When Immortal Ascension Fails Time Travel to Try Again - Story 3 - Spiritual Vines and a Smokey Pill Cauldron (29)

I had thought that my life couldn’t get worse when I walked in on my fiancé cheating on me with my best friend. But after a series of unfortunate events, I opened my eyes in a world that I had only read about in a webnovel, the Erudian Empire, ruled under the domineering, bloody reign of Emperor Helio.

The worst part?

I’m not even the main character! Reborn as Winter Royberg de la Erudian, I am the pitiful side character who is discovered to be a royal bastard princess due to a certain physical trait only the imperial bloodline possesses. But I know the end of Winter’s story and the unwanted royal punching bag is framed as a witch and killed at age 16 on the guillotine due to the scheming of the cruel empress.

An aloof, murder happy father? Check.

Psycho half-sister? Check.

Meddlesome author who wants me to follow the script? Double check!

I don’t want to die an early death again, so I’m determined not to ever be discovered as a royal again. But before I know it, I’m trapped in a palace of blood and opulence playing tricky games of power, games I have no clue how to win. How will I survive to adulthood in the imperial palace and get my happily ever after? And am I really the only person who fell into this world?

“I can’t believe my eyes. The ice lord actually kissed a man. God, help me!”

Ha Si-heon is a brilliant but obsessive Wall Street financier who has built an immense fortune driven by a fear of financial insecurity. After enduring a tragic childhood, losing his mother, and navigating financial ruin with his father during South Korea’s 1997 financial crisis, Si-heon immigrates to the U.S. He fulfills his father’s wish by becoming a doctor but finds himself drawn to the lucrative world of Wall Street.At a top hedge fund, Si-heon leverages his medical expertise to dominate biotech investments, thanks to an unusual ability to predict successful FDA drug approvals. He amasses wealth quickly, yet struggles with a pathological fear of spending money. His relentless pursuit of profit takes a dark turn when he’s diagnosed with idiopathic multicentric Castleman’s disease (iMCD), a rare, life-threatening immune disorder with no cure. His condition worsens despite aggressive chemotherapy, as the lack of research funding for this “orphan disease” leaves him without options.Just as Si-heon faces death, he miraculously awakens to find himself transported 10 years back in time, to the beginning of his career on Wall Street. Realizing he has a second chance, Si-heon is determined to not only reclaim his wealth but also amass enough money to fund a cure for iMCD. The story explores themes of greed, ambition, mortality, and redemption, as Si-heon seeks not just to survive but to redefine the meaning of his life.

In a world where mysticism and steam industry coexist, cursed objects, the Reception Bureau, and Evil God fanatics...That year, the King was bedridden with illness, the successor was inexperienced, and power slipped away, leaving the empire teetering.That year, external forces gathered around the empire, and foreign civilizations eyed it covetously.That year, the prophet delivered a prophecy that the era of civilization was nearing its end.That year, Ethan arrived at a small town on the outskirts of the imperial capital. To survive in this perilous era, he began practicing Fireball Skill.Years later, Ethan looked at the meteor falling from the clouds and realized there was a problem.The beginner Magic he learned seemed a bit off.