Royal Road Rising Stars, October 26, 2026: What's Climbing and Why

Which serials are climbing Rising Stars this week?

These are six of the top ten on the main Rising Stars list as of October 26, 2026. Four are new to this roundup. The other two are last week's leaders, still at #1 and #2.

Genre views. Baby Archmage is #3 on the LitRPG view and #2 on Progression. The Cultivating Archmage leads the Cultivation view. How to Devour a Star and Coin and Steel are #6 and #7 on LitRPG.

Last week's other four are still in the top eight, with Midnight's Monster at #5, The Law of the Abyss #6, Dungeon Expert Eric #7 and Sepulchral Sun #8. Our October 22 roundup covers them.

For how the list works in general, see our guide to the Royal Road algorithm and Rising Stars.

Baby Archmage by P.K Gloop

Baby Archmage reincarnates a young man as a baby with a System and a ridiculous talent for magic. Luka invents spells before he can walk, on a small island with loving parents. The blurb promises "No grimdark misery here. Just big magic energy."

As of October 26, 2026, it is P.K Gloop's only fiction on Royal Road. Chapter 1 went up on October 16, 2026.

Why it's climbing. It launched in two steps. Chapter 1 went up alone, with a note saying 150k words were written and edited, a chapter dump was coming and a chapter a day would follow. "Drop a follow, so you'll be notified," it asked.

Seven chapters followed in 15 minutes on October 19. Since then it has posted every afternoon (UTC), keeping the chapter-a-day promise.

What readers say. Reviews praise the loving family at its center, the pacing and a system laid out clearly enough that one reviewer values it "from an internal consistency perspective". Two otherwise warm reviews raise small points, one asking for a second grammar pass in places and one finding the antagonists "rather two-dimensional" so far.

How chapter 1 does it. It opens at the moment of birth. A system box appears about a quarter of the way in, and the chapter ends on a World First Achievement that leaves Luka staring at his new perk.

The Cultivating Archmage: Dao of Mana by Pope Pug

The Cultivating Archmage: Dao of Mana is reincarnation xianxia with a Western-magic twist. Devin Maychild is born into a sect without a spiritual root, then finds mana, a power older than the qi every cultivator chases. Chapter 1 went up on October 8, 2026.

Why it's climbing. As of October 26, 2026, it has the fewest chapters of the six and the fourth-most followers. Pope Pug isn't new to Royal Road and has two other fictions there, including Villainess of Tangled Tragedies, at 936 pages.

Chapter 2 came a week after chapter 1, on October 15. Since then it has posted about once a day, 10 chapters in 11 days.

On Patreon. Pope Pug shows member numbers and keeps earnings private. The $10 tier offers advance chapters of this serial, one ahead for now and building toward 20, and says Villainess of Tangled Tragedies is paused after Book 2.

What readers say. Reviewers praise the characters and the prose. Two note that the scene the blurb describes hasn't arrived 10 or 11 chapters in, and a 3.5-star review calls the tropes standard. Another likes that the start avoids "rushing into the premise".

How chapter 1 does it. Devin was a Western fantasy fan in his past life. Reborn among cultivators, he wanted fireballs, found qi, and waited years for a system window or "golden finger" that never came. The chapter closes on a summons to a family gathering after 16 years of silence.

How to Devour a Star from Kiagu Studios

How to Devour a Star is a regression revenge story. King Yuto Velkyne is betrayed by the man he trusted as a brother, while the Constellations he worshipped watch for entertainment. He rejects them, reaches for the Void and wakes as a child among slaves. It started on September 21, 2026.

Who is behind it. This is a studio release. Chapter 1's note calls it the official English version, with the original story by Mokma, author of Damn Reincarnation, and a translation by the official translator of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. The note also says webtoon production has started.

Why it's climbing. The title's bracket, [Author of Damn Reincarnation], names the earlier hit, and one early reviewer came as a fan of Mokma's work. From September 25 to October 24 it posted twice a day, mostly at fixed times, missing one slot.

As of October 26, 2026, no serial here has a higher share of followers who also favorited it.

What readers say. Reviewers praise the opening betrayal and the Constellations. They split on length. One finds the chapters long for a web novel and another finds them short. They average about 2,460 words.

How chapter 1 does it. It opens on a betrayed king walking with a sword through his chest, and his patron Constellation abandons him within the first page. The chapter ends with Yuto accepting help from the Void for one thing, his revenge.

Coin and Steel by Fairly Focused

Coin and Steel is portal LitRPG with a merchant class. When the world ends, Elliot gives his potential to his little sister and lands alone in a new world with a weak Merchant class, thousands of miles from her. It started on October 15, 2026. As of October 26, it is Fairly Focused's only fiction on Royal Road.

Why it's climbing. It launched with 15 chapters on October 15, one every 10 minutes from 10:00 to 12:20 UTC. It has posted at 16:00 UTC every day since, with one extra chapter on October 21.

The blurb says exactly what readers are signing up for. Book one is complete and edited at 180k words, and Patreon is 20 chapters ahead. Chapters come daily until November 15, then Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

It also promises slow-burn pacing, "Skills and classes, but no stat screens", and no AI.

