Progression Fantasy is a fantasy subgenre in which the story's central engine is a character's measurable growth in power, typically advancing through a magic system that functions like a set of rules the character levels up within over the course of a hero's journey. It is closely related to LitRPG, sometimes described as its cousin genre, but does not require its world to be tied to an actual game the way LitRPG typically does, giving progression fantasy more freedom in how its world and its systems of advancement are built. The genre grew out of, and overlaps heavily with, web serial fiction and Japanese light novel storytelling built around leveling and skill growth, and works such as Sword Art Online and Solo Leveling are commonly cited as blending progression fantasy with LitRPG's more explicit game mechanics.
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