I was listening to my randomized playlist, until Last Stardust came up, which reminded me of Emiya Shirou. And so, here I am wondering if there are any novels with as much character depth as Shirou/Archer. The reason why i find Emiya as a really deep character is because over the course of the Anime and Visual novels, we get to see the different aspects of Emiya both as a master and as Archer, the servant, who has already walked the beaten path. Especially the dynamics between the two, and how Archer influences Emiya and vice versa. Shirou remains self-less at the core throughout, but by the end of each route, he has learned to prioritize things in a different way. I remember Mushoku Tensei gave me a slightly similar feeling, probably because the MC meets his future self, MC is more or less a cowardly neet at heart but his growth over the years and the clear impetus behind those changes is well laid out. So in a nutshell, looking for an MC that develops through the story as a result of his interactions, so that after finishing the novel, when i look back to the start, I can tell how the MC developed. Not looking for MC whose only growth was in power levels and harem count. Also not looking for MC that are unrecognizable compared to how they started, unless there was good reason, not simply because they arrived in a different world.
MC from Martial Arts Master fits the bill to perfection, that’s actually one of the main reasons I love that novel. His growth and character development is taken step by step with logic and reason
I don't know whether you have read these given by your reading list, but I will recommend here : - The Lord of Mystery - World Apocalypse Order - The Legendary Mechanic and actually, those 3 may not fulfill your criteria. I just can't name some novels (such as SCOG, ML, TNE, VS, etc), as you have read too many of them..
God and Devil World is the only novel I can think of right now probably because I’m reading it again, but it’ll probably not fit your tastes.
This has been on my radar for quite some time now, may read a few chapters of MAM long ago. Thanks. Friend, that novel sucks. I read it when I was going through my hack and slash phase, read untill the MC started soloing entire shelters and armies, finally dropped it because I couldn't stomach the extra deep racism anymore. And also because it became really boring and nonsensical halfway through.
Yeah I know it sucks but I have nothing to read right now and I’m really bored so I might as well read it again to relieve some boredom, and yes I know the racism stuff really sucks like really really sucks but I’ve learned to endure that shite while reading it the first time and then learned to ignore it the second time I read it, and now that I’m trying to read it a 3rd time I believe I won’t even feel fazed, and also I know that it becomes boring and nonsensical halfway through. I still think that it’s still better than doing nothing but being utterly bored with nothing to do.
I don't know if this really fits what you're looking for, but why don't you try "The Little Prince in Ossuary"? It's a pretty good novel, and I guess you can see the development of the character through the choices he's making. The character is not OP too, and there are no harems and such. And by the way, this is a virtual game-like story, with post apocalyptic settings. https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-little-prince-in-the-ossuary/