Read-in-Progress Wednesday

[geraineon]

This is your weekly read-in-progress post for you to talk about what you're currently reading and reactions and feelings (if any)!

For spoilers:

<details><summary>insert summary</summary>Your spoilers goes here</details>

<b>Highlight for spoilers!*</b><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF; color: #FFFFFF">Your spoilers goes here.</span>*

Comments

[dayadhvam_triad]

Still following 穿越成宋徽宗公主, which regularly kills me every other chapter update with its surreal/dark/absurd humor sprinkled through (otherwise somewhat-to-super depressing) srs plot. Also here to drop recs for two complete novels that I recently finished:

海豚沉没时 by 匹萨娘子
Modern-day suspense thriller about a woman whose relationship with her fiance is... complicated, I really don't wanna say more without spoiling it but it is oof good and also rage-inducing. If you enjoyed priest's Bridge Tower or the cdrama A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower, you may enjoy this. m/f but not at all a romance. [no tl]

穿进赛博游戏后干掉BOSS成功上位 by 桉柏
this novel was recced to me by a relative some time ago, I finally got around to reading it, and holy shit! now I Get why this became a big hit during its '21-22 serialization. Speaking as someone who doesn't naturally gravitate toward the genre, I got sucked into this excellent unlimited flow story that incorporates cyberpunk, Cthulhu, and Fourth Disaster elements with a compelling female protag & ensemble cast—and very well-paced too, as the narrative switches back and forth between realities (couldn't help but compare the writing to that of ORV as I read, and for all that I love ORV imo it really suffers from pacing and bloat issues). It's labeled yanqing but basically reads as gen; I think I'd need to squint with a 100x magnifying glass to catch any romance at all. [complete tl see foxaholic links at novelupdates]

[geraineon]

Humor sprinkled through a depressing story makes for good breather!

I did enjoy A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower! Now I'm intrigued with no CN skills to read it XD

... and the second rec too. ORV??? I really enjoyed ORV as well and another ORV with female protag and ensemble cast is like, woah. Hopefully it gets picked up for official TL someday! (ORV novel now has an official TL, which I'm hoping to collect)

[dayadhvam_triad]

See my reply below that it's not unlimited flow per se, I just wasn't thinking when I commented earlier XD; And I had ORV in mind mainly because it was my fave of the stories I've previously tried in the genre (+ similar genre-adjacent types), but I just wanna clarify it came up more so for contrast than for comparison:

spoilery details

Kim Dokja and this novel's MC are VERY different personalities and deal very differently with the dissimilar multiple-lives abilities they gain, ORV is meta-flavored unlimited flow initially masquerading as reverse isekai while this novel is back-and-forth isekai with system/mission elements and reality bleed, ORV has Constellations watching everything on the Star Stream while this novel has an internal game beta testing forum limited to the participating gamers reacting belatedly to news they learn once they're back in the "real world"... etc. etc.

[sam_gardener]

穿进赛博游戏后干掉BOSS成功上位 by 桉柏 Thank you for the rec! I've been meaning to read an unlimited flow story so I guess this is going to be it. Just now read the first 3 chapters and the translation is good. :)

[dayadhvam_triad]

I hope you enjoy it! Although on second thought unlimited flow is not an accurate label and I should've used something different, I just typed that without thinking b/c it gives me the genre mood vibes, if that makes sense orz. So it's technically not unlimited flow b/c

premise spoilers

the characters aren't going to different scenarios, they're forced to keep traveling in week-long stints to a "game" that's actually a technologically-advanced alternate reality, and the focus is less on completing system-assigned missions (which are few and far between, though they exist) and more about not being captured and killed/imprisoned by the different factions in that world once they become aware of these mysterious invaders calling themselves "gamers"

For an actual unlimited flow story you'll want to try something different /facepalm

[sam_gardener]

oh well I'm hooked now :) I did intend to read ORV at some point anyway so it may still end up being my "first actual unlimited flow story". I really wish I could read as fast as I did when I was younger, my virtual TBR stack of books is so tall it would topple over and crush me if it materialized.