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Mutant Animals. Special Quests. Legendary Skills.

Roth used to be a successful gamer with a short fuse and a nasty temper. All it took to send him on a rampage was to look at him funny.

But when his rage fits cost him his friends, job, family, and freedom, he realizes the need to change. After four years in prison, he leaves as a better and more peaceful person. But sins have a way of catching up with a man. Those who were hurt by Roth's rampages have planned a terrible revenge.

When Roth finds himself locked up inside the new MMORPG, AstroTerra, there seems to be no way out, especially because Roth refuses to hurt anyone or anything inside the game.

Hidden Class: Pacifist is a litrpg progression sci-fi fantasy story of how a man can achieve success on his own terms and without compromising his principles.

Hidden Class: Pacifist kicks off a new series featuring a protagonist who overcomes his anger management issues to become the most peaceful man on Earth. Join Roth on an epic journey through a unique blend of gamelit, cyberpunk, science fiction, and fantasy elements.

This wholesome LitRPG story contains no sexual content, profanity, gore, or harem.

453 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2023

162 people are currently reading
87 people want to read

About the author

Cassio Ferreira

21 books37 followers
Hi there! I’m Cássio, and I write clean, wholesome LitRPG. My work has gathered over 2 million views on Royal Road.

My stories focus on progression, crafting, VRMMO systems, cozy vibes, and characters who grow in meaningful ways. If you like animals, aliens, good-hearted adventures, and worlds that feel warm instead of grim, you’ll probably feel at home in my books.

I share early chapters and behind-the-scenes updates on Royal Road and Patreon, and the finished books slowly make their way to Amazon.

Welcome, and happy reading!

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5 stars
231 (51%)
4 stars
136 (30%)
3 stars
57 (12%)
2 stars
18 (3%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
Profile Image for Sunmade Ejiwunmi.
Author 1 book4 followers
August 30, 2023
Brilliant

It is so refreshing to read a litrpg that isn't just kill kill kill the whole time. The unique storyline and world building is amazing
381 reviews2 followers
August 18, 2023
Different

A most interesting book not your more normal slay beasts and gain levels a flip side a what if you befriended them instead, it kept me reading right to the end as i was bored of the more normal hack slash op rince repeat books this was a refreshing change no harems no gory fights but good honest toil.
Profile Image for Dave Stone.
1,348 reviews97 followers
June 29, 2024
Strangely translated
Fantasy / LitRPG / Stuck in the game world / rule bending - exploitation / non-violence

Cassio Ferreira was born in Portugal. His bio says he is a language teacher and interpreter. I don't know if this series was written in Portuguese and translated into English, or if it was written in English by a native Portuguese speaker. Either way the language has a flavor of otherness that fits well with the fantasy genre, but sometimes I'm dead certain that's not what the author meant to say.
This story is about an emotionally regressed young man who is determined to reform after a life of violence and a short stint in prison. Mobsters he crossed when he was a criminal have kidnapped him and locked him into a game world where he still struggles to live a life free of violence.
The writing here is awkward, amateurish, and sometimes cringe inducing ...but I'm a sucker for talking animals and guys who mean well.
Tone wise this series has a lot in common with The Song Maiden (Uniworld Online #1) Jonathan Brooks if you've heard of that one.
Something in me really enjoyed this book, ...but it's not great.
4 stars is my honest estimation of how I enjoyed it, not of it's quality which is much less than 4 stars.

Two Damn good books about real ex-cons who are trying to do right:
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
Walter Mosley
a god damn masterpiece
Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood -Danny Trejo There is so much more in this book than you would think.
27 reviews1 follower
January 1, 2024
Unique

When I read the title, I was curious how would the story go without conflict. It goes pretty well actually but also there are conflicts it’s just that MC refuses to hurt anything.

So story ends up progressing as MC completes tasks and hence get better at it and then completes more. He gains experience through quests only (also being the first at things).

