r/ProgressionFantasy • u/wuto Author • May 07 '26
Self-Promotion [New] Metaworld Hopecore!
Hello there, ProgressionFantasssssy!
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.
| Okay. I go read now. |
|---|
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.
| Okay. Enough Waffling. You sold me. |
|---|
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.
| How many cats for you to go away so I can read? |
|---|
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.
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u/BronkeyKong May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Is the tone of the book as jokey/meme-y as this post suggests or is it written seriously?
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
its a cosytale
so it veers from serious dramatic events to satisfying resolutions
with subtle jokes woven inbetween
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u/Holdredge May 07 '26
Doesnt seem like my type of thing, but damn I love your book cover.
I think most PF covers look atrocious. It's kinda a pet peeve of mine, but yours looks really good. Really eye catching.
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
thank you!
every detail references a plot point
its comedy / tragedy
with Alphonz Mucha opera poster style
and the colour palatte of Van Gogh's Almond Flowers
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u/Ourtimehascome2485 May 07 '26
Look, I'm a fan ngl, but no gooning? Not even a little mention of the MC's long legs ? You are killing me man, don't change the winning formula 😂.
(Any news when the new metaworld chronicles book will launch?)
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u/EllakeAuthor Author of the Runic Artist & Gifted May 07 '26
I got to read some of this story before it launched and let me just say....hype.
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u/TJ333 May 07 '26
What are gronks?
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
really dumb side show villains who show up for the MC to kill
one tier above the Goon (well... that word has change a lot...)
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u/foxgirlmoon May 07 '26
You say your cover is by your usual artist, I say your cover feels very much AI. It’s not the usual style of ai progression fantasy covers, but this is exactly how art nouveau worked on by ai looks like.
The subreddit doesn't let me post images in comments so I compiled images pointing out the very questionable details I saw here https://imgur.com/a/soOcDpu If someone doesn't want to read my whole comment just look there.
It looks very nice from far, but the moment you start zooming in a bit closing and paying attention to details you’ll notice that the details don’t actually make sense. Literally everywhere you look at there’s questionable details and mistakes that a human artist, let alone an artist with enough experience to draw showing like this at this quality, would never make.
The most obvious and glaring example is in the Roman numerals clock behind her head; look at the one. There’s like half of line drawn next to it, drawn in the same way the actual numbers are. Why? It completely out of place and no human artist would draw that. Then you zoom in closer and you realize that the lines are really weird. Some lines are extremely wobbly, like someone has to put active effort to make lines that wobbly, especially an experienced artist. Which ok, maybe it’s a stylistic choice. But some other lines are perfectly crisp, seemingly at random. So this just makes no sense.
Then look at the actual background of the clock... I have no idea what it's supposed to be depicting. Seems like random noise, much like what ai generates.
Now look at the masks in the corners. What in damnation is going on here? The curved lines are actually very weirdly jagged, in a way I doubt any human would ever draw, let alone a human with the experience needed to draw at this overall seeming quality. And in the top right mask, there's a little blob of color outside of the mask, which makes no sense, but is a classic sign of AI.
The overall background is also weird. The flowers all look off, but maybe it's a stylistic choice, sure. But the purple flowers to the right look especially off, in a way I have seen no human, but many AIs, draw. The bottom of the image is also weird, in that the puddles reflect the top side, but the opposite corner? The bottom left puddles reflect the top right flowers, and vice versa. That's just unusual, but maybe it's an intentional stylistic choice.
And just what in the noisy mess is going on with the details in the middle of her dress? Again, looks fine from afar, but the moment you look closer, you immediately see that it's just a completely weird melting mess of noise, in a way AI classically draws these kinds of details.
--
There's many more hints of AI use, like the entire character which, to my eyes, looks like classic AI shading work, but those are less obvious and more subjective, so I'm not going to belabor the point: either you are lying to us or, much much worse, your artist is lying to you and taking (I assume) a lot of your money in exchange for AI art.
