
by BrokenImmortal
Prophecy heralded the arrival of the Foretold–the one who would save the world. It failed to mention what would happen if he died first. After accidentally killing the chosen one, Richard did what came naturally. He ran. But the fallen Hero was not done with him. The spirit of the Foretold persisted, demanding that Richard has inherited his purpose and must gain the power necessary to prevent the end of all things. Chef. Prisoner. Coward. These are the words that Richard used to define himself. But there's another label–one assigned by the world itself–that complicates that demand. Richard is a Villain, and the only way he can gain power is by living up to that Role. In learning to embrace this side of himself, he traverses fallen ruins, survives nightmarish bureaucracies, and explores the memories that unites it all–uncovering the secrets and lies that have shaped the world. Can the murders of innocents and Heroes be justified if they're done in the service of saving the world? Is someone capable of performing such atrocities still capable of doing so?
Current
8/11/2026
Peak #25
2d
#2
8/6/2026
Peak #27
5d
#1
8/6/2026
Peak #45
0d
Rank updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Entry forecast updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Overall Rising Stars shadow rank
deep field · ~#477 of 6,880 · 427 below #50
By genre
beats 99% of similar stories
beats 29% of similar stories
beats 26% 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 Drama Rising Stars bar (≈1 new followers/day) costs about 56 views/day — the story currently gets ~63.
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.