
by W.Z. Lee
What if on everyone’s birthday, they got a skill card encapsulating their past year? And what if it was [Resist Hunger] seven years in a row? Renalia had dreamt of gaining new abilities and lifting her parents out of poverty with her new Deck. But none of her skill cards help the family peat harvesting business. Her Deck interests others though, as the Baron recruits her into his entourage. In a bigger town, she finds ways to make money, aided by her Deck’s hidden ability to loot skill cards from monsters. The money helps but she has to learn that it does not wipe away all debts nor buy the happiness that she wants. - Slow-burn coming-of-age story with a deck of magical skills. - Slice of slice, occasionally interrupted by either moments of horror or emotional catharsis. - Young and weak protagonist, but proactive and not whiny. - Very light game mechanics with skill cards. No hand management and usage is only tracked when the plot calls for it. - More focus on characterization, rather than the deckbuilding and LitRPG elements. No system messages, stat boxes, experience points, health, stamina, etc. Updates every other Wednesday. Read on royalroad.com for free. All other versions are pirated.
No streak history
Rank updated 14 Aug 2026, 02:28 UTC
Entry forecast updated 13 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Overall Rising Stars shadow rank
deep field · ~#3322 of 7,628 · 3272 below #50
By genre
beats 67% of similar stories
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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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