Greetings from Japan! I'm bringing my 3M+ views, 700-chapter saga to the West. Feedback wanted!

[rest256]

Hello, Scribble Hub community!

I am Rest, a web novel author from Japan. I have recently started posting my life’s work, "FabL," here on Scribble Hub and Royal Road.

■ About the Original Work This series is originally published on "Shousetsuka ni Narou" (Japan's largest web novel site).

Scale: The original Japanese version has over 700 chapters (Part 1 is complete).

Popularity: It has achieved over 3 Million Page Views (PV) in Japan.

Status: It is a massive epic that I have been writing for years with all my heart.

■ About the Story: "FabL"

Genre: Nobledark Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Gender Bender / Progression Fantasy

Synopsis: The protagonist, Yu, awakens as a "FabL"—a being cursed to wander the stars eternally. However, unlike others who gain god-like combat powers, Yu gains a unique ability: the power to freely transform between male and female. This is a story of a weak boy who struggles against a cruel, cosmic [Fate], traveling through multiple worlds and growing into a savior.

Tone: It starts with a heavy, grimdark atmosphere but evolves into a passionate story of growth and defiance.

I have a huge amount of content ready to share (700+ chapters!), and I am committed to bringing this entire saga to the English-speaking world.

Link to the Fiction: [https://www.scribblehub.com/series/...on-the-blue-traveler-and-the-dualbody-savior/]

Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy the world of FabL!

Rest

 

[rest256]

I noticed the title was a bit unnatural, so I have corrected it. Thank you for your understanding.

Link to the Fiction: [https://www.scribblehub.com/series/2087200/fabl-the-blue-traveler-and-the-dualbody-savior/]

 

[Eldoria]

Gender bender again?! You don't need to worry about readers... it's a super genre that guarantees readers.

 

[rest256]

Gender bender again?! You don't need to worry about readers... it's a super genre that guarantees readers.

Haha, you're absolutely right! The power of the Gender Bender genre here is undeniable.

However, I consider this story to occupy a rather unique position within the genre. While the gender-swap element is certainly present, it serves more as a sub-theme rather than the central focus.

The protagonist does face confusion at first, but eventually, they come to accept
a self that encompasses both genders and behave naturally. The true theme lies in fatalism—it is a story about how he (or she) confronts the immense hardships imposed by fate and the crises facing the worlds they visit. So, while the GB tag brings readers in, I actually hope they stay for the serious, full-scale Epic Fantasy story.

...But yes, I must honestly admit that I do have a deep passion for TS characters lol.

 

[rest256]

I've uploaded some illustrations of Yu to the Glossary. At the very least, I think my love for the Gender Bender genre comes across clearly lol.

 

[rest256]

Just a quick update!

I’ve started cross-posting FabL on Royal Road as well.

Since the Scribble Hub version is currently further ahead, I’ll be posting on Royal Road with a short gap between updates for a while. Once the chapters on Royal Road catch up, I plan to synchronize both platforms for daily updates!

 

[AnkaNix]

Hello, Scribble Hub community!

I am Rest, a web novel author from Japan. I have recently started posting my life’s work, "FabL," here on Scribble Hub and Royal Road.

■ About the Original Work This series is originally published on "Shousetsuka ni Narou" (Japan's largest web novel site).

Scale: The original Japanese version has over 700 chapters (Part 1 is complete).

Popularity: It has achieved over 3 Million Page Views (PV) in Japan.

Status: It is a massive epic that I have been writing for years with all my heart.

■ About the Story: "FabL"

Genre: Dark Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Gender Bender / Progression Fantasy

Synopsis: The protagonist, Yu, awakens as a "FabL"—a being cursed to wander the stars eternally. However, unlike others who gain god-like combat powers, Yu gains a unique ability: the power to freely transform between male and female. This is a story of a weak boy who struggles against a cruel, cosmic [Fate], traveling through multiple worlds and growing into a savior.

Tone: It starts with a heavy, grimdark atmosphere but evolves into a passionate story of growth and defiance.

■ Why I Need Your Help (Translation Strategy) Since English is not my first language, I am using Gemini (AI) to translate the story while supervising every line to ensure the nuances and emotions are conveyed correctly. However, I know that AI translation can sometimes feel unnatural or stiff to native speakers.

I have a huge amount of content ready to share (700+ chapters!), and I am committed to bringing this entire saga to the English-speaking world.

Link to the Fiction: [https://www.scribblehub.com/series/...on-the-blue-traveler-and-the-dualbody-savior/]

Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy the world of FabL!

Rest

Oh, my. This is a huge work. So intricate...

 

[rest256]

Oh, my. This is a huge work. So intricate...

Thank you!

The original Japanese version takes over 700 chapters to carefully depict Yu's journey from a powerless ordinary person to a cosmic savior.

