removed, maybe

Joren, a thirty-two-year-old struggling web novel author, is fed up with the lie that “hard work never betrays you.” Orphaned at sixteen by a tragic accident, he grinded through high school only to lose a crucial scholarship to a rich kid’s connections, spiraling into dead-end jobs and depression. His one success, the fantasy novel Dawn of the Scribe (3.6 stars, 14 million views), fades as readers demand harem tropes he loathes, and his latest work, Veil of Vaeloria, flops under harsh criticism. A health crisis cuts his rage short, and he wakes in Vaeloria—his own novel—as Joren Vale, a bottom-ranked (2100/2100) E-rank Rune Magician doomed to die in Chapter 23. In a post-cataclysm world of cliffside cities, rune-based Crystal Weaves, and shadow-born Veilspawn, Joren rejects the hero’s path. Armed with his author’s knowledge, he plans to exploit a hidden Veil Shard to break his E-rank limits, dodge his death flag, and rewrite his fate in a ruthless academy where weaklings are prey.