On top of this he is on the run from a very pissed off, very rich, and evil person. This translates to usually MC dealing with NPCs.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the story. Author took a chance with the pacifist thing and it gives a unique feel to the story. I personally don’t know any other LitRPGs with this type of premise so I specifically recommend you to read this because of it’s uniqueness.

One final thing to mention is that just because MC is a pacifist does not mean others are too. In fact, I would say the world is closer to a dystopian world but still not quite there. The problem is corruption plus overcrowding but there are still people who are doing their best so take that as you will.
14 reviews
September 21, 2023
A great read

I enjoyed the idea of having to deal with rage and after it destroys the min characters life. He learns how he hurts the ones he cares about. Then when he has a chance to move forward and try to make it up to his family. He his trapped and tortured for what he did. And that is just the opening. Read this if want to Lear more. I read this in one setting
104 reviews
April 25, 2024
Fantastic read! I've been wanting to read a book a lot like this one for a while now. Comfortable but good pace, I can't wait to get more of this story.
Profile Image for Christopher.
501 reviews7 followers
June 19, 2024
A fun fantasy story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It sometimes feels a bit rough around the edges (the MC is a bit over the top when protecting animals), but the book really stuck to it’s premise and ran with it, which I appreciate.
Profile Image for Jay Collins.
1,630 reviews15 followers
July 2, 2024
It was okay , some interesting parts but some boring and not much action as the main character is passitive
Profile Image for Wilhelm Eyrich.
366 reviews28 followers
May 15, 2024
Surprisingly good for a VR book, the outside stuff is still pretty meh, glad some stuff is starting to get resolved.
Would have been upset if his mom didn’t at least learn he was doing kind of OK.

Also, I didn’t see no hidden class here…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
323 reviews5 followers
November 12, 2025
Fun unique book

I enjoyed reading such a unique storyline. It’s like a normal LitRPG story turned on its head. Total fun reading.
361 reviews4 followers
September 4, 2025
Excellent book!

Loved the story. Unique storyline. Interesting hero. I liked how he befriended so many npc races. I can't wait to read the next book!
Profile Image for Kurt.
287 reviews2 followers
October 13, 2024
I almost skipped over this book because, really, how interesting can a story about a pacifist be?

Fairly interesting, as it turns out. There was a surprising amount of action for a book with a MC that doesn't fight and I felt the overall story moved along at a good clip. Character development was good, along with the world building. Couple of minor typos that I found and posted on Goodreads, but nothing out of the ordinary for this space.

Anyway, they say don't judge a book by its cover and, at least for this novel, you shouldn't judge it by its title. It's a fun read that exceeds expectations for this genre.
Profile Image for David Campbell.
314 reviews4 followers
August 10, 2025
MC stumbles through events and doesn't earn anything. Instead he's handed OP skill after OP reward.

Note, I've completed the series and these things get worse and worse as it goes on. The finale is rushed and feels anticlimactic (partly as it feels again unearned).

Recommend skipping this and checking out one of the author's other stories instead as it seems like they learned a good bit about writing from this. If I'd read this series first, I'm not sure i would have given the author another chance.
Profile Image for Devan.
622 reviews20 followers
August 21, 2024
***audible review***


I liked this. The story was refreshing and interesting. The author did a great job of creating a story that excelled in all my favorite aspects. Great world building, awesome class with unique character growth, and a story that went in a direction I never would have guessed.

Was this the best written story I have read this year? No, but it was so creative and enjoyable that it gets 5 stars in my book.
Profile Image for Travis Bryant.
958 reviews8 followers
September 19, 2024
This is an excellent book and an awesome start to the series. The game design is super frustrating at times (spawn camping, zeroing out a player, death penalties etc.), especially for it to be set in the 2080's, but a great concept for a class and pretty cool newly discovered side to a game world that is very fascinating. 👍🏽👍🏽
Profile Image for Shea.
53 reviews1 follower
November 19, 2024
Great story

The start was rough, with the author drawing a parallel between violence in video games and violence in real life. It took me a few chapters to get over this, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the story. With the authors' unique way of telling a story of non-violence and bringing awareness to mental health.
Profile Image for Dawson Israel.
1 review
August 10, 2025
Can't stop reading this book until the end of it's series. I've tried some LitRPG before and they didn't hold much of my attention, but this book is amazing. I've found myself cheering for each of Roth's achievements like it were my own.

