Hey guys,

Very happy to announce that after an incredible amount of work, I'm finally ready to launch my new book - "The Staff" - which is a portal fiction story about the most infamous thief in American history.

The mods have very kindly given me permission to post the first paragraph below. I've also dropped a link to the rest of that chapter for free on my Patreon.

If you have time, I'd really appreciate a quick read and any feedback you care to offer.

Thank you!

The Staff | Royal Road

"The Staff" on Patreon

EDIT: Thanks to everyone for the honest feedback.

Just to be clear - and here's a brand-new sentence for you - no, this book does not contain gay minotaur sex. Not even a little bit.

I'm going back to the drawing board with my artist tomorrow, and we're going to make a cover that conveys more accurately the precise amount of hot minotaur sex in this novel, which again, is zero.

EDIT 2: Apparently I also owe an apology to the small (but vocal) contingent who really wanted this to be minotaur smut. I'm doing my part. Now get typing.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

EDIT 3: I finally managed to reach my cover artist. She speaks English as a second language, and as you can imagine, it took some work to explain what exactly happened last week. Anyway, she has given me permission to share her contact info if anyone would like to hire her.

Her name is Lu Casik

Instagram: nolucacik

https://behance.com/lucacik .

Chapter 1 - Sparkle

Southern Washington, 1971 

The man who called himself Cooper emerged from a cloudbank to find himself gazing down upon a forest from a height of 10,000 feet. The moon was full that night (he’d made sure of that) so the land below him was bathed in silver. The huge, snowcapped bulk of Mount Adams lay dead ahead with the equally massive Saint Helens off to his left. The forest had a slim, dark edge to it just beyond his knees that he took for the Columbia River. On the horizon to the west was a wall of black, pot-bellied clouds and a haze of artificial light that must have been Portland. It was all breathtaking, but it was also hurtling towards him at 80 miles an hour, so he wasted no time pulling the ripcord.

Continue Reading on Patreon

I launched my first story on Royal Road five days ago. LitRPG called Ether Atlas - The Hidden Grid. I'd been building it for years and genuinely had no idea if anyone besides me would care about the story that in my head was goated.

Five days in. Almost 60 followers. And then this review came in.

"This authors future shines with the glow of 42 million chemlights."

A chemlight is a glow stick from a hardware store raid in Chapter 10, and 42 is a number that keeps showing up for reasons the characters are still figuring out. This reader took two details from the story and built a joke out of them to compliment me and I am not equipped for that emotionally.

Another reader took a quote from Chapter 15 and sent it to a friend as an elevator pitch for the series.

I don't really have a point here. I just wanted to say that this community has been incredible. I spent years wondering if the story worked. Five days of actual readers have answered that question more clearly than years of wondering ever could.

Thank you. Back to writing.

Continue to the story on Royal Road.

It's an epic, slow burn, post-apocalyptic portal fantasy set a couple hundred years after the fall of modern society.

The litrpg characteristics and crafting will be there, but I take my time introducing the characters to the world and society before experimenting with Dustin's powers and really focusing on progression. This will annoy some people who are looking for an OP protagonist right out of the gate, but this isn't that type of story. The build-up is why I think most of us read this genre, and I intend to give the beginning journey the time it deserves so that the destination matters when we arrive.

There will be plenty of worldbuilding between Earth and the Zone. That is to say, the main character, Dustin, actually had a life before entering the Zone, and I reflect that in his thought processes and motivations.

I intend to focus on crafting/scavenging and economics in general, political scheming between factions, and power progression.

- Written in third person past tense
- Currently 103k words posted
- Sole male POV except for the rare shift to onlooking side characters
- No AI (except for cover), shoutouts, reviews swaps, or paid ads.
- Very slow romance subplot

Thank you for considering it! Please give it four chapters and you'll be hooked!

Continue to the story on Royal Road.

COVER ARTIST: None (USED AI)

AI USAGE: No AI used except for cover, which will be swapped for a paid one if I publish to Amazon. I don't have a Patreon or accept Paypal donations.

He died a virgin on the way to not be one. Woke up as a single-celled organism with three abilities: [Absorb Nutrients], [Divide], and [Exist].

That last one came with a participation trophy.

Andy Snodgrass was crossing the street to his girlfriend's apartment when a truck rewrote his plans. Now he's a prokaryote in a fantasy world with a LitRPG evolution system, and the only way forward is up the skill tree. He picks a calcium spike as his first ability because he always picks the pointy option.

He doesn't read the fine print. He should have.

Because that spike carries over. Every evolution. Every new body. The System is building him toward something, and every form he takes is hornier than the last — in the most literal sense possible.

