Quick Answer: What Are the 5 Completed Novels Featured Here?
The five completed novels highlighted from the NovelUpdates listing are After She Left, After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn, Back to the Apocalypse, Desharow Merman, and Hail the King. These titles cover a surprisingly wide range: tragic Korean romance, rebirth revenge drama, zombie apocalypse survival, dark merfolk horror-romance, and large-scale xuanhuan kingdom-building.
If you want a fast recommendation: start with After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn for rebirth revenge and emotional payback, Back to the Apocalypse for completed zombie survival BL, or Hail the King if you want a long fantasy power-growth story with kingdom-building energy.
Why These Novels Stand Out
Completed web novels are easier to recommend because readers know what they are getting into. No endless waiting. No abandoned translation anxiety. No “will this ever finish?” pain.
This list is especially useful because these five novels are not all the same flavor. Some are emotional and painful. Some are revenge-driven. Some are full of survival tension. Some are pure large-scale fantasy escapism. That variety makes this group a strong discovery list for readers who browse NovelUpdates but do not want to dig through hundreds of entries manually.
1. After She Left
Best for: Readers who want tragedy, regret, emotional pain, royal drama, and a story that lingers after the ending.
Origin: Korean web novel
Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Tragedy
Rating: 3.7/5 from 70 votes
Status: Completed in country of origin, with main story and side stories; English translation is not marked completely translated on NovelUpdates.
After She Left is not a revenge fantasy. That is important. If you enter expecting the female lead to return, crush everyone, and reclaim her throne, this may frustrate you. The premise is built around the aftermath of a notorious empress’s execution and the emotional consequences left behind.
This is the kind of novel that attracts readers who enjoy regret-heavy stories. It is about people realizing too late what they ignored, misunderstood, destroyed, or failed to protect. The value here is not “satisfying punishment.” The value is emotional excavation.
Read this if you enjoy villainess tragedy, royal regret, doomed love, and stories where the damage cannot be neatly fixed.
Reader warning: This is better suited for angst readers than comfort-read readers.
2. After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn
Best for: Readers who like rebirth, revenge, showbiz, business growth, family drama, and a protagonist who refuses to be crushed twice.
Origin: Chinese web novel
Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Shounen Ai
Rating: 4.0/5 from 450 votes
Status: 293 chapters + 5 extras completed; NovelUpdates marks the English translation as completely translated.
This one has a much stronger “second chance” hook. Tao Mu grows up suffering from a life that was never really fair to him. After betrayal, rejection, and collapse, he gets the chance to return and reject the role forced onto him.
The appeal is clear: this is a rebirth story where the protagonist stops begging for love from people who do not deserve him. Instead, he uses intelligence, ambition, and opportunity to rebuild himself. The tags also point toward showbiz, business management, revenge, poor-to-rich development, and slow romance, which makes it attractive for readers who want both emotional payback and career growth.
This is probably the most broadly recommendable title among the five if your audience likes modern Chinese rebirth novels with face-slapping, career-building, and emotional recovery.
Read this if you like: rebirth revenge, entertainment industry arcs, clever protagonists, family conflict, and found-family satisfaction.
3. Back to the Apocalypse
Best for: Readers who want zombie survival, second chances, supernatural abilities, supplies-hoarding, and apocalypse romance.
Origin: Chinese web novel
Genres: Action, Adult, Adventure, Mature, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural, Yaoi
Rating: 4.0/5 from 710 votes
Status: 130 chapters + 3 extras completed; NovelUpdates marks the English translation as completely translated.
Back to the Apocalypse is a classic setup for readers who love rebirth survival stories: the apocalypse begins, zombies spread, and the protagonist returns with knowledge and a special advantage. Bai Jing’s space dimension gives the story that satisfying “prepare, hoard, survive, and grow stronger” rhythm many apocalypse readers enjoy.
The novel’s appeal comes from its mix of survival tension and relationship development. It is not only about zombies. It is also about loyalty, second chances, power dynamics, and the fantasy of doing things correctly after already seeing the end once.
This is a strong pick for readers who want a completed BL apocalypse novel with special abilities, post-apocalyptic danger, and a protagonist who is no longer helpless.
