![Skill Thief: Rise from the Slums [LitRPG, Progression Fantasy]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.royalroadcdn.com%2Fpublic%2Fcovers-large%2Fskill-thief-rise-from-the-slums-aadaq35nzrk.jpg%3Ftime%3D1787901756&w=640&q=75)
by Ryuka Tsukise
Nero has spent his entire life surviving in the slums. He has no family, no money, and barely enough food to stay alive. Then one morning, while scavenging through a garbage dump, he finds a dying adventurer. At the man's request, Nero ends his suffering—and awakens a unique skill. Plunder. When Nero kills a monster, he can choose only one reward: Steal one of its skills.Or turn its body into a magic stone and sell it for money. Humans are different. They have no magic stones—but their trained skills can be stolen too. Swordsmanship. Stealth. Body enhancement. Magic. But stealing a skill doesn't make Nero a master overnight. His body is still that of a starving child.Magic still has to be practiced.Stronger enemies can still kill him. So Nero does what he has always done best. He survives. He hunts monsters one at a time.Builds traps instead of fighting fair.Turns a hole in the ground into a fortified hideout.Learns earth magic through failure, exhaustion, and repetition. And little by little, the boy who once searched garbage for moldy bread begins to climb. From the slums.From F-Rank.From nothing. He doesn't need to be the strongest today. Tomorrow, he just needs to be stronger than he was yesterday. Want to read ahead? 📚 Book 1 is now available on Amazon, collecting Chapters 1–50 in one massive volume!https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0HH2J3BMZ 📚 Book 2 is also available now, continuing Nero’s journey from Chapter 51 onward!https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0HHJ3XL7R 🇩🇪 The German edition of Book 1 is now available on Amazon Germany!SKILL THIEF: Aufstieg aus den Slums – Band 1https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0HHRPZFT5 🇩🇪 The German edition of Book 2 is also available now!SKILL THIEF: Aufstieg aus den Slums – Band 2https://amzn.eu/d/0516hqXg 🇫🇷 The French edition of Book 1 is now available on Amazon France!SKILL THIEF L’Ascension depuis les bas-fonds – Tome 1https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0H1TQL8LDSKILL THIEF L’Ascension depuis les bas-fonds – Tome 2https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0HJCCM6BC
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 3 Oct 2026, 00:08 UTC
Entry forecast updated 3 Oct 2026, 00:08 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
60%
Two or more lists
41%
Likely threshold order: Action → Adventure → Fantasy → Main.
Leading bundle: Action (19%).
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
#282 of 12,395 · 232 below RS #50
By genre
beats 85% of similar stories
beats 36% of similar stories
beats 95% of similar stories
Firing on all cylinders
Traffic and conversion are both strong for a story this size. Readers are finding it and sticking — if Rising Stars is the goal, this is the moment to push.
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 over the recent window.
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