Approximately half of Rebuild World‘s numbered arcs are divided into two volumes. That includes the kickoff here in Rebuild World I, with Part One: The Alluring Specter and Part Two: Crazy, Reckless, and Rash. The second volume even picks up immediately after the first with the next numbered chapter (15), so I recommend picking up both together and just continue reading as if Rebuild World I‘s two books were one big release.
Set in futuristic Earth-like world, the young orphan Akira explores some ruins of the “Old World”, when society’s technology once was so amazing, it was almost like magic. Now, however, these monuments are destroyed and abandoned, with mechanical cyborgs and fearsome beasts — and sometimes cyborg-beast blends — liable to kill anyone they encounter. But by retrieving these monsters or other relics with lost tech, hunters can amass great fortunes…if they survive, of course.
On his first day as a hunter, Akira ends up meeting a naked young lady shrouded in light — one he cannot touch. Turns out Alpha is an AR computer generated being, and only Akira can “hear” and “see” Alpha. She offers Akira a deal: conquer a certain ruin, and she’ll help train him and provide him with equipment and her expert analyses in and out of battle.
Much of Rebuild World functions like a dungeon crawler: Akira goes into ruins or takes on monster-hunting jobs, fights and/or finds items, returns to base to collect his rewards, which he then uses to upgrade his equipment and item stock. He occasionally takes days off to rest or gather intel, but otherwise, rinse and repeat. There are questions about the shady government and Alpha’s mission, but so far, this is a series about Akira’s personal (and incredible) adventures and those connected to him rather than tackling a bigger narrative. Akira gains quite a few nice upgrades to expand his combat repertoire, but he and Alpha won’t be entering the final dungeon any time soon.
I’m assuming there will be some time skips involved, as right now, Akira is a child. How old of a child, who knows. But I hope he’s closer to the teen years than the tween years, as there are harem vibes with some flirting. Alpha is the biggest culprit, and sure, she is just a program, but it’s still rather unnerving for a self-proclaimed kid to be asked if he prefers her with or without clothing. He’s mostly immune to such talk, and the story seems to be pushing him toward a girl his age, but I must wonder as Akira gets older and gains more notoriety, more ladies will be joining his inner circle.
And Akira is already building quite a name for himself. Alpha can provide many functions for Akira, from calculating escape routes to running simulations to enhancing his tech, and he soon learns to put his full trust in her even though he may not fully understand why. Alpha questions Akira’s choices as well; the way he sometimes chooses violence and other times wants to help people bewilders her. I must side with her on this one, that sometimes his indifference to life seems illogical when he later ponders how to repay a debt. Rebuild World is better at how the protagonist is granted a great power, but Akira is forced to train and not just rely on Alpha. He does get injured, and he manages to avoid serious injuries thanks to rare medicine.
Yes, Rebuild World might make it sound like people in this world have been set way back in regards to technology, but the sci-fi elements are evident in many ways outside of Alpha, like battle suits, scanners, and even the Internet. It can be hard to reconcile some of this disconnect between the post-apocalyptic setting vs. futuristic tech — like no info about the collapse of the Old World but nanomachines that enhance strength can be stored in boobs — and then the author throws in some fantasy-like fog that can affect tech. I imagine based on the title the goal is to improve the desolate, crime-laden slums, but I wonder if this series would have been stronger without such stark financial classes between people (and areas) and gang wars and instead went full dystopian epic here.
Still, Rebuild World I should catch the attention of those who like dungeon series but with a sci-fi twist. Lots of jokes are made to Akira’s general unluckiness, and so despite his amazing assistant-slash-coach, he will likely suffer more setbacks. I hope as he grows, Akira’s thought process isn’t so whimsical, especially if future parts get into more sophisticated ruins and shady organizations.