grimdark fiction

God did not create this world. Physics did. And I am here to fix the bugs. Li was a brilliant engineer until a catastrophic experiment destroyed his world. He died in the blast, only to wake up in a filthy medieval dungeon, scheduled for execution at dawn. He has no magic, no system, and no cheat skills. His assets? A handmade kerosene lighter, a mechanical watch, and a brain filled with centuries of industrial standards. From selling "Crystal Glass" to nobles, to slaughtering knights with "Flying Thunder" cannons. From a pile of coal to a steam-powered fortress that defies the gods. Li will drag this dark, feudal world into the Industrial Age, kicking and screaming. He is not a hero; he is a necessary evil, an Engineer of Civilization. But he is not the only one. The shadow from his past has returned. Gareth, the mad scientist who caused the apocalypse, arrived in this world two years earlier. While Li forges Steel, Gareth mutates Flesh. While Li builds Order, Gareth breeds Chaos. Gareth wants to evolve humanity into a new biological hive mind. Li intends to burn that "paradise" to the ground with napalm and artillery. The war between The Industrial Tyrant and The Bio-God has begun.

Osias wanted nothing more than to… live. Was such a wish too audacious to desire? Were the blood-born destined to live such tragic tales? Why, why did it feel as though he was forced to either bleed himself or spill the blood of others to live? Enough… he had enough. A pair of blood-born brothers were all that was left from the fallen Band of the Red Sky. Detestable blood-borns, vile spawn who were to be eradicated off the face of the Wailing Chain. So the Three Factions put aside their feuds in order to slaughter them all. Yet Osias and Kiran still live despite this — they still move forward to escape, fight, and survive as they are pursued. Alone, these two ghosts of a dreadful Band of blood born that flooded the south in blood will bide their time as they carry on the Path of Blood, inheriting all that was entrusted to them. The Wailing Chain was theirs for the taking. The Three Factions will suffer for what they’ve done to them. Armies will spill enough blood to raise a sea in the wake of the brothers' resentment. But not yet. The world wouldn’t bleed until Osias and Kiran obtained the strength required to do so. ----------------- What to expect: • Blood Powers • Dark Fantasy-esque • Wars, Armies, Power Progression • No System • Cruel, Grim World (First Chapter is enough…) • Smidges of romance • Anti-Hero Prog (Spoiler - nears villain) *The world of BTTVE has A LOT of secrets and plans that are not made available to the reader upfront. Try to enjoy the path to the answers - there's going to be a lot that you don't understand at first because there's a lot Osias doesn't know about the new world he's in! Also sorry for the POV changes in the first few chapters… the setting calls for it, there isn’t much to the beginning if we read it entirely from a cripple’s perspective.

Inspired by Berserk, Rising of the Shield Hero, Goblin Slayer, and Warhammer. What happens when the hero wasn't summoned into an ideal fantasy world, but into an unforgiving dark fantasy world filled with danger and challenges? Magebane was one of the Heroes, men and women summoned by the Consortium to protect the land of Nemesis from its enemies. But years have passed, and now Magebane trained his weapon at the Consortium. He now hunts down the very sorcerers responsible for bringing him into this grimdark world. Thorn, a sorceress loyal to the Consortium, seeks revenge against Magebane. However, the closer she was to Magebane, the more she discovers his mysterious past, the very one the Consortium hid from her and all of Nemesis. (Cover art by @Ruint1)

I can't lie. So I learned to bury the truth with everyone who asked for it. The Rapture wasn't salvation. It was a draft notice. One second I was starving in the slums of Canaan. The next, the Metatron dropped me into Fallen Eden — a biblical death-game where Grace is currency and Prophets hand out blessings like bullets. I didn't get holy fire. I didn't get legendary armor. I got the Scapegoat's Shadow. Eat a dead monster. Swallow the corpse whole. Summon it back as a shade under my command. That's my power. That's what the System gave the seventeen-year-old slum rat with a dying sister and zero Grace. And my mandatory Flaw? Thou Shalt Not Deceive. I cannot speak a lie. Cannot write one. Cannot gesture one. My own throat turns against me if I try. In a world where survival is a bluffing contest and every Prophet built their throne on backstabbing, I'm supposed to be the first corpse in the Orchard. Here's the thing they didn't predict. You don't need to lie when you can make your enemies so terrified of your silence that they lie to themselves. You don't need to bluff when you can ask one carefully true question and let their paranoia do the rest. You don't need deception when you can summon a monster made from their friend's corpse while they're still trying to figure out if you're stupid or insane. I'm not stupid. I'm honest. And in Fallen Eden, that makes me the most dangerous thing the System ever created. I started with nothing. No Grace. No allies. No way to lie my way out of the death sentence everyone assumed I was walking into. Now I have an army of the dead. I have secrets I never had to hide. And I have a reputation that travels faster than any sermon — because the last three Prophets who tried to test whether I was really incapable of bluffing? They're in my shadow now. The System wanted a scapegoat. Someone to take the fall, absorb the blame, die quiet so the real players could keep playing. It got a heretic who doesn't know how to die quiet. I have a sister to save. I have a game to break. And I have one rule that no one in Fallen Eden has figured out how to beat yet: I never lie. Which means when I tell you I'm going to bury everything you built — you know it's true. What to Expect: Slow Burn ◆ Zero-to-Monster Progression: A starving scavenger who builds an army by eating the corpses of biblical horrors ◆ Brutal Tactical Combat: No gifted power-ups. Every shade is earned. Every victory is dirty. ◆ Weaponized Truth: He cannot bluff. He doesn't need to. His honesty is the trap no one sees coming. ◆ One Unbreakable Rule: The System rigged the game against him. He learned to rig it right back — with nothing but the truth and an army of corpses. He can't lie. So he learned to make the truth unbearable. #LitRPG #ProgressionFantasy #Grimdark #PostApocalyptic #PragmaticMC #WeakToStrong #Necromancer #System #SurvivalGame #CursedMC #BiblicalMythology #Dystopia #DarkFantasy #AntiHero

