A young man with a dark past has come to be filled with self-loathing. Scott Logan spends his days pretending to be a joyful person to mask his soul-crushing loneliness. Intimate human relations seem an impossibility to him, until one day the inexplicable happens. The entire world fell asleep at the same time. The Earth was set to be upgraded by those who supposedly ruled over it, and from that moment on The Dream was born.
Join Scott Logan on his journey into another world linked with his own, one where onions walk on two feet and force people to cry for them... and into a reality where the truth of his very soul is revealed.
This story is one of the more important tales in the Project Scott multi-verse. It is here that people eventually come to understand just why 'Scott' in any iteration seems to constantly be involved in weird shenanigans and draws in the attention of lonely people in need of cuddles and the occasional baked goods.
My Opinion: 516 pages, $5.99, Not Available on Kindle Unlimited
This is a collection and reworking of the author’s online serial of the same name. Even though I’d read the online version years ago and am happy to read this though. There’s a lot of added content, including: Fleshed out game mechanics, better real world storyline, really good character developments, banter, and that great trademark Scottie Futch humor.
Though the story has a bit of a slow start, once you get past the 15% mark, the story gets really good with interesting developments in both the real world and the dream game world. The story is essentially a noob story, where the whole world suddenly has access to this dream game world they go to when they sleep and they can level, gain RPG powers, fight monsters, and craft. The main character (MC), Scott/Blackthorne, wants to use this chance to become more powerful before the official system is applied to earth too. So, you follow him as he balances his real life retail job and his dream gaming life. It’s all very slice of life but still very interesting, even the real life storylines.
On the game mechanics, things are pretty consistent, save the few places the game rules ‘update’ and change slightly. Fairly normal stats, levels, HP, and stuff. There is a mechanic of prioritized skills that make choosing slots a strategic choice. Crafting is a good part of the story and is handled well. I only wish I had the Synergy skill IRL.
I should warn that there are minor harem elements, mostly in that there are several women that have a romantic interest in the MC eventually. There are also lots of sex jokes, innuendos, sex references, and loads of flirting. However, there is NO SEX in the story. Also, the storyline does get dark in several places, including a couple characters having experienced rape or their family experiencing it. It’s not something that is shown, but is more backstory motivation stuff. But it does get dark sometimes.
Overall, this is a really good story that I was genuinely sad to see end.
Score: 7.8 out of 10