【Dungeon Name】: Mist Forest 【Dungeon Difficulty】: C-Rank 【Clear Rating】: S-Rank (Perfect Clear)

【Quest Completion】:

Quest 1: Survival (Reward: 500 exchange value)

Quest 2: Defeat the Mist Monsters (Reward: 2,500 exchange value)

Objective 3: Ensure the Survival of Key Story Characters (Reward: 1,000 exchange value) 

Objective 4: Protect the Forest (Reward: 1,000 exchange values)

Tang Mian: “Wow, that’s a lot of money!!!” 

Tang Mian: “Is the next dungeon going to be this profitable?!”

System: 【Don’t mistake the platform for your own ability. If the Demon King didn’t team up with you this time, you’ll only be able to complete Mission 1 at most.】 

System: 【No. Without the SSR·Demon King, you wouldn’t even qualify to enter this dungeon.】

The System said coldly: 【As a low-tier N card, you’re usually only allowed to access E- and D-rank dungeons. At your level, earning five or six hundred exchange values is already the absolute maximum.】

Tang Mian said happily, “That’s great! We hit the jackpot! System, is there anything you really like but can’t bring yourself to buy? I can treat you to it.~”

System: 【…….. No need.】

The System continued in a stiff tone:

【Additional Unlock】:

Affinity with a key story character has been reached; the character’s story has been unlocked.

【Hunter·Karl】:Rumor has it that deep within the mist forest lies the magical formation left by the angels long ago to seal the mist monsters. But it is also said that when the mist once again engulfs the forest, no one can survive it.

Karl holds the village’s only holy protection decree, yet he does not know why he must bear such a mission.

He wasn’t the savior spoken of by the wandering bards, nor was he even a member of the Hunters’ Guild; he was just an ordinary hunter in a small village. Even with the holy protection decree in his hands, the most he could do was rescue a few lost people.

…That’s what he’d always believed—until he met those bright green eyes.

As he turned and walked into the mist, Karl suddenly recalled his childhood—before the minstrels came to the village to tell all sorts of legendary tales of heroes—back when he was still just a child—the fairy tales his mother used to read to him before bed.

In those fairy tales, there was often a hunter who would sometimes disobey the queen’s orders and let the princess escape, or rescue Little Red Riding Hood after she’d been swallowed by the wolf.

And now, he was just such a hunter. 

(You have received a gift from Hunter Karl: Red Cloak)

【Name】: Red Cloak

【Type】: Armor

【Quality】:Green (Excellent）

【Description】:A red cloak tanned by Hunter Karl himself and dyed with red berries. When equipped in cold environments, it reduces body heat loss by 30%. When equipped in forest-type dungeons, it makes you less likely to trigger the alert of low-level hostile creatures.

【Dungeon Settlement Complete】

【Card Space is returning……… 】

【Scanning card status… Current Sanity value is 80… Recommended to recover through sleep… No significant external injuries…. Do you wish to spend 1 point to exchange to restore to a dust-free, clean state….】

【Yes】

Tang Mian opened his eyes.

In the pure white card space, in addition to the sandbag, a red cloak had appeared.

The system had also restored this red cloak to a dust-free, pristine condition—it was spotless and felt thick yet soft to the touch.

“Great! It ended perfectly!” Tang Mian could feel his calves aching and his whole body weak. He checked his step count on the all-in-one card app: “20,000 steps—I’m so awesome!”

System: 【….】Getting tired after just a few steps—what’s so impressive about that? You’re such a wimp. 

Tang Mian held up a finger, full of energy, and said, “After a hard day’s work, our motto is —?!” 

System: 【?】 Why is there an interactive segment now? 

Tang Mian shouted, “Spending!!!”

Tang Mian excitedly opened the card mall. 

The card mall has two main sections: the Combat Section and the Lifestyle Section.

System: 【You currently have 5,000 exchange values. You can try purchasing equipment or skill books. 】

Before it could finish speaking, the system saw Tang Mian eagerly click into the Lifestyle Zone.

Then it saw Tang Mian spend 100 exchange values on a chair for himself. 

System: 【 Fair enough】

It then saw Tang Mian sitting in the chair, gazing longingly at the 3,000-point exchange value whirlpool tub. 

System: 【That’s a no.】

Tang Mian reluctantly looked away and turned his gaze to the legendary-tier luxury bed with a 9,999 exchange value, reading the product description with longing. 

System: 【What are you looking at?】

Tang Mian said wistfully, “I really want that.”

System: 【………. Hardly anyone would buy something so useless.】

Originally, the System was about to say “nobody buys this at all,” but just before speaking, it noticed that the item’s historical sales stood at 1.

In the entire card world, aside from Tang Mian, there was actually another master—and that person had actually purchased it.

“It’s useful—look,” Tang Mian said, pointing to the product description. “When resting on this bed, Stamina and Sanity recover 30% faster. Imagine, I wish I could sleep on this someday—I can’t even imagine how comfortable it would be.”

System: 【…Is that all you’ve got?!】

Tang Mian rubbed his calf as he said, with the utmost nonchalance, “And there’s more—I want to buy a massage chair, expand my card space to at least 500 square meters, earn lots and lots of exchange value, and become an UR card.” 

