Synopsis
Death is sometimes not the end, and the zenith is empty.
Legends rise and fall. Myths are born.
Faced with death after a dismal fall from grace where glory, renown, and prominence were once found, Kieran's second chance is fueled by vengeance. It burns like a ruinous flame and drives Kieran's quest for power within and without.
Though not an ingrate, he remains curious about why he returned to the past instead of dying. He has nothing but questions, but his death puts the beginning of his story into perspective, showing him that Zenith Online... is the beginning of the end — the end of the current Age.
The zenith is empty and calls for someone to claim its throne, but to answer that call means to bear the consequences. Everything — especially choice — has a cost.
Challenges lay in wait. The road to supremacy is wound in suffering, and to know the truth is to know madness.
And so, the Maddened awakens...
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An updated overview of the story: Re: LBA is based in a futuristic-modern world where humans can surpass their biological limits. There is advanced technological innovation, the birth of superhumans, and many more. What to expect: 1. The story is LitRPG, so a decent portion of the story will revolve around that factor. 2. High amounts of action, life-like dialogue and reactions, and intimate relationships, whether romantic or platonic. 3. The story will focus on the MC's growth above all but also incorporate his allies. Once they are introduced, they will experience growth alongside Kieran. 4. A Weak-to-Strong novel. But the growth more so relates to the MC's power in relation to his enemies. The notion of him being weak from the beginning is wrong. On the contrary, others view him as overpowered. 5. Earth and Xenith (the game's world) will expand in several directions. 6. Evolution, Kingdom-Building, Rise to Fame, and Production (Alchemy, Forging, etc.) all become a focus throughout the story when the plot calls for it. I have omitted a few other key factors, but those are for you all to learn about after you've begun your reading journey. Enjoy~
!**HONEST REVIEW: Someone who has read 287 Chapters**! If you're still on the fence about this novel, please read my review. *Quick TLDR*: This novel follows Kieran who, like many other MC's from VR/LitRPG novels, has transmigrated and reborn into a younger version of himself. Let me first tell you that this novel is definitely unique and follows the class of Berserkers but it is moulded in a way where the future of not just Berserkers but all classes to be balanced [but I wont say more than this for it will be spoilers so you'll have to read to know :P]. However, the best thing about this novel that makes it stand alone from many other novels is not something crazy but something extremely fundamentals that most novels are missing these days- Common Sense and Writing Quality. **PROS** - Maths - Hey, I know what you're thinking. "What the ***k maths?* Yes and I'll tell you why. How many of you have read novels where the MC has obtained an item that increases his/her stats by 15%? Many of them right? But here's the difference. The maths in this novel makes sense and it is tracked throughout the novel. So many other novels have the protagonist receive items with amazing buffs but then they totally eclipse the Status Window from readers from that point onwards. That is because other authors (1) can't do the maths or (2) they just calculate it wrong. The other great thing about maths in this novel is that it is not shoved down my oesophagus like other novels to prove that the author can do maths. It's just there and whenever you check, it makes sense. - Quests - Big Pro of this novel is the depth and quality of the quests. This is attributed to Kieran being involved in higher level quests which demand more time, more meticulous preparation and it is logical as some of these quests can not be done alone. Some novels advertise world-level quests as being capable of being solo'd. Sounds great when reading but fails to emulate a realistic setting. This novel doesn't do that. Kieran is completing a ******-level quest (omitted for spoiler purposes) where the quest is going to hugely impact the game on a grand scale and the party requirement is not [1]. Why? Because what type of game lets one single player dictate the rise and fall of new arcs? Even now, I think a whole party completely such quests is too little but the ApexPen (author) has managed to convince me otherwise with the level of complexity and stages of each quests. - World Background - This another one of my favourites for this novel. And before I go on, when I say world-background I don't mean kingdom-building. They, to me are two separate things. The world inside Zenith Online is huge, astronomical but that's the good thing. There is so much mystery and NPC's have such incredible backgrounds you might even mistake them for characters. Even when players log