The Wandering Inn

[halfeye]

K is "King of Destruction", and all the characters surrounding him. The letters used to denote a specific character ("K" was ALWAYS Flos' specific perspective), but as the scope of the story grew, they grew to encompass all the characters associated with a specific plotline.

K is now all of Flos' vassals and plots, D (for Doctor) is the entire United Nations Company rather than just Geneva, E (for Emperor) is everything going on in Riverfarm and the surroundings instead of just Laken, etc.

Some of the new ones have gotten muddied (eg. T for Teriarch is ALSO also Trey's perspective much of the time), but the old ones from back when the system started are consistent.

It's why I typically skip a few updates and wait for the backlog to build sometimes. I can't stand Flos and his cronies, so I bank K chapters until I can just binge through to more good content most of the time.

Thanks for that clarification. So, by that, another k could be Flos himself, Teres, Mars (probably not, she doesn't usually have a POV), another character in Flos's enourage or

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a return to Amerys situation

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[Dragonus45]

Thanks for that clarification. So, by that, another k could be Flos himself, Teres, Mars (probably not, she doesn't usually have a POV), another character in Flos's enourage or

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a return to Amerys situation

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This is almost certainly going to be an ending to the Save Amerys plot. No idea if they succeed or not but this is the finale of it for sure.

[halfeye]

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This is almost certainly going to be an ending to the Save Amerys plot. No idea if they succeed or not but this is the finale of it for sure.

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Nope, you were right that it continues, but it didn't end this time.

[Dragonus45]

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Nope, you were right that it continues, but it didn't end this time.

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Yea, pirate was explicitly up front about this being the end of that arc but I'm never certain who around here is also on the discord/patreon or who hangs out in the discussion/podcast chat server.

[Tvtyrant]

I started this series a few weeks ago, I am on book 5 chapter 30 now. So far my favorite faction are the ZergAnts, least are probably Laken and Ryoka. Laken is essentially just Flos but from Earth so far, and Ryoka is an informed genius who is a complete moron. It does keep her out of Mary Sue status, with her being a genius and unbeatable athlete, but my lord does she make persistently dumb choices.

[Dragonus45]

I started this series a few weeks ago, I am on book 5 chapter 30 now. So far my favorite faction are the ZergAnts, least are probably Laken and Ryoka. Laken is essentially just Flos but from Earth so far, and Ryoka is an informed genius who is a complete moron. It does keep her out of Mary Sue status, with her being a genius and unbeatable athlete, but my lord does she make persistently dumb choices.

Hey! Nice to have you join us. The We Hate Ryoka club meet's on Tuesdays but

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is currently on hold as she did eventually start taking levels in [Person] we promise. Laken is uhhhhhhhhhhhh more complicated.

Anyways you should check out the official discord it's more active for sure and we also have a new fan run podcast that's is talking about the series from Book 1 that you can check out on your preferred podcast medium.

[Tvtyrant]

Hey! Nice to have you join us. The We Hate Ryoka club meet's on Tuesdays but

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is currently on hold as she did eventually start taking levels in [Person] we promise. Laken is uhhhhhhhhhhhh more complicated.

Anyways you should check out the official discord it's more active for sure and we also have a new fan run podcast that's is talking about the series from Book 1 that you can check out on your preferred podcast medium.

This feels like a good club and I am happy to be part of it.

Spoiler: Laken and Ryoka's meeting

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That might be my favorite "what the heck Ryoka" scene of the whole series so far. Ryoka has separate rants about not wanting to enable white colonizers or modernize warfare, so she helps Laken, a self-proclaimed white emperor from Earth, build siege weapons he immediately starts selling to nobles. He then mustard gasses Rags as his first non-self defense act of war. Way to go Ryoka.

[Dragonus45]

This feels like a good club and I am happy to be part of it.

Spoiler: Laken and Ryoka's meeting

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That might be my favorite "what the heck Ryoka" scene of the whole series so far. Ryoka has separate rants about not wanting to enable white colonizers or modernize warfare, so she helps Laken, a self-proclaimed white emperor from Earth, build siege weapons he immediately starts selling to nobles. He then mustard gasses Rags as his first non-self defense act of war. Way to go Ryoka.

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Laken's BS at least makes sense in context. His only interaction with goblins had been when they tried to slaughter him and everyone he knew and only really had what other people had told him to go on that they were monsters like any more. Given all that context I at least can kind of understand what he had going on there. Also in many ways the area he is taking over is so out of the way that it's barely even ruled or acknowledged by anyone anyone and his presence is doing a ton to help people out. Ryoka though, she really honestly thought that because someone else had trebuchets that that meant they were a perfectly normal known technology in the setting. The sheer unadulterated arrogance of her on multiple levels here was staggering.

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You go the rest of this book without her though and when the story does pick her back up she is more tolerable then before for me at last.

