There is no epic loot here only puns

Hey, you know all those dungeon stories where the dungeon proceeds to murder without regret? Well in this story the dungeon puns and makes friends instead.

Stewart mixes together Pratchett and modern Isekai to produce something special in this wonderful story.

(updated as of chapter 136, the old version was from September 2018 (chapter 67))

'There is no Epic Loot here, Only Puns' tells the story of Delta, a young Dungeon Core who was a human gamer girl before and who retains some RPG-related and pop culture memories. Instead of doing what every dungeon core does (lure in people to kill and feed on them), she is a pacifist. So Delta creates a peaceful dungeon with friendly monsters and places for people to relax, also befriending the people from the strange village outside (which is full of powerful retired adventurers). Because wouldn't it be best if everybody was friends? And she likes puns, horrible horrible puns, infectious puns...

Style/Grammar: The story is told in third-person internal style from different points of view (Delta, the Dungeon-Menu-turned-sentient-entity "Nu", some of the monsters, outside people). Often there are multiple scenes in one chapter. The LitRPG parts come in clumps with long stretches in between, they're usually just upgrades with funny new options for the rooms/monsters. The flow of the words is fine with much variety, but it's not perfect; sometimes the wording is a bit unhandy. A few times per chapter there are slight oversights like a missing word in a sentence, a typo or a clause-change mid-sentence. Nothing that couldn't be rectified by a strict proofreading though, but the errors pointed out by readers are often not even corrected.

Story: Delta's pacifist-to-a-fault attitude can be a bit difficult to relate to when an experienced dungeon story reader thinks about the murderhobos that might lurk around the corner just waiting to burn everything down, but it works. Very well even! This is a refreshing and very cute story. The inhabitants of the dungeon are supported in their dreams by their loving creator-mother and the positive results that develop from this warm my cold and disillusioned heart. There is a large focus on the inhabitants of the dungeon and their activities. The puns, well, either you love puns or you hate puns depending on your personality, but they are high quality (that water in my eyes is, um, just the rain. Really!). 

What makes this story more difficult to read in the later chapters is the combination of irregular updates (intervals of multiple weeks) and the multitude of storylines which diverge from the earlier happy focus. There's Delta, there are her monsters, there are many different people from the village, there are (other people, censored because of spoilers), there are (non-natural entities) and (strange entities in other places) and (mysterious secrets). While the first three groups are closely connected, the rest often feel like disturbances. Especially when I come back to this story after half a year and find only five new chapters, I want to read about the funny occurrences in the dungeon or the village outside it, instead of some strange and serious stuff elsewhere or about some dark secret I long forgot the complicated connections to. 

Characters: Wow, just wow, this is what makes the story so enjoyable! Everybody has their own personality and quirks, from the monarchist spiders in the first room to the dungeon notification system to the friendly simple-minded child of overpowered village inhabitants. Some of them are very strange but they fit the story well. The characters feel really alive and are believable in their weird ways. The cast is extensive and it's not always easy to remember who's who, but almost everybody is enjoyable to read about. 

In total, a very recommendable story with a light and friendly tone and an unusual take on the dungeon core genre and very lovely characters. And with puns, I think I didn't mention them before. Extra points for the map!

TLDR: Very fun story if you are looking for light and funny reading. Not really worth it if you are into more "serious" stories. 

 WARNING: I tried to be as general as possible not to have any spoilers.

Let me be very blunt. I didn't like the story. It is not really my type of the narrative and even after reading 60 chapters I was struggling to keep myself engaged. But at the same time, I truly believe that this is an excellent story that fully deserves the praise that it gets. It is just not my cup of tea I guess. But let me elaborate:

I think the story title describes it perfectly. If you are here for an epic adventure full of heroic acts, intrigues and complex machinations - you are on the wrong webpage. This is a tale about people. A charming narrative that explores character interactions and is one of those refreshing slice-of-life tales, that leaves you smiling after every chapter. It is funny, it is fairly unique and the story at times gets quite complex and engaging. All of the characters are well developed and as story progresses we learn more and more about them in very organic way. At the same time for people like me, who read the stories for the thrill of challenge, wanting to experience main characters doing badass things in a badass ways, or alternatively enjoy joining MCs as they struggle for the survival in the cruel and unforgiving world, this story is not really for you. Characters do face struggles here, but the struggles they face are more personal rather than external. And the overall tone drifts much closer to the "friendship is magic" narrative, rather than fantastic realism that personally I prefer in my tales.

In the end I have nothing but compliments for author. I find it honestly unfortunate that I won’t be able to accompany you till the end of this fantastic story, but even though I can appreciate the quality of the tale, I can’t really relate with it. I wish author the best and see you all around on the RoyalRoad.

Now I'm no good at review's personally but I just have to give this story one even if it is Short.

MAP!!!!!! THERES A DUNGEON STORY WITH AN ACTUAL UNDERSTANDABLE DUNGEON FUCKING MAP!!! HALLELUJAH!!

P.S enjoying this story keep up the good work.

I have to be honest and score low on grammar and style. The errors appear consistently in every chapter, but I honestly don't even care -- this story is that good. The characters are defined and unique, with unexpected motivations and flaws. With a good editor this could easily be a top-selling ebook.