off, you have assess to what the NPC's perceive about such a phenomenon from their perspective. Furthermore, there has been alluding to readers that the world we are in might not be all it seems and that there is more depth, more gravity to everything that happens. - Writing + Vocabulary + Grammar - This is probably ApexPen's biggest strength. The writing style, vocabulary and grammar are so well done, impeccable to be honest and it is vivid. I love love books where authors either have an amazing editor or the way they write is so seamless. It really helps a novel with its' flow and tempo. Nothing else to say but chef's kiss. - Butterfly effect - A short pro but an important one. Everything Kieran has an effect and he notices too which is so fascinating as it shows his awareness of his actions. **CONS** - Slow Kingdom Building - I find that this is a concern for a lot of readers, however, following the words of a famous saying, "You can't build a great building on a weak foundation. You must have a solid foundation if you're going to have a strong superstructure." However, in saying that I do agree that the kingdom building is slow. Albeit, understanding the reasons why, I do hope the author can intertwine bits and pieces and aspects of it into the novel soon to stimulate and help readers envision the big picture of what our world of Zenith Online will look like. - Lack of a standout villian/s - The main con with this is that currently, there is no real stand out villain. Perhaps that is due to the author wanting to create a strong background for Kieran before we meet our first villain. But, in hindsight, there is no young masters who idiotically run to their demise either. Enemies with thoughts? Wow shocking right xD? - Internal dilemma about item allocation to teammates - This is more of a personal one but I wish to see more of Kieran thinking about the items he gets. For example, (this example does not happen in the story so not spoilers!) If Kieran fights a boss and it drops a mythic grade lightning staff, I hope there is more internal thoughts about allocation and whether or not he should give this to someone he's friends with or someone with greater potential. Even something along the lines of "oh if I manage to recruit this exceptional mage from my memories in the past, I can lure him/her with this item or make it a conditional offer to further persuade them to join me." I know Kieran is on the path of the great, but it is also because of that, that I hope for him to become an even more complex but intelligent MC who's vision is grand and can achieve great feats not just alone, but with a team of strong and capable people. They don't need to be at his level, he's literally the MC but as long as they can be unparalleled amongst elites and pro players and hold their own. That would be amazing and this includes Sera too! Hope she can fight despite her class (no spoilers :P, you gotta read to know what class she is hehe) *Note to author*: if you ever read this, look man, you're truly doing a great job. Writing a book that satisfies everyone is hard, it really is. The novel is amazing so far and to be honest, any novel that doesn't lack common sense these days is already a great book in my opinion as it is a tell-tale sign of a great author. Don't burn yourself out and hope you understand that many people love this novel. Stay healthy and I always continue to look forward to reading more x. Thanks guys, hope you found it helpful <3
I'm not good with praise so all I can say is this is a really good novel. It's so refreshing to see such good grammar on this website. The story and world background seem good so far. I can only hope the author doesn't drop or slow down in updates.
I picked up this novel for one reason and that was Kingdom building tag. I have read over 100+ chapters and I am yet to see any type of Kingdom building initiative done by the MC. I understand that it takes time but this novel seems like more of an action adventure revenge novel where MC does levelling up and cultivation inside a to get stronger to get revenge. the overall writing is not bad but I feel that every 5 chapters there is some new skill while we don't even get to understand more about existing skills. World building can be bit confusing at times due to lack of clarity. I am thinking of dropping this novel as it doesn't seem like there will be any Kingdom building done in next 500-600 chapters as the MC has yet to even start making a guild. His past trauma is making him hesitant to form new friendships and he seems adamant to do everything on his own. Of course that might change in future with character development but as of now this novel isn't about Kingdom building but more of a journey of a guy who is seeking vengeance and revenge while doing self harm in the process just to achieve the end result. Please remove the Kingdom building tag so others like me who wanted to read a decent Kingdom Building novel don't get mislead.
