Eliezer Yudkowsky Hey all, we're moving over to book 2. This content is in a state of transition. The book is now availble on Amazon (includes extra chapters): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W1534R8/ Artificial intelligence was nearly mankind's last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set. Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn't quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips. A new generation of mega-corporations rose from the ashes. When one melds a quantum computer to a barely functional mental patient as a PR move, there are those who seek to profit, those who want to destroy it, and Alex. Alex Sage is a typical college student trying to keep up his grades and maybe find a meaningful connection with the fairer sex. Then, an automated semi crashes into his home, killing his family and turning his head into a pin cushion in the process. Alex awakens to find most of his memories gone and an illegal AI hidden in his brain implant. Now the pet project of a tech billionaire and heavily in debt, Alex struggles to stay valuable enough to be kept online. Still grappling with the repercussions of his injuries, and threats from a dangerous anti-augmentation political movement, there are no easy answers and threats loom around every corner. Alex must use whatever resources he can to escape from under the thumb of a ruthless corporation, while keeping those he comes to love safe. Chapters will stay up on RRL until Aug 10. It'll go up on Kindle Unlimited after that. How do you get those extra chapters I didn't have planned for RR? If you want them, they'll be in the published book. Book 2 will still make sense without them - I made sure of that. But... isn't $3 a lot for extra chapters? Think of it as tipping me for a good job and you'd also be getting my eternal thanks. If you enjoyed it so much that the idea of missing out a few chapters haunts you, I did my job as an author and made an engaging story. What's in those extra chapters? Resolving a few issues, set up for the cybernetic revolution, a rather intense sex scene with a new partner, revelations of who's really pulling strings, and a bit of set up for book 2. Complaints that people missed out on itwhen it was published here won't help (sorry!). I posted this for the folks who helped me shape the book, which is you all! (Again, yay!) But... Why! Why not keep it all on RR forever? My editor likes being paid for one. For two, I'd like the ability to get broader readership. If I break even on editor costs, I'll be incredibly happy. What about book 2? Drafts for Book 2 will go up around Sept 10. My draft of Book 2 is done, and it will be handed to the editor once Book 1 is published. Feedback has been even more positive. Beta readers devoured it and wanted more. I'll add a link to Book 2 once it's up on RR. I'm more or less, using you all for Beta Readers, so you get it before it's "canon" and edited. I invite active and meaningful feedback during this process. In return, you get early access to chapters. That does mean that the book content or plot might be adjusted before it gets published as I refine it. Sex Y/N? Yes. I heard the feedback, 90% wanted it explicit. You all will get the "full" experience. Will I dump all of book 2 here? Honestly, I'm not sure yet. At a minimum, it'll be up to the 75% mark as we collect feedback, much like what I did with book 1. It really depends on how good the feedback is and how nice people are. Lots of support + meaningful feedback to make it better =higherlikelihood you get all the book. Will be it up here indefinitely? No, it'll probably go up on KU at some point, but I'll make sure there's enough time for a large readership to grab it here. Then we move to book 3 which already is around 60K words already. What about other adventures in the same universe/characters? Yep. Absolutely. Nothing ready to share yet though. I plan to keep those side chapters and more slice of life stories as RR exclusive. Since I'm carving this off in book-sized segments, I'll have to figure out where those disconnected story arcs belong. I'm open to suggestions.

7.36 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:19

The Out of this World Adventures of a Jellyfish Trucker

TealiciousTea | one_shot | Complete

A jellyfish in space. Also, cats, tea, AI with blue boxes, mech-bunny suit, giant duck, ape space pirates and more. I promise two of these things are true: melodrama, self-insert protagonist and a complete three-part story.

4.86 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:22

A Good Man

verus | tragedy | Complete

Book 1: A Good Man All are to be ordained. All ordained are to be registered. Those who stray from the path become obsolete. These are the tenants the grand Mercian Bureaucracy lives by. None can escape their destined path, lest they become obsolete. The obsolete are hunted down by the ordained assassins, supported by the Mercian government. Follow ordained assassin 2500116, Eli de Winter, as he performs his duties in the grand city of Victoria. Fifteen years ago Eli suddenly found himself in a world unlike his own. Within the maze of the many layered streets of the industrial city he was forced to make a new home, performing acts that would have seen him convicted on Earth. Gangsters, revolutionaries, kings and princes, all are playing a game with the highest stakes. The winds of change are blowing and everybody wants to be on the right side of history. While the powers that might be are making moves in the shadow there is only one question that haunts Eli's mind. Is he a good man, or is he obsolete?

