The web manga centers around Bojji, a deaf, powerless prince who cannot even wield a children's sword. As the firstborn son, he strives hard and dreams of becoming the world's greatest king. However, people mutter about him behind his back as "a good-for-nothing prince" and "no way he can be king."

Bojji is able to make his first ever friend, "Kage" (shadow)—a literal shadow on the ground who somehow understands Bojji well. (Kage is a survivor of the Kage assassin clan that was all but wiped out. No longer a killer, Kage now makes ends meet by stealing.) The story follows Bojji's coming-of-age as he meets various people in his life, starting with his fateful encounter with Kage.

Ousama Ranking began as a web comic released on Manga Hack on May 20, 2017. The series has been published in book form by Kadokawa since February 12, 2019.

The series has been published digitally in English as Ranking of Kings by BookLive since February 25, 2022. After allegations that BookLive's localizer used translations from the unofficial scanlation of the manga, the volumes were taken down by BookLive and the series was later localized again by Crunchyroll.