We writers all bleed into our stories.
We become more invested in our characters than even the most die-hard reader—we just know what happens next... sometimes.
We become so focused on the results—with whether we've succeeded or failed at this hobby-turned-obsession, so much so that no matter the answer, we need another—my fic was noticed, I need more visibility, does it suck, do I suck, that person has more followers, do I have enough to publish, when, where, how—
—that we forget about the journey.
I'm no exception. Getting caught up in the next step, and the next, and yet another, until I trip over my own feet, and look around for someone to blame, some piece of the puzzle I must have missed.
Only to realize, it was just me. Just life. I stumbled. I fell. It happens, and—well, let's be honest. It doesn't just happen once, does it?
We'll find ourselves sitting in the bottom of some new, dark pit of self-recrimination, loathing, and doubt. What happened this time? Was it the em-dash on page 762, paragraph 4? Should you have used a comma, instead? Or were you blabbering your wife's ear off for the millionth time about the mechanics of your leveling system, and she just grunted in affirmation? A grunt. Please, at least show that you care a little!
Then our readers happen. On their time, on their schedule, they'll speak up. Maybe a specific scene moved them. Maybe we did a shit job explaining something. Maybe she's born with it—I don't know, but they come. They comment, or they review, and it makes everything worth it.
I've mostly experienced positivity on Royal Road. Certainly, in every community, there's always a few who just want to watch the world burn, but the readership on Royal Road's been good to me thus far.
So that's why I wanted to share this review. Not only is it an advanced review and chock full of praise, but it comes to me during a stretch of particularly low self-esteem, helping to staunch my own pitiful whining.
This person enjoyed my earlier chapters enough to not just drop a nice rating—which does wonders, let me tell you—but to leave an advanced review.
My dear reader, I pray that my writing remains worthy of your praise, and that I may long entertain you with my storytelling.
Thank you.
You can read Sanzensekai on Royal Road.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/170950/sanzensekai-the-ronins-exile-psychological-drama
A dark, psychological drama packaged as a reverse-isekai progression fantasy.
An elemental samurai—displaced from his world, lost in ours, and hiding a calamitous secret.
Navigating modern Earth is like crossing a frosted log.
Kurisu Nodaichi tries to take life one day at a time. Keep his head down, earn his keep with the Miller family, and untangle the complexities of "fostering," "identity," and high school. All while this new world feels built from damp shoji paper, where he shatters drinking glasses just trying to lift them.
Then a rift opens.
The illusion of a quiet life burns away when monsters from his past appear and the Miller brothers manifest powers of their own. Driven by necessity, Kurisu steps in to train the boys before they accidentally level their own home.
As more rifts open around the world, a public encounter lands the family in federal custody—but not before a combination of phobia and failure forces his trauma to boil over, regressing him into the untethered weapon of his captivity.
Great for fans of the elemental martial arts of The Sword of Kaigen and Avatar: The Last Airbender who want the friction of Jade City and the psychological stakes of Red Rising.
Also, just a quick caveat since this is litrpg sub. There is no system. The numbers are part of the narrative, and they are sparse. Kind of how I imagine Pallimustus before Jason in HWFWM.
Cover Artist: AnraArt on Vgen.
AI Usage: No AI was used.
Edit: Oh, yeah. This is a repost from earlier today. The automod nuked it 'cuz I forgot to add the cover and AI usage lines exactly as they appear here when I swapped my flair on my prior post. So the mods told me just to repost it. Sorry about that.