Grey Vale is a 6 volume, 4,000 page graphic war novel and grimdark reimagining of the Arthurian legend, told through cinematic, external perspective and focused on the cost of building a kingdom in a world already burning. This story emphasizes atmosphere over exposition, action over introspection, and consequence over catharsis. Characters do not stop to explain their pain. Battles are depicted with unflinching realism. There is trench warfare, sieges, starvation, dismemberment, and mass casualties. Violence is not stylized or heroic, you will be exhausted! In this world, Arthur and Mordred are brothers, raised together in Camelot. They are bonded by blood, firelight, and innocence. But everything changes the night their father, Uther Pendragon, lies dying. Merlin places a sword in his hands that was never meant for mortal kings. A blade forged beyond this world. A blade that hungers. A blade that whispers. When Uther dies, Arthur inherits both crown and curse. At first, the change is subtle. A coldness in his voice, a fever behind his eyes, a growing taste for war. Only Mordred sees the truth hiding beneath the glory. The sword was consuming Arthur from within.

Zhu is a starving peasant in a plague-ridden, famine-struck wasteland. After burying his entire family with his bare hands, a cold, indifferent System awakens. It doesn't offer salvation; it demands survival. Armed with the mysterious [Mandate System], Zhu must navigate ruthless temples, apocalyptic rebellions, and the deadliest battlefield of all: the imperial court. [NO HAREM] [SMART MC] [KINGDOM BUILDING]

In a grimdark future of our own world, where your role is society is based on how powerful your skill is. Young Bane was deemed useless and cast out into the wild only for him to survive and grow to hate humanity. Hello staff I will be posting this elsewhere https://www.royalroad.com/profile/734073/fictions

Justice is a rumor there. That’s what they say when the neon flickers just right—when the rain hits harder than the gunshots, and the silence feels heavier than screams. The city breathes, but it’s not alive. It remembers. It hides. It devours the brave and leaves only whispers behind. Rules don’t exist here. Not real ones. Only what gets written… and what gets broken. Robberies in broad daylight. Murders on public display. This is what happens when you let the public rule what was never theirs to begin with. Someone out there wants order—real order. And they’d do anything to get it. There’s no such thing as hope here. Not anymore.

Good news: You've awakened. Bad news: You're the villainess. Renee Jennings accidentally obtains a system, allowing her to break free from the plot's control by completing missions. Renee Jennings: "Wait a minute, what's with all the animal dictionaries as a reward?" System: [They can give you an affinity with animals.] Renee Jennings: "Why?" System: [Because a villainess has no affinity with people.] Renee Jennings: "…" This joke is not that funny... * After unlocking animal languages, Renee Jennings embarks on a path of no return— Leading dogs to save a blind woman being stalked by a pervert. Reporting an evil old man who murdered his wife and hid her body, thanks to rats. Helping a kitten catch the murderer who killed its owner and buried the body. Finding tens of millions in stolen goods based on intel from birds. * While others are petting cats, Renee Jennings is riding a tiger. While others are falling in love, Renee Jennings is solving crimes. While others are getting married, Renee Jennings is rescuing endangered animals. While others are having kids, Renee Jennings is serving her country.

After being found and brought back by her wealthy family, Arabella Donovan has an unexpected awakening and discovers that the world she lives in is a mishmash of popular story tropes. Her eldest brother is the tragic guy in a melodramatic, angsty novel; Her second brother is the cannon fodder in an showbiz power-fantasy novel; Her third brother is the scapegoat who ends up with a criminal record in a doting teen romance; Her fourth sister is the vicious villainess in a 'real vs. fake heiress' story; And even her parents are just antagonistic background characters in some sweet, middle-aged romance. Arabella Donovan: This family is a complete collection of misfortunes. The word 'tragic' doesn't even begin to cover it. Her family, after hearing all of her inner thoughts: "..."