[Tvtyrant]

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Laken's BS at least makes sense in context. His only interaction with goblins had been when they tried to slaughter him and everyone he knew and only really had what other people had told him to go on that they were monsters like any more. Given all that context I at least can kind of understand what he had going on there. Also in many ways the area he is taking over is so out of the way that it's barely even ruled or acknowledged by anyone anyone and his presence is doing a ton to help people out. Ryoka though, she really honestly thought that because someone else had trebuchets that that meant they were a perfectly normal known technology in the setting. The sheer unadulterated arrogance of her on multiple levels here was staggering.

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You go the rest of this book without her though and when the story does pick her back up she is more tolerable then before for me at last.

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Ryoka gets better and then the author abandons her development several times, so I'm not surprised. I could do without her forever though honestly.

[Rynjin]

Ryoka definitely gets better over time. Der Fuhrer remains one of my least favorite characters in the series, just behind Flos and all of his lackeys.

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When 8.64K is out for everyone else I'll gripe more about that last bit.

[Dragonus45]

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Ryoka gets better and then the author abandons her development several times, so I'm not surprised. I could do without her forever though honestly.

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So Ryoka's development never gets abandoned, it's more an issue of her struggling to put what she knows she needs to do to be better into practice when she clearly has unspecified mental illness.

[Eurus]

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In the abstract, I like that Ryoka's character development isn't quick and easy. Understanding things like "I have an anger problem" and "I push people away so hard that it hurts both me and them" doesn't translate to instantly being able to change those things.

...That being said, I do find her tedious to read about sometimes.

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It's funny, in a series that started out subverting Isekai litRPG tropes, Laken plays a lot of them more straight? Overpowered class, technology shortcuts, hot half human girlfriend...

I think of him as the Classic Power Fantasy Isekai protagonist, where Erin is the Domestic Fantasy Isekai Protagonist and Ryoka is obviously the Supernatural Harem Isekai Protagonist.

[Dragonus45]

Spoiler: Ryoka

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In the abstract, I like that Ryoka's character development isn't quick and easy. Understanding things like "I have an anger problem" and "I push people away so hard that it hurts both me and them" doesn't translate to instantly being able to change those things.

...That being said, I do find her tedious to read about sometimes.

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It's funny, in a series that started out subverting Isekai litRPG tropes, Laken plays a lot of them more straight? Overpowered class, technology shortcuts, hot half human girlfriend...

I think of him as the Classic Power Fantasy Isekai protagonist, where Erin is the Domestic Fantasy Isekai Protagonist and Ryoka is obviously the Supernatural Harem Isekai Protagonist.

If we needed to rank who is what Isekai protag...

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Trey is the classic Isekai protag. Sent to another world and if you squint and tilt your head while looking at everyone he hangs out with he has the classic Isekai Harem setup. Laken is more the modern Isekai like How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom which is like a whole sub genre of kingdom management stuff.

I will say that it never stops subverting Isekai though, it just can be somewhat subtle about it at times but ultimately this is Isekai without the power fantasy. Even when characters are winning or doing insane Isekai protagonist things the story never lets them sit on it for long or skip out on all the blowback and tragedy of even cleanest of wins.

[Talieth]

Hey!

I found this while searching for a new audiobook : I am now near the end of book 3 and I quite like the story, but the thing that hooked me in is the narrator : Andrea Parsneau IS awesome.

[halfeye]

Not only for You!

Was that supposed to mean anything?

No I'm not on patreon.

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Ah, now she's free. Price may have been a bit high.

[Gnoman]

There's two important things about Laken that make him more sensible.

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1. He accidentally made a deal with Tamaroth at some point early in his travels. Selling your soul (even inadvertently) to that being probably has some serious effects.

2. There's a heavy indication that the [Emperor] class is twisting his mind to be more ruthless and imperious. It is one of the ways the author is not-so-subtly indicating that there is something Very Wrong with the class and level system.

[Dragonus45]

Hey!

I found this while searching for a new audiobook : I am now near the end of book 3 and I quite like the story, but the thing that hooked me in is the narrator : Andrea Parsneau IS awesome.

YES she is excellent. We are supposed to have her on as a guest at the podcast sometime soon but she is recording this month and suuuuper busy.

There's two important things about Laken that make him more sensible.

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1. He accidentally made a deal with Tamaroth at some point early in his travels. Selling your soul (even inadvertently) to that being probably has some serious effects.

2. There's a heavy indication that the [Emperor] class is twisting his mind to be more ruthless and imperious. It is one of the ways the author is not-so-subtly indicating that there is something Very Wrong with the class and level system.

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1. Potentially, I think him simply being human and ****ing up because he doesn't have all the information we have makes more sense for his mistakes.

2. Ehhhh classes really don't work that way. It isn't mind control so much as it is the system rewarding specific behaviors creating perverse incentives.

[halfeye]

I like Dureen (but not her name, horse STIs are not good, though Wikipedia doesn't seem to know it now), and thus Laken.

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I'm wondering what is going to happen with Lutz, because something obviously will.

[Rynjin]

I like Dureen (but not her name, horse STIs are not good, though Wikipedia doesn't seem to know it now), and thus Laken.

