diff --git a/userscript/novel-bookmark.user.js b/userscript/novel-bookmark.user.js
index 84c38b9..0241f11 100644
--- a/userscript/novel-bookmark.user.js
+++ b/userscript/novel-bookmark.user.js
@@ -303,17 +303,29 @@
     }
 
     let queueOut = queue;
-    if (queue.some((e) => e.key === oldKey)) {
-      queueOut = queue
-        .map((e) => {
-          if (e.key !== oldKey) return e;
-          // An entry already under the repaired key wins: both markers read
-          // the same row from the cache at send time, so keeping both would
-          // replay one write twice.
-          if (queue.some((x) => x.key === newKey)) return null;
-          return Object.assign({}, e, { key: newKey });
-        })
-        .filter(Boolean);
+    const oldEntry = queue.find((e) => e.key === oldKey);
+    if (oldEntry) {
+      const survivor = queue.find((x) => x.key === newKey);
+      if (!survivor) {
+        queueOut = queue.map((e) => (e.key === oldKey ? Object.assign({}, e, { key: newKey }) : e));
+      } else {
+        // Both keys hold a marker and one row survives, so the two collapse
+        // into one entry under the repaired key (the queue's one-entry-per-key
+        // invariant). sendStatus is sticky — an archive intent from either
+        // marker survives, the queue's own rule — and the worse attempts
+        // count wins. The stale-key marker's op is dropped: the row it
+        // described is retired by the merge itself.
+        queueOut = queue
+          .filter((e) => e.key !== oldKey && e.key !== newKey)
+          .concat([
+            {
+              key: newKey,
+              op: survivor.op,
+              sendStatus: survivor.sendStatus || oldEntry.sendStatus,
+              attempts: Math.max(survivor.attempts || 0, oldEntry.attempts || 0),
+            },
+          ]);
+      }
     }
 
     let lastCheckedOut = lastChecked;
@@ -1327,7 +1339,8 @@
   // Refresh + navigation
   // ============================================================
 
-  async function refresh() {
+  async function refresh(awaitFirst) {
+    if (awaitFirst) await awaitFirst; // repair sync lands before we adopt the server's view of it
     await drain(); // push what we owe before adopting the server's view of it
     loading = true;
     render();
@@ -1345,12 +1358,16 @@
   // Runs the repair on every navigation, silently: rewrites a stale
   // lightnovelworld row to the page's discovered identity, persists all three
   // sites, and syncs through the queue-backed path so an offline repair parks
-  // and replays later. No toast — the Reader never asked for this. When the
-  // transform returns its inputs unchanged there is nothing to do.
-  function repairStaleLnwRow() {
+  // and replays later. No toast — the Reader never asked for this. Returns
+  // the sync promise (or null when nothing changed) so init can hold the
+  // server view until the repair has landed. When the transform returns its
+  // inputs unchanged there is nothing to do.
+  function applyLnwStaleRowRepair() {
     const lastChecked = loadLastChecked();
     const out = repairLnwStaleRow(state.list, queue, lastChecked, state.page);
-    if (out.list === state.list && out.queue === queue && out.lastChecked === lastChecked) return;
+    if (out.list === state.list && out.queue === queue && out.lastChecked === lastChecked) {
+      return null;
+    }
     state.list = out.list;
     reindex(); // byKey answers under the old key until rebuilt
     saveCache(state.list);
@@ -1359,16 +1376,20 @@
     saveLastChecked(out.lastChecked);
     // Queue-backed sync, outcome swallowed: the repaired row is PUT (with its
     // bucket when archived — the only status a userscript write may send) and
-    // the old server row is deleted so no duplicate survives on the wire.
+    // the old server bookmark is deleted so no duplicate survives on the
+    // wire. The delete parks under the retired key while offline — the
+    // teardown of the old identity, not a new record of the Chapter Slug.
     const key = keyOf(state.page);
-    pushBookmark(key, statusOf(state.byKey[key]) === "archived").catch(() => {});
-    pushDelete("lightnovelworld:" + state.page.chapterSlug).catch(() => {});
+    return Promise.all([
+      pushBookmark(key, statusOf(state.byKey[key]) === "archived"),
+      pushDelete("lightnovelworld:" + state.page.chapterSlug),
+    ]).catch(() => {});
   }
 
   let lastUrl = location.href;
   function onNavigate() {
     state.page = detect();
-    repairStaleLnwRow();
+    applyLnwStaleRowRepair();
     render();
     maybeAutoUpdate();
     maybeCaptureLatestOnSeriesPage();
@@ -1481,14 +1502,14 @@
   function init() {
     buildUI();
     state.page = detect();
-    repairStaleLnwRow();
+    const repair = applyLnwStaleRowRepair();
     render();
     installNavWatcher();
     installLongPress();
     window.addEventListener("online", drain); // signal returned while the page stayed open
     // Sync first: both auto-record and the latest-chapter checks below need to
     // know which series are bookmarked and how fresh they are.
-    refresh().then(() => {
+    refresh(repair).then(() => {
       maybeAutoUpdate();
       maybeCaptureLatestOnSeriesPage();
       backgroundRefreshLatest();
diff --git a/userscript/test/novel-logic.test.js b/userscript/test/novel-logic.test.js
index e181d28..61380b1 100644
--- a/userscript/test/novel-logic.test.js
+++ b/userscript/test/novel-logic.test.js
@@ -516,10 +516,11 @@ test("repairLnwStaleRow merges a duplicate under the repaired key, keeping the f
   assert.equal(merged.last_chapter_num, 42); // the stale row is ahead — progress must not be lost
   assert.equal(merged.favorite, true); // favourite survives from either row
   assert.equal(merged.status, "archived"); // the stronger bucket survives
-  // One queue marker per key: the repaired-key entry wins, the stale-key one
-  // is dropped rather than replaying the write twice.
+  // One marker under the repaired key: sendStatus is sticky (the archive
+  // intent from the stale-key marker survives) and the worse attempts count
+  // wins — the queue's own coalescing rules.
   assert.deepEqual(out.queue, [
-    { key: "lightnovelworld:immortality-simulator", op: "put", sendStatus: false, attempts: 0 },
+    { key: "lightnovelworld:immortality-simulator", op: "put", sendStatus: true, attempts: 3 },
   ]);
 });