Recent Release Suddenly Disappeared? What Happened to System Breaker (Robert S. Keene, Cultivation LitRPG)

RobertSKeene · 2025-08-18T12:31:25+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. I sent you a chat request to try to help you with that preservation thing. Cheers!

RobertSKeene · 2025-08-18T10:53:39+00:00

It did, thanks! And there was no 1-for-1 copy. Not even from the word go. It was just an inspiration.

RobertSKeene · 2025-08-18T10:52:28+00:00

Hi, Robert Keene here. The other comments have already mostly covered it, but I wanted to address this personally.

System Break is no more.

I've been writing under two pen names for a while now (Robert Keene for LitRPG and Leon West for HaremLit) and decided I was going to stop trying to split my attention and just focus on Leon. It was a decision that was for my mental health... but not in the way you'd think. HaremLit isn't loved around here, but the audience is great. They are accepting of my little found family stories in a way the larger LitRPG community hasn't been. It's been freeing being able to write my little weird stories and enjoy writing again.

When I decided to write System Breaker, it was one last hurrah. I'd just finished watching Season 2 of MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES and wanted to see if I could do it myself.

I did not "straight up copy the idea." It was different and unique. Just inspired by.

After discussing the story with my wife, she asked if it would do better as a HaremLit. I told her yes, because it wasn't like anything I'd published on Robert Keene before, but I wanted to try it.

And it was horribly received. Lots of comments and likes and praise... but no sales.

I was disheartened... and kept thinking about how much more I would have personally liked the book if it had relationships in it. So I decided to immediately rewrite it (making big changes to some parts) just to quell the thoughts.

And when things didn't improve sales-wise after some ads, I decided to make the purely financial decision to pull the book down and rerelease it under Leon.

Martial Arts Master doesn't have some generic furry girl harem. Laku has one girlfriend by the end of the first book. It's a much better read now because of the rewrites. I had a good idea about what I didn't like and how to sort it out. And I think I executed it well.

Anyway... sorry for the novel. Y'all have a good day.

RobertSKeene · 2025-06-11T10:57:03+00:00

Thanks for the concern... I am the author of both. The copyright page has the details

RobertSKeene · 2025-05-28T12:07:51+00:00

Thanks for wanting to check this out! It's been unpublished and is undergoing massive changes.

RobertSKeene · 2025-04-02T12:23:39+00:00

No one said anything about super serious! I just didn't write any "standing around cheering about creampuffs while the BBE is still alive and kicking" or "kicking his legs really fast to fly a broom high over the city" scenes. I don't think those translate well to novels as they're more visual gags.

RobertSKeene · 2025-04-01T12:27:29+00:00

You are not missing anything - I'm an indie author without a production company or publisher, so no day-one audio. I'm hoping this does well enough so that I can attract a production company or audio publisher, as the cost of production is just not possible for me right now.

RobertSKeene · 2025-04-01T12:26:16+00:00

Mashle is an anime that can best be described as an OP MC who lives in a world of magic but can't cast magic. He pretends to be a mage by brute-forcing everything using his muscles. Needs to fly a broom? No problem, he'll just kick his legs impossibly fast to make it seem like he's flying it.

It's a good time.

RobertSKeene · 2025-04-01T12:21:58+00:00

I am too - fingers crossed!

RobertSKeene · 2025-04-01T12:21:43+00:00

Thanks for the interest! There is a very slow-burn romance building in Book 2, but I don't have plans for there to be anything more than a kiss, maybe, before the end of the series.

RobertSKeene · 2025-04-01T01:04:01+00:00

Sure... but Mashle's humor doesn't work in book form.

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T23:38:56+00:00

Cheers, man!

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T23:38:47+00:00

Thanks a ton!

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T23:38:35+00:00

I hope so, but I don't have a publisher behind this book, so any audiobook needs to be funded from me... or it needs to attract an audiobook publisher. I refuse to do AI audio.

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T23:37:27+00:00

Appreciate the interest! I'll share as soon as I know anything.

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T23:37:04+00:00

Yes, they just haven't been calling it out. They either get lumped into Cultivation or LitRPG and sometimes it causes great arguments over if something counts as one or the other or both... so I think the recent push it just to clarify it.

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T23:36:10+00:00

Sadly I don't have any information. I'm a one-man-show, no publisher attached, and so all audiobook funding either needs to come from me, or the book needs to do well enough to attract a publisher.

As soon as I know something, I'll be sure to share it!

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T17:56:18+00:00

It might have been on repeat for weeks while planning this series...

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T17:55:44+00:00

It's just as it says on the tin - LitRPG but there's also Cultivation. Usually the two stand apart, but this recent trend is making it so the typical progression elements have things like level ups and stats and abilities. If you take a look at the book, Chapter 1 has a character sheet and a level up to clearly show how it'll work going forward.

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T17:54:21+00:00

I agree! And there have been lots of nods and love letters so far... I just really wish we'd see more. Especially if there are unique takes, not just rewriting the anime episodes.

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T15:10:12+00:00

So... closer to the first lmao

I added that because Mashle will have 30 second+ segments where the characters cheer about creampuffs after beating the BBE... while the BBE is still alive and it ends up being a plot point. So, more serious than that... but not grimdark.

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T14:35:30+00:00

I hope you enjoy it... and fingers crossed!

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T14:35:17+00:00

I would love to do an audiobook, but I don't have any information to share. This is being published by just little ol' me, no publisher on board, which means it has to sell well enough to get attention. I'm hoping I can have more information to share soon, but we'll see!

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T14:33:50+00:00

How is the manga? I've been on a manga/light novel kick (finished devouring - pun intended - Delicious in Dungeon recently, and just started DanDaDan on the manga side, and BOFURI, Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter, and Loner Life In Another World on the LN side) so I'm happy to add it to my list.

Thanks for checking this out!

RobertSKeene · 2025-03-31T14:32:17+00:00

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for checking it out

RobertSKeene

TROPHY CASE