I dunno, if you like Dureen I could see a strong argument for liking Laken even less. He does not IMO do right by her. He comes off as one of those people who treats his SO like a child he can legally have sex with.

[Dragonus45]

I dunno, if you like Dureen I could see a strong argument for liking Laken even less. He does not IMO do right by her. He comes off as one of those people who treats his SO like a child he can legally have sex with.

I do agree they don't have a super healthy dynamic although I'm not sure I consider that either of their faults, and I've heard a lot of things said about Laken, but dead gods that has to be one of the weirdest I have ever heard thrown his way. Like, damn, that's extreme. I gotta ask you elaborate there?

[halfeye]

I dunno, if you like Dureen I could see a strong argument for liking Laken even less. He does not IMO do right by her. He comes off as one of those people who treats his SO like a child he can legally have sex with.

I have to say that your third sentence makes me really uncomfortable.

I do not feel that Laken is abusive of Dureen, that's subjective to me I suppose.

[Dragonus45]

I have to say that your third sentence makes me really uncomfortable.

I do not feel that Laken is abusive of Dureen, that's subjective to me I suppose.

He really isn't. She has some issues with being too co dependent on him resulting from the way he had to push so hard against the awful racist situation she had been living in and him being sort of the first person to even see her as a person in her life as far as we can tell, but it isn't like he did it on purpose. He himself was a disabled man thrown into a fantasy world with no support structure who got super super lucky to find someone as compassionate and caring as Durene and it looks like a big part of her arc will eventually be asserting herself more and making decisions other then the ones she thinks Laken would want.

[Rynjin]

Abusive? Not overtly. Exceedingly manipulative? Yes. And he infantilizes her while he does it. That is my entire meaning.

Their dynamic is closer to parent and child than boyfriend and girlfriend. She idolizes him, views him as essentially perfect, and does anything he says.

He, on the flip side, seems...fond of her? I guess? In a really distant way. Like a pet, almost. But a really useful one he can point and click to solve problems that require brute force and not much else.

Their whole dynamic is icky.

[Dragonus45]

Abusive? Not overtly. Exceedingly manipulative? Yes. And he infantilizes her while he does it. That is my entire meaning.

Their dynamic is closer to parent and child than boyfriend and girlfriend. She idolizes him, views him as essentially perfect, and does anything he says.

He, on the flip side, seems...fond of her? I guess? In a really distant way. Like a pet, almost. But a really useful one he can point and click to solve problems that require brute force and not much else.

Their whole dynamic is icky.

You are correct in that she idolizes him too much and that that kind of thing is not healthy for a relationships but I'll just say nothing your are saying about his motivations, actions, or feelings is remotely supported by the text.

[halfeye]

You are correct in that she idolizes him too much and that that kind of thing is not healthy for a relationships but I'll just say nothing your are saying about his motivations, actions, or feelings is remotely supported by the text.

Except that Lady (I forget her name) wants to be Laken's wife and will given any chance at all push Dureen aside, but she's a monster herself, and Laken is almost certainly going to reject that pretty hard.

[Rynjin]

You are correct in that she idolizes him too much and that that kind of thing is not healthy for a relationships but I'll just say nothing your are saying about his motivations, actions, or feelings is remotely supported by the text.

I think it is pretty well. I can't think of a single time he's really concerned himself with her feelings. Even when she's clearly distraught, he typically brushes her concerns aside.

He shows the same level of emotion toward her as he shows Frostwing much of the time. Vague fondness and often mild exasperation.

Pirateaba has shown they know how to convey strong emotion, and love particularly, to the reader. That is not conveyed in Laken's chapters. Very few strong emotions of any sort are portrayed in Laken's perspective; it takes a lot to crack his overall aloofness and actually make him feel anything besides anger that his territory is being trespassed on (his most common emotion).

[halfeye]

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Did anyone care about Hectval?

[Dragonus45]

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Did anyone care about Hectval?

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Oh absolutely. It won the vote afterall. It wasn't my vote though. I demand more Rabbit Eater at all times. I had been looking forward to getting these chapters eventually though.

[Eurus]

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Hectval, no. Olesm and Pawn, yes. I was really hoping Pawn would have a change of heart and push back against the militarization of the religion once he saw how it was affecting the army, but it seems that is not to be.

At first I thought that we were moving toward a big clash between Erin and the Antinium when she comes back and sees all this, but I have to admit that an army of templars is probably going to be pretty useful for stopping the end of the world. It still seems like it's going too far, and has to end badly at some point...

[Tvtyrant]

Alright I finally caught up.

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At this point I think there are profoundly too many characters. When Adeltyr and Gire started becoming perspective characters I groaned. Sure we never get Tom chapters anymore, and multiple sets of characters have disappeared for nameless reasons, but why don't we keep adding in new people who need 10,000 pages.

I am okay with some of them, we needed the Death of Chain's perspective for the Demons. But I could do without adding in Cara, or the math guy.