Great Book, must read for fantasy and game fans.
Profile Image for Christopher.
92 reviews
December 14, 2024
Different But Fun

It's not bad, actually. You're invested in the MC and his PTSD and past struggles. I also enjoyed the world building. It's been nice reading a LitRPG that's clean and different. Will read book 2
689 reviews5 followers
July 7, 2024
Great book

Stellar work from Cassio Ferreira! Lots of adventure and monsters, trading and twists. Looking forward to reading the next one!
Profile Image for Christian.
118 reviews
August 4, 2024
DNF
Chapter 2
Ehh. Premise is fine but not very intriguing.
Profile Image for Michael Rinaldi.
59 reviews1 follower
June 24, 2025
If you’re thinking about reading this series, do it. It is incredibly written and a great read. I cannot recommend anything written by Ferreira more
Profile Image for Gilbert Stack.
Author 96 books77 followers
February 19, 2025
As the LitRPG subgenre matures, authors are finding increasingly innovative approaches to the task of bringing the mechanics of role-playing games to life in novel form. The Green Woods by Cassio Ferreira may be the most unique effort yet. RPGs and the books that explore them are almost universally based around combat, but Ferreira has come up with a character who will do anything not to fight. He is, for all intents and purposes, a pacifist—but he wasn't always that way and therein lies many of his problems.

Roth used to be The Slayer—a violent bully who made his living through immersive role-playing games. The game world allowed him to legally do all the horrible stuff to people that he couldn't get away with in real life. But his temper was so bad, that when another player got the better of him in a transaction in the game, he found the player in real life and beat him within an inch of his life. He then went to jail where he was effectively born again through anger management classes—a philosophy that he has genuinely embraced. He is sorry for his past misdeeds and really wants to start over—but not everyone from his past life is ready to let go of their hatred for him.

Fresh out of prison, Roth is set up by friends working for the man he nearly beat to death. He is locked into a game, unable to log out, and his pain receptors are locked on so that he feels things in the game as if they were really happening to him. Then his old gang catches him as he is generated into the game and murder him 1000 times. Think about that number. 1000 times. And Roth doesn't even try to fight back. He forgives them and tells them he deserves it. (And if that isn't proof he has changed, I don't know what could be.)

However, it turns out that getting killed a thousand times without fighting back triggers a hidden title in the game—Martyr—and that sets Roth on a path that may just be unique in LitRPGs. He resolves to not hurt anyone (including monsters) and to help everyone he can who is being hurt. At the same time, he is going to strive to become one of the top ten players as he has figured out that that contains a loophole which he thinks will permit him to escape the game and go check on his mother to make certain she is alright. (The guy he beat up is not just taking out his vengeance on Roth but upon just about everyone in his past life.)

This really makes for an exciting experience. Roth begins to discover that there is a richness to the game that he had missed when he was dominated by a hack-and-slash attitude. And yet, everyone else in the game continues to think it's about killing monsters. When Roth tries to stop them from hurting foxes and mice and other creatures, they not only think he is crazy—they kill him as well. But Roth can’t stop trying to protect life and it produces interesting and unanticipated consequences.

This is a great first book in a series.
Profile Image for Cameron DiPerna.
3 reviews
November 2, 2025
A breath of fresh air for a genre normally filled with violence and slaughter. While the actions that the main character, Roth, took before the story begins are dark, most of the book is pretty light and fun. I really enjoyed the different ways Roth tried to befriend the races of the forest, even though I wasn't a big fan of the poetry recitals. This book goes more for a comedic angle instead of a serious take on how someone searches for redemption and atonement, but I think I enjoy that more than if it was serious. The author did a good job of using multiple POVs to show us what other characters are doing, while not spending too much time away from the MC.