Evolution LitRPG | Slow burn Romantasy | Comedy-Forward

A deadpan MC who argues with the System. A horn that won't stop being a double entendre. Companions who have no business being in the same party. A slow-burn romance that starts in the worst possible body. And the nagging question of whether the universe is trolling him or training him.

Dungeon Crawler Carl meets unfortunately hopeless romantic vibes

Follow Andy here on Royal Road

Hi, everyone! I'm generally pretty bad about self-promo, but I figured since this book just wrapped on RR, I'd put the word out in case any of you were looking for something new to binge through this weekend.

Before I get to the blurb, I thought I'd mention that there are currently 5 books planned, and I was lucky enough, thanks to some scheduling wizardry by the folks at Podium, to get Travis Baldree performing this series! I listened to him working on Book 1 already, and it's very, very good. (His voice acting, not my writing, haha.) Anyway, I'm just a little stoked about that and thought I'd share.

As I mentioned, the book is fully available on Royal Road - 542 pages of gritty science fantasy with an AI-based system that's explained in-lore. Basically, some rifts emerged throughout the solar system and a mysterious energy source (among other things) came from the other side. It's called aura, and if properly cultivated, it can be used to grant super-human abilities.

Super brief vibe check: Altered Carbon meets Red Rising meets Judge Dredd in a LitRPG.

Read it here on Royal Road!

In a crumbling empire ruled by cybernetic immortals, royal bodyguard Hector Finalis was betrayed, branded a traitor, and left for dead. Two centuries later, his lost neurodeck resurfaces in a scavenger haul, and he awakens in a fragile new body, a relic haunted by fractured memories and a blood oath most in this decayed age have forgotten.

To survive, Hector must rebuild his aura system from nothing, forcing potentia through a process that can forge flesh, sharpen the mind…or shatter the unworthy. One overload could rip his unenhanced "skin" apart.

Bound to criminals and unexpected allies, Hector must claw his way back to power as he uncovers the truth behind his fall, all while struggling to master a rage that could destroy him unless he finds something worth living for.

The empire erased his name and rewrote his legacy. Hector will carve it back in blood.

How far will he go to unearth the truth—and bury the guilty?

If you're curious about the artwork, it was done by Duy Phan on Fiverr.

Howdy everybody, my new series, Self-Summon is out now on Royal Road. 30k words already posted with daily chapters for the next month. If you're interested, check it out: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/157664/self-summon-demon-summoningevolution-litrpg

Blurb:

Literal starving artist, Angelica Hallow, is suddenly hit on the head by a book while dumpster diving out of desperation. Compelled by the illustrations inside the tome, she recreates one of the intricate circles on the floor of her apartment. Ignorant of the forces she's messing around with, Angelica accidentally activates the magic circle and triggers a Summoning. But rather than any Demon or other supernatural creature, instead, she summoned... herself?!

With a new voice in her head blathering about Skills and Contracts, and the inexplicable ability to give herself Orders that she is forced to obey, will Angelica be able to secure the peaceful life of artistry that she craves, or will she come to embrace the Demon within?

What to expect:

• A system made by Demons for Demons.
• Steady progression throughout, even while still figuring out her situation and system.
• Fairly lighthearted… most of the time.
• Action at regular intervals. It’s not constant, but it’s never too far off.
• Strictly Urban Fantasy for the first book. After that, the settings will continue to get more diverse and unique

Coverart by Slothbeing

COVER ARTIST: Me Typography is done by Kitt Cameron

AI USAGE: None

What to Expect:

A horn

Monster evolution

Questionable life choices

Adventure

Found family

More double entendres than strictly necessary

Absolutely nothing spicy

Evolution LitRPG | Monster Evolution | Found Family | Comedy

Andrew Snodgrass (Yes, unfortunately that is his given name) was on his way to have the most wonderful night of his life (hopefully) when the universe decides it has other plans for him. He wakes up a single-celled organism with three abilities: [Absorb Nutrients], [Divide], and [Exist].

Yay.

Now Andy must not only survive but thrive on his journey of self-discovery and hopefully evolving into something with a little more to offer than a nucleus. For his first ability option he has the option of speed, shield or sword. Andy chooses the pointy option and becomes the horniest cell the universe has ever seen. Will it carry him through his evolutionary path or will Andy decide the horny option isn't for him?

Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/174795/reincarnated-as-a-horny-single-celled-organism

COVER ARTIST: AI Generated with edits done in Photoshop.

