The Way of the Shaman
Vasily Mahanenko
Sentenced to eight years, Dmitry Mahan serves his time inside Barliona, a virtual MMO world where prisoners toil in digital mines. Stuck with the unpopular Shaman class and Jeweler profession, Mahan grinds his way from expendable convict labor to High Shaman and leader of the Legends of Barliona - claiming castles, braving the Dark Forest, and defying the Corporation itself across eight volumes of founding-father LitRPG.
Progression: VRMMO game progression in Barliona: explicit character levels, an unpopular Shaman class leveled alongside a Jeweler crafting profession, stats, skills, quests, dungeons, and clan hierarchy. The prisoner protagonist grinds from virtual-mine laborer to High Shaman and clan leader, acquiring a castle, a one-of-a-kind ship, and apprentices. Verified from book blurbs (level up, unpopular class/profession, clan leader, top players) and the author's framing of the series as MMO-based LitRPG.
Goodreads