The only issues I have with the book is that the villians and other human characters seem either cartoonishly evil or unreasonably uninquisitive. The main villain's plan is world domination as the leader of a MMO's guild. I'm not sure how he makes connections and money to fund that ambition with that job, but he has done so well that he can do anything to coerce people into his schemes. Like have moles in every rival guild and inside men in every single corporation. His in-game name is Loki, because he loves to swindle and manipulate people, and people in the real world can somehow take him seriously while calling him that.

The side characters also only follow prewritten guides to level their characters and everyone is trying to level as fast as possible, because again somehow they can become rich. If I know anything about MMO players, most will explore as much possible and some will do ridiculous suboptimal things because they can. There should be more experimentation happening aside from the MC.

I would still give the book a read in spite of those complaints, because it was still an enjoyable time reading this.
72 reviews
August 20, 2025
A bad guy learning to be good.

This is the story of a violent man who is slowly learning to be non-violent. It is very believable. I, personally, don't know much about rageaholics but it sounds very realistic. It's not instant, and he has lots of internal struggles, but I love his growth. You don't often see character growth in a LitRPG book; I love it.

The story is well-written. The world develops without info-dumps. SO much creativity. There is enough tension that it kept me reading. It took me 7 days to read the entire 6-book series. I couldn't stop, always wanting to know what happened next.

I would agree with other reviewers that a really good editor would help in certain spots. There are no spelling or even grammar mistakes. But occasionally an idiom or turn of phrase just feels off; the wrong word is used or something. I have no idea, but I picture the author moving from Portugal to the US or Canada when they were 15-18 and swiftly becoming bilingual. They pick up most of the English, but it's the fine tuning that miss every 20 pages or so. Nothing big; it's just a quirk, but it's there.

Nevertheless, this is a super entertaining series. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes LitRPG books, or wants to learn more about them.
Profile Image for MyDoRyS.
1,040 reviews4 followers
June 25, 2024
Audio: 5 Stars

Story: I have mixed feelings about this one, the idea for the book was good but the delivery was poor. The whole Lucky/Sen/"Friends" piece is ridiculous. The Lucky guy is a serial killer and nobody knows? Some of the dialogue is SOOOO lame it made me cringe. I also believe that being a pacifist is ok, but when he starts meddling into others' game play, is stupid. Basically you are choosing the path for others and not respecting their choices. You are free to choose your path but you should not push others to accept your point of view. Which is also another type of bullying. The MC is a bit over the top when protecting animals and he is also a manipulator, not doing things because he is actually nice or has changed. He still goes berserk, in a different way, but he still has repression issues. That said, I do like the "peace" positive gaming idea and the NPC interaction. If the book would have focused on the MC adventures/quests and peaceful approach to gaming, I would have enjoyed it better. There is not as much repetition of stats as in other LitRPG books, thankfully! Overall, ok. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
Profile Image for Travis.
2,892 reviews49 followers
May 11, 2024
The pacifist is the first book in this rather intriguing story. It sometimes amazes me what topics authors can turn into a LitRPg tale, but this one is surprising for it's simplicity. The concept is sound, the main character is an absolute joy, and the story just screams out to those of us who just *have* to complete every little side quest when playing games. It's a unique perspective on LitRPG stories, and I'm interested to see where this story goes in the next book. I'll definitely be reading that one too.
2,111 reviews5 followers
June 3, 2025
Good Read

I enjoyed this book. It was a decent start to the a new series for me. I don't think there was anyone really decent in this book besides the animals in the game, but the MC was trying to change. The rest of ex friends and Loki were just backstabbing and evil; yeah he ruined their future team, but after 4 years they have to take some the blame for their own lives instead of blaming everything on Slayer.
Profile Image for Tony Hinde.
2,147 reviews78 followers
July 1, 2024
DNF 32%

While this novel had an interesting premise, it had no depth. The main character was as two-dimensional as I've ever seen... not really human. The world was painted as a corporate dystopia, or it was well on its way to that. If you've read much LitRPG by Russian authors, you'll know what to expect – 'cause it's like that.

In short, there was little sense of realism.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews

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