Taking a little break from the chapters to have a more intimate conversation with you guys.
So far, what do you think of the story? I've been trying to make things a bit slower and more justified, especially with the whole "leveling up is hard without a special skill like Bell's" approach.
I honestly don't enjoy Danmachi fanfics where the protagonist just levels up super fast with no explanation besides "he kills lots of monsters." That's the weakest excuse ever. I mean, a normal adventurer could kill 10 monsters a day, which adds up to over 3,600 in a year. Yet Ais is the only one on record who managed to level up in a single year. That says a lot.
So instead of treating the Dungeon like a mindless hack-and-slash, I wanted something that feels more logical. That's why I made a change in my fanfic: gods can control how Excelia is spent to raise attributes. It basically turns the Falna system into something closer to a Dark Souls-style level-up system.
Later on, I'll go deeper into this idea to show how real talent makes the difference between ordinary adventurers and legends like Ais or Ottar.
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Do you like this slower, more logical progression system?]
Now, moving on to the protagonist himself—what are your thoughts? His appearance, his personality, or even the awkward way he talks sometimes? I wanted to show that he doesn't really know how to interact with others, but I wonder if that comes across well.
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Is the protagonist's personality working for you?]
As for powers, I don't want him to have anything too out of scale for the Danmachi world. The lore itself is already rich and flexible enough to allow for exotic abilities that still feel grounded. In the future, he'll definitely gain magic and skills that make him stand out, but without breaking the world's logic.
Also… what do you think about the other characters so far? We've mostly had Hestia and Eina appear more than once. Do you feel like I'm portraying their personalities properly, or does it feel a little flat?
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Am I doing justice to Hestia and Eina's personalities?]
And of course, we can't avoid the big topic—romance.
Oh boy… this is honestly one of the hardest parts for me. In all my 11 months (maybe more) of writing fanfics, nothing has been as difficult to portray as romance. Maybe it's because I've never had a girlfriend—but let's just skip over that detail. 😅
What do you guys think: should this story go the harem route, or stay more monogamous? Personally, I don't like the Pokémon-style harem of "let's catch 'em all." For me, around 3 to 5 is already plenty, because it allows more personality and focus for each girl.
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Harem or monogamy—what's your preference?]
That said, romance won't be a huge focus, since every time I've tried before, things went horribly wrong and made me want to delete everything (not that this has happened more than 10 times… trust me 👀).
Honestly, I think the only character I can see a truly sincere romance with is Hestia. She lives with the protagonist, she's highly emotional, and if she could fall for a herbivore like Bell, then there's no reason she couldn't fall for my protagonist too—maybe even faster.
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Do you support a Hestia romance, or would you rather see another direction?]
Now let's talk about the main plot.
Let's all be honest: at least from what I've seen in the anime, Danmachi's plot is kind of weak. We've basically got two main points:
Kill the One-Eyed Black Dragon that supposedly wants to destroy the world.
Survive Freya's… fetishes.
But if you take Freya out of the equation, 99% of the tension in the story disappears. She's the crazy one who doesn't care about the rules of the gods—basically a spoiled child with way too much power.
Meanwhile, the dragon that's supposed to "destroy the world" hasn't shown any real evil master plan. It's just… really freaking strong.
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Do you agree the main plot of Danmachi feels weak? Should i chande it?]
Now, let me drop a small spoiler for my fanfic. My protagonist doesn't have a pure soul—but since he's from another world, his soul is unlike anything Freya has ever seen. It's not exactly what she was looking for, but maybe it's even better… or maybe she won't care at all.
So here's the question: do you want me to completely scrap the Freya plotline and not have her chase the protagonist?
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Should I remove Freya's obsession with the MC?]
Another idea I want to explore in my fanfic is the existence of other Dungeons scattered across the world. As far as I know, Orario's Dungeon isn't special except for being the biggest.
Which means… somewhere out there, there should be a Dungeon with only 10 harmless floors. Nobody would care to explore it since it's not profitable—but maybe those small Dungeons are the key to understanding the true nature of Dungeons.
What's at the bottom of them? Are they alive? Is there some kind of master pulling the strings from the final floor?
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Would you like me to explore smaller, unique Dungeons?]
For example, I could introduce an aquatic Dungeon, where every floor is completely submerged. You'd have to swim to move around, the deeper you go the stronger the water pressure gets, and the visibility gets worse. Basically, no one could ever explore it properly.
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Should I add a unique Dungeon concept like this?]
And of course, there's the other big question: what should I do with Bell?
I've seen so many Danmachi fanfics, and Bell's role is always different. Sometimes he joins the Freya Familia. Sometimes he enters the Hestia Familia together with the protagonist. Sometimes Bell is turned into a girl and joins the harem. And other times… he just never shows up at all, leaving the spotlight entirely on the new protagonist.
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: What role do you want Bell to play in this fanfic?]
And finally, a small request.
I'd really appreciate it if you could leave comments on the chapters and maybe write a review of the story. That kind of feedback helps me a lot.
I don't usually go around asking for Stones at the end of every chapter… though maybe I should start doing that. 😅 But yeah, I'd also love it if you could spare a few Stones for me.
So far, I honestly don't even know what they're for—but since everyone keeps asking for them, I guess they must be important. After all, nobody asks to be cucked… right?
👉 [Leave your thoughts here: Do you usually give Stones to authors? Should I start asking more often? And why yes?]
Thank you so much for your attention and support—and see you next time! 👋