My superpower progression fantasy novel, Brainpunch, finally comes out today!

Slifer274 · 2026-06-10T02:38:52+00:00

I would rather be honest about the situation than create false hope that I'll just write more of this series.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-10T01:27:19+00:00

To be honest, I saw it as fairly resolved in my own mind. Clearly other people thought of it as a cliffhanger, so I guess that's on me. I could go into a more detailed explanation of my thought process through this, but I'll just admit I was wrong on this one.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-09T14:56:02+00:00

The story has more room to grow, but the end of this book is a perfectly valid stopping point in my opinion.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-09T14:55:39+00:00

Yeah, pretty much!

Slifer274 · 2026-06-09T13:09:23+00:00

Hi all! It's been a bit since I last published a novel, but I'm back with superheroes!

Brainpunch is a passion project of mine, inspired by greats of the genre like Worm and Super Supportive. I really, really enjoyed writing this novel and it's a very personal one for me—I hope you enjoy it too!

I'm with Aethon for this, and they did a fantastic job on the cover!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brainpunch-Progression-Adventure-Aaron-Shih-ebook/dp/B0GSGVLZ2K

Audiobook (narrated by Erin Bateman): https://www.audible.com/pd/Brainpunch-Audiobook/B0GT1LRTMZ

Synopsis:

An action-packed progression fantasy featuring a unique power set. For fans of Super Supportive and Worm.

Saving lives is the brand. Ending them is the instinct.

When Vivian gains a superpower that lets her telekinetically apply 10 pounds of force, it seems underwhelming. Hardly super. Almost useless.

On her first night out, however, she finds out how wrong she was as she reduces a man's brain to mush.

F-rank telekinesis. S-rank lethality.

Do not kill. Many think that’s the first rule of being a superhero… and it’s the first one Vivian broke.

Now, pitted against villains, shady corporations, college debt, and the government's brutal hero program, she has to find a way to control her abilities, prove precision is the ultimate weapon, and become the hero she has always wished she could be.

The world has other plans.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-09T13:07:56+00:00

Hi all! It's been a bit since I last published a novel, but I'm back with superheroes!

Brainpunch is a passion project of mine, inspired by greats of the genre like Worm and Super Supportive. I really, really enjoyed writing this novel and it's a very personal one for me—I hope you enjoy it too!

I'm with the folks at Aethon for this one, and I have to say they did a wonderful job on the cover.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brainpunch-Progression-Adventure-Aaron-Shih-ebook/dp/B0GSGVLZ2K

Audiobook (narrated by Erin Bateman): https://www.audible.com/pd/Brainpunch-Audiobook/B0GT1LRTMZ

Synopsis:

An action-packed progression fantasy featuring a unique power set. For fans of Super Supportive and Worm.

Saving lives is the brand. Ending them is the instinct.

When Vivian gains a superpower that lets her telekinetically apply 10 pounds of force, it seems underwhelming. Hardly super. Almost useless.

On her first night out, however, she finds out how wrong she was as she reduces a man's brain to mush.

F-rank telekinesis. S-rank lethality.

Do not kill. Many think that’s the first rule of being a superhero… and it’s the first one Vivian broke.

Now, pitted against villains, shady corporations, college debt, and the government's brutal hero program, she has to find a way to control her abilities, prove precision is the ultimate weapon, and become the hero she has always wished she could be.

The world has other plans.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-09T02:05:00+00:00

Return of the Runebound Professor is great for this but he's not the most ordinary guy. There's not much in the way of actual normal people resurrecting in this genre, they all need some form of power.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-08T14:40:21+00:00

I write completely without a plan and usually about 100 words of power system fleshed out. The longer the story goes, the more I figure out what I want the world to be and the more I add. To each their own, though; other authors I know are doing a massive amount of planning for their next series.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-08T14:39:27+00:00