What readers say. Reviews single out the characters and the worldbuilding that comes through conversation instead of exposition. One five-star reviewer's only complaint is a lead who "happily puts everyone & everything in danger on a whim".

How chapter 1 does it. It opens in an antique shop with a difficult customer, then brings in Elliot's sister. The system's blue box arrives near the end, after the chapter has built the bond that the blurb's sacrifice depends on.

Still climbing: Doomsday Pivot! by Alexander Wales

Doomsday Pivot! is still #1 on the main list and the LitRPG view. A three-person startup takes on a system apocalypse after Duluth is cut out of Earth. Our teardown covers its launch in detail.

Since October 22. It gained 311 followers and 40 ratings in four days, to the figures above as of October 26, 2026. After daily chapters at about 17:00 UTC from October 12 to 21, it posted chapter 23 on October 23. Alexander Wales's paid Patreon members rose from 673 to 692.

What readers say. Most reviews still praise the worldbuilding and the author's track record. A 2-star review posted on October 22, written after six chapters, says the lead's class choice disappointed after five chapters of build-up.

Still climbing: Fight Dirty by Perseus XXVII.

Fight Dirty is still #2 on the main list and #1 on Progression. Lukas, a stealth archer, survives an urban System invasion where gangs farm EXP from people. Our teardown covers its launch.

Since October 22. It gained 368 followers and 38 ratings in four days, to the figures above as of October 26, 2026. That is more new followers than Doomsday Pivot! gained. It posted chapter 20 on October 23, keeping its rhythm of a chapter every two to three days.

What readers say. New five-star reviews praise the action and the side characters. In two 3-star reviews posted on October 23, one finds the lead "a bit of an emotionless void" and the other doubts society would collapse within two weeks.

What do this week's climbers have in common?

Royal Road doesn't publish its ranking, so treat these as shared habits as of October 26, 2026.

"No AI writing" is now a selling point. Baby Archmage, The Cultivating Archmage and The Law of the Abyss, three of the top six, say it in their title brackets. The Law of the Abyss renamed its bracket since last week. Doomsday Pivot! and Coin and Steel say it in the blurb.

Readers notice. A Baby Archmage reviewer calls finding no AI "a huge plus", and a Coin and Steel reviewer writes, "No sign of AI slop." Coin and Steel's blurb adds, "All em dashes my own."

Chapter 1 as a teaser. Three of the four new climbers posted chapter 1 alone, 2 to 7 days before the rest, and Baby Archmage's note asked for the follow outright. Coin and Steel, like Doomsday Pivot! and Fight Dirty, launched with one big batch instead (chart below).

The backlog is written, and readers are told. Baby Archmage had 150k words written and edited at chapter 1. Coin and Steel's book one is complete at 180k words. Both have posted at least once a day since their launch batch.

Chapters around 2,500 words. All four new climbers average about 2,460 to 2,640 words a chapter, by Royal Road's own word counts. Fight Dirty is the outlier at about 1,680.

Blurbs that promise a pace and a tone. "No grimdark misery here." "Slow burn pacing with earned progression." Reviewers measure the story against those lines. Baby Archmage's cozy promise drew one reader in, and Cultivating Archmage reviewers are waiting for its blurb's big scene.

Familiar frames, done well. One Baby Archmage review is titled "Familiar concepts but flawless execution". A Coin and Steel reviewer calls the plot "standard isekai" with the annoying tropes left out. Reviewers of all four new serials single out the characters.

What should you do if you're planning a Rising Stars launch?

None of this guarantees a place on the list. Royal Road makes that call. These are the parts you control.

1. Choose your launch shape. This week shows two. One is a big batch, like Coin and Steel's 15 chapters. The other is a lone chapter 1 whose note asks for the follow, then the batch, like Baby Archmage. See how many chapters to stockpile before launching.
2. Finish the book first, and say so. Both serials that state a written, edited backlog have posted at least daily since their launch batch.
3. Put the schedule in writing, with dates and an hour. Coin and Steel posts at 16:00 UTC and says when daily posting ends. Here is when to post on Royal Road.
4. Promise a pace and a tone in the blurb, and keep it. If your blurb's big scene lands after chapter 10, say "slow burn". See how to write a web fiction blurb.
5. Make chapter 1 carry the premise. A system box a quarter of the way in, a betrayed king with a sword through his chest, a lead who wants fireballs in a qi world. Our chapter hook guide covers how.
6. Be plain about AI. Say if you wrote it yourself. If AI-written text goes into a chapter, Royal Road needs its AI tag. Here are the AI tag rules.
7. Name your earlier work if you have some. How to Devour a Star does it in the title bracket.

Posting this fast is also when continuity slips. As of October 26, 2026, How to Devour a Star has 69 chapters in five weeks, and Coin and Steel has posted every day since October 15. Baby Archmage hands out skills, perks and achievements from chapter 1. At that pace a level, a skill or a secret can drift.

PlotWrite was built for that problem. Its founder, Akshay, writes LitRPG on Royal Road, and his readers caught his lead's rank flipping between chapters.

Its Story Bible keeps a page for every character, place, item and skill with what is true at each chapter, and Check chapter flags contradictions before you post. Memory and checks need no AI tag, and Tag-free mode hides every tool that writes prose.