Question Recommend me an adventure novel involving game element !

I'm looking for a novel that has game elements.
I already read the one that got an anime adaptation so: overlord, sheild hero, sao, King's Avatar, reincarnated as a slime,....

So I'm searching something similar that doesn't have however harem element that is smut. Something adventure related that focus on giving info about how that magic or "system" works too. Like they explain the stats, pattern, fighting strategy,... And well not something that goes like: " there's a boss we'll kill it with swinging our swords while the only one doing damage is the Mc who casually has OP cheat (like an exodia card that gives automatic ko).
For example 1/2 Prince a novel set in mmorpg mostly and the novel didn't skip how some mmo has some crazy quest like clear the floor 500 times.

I'm searching for:
- novel set in a game or has gaming elements. It can be isekai like Shield hero, Overlord or story about players playing a game like King's maker or 1/2 Prince.
- the protagonist gender doesn't matter I'm eager for adventure type of novel not romance or etc. (not saying I'm excluding other themes tho)
- Harem is okay (since its common in novels) but, I'm a girl and kinda awkward to read smut story with girls falling in love for no reasons or women treated as throphies (Mc talking about how he "collect" women... is conscious about it.) Yeah no, not cool. I'm not saying he has to be super dense but just Mc boy or female that is not interested in having multiple relantionship with various women romantically. Someone that got the attention of the other gender for his actions not bc he wanted to satisfy all type of fetishes as his objective literally (maid, cat-ear,... Not searching a Scumbag Mc practically )
- stories with Mc not having extremely OP cheat for no reasons. Like an instant ko skill. Tho it's okay if he has a special skill or good a games but I prefer a skill that improve over time and not Protagonist becomes powerful for no reasons. Anyway a skill or advantage that has a reasons like Ainz is OP because he spent years and money on the game thus those level are earned not magically strong af at the start. Something like Shield hero who is in a way OP but he invested cores on his schedule to archive those.

I'm sorry for being picky.....

Thanks in advance!


Update
So many recommendation! Thanks a bunch for all these titles.
Lol I just made a list of the titles. Ofc I can't read them all at once. I'm taking my sweet time with one or two novel.

Lucky it's summer I've got time to read at least most of the suggestions.


I'm currently reading skeleton Knight. I'm definitely gonna pick Ark or The New Gate once I finished SK or once I wish to take a break from one serie! Seems many likes these so I trust their judgement and check these stories as well the other suggestions.

Thanks a bunch!

 

Please make your reading list public.


The Amber Sword

Also, this is better in the looking for section then novel discussions

 

Skeleton Knight, in Another World

 

Well... it has gaming elements, but... it became true to life? Like, no menu, status or systems, just straight up fantasy, magic, and sword fighting. Though I admit it is full-on adventure.

 

Like Inv said, we’re gonna need your reading list if you have this many demands... makes it hard to want to help...

Edit: have you read the old popular korean ones like Ark? It should be up your alley. There’s also The New Gate. Straight up adventure with game elements, and the MC is loyal to love interest.

 

Kummo desu ga, nani ka? is good (don't skip the side stories, they're very important later on)

 

Thanks for answering but I dont think my reading list can be of help since I haven't updated it for years. I usually read from another site and don't leave reviews or evaluation here (I usually comment on the translation griups' site) . I don't use novel update that often since I don't know how to use it. (this is the first threat I opened).

I haven't read much game related novels since I tend to drop them (for reason I wrote above especially because of the harem theme that is common)or forgot about the titles when there's no update for a long while. Plus some are one I don't want in my list since I read them but didn't like them for dirty development in the story that I don't want people seeing them and think I support and like that stuff. so I don't have many titles in my reading list

Anyway , checking my reading list which is not update you'll only find romance or thriller novels. I just realized I haven't added the new or recent ones I read (I have like 20 titles... Like overlord or Shield hero aren't in them, I definitely forgot about the list option for a long while.

I can tell you what I read and followed for several chaps. Since they aren't a lot, I opened this thread in hopes of avoiding wasting time searching a needle in a haystack.

- Log Horizon
- Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
- Overlord
- Shield hero
- 1/2 Prince
- King's Avatar
- SAO ( didn't finish it)
- reincarnated as Slime
- I'm a spider, so what?
- Reincarnated as sword (yeah I don't mind if the protag is a monster or object, some are really good)
- The World After the Fall

And that's all. Yeah it's not much and thats why I wrote this. I did try other titles but I dropped them and well I didn't further try other Novels since I tend to avoid tag harem and ecchi when their together with fetishes, complex, obsessions, overpowered tags ... Yeah Overlord and Tensei slime has some of these elements but it was a minor thing since both weren't serious or see them romantics what was cool was the adventure and events that lies e cliffhangers such as"will Rimuru overpowered the other lord? " or " will Ainz find other players or will Slane theocray be the next arc?"
Anyway romance and harem is there but they aren't the point or main focus/objevtive.


Btw I haven't read the titles everyone answered with so I'll check them out, thanks a bunch!

 

Thanks I'll check them up!

 

Nope I haven't read that many to begin with . Are they heavy martial art and Chinese mythology /myth based story? I'm not saying I hate them but I found following battles difficult.