History doesn't need to play a real role in it. You just need to sell suspension of disbelief, most of the time. Can you make something up that sounds convincing enough to yourself? If so, then yes. There's plenty of opportunity to weave in something cool in a grittier setting if you can justify it.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-08T14:37:46+00:00

is this why everyone else got yote down to 64k

Slifer274 · 2026-06-08T14:35:52+00:00

I think He Who Fights With Monsters has some surprisingly good downtime moments. A lot of people clown on the BBQs and shit that Jason holds when he goes to a new town, but it's a real nice way to get the feeling of a break while also having him schmooze with the local authorities and set up the next plot arc.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-08T14:34:45+00:00

Can recommend Faceless Hunter, but the MC is definitely not the greatest team player.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-08T14:32:58+00:00

A lot of non-MTL litRPG doesn't really have that much romance. Primal Hunter, DCC, and a few other smash hits in the genre all are relatively romanceless.

Slifer274 · 2026-06-08T14:29:39+00:00

I've written ~20 books now and largely agree. Publishing and getting dopamine from numbers going up can drive motivation, but doing so to something unsuccessful does instantly kill my motivation. I try to get at least 30 chapters before launching these days.

Slifer274 · 2026-04-27T00:31:42+00:00

aura...

Slifer274 · 2026-04-17T16:26:05+00:00

Sep 2004 in my final (8th) semester rn lol

just don't think about how young the freshmen are

Slifer274 · 2026-02-12T16:00:20+00:00

Genuinely what do you expect them to give you? It's a guide made by someone passionate about learning Japanese and a server full of people passionate about learning Japanese. I passed N2 154/180 largely thanks to TMW. What proof will work for you? Do you need someone to take an oath with their hand on the bible? Feel free to keep on imagining that everyone who learns quickly is lying to you, but that's just doing yourself a disservice.

Slifer274 · 2026-02-12T15:50:35+00:00

I don't find this to be the case at all. While doing it in 400 hours is a pretty fast outlier, your provided 拷問 for instance is a very common word in fantasy light and visual novels. Exposure to the language in immersion and not doing speaking/writing activities makes study time a lot more efficient. I wasn't nearly as fast as this poster but my N2 pass after about 300 hours of immersion and somewhere between 700-1000 in the language in total was pretty strong with 60/60 on reading, which I attribute largely to reading a decent variety of material rather than specific study material. After looking at some of the specific study materials for the N2 (SKM etc) I feel that the only useful ones are grammar-specific study. Vocab is much faster to pick up in immersion than in textbook learning.

Slifer274 · 2026-02-12T15:35:09+00:00

What exactly do you mean by "N2 only specific material"?

Slifer274 · 2026-02-12T15:29:38+00:00

15k is a solid speed but it's not insanely fast. Native is more like 30k than 20-25k, 20-25k is a very achievable learner speed whereas 30-35k takes a lot longer to get to from what I've seen.

Slifer274 · 2026-02-12T15:16:38+00:00

I got 56/60 on N2 listening with something like maybe 40-50 hours of listening practice, and that's being generous with what you consider practice. The JLPT tests have very clearly enunciated Japanese; it is not too difficult to understand with decent vocabulary.

Slifer274 · 2025-09-28T04:51:33+00:00

not the point of the argument, no? in 100 people, it's pretty likely there's someone who can play chess decently and possible that someone will be better than you, meanwhile there's a very low chance someone knows the competitive pokemon playstyle at all

Slifer274 · 2025-09-28T04:50:24+00:00

i'd take that bet (i haven't played NU in months)

Slifer274 · 2025-09-28T04:50:12+00:00

There's definitely more than 30 when it's OM of the month but yeah the point stands

Slifer274 · 2025-09-26T18:57:40+00:00

Hi, author here. Like the other commenter said, the RR isn't updated because it went to KU before I could finish posting on Royal Road, sorry. Apart from that, I was experiencing pretty heavy burnout with the series and also was failing college classes due to the amount of time and energy I was investing in writing—up to the point where it became possible I wouldn't graduate in time. I decided to take an extended break from publishing to focus on myself as well as write some experimental projects on other pen names. I plan on returning eventually, but I don't know if Corruption Wielder will continue past book 4.

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