The Center for Dungeon Management, Book 1: Gate Crashers [LitRPG, 5x Chapter Releases Weekly!]

In the United States, the Center for Dungeon Management (CDM) manages anything related to gates, like licensing crawlers, enforcing harvester safety standards, and prosecuting gate crashers–people who enter gates without licenses and dungeon rights.  Dorion has aspirations of joining a guild or a crawl team, but to do that, he needs levels. Since he can’t afford a crawler license or gate fees, he signs on with the Pittsburgh branch of the CDM. By day, he is a cog in the machine of dungeon bureaucracy. By night, he volunteers to cull unclaimed gates, a CDM initiative to prevent dungeon surges. The crawler industry isn’t what Dorion expects, but when his little sister appears on his doorstep looking for a place to stay, his goal of becoming a professional crawler turns from a career objective into a necessity. He needs the money and the stability to give his sister the life he wished he had. Solo Leveling meets Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions–This litRPG explores dungeon tropes through the lens of government administration. The MC isn’t an overpowered crawler making headlines. He’s a normal guy with a clipboard, an overflowing inbox, and a dream. What to expect: -Slow progression. MC is not the chosen one or the exception. He has to claw his way up like everyone else in the world. -Stats and skills that matter. Choosing to pursue one build means accepting its advantages as well as its disadvantages. MC doesn’t get to do everything, not even within his own class. -No MC romance plot. The MC is friends with and works with several female characters without deciding he wants to be with them. Romantic relationships appear in the background with other characters, but the MC falling in love or pursuing physical gratification isn’t a thing. -Twists on dungeon tropes. Many of the familiar elements of a dungeon gate story are here, but they are approached from a more grounded perspective where the dungeons are a part of a larger working-class world rather than the sole focus of the story. -A series that ends. The Center for Dungeon Management won’t go on for 12 books with no wrap-up in sight. The story has a beginning and an end that are already planned. I’ve finished the Wishlist trilogy on RR, and the final book (book 6) of Dead End Guild Master is starting soon (but is fully written already), so I have a track record of keeping this promise.