Hell to Pay
A new side novel set in the Ascend Online universe! 'Book 1.5'
Lazarus Cain is a member of the Grim Shadows, one of the Thieves Guilds in the city of Eberia. Unfortunately, Lazarus is having a bad day. Waking up in a torture chamber, suffering from amnesia, he’d be pretty much screwed if not for the mysterious, magical sigil burned into his chest.
Sometimes a really bad day should be shared with others, especially professional torturers.
Lazarus will need to use all his cunning and skill to work with his comrades, uncovering schemes within schemes, discovering that The Grim Shadows are not the only Thieves Guild in the city mired in conflict. What’s more, the leaders of the other guilds, the Thief Lords, don’t respond well to treachery…
Readers also enjoyed
Luke Chmilenko
When Luke Chmilenko first sat down to write Ascend Online, he wasn’t trying to start a movement—he just wanted to tell the kind of story he’d always wanted to read. A story where the game wasn’t just background noise, but the world itself. Where the stakes were more than loot drops, and choices had lasting consequences. That book, published in 2016, quickly became a defining entry in the LitRPG genre—one that helped shape the virtual battlegrounds readers now devour with fervor.
Ascend Online
In the world of Ascend Online, reality is just one layer of a sprawling universe waiting to be explored—and conquered. This immersive virtual game isn't just a pastime; it's a battleground where players face high stakes and even higher rewards. At the heart of the story is a young man named Marcus, whose journey begins as an ordinary gamer seeking escape but soon turns into something much more. When he logs into Ascend Online, he finds himself swept into a game where the stakes are real, and the line between virtual and physical begins to blur.
Ascend Online consists of five books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

