Reborn In The Apocalypse: It Had Always Been You - Chapter 115

This novel is also known as Gu Daoist Master

Humans are clever in tens of thousands of ways, Gu are the true refined essences of Heaven and Earth.

The Three Temples are unrighteous, the demon is reborn.

Former days are but an old dream, an identical name is made anew.

A story of a time traveler who keeps on being reborn.

A unique world that grows, cultivates, and uses Gu.

The Spring and Autumn Cicada, the Venomous Moonlight Gu, the Wine Insect, All-Encompassing Golden Light Insect, Slender Black Hair Gu, Gu of Hope…

And a great demon of the world that does exactly as his heart pleases!

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*Gu (蛊) referred to poisonous insects in various cultures in South China while in folklore Gu spirits could transform into all kinds of species.

- Description from Novelupdates

Cairn is a prince who is already tired of ruling. Faced with an imminent coronation and an overbearing father, he wants nothing more than to drown his responsibilities in cheap liquor and poor decisions. With the help of his sister, he hatches a plan to escape the clutches of the throne once and for all. It all goes terribly wrong, and Cairn finds his priorities shifting in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The change of heart comes too late, however, and Cairn dies. He reawakens to find himself transported ten years in the past. He immediately begins to plan for the future, only to discover his killer has somehow followed him. To succeed, Cairn must unite the kingdom and discover the motivation of his killer, using as many tries as it takes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I exhausted pretty much every time loop story ever written and decided to write my own. You'll see a few similarities here between this story and some existing stories, at least initially. There's a lot of inspiration drawn from both MoL and Re:Zero, though in terms of pathos and darkness, this story leans more towards the latter. Be warned, it is something of a slow burn. The main character will grow and become powerful, but a theme of this story is that power comes slowly and often at great cost.

Gu Fei, a rookie who has not survived three episodes in the apocalypse, traveled to ancient times with space and became a girl in the Hou Mansion.

As soon as I arrived, my house was ransacked and sold.

​​It was finally bought back by her family. After three years of severe drought in her hometown, there was no harvest. Gu Fei and her family fled the north.

Along the way, countless people died of hunger. Gu Fei: Don’t be afraid, there is food in our space.

Bandits and refugees were rampant on the way forward. Gu Fei: Don’t be afraid, we have weapons in our space.

After all the money was spent, Gu Fei led his family to farm and open an inn to make a fortune, and by the way, he gained a little overlord’s crown prince.

The innocent prince: My wife can always conjure up many strange things. My wife must be a little fairy.

- Description from novelbuddy

“The masterminds are cooler than heroes,” I mutter as I stare at the chess pieces before me. It is easier to be the one who sits in the shadows and moves the pieces, likewise deciding the flow of the game.Heroes will foolishly sacrifice their lives for the good cause and villains will sacrifice the world for their own gain, but masterminds will use both the heroes and villains to their own benefit.Why, you ask? Well, that's because I've lost my life once while trying to be a hero so, I don't want that anymore. I'd rather be a mastermind who molds the world as per my convenience and live peacefully. Because, why not?***[Defender of Divine Glory says you are the hope of this world.]What?[Goddess of Wisdom believes that you will be the one to save the world.]Wait, what?![Propose the Grand Duke the idea of a fake marriage.]And, why would I do that?![Stop the assassination of Prince Eric.]Why would I save him?![The candidates for the throne are:... Who will you choose?]Ah! I give up...It seems like a curse that anyone who wishes for a slacker life in Isekai will have to go through the most troublesome things.In my past life, I died because of one rookie mistake but after being transmigrated in the world of fantasy I've gotten an opportunity to start afresh, but unlike the protagonists who look for their love and glory, I'd rather make money and live a life of a slacker.I have magic, I have power and I have money, what else do I need?Well, that was the plan but this damn system is getting on my nerves. I mean who in their sane mind would want to mess with the complicated royal family and political affairs? But that's not all though.I've also become the saviour of this world. Things just can't be anymore worse!Besides, the penalty of failing this quest is...[Failure: Destruction of the World.]It seems like if I screw up in selecting the right person then the destruction that is going to befall the world won't be stopped.If I speak of my reward then it's this vague thing.[Reward: Fulfillment of any wish.]“If that's the case then, I'd rather choose the person who would be the best fit for the throne.”And that's how I decided that I would become the Kingmaker.