Konstantin Zubov

Grade school, college, and then a mission to find himself. Konstantin tried his hand at many things, from his own small women’s clothing business to working in real estate. But no matter how busy he was, he always found time to read often and occasionally play RPGs.

Later, Konstantin participated in short story competitions and found resounding success. Then in one beautiful moment, he finally realized what he wanted to do with his life and published his first fantasy novel, The Safe Level.

The novel was nominated in a major literary portal’s annual competition, and was one of five winners. That was the beginning. In 2023, The Last Portal Jumper was published, becoming one of the best new fantasy novels on RealRPG that year.

When I died and became a portal jumper, the system glitched.

Did that bother me? Not a bit. After all, I’d dreamed of traveling to a different world all my life! The system malfunction turned out to only benefit me. I didn't just lose nothing; I also gained something really cool.

And since the opportunity had fallen into my lap, I was going to take full advantage of it and become the all-time coolest. No — I was going to become a legend.

I have been reborn from an advanced techno-magic world into a world where magic is still in its infancy.

In this new world I have the body of a young baron and my entire worldly possessions are one village—a village surrounded by monsters and hostile aristocrats on the fringes of a young, rapidly expanding empire.

The other thing I have, though, is knowledge beyond what this world has dreamt of, and nothing will stop me from building my own magic empire!

Orcs and elves come streaming out of portals. People lose their grip and are transformed into afflicted. If this is a zombie apocalypse, it’s a pretty weird one.

The rules are simple: kill an orc or anything else – gain life energy, reducing your chances of becoming a walking corpse. But fail – and become a zombie, AKA an afflicted.

Oh well… I wanted the system to come – now I got it. I ended up with a sweet specialty, too! Let the games begin!

Everything in this world gets a point rating, from smiles to fear. Some folks hunt monsters, others hunt people, but I was used to a quiet life – just ads, work, and family. The Cycle was almost over, and I was getting ready to go to the other world…

That all changed when a private channel showed me my future. Before I knew it, my wife was suspiciously perfect, my neighbor was way too persistent, and the one man who could shed light on everything had disappeared.

I hear a voice in my head telling me what I’m going to do next. I see signs where there shouldn’t be any. The city is rehearsing its own death – explosions, meteorites, quarantines… the Superintendent calls it entertainment. He says people need a good show. But it’s not just a game to me. I want to survive and save the people I love. If my script has already been written, I’m about to tear it up!

Konstantin Zubov

Books

The Last Portal Jumper

How I Built a Magic Empire

The Afflicted

The Safe Level