My top 25 Novels for 2025

My top Novels for 2025, in kind of chronological order, too lazy to rank them from 1-25.

穿甲弹不相信碳基怪物 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(Armor Piercing Round doesn't believe in carbon based monsters)
Post Apocalypse, sci-fi, military, no system, group
Imagine Fall out 4, but set in China. 4 elite special forces personnel found themselves transmigrated about 400 years later, to a world filled with monsters and human factions. Thankfully they still got their full military tactical weapons and gears, Like surveillance drones, Sniper Grenade launcher, rifles, pistols. And they are surprised to find archived military gears in deep buried vacuum depots that only the know how to use, as the knowledge had been lost. Again, I got lured in the by title. Most of the military equipment mentioned are Chinese made, and there are some cultural references to military memes. but over all, if you like military actions, it should still be enjoyable. Be noted that this is a new novel, so it only has like 20K words. Normally I would read such short books, but with the title, I just gotta see if it is any good.
spoiler alert They are about to detonate a tactical nuclear warhead in the latest chapter.

宇宙无限食堂 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ (Endless Food Court of the Universe)
 (Multiverse, delicious food, rogue-like, slice of life, no harem, no system, aliens, urban)
 
 MC saved a silicon based life form that is the cook of the universe, named Wang. He and Wang first start as a street food vendor. Wang does the cooking, MC travels to different worlds to battler various creatures and gather ingredients. The first world he has a rogue-like system that grants him different blessings when he kills a monster. The second world makes him play a real life version of battle chess with Witches. The ingredients are like monster meats, or live vegetables (think plants from PvZ). Wang cooks it on earth and they sell it as a street vendor and later upgrades to restaurant. There are also world guardians on earth that acts as like Men in Black to make sure the aliens on earth do not blow their cover. So the food Wang makes are also delicacies for the resident aliens. The book combines cooking and battling together, with a dash of sci-fi, something new and different. so far so good.

### Attending College at Age 38, I'm classmates with my son and daughter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  
  (harem maybe, modern China, Urban setting, slice of life, system, comedy)
  
  MC got a "study" system at the age of 38. It grants him money and abilities (such as been smarter, more handsome, stronger, etc. etc.) the more he studies. His son and daughter are three month away from the grueling College Entrance Exam. The system's main mission is for him to ace the exam and attend an ivy level college, and the reward, among other things, is 100 million dollars. So he quits his day job as delivery driver and attended his son and daughter's high school as a student, under the disguise of watching his children closely to make sure they are studying hard. Comedy abound of reactions from his daughter, son, and other parents and students. Probably will turn harem with beautiful teachers and sister-in-laws.....

Forging Fate into Sword, Killing Souls to Ascend_ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️

(xuanhuan ? no harem, prog. fantasy, no system)
 This book has a different power system based on "Destiny" that's not xianxia, not xuanhuan either, most like fantasy ? Everyone gets powerful through "Destiny Design" and "Destiny level". There are "destiny Qi" to be inhaled, "Destiny numbers" that determines how many destiny design one can have. Each Destiny design grants different ability. Like a "wave" destiny design grants the user ability to control water currents in the sea. "void" destiny grants spacial manipulation. etc. etc. MC has a tombstone that can help him pick the best destiny designs, and will also capture the essence of anyone who dies around him, and allow him to fight it and leech destiny points from it. I just like the power up.....

## North America's Richest Man: Starting by Harvesting Malice ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
(harem, modern urban America, ruthless and smart MC, crime)

Not for the high moral readers, the MC is ruthless and will cheat, lie, torture and kill to advance.
He has a system that can see other people's ill will and if he fulfills them, he gets awards including skills, money, abilities.

Deepseek translated description:
William held his MIT acceptance letter but sneered at his bank balance.
His gambler father had lost their last penny, his alcoholic mother lay drunk at the welfare center’s doorstep, and his little sister Avril clung to his sleeve, trembling—this was his American nightmare.

Until the Malice List of his classmate Amanda appeared before his eyes:

[Malice: Failed last week’s math test, all because of that damn William. It used to cost 50,but this time he raised the price to 80. Such a greedy bastard—hope he gets kidnapped and sold for his organs.]
[Mission: Send William to a scam compound in northern Myanmar and harvest his kidney.]
[Reward: Mastery of Surgical Skills]

So hatred was the real currency.

William adjusted his nonexistent glasses and scribbled a formula on his math draft:
Fulfilling others’ malice = System rewards = Primitive capital accumulation

While the wolves of Wall Street were still playing with financial reports, he had already seized control of New York’s scales of desire.

