【Tang Mian, Romance R card, max charm value. As the only UR card in this dating game, you are born—】 

Zzzzt. 

A strange crackling sound shot through the air. 

【Warning! Data Anomaly!】

【Warning! Data anomaly!】

……

Tang Mian, slumbering in the card pool, twitched his eyelashes restlessly. 

The next moment, he was roused by a cold, inorganic voice—

【You have been born.】

His long, curled eyelashes slowly parted.

What met his eyes was a massive sandbag; apart from that, in every direction there was nothing but boundless, pure white.

【Please attack the object in front of you,】 the cold voice said.

Tang Mian: “Huh?”

Tang Mian looked at his hands, then at the sandbag—which would obviously hurt if he hit it. He took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and threw a powerful punch, which landed softly. 

The moment it made contact, his green eyes flashed a quick wink. 

System: 【?】

System: 【What are you doing?】

Tang Mian explained earnestly, “Cute ~ attack ~” 

Every romance card has its own set of smooth, subtle tricks for managing expressions, and Tang Mian was no exception.

System: 【………. 】

System: 【Tang Mian, Combat Value: 1, Preliminary Level Assessment: N card】 

In the Card World, cards are classified as N (Common), R (Rare), SR (Super Rare), SSR (Super Super Rare), and UR (Ultra Rare).

As the level assessment results were announced, the size of the card space continued to shrink, eventually settling at 50 square units.

Each card has its own exclusive card space—this is the card’s home—and the size of the card space is determined by the card’s rarity.

“Huh? Are we only looking at combat value now, and not charm value anymore?” Tang Mian tilted his head, raised a finger to his lips, and asked in confusion. 

—That’s right; this was also a move he had carefully planned. 

System: 【………. 】A card with a real knack for provocation. 

System: 【Yes】

When Tang Mian had previously read the romance card training manual, he’d noticed that some romance games placed a heavy emphasis on combat scenarios—players had to battle, and the cards had to battle as well. It seemed he’d been assigned to this kind of job after graduation.

Tang Mian is extremely adaptable: “May I take the test again? I didn’t perform well just now. In fact, my combat value should be at least 2!” 

As he spoke, he made a peace sign and gave the system a playful “yeah.” 

System: 【……】 What on earth is he so optimistic about?

System: 【Combat value tests are only available once a week】 

A thin card appeared in front of Tang Mian.

This is the exclusive mobile app for each card—【all-in-one card】 

System: 【Open the all-in-one card, tap the job-hunting app, and select the deck you want to join】 Tang Mian opened the all-in-one card and tapped on Boss Direct Hire. 

A wide variety of decks instantly appeared before Tang Mian, sorted from highest to lowest level. Tied for first place were the 【light deck】 and the 【dark deck】.

Full of enthusiasm, Tang Mian began reviewing the positions available to him in these two decks.

The vast majority of positions had a combat value threshold. After a quick scan, Tang Mian was surprised to see that the lowest combat value requirement was actually 999.

…

Tang Mian: “?” 

So combat value isn’t rated on a 10-point scale? 

Tang Mian was utterly stunned.

However, he also found a position with no combat value requirement:

【Boss’s Special Assistant】

Deck: Dark Deck Boss: SSR·Demon King Position: Boss’s Special Assistant 

Salary Details: 10,000–20,000 exchange value/month

Job Requirements:

Proficient in managing the card log

Card log, a social feed for cards, is not only open to the card’s friends but also a platform for players to showcase themselves. 

Tang Mian immediately clicked “Interested” on this position.

The very next second, a dialog box popped up on Tang Mian’s screen— a chat window between Tang Mian and the boss of the “dark deck”—and the system automatically posted Tang Mian’s first message:

“Hello, Boss. My name is Tang Mian, and I’m very interested in the position you posted!” 

Typically, job seekers would speak with the deck’s HR, but the role of “Boss’s Personal Assistant” is an exception—the boss conducts the interview directly. Tang Mian could see the other party’s profile on Boss Direct Hiring:

【Card Name】: Demon King

【Card Rank】: SSR

【Combat Value】: 999,999

Tang Mian gave a thumbs-up and said happily to the system, “Sure enough, a card with maxed-out combat value won’t ask for any more combat value!”

Ding-dong.

A message notification sounded.

SSR·Demon King: “Damn. I actually forgot to set the combat value limit. What a piece of junk.” 

【Demon King has left】 

Huh?

Blinking his green eyes, Tang Mian asked in surprise, “System, does this mean I won’t get muted for swearing here?”

System: 【?】 

System: 【Where’s your fighting spirit?】 No combat card can tolerate being insulted like that. 

Tang Mian rubbed his chin. “I haven’t tested that, so I don’t know, but I think I’m probably Type O. I’ve heard that people with Type O blood are considered natural-born lovers—romantic, cheerful, and passionate. Come to think of it, if we’re talking about an ABO worldview, I feel like I’d be an omega too. I just don’t know what my pheromones would smell like.”

System: 【………. 】What on earth are you rambling about?

Tang Mian said to the System: “Oh my, this feature on the app where clicking ‘Interested’ automatically sends a greeting is just way too abrupt. I’m not ready for that yet.” 