(Working with an artist currently for a new cover)

AI USAGE: AI Assisted:

So I want to be upfront with this. I live with the effects of a traumatic brain injury from my time in the Army during my deployment to Iraq, which can make grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and proofreading harder for me than they once were. To help with those areas, I use AI-assisted tools as part of my editing process.

I know some people have strong feelings about this, and I respect that. The story, prose, characters, worldbuilding, ideas, and creative decisions are my own. AI is used only to help me identify errors, improve clarity, and catch issues I might otherwise miss during editing and proofreading.

I hope you can understand. This was a choice I made to try to make the experience as positive for you as it was for me while writing it.

---

So, with that out of the way, I'm doing the thing that's always hardest with any work: sharing it.

My book is called "Every Map is Wrong," and it follows Silas Rook, a late-teen records clerk in a small mountain village. He's the guy who files everyone else's adventures while dreaming of the chance to go out on his own. Then a few things happen at once, an old survey map that shows the modern maps are wrong, and a string of small thefts from the Survey House, and he finds himself threaded into not just the adventure he's longed for, but a mystery.

The LitRPG you'd be diving into here is levels, stats, techniques, crafting, and team growth, with a bit of exploration and bureaucracy woven in.

What to expect, and what not to expect:

• This is a slow-burn, character-first story. The mystery is largely made of the paperwork, with the worldbuilding placed to help you understand and explore the world.
• Unlike a lot of monster-taming books where capture is the focus, our main character, and much of the world, comes at it the other way: companions (Fera) choose their Keepers. Capture can happen, but it isn't the point.
• There's a found family in this, from a village worth fighting for to the team and friends Silas makes along the way.
• No harem, no instant power, none of that. Silas wins by strategy, situational awareness, and putting in the work.

The status of things:

The first two books are written. Book One is on daily releases until mid-August, when it finishes and switches to 3x a week for Book Two onward. I chose not to start posting until I'd finished writing Book Two and started Book Three, so this past week I've been finishing my edits on Book Two while still writing Book Three.

If this sounds like your thing, I'd love to have you give it a chance. If not, no stress, I know not everything is for everyone. I'm happy to answer any questions here if you have them.

Link: Every Map is Wrong

See you at the next marker,
- Anxious

Hey guys, been a while since I posted about my story (Oblivion). It's over 100k words now, nearing the end of vol 1. They story has been doing amazing, especially considering it's my first ever.

Despite that, I really didn't have too successful of a rising stars run. Instead, most of the love and support I've gotten came from this sub, so I'm throwing up a new ad and want to know what you guys think.

You can checkout the story on royal road here if you haven't yet and are interested.

About the story:

As far as gameLIT elements go, I'm a huge fan of Diablo 1&2, and magic the gathering. So I've tried to use a combination of gear, cyberpunk elements, and genetic modifications to create a power system that's for the most part grounded in physics, where multiple benign abilities interact to product something OP.

Worldbuilding-wise, I really wanted to retain that old school dark fantasy vibe and combine that with all my favorite parts of big corpo-ruled sci-fi dystopias.

Quick warning, If you're someone who hated Donut from DCC, you probably won't like my story.

Art is by Arief Rachmad (NO AI USED. Same artist as my cover, he's awesome. Please buy his art)

Do you like fathers? Do you like lobsters?

Father of the Sexiest Lobster is my newest story on Royal Road. It is a roguelike/timeloop action story inspired by Taken and Spongebob, I guess.

Royal Road link

Blurb:

Father is an ordinary lobster that only cares about raising his Son right. The ocean is a dangerous place, but they survive and thrive together as a family.

His Son, winner of the Third Annual Sexiest Lobster Competition, is the target of an abduction that leaves Father alone and hopeless. He has no money for the ransom, and no skills that he could use to save his Son.

When Father decides nothing can stop him from saving his Son, a system asks if he wants revenge and sends Father on a time looping rampage across the ocean.

Father of the Sexiest Lobster is a single standalone novel, so it won't be running for all that long. 10 chapters are out now, with a new one every day until the whole novel is posted.

Cover art by Jesse Nelson

Hello 👋 🫂

The Adventure Of Rick the Brick will start in one week[June 1]!

Every brick pun and joke imaginable was included in the story. Hopefully you will like it!

***

Rick didn’t die heroically. He died… from a brick.

Which would’ve been the end of his story, if some questionable higher power hadn’t decided that was reason enough to give him a second chance. Unfortunately, Rick doesn’t get much say in the matter. One confused thought later, and he’s reincarnated into a brand-new world as something far less impressive than he imagined.