It is a very long and sometimes painful road, but it allows you to deeply experience the life and growth of a protagonist who is "both a man and a woman."

It is perfect for readers who want to settle down and commit to a serious, large-scale fantasy. If you are interested, I hope you will give it a try!

 

[rest256]

100 Chapters Scheduled! New Updates Incoming!

I’ve just finished scheduling the first arc and the flashback chapters—around 100 chapters in total!

You can catch updates every three days on Scribble Hub until Jan 25th, and from then on, there will be daily updates for you to enjoy. Stay tuned!

 

[rest256]

The first major checkpoint is approaching!

Hello everyone! Just a quick roadmap update for FabL.

With daily updates, we are about one week away from concluding the first half of Arc 1 (The New World Survival phase).

Yu has met Alice and faced his first enemies. After this upcoming conclusion, the story will shift to the Past Arc to reveal the truth behind Yu's trauma and the "Prologue."

If you like to read arc-by-arc, this next week is the perfect time to jump in! You can enjoy the full sequence of his arrival in the new world before we dive deep into his history.

Current Status: Daily Updates ongoing! Total Planned: 700+ chapters.

 

[HungrySheep]

This is not directly related to your novel, but I am genuinely just really curious. As an outsider looking in, I feel like syosetu is a writer's holy grail. In the West, making a career out of writing is 90% luck, 10% effort. Before the advent of sites like Webnovel, Scribblehub, and RoyalRoad, writers in the West were forced to pitch their manuscripts to literary agents who were extremely selective, and even if they liked your work and helped you get published at a large publishing firm, you weren't guaranteed success.

With the introduction of sites like RoyalRoad, things got a lot easier for writers when it came to getting their work out there, but the biggest factor was still largely luck, and even then, publishing companies do not want to work with you here. If a novel has already been published elsewhere, 99% of the time, a publishing firm or a literary agent will not even give you the time of the day. They only want manuscripts that haven't been published elsewhere, including online.

This means that in the West, if you publish online, your only means of making a career out of it is Patreon and Amazon until you get big enough to sell merchandise and other related products. This is only if you get REALLY big (which the vast majority of people won't) or if you already have significant personal capital.

However, the industry is COMPLETELY flipped in Japan. One of the best light novel series (in my opinion), Ascendance of a Bookworm was first published on syosetu as a webnovel before being picked up TO Books and re-written to fit the novel format more. This is not uncommon as the vast majority of light novels in Japan seem to follow this flowchart: post on syosetu, get popular, acquire a publishing deal, release a manga, release an anime, release a gacha game, and shut down the gacha game 2 months later if it's published by Crunchyroll.

As someone who's written for such a long time and posted so many chapters on syosetu, do you have any insight on why/how the writing industry in Japan can be so different? Do people actually buy light novels that they've already read before as webnovels, and if so, why? As a follow-up to that question, do the authors in Japan leave their webnovels up after they've been published as light novels? I'm curious about that especially because in the West, after someone publishes their webnovel to Amazon, they delete their original webnovel chapters.

Also, the burning question that everyone (mostly me) wants to know... Is it really that easy to get deals off posting on syosetu? I keep seeing so much isekai slopnovels getting turned into anime, I sometimes can't help but wish I was born in Japan so I could make writing a career easily.

 

[rest256]

Thank you for such a thoughtful comment! It’s fascinating to hear your perspective on the Western industry.

To answer your burning question: Is Syosetu a writer's holy grail? The honest answer is: Yes, but it is also a graveyard.

While the "Web Novel -> Light Novel -> Anime" flowchart you mentioned definitely exists, that path is reserved for the top 0.001% of writers. Because the barrier to entry is so low, the competition is incredibly fierce. The reality is that the vast majority of novels posted on Syosetu (and Kakuyomu) end up buried in obscurity, never reaching even 100 bookmarks (favorites). Just like in the West, success here relies heavily on luck, timing, and skill. If you don't follow the popular "meta" (trends), it is extremely hard to get noticed.

So, for a niche writer like me who writes as a hobby and doesn't follow the mainstream "Isekai Cheat" template, the situation isn't actually that different whether I'm in Japan or the West. It is a struggle everywhere! (lol)

To answer your other questions:

• Why buy the books? Japanese readers buy the Light Novel version for the illustrations, the edited/improved prose, and often for newly added side stories.
• Do authors delete the web version? Usually, no. In Japan, it is common to leave the Web Novel up as a "draft" or "free sample" even after publishing. It serves as an advertisement.

Why I came to Scribble Hub: This brings me to my reason for being here. As you guessed, my story is a bit "niche" in Japan, and growth has been slow there. However, I heard that the "Gender Bender" genre has a strong and passionate community here on Scribble Hub. So, I decided to cross the ocean in search of a new audience who might appreciate my story.

