![Until the Last Call [Book one stubbed on 9/16]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.royalroadcdn.com%2Fpublic%2Fcovers-large%2Funtil-the-last-call-aacaqep30hg.jpg%3Ftime%3D1778047869&w=640&q=75)
by Asher Teivel
"Every soul carries a story, but not all stories get an ending. That's what this place is for, tying up loose ends one drink at a time." Bell's secrets are running up a lethal tab, and now it's coming due. He tends bar at The Crossroads: a place between life and death where patrons pay for drinks with their life stories and every drink brings them closer to their fated afterlife. But Bell keeps his own past close to his chest. If word gets out that he's a demon with secrets, he'll have more to pay than a story or two. Between managing chaotic new hires and almost nightly break-ins by Notions—reality-bending personifications of concepts ranging from Whimsy to Misfortune—Bell's already having a hard enough time keeping a lid on his secrets. But he can't help but help but cheat the system and guide some souls to a better fate. Now Big Mike, his literally holier-than-thou boss, is breathing down his neck, and Bell really can't afford a write up. Can Bell keep his secrets buried 'til last call? Or will he have to pay the piper? His daughters' everlasting souls depend on it. "Welcome to the Crossroads, the bar between life and death."
#30
9/12/2026
Peak #49
0d
#29
9/1/2026
Peak #38
6d
#28
8/30/2026
Peak #45
2d
#27
8/29/2026
Peak #49
0d
#26
8/19/2026
Peak #40
10d
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 08:49 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 08:49 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.
A confirmed Rising Stars eligibility removal excludes this story from the Shadow queue.
beats 94% of similar stories
beats 73% of similar stories
beats 1% of similar stories
Hidden gem — exposure is the bottleneck
Readers who find this story follow it at a high rate; there just aren't enough of them. In our cohort data, near-daily posting lifted the odds of reaching 25 followers from ~0% to 17% — more chapters, shoutout swaps and ads buy the eyeballs this conversion deserves.
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 lifetime.
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