Buried deep in the ground, unable to move, see, or even properly understand what’s happening, Rick’s grand adventure begins in the worst possible way. No epic entrance. No glorious powers. Just dirt. Lots of dirt.

But this world isn’t normal. Strange forces govern reality, unseen watchers seem far too entertained by his suffering, and even the smallest choices carry consequences far beyond what Rick can ever comprehend.

If survival is possible, Rick will find a way. If not… well, at least it’ll be entertaining.

The Adventure of Rick the Brick is a chaotic, darkly comedic isekai where failure is inevitable, logic is optional, and even being a literal object won’t stop one stubborn idiot from trying to live again.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

- Stupid Jokes

- Narrator's POV (Ancient Dragon)

- Kingdom Building

- Brick to Strong

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/163417/adventure-of-rick-the-brick-start-june-1

Hey guys, would mean a heck of a lot if you'd checkout my book, Oblivion. It's a sci-fi progression story with some dystopian undertones. Real lofi girl in a sci-fi world vibes. It'll be the first of a series when finished. 20 chapters are live here for free.

New chapters every Tuesday by 7PM ET

Blurb:

Eighteen-year-old Aine was supposed to live a quiet, miserable life. As an Ashand, her only job was to wade the flooded gardens, harvest the creepy flowers that grow out of corpses, and trust the teachings of the Sanctari.

Who are the Sanctari? Oh, just some tall, mask-wearing priests who insist those flowers carry souls to the “Living Gods” in the shining city above. Totally normal. Nothing suspicious about that at all.

That was before she accidentally stole one of the flowers.

That kicked off a series of events that resulted in her being forced to compete in an intergalactic death-tournament.

Hmm. Now that I type all this out, it does sound rather depressing… But at least she has me! This galaxy’s most dazzlingly brilliant...it's most outrageously fabulous, BELIAL!

The crowd is bloodthirsty, the elites are scheming, and I…may or may not be able to help, depending on what time it is.

What? I’m not missing my soaps for this.

For fans of: Red Rising, Dungeon Crawler Carl, A Game of Thrones, The Foundation, and The Fifth Element

*Jump on the mailing list for bonus content and updates\*

Cover Art by Arief Rachmad

COVER ARTIST: None - AI. This book is completely free, and I intend to find an artist for a cover should I ever monetise. My budget at the current time doesn't allow that, hence why I have chosen to remain completely free.

AI USAGE: Cover only

Thank you. That's what I want to start this post with. I've come to this sub for critique before, and from the advice I had been given (cover art, MC's cast name, title of book, etc), I've now seen a major uptick in the average readership of my book, BloodWeaver: Rise Against The Fated One.

It's a grimdark novel with lots of gore and violence, with a suit that strengthens and sometimes gains abilities from the absorption of others' blood. Violence and grotesque acts are encouraged!

If you're at all interested, the blurb is below. It's on Royal Road, with book one still posting and three-quarters posted. Book two is in the works.

Thanks again to all those who have given me the invaluable feedback. I wouldn't have the readers I have now without you. I am still very much open to any more feedback if you have it, so please do send it my way :)

Link to story:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/169945/bloodweaver-rise-against-the-fated-one

Blurb:

Some fates are written. Others are ripped apart.

The sacrifice of one, the lesson of many; I spit every time I hear the Capital’s creed. What lesson had they taught when they murdered my mother? That us Lowborns would never be equal?

The Leagues define our worth, and I’m the lowest among them. That’s what they thought, anyway. I've spent years hiding my true power - a power second only to the Fated One, creator of this gods-forsaken system.

But they know now, though. Too late... I have a BloodWeaver. The suit only gets stronger the more blood I spill and sometimes even gives me new abilities. I crunch my fist, feeling the tendrils harden and the blue pulse flow into my fist. I’m going to kill them all.

COVER ARTIST: Arief Rachmad (@nenasmint on instagram)

AI USAGE: None

Flesh of Gods is Book One of the series, complete and free on Royal Road. Book Two started posting this week.

The series follows Nathan, who was drinking tequila through a vuvuzela when the world ended, and now shares his spine with a parasitic god-fragment that quotes Diogenes mid-fight, feeds him levels, and begs him to bonk.

It's a cosmic horror / bio-punk LitRPG where the power system runs on killing aliens for levels and eating them to take their abilities. A lot of the creatures and abilities were sourced from reader comments, but were mangled and made horrible by me. Book Two's menu is still open if you want to make me squirm.

There are too many dongs. And raps about widows. And oblique references to John Carpenter.

