Hell Mode: Volume 1

Hell Mode, Book 1

By: Hamuo, Taishi - translator

Narrated by: Diontae Black

"'Level up even while offline'?! That's not a game on 'easy mode'—that's just an AFK game!"

The online game Yamada Kenichi had been playing religiously is shutting down its servers, leaving him with a void in his heart. He looks for a new game to fill it, but everything he finds is way too easy. The kind of game he likes—the kind punishing enough to make players want to spend thousands of hours on it—just isn't around anymore.

"What's this? 'You are invited to a game that will never end.'"

Kenichi stumbles upon an untitled game, one promising incomparable challenge with unprecedented potential. Without hesitation, he selects the "Hell Mode" difficulty. Lo and behold, he finds himself reincarnated in another world as a serf!

Now called Allen, he sets out to unlock the secrets of his mystery-laden Summoner class; without the convenience of walkthroughs, game guides, or online forums, he must grope his way to the top of his new world!

©2020 Hamuo; English translation copyright 2021 by J-Novel Club LLC; Original Japanese edition published in 2020 by Earth Star Entertainment; Cover illustration by Mo (P)2023 Tantor

Slow burn, cooked well.

100%, I was initially drawn in by the cover and then the summery. I saw plenty of reviews online talking about how it was a "generic isekai" to which I disagree. While not a new concept, it definitely was a different approach to the idea and I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author had explained Skill leveling and Leveling. As a gamer who also enjoys higher difficulty games (Monster Hunter ad currently playing FF16 on Final Fantasy difficulty) I really wanna play this one, too.

Great

It’s over all a great story and I can’t wait for the next book and more after

A good listen

I really like the way the story started with the main character birth instead of him starting out over powered right away. I like the stories progression too

Awesome unique story!

This book stands out in a crowded genre. I can’t wait for the second volume!

A Mixed Bag

This one is a little hard to rate as I felt much of it was fairly generic and derivative. However, there was enough of a twist to the usual Isekai reincarnation story that it made it interesting enough to listen to. The book had some consistency issues and the way things were explained were a bit wonky, but overall it was enjoyable if not a bit dull. Despite that, the book started to get interesting towards the end, enough so that I'd love to continue listening to the series once the next book is released. In short, it's has a shaky start but shows promise.