 

Read it! One of my fav!
If you similar reccomendation to that I welcome them even with or without game elements.
I mentioned here the ones I read

 

Wow, it feels like this could be my thread...
(sorry for the titles, I can't post links, just stick the normal series URL in front)

rebirth-of-the-thief-who-roamed-the-world
It's a bit misogynistic, in that every single female is judged by her looks first over anything, but I suspect that's the author. Otherwise, it's not a harem, the protagonist is unsurprisingly OP though he works for it, and he uses his brain quite often. It's quite entertaining and well-translated. Oh, and recently finished.

reign-of-the-hunters
Rare female protagonist. I think this one deals with interpersonal relationships much better than the above, and there seems to be more character growth. The romance, what there was of it so far, was quite amusing.

the-legendary-moonlight-sculptor
Very good, with a unique and entertaining take on a protagonist, but has a slapstick element I'm not personally too fond of. The translations for the first few volumes are a bit rough, but it's still readable.

upgrade-specialist-in-another-world
This is xianxia (wuxia?) with minor game elements. Fairly mindless and Dragonball-ish.

PS. do you mind sharing some of your recs? I feel we may have similar tastes.

 

There are battles, but not that heavy on details so they're easy to picture.

Ark is a KR web novel classic, around almost the same time as Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. It has the same theme using VRMMO where the MC started out crap but got good later on due to his cunning. It stays as a VRMMO and never turns into a true fantasy/death game, but the setting is enough to satiate my fantasy needs.

The New Gate is a JP novel that also has some history and it's one of those earlier isekai/LitRPG. Think of it like this, if you like Sword Art Online or Overlord, you'll probably like this. The main difference is that the setting is "after" the events of a death game and the world "turned" into fantasy. Instead of getting back out of the game, the MC is instead isekai'd/timeskipped into the same world as the death game, but all the NPC's are/became alive. In other words, it's Sword Art Online + Log Horizon + Overlord in one.

 

I don't know why I didn't realize this sooner, but one of my favorite stories of all time should also fit into your categories.

Try Valhalla Saga, it's a KR story of the (fictional Earth's) greatest pro-gamer dying and being accidentally(?) brought by a Valkyrie into Valhalla. The way their powers work should be similar to games and could barely fit into the LitRPG genre.

 

I think you should give A Wild Last Boss Appeared a try. Most of my other suggestions got suggested by other people.
It's an action, adventure, comedy series. It's similar to Overlord, the New Gate, reincarnated as a slime, kumoko, grimgar.

Your list seems to be same as my taste so I think you'll like it. It has a good world building, good foreshadows and written for a long term. It has a slow start that I almost dropped it but trust me, it gets going really nicely later on. The author and the translators seem to know a lot about games so the game elements doesn't come across like the author pulled it out of a hat.

Though if you're going into this series expecting romance, harem or yuri, you'll be disappointing. The main characters are all "overpowered" but they're not brain dead overpowered like most other isekai series. The whole series revolve around the "overpowered" but it's written in a way that it makes sense, at least in my opinion.
I just read the latest chapter that was released and apparently the light novel got licensed and the translation is on hold. So I don't know what the they're going to do with the translation though, hopefully they can finish it since the series seems to have just reached the climax and I've been waiting for years. It's a pity that we finally got someone to pick up the series and we get a good quality translation, and finally got to the end, but may have to wait a few more years for official light novel translation to catch up.

Sorry, this half turned into a rant. I just read the latest chapter and saw them saying the translation is on hold. Don't make me machine translate this. :/

 

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/lets-be-an-adventurer-defeating-dungeons-with-a-skill-board/

 

Strongest Sword God is filled with adventure that feels like a game, I love it. The spider one has a good manga.

 

I am surprised you actually didn't read mushuko tensei which have 24 volume full of content while make your choice whether you read it in WN OR LN IS UP TO YOU and how was the world after the fall ? I am at ch.98 and feel like it turned in to your run of a mile novel

 

Wizard with the Flower Blades
Mayojou - also know as "The Wizard Raised Through TRPG is Still the Strongest in the Other World"
Apotheosis of a Demon – A Monster Evolution Story
Arafoo Kenja no Isekai Seikatsu Nikki
Hone to Issho no Isekai Seikatsu
Only Sense Online
She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman

Click on the names for the links.

 

I guess I can recommend you this novel I'm currently TL ing:

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/summon-survival/

Last Day, Zombie Apocalypse setting. GL
It reminds me of Devil Survivor, MC was an ordinary person that got a rebirth chance cos she is bound with an incomplete system. The sistem have no explanation on the skills. Mc goes blind and experimenting on skills.
They power mc got... usual level power, it starts from weak to strong, just like the demons from Persona/Devil Survivor series.
FL is super strong, the strongest power type Abilities.
Also maybe an additional point that I like, MC character is so different from the usual MC, she's revenger, ruthless and apathetic since she got betrayed and is rejecting all humans except FL after rebirth.

There's also Tomb Raider King, which had korean manhwa adaptation (same artist with solo leveling, which you might be interested at also)
Mc rebirth and gets various power from crow, depend on what he did.

 

this one is AWESOME!