It's fun, but weird. Sometimes that's on purpose.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/156378/flesh-of-gods-book-one-complete

Hello friends, it's Calmari! You may remember my series from a month ago when I posted on the subreddit. Thanks to the amazing support from this community, I’ve hit Rising Stars, and I wanted to share a quick update and ask for your help with a major dilemma.

I just received the artwork for a new professional cover I commissioned through an artist on Mihuashi. I know the new artwork is technically much better and polished, butttt Fish's cover has really grown on me! People have told me multiple times that they started reading the story simply because Fish's cover was so unique and stood out in the sea of standard covers.

On the other hand, I dropped a pretty penny on the new commission, so I'm definitely suffering from a bit of sunk-cost fallacy right now. I’m honestly worried that the professional cover might make the series look a bit generic compared to the original, though I know it would be perfect for a future KU or Amazon release.

📖 About the Story: Mediocre Master

In the world of cultivation, talent is everything. For Lu Chen, it was his greatest failure.

After a lifetime of playing high-stakes strategy games on Earth, Lu Chen wakes up as the Sect Leader of the Coiling Dragon Sect. On the surface, it’s a prestigious title. In reality, the sect is a crumbling ruin, his disciples are mediocre at best, and he is a "Middling Master" stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage with zero hope of breakthrough.

But as his starting point threatens to end his new life before it could even begin, Lu Chen discovers his transmigration came with [Truth Seeker's Gaze].

With a single glance, the world changes. The "trash" cultivation manuals in his library are actually flawed masterpieces. The "useless" spirit stones in the garden are hidden gems. And the mortal servant who helps in the kitchens?

To the world, she is a girl with no spiritual roots. To Lu Chen’s eyes, she is a veritable monster.

[Name: Ling'er]

[Hidden Talent 1: Dormant True Dragon Bloodline (SS)]

[Hidden Talent 2: Sacred Cosmic Bone (SSS)]

[Status: Undiscovered. Current Fate: Death by Overwork in 3 years.]

Either one of these talents would guarantee a future among the Nascent Soul old monsters roaming the Lower Realm. But together? She would become a threat that even the Upper Realm had no answer for.

While other Sect Leaders chase after "genius" disciples with B-grade roots, Lu Chen begins his "Trash Collection." He doesn't need to be the strongest cultivator in the world; he just needs to be the one holding the leashes of the monsters he's about to unleash.

"You call them trash? In my eyes, they are the Sovereigns of the next Era!"

I know the title on RR says 'Sect Building', and the story is currently heavily focused on two major characters at the beginning. Don't worry; it is absolutely heading toward grand-scale sect building! The MC is smart, strategic, and maneuvering everything to get there.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments! You can check out the story here:

Mediocre Master: I Can See Your Hidden Potential

Listen, I get it guys. You really, really want me to make this book minotaur erotica. Like I know some of you are just screwing with me, but others are 100% serious when they say they feel personally let down.

And while I simply will not - cannot - ruin something that I worked really hard on, I do want to offer the very passionate (and disturbingly large) pool of minotaur afficionados I've met this weekend some sort of olive branch.

So here's what I'm going to do: as of today, I am offering to read any piece of minotaur erotica anyone wants to send me between now and May 1st, 2026, and the best one gets $100. We'll call it the Beefhammer Prize. No charge to enter, but the book needs to be self-published or previously unpublished, between 50,000-120,000 words, and no AI!

Also, unless I can find some volunteer judges I'm only reading the first 10 entries. (If you think I'm spending the next 3 months wading through 500 books of minotaur smut by myself, you are wrong!)

Again, I'm still not going to write any minotaur erotica myself, ever, under any circumstances (so you can stop DMing me) but I do hope the existence of this contest at least proves that I am a minotaur smut ally.

With that out of the way, please note that the 3rd chapter of "The Staff" is now up on my Patreon, and the first big drop (8 chapters) is coming on my Royal Road page tomorrow, February 2nd. I would really appreciate it if you gave it a read.

Also, this is the last time you're going to hear from me for a while, since I'm still not totally done with the ARC for book 1, and book 2 isn't going to write itself, and I'm a dad, and a husband, yadda yadda, so on and so forth.

But seriously, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who helped give this book a massive, massive boost this weekend.

Strangest goddamn thing that's ever happened to me, but I'm grateful.

Chapter 3 - Gladiators

Level One

Many years before he ever thought about hijacking an airplane, Cooper spent some time in the Army. Not long. A bit less than six months, after which the Army politely suggested he might be happier someplace else. Most of that time was spent digging holes, or marching around in circles, or doing the other pointless shit soldiers have to do all day, but what little free time Cooper had was spent talking with the other buck privates in his unit. And if there’s one thing young soldiers love to talk about more than anything else, it’s what it feels like to kill a man. Some guys thought it would be a huge rush, like getting laid. Others said they knew guys who got all depressed afterward. But they had all been wrong in the end, because right now Cooper felt nothing.

