
by Richard Baring
The entire world has been thrown into a brutal ocean survival game. Everyone starts with a tiny raft, a few basic tools, and barely enough supplies to stay alive. Adrian Vane should have been no different. But somehow, he ends up aboard a mysterious ghost pirate ship. While other players are still struggling to gather food, materials, and anything that might keep them alive for another day, Adrian is already sailing the open sea aboard a vessel crewed by the undead. And the ghost ship is only the beginning. As Adrian explores the endless ocean, he gathers resources, discovers hidden treasures, recruits strange and powerful crew members, and gradually turns a cursed vessel into a formidable pirate ship. One crew member becomes two. Two become ten. Before long, the lonely ghost ship has become a full-fledged pirate crew. And Adrian? He becomes the captain feared by every player on the sea. His name rises to the top of the bounty board. Whenever that unmistakable skull-emblazoned sail appears on the horizon, players don't stop to ask who is coming. They turn their boats around and row for their lives. One furious pirate finally shouts, "Hey! We're all pirates! Why are you attacking your own kind?!" Adrian smiles. "Funny thing. Robbing pirates happens to be my specialty."
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 4 Oct 2026, 23:38 UTC
Entry forecast updated 4 Oct 2026, 23:38 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.
Coupled 14-day outlook
rs-joint-entry-copula-v1
Any eligible RS entry
4%
Two or more lists
2%
Likely threshold order: Adventure → Fantasy → Main.
Leading bundle: Adventure + Fantasy (2%).
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
#6175 of 12,489 · 6125 below RS #50
By genre
beats 91% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 83% 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 10–19 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.