This is the story of how an ordinary man from the bottom rose to become the richest in America.

Players, Please Behave—This World Really Can Collapse_** ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️

(post apocalypse, high Martial, VR, fourth wall, no harem, no romance, multiverse, kingdom building)

Another "player think it is immersive VR, but actually play in a real world" story. writing is not bad, pacing ok, kind of like "this game is too realistic", but with high martial world.

AI translated description:
Lin Qi, an ordinary young entrepreneur, suddenly finds himself transported to a high-martial world—a realm where countless races thrive, monsters run rampant, and exotic civilizations flourish.

Beneath the dazzling prosperity of its endless metropolises lie mountains of bones. The gods reign supreme, treating their dominions as playgrounds where all living beings are mere toys for their amusement—granted life or erased on a whim.

Lin Qi discovers that all he has is a dilapidated, long-abandoned martial arts hall and a "Traditional Martial Arts System" capable of summoning players from another world.

What the players create and learn, I learn.
Using players as pawns and the myriad races as the chessboard, Lin Qi’s life of cautious survival begins.

"Want to play a 100% realistic virtual game?"
"Experience the ultimate epic battlefield of interracial warfare—interested?"
"Get stronger in the game, grow stronger in real life—still not tempted?"

Years later, during one of his speeches, Lin Qi remarked:
"They call me a devil from the abyss, a destroyer of civilizations, an overthrower of races, a slayer of gods—all slander, I assure you."
"I’m just a humble martial arts instructor with a dream: to open branches of my dojo across the world and improve people’s physical health and quality of life. As for their accusations? Well, perhaps it’s because I learned from them—using the torch of civilization and the name of justice to move their hearts, inspiring them to willingly open their gates and promote economic and population exchange between cities and civilizations."

Cancelled ? I'm going to Wreck this stupid entertainment industry

(Chinese entertainment, system, no harem, modern China, ruthless MC)

MC is an idol that just got cancelled due to scandals such as plagiarism, disrespecting elder actors, etc. etc. He then has a system that give him intels on other entertainment idols that also has scandals but hidden well. The more he exposes it, the more points he gets. So he can use use the points to trade for songs and other stuff to help him back on track. Many of the scandals are actually based on current events, such as tax evasion, lurid affairs, sex parties, etc. etc. Kind of fun to match the events in the novel with the real life ones... but if you don't know the scandals or are not familiar with Chinese entertainment, then it might be kind of boring.

This bad luck is so good !

(Luck, karma, modern Urban, harem,system)

One day, MC heard a "Ding !" in his head, then he hit someone with his delivery bike and spilled hot soup on the person. This would have been very bad luck, except the person is on the Police's most wanted list so MC subdued him with his bike and called the police. He got 200,000 RMB as a reward and a flag for his bravery..... So he knows that whenever he hears the "Ding" something bad will happen but he'll reap reward for it. Like buying a stock of a drug company that has a drug with failed trial, then it turns out the drug is the next viagra. Or the upstair neighbor has a kid that keeps playing loud music and jumps on the floor, but turns out he was kidnapped and the parents is super rich. etc. etc. The interesting part is to see how the bad luck turns into good, and also the portrait of the harems. One of them is a gold digger, but in a unique way.

Mortal world Corpse Immortal ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(steady MC, slice of life, slow cultivation, longevity seeking, Chinese folklores, no harem)
MC wakes up one day to find himself transformed into a zombie.
[Zombie]— Undying, with endless lifespan, yet lacking any means to evolve or ascend!

Thankfully MC has a system where as he lay the corpse to rest through divine deliverance, he gets various rewards from gold to skills to cultivation levels. He can also see the whole life of the corpse from which he can gain skills and insights.

Faced with a crumbling dynasty where demons, monsters, and supernatural horrors run rampant, Xu Qing chooses to hide in plain sight, becoming the most inconspicuous corpse-handler in the underworld trade. From then on, he reaps various rewards by guiding the dead to their rest—mastering skills and supernatural arts with each passing day.

It is very much slice of life as each corpse has his/her own story to tell, especially in a troubling world. Some of them are based on old Chinese folklores, but some are half-original.

The Monsters are Coming ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(VR gaming, fourth apocalypse, Multiverse, multi-POV, no harem, world building)

This seems to be yet another "earth player" think they are playing VR game, but are actually in another world kind of novel. Similar to "This game is really realistic !", equally good, just different. MC inherits a broken world and some power of an all powerful Divine entity and he needs a lot of solders to fight and explore the world to regain his power. So he crafts a system to recruit VR game players from earth to do his bidding. There are also many other realms that's feeding into this "monster world", and other invading aliens that'll fight with the players. It is a fairly well written book with some interesting world designs and power systems. It doesn't just focus on the MC, but mostly on the various players and the groups. the various "villains" are also very interesting. like one of the realm is a small world where everyone cultivates and only the best will ascend, but actually the "spirit root" they worked so hard to cultivate is actually the young seeding of an alien specie that breaks out of their body Alien style once they ascend to the higher world where the aliens live. highly recommended.