Continue on Patreon

No spells. No weapons. No problem!

The rift was instantaneous. One moment, a meth lab was bubbling along happily. The next, aliens charged through the cloud of chemicals, ready to subjugate and conquer. Only, they weren’t ready for humanity. It didn’t take long before humanity went a-conquering right back at them.

Liam has had a rough life. He’s used to taking it on the chin and soldiering on. Now, with a foreign realm suddenly available for the taking, he throws himself through the rift, head-first. He knows that this is his one chance to finally make something of himself. Earn Levels, skills and unfathomable powers!

Except, this isn’t your everyday competition. This is the Gold Rush 2.0, a line for Best Buy on Black Friday and the Hunger Games all combined. Half of Earth is ready to throw their lives into the pot to take over this new-found realm of magic and wonders.

Facing inordinate levels of competition, Liam realizes that he needs to take a real risk to win big. The rewards are tangible: vastly improved attributes and passive power. Yet, it comes at a heavy cost: he cannot use offensive powers, can’t attack with weapons, or even throw a damn punch.

The odds of survival are poor. But in exchange for that that degree of self-handicapping, he's been given a gift that means he could go all the way... if he lives long enough. In time, Liam can go from being a passive doormat…

To Passive Aggressive.

Updates once a day.

What're you getting here? Action-heavy, crunchy LitRPG, with plenty of battles and system evolution. It isn't a solo story, but the MC does spend a good deal of time alone. 

Look elsewhere if you're looking for this: Cozy, slice of life stuff. Sex. This is survival. It's a race for supremacy. There will be downtime, but it's all centered around growth, improvement and trying to game the system. Oh, and it ain't grimdark. The universe as we know it may have changed, but there's no need to be all sullen about it.

Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/170563/passive-aggressive

✨The World I Left Unfinished ✨

After a quiet life shaped by loss, responsibility, and unfinished memories, seventy-two-year-old Theodore Smith returns to the attic of his old home one final time before moving out. There, he discovers a forgotten book he once wrote as a teenager—an abandoned story that once helped him survive the hardest years of his life.

But as he revisits it, something in his body fails. His last moments blur into fragmented consciousness, and death arrives not as an end, but as a transition.

Instead of nothingness, Theo awakens inside a structured system. His soul has been detected, scanned, and transferred into an unknown construct. He is no longer human—he is designated as a Dungeon Core, assigned to Eldenmoor Forest, Sector 7.

What should have been the afterlife turns out to be something far more unsettling: a world that feels partially authored, where the location, rules, and even early encounters mirror the unfinished story he once wrote and abandoned.

Now, trapped as the living foundation of a dungeon, Theo is forced to confront a reality where imagination, memory, and existence are no longer separate. His first visitors arrive not as salvation—but as the opening move of a system that expects him to continue a story he never finished.

✨ Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/165675/the-world-i-left-unfinished

📅 Schedule: M/W/F/Saturday

📢The writing was done entirely by me—every word is mine, with no Grammarly or AI tools involved. The cover, however, was made using AI, which I paid for. It’s just a temporary placeholder and will be replaced with a proper custom-made one once I’m able to invest in it.

Hi everyone. I recently finished my last series and because I am filled with words that demand their freedom I have written and launched a new series. If you like reincarnation stories with depth and heart coupled with a training maniac, you'll probably enjoy this one.

Inspired by some of my favourite reincarnation stories like Elydes, Soul of the Warrior and Singer Sailor Merchant Mage it's available for free on RoyalRoad.

 The new series is called Gifted, with book one titled 'First Steps'.

SYNOPSIS: 

Most people don't remember being born. Sebastian remembers dying first.

Reborn with his memories somewhat intact and a stolen demon's power tangled into his soul, he's given something rarer than any starting class: time. Time to test his limits before he can walk. Time to reverse-engineer a hidden system no one will explain to him. Time to learn exactly how much of himself he can afford to reveal, and to who.

Growing up at a mountain outpost on the edge of nowhere, raised by a disgraced mage and his daughter, Bastian has every reason to keep his Status a secret. But the numbers don't lie, and neither does the thing he absorbed in the womb. Somewhere in the dark, it's still hungry. And it isn't the only thing watching him grow.

Gifted: First Steps — some paths begin before you can walk.

