![Citizen, Contaminated [Dark Urban Fantasy]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.royalroadcdn.com%2Fpublic%2Fcovers-large%2F169944-citizen-contaminated-psychological-urban.jpg%3Ftime%3D1779777939&w=640&q=75)
by kobukee
If the government realizes what Min and her brother are becoming, containment won’t mean treatment. It will mean cages... After years clawing her way out of her parents’ poor immigrant life and up the corporate ladder at ArborDyne, Minseo Lee has finally made it. Then sabotage tears a worldgate open. The arcane explosion leaves Min with a clawed lizard arm and her brother with monstrous eyes. Contaminated, they’re both now under government surveillance. Worse, a Federal Adept - a government-leashed magical weapon - starts looking at her like she’s a problem he intends to solve. But Min’s biggest problem isn’t administrative.Something ancient and hungry is waking under her skin. The first person she kills is an accident.The second one won’t be. Now Min has only one priority: keep herself and her brother invisible. But what’s inside Min has its own calculus - and it isn’t patient. Expect: - Body horror, contamination & hunger - Corporate magitech & extraction politics - A competent anti-heroine making progressively worse decisions - Messy sibling loyalty & found family - SLOW-BURN enemies-to-allies-to… - Psychological deterioration & moral compromise - Magical surveillance states & ICE crackdowns Notes: --> Book 1 is full drafted & beta-read. Posting Tuesday / Thursday (12 Pacific /15 EST / 21 CET) --> If you're interested in beta reading all of book 1, DM me ! The fee: comments & feedback ;)
No streak history
Rank updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Entry forecast updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Overall Rising Stars shadow rank
deep field · ~#2552 of 6,880 · 2502 below #50
By genre
beats 74% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 16% 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.
At this conversion, the Horror Rising Stars bar (≈0 new followers/day) costs about 37 views/day — the story currently gets ~17.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 20–49 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.