36.80 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:23

Star Wars Episode 7: A Corpse Through Which the Force Speaks

kylebstiff | tragedy | Complete

The fall of the Empire heralds dark times for humanity. As the New Republic concedes much of the galaxy to alien rule, a group of special forces stormtroopers must find a way to survive the "new normal". This fanfiction sets an alternate course of events in response to general dissatisfaction with the sequel trilogy. In terms of continuity, this story only takes into account the events of the first six movies and Rogue One. Please note: This story comes from the school of thought that the purpose of art is to provoke thought, rather than distract us from reality. I hope that the disturbing parts of this story do just that. This story is COMPLETE.

79.11 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:28

Dream Chaser

DarkSun | tragedy | Complete

When I was born, I was discarded as worthless for I had no sense of Energy currents. When I became the sword of the realm, I was disowned. Now that I was one vote away from passing an edict of equality between Energy users and not, I had my life’s work burned in my hands. “Who are you to change this world, silly boy?” the true ruler of the empire, the head councilman,asked me. There could only be one answer. Your son. Elecar Winteridge, 7 B.S. (Before the Scourge) ________________________________ Ragnarök, judgement day or the day of reckoning. Every religion and cult has foretellings of the final day. For most people it is just an old tale, something to frighten misbehaving children or a tool for scaring the masses. But for Shea and her world this became a despairing reality. Forests turned into deserts and seas became salt lakes. Continents were smashed together, becoming one or disappearing without a trace. The whole world was covered in the ashes of fires. When Shea awoke in her shelter, not only was she injured but everyone and everything she knew was gone. All she had left were her memories and the innate talent to use the shaping ability to aid in her survival. _________________________________ Author of Flight of Icarus Member of Scribble

100.68 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 18:30

High Crew

SourCream | drama | Complete

High Crew is a finished story, the sequel is in the works. You can follow my Instagram forprogress updates and other exclusive content. Sea Betwixt is a world full of gruesome battles, plundering raids, political intrigue, struggle for success and recognition. Only blade and wit will allow one man to rise above others here. But make few steps away from civilization and you will face evil spirits, eldritch beings, enchanted places, monsters from beneath the sea and giants from the uncharted East. A young warrior named Ymdaton will cross this boundary between gritty warfare and mystical encounters many times, as he follows his lord on a quest for dominance. Follow him on a journey to the land of Drevlyani, a small stubborn nation struggling for survival in the unforgiving primeval forest. Will our hero claim his place in legends despite the terrible price it could cost him? Read High Crew and find out! Cover art by Alexandra Roslik.

42.91 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 18:30

Ghost Story

Pocket_Pigeon | historical | Complete

Left behind by the flow of time, how would you spend eternity?

0.91 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 18:30

The Dark Between the Trees

KSNixon | horror | Complete

Balance is everything. Where the village ends, the rainforest begins, and while children whisper legends of impossible places and heroes, the villagers know there is nothing outside except the trees and what creeps between them. The dark and the creatures it hides have never entered the village, not while sacred spirits, the anki, protect it. With his father's body wrapped and laid in the funeral clearing, Talon wants only to get back to his crops, his wife and two children, Sosa and Halo  but the bronze spear hidden in his father's hut is a complication he could do without. Metal is rare, and hoarding it forbidden, but that's the least of Talon's worries. The appearance of a young boy, stained with red dye, who crashes from the trees and collapses at Sosa's feet, could threaten the delicate balance, and Talon's decision to protect him will have consequences for his family; perhaps the whole village. Talon and Sosa are about to be drawn into an adventure which, like many others, is full of heroes and claws and teeth. What those legends rarely say is how much those claws can hurt. Talon and Sosa's legend does. Warning: There is some gore and violence in this book but not an excessive amount. It's carefully placed, but it is there, just so you know!

74.39 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 18:42

Other world ice cream shop

ChJees | satire | Complete

When a cynical shut-in is summoned over to another world is everything not as it seems. He is a reluctant hero but finally finds a reason play his part. He would rather stay inside all day long reading novels meanwhile gorging himself on ice cream. This is a short one-shot story.

0.61 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 09:35

Meat Eaters

mrinocence | romance | Complete

A boy, alone in the mountains. Covered in snow. Defenseless. Hunted by monsters. On the verge of death, he discovers a black dragon egg. Soon, the hunter will become the hunted. Rewritten chapters so far: Prologue Image credit on watermark.

43.78 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 11:21

One Froggy Evening

Gatta Darya | satire | Complete

First short story of the ThReeee Sentences Story serie by 2 people writing 3 sentences in turns live. P.S. It is a satire, don't take it too seriously.

1.45 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 12:12

Hattie: An Old Maid's Adventures

SomethingNew | comedy | Complete

After scrubbing the Duke of Derrington's floors for fifty odd years, old maid Hattie decides to nose her way into an adventure or two to make up for her lost youth. You're never too old to start something new! Updates Wednesdays and Sundays, chapters are a minimum of 1000 words.

