Let them offer their loyalty! - Chapter 88 - 76: The Bizarre Book (7k Pleads for Follow-Up Reads)

He was supposed to be the next big thing.Three years ago, Riku Aoyama was Japan’s rising basketball prodigy…Until a devastating injury and a brutal betrayal shattered everything.Now? He’s just a ghost of his former self—until one empty gym, one dusty court, and one crazy idea reignite the fire.Form a team of nobodies. Start from zero. Take on the monsters ruling the court.With broken players, forgotten schools, and no sponsors backing them—Riku’s team, Kaizen High, isn’t just here to play...They’re here to change the game.No powers. No shortcuts.Just sweat, soul, and skill.In a world where basketball is war—Only the crownless will rise.

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

Tian Mi, a single mother with two children, has finally gotten her life under control… that is, until a handsome VIP at the hotel where she works claims to know her and is somehow in possession of her wedding ring from her former marriage. If that wasn’t enough, her ex-husband, now a successful entrepreneur, has also shown up, and is looking to rekindle their relationship. Who is this stranger? Why has her husband returned? Will she choose new love over an old flame?

The most beautiful old ancestor of the immortal sect, who lived for five thousand years, repeatedly broke the rules of immortality and was punished by the Heavenly Dao.Upon opening her eyes, she became the true daughter of the Xia family, who had been kidnapped into a mountain village as a child.She thought she would have to suffer through all the hardships of the human world, but who knew that when she woke up she was directly 14 years later, on the very day she was rescued—She wanted to run wild and be beautiful on her own, but her whole family pampered her to the heavens!Want to do scientific research? Three big brothers donate a research institute.Headache and cold? Powerful parents gather authoritative experts overnight, starting the examinations from cancer.Rumors in Capital City are never-ending: The Xia family's daughter is a spoiled and arrogant waste!The Xia family rose in defiance, but Xia Ye just laughed: I'll handle it myself.The foremost classic instrument of China, she made it casually 500 years ago.The ancient texts that students memorize until they're bald, necessary for the college entrance exam, were written by her 700 years ago in a drunken stupor.The world's seventh greatest unsolved mystery—a relic Sky Pit with a diameter of 7,300 meters—was created by her 1,000 years ago during a quarrel with Heavenly Dao.Everyone was waiting for her to show off and fail miserably, but the Xia family kept receiving calls from the Mutant Plant Association, metaphysics masters, supernatural organizations, cultural archaeology bureaus... “Has the old ancestor returned?”Later, Xia Ye ascended to the second spot on the global rich list. At the award ceremony, she raised an eyebrow: What happened to the divine retribution and punishment, it seems quite nourishing?By her side, the world's richest man, the Heavenly Emperor in a suit and shoes: How could I truly punish my own wife...