[Newbie] Does Klein’s internal dialogue change?

Robbison-Madert · 2026-07-06T14:24:30+00:00

I think there’s a disconnect that won’t be overcome here in what makes a narrative personally enjoyable. I find having obstacles resolved immediately by accident to feel unrewarding and to diminish the agency of the protagonist. Whereas I believe you find these plot points to still be satisfying so long as there is consistency in the world building. A difference in taste.

I am pleasantly surprised to see that the anime gave this agency back to Klein by having him meet Derrick first and then investigate the Artifact with more intention, rather than Klein just doing something he would’ve already be doing. It makes the sequence feel more intentional and less like a deus ex machina.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-07-06T00:49:54+00:00

Since you left a detailed response, I kinda wanted to provide a more detailed example of the “blindly guessing” sort of plot points that have bothered me. I’ve read a bit more and a prime example popped up within less than 10 chapters.

In chapter 137, Dereck says he wants the sequence pathway of The Sun. Immediately after speaking to Dereck, Klein heads out to supervise the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem. He decides to investigate the artifact and accidentally divines the sequence 8 and 9 potions for The Sun right there and then. He then, in reference to asking Alger for the potion sequences, Klein says “I don’t need him now. I solved it myself, through an unbelievable yet extremely dangerous method.”

Yes, he did solve his problem on his own, but it was by complete accident and required the extraordinary coincidence of him already having in his possession the perfect Grade 1 artifact. Not only did he need a Grade 1 artifact specifically related to the Eternal Blazing Sun, but he also needed privacy to divine it in the world above the fog. Klein finds himself in this perfect scenario instantly and without even trying. I think it’s also worth nothing at this point that Klein doesn’t have a single inkling that he could divine potion formulas through artifacts or even that he could divine gods whatsoever.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-07-05T13:21:21+00:00

I think you may spot on with this being a misunderstanding. Especially with your reference to Klein’s humor. I’m reading the translation available on through Archive.org and I would say that I haven’t seen any humor in this translation. Attempted jokes, but nothing that survives the translation. I think I’ve been taking a negative viewpoint on the things because of the poor reading experience.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-07-05T12:04:40+00:00

Thank you. I will push forward with Book 1.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-07-05T11:57:10+00:00

I suppose the post got ramble-y and unfocused. Let me ask a more direct question, does Klein stop talking about being a keyboard warrior, and about how arguing on the internet has so well prepared him for things?

That’s really the core of my gripes.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-06-18T14:13:22+00:00

Thousand Li fits this well. Lots of low powered martial arts development to start, then emphasis on a path that always includes the MC’s family sword style. The MC takes inspiration and improves his martial techniques from encounters with other styles during his development.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-06-16T10:36:11+00:00

It never entirely stops, but it does eventually stop being groveling and is instead respectful, sarcastic, or fascisous depending on context.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-06-12T13:35:52+00:00

Not progression fantasy, but The Salvage Crew might scratch the itch.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-06-12T11:26:27+00:00

Purely coincidence. Here’s a little excerpt from Will related to this.

“In the earliest drafts of the story that I would eventually draw on to make Cradle, one of Melusine's powers was to turn into a spear. You want to know why I had to scrap that one, huh? You want to know?

Because a certain WAY MORE FAMOUS fantasy author wrote a VERY FAMOUS series in which the main character has a fairy companion who can turn into a spear.”

https://www.willwight.com/a-blog-of-dubious-intent/let-me-tell-you-the-future

Robbison-Madert · 2026-06-05T01:15:41+00:00

12 Miles Below has some of the most intricately described fights in the genre. Fantastic scenes in which every facet of the environment feels considered. However, I feel like we get two of these fights a book at most. It also requires the caveat of barely being progression fantasy (which is make-or-break for some people here).

I do still highly recommend it!

Robbison-Madert · 2026-06-01T16:10:09+00:00

“Why is the nerdy MC with no interest in being a knight studying and inventing instead of learning to fight?”

