
by Jane Platinum
How hard can it be to rebuild a mech in a junkyard? Scarlet grew up hearing her father's stories, a lifetime of heroic victories and daring adventures. She asked endless questions about the mechs he piloted, how they worked, and most often, if she could drive one. A burning desire took hold in her chest, a need to be just like her father. To pilot, to fight, and to help people. But stories are sanitized, and reality is unforgiving. Her earliest memories were exploring the endless junkyard that surrounds the village she called home, searching for discarded, forgotten machines to take apart. With every broken part, with every mistake, she learned. After all, mistakes are the best teacher, and Scarlet is a dedicated student. Scarlet Steel is available exclusively on Royal Road, Scribblehub, and Amazon. Any other locations are unlicensed, illegal copies without my permission.
#19
7/29/2026
Peak #48
2d
#18
7/28/2026
Peak #49
0d
#17
7/28/2026
Peak #50
0d
#16
7/26/2026
Peak #44
1d
#15
7/26/2026
Peak #49
0d
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 16 Oct 2026, 03:28 UTC
Entry forecast updated 16 Oct 2026, 03:28 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Previously appeared on Rising Stars, but no supported current projection is available.
beats 77% of similar stories
beats 14% of similar stories
beats 67% of similar stories
Firing on all cylinders
Traffic and conversion are both strong for a story this size. Readers are finding it and sticking — if Rising Stars is the goal, this is the moment to push.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 50–149 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.