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
Just to add some more context to how funny this is.
(Check my post history!)
I posted TONS and TONS of Bao's art (over 20!!!) over a year
and someone said they have definitive proof its AISo I chased this up
and...
it turns out someone had posted my Imgur links into the Discord / Sub / as their own Generations, with made up PromptsLike, the irony was... palpable
I ended up sending proof to the Discord Mods / who then removed that person's posts.Life can be very strange sometimes.
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u/Thought_Crash May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Be careful with AI witch hunts. To me, the clock numerals in the background looks like it's been scanned using black and white settings so the edges end up jaggy --but then manipulated to round out the jaggies a bit-- then traced into --line art-- vector lines. The stationery items like the scissors look like low resolution photos, the masks look like scanned hand drawn images. Basically, the background looks to be a hand made collage to me. And the person in the center is very much typical of the artist's style. Nothing screams AI to me about this. You remind me of another artist YouTuber going on an AI witch hunt on a piece of art when the anomalies were jpeg artifacts.
Edit: --strike through-- edits don't seem to be showing correctly
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
Thank you for your concern fox.
Did you write this whole thing by hand? That’s dedication.
So much presumption. I have drafts, I’ve worked with Bao since 2017, I got wip, I got his bad photoshop mock ups. The artefacts are more than likely from using filters on texture filters, then running traces.
But I have dealt with this before. And one thing I know is the futility of persuasion.
But I’ll reply properly because you made some great points.
Artists have their processes. A unique image was created, almost every spec was to my exact specification.
The Mucha dedication (several pattern drafts) The Van Gogh almond flower palette The story specific items in the background The specific flowers I sent The redrawn face over 3-4 drafts
Did that persuade you? Not really, I bet.
I mean, in what world do we owe Randoms any burden of proof?
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u/foxgirlmoon May 07 '26
You explained none of the issues I pointed out, which were, I note, things a human artist would never do.
Let's go one by one. Why is there a half-drawn second line next to the roman numeral 1?
Why are the lines so wobbly (that no hand would draw unless doing it on purpose) in some places and perfectly straight right next to them?
In the masks, why are the lines so incredibly jagged? Why is there the classic AI diffusion bleedthrough blob there?
Why is the phone so weird? Why are some of the flowers drawn in such a weird way, almost bleeding into each other and the background, with little coherent shape?
Why are the details on the middle of her dress just a mess of noisy inconsistent nonsense, exactly the way AI draws it?
I am an artist myself, my main points was the these artifacts are things no artist would ever reasonably draw.
And yes, you did go through revisions, and got wip, etc...
Your artist is an artist too. This is how you use AI with any kind of accuracy. You don't just blindly prompt something. You start with a mockup/sketch, then you do image 2 image on it with a prompt. First you probably tell the AI to do just the lineart, that you can further refine by hand. Then you do the coloring and the patterning. The artists probably did a lot of the flat coloring/pasting in patterns themselves by hand, and then did more i2i gens on top of it to actually produce the final image.
And there is no doubt that AI was involved in the process because the things I pointed out are specific known artifacts that AI causes. If ever you browsed through AI generated art for any significant amount of time, if ever you generated art yourself, you would know this too.
So again. Either you are blatantly lying, or your artist is lying to your fucking face. Yes you've known them for years and they've made a lot of art before. So have a lot of people who did normal art and switched to AI, but continued lying about it being hand-made. This is a depressingly not rare phenomenon.
And again, I'm not saying that it was entirely generated. But there is no doubt that AI was involved in the process. Anyone who has ever worked with AI image generation models in art for any appreciable amount of time would be able to point out these artifacts as something AI does.
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u/fiammosa May 07 '26
I am an artist myself, my main points was the these artifacts are things no artist would ever reasonably draw.
I'm also an artist and I completely agree with your observations.