This Martial Saint's Health Bar Is Too Thick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(no harem, no romance, lots of fighting, inspirational, ruthless MC, political scheming)

Set in parallel universe like end of 19th century China when the eight nation army invaded. Except in this one it is seven nations, and the great blue dynasty has special martial armies to defeat the western invasion. MC has a myriad blood pearl that acts as a secondary health bar. the pearl can level up when MC receive damage. It also grants different blood related skills like mind attack, strength boost, etc. etc. Martial styles and techniques are the main fighting styles.
Guns are also involved as they are imported in from the west. Some are also some political scheming involved. The overall tone of the book is kind of heavy as MC keep facing uphill battles with ever more powerful enemies, half the fun is to see how the author manage to make the MC's win over improbable odds somewhat believable.......Read if you enjoy never ending crisis and stressful scenarios.

My Doomsday Train ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(harem, ruthless MC, train upgrades, zombies, snowpiercer )

MC is in a post-apocalyptic world where some people can become a train conductor and command passengers to mine minerals that can be used to make food, water and other things to survive. Zombies and monsters roam the world so armor and weapon upgrades for the train are essential. MC has a cheat where he can upgrade the train components without limits. So even a low level 1 component like "train blade" can be upgraded to 100 level that can rotate and cut through the toughest monsters. There really isn't much of a plot, just the MC upgrading the train, getting more resources, killing monster, getting specially abilities and artifacts. There is, however a slowly unraveling mystery of why the apocalypse happened, and where the trains and components come from, and the looming destruction for the whole planet. Fun read if you like fast progression, equipment upgrades, and don't care about the morals of the MC.

In This Era of Universal Cultivation, the System Wants Me to Be a Demon Lord?! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(slice of life, modern cultivation, wrong system, no harem)

MC is in a modern world like earth, but cultivation is built into society like a sport or job. He got a system that wants him to do evil, but has massive mis-understanding of modern world. Like stealing someone's takeout is considered robbing someone of their destiny. AI generated personalities are considered a soul for the soul banner. Social media followers are considered as disciples. etc. etc. If you enjoy this kind of mis-understanding system novels, read on.

I'm a demonic Cultivator, not a capitalist ⭐️⭐️⭐️

(modern cultivation, making games, no harem, no system)

MC is in a modern cultivation world, he has average spirit root, but activated the heavenly Demonic Body physique that can generate spirits based on people's emotion. The positive emotions generate positive spirits and must be spent immediately as it conflicts with his demonic body, the negative emotions helps him level up. So he makes "dreamscapes"(which are like VR games) based on stuff he knows from earth. Like one based on "bizarre Dao Immortal" that can help the mind cultivators cultivate. Even though his goal is always to torture the players so he gets negative emotions, but it always end up generating positive ones due to series of coincidence and mis-understandings. I guess it is just fun to watch such reversal, same reason why I enjoyed losing money to be tycoon so much.

Mirror in the Dust ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(haremish, scheming, ruthless MC, ancient China dynasty)

MC wakes up in the game he played before as the sacrificial lamb in the first act. He schemes to reverse his fortune and dominate the game through his prior knowledge. Since he starts from such a bad position, it still requires a lot of scheming to make it happen. I like the progression and the MC's acts. Not much harem, just a lot of maybes.

Description:
The world is a crucible, Yin and Yang its coals, humanity the bronze, and the Dao its flame.
Those who spread the Dao like carrying firewood to quench a blaze only court self-immolation—wrong, wrong, wrong!
Only when Gu Fangchen opened his eyes and transmigrated into the world of the game Dusty Mirror did he finally grasp the secret within these words.
...
That year, the Princess of Zhenbei was still gentle as water, doting on her son to the point of obsession.
The Eldest Princess was cold as frost, her gaze haughtily aloof—her smile couldn’t be bought with a thousand gold.
The Younger Princess, charmingly naive, dreamed only of heroic knights and loathed vile villains above all.
The Grand Princess commanded armies like a War God, while the Female State Preceptor overturned clouds and rain with a wave of her hand.
And the sole heir of the Prince of Zhenbei—notorious for his worthlessness and rotten-to-the-core depravity—had just been exposed as the lowly son of a horse groom, swapped at birth by a demonic cult.
The true heir stood revealed: the newly crowned Top Scholar, a true disciple of the sages, endowed with a breath of noble spirit.

