
by Lucky bargujar
"Happiness is nothing more than a beautiful lie." Ignored since childhood, Hyoko Hitabi grew up believing that happiness was something meant for everyone except him. Betrayed by life again and again, he eventually stopped believing in hope altogether. After his death, he awakens in a brutal fantasy world where humans are nothing more than disposable weapons in endless wars fought by the Eight Demon Lords. Unlike most protagonists, Hyoko doesn't dream of becoming a hero. He has always admired villains—not because they are evil, but because they understand the cruel truth of the world. While others chase justice and happy endings, Hyoko believes only in reality. As an ancient power awakens within him, he is dragged into ruthless military campaigns, political conspiracies, psychological battles, and wars where a single decision can determine the fate of entire nations. In this world, intelligence is often deadlier than strength, and every victory comes with a terrible price. This is not a story about saving the world. This is the story of a boy who has already given up on happiness... and may become the greatest monster the world has ever known. A truly dark fantasy featuring military warfare, psychological mind games, powerful Demon Lords, moral ambiguity, brutal consequences, and a protagonist inspired by villains rather than heroes.
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 25 Oct 2026, 12:38 UTC
Entry forecast updated 25 Oct 2026, 12:38 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.
Not enough recent follower history to estimate a shadow rank yet.
beats 69% of similar stories
not enough data yet
needs about a week of observations
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 lifetime.