
by Leooooooo
A disgraced missionary. A mutated monster hunter. A dying empire consumed by rot. In 19th-century China, two forces are devouring the land: the fatal, unimaginable "Salt Rot," and the warships of Western powers. David is a disgraced British missionary exiled to the Far East, carrying a past he can't outrun. He meets the one man he was never supposed to want. Xiao Yan is a ruthless monster hunter of the Empire, his body long mutated by years of slaughter, his heart long closed to anyone. As the two navigate the eerie water towns, David and Xiao Yan must survive the abominations, imperial politics, and a desire they were taught to be ashamed of. 100k words stockpile. The book is finished. Update at least three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday) [Slowburn Boylove(Danmei)/Historical Fantasy/Grimdark]
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 06:28 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 06:28 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.
Coupled 14-day outlook
rs-joint-entry-copula-v1
Any eligible RS entry
18%
Two or more lists
4%
Likely threshold order: Historical → Mystery → Romance → Fantasy → Adventure → Main.
Leading bundle: Historical (14%).
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
#10960 of 12,157 · 10910 below RS #50
By genre
beats 13% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 42% 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.