Player Gu Fangchen didn’t care one bit—and decided to start speedrunning.

The Lich, WTF is summoning 055 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

(two world, Chinese military weapons, lich summon, scheming )

MC is in a magic world as a Lich. He starts with a summon ability and somehow connects to his home country way on the other side of the universe and allow him to send stuff to/from it. So instead of summoning skeletons, he asks for help and the Xia country sends him modern weapons like guns, drones, grenades, and other high tech stuff to help. As he grows more powerful, he can summon bigger objects, eventually a fully equipped 055 Destroyer, thus the title. He also sends back magical stuff from his world back to help the Xia Country as well. Many weapons are either Chinese military or high tech stuff custom made, just google it and pretend it is western weapon. A gun is a gun no matter where it is made. I just like seeing modern weapon versus magical spells.

[Pay Attention, This is how to play a Wizard]https://www.qidian.com/book/1044012213/) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(multi worlds, modern magic, no system, no harem)

MC is in a modern world been invaded by alien worlds through portals that appears around the world. Everyone has a chance to awaken their inner space at 18 to gain special abilities. MC awakened a special inner space that grants him mostly supporting role abilities, but they are very powerful. He starts with a heal spell, and another way to put ppl into their worst nightmares. He can also easily gain new abilities as he slays more monsters. It is mostly just to see MC using his ability in fun and unexpected ways. He is also very smart and scheming.

**American Media: Mafia Boss, WTF is peace ambassador ! ** ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(modern urban, mafia, gangster, American TV/movies, ruthless MC, harem )

MC is in a world that combines many different American TV and movies. Mostly gangster and action types from the 90-2000 era. Things like the good fella, John Wick, Die Hard Series, The Professional, etc. etc. He is a low level member of the Luchese Family and has a peace keeping system where if he stopped violence and kept the peace, he gets buffs and peace points that allow him to copy skills from other people. Imagine having the gun skills from John Wick, kung-fu fighting from Jackie Chen, Assassination skills from Leon. etc. etc. It is a well written novel with many characters, some of the skills are funny, like John Wick has the "Dog Killer" skill, meaning if he had a dog, he has a +5% boost to all his skills, and if someone killed the dog and he is to do the avenge, then he gets a 100% boost. John Mclane (die hard) has a "barefoot" skill where he gets a 20% movement speed boost while barefooted. It is worth it to just see the skills by the characters. There actually is like a semi-coherent plots of MC moving up the ranks in the mafia family to keep the story going. Best for people who have a fan of these mafia/action movies, would recommend to watch the TV/movies mentioned in the novel to enhance enjoyment of reading.

I'm a cultivator but in a Wizard World ⭐️⭐️⭐️

(magic, sci-fi world, cultivation, no harem, no system, multi-realm)

Yet another novel of mixed Sci-fi/Cultivation/Wizard. MC is in a wizard world with magic, but he has a Dao library in his mind that contains vast amount of knowledge for cultivation. But without the Lin energy, most of those knowledges are useless. However he was able to use some of it as the way cultivation works in based on the concept of things, which exists in both world. So he was able to use the cultivation knowledge to help him advance in the wizard world. Sci-fi stuff comes in as the wizard world is quiet advanced as it invades multiple sub-realms and magic has advanced enough to be like science fiction.

Imitator Of God ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(神的模仿犯)
(modern urban, complex games, smart MC, no harem)

This is by one of my favorite author who wrote the "losing money to be tycoon" novel that I enjoyed so much. But this is one is very different. It is kind of like Alice in Wonderland where complex games with rules are played by various players. In this one, When some people die, they enter into a new world where they form a community with 11 other people. They have to play different games to survive and extend their stay. The twist is that the designers of the games are among them, they just don't know that, or who it is. Read if you like smart MC and complex games exploring the limits of humanity.

Reborn in 1997, I'm in the City PD to solve Cold Cases ⭐️⭐️⭐️

(重生97，我在市局破悬案 )
(modern urban China, no harem, no system , crime solving, slow burn )

It is kind of like "life on Mars" where the MC reborn 25 years in the past. With his memory of cold cases, some remain unsolved, he works in the City Police department again as a young detective to either solve, or prevent crimes from happening. The writing is good, and the cases are well designed. It just can get a bit slow paced as solving one crime can take 20-30 chapters, So if you like fast moving plots, this isn't for you. It also happens in China, so if you are not interested in life at 1997 in China, you might get a bit bored as it'll be less relatable.