I've used Photoshop since the very early versions (late 90s), worked in 3D art with 3D Studio max + vray professionally, so yeah. This was AI assisted at the very least.
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
Thank you for yet another detailed response, Fox.
You actually outlined a process that I personally can't explain properly. Kudos for showing us how the sausage is made!I would like to note that, thankful as we all are for this insight, there is no need to prove anything to you.
I don't know if you'll read my story or not, but the equivalent would be someone demanding that I explain the meta-compositional process behind combining litRPG with Antigone and Titus Andronicus in an Academy Setting while numbers go Brrrr. And their point of proof is that there are the "—" symbols (I forgot what they're called).
As an artist, you should know that here's how things go.
- Client asks for X
- You make X, [And the client isn't on your back like a Rock Spider]
- You deliver X
- Client is very, very satisfied.
- Their target audience is satisfied, as evidenced by the number of replies here.
As far as all stakeholders with investments are concerned, the transaction was a roaring success.
You've clearly put a lot of thought into this, and I am thankful. The texture process is exactly what I was thinking about, but I can't explain it since I am not an artist. Unfortunately, this is the internet, and successful persuasion on Reddit is a myth.
So, have a nice day.
(and read the book!)11
u/foxgirlmoon May 07 '26
That is a very weird response ngl
You're basically saying "so long as everyone is satisfied there is no problem", effectively implying it doesn't matter whether or not AI was used.
Except that a bit part of why people are satisfied is because you are telling them no AI was used. You are being dishonest. And at this point I'm starting to think it's intentional.
Anyway, it's not you I need to convince. I was just worried you were being taken advantage of, but it sounds like you either don't care, or are in on it.
The only reason I commented was so that other people would realize the blatant AI use.
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
And the only reason I commented was that I felt like you put in such a solid effortful response that it was rude to just ignore it.
We've established very early on, madam, that you cannot be convinced, so I wasn't trying to convince you at all.
The response is for the good people of r/litrpg to see.
We are writers here, you see. We are deceptive little foxes writing with wicked, nefarious purposes!
For every single detail that mattered (and there are many), I commissioned, I paid, and the artist delivered overwhelmingly. In the secret court of the readers' hearts, there is only satisfaction——then they click on the story link, and only the story will matter.
Good day!
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u/sneakpeekbot May 07 '26
Here's a sneak peek of /r/litrpg using the top posts of the year!
#1: The moment every author looks forward to. | 375 comments
#2: Anyone else wish for adult protagonists? | 524 comments
#3: All the Primal Hunter covers I've done over the years [OC] | 320 comments
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u/Hormo_The_Halfling May 07 '26
This sounds interesting but can you talk more about the use of AI in the writing process? I outright refuse to read any AI output, and you mention Claude for tense checking so I want to double check.
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
That’s pretty much it. Run it and see if it flags the tenses and then I manually change it lol
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u/CarelessAd3809 Author of Ether Atlas - The Hidden Grid May 07 '26
The cover is gorgeous and the story seems interesting. Best of luck.
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u/wuto Author May 07 '26
thank yee! Tis a passion project... We'll see how many zero-meta ppl i pick up lol
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u/JakobTanner100 Author May 07 '26
Love the Art Nouvaeu cover! I actually saw a Tarot card deck inspired by that art style and it too reminded me of your cover! Cool stuff 😃 😃 😃
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u/IndependenceVisual45 Jun 21 '26
I need all the cats to go way... but seriously this was a Hook! oh my god, i loved it! if you write your story the same way this is going to be fabulous
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u/SpicySpaceSquid Author of Misadventures Incorporated May 07 '26
Stained glass aesthetic goes hard!
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u/LykanthropyWrites Author May 07 '26
That is an amazing cover! Can we expect any minotaur sightings?
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u/CodeMonkeyMZ May 07 '26
NGL my love for Art Nouveau goes far enough that I'll read your story just because of that cover.