Stranger's Handbook - Chapter 139: A Battle Called Reception

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.

Ou Renjin likes keeping beautiful young men because he likes watching the drama.

Watching them be arrogant and conceited; watching them be obsequious and sycophantic; watching them have ulterior motives and fight with each other, seeing all the evil side of human nature.

Until, he picks up a poor little guy.

The poor little guy is ignorant and helpless, treating Ou Renjin as his whole world, spending all his salary to buy him gifts, standing in front of him in times of danger without hesitation, even…

…saying to him in the calmest and lightest of tones after knowing that their heart matching is successful, “I am very grateful that you have been hiding it from me, but I have long been ready to give my heart to you.”

* * *

036 was born as a test subject, without parents or friends.

As the only successful “petri dish of renewable organs”, he had every organ in his body cut out and transplanted to the rich and powerful countless times.

After getting used to the pain, he met the most special person in the world.

This person was so good that he wanted to cut out his own heart immediately.

- Description from Novelupdates

In a world where humanity lives in suspended space, children undergo a fishing test when they come of age. Those with immaculate talents have the possibility of becoming great fishing masters.

In the endless sea, every life is imbued with a sacred mission. There are fish that can fly, turtles that have absorbed the worldly essence, and whales that can devour the heaven and earth… There are also countless fishers.

Fishing is an art.

There is an ancient saying: If you can’t fish, you might as well be bait.

Yin Li was born with a pure Yin body. He possessed the body of a male but the fate of a female, his Yin and Yan energies fully inverted. Because of this, his family’s old ancestors claimed he wouldn’t be able to live past twenty years of age.

To prolong his life, his parents fostered a furnace whose energy he could harvest to nurture his own.

As Yin Li looked at the frail and delicately charming boy in front of him, he felt his heart stir with compassion.

The Heavenly Path is carried through reincarnation, life and death are decided by fate.

He couldn’t simply ruin this pitiful child for the sake of his own selfish interests. Instead, he kept the small boy at his side, spoiling him and raising him as his trusted aide.

He truly believed they shared a master and servant’s pure and honest affection, not at all realizing that that wicked boy had been rotten from the start. The delicately charming small boy who was spoiled day and night only ever thought about two things:

1. Why hasn’t master bestowed his favour on me yet?

2. Just how can I climb into master’s bed?

- Description from Novelupdates