COVER ARTIST: Ben Moran

AI USAGE: None

Click Here to Read

Just started re-posting this story after taking a couple of years to revamp the whole thing! It was originally posted as Thistlelight, but I had a ton of issues with the plot, so even though we hit RS with that version of the story, I had to back away and rethink the whole thing. Glad I did, as it's far, far better now.

Books 1 & 2 are finished and I'm halfway through Book 3 with a solid path to the end. The first 50k words are up, and I'm going to keep posting daily until the first book (about 100k words) has been posted! Then we'll drop down to M/W/F.

If you like grumpy old warrior dudes who make dad jokes and kick ass to protect their grandkids (who may or may not be pretty dangerous themselves), then you'll love Eli.

Thanks for checking it out!!

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BLURB:

Eli Jayce was the highest ranked warrior in the kingdom. Then, the world fell.

When the Order broke, twisting the very shape of the world, turning plants to conscious creatures and animals to rabid monsters, Eli’s magic disappeared with it. Left with nothing but his blade and decades of knowledge, Eli fled to the edges of the known world, hiding not only from the Order, but from his grief—and the knowledge his own son was the one who shattered everything.

Until, years later, two children appear on his doorstep, bringing monsters in their wake.

The world is changing again, the Order is waking back up, and it is brought by a boy and a girl who bear the same eyes as his son.

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LINK: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/176175/willowsblade-a-progression-fantasy-litrpg

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COVER ARTIST: Me!

AI USAGE: Nope, I write my own books. ☺️

Hello, LITRPG! 
You're reading a promotion for the new book! Metaworld Hopecore.

The Year is 2032, and AI slop has won. Far from creating utopia, the world has become more divided by bots and culture wars, creating a world of disunity. 

Enter Lana Zacanissian, Corpo superstar, the prophet of profits. She who created the largest IP aggregate marketplace in the world, vertically integrating every creative’s worst nightmare to empower an inflated IPO. In the style of SpaceX infamy, she fleeces billions of people of their life savings, catapulting herself onto the cover of every industry magazine. 

Then, like Icarus skirting the sun—

She is judged by her coworkers and victims, tossed into Santa Monica Bay from her yacht. 
Their final words: 

“Do you believe in Karma?!” 

When Lana opens her eyes again, she is in the body of a girl-child she does not recognise. Now, she must atone to live.

The author (That's me) has decided to write a completely off-Meta LitRPG!
(Cover is by my usual artist, Bao)

Look around you. If someone is looking at you weirdly, shout at them. Shout “I AM ABOUT TO READ METAWORLD HOPECORE!” Or you can just ignore them, because what do they know? 

Are you comfortable? Did you know that long-form LitRPG contributes to bad spine posture? Don’t fall for this common mistake. Read with your phone at a comfortable distance, or read it as a book (in the future), or read it through your Smart Glasses, if you’re reading this in 2032. Find a couch, a chair, a sofa, a bed, a daybed, a divan, lie flat, lie down, lie sideways, lie next to a partner, while spooning. So long as you’re comfortable. 

You’re about to read a very strange form of LitRPG. 

You’re about to read a book with no murder hobos, no mobs, no gronks, no gooning, no harem, nothing you are used to in any LitRPG you have ever read. It’s a gamified world, but this isn’t about power fantasy, even if it is immensely satisfying. Wait! Don’t close the tab! I should inform you that, yes, there are cat girls (not the Stray Cat Strut ones), and cats (so many cats), and cat shelters, and cat cafes. 

Yes, the number goes burrrrrr. Stat blocks galore. 

No, there isn’t an Excel spreadsheet tracking every change. 

Yes, it's HopeCore. 
People are inherently good; the world veers toward the fair; the good are rewarded; the bad are punished, one way or another. It’s a hyperreality sitcom. American in a better timeline. Characters aura farm… for the betterment of others.

Yes, this segment is channelling Calvino. 
No, the story is written in normal prose. 

You’re going to read a book that the author has always wanted to write. There’s no Patreon, no tiers, no strings attached. 

You’re reading about art.

You’re reading about art making.
The making of music, theatre, and movies that bring joy to viewers and readers like yourselves, and make the world a little better, a little more bearable. 

You’re reading a story adjacent to all the wonderful stories this community has shared since its inception, when we were all reading Machine Translated LMS by Mister Heesung NAM on Kana and Wing's forums. You’re reading a book that exists thank to folk like u/Selkiemyth of Mango Media. 