15.77 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 11:24

Isekai Speedrunner: A LitRPG Parody [November 2023 Writathon Participant]

RiaCorvidiva | comedy | Complete

Twenty-nine year old ViewTube extraordinaire and speedrunner Ashley Lancaster is on the road to the big time, only to be thwarted by one small problem: she's dead. But fate has a sense of humor, and she's been given a second chance. Now reincarnated as the protagonist of her favorite game,Legendary Star Odyssey, she'll be able to go back to her old life, if she can survive this one. But that's no challenge at all for this lady -- follow her journey as she uses her vast repertoire of glitches, hacks, and other gamebreaking shenanigans to beatLSO in record time. Her fans are waiting, and she's not one to disappoint! ---- [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]. Updates will be 'as I finish chapters'. Cover by Wong40k: https://www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/129666

30.99 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 11:27

Exit Sign: A Theatre of the Mind

RemingtonSloan | contemporary | Complete

Dave sees life as a theatrical performance; he's in the audience, but he didn't buy a ticket. He's not interested in the show, and nothing he can say or do will disrupt the story on the stage. What's to stop him from getting up and leaving? What's to stop him from walking through the door with the exit sign over it? Note: Exit Sign is literary fiction and a psychological drama. It's the first novel I ever wrote. The story is personal, and I'm proud of what's in there. It's been described as Seinfeld meets Sartre and as My Dinner With Andre meets Ralph Bakshi. My goal was to write a story full of sincerity while exploring the heaviness of the human experience. I wanted to write something that helps people wrestle with dread and meaninglessness. Writing Exit Sign certainly helped me figure out a few things in life, so I'm hopeful that it will do the same for a diligent reader. I'll write the sequels one day, but in the meantime I'm focused on my pulpier stories. I wrote Exit Sign for everyone who hates working in a drive through. Just keep going. Keep going forward. You might suffer, but if you love your friends and family along the way, it's worth it. The novel is complete, so there will be regular updates until all of it is posted.

32.62 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 15:40

Marcoceanum

----EMMM---- | historical | Complete

An absent-minded twelve-year-old takes on uncharted waters, changing history along the way. But what does his own history have in store?

7.97 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 11:45

Princess of the Black Death

Thequeenoflove | historical | Complete

A story about the tragic medieval princess, Joan of England. The worst plague to ever devastate the world is unknown in England. As millions of people die, Princess Joan travels to mainland Europe and facing what poor and royal alike must face -- that death is imminent.

24.29 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 11:49

I, Mor-eldal: The Necromancer Thief

Kaoseto | psychological | Complete

As a budding little necromancer, I soon discovered that the world of city people is complicated. When my master kicked me out of the cave, he warned me not to talk about my "dark" magic, because people here don't like the undead. I am not really an undead, I just have a skeleton hand, but it is better to be careful. Anyway, that's not my biggest worry. In the Black Dagger brotherhood, I learn a lot of things, such as illusionist magic, which turns out to be quite handy to survive in this maze of streets: in the Cat Quarter, we have thugs of all kinds that are best avoided. But we also have good people, goodhearted "gwaks", as we say around here. Little did I know that I would soon be caught up in an infamous traffic that would entangle my life even more. With a mix of lighthearted adventure and picaresque, this story narrates the hectic life of a good-spirited street child and his companions in a medieval urban fantasy setting with some nineteenth-century influences. Updates Mondays and Fridays. This is a Creative Commons By work. It is a translation of a trilogy I wrote in Spanish between 2017 and 2018.

187.81 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 12:09

Aegis

Necrontyr525 | sci_fi | Complete

What does one do when they have an indecent ammount of money, the legal ability toleave home and see the universe in all of its grim glory, and the obligation to grow the family's fame and fortune? Why, buy up an ex-Imperial Navy escort ship for a start! Then you can set about carving out your own little chunk of the back end of the Imperium of Man... as soon as you can get it back into working order, of course... and deal with the fact that buying a ship left you just about broke... You get the feeling that, somewhere out there,somthing is laughing at you.Part 1 of the Aegisverse Saga. Second Person is used throughout. If that isn't kosher with you, best to back out now. A Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader fanfictionComplete, with a total of 100 chapters and 309 pages. On the series - This series was first written as a Choose Your own Adventure (CYoA) on the /r/HFY forum. The between chapter votes have been omitted, as they are not part of the story, despite their influence on it. On the the Author's notes - These were included in the original document, and are included here for the purpose of completeness. Spelling, grammatical, and formatting changes have been made in the process of archiving this story and re-formatting it for publication on Royal Road. None of the contents of the story has been substantially affected.Cover by gej302!

49.00 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 12:26

Vampire Bomb Squad - A Grand Eye Tale

The Grand Eye | comedy | Complete

A story about the complicated relationship between vampires and high explosives.

30.32 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 13:42