I implore you to look beyond the spelling, grammar, and occasionally clunky sentence structure. This is well worth a read. You won't be able to stop.

I have to be honest, when I read the synopsis of this story did I expect it to be the mainstream dungeon story that appear very frequently on this website.

I am glad that the author proved me wrong.

I am now at the latest chapter, 19, and I can honestly say that every chapter is entertaining and written in a way that draws you in.

It's impossible to stop reading and I look foward to future chapters.

It is a fun read and things are looking like they are heating up. Can't say I agree with the total pacifism the MC has going - leading me to roll my eyes more than once - but it is different. In a saturated genre filled with too much of the same, Puns manages to bring some fresh ideas to the bunch.

I really enjoyed digging into this dungeon core story.  There’s a real entertaining vibe to how the author writes.  They can bring simple characters to life in an endearing way that makes their struggles have weight.  Yes, the writing is pretty rough and the story can be chaotic.  However, there’s a lot of charm and an actual story arc that emerges from all the slice of life adventures.  It definitely had me hooked and wanting more.  Check it out if you are looking for a dungeon core story that’s light on violence and stats.

That being said, there are issues to highlight for more critical readers.  Here are my major gripes:

Grammar: It’s no bueno.  I often wondered if English was not the author’s native language as I read, which would be very impressive if true.  If not, well... it’s nothing a decent editor can’t fix.

Atmosphere: Yes, we know.  Delta is ridiculously adorable with all her loyal minions and quasi evil mushroom forests.  It’s hard not to root for her unless you are some kind of sociopath.  However, her world can feel about as dangerous as a Saturday morning cartoon for little girls.  Even with all the perils and monsters it’s just too soft and silly, like the author is aiming for a G rating for kids.  It’s what I like least about the writing.

Plot armor: Delta can basically do no wrong.  Everything she does, no matter how silly or foolish, miraculously works out for the best.  I’m not saying she doesn’t have struggles, but she often gets away with doing things poorly.  I get that her naivety and ineptitude is part of her charm.  Unfortunately, it can also undermine dramatic events knowing that she will be just fine regardless.

Any way, it’s a good story and a fun read.  My thanks to the author for sharing their hard work on RR!

I like dungeon stories, but I've always felt they tend to jump straight into being an adventurer from the other direction. Straight into killing people for resources. It's really nice to see a new angle. That said, it's still very classically dungeon-y. Monsters, traps, the usual.

Still, there's a lot of potential here. Our Main Dungeon does want to seem to spice things up, and I'm hopeful as things develop the formula will get more of a shake-up, and we'll get even more puns.

I feel like this will be a pretty straightforward, but loooooong overdue review. 

I have been following this story since the release of chapter 11, before I even made my account. Full disclosure, probably a pretty uncritical review because I am biased by my love for this story. The before chapter blurb from stewart has many many times brought sunshine into my day with a silly pun or a heartfelt message. 

For me, that is what this story is. Every so often, I get to check in with my friends and have a smile as we go through our crazy-ass lives together. My life has ups and downs, as do the characters, as does the author, as do we all- I am grateful to have this story in my life. Mush done ;) review time.

This is a dungeon core story. The bones are as we know them- reincarnated dungeon mama makes her own little paradise populated by her horrifying...beloved children. Adventurers come, adventurers go, some are naughty, some nice. Bigger bads in the back round creeping up ominously. Challenges pop up here and there; good times are had by some. Huzzah.

I have read many of these stories, if you have as well, you will quickly discover that this dungeon is special. The dungeon design is fun and unusual, but what really makes it special is the characters. You have never seen so much personality in a dungeon. When I review other stories I often talk about character development. At some points there is character development in the traditional sense- ie. you have a scene, you learn more about the characters history, why they are the way they are, cool story bro. However, what I care more about is that the characters in this story feel like real 'people'. The way they are written conveys their personality and beyond that the personalities are wildly varied and colorful and blending them together is a great time. I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.

Worldbuilding is relatively standard high fantasy done well. That is to say, it starts small, expands its scope at a good pace, and seems well thought out. I would call it about 30% more imaginative than your average fantasy world (this is an exact measurement backed up by real math that I refuse to show you, but definitely exists). I don't want to spoil it, but this story has, hands down, the best dungeon town I have ever experienced. There is the occasional expos dump, but if you read these stories with any regularity your tolerance likely won't be tested by this.

I find the style of this story really enjoyable. Character interaction is the real standout and the rest is competent.  Not a ton more I need to say on that.

The plot of the story (still ongoing of course) feels standard, but enjoyable. Pace is slow... again though, dungeoncore story, hi how are you? It is more complex than your average dungeon story, but the way in which it develops is par for the course. That is not to say it is lackluster, I enjoy it, it just isn't an M. Night Shyamalan movie (Avatar excluded- we will never speak of this again). Plot isn't what we are [*I am] here for.

Okay, love letter over. TL:DR shut up and read it

Stewart, thank you so much for your creation, your kind words... and your puns over the last few years (Note on the puns: truly awful -> pretty good, I love them all). Once again, I am very grateful for this story and you seem like a really kind person which counts for a lot. Cheers for Delta and her ragtag crew. Live long and prosper.