Staying Low-key in Cultivation realm, devouring to be Immortal ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(苟在修仙界吞噬成圣)
(no harem, gold finger, devouring, cultivation, ruthless and low-key MC)

MC is in a cultivation realm. He is a wandering cultivator with an average spirit root. This is kind of similar to RMJI. MC stays low-key, and has a system where he can devour magical artifacts, all kinds of spirit energies, and just about anything of value. He can then use it to improve his spirit root, learn new cultivation methods, and improve them. He uses it to slowly getting stronger and higher levels, all while pretending to be at much lower level and just getting lucky and barely break through. It can be slow pace at times, but if you enjoy a MC that's true to his believes and act smart. keep reading.

Starting Chinese Entertainments with Fortune Telling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(华娱从摆摊算命开始)
(harem, Chinese entertainments, slight cultivation, modern urban)

MC inherits a cultivation system that allows him to cultivates with "devotion", Like how much fans devotes to their star. The more "devotions" he has, the more powerful spells he can do. He uses it mainly to make himself stronger/more powerful, and also to be able to tell the fortunes of those around him. Naturally he became a star himself, but he also gather a harem of female stars, both foreign, and Chinese. He does this in two ways, one, he can make a lot of money as a star and an investor, since he is a regressor, so he knows which movies will be successful, and he can also do fortune telling, so even the ones he doesn't remember, he still knows. He can also make a person young again, through the use the "devotions". Imaging what a female actress would do if someone can make them ten or twenty years younger.......

Who told you to transmigrate with the Industrial Cthulhu ⭐️⭐️⭐️

(谁让你带工业邪神穿越的)
(no harem, Cthulhu, Military Weapons, multiverse)

MC has a gate in his mind that allow him to travel to different realms. The first one is a western magic based world and he was just betrayed by the Royals. So he stopped trying to survive by himself, and instead exposed the world to the Chinese government so the full might of the China's military and manufacture industry can be utilized. I enjoy modern tech versus magic stuff, and this one will have the MC travel to different world like Cultivation world, or historic world.

Everyday trying my best to be a devil ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(# 今天也在努力做魔头)
(harem, ancient China, cultivation, no system, gold finger, reborn)

A new my novel by one of my favorite author 开荒 . I enjoy his novels because he often has unique power systems, and the MC is smart and ruthless. There are also many plotting, and development of either a clan, or a government, or a tribe, or his own forces. This one is about a MC that was the best rogue cultivator who got betrayed. As a backup plan, his soul is transferred into another body who is a young person with 3 wives who are trying to murder him. So the story is about him regaining his power, finding out why his wives want to kill him, and taking revenge. If you liked his other novels, you'll like this one too.

The Isekai Dracolich Manual ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(异界骨龙操作指南)
(no harem, magic, cross-world, modern technology, lightnovel, no system, slow power up)

MC got transported to a magic world and bonded with a Dracolich that also has a human form as well. They are hunted by the powerful Holy Light Church and also trying to figure out a way to go back to earth. MC's only "cheat" is that he has Dimensional Magic Ability that allows him to control a skeleton on earth, and to perform a spell that can exchange materials between two worlds. Like he can transport a car engine to the magic world and at the same time an equivalent of materials to earth. So he is able to bring over machines, computers, weapons, etc. etc, but not in great quantities, and limited by what's available in the magic world. The novel is written in a more formal/light novel style than the normal webnovels. It is better written, and the MC power up is much slower, and the plot more reasonable. It isn't for everyone. Sometime I would stop because all plans would have issues, and I just want to read something more fun.
But I kept going because it has guns Vs Magic......and other technology + magic stuff.

America, My system came from 1885 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(美利坚，我的系统来自1885年)
(Modern urban, American football, high school, system, haremish, slice of life)

Yet another novel with a system that's 100 years too late. But in this one system is barely there, it just comes up once in a while to complete missions and buff the MC. Most of the story is about how MC ascends in High School American football with his enhanced physicals. Imagine a high school Chinese ABC (American Born Chinese) that can bench lift like a NFL linebacker, runs faster than Usain Bolt, smarter than math Olympiad champions, has the strategy and vision of the best quarterbacks, and is very handsome. Now put him in East Riverside High school in the rich neighborhood of New York City where Football is religion. He is having a good life...... This is about the only novel where it is mostly about American football, and the high school culture around it where the quarterback is the homecoming king and boyfriend of the head of the cheerleaders. Think Teen Wolf, but for football. The writing is also good, author is knowledgeable of football and American culture. The novel reads almost like an American Sitcom about football. Even if you don't know the rules, you can still enjoy it.