 

[Akkizakura]

With the introduction of sites like RoyalRoad, things got a lot easier for writers when it came to getting their work out there, but the biggest factor was still largely luck, and even then, publishing companies do not want to work with you here.

RoyalRoad is 90% paying for advertisements, 10% effort.

Terrible visibility. Not recommended.

 

[HungrySheep]

Thank you for such a thoughtful comment! It’s fascinating to hear your perspective on the Western industry.

To answer your burning question: Is Syosetu a writer's holy grail? The honest answer is: Yes, but it is also a graveyard.

While the "Web Novel -> Light Novel -> Anime" flowchart you mentioned definitely exists, that path is reserved for the top 0.001% of writers. Because the barrier to entry is so low, the competition is incredibly fierce. The reality is that the vast majority of novels posted on Syosetu (and Kakuyomu) end up buried in obscurity, never reaching even 100 bookmarks (favorites). Just like in the West, success here relies heavily on luck, timing, and skill. If you don't follow the popular "meta" (trends), it is extremely hard to get noticed.

So, for a niche writer like me who writes as a hobby and doesn't follow the mainstream "Isekai Cheat" template, the situation isn't actually that different whether I'm in Japan or the West. It is a struggle everywhere! (lol)

To answer your other questions:

• Why buy the books? Japanese readers buy the Light Novel version for the illustrations, the edited/improved prose, and often for newly added side stories.
• Do authors delete the web version? Usually, no. In Japan, it is common to leave the Web Novel up as a "draft" or "free sample" even after publishing. It serves as an advertisement.

Why I came to Scribble Hub: This brings me to my reason for being here. As you guessed, my story is a bit "niche" in Japan, and growth has been slow there. However, I heard that the "Gender Bender" genre has a strong and passionate community here on Scribble Hub. So, I decided to cross the ocean in search of a new audience who might appreciate my story.

Thanks for answering my questions! It seems like both Japan and the West have some similarities when it comes to making a career out of writing. While "isekai cheat" is really popular here too, "litRPG" is probably the most popular here with lewd cultivation and isekai cheat coming in close behind it.

Honestly, I'm surprised to see that so many novels get passed up like that, but I think my perception has just been warped due to the quality of anime that have been releasing thus far. Seeing stuff like the vending machine isekai get picked up for an anime instead of something like HakoMari really makes me think "Really!? There's no way! I could do this in my sleep!" and wish I could write in Japanese LOL. I'm really glad there's another season of Bookworm coming out though and I'm looking forward to the adaptation of The Holy Grail of Eris coming this season. It looks so good and the novel is one of my favorites!

Do authors delete the web version? Usually, no. In Japan, it is common to leave the Web Novel up as a "draft" or "free sample" even after publishing. It serves as an advertisement.

This is really nice. I feel like this is a trend that should exist in the West, but I think as you saw from the bot spam here in your other thread, the culture here is a little more... opportunistic? I don't think there's a perfect word that describes the difference, but I hope that gets a little of my meaning across.

However, I heard that the "Gender Bender" genre has a strong and passionate community here on Scribble Hub. So, I decided to cross the ocean in search of a new audience who might appreciate my story.

Yeah, you heard right! You'll find a pretty big audience here!

RoyalRoad is 90% paying for advertisements, 10% effort.

Terrible visibility. Not recommended.

YO IM REALLY FAST

 

[Eldoria]

So, I decided to cross the ocean in search of a new audience who might appreciate my story.

That makes sense... sometimes we don't need to compete in murky waters... we can go to clear waters to catch fishes.

 

[rest256]

(Adding to my previous reply regarding the Japanese Industry) I also wanted to touch on the numbers I mentioned in the thread title, as a real-life example of how "hard" the Japanese market can be.

As I wrote in the title—"bringing my 3M+ views, 700-chapter saga"—this is not an exaggeration or clickbait. It is the literal reality of my 12-year career in Japan. Across major Japanese platforms (Syosetu and Kakuyomu), I have accumulated a total of over 3 million views and thousands of bookmarks.

To an outsider, these numbers might sound like a massive success. But in the Japanese web novel industry, even with 3 million views and a 10-year run, a writer can still be considered just "mid-tier" or a "popular hobbyist." Unless you fit the perfect "Isekai" mold to get a publishing deal, you hit a glass ceiling. So, the "Holy Grail" is very, very hard to reach even for veterans!

@Akkizakura
That makes a lot of sense! I'm actually posting on both platforms simultaneously to see how it goes. So far, things are going smoother here on Scribble Hub compared to RR.

 

[HungrySheep]

Unless you fit the perfect "Isekai" mold to get a publishing deal, you hit a glass ceiling. So, the "Holy Grail" is very, very hard to reach even for veterans!