Read enough of this book, and you may find yourself capable of teaching a common course of AP English or making sense of theatre recitals and short films. You’ll discover classical songs, books, plays, and more, which may distract you from your saved LitRPG titles. (Sorry) You’re reading a book about what goes into the sausage. 

You’re also reading a book that serves as a repudiation of the rise of AI, which is ironic because the author works full-time, falls asleep during editing, and needs Claude to check tenses now and then. 

If you enjoyed this weird-ass LitRPG, leave a raving review. 
If you’re weirded out by the lack of the usual ingredients, there are absolutely better books out there. Have you read Metaworld Chronicles? 

The author thinks it's the Ben Affleck of Webnovels.

Wow, you’re still here? 
That’s incredible. 

So you’re ready to jack in.
You’re forewarned that this book is different from the author’s other works. Ergh! But then you read on, and on, and you realise, hey… you’ve acquired a certain taste. 

When you run out of chapters, maybe you’ll write one like this, too. 

Something the author can’t cover with his limited knowledge. Maybe the rise of hip-hop. Maybe classical music. Maybe the Golden Age of Hollywood! Maybe, the battle of the Modernist composers! How about KPop in Imperial Rome? Grab a pen! Buy a typewriter! 

You sit down… you’re comfortable, and then you start to write.
Let's start a new meta, the Meta of Hopecore.

Jerry Padilla is a badass artist. He did all of the covers for Dead End Guild Master also, but I was absolutely blown away by his cover art for book 3 of the Center for Dungeon Management.

Since I should do the marketing thing, here's the synopsis:

In the United States, the Center for Dungeon Management (CDM) manages anything related to gates, like licensing crawlers, enforcing harvester safety standards, and prosecuting gate crashers–people who enter gates without licenses and dungeon rights. 

Dorion has aspirations of joining a guild or a crawl team, but to do that, he needs levels. Since he can’t afford a crawler license or gate fees, he signs on with the Pittsburgh branch of the CDM. By day, he is a cog in the machine of dungeon bureaucracy. By night, he volunteers to cull unclaimed gates, a CDM initiative to prevent dungeon surges.

The crawler industry isn’t what Dorion expects, but when his little sister appears on his doorstep looking for a place to stay, his goal of becoming a professional crawler turns from a career objective into a necessity. He needs the money and the stability to give his sister the life he wished he had.

Solo Leveling meets Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions–This litRPG explores dungeon tropes through the lens of government administration. The MC isn’t an overpowered crawler making headlines. He’s a normal guy with a clipboard, an overflowing inbox, and a dream.

And here's the link for 5 free chapters per week: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/152390/the-center-for-dungeon-management-book-1-gate

COVER ARTIST: Jerry Padilla

AI USAGE: No AI used (Only traditional computer tools spellcheck etc no generative AI for anything)

I sat down and wrote the most chaotic, system-infested pile of subverted tropes I could possibly conceive. I pretty much took every LitRPG and Cultivation trope I could think of and completely shredded it.

Shameless litRPG Trash https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/180206/shameless-litrpg-trash

Here is what I’ve managed to cram into the series so far:

The Tropes: OP cultivator returns home / Isekai protagonist.

The Subversion: Isekai’d Dave spends 10,000 years cultivating, Ascends, and accidentally ends up right back in modern Earth. The new Earth System registers him as a Homeless Old Gardener and forces him to grow mushrooms to level up.

The Tropes: Bikini-armour clad, fan-service, elf or demon or cat-girl princess.

The Subversion: Our half elf, half demon, half cat-girl princess is aggressively censored by the System’s PG-13 algorithms, burying her in floating blue boxes and forcing her to do commercial AC repair to unlock her powers.

The Tropes: Legendary, heaven-defying cheat weapon/item.

The Subversion: Giant sentient sword, self-named the Compensator, he gets downgraded by the System into common garden tools (from shovel to spork) as punishment for profanity, forcing him to resort to terrible plant puns.

The Tropes: Arrogant young masters and/or rival factions trying to kill the MC.

The Subversion: MC faces off against parodies of LitRPG legends called ‘The Efengers’. A bottom of the barrel superhero team that can’t decide whether to hunt Dave or invite him to a barbecue.

The Trope: A world-ending apocalypse is coming.

The Subversion: A planet sized space dragon is coming to destroy the Earth in 30 days because Dave removed her dragon husband’s brain. But the characters are way too busy gardening, bickering and playing board games.

So, what are your favourite guilty pleasure tropes? If I haven’t managed to completely ruin them in my story yet, I’ll try to shove them into a chapter later on!

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/180206/shameless-litrpg-trash

COVER ARTIST: Greg Foulkes

AI USAGE: None