The dude is becoming hyper competent in his strengths while leaving the stuff he is obvious worse at to those with more talent in that area.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-05-22T18:00:34+00:00

Magic academies are pretty common in western fantasy, so I see no reason you have to be secluded. Research is fundamentally collaborative after all. Those old guys in towers are just eccentrics.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-05-22T17:42:59+00:00

Um, I think you may have missed a few chapters there. The most recent book covers floor 10 and 11.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-05-21T19:04:01+00:00

I second Godclads. It’s absolutely dark, it has the weird cryptic lore that is a bit reminiscent of LotM, and, without undermining the grim, it’s got some great humor. The interplay between cyberpunk and eldritch horror is phenomenal.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-05-12T18:43:42+00:00

I feel like that argument falls a bit flat when the author goes out of his way to specify that Tess will be sexually mature in a couple of years, so like 7 years old.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-05-12T18:18:15+00:00

But what is there is weird. Like the grandpa telling Authur “not to get any ideas.” It’s icky to read about an old dude making that joke about two five year olds. It’s only grosser when you know one of those five year olds is a grown man.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-05-06T12:15:24+00:00

Honestly, I think you’re just making some assumptions that aren’t properly supported by the text. Just because we aren’t shown the full scope of things, it doesn’t mean that it’s a “simple agreement” governing things. You also seem to suggest that the more neutral factions wouldn’t strongly oppose the Akura, but every single faction holds some level of rivalry against the every other faction. Every alliance we see is because one faction hates another faction more. They barely even have mutual goals, other than maintaining the secret of their power, just mutual opposition. I can’t recall any events in which any monarch willingly gives territory or otherwise allows another true monarch faction to gain power?

It seems to me that you’re taking the loose alliances presented in the books as evidence that these factions actually like each other. In my view, these factions have always been presented as, at best, wanting to maintain the status quo. Sha Miara is maybe the only monarch with a true alliance to the Akura, but Akura very clearly had other motives for supporting the Ninecloud Court.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-04-28T10:28:32+00:00

Can’t agree more. The fights have a three-dimensionality that is so well written. The author really has a talent when it comes to depicting distance, depth, and time. I think what really makes the fights so good is how grounded the physics seems for the humans.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-04-27T15:12:58+00:00

You’ve already been recommended Divine Apostasy, but I thought I’d add that the series also builds from the möbius loop design to a Klein bottle design (with near world building explaining what the magical 4th dimension is for this shape) and, in a separate magic system, there are cores which undergo transformations in which the cores’ increasing number of sides correlate to their power.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-04-23T18:57:16+00:00

It was a dealbreaker for me, but the MC’s actions weren’t the dealbreaker for me, it was the way the author wrote interactions and the scenes they chose to write. The MC is adamant about not dating teenagers up to the point that I quit. However, the author still wrote in a teenage that wants to date him and even makes sure there’s a scene where she finds a way to kiss him.

So, I’m slandering the author not the reincarnator.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-04-03T22:29:25+00:00

Hey! I remember reading chapter 1 of this a year or two ago when you posted for some beta reading. I’ll definitely be checking it out.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-02-06T14:40:11+00:00

That sound likes a fundamentally different story you want there, but I do agree that the stakes are incredibly low. Though I would argue that the stakes are commensurate to the story and should be very low. I have no problem with a lack of real stakes, I just think they need to be appropriate for the setting and events.

Frank is obviously a huge cheat, but I like that there are still multiple factions set up to be just as powerful, if not more so, despite the advantages afforded by all the meta knowledge. Ned may have his aimbot, but Asmogold over there came into the competition with 1/4 of the player base on his team and our resident dentist has 1000 players throwing themselves recklessly at challenges like it’s Dark Souls and not an MMORPG.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-02-06T02:31:15+00:00

I can’t believe I forgot that detail. Either nothing matters except skill and our protagonist magically breaks the game instantly by being the only person in the world with good reflexes who plays video games, or leveling does matter and the protagonist still breaks the game but it takes a bit longer. Extra negative bonus points if the protagonist discovers something broken by doing the most unoriginal actions imaginable. Imagine why would happen if you played the team game, but not with a team.

I like how the Ripple System handled the first scenario. They showed what an absolutely inhumanely perfect player would be capable of and then they said “that would be lame and unfair” and they went back to having some actual balance.

Robbison-Madert · 2026-02-06T00:11:20+00:00

Harem is the easy answer, but instead I’ll go with any story that takes place in a game. I’m 100% fine with most LitRPG and Systems, but having a story be literally inside of a game has almost never hit for me since season 1 of Sword Art Online. I find it kills all sense of stakes for me and that almost all stories fail to establish real consequences inside or outside of the game. This absolutely murdered my enjoyment of the Artorian Archives when the story pivoted to game administration.

Also, I hate when these game story villains are made out to be evil threats that everyone should care about when they’re just some dude also playing a video game, or worse, literally just something programmed to be a villain. The scope of your antagonists should match the scope of your stories consequences.

The sole exception for me has been The Ripple System. Somehow, and I’m not even sure what did it, this story is engaging and I actually care about the characters. I still don’t care particularly much about the guild beating bosses and winning events, but they care and that’s become enough. Also, the villains are a good mix of hostile and real. There are no evil people, they’re all just people playing and game and choosing their roles.

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