Michael must survive a fake world, he and other people from Earth have been teleported to.Struggling to survive with his weight and fear. Michael must try and figure out the mysteries of this new world he is stuck in.The other people transported to the empty stone city, the monsters outside, and the mysterious System Store are all threats or opportunities in equal measure.The Systemic Lands is a Dark Progressive LITRPG. Taking a grittier approach to the survival progression story, when the main character isn't a super athlete ready to go at a moment's notice.The unique setting moves away from any of the standard tropes of a LITRPG setting and takes on the air of a true mystery. While a slower start as Michael gets his bearings, there is clear progression, stats, and power levels. Avoiding the info dumps of boxes, The Systemic Lands excels at people using knowledge of game mechanics to try and figure out how things work.Each volume focuses on a theme while moving ahead with the main story, for example the first volume focuses on coming to terms with the world. The second volume focuses on inter-team dynamics. The third volume focuses on the conflict with the Ritualist. The fourth volume focuses on city building. The fifth volume focuses on exploration. In addition, politics, lose-lose situations, and brutal conflict are present in this story at varying intensities depending on the point in the story while not being the central focus. Setbacks happen and should be expected. The Almighty System does not hand hold people like in other LITRPGs. This story is dark. I have been told by readers to give an enhanced warning for this story, since a regular warning might get overlooked. If you are in any way squeamish, easily offended, have a weak constitution, easily upset over violence, offended over opinions you don't agree with, or want a paragon type main character, this story is probably not for you. A lot of unhappy reviews and ratings come from this, so consider yourself officially warned.