![Thousandth Death's the Charm [A Time Loop Dungeon Diving Fantasy]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.royalroadcdn.com%2Fpublic%2Fcovers-large%2F170941-thousandth-deaths-the-charm-a-time-loop.jpg%3Ftime%3D1783197209&w=640&q=75)
by 167five
[On Hiatus] How can someone keep descending into hell when they’ve already died there a thousand times? For a millennium, Lio has been trapped in a brutal time loop. He has suffered countless deaths to the monsters, traps, and desperate humans inhabiting Ghenna - a bottomless dungeon filled with mythical horrors. And every single time he dies, the loop resets right back to the start of the year. Then, the impossible happens. A girl with gold-ringed eyes appears - the first anomaly in a thousand years of perfect loops. Lio doesn't know who she is, and why a deadly global organization is hunting her down. But one thing is for sure - Lio's life is taking a new turn for the first time in a thousand years. Will it lead to ruin, or to salvation? What to expect: - 1 chapter everyday - Around 1.8k - 2k words per chapter - A hollow and numb protagonist suffering from various mental conditions from his prolonged time in the loop - Deep dungeon progression with great worldbuilding - An overarching mystery involving a sort of demiurge god - Characters who actually earn their keep, and have backstories with personalities - Slow burn all the way - An ending Lio has been descending toward for a very long time If you enjoyed it, and want to read more, my Patreon is 15 chapters ahead.
#17
8/15/2026
Peak #42
12d
#16
8/13/2026
Peak #48
1d
#15
8/13/2026
Peak #50
0d
#14
8/13/2026
Peak #50
0d
#13
7/13/2026
Peak #50
0d
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 05:09 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 05:09 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.
Coupled 14-day outlook
rs-joint-entry-copula-v1
Any eligible RS entry
28%
Two or more lists
4%
Likely threshold order: Psychological → Romance → Action → Fantasy → Adventure → Main.
Leading bundle: Psychological (24%).
Estimated from one fitted shared story path; category probabilities are not multiplied as if lists were independent.
Separate entry forecast; this probability does not enter the ranking score.
Overall Rising Stars Shadow RS rank
#9835 of 12,138 · 9785 below RS #50
By genre
beats 53% of similar stories
beats 67% of similar stories
beats 75% of similar stories
Mid-pack, room on both levers
Traffic and conversion both sit mid-field for a story this size. Growth here compounds from consistency: steady cadence feeds traffic, and a sharper hook lifts what each view is worth.
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.
+12 more