
by Reom
Physics takes its toll. The streets claim the rest. Seventeen-year-old Palmer Peterson lives on the brink of starvation, desperately trying to juggle a full scholarship at Hudson University, an unstable library job, and two months of overdue rent for a freezing attic in Bay City. Completely alone in the world with no memory of his past, his daily routine is a silent battle against hunger and exhaustion. But beneath his worn jacket hides an innate biological anomaly: the ability to manipulate his own mass, perception of time, and physical density. He can float like a feather, slow time down thirty-fold, or strike with the devastating force of a meteor. The problem? He is entirely human on the outside. His skin bleeds, his bones feel every blow, and fueling his biological physics on an empty stomach drains his cellular energy—triggering severe migraines, muscle spasms, and physical collapse. With an unstable power he fears using, and a battered, blood-stained leather notebook as his only clue to his parents' identities, Palmer learns the hard way that being a hero doesn't mean being invincible—it means bearing the burden of standing firm when the whole world is trying to knock you down.
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 15 Oct 2026, 15:58 UTC
Entry forecast updated 15 Oct 2026, 15:58 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 54% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 2% 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 5–9 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views lifetime.