I DO NOT under any circumstances want a novel where MC gets stronger by himself, I want a novel where MC has friends and they get actual character development and are involved in the story while being strong enough to actually matter to the novel. Also I don't want the MC to get so much stronger then everyone around him with a massive gap in strength. So novels like Overgeared and Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God isn't a good suggestion because MC's get strong af compared to those around him. One novel that did a decent job with character development for both MC and his friends and reasonable strength gain is Zhan Long, unfortunately the plot wasn't that great for the novel.
Only Sense Online her build is unconventional. she's strong in some areas while weaker in some areas. she's a hybrid of combatant/crafter, so while having access to both, the pure fighter and crafter in that game is just better than her. so it's like a freelancer, where MC dab on a bit of everything. also, casual gamer.
The 'VRMMO:>CantRememberTheRest<' one on wuxiaworld is quite comparable to Zhan Long in some way, I'd say.
VRMMO no Shien Shokunin Mc is a support/crafter who games with childhood friend Relaxed VRMMO log Mc plays with twin little sisters as guardian since little sisters are underage MC does a noncombat build and has no gaming experience
Virtual World: Close Combat Mage - vmmo, MC was planning to make a warrior character because he's a hardcore martial artist in real life, unfortunately the used game account he was gifted with already created a mage character. After getting over his disappointment, he just treats it like hard mode with a gimp body. He does do an agility-only build so his character can perform somewhat close to his real reaction speed. His unorthodox play style of using real martial arts and not using the in-game skills for his character class, makes him appear surprisingly OP even though he's actually a total gaming noob. The group of guys he's hanging out with in the game are actually rather renowned in the overall vmmo gaming community. Each are considered top players within their specialty.
The Kings Avatar (complete) Taming Master (complete) The Great Thief MMORPG: Rebirth of the Legendary Guardian (complete) Emperor Of Solo Play (complete) @Scarlet Reaper
Ah such a nostalgic story, does Krytyck continues translating new volumes? I read it till vol 8 but since long stockpiled chapters but forgotten lol. Power of friendship and gender bender XD.
The MC in Emperor of Solo Play was literally solo for 90% of the novel. It was only at towards the end that he reluctantly associated with a few people and that was only because he had trouble completing some quests.