The Stubborn Skill-Grinder In A Time Loop (Book 3 Stubbed)

This story scratches an itch I didn't know I had. 

It's not a story about a cunning protagonist that uses their wits or a gifted one with innate understanding.

No, this is the story of an idiot, a stubborn fool that will charge at a brick wall with his head in an attempt to break it. 

This man was stuck into a time loop and instead of changing his plan, he gets back up and runs back to that wall again.

I highly recommend a read, I wandered in here curious and found myself unwilling to leave. Bemused and sympathetic to a man who has stubbornness in spades, creativity in pinches and plans the size of a grain of sand

Most stories start out strong and then peter out as the authors attempt to drag the story out in order to have more chapters behind their patreon. No shade on them but I've found that it naturally leads to stories where even the best stories tend to go through large period of dips.

But not this story. And not this author. This is how you do proper power scaling. It is satisfying and it is a breath of fresh air. The more you read it, the more epic it gets. There's no lull, there's no time to catch your breath. It's the most satisfying power fantasy I've ever read. And if it ends now, I will still have been content at the satisfying conclusion of the latest arc.

It is a rare treat on RR. Thank you Author!

Imagine the most trope-filled LitRPG power fantasy story you can imagine. Now imagine throwing some brainlet in there who, just like the audience, only cares about numbers going up. 

Turns out, you no longer have to imagine such a story. In fact, you’re on the page for it!

Somehow, while doing exactly what every single other LitRPG tries to do, RHODEN steps above and beyond their every attempt. The only reason this story works so well is because of the beautiful idiot known as Orodan.

No 300 IQ mega ultra smart plays (that aren’t actually that smart when you think about it), no impossible BS that saves the protagonist at the last minute because that author wanted it to happen; every scrap of power that Orodan grabs is through his own innate power to get sh** done. This trait of slamming his head against the wall over again is what makes this story so great. All the comedy, drama, heart, highs, lows, and everything in between comes from the excellent characterization of Orodan.

Moreover, RHODAN creates a, while not terribly deep world, certainly has character and people of interest to care about (as much as one can get invested in other characters in a time loop story).

Overall, this story is highly enjoyable, well written, and most of all, pure fun. 9/10.

This might be a bit biased of a review, but coming off of Mother of Learning I really enjoy reading time loop stories like this. (You also posted 13 chapters in a row after I read 1 so I appreciate that). The pacing is fast, in the sense that you ramped him up really quickly (and I honestly expected the academy to be in between finishing the first quest) but I'm a fan of overpowered MC's so I really just dont care. You gave your MC a long-term goal, which was cool, but even as someone who as stated earlier is a fan of overpowered MC's, this dude is MASSIVELY overpowered. The fact that he's heading to the academy now is funny, given the massive power disparity he's going to have. I honestly think that while the story is fire right now, if you rewrote it and changed the events and kept him at a slower pace then this would be all over rising stars.

As it is though, great story, love it, keep these rapid updates up, LOVE YA!

Firstly, I would like to say this is the first story I have ever felt this compelled to rate. This story has to be the best I have read on RR excluding maybe 1. It has negligible grammar faults, long satisfying chapters, heart wrenching characters, and some great moments of light humor. I believe this story took time looping and ran with it. The character has plenty of stakes in the story regardless of the seeming immunity to consequence from this genre. The author has also done a great job of subverting expectations in the best ways. Furthermore, the author produces this insanely fast, honestly I’m kind of afraid of it. Anyway, if this is actually read by literally anyone I mostly made this to show my appreciation for the author.

MC is a mindless dumbass that is nothing without regression(saying it's his warrior way or whatever is not good writing). Nothing is really due to his merits. If you want a mindless power fantasy it's a nice time waster due to good grammar and style.

Zero stacks in the story, characters are there to just shows MC greatness (His not that great, regression is doing all the heavy lifting in everything he does.) Powers are really hand waving and serves as a deus ex machina for the MC. HIs infinite will thing is likely somehow him in a higher dimension sending out his avatar/reincarnation to a lower plane or something of the like to fucked with lower tier beings(I won't be surprised if it's something that is of similar nature). No world building at all.

It's a nice time waster all things considered if you like a callous MC (Him showing the bare minimum to some characters and saying I don't want harm innocents doesn't mean he isn't callous with how he handle things as his stubbornness isn't a positive trait to these around him). The style is good for describing what's happening. 

The story feels like those clicking games that keeps going up and you keep upgrading the efficiency of these click by buying items with the materials you get from clicking.

Skills and abilities aren’t instant. It make sense that hundreds and thousands of try’s would be required to do the impossible. This story does that. Love the action and skills. I wish the MC has more of a personality other than berserk stubborn killer but the story is about a 17 year old in a time loop so there is only so much one can do.

Look is the MC a straight-up caveman with moments of violence related brilliance supported by OP willpower? Yea totally and it’s great bc there was never a single moment where that is not a blatant part of the story. It’s brutal, bloody, and just plain entertaining. World building is great, good supporting characters, great system set-up, and an MC that is unapologetically himself.

First and foremost, this is a fun read. The author consistently provides excellent, long chapters which I thoroughly enjoy.

Orodan is fun to follow and his growth is a joy to read.

In every way, this story stands out as providing me with what I want out of this genre.

I saw some complaints in other reviews, so I figured I'd put in my 2 cents. 

I've read a number of progression stories, and a lot of them sort of... flop. I feel as though this story doesn't fall into the same drudgery as many others do.

For most of the early chapters, the MC finds a short term goal, and achieves it. What separates "The Stubborn Skill-Grinder In A Time Loop" from other books, is how the author describes the process. It's a short description; just enough details to know how our MC achieves his goal. The details that are given are still meaty enough to sink my teeth into though.

The author does break up how the MC meets his goals. Sometimes, it's bare bones. Sometimes, there's more character development involved. Sometimes, a new dimension added to the world. And where I'm at now, an academy arc.

This arc is by far the longest the author has gone in developing the world, politics, and MC in a continuous fashion. I consider this part of the story closer to your standard approach to progression fantasy. However, the author doesn't bring the pace down to following the minutiae of day to day activity. There is a continuous development of relations between the MC and other important characters, but these connections are made over weeks instead of days. Despite this being a longer loop, the writing style still stays the same as with the shorter loops; acquiring a goal, spending an appropriate amount of time achieving that goal, and skipping the in-between bits that can drag on. 

I imagine the people who started this book and continued reading, enjoy the fast pace of skill progression. The academy arc is pretty slow compared to the rest of the loops, and probably grates on the readers whom are excited for what's next. I know I can't wait to see how the MC greets his next loop. 

In general, X-RHODEN-X, thank you for giving readers something non standard. I truly appreciate this fast pace you've given us, dappled in with slower moments to broaden the world and people. Keep doing what you're doing, because it's great.