First the Progression is all screwed up in this novel, it takes the players 2 hours from the beginning village to the first dungeon... no gamer would walk a realistic 2 hours to get to a dungeon. Just absurd travel distances. Then the progression is very off, from the very first chapters we find you can get to lvl 500, so why are goblins 20000 hp at lvl 20? it took 2-3 mins for each goblin for the mc which has far more damage numbers then an equivalent lvl player. so it would take 5+ min to finish off a basic goblin at lvl 20... dude a vast majority of gamers dont have that much time on their hands from your own words. So there is no way they would grind for 5 min per goblin. Even in a party you have to take into account the exp you would get, even if it would be faster to kill a single gob in a party youd barely get exp for your efforts. Besides those major points the characters are okay. updates pretty fast. The world is your generic wealth disparity society, so nothing really new or amazing. Grammer is good, sentence structure is good as well. Slow novel that is generic and needs improvement.
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Writing Quality:[img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins] Updating Stability:[img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins] Story Development:[img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins] Character Design:[img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins] world background:[img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins][img=coins]
(Currently 168 chapters in) At first it seemed like a normal vrmmorpg novel with the restart utilizing the knowledge from previous life, however what this novel does way better than any other that I’ve read is that the author is taking his time through the story, the fights aren’t instant and only lead way to power ups. This novel created a downside to the increase of power in the real world, allowing for an even greater sense of danger. The world is being slowly built upon and making it deeper than the 2d worlds of other similar novels. I’m enjoying the flow of the story where everything seems to have meaning and the characters can think for themselves. One of the greatest things is that the OPness of the MC isn’t dictated by one item he randomly found, it’s his class which gets stronger the more effort and suffering he goes though making for a much more immersive/rewarding story. Overall, Awesome novel my dude! Top tier! 😁
Apex, did you drop this novel? it seems there hasn't been an update for a month now.
A good novel, I like it and probably will become one of my favorite books(maybe, who knows?) I dislike the introduction of more women that has signs of intimate relationship with Keiran(maybe just me? not sure if they really do) because I'm getting quite confused of who am I gonna ship to the mc(I like the doctor best for him). because I liked harem a lot in the past(I still like harem) I tend to ship many women to the mc and probably Keiran is gonna end up with just one woman(well, as long as there is romance probably the book is gonna be perfect for me, just for me okay?) Good work author!
Okay okay I've only read to chapter 9 but I can tell this is better than both of the VR novels currently in the top 40. The grammar is impeccable. The MC isn't dull, I haven't gotten to the side characters yet but I have complete faith in the author. Please don't drip this novel Mr. Author I'll do the best I can to get this noticed. I'm in it for the long haul. 😁
There’s a lot about this book that I really enjoy but it’s also very hard to truly love. The good: - World building - Side characters have depth - Combat The not-so-good: - Increasing number of mysteries with very few questions answered - 600+ chapters and I feel like the MC doesn’t know much more about himself than at the start - The pacing (how is the MC still level 50?) at this rate I’ll be old by the time the main cast catches up to the real threats in game. Or the pacing is going to get all wonky. Other: - Feels like the MC should have been able to do more with his past memories. The fact that those memories are fragmented isn’t my favorite. But maybe it’ll matter more in the future.
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Great story overall as Ch. 435 My only concern is lack of communication from the author. Seems like he only responds on Discord but as he hasn't dropped a link in a while its hard to verify. Which is fine, readers don't really need daily comments from Authors. Where it becomes a problem is when they go from twice a day releases to one every couple months for a year straight without notice while maintaining the same privilege pricing. A little research reveals he has been updating every Ch from the beginning for the last year. Which is great for new readers, but without any word from the Author there is no way to know if any major plot points were changed and if its worth it to reread the story. It appears to be back to a Ch a day but its to soon to tell. Please respond and clarify Author 🙏
I loved this novel so much! The characters were amazing. The plot was amazing. The world building was amazing. But it just stopped all of a sudden no announcement, nothing. I wish it would comeback!