Content note: NovelUpdates lists mature/adult elements, so this is not a clean survival-only recommendation.
4. Desharow Merman
Best for: Readers who want dark fantasy, merfolk, horror-romance, psychological tension, and dangerous nonhuman attraction.
Origin: Chinese web novel
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Horror, Psychological, Romance, Sci-fi, Smut, Supernatural, Yaoi
Rating: 4.0/5 from 229 votes
Status: Completed in country of origin; NovelUpdates marks the English translation as completely translated.
Desharow Merman is easily the darkest and most niche recommendation on this list. The setup follows Desharow, a biology student researching merfolk, whose academic expedition turns into something far more dangerous and intimate. The story blends merfolk mythology, scientific curiosity, horror, psychological conflict, and obsessive supernatural romance.
This is not a soft mermaid fantasy. NovelUpdates tags point toward dark content, fantasy creatures, mystery-solving, possessive characters, thriller elements, and mature themes.
For the right reader, that combination is exactly the hook. For the wrong reader, it will be too intense. Position this novel carefully in your article: it is a dark fantasy BL recommendation, not a general romance pick.
Read this if you like: dangerous nonhuman love interests, horror-romance, merfolk, psychological stories, and high-intensity supernatural BL.
5. Hail the King
Best for: Readers who want long-form fantasy, kingdom-building, game-like power growth, wars, cultivation, and overpowered protagonist energy.
Origin: Chinese web novel
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Harem, Xuanhuan
Rating: 3.9/5 from 1,193 votes
Status: 7 volumes, 1,275 chapters completed in country of origin; NovelUpdates does not mark the English translation as completely translated.
Hail the King is the big-scale fantasy entry here. The premise is straightforward but effective: an ordinary student is transported into another world and becomes the king of a small kingdom. From there, the story grows into conquest, power development, war, and legend-building.
This is the best pick on the list for readers who want scale. It has kingdom-building, army-building, game elements, cultivation, wars, royal politics, and an overpowered protagonist path. NovelUpdates also shows recent release activity in May 2026, which makes it notable even though the original novel is already completed.
This will not be for readers who want tight literary prose or delicate emotional realism. It is for readers who want momentum, power fantasy, and a long adventure that keeps expanding.
Read this if you like: xuanhuan, transported-to-another-world stories, kingdom-building, OP protagonists, war arcs, and game-like progression.
Which Novel Should You Read First?
Choose After She Left if you want tragic romance and emotional regret.
Choose After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn if you want rebirth, revenge, showbiz, and character rebuilding.
Choose Back to the Apocalypse if you want zombie survival with BL romance and second-chance preparation.
Choose Desharow Merman if you want dark merfolk horror-romance with mature psychological tension.
Choose Hail the King if you want a long fantasy power trip with kingdom-building, war, and xuanhuan progression.
Final Recommendation
The strongest all-around recommendation is After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn because it has a completed translation, strong reader-list presence, a clear rebirth hook, and multiple popular reader-intent tags like revenge, showbiz, poor-to-rich, second chance, and clever protagonist.
For pure binge value, Back to the Apocalypse is the safest completed pick for apocalypse BL readers.
For big fantasy scale, Hail the King is the obvious choice.
For emotional damage, pick After She Left.
For dark supernatural intensity, pick Desharow Merman — but only if mature horror-romance is your thing.
FAQ
What are the best completed web novels from this NovelUpdates list?
The five highlighted titles are After She Left, After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn, Back to the Apocalypse, Desharow Merman, and Hail the King.
Which one is best for rebirth revenge fans?
After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn is the best fit because it combines rebirth, revenge, showbiz, business growth, and emotional recovery.
Which one is best for apocalypse readers?
Back to the Apocalypse is the strongest apocalypse pick. It includes zombies, rebirth, survival preparation, special abilities, and BL romance.
Which one is best for fantasy action readers?
Hail the King is the best action-fantasy option, especially for readers who enjoy xuanhuan, kingdom-building, wars, game elements, and overpowered protagonists.
Are all five novels fully translated?
No. Some are marked completely translated on NovelUpdates, while others are completed in the country of origin but not fully translated into English. Always check the latest translation status before starting.