System: 【………. 】

System: 【What should I prepare? Combat value: 1.】 

On the Boss Direct Hiring card resume, the information Tang Mian could have filled in had already been completed by the system:

【Card Name】: Tang Mian

【Card Level】: N card

【Combat Value】: 1

The blank sections on the resume were marked with: Dungeon Experience, Arena Win Rate, and card log. Tang Mian said cheerfully, “Of course I have them—I just haven’t taken my profile picture yet.” 

……

Arena

SSR Exclusive Lounge.

The private box was located at the very top of the arena, offering a bird’s-eye view of the entire arena.

Yet the High-Ranking Demon seated in the prime viewing spot seemed uninterested. He leaned lazily back in his chair, his blood-red eyes half-closed, his massive dragon wings folded behind him, the bony spines extending from their tips pressing against the ground—as if they could pierce through the thick obsidian floor.

In the dim light, the only splash of color was the fiery patterns on the Demon King’s wheat-colored skin; the dark red patterns glowed faintly, and powerful flames faintly seeped from them—not out of excitement, but because the Demon King was growing somewhat impatient.

The battles between low-level cards failed to capture the Demon King’s attention at all; they were nowhere near as entertaining as drinking in his lair. His sole purpose in the private box was to wait for someone.

He was waiting for that bird-man, the Battle Angel, to show up.

Impatient by nature, the Demon King arrived a little earlier than the agreed-upon time. He casually swished his sharp demonic tail twice, and the spikes at its tip carved a deep furrow into the ground.

To kill some time, the Demon King casually tapped open “Boss Direct Hiring”: “What a noob.”

This idiot. This piece of trash.

Huh? This….?

His blood-red eyes narrowed.

Amidst a pile of messages from job seekers, the Demon King immediately spotted a fresh, vibrant new profile picture that stood out.

On Boss Direct Hire, cards upload their own avatars. Some cards were too lazy to bother with this—like the Demon King, who uses the default avatar.

Some cards upload images of their weapons, muscles, or particularly cool battle scenes, while others simply post a blank-faced ID photo—cold, fierce, imposing, and sharp. These are the general styles of combat card avatars. 

However, this avatar was completely different from all the other combat cards—he was smiling sweetly. 

His blood-red eyes were fully open, no longer lazily half-closed; the deep red pupils had contracted into vertical slits. The Demon King tapped the avatar to zoom in and take a closer look. 

Unlike the thumbnail, which looked quite beautiful at first glance, the enlarged image revealed every detail of the photo:

The N card with blond hair and green eyes was smiling with crinkled eyes. He had a pair of beautiful green eyes, the depths of which seemed to hold a pool of bright spring water, and his smile was almost about to turn into dewdrops hanging from his thick, curled eyelashes. 

In the world of battle cards, a burly, towering frame is usually paired with a high nose, deep-set eyes, and sharply defined features.

But this card was completely different.

With a face no bigger than the palm of a hand and a small, upturned nose, everything from his contours to his features was exceptionally delicate—the only flaw seemed to be the deep dimples on either side of his cheeks when he smiled. 

This photo seemed to possess a certain magic—it dispelled all his discontent and irritation, causing the Demon King’s heart to skip a beat. The fiery patterns near his heart suddenly flared to life, then spread along his spine toward his wings and tail. A stream of tail flames shot from the tips of his wings, and the black hook on his demonic tail was scorched by the flames until it turned a dark red. 

Damn!

With his blood boiling, the Demon King opened the chat history with this card. 

He saw the trash-talking message he’d sent just a minute ago. 

Demon King:”?”

The Demon King was also deeply impressed by this worthless card with a combat value of 1—he’d never seen a card with such a low combat value in his entire life. But looking at that new profile picture, a thousand thoughts seemed to boil down to a single sentence:

Why didn’t you tell me you looked like this sooner? 

【You recalled a message】

His forked tongue licked his fangs. 

Demon King: “That profile pic— is that really you?” 

Ding-dong.

Tang Mian replied: “That’s me.” 

He replied so quickly—he must have seen all the insults from earlier.

The Demon King, feeling a rare sense of unease, cleared his throat and tried to make amends: “Combat Value 1? Haha, I’ve never seen anyone this weak. What did you do on the combat value test?” 

After sending it, there was no immediate reply.

The Demon King thought to himself, “Oh no.” 

Calling someone’s battle cards “lame” is a really hurtful comment, but the Demon King was used to his foul mouth, and the fact that he didn’t curse even more viciously was the result of his conscious restraint.

Five seconds later.

Tang Mian: “【Photo】”

In the photo, the N card leaned in close to the camera, tilted his head, and gave a wink.

When a succubus winks during battle, a pink heart appears in his pupils—this is the sign that his seduction skill has been successfully cast.

When Tang Mian winked like this, no heart effect appeared. Instead, the Demon King’s heart—which was normally completely immune to succubus skills—thudded heavily. That electric sensation shot from his heart down through each vertebra of his tailbone, making the Demon King jump in surprise at how adorable it was. 

However, the card world had never seen such a cute creature before, so the Demon King didn’t know that what he was feeling at that moment was “cuteness.” 

He simply blurted out: “Damn!!!”

Tang Mian replied: “That’s it. I just demonstrated my signature skill in the test: Cute ~ attack ~ ^-^”