Honestly, this makes me even more impressed with 86 seeing as it's neither isekai or cheat. Of course it was published before the isekai cheat slop machine really started churning, but it still managed to get out there in the midst of that era! I'm in Love with the Villainess is also pretty impressive in that regard even though it is isekai, it definitely doesn't fit the usual mold of OP harem protagonist.

 

[Macha]

RoyalRoad is 90% paying for advertisements, 10% effort.

Terrible visibility. Not recommended.

The 10% effort is making alts and review swaps.

 

[rest256]

Thanks for answering my questions! It seems like both Japan and the West have some similarities when it comes to making a career out of writing. While "isekai cheat" is really popular here too, "litRPG" is probably the most popular here with lewd cultivation and isekai cheat coming in close behind it.

Honestly, I'm surprised to see that so many novels get passed up like that, but I think my perception has just been warped due to the quality of anime that have been releasing thus far. Seeing stuff like the vending machine isekai get picked up for an anime instead of something like HakoMari really makes me think "Really!? There's no way! I could do this in my sleep!" and wish I could write in Japanese LOL. I'm really glad there's another season of Bookworm coming out though and I'm looking forward to the adaptation of The Holy Grail of Eris coming this season. It looks so good and the novel is one of my favorites!


This is really nice. I feel like this is a trend that should exist in the West, but I think as you saw from the bot spam here in your other thread, the culture here is a little more... opportunistic? I don't think there's a perfect word that describes the difference, but I hope that gets a little of my meaning across.


Yeah, you heard right! You'll find a pretty big audience here!


YO IM REALLY FAST

> LitRPG is probably the most popular here... seeing stuff like Vending Machine Isekai... instead of HakoMari...

It is ironic, isn't it? In the Japanese market, "Catchy Title & Hook" often wins over "Deep Plot" because readers scroll through thousands of new novels per second. A "Vending Machine" stands out more than a "Box" in a thumbnail, sadly.

> You'll find a pretty big audience here!

I am glad to hear that! It gives me confidence to keep translating.

Honestly, this makes me even more impressed with 86 seeing as it's neither isekai or cheat. Of course it was published before the isekai cheat slop machine really started churning, but it still managed to get out there in the midst of that era! I'm in Love with the Villainess is also pretty impressive in that regard even though it is isekai, it definitely doesn't fit the usual mold of OP harem protagonist.

Actually, "86" wasn't a web novel! That’s the big difference. In Japan, we have two main routes to debut:

1. The Web Novel Route (Syosetu): Ruled by PVs and trends (Isekai/Cheat/Villainess). I'm in Love with the Villainess came from here (following the "Villainess" trend).
2. The Newcomer Award Route (Traditional): Ruled by professional judges. "86" won the Grand Prize of the "Dengeki Novel Prize" (the biggest contest in Japan).

Since 86 was picked by pros, it didn't need to follow the "Web Novel Meta." It's proof that the traditional publishing industry is still fighting the good fight against the Isekai flood!

That makes sense... sometimes we don't need to compete in murky waters... we can go to clear waters to catch fishes.

Finding this place feels like I’ve finally found a quiet, clear lake where I can cast my line and wait for the right readers. I will enjoy fishing here!



Anyway, since everyone here has such interesting theories and a keen eye for the industry... I'd love for you guys to give my story a try if you have time! (lol) Come see if my "3 million view" story is actually good, or just another product of the Japanese environment!

 

[HungrySheep]

It is ironic, isn't it? In the Japanese market, "Catchy Title & Hook" often wins over "Deep Plot" because readers scroll through thousands of new novels per second. A "Vending Machine" stands out more than a "Box" in a thumbnail, sadly.

It's the same thing over here ??? I did hear that HakoMari was significantly less popular in Japan than it was here in the West though, which is pretty funny if that's true. HakoMari was actually the first light novel I read and got me into the genre!

Actually, "86" wasn't a web novel! That’s the big difference. In Japan, we have two main routes to debut:

1. The Web Novel Route (Syosetu): Ruled by PVs and trends (Isekai/Cheat/Villainess). I'm in Love with the Villainess came from here (following the "Villainess" trend).
2. The Newcomer Award Route (Traditional): Ruled by professional judges. "86" won the Grand Prize of the "Dengeki Novel Prize" (the biggest contest in Japan).

Since 86 was picked by pros, it didn't need to follow the "Web Novel Meta." It's proof that the traditional publishing industry is still fighting the good fight against the Isekai flood!

Ahhh, I see! I'm glad it won, because I really enjoyed reading through it! That is really impressive though and I wish the industry good luck against the isekai army!

Anyway, since everyone here has such interesting theories and a keen eye for the industry... I'd love for you guys to give my story a try if you have time! (lol) Come see if my "3 million view" story is actually good, or just another product of the Japanese environment!

I shall give it a read sometime this week!