The world as we know it is gone. Eli ‘Nacho’ Naches finds himself involved in a new reality with the rules of a video game, the Juxtaposition. Levels, skills, stat points, monsters, and dungeons are all part of this new reality, and it becomes obvious that he and the other humans fighting for survival in this world didn't grasp the rules well enough when they made their initial choices. Food and water are poisonous without proper processing, yet nobody chose the class or skills needed to make it edible, and all human players have become reliant on the game store for sustenance. An unsustainable situation. As players level up, they must eat higher tier food, and the prices increase beyond their ability to pay. Eventually they discover the only source of food they can afford that doesn't make them sick.....each other. That's when the game world turns into a living hell of cannibalism and eventually Nacho finds himself on the menu. That's when Nacho's patron gives him a boon, and grants him the opportunity to start over with his memories intact. Thus Nacho finds himself back in the normal world with six months to prepare for the Juxtaposition, and his best friends think he has lost his mind.

Nacho prioritizes saving his two best college friends even though they are not inclined to listen to him. Still, he finds a way to get them more involved in physical fitness, which should give them better stats and a more useful skill when they find themselves in the starter world. He also gives them some inside info to help them with their evaluation, which is the first step of the Juxtaposition where players do their best to survive alone and earn the credits needed to buy their starter class. This time around, Nacho does way better in his evaluation and earns enough to make a choice he never even knew existed, choosing "cook" as his class and becoming a satiation player. After all, if Nacho could find a way to provide proper food to his friends, and prevent the world from taking the dark turn he experienced the first time around, then he could make a real difference. 

The similarities to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series are obvious, and I must admit it did bug me at first, but LitRPG stories are destined to be somewhat similar because of their genre, so I found a way to enjoy it for what it was. This series lacks the charm of the main characters from DCC, but it also takes a more approachable course with the humor it brings to the table. There is a lot less crude sexual humor here, and instead it leans into bad puns to keep things light. In the end I enjoyed it enough to keep going and see if it is able to carve it's own path in this new crowded genre.

Welcome to the Juxtaposition. May Your Future Be Delicious!

MacLeod Andrews narrates the audiobook version and he does a decent job bring this world to life, making it a worthy listen.