*As of chapter 389* - You wont be disappointed, try it. My first ever review on WN. Pros: +The writing quality is supreme. +The world building is amazing. +The side characters feel like actual humans (and more..). +The choice of "character/class" is brilliant. +The main "Keiran" grows and develops along with the story. Cons: -Kingdom building might be felt as slow in the start (we have a saying in my country "The one who waits for something good, never waits too long" take that for what you will) -How to balance a "MMORPG" with a novel that situates around a OP class (I have no issue with this point but some people might, hence why I chose to add it) -Some arcs feel a bit slow/drawn out. “Beware the fury of a patient man” - John Dryden Personal conclusion: *My new favorite novel in the MMORPG genre(Top 3 overall). Keep up the fantastic work Mr. Apex, can't wait for more chapters.
Hello, author, I left the novel in chapter 80 so that it accumulates chapters, then when I return to read, the name and the cover are changed. My question is, was any chapter modified? or can I continue in chapter 81?
Welcome Back @ApexPen. I'm glad this novel is continuing again. So many good novels have stopped updating in the past months that it has been depressing. Please keep writing as it always feels sad to see an unfinished story. [img=update]I'll give a [Short review] as I don't usually write reviews before the 1000ch mark because that's where most stories go downhill in quality. [img=angry]The story is great so far. Still within the game-world genre that's become quite common now but the story has an edge in still being robust and not going out of hand like many other similar stories have. The characters are really good with many relevant characters that stay around to accompany the MC on his journey. The story is still young with 400 chapters so far so it's hard to judge if the side characters will still be treated with the same care later on but I sure hope so. [img=recommend]The world is nothing groundbreaking at face value as it shares many common aspects with similar stories in the same genre but there is still uniqueness and special characteristics to the world in this story. It feels fresh and there are always things to discover and be curious about. [img=thinking]The story stopped for a few months without any announcement or explanation which was sad. To be honest, I don't really care if an author wants to take a break. In fact I welcome it. Authors are human beings after all and we all get burnt out from repetitive actions. People working in the creative field are even more prone to burn out as they always need to produce content that satisfies many readers and if the quality drops even a little, not only will their product take permanent damage, but the negative reviews from their very followers/fans won't be merciful at all. So taking a break and coming back with a fresh mindset is always welcome in my book. My target is to have a great story to entertain me in the end. However, I'd really like it if the author would issue a statement about the break giving an approximate period or a goal for the break to end. Maybe elaborate a little on the reason. That would make the loyal readers more content, and will give us a goal to look forward to when the break is over. Still I'm happy the author is back and regardless of the reason for the haitus, I hope all is well. Looking forward to more chapters.[img=proud]
Pretty incredible work here, especially for something so early in. I primarily have nothing but praise for this novel, I mean, I binge read it faster than I do most else. But really this story has had such an incredible progression, the writing quality feels top notch (for the site), and it just feels like this is the start of something great. My main positives: I love the pace here, MC progresses fast, maybe a tad too fast at times, but never too slow Only 230 chapters in and the scope of this world already feels so vast, and if it’s properly explored, will be incredible (SERIOUS props to author on this). Cool enemy and game design and great setup for many future plot lines. Those are the just the huge positives but there is dozens more, now here’ just the most minor of qualms: Slightly concerned about introduction of unused characters, some of them are awesome,but many feel as though they’l serve a purpose and never be seen again MC hasn’t a ton, but I do suppose this can be excused considering there’s quite literally a trait on his soul dedicated to seeking his revenge :P. Anyway, short for time on this review but INCREDIBLE job, can’ wait to see where this goes!
I have followed this work since it first came out. And to this day I have not been disappointed. MC plans well, but is far from omnipotent. The pace of the story doesn't feel rushed at all. I'm glad author goes back and revises all the small spelling and grammar issues I point out. The only thing I'm sad about is the fact that I'm too poor to buy coins and have to wait for updates. 😭 If nothing else, keep on author!