Sifting through the mass of shit isekai to try and find something tolerable...
Idea came to me.
New isekai, but not some tepid gutless nerd or wage slave who gets pulled in with cheat skill.
But.. say a Chromed up Runner from cyberpunk style universe. Not the stupidly overdone ones, but cyberware on the scale of shadowrun and cyberpunk 2077. With all their chrome intact.
Doesnt all go their way of course. Magic is new and terrifying, amd turns out Skills can compensate a good bit as well.
Not the standard overpowered MC who can kill 10000 orcs with single swing of their sword, but worls with the cunning ruthlessness of a Runner and some top of the line Chrome.
And fun stuff like them weirded out by the taste of fresh egetables and meat as they are used to Soy products, for someone from cyberpunk 20xx the very prudish in comparison to "modern culture" of way people dress. First time they see a dragon just, ".... Nope." Out cause fuck you thats a giant flying fire breathing lizard!!! I aint sign up to fight no Kaiju! How they call everybody working the desk at the adventures guild Johnson.
Heh. Generic badguy counting on an import hero going to be all noble and merciful like every other isekai protag.. only to get a knife buried in their eye, "Seriously? You think imma fall for that crap..?" Some corrupt noble trying to take their Sacred Armor "Dude. Thats my skin Bruh."
And for the dark parts, slow onset of cyberpsychosis from the isolation they feel trapped in this new world that barely seems to tolerate them, the stress from food not having all the stimulants and sedatives put in to keep population placid but productive and the other additives causing withdrawl aches and such. The lack of modern comforts like hot shower, vids to watch, internet to surf, all those things.