System: 【Is that all you’ve got to offer?】

The icy tone suddenly took on a strange edge: 【You? You want to become an UR card?】

Even the most competitive new combat cards in recent years have only dared to set their goals at SSR. But even like that, the entire combat card world has only two SSRs: the Battle Angel and the Demon King. 

Even the arrogant Demon King never openly talked about aspiring to become an UR card, yet here was an N card with a combat value of just 1, daring to declare that its goal was UR—this was truly…

【Do you know how long it’s been since an UR last appeared in the entire card world?】

Tang Mian raised his eyes, his green eyes curving into a gentle smile. His voice was soft and gentle, unlike any of the ambitious cards he’d encountered before, and the expression on his face was tender: “Never. So I’ll be the only one. I know that.” 

“I know you’ve been waiting so hard for an UR, which is why you’re so strict with me. Thank you for always being there for me. I’ll do my best~.” 

…Truly ignorant and fearless.

That’s what it wanted to say. 

System: 【……….. Go buy your stuff】

“Yay!” Tang Mian happily spent 2,000 exchange values to buy a portable kitchen, then spent another 80 exchange values on groceries. Afterward, he clicked into the “Clothing” section of the Lifestyle Zone, hoping to buy himself a cute apron: “Uh, why are all these clothes so ugly?”

Feeling skeptical, he switched to the Combat Gear section. “Wow, the ones here are even uglier!” 

System: 【Check the stats—who told you to look at the appearance?】

Tang Mian nodded: “Well, with my face and figure, I look good in anything.”

System: 【………. 】Come to think of it, how did it actually get fooled by this N card just now? Clearly, this N card is treating him like one of those brainless people like Karlb, a dog-like guy like Karl! 

“Ding-dong~”

The disappearance sound effect rang out. 

Demon King: “How are you? You didn’t cry from being scared, did you?”

Tang Mian: “Thanks for your concern, Boss! I’m in perfect health, both physically and mentally!”

Demon King: “Tsk. If you’re in such good shape, why did you look like you were about to cry right at the end of the dungeon?” 

Tang Mian: “?”

Tang Mian: “Oh, you’ve got the wrong idea. There was smoke and fire everywhere—it stung my eyes.”

Demon King:“…”

Tang Mian: “Look! Here’s a snapshot I took of you while you were defeating the Mist Monsters! I think the composition, the colors, and the expression are all absolutely perfect!”

Tang Mian chose the mist forest dungeon specifically to get great shots for the Demon King. As a Fire Demon, the Demon King is perfectly suited for photography in this drab, gray setting—the mist brings out the vibrant hues of the flames, and the all-encompassing gray fog adds an apocalyptic feel.

When Tang Mian first entered the dungeon, he tried taking a few photos of the Demon King. The background was great, the angle was perfect, and the lighting was spot-on—but the Demon King’s gaze just wasn’t right. It was too aggressive, like two fire-tempered daggers piercing straight through the lens. That kind of stare might be intimidating to enemies, but it’s not how you should look at your loved one.

Toward the end of the dungeon, the conditions were so dire that Tang Mian had all but given up hope of getting a good shot. But perhaps the perfect shot always appears in the most unexpected moments—

In that very instant, those blood-red eyes pierced through the mist and looked over at him. For the first time, they shed all their fierce flames, revealing a hint of awkward, unspoken remorse.

It was as if, at that moment, he wasn’t the ruler of Hell, but a child afraid that the flames might burn a butterfly.

Tang Mian: “Especially—your gaze really tells a story! Don’t you think?” With that, Tang Mian tied on an apron, ready to head into the kitchen and whip up some egg fried rice for himself.

The Demon King changed the subject: “This one’s all gray and foggy—my face is completely obscured by the mist. What’s so good about it? I prefer the one you took of me at the beginning. All right, all right—I won’t blame you if the last shot didn’t turn out. As long as there’s one where I can actually see my nose and eyes, that’s enough.”

Tang Mian:“?”

Tang Mian tilted his head, pinning his all-in-one card between his shoulder and cheek, and dictated via voice input: “This atmospheric photo—if it were a little more hazy and subtle, it would leave more to the imagination. As for that one I took earlier—tough and handsome—you have plenty of those already—”

Ignoring the Demon King’s countless quirky and bizarre selfie angles, as well as all sorts of weird lighting, weird outfits, and weird backgrounds.

“This is probably the first time we’ve shot an atmospheric photo, so you might not be used to it yet. But given how handsome you are, you can clearly pull off any style with ease—including the ‘atmospheric heartthrob’ look that Battle Angel specializes in. You could even overtake them!”

Demon King: “Alright, then let’s go with that ‘atmospheric’ style you mentioned!”

Tang Mian: “Got it! Wise boss, do you have any ideas for the caption?”

Demon King, with a headache: “Copywriting too? It’s just another dungeon run—do I really have to write an essay? I can’t be bothered to think about it. Just make something up.” 

Tang Mian: “Got it! One last question: what were you thinking at that moment?”

After a long pause, the Demon King replied, “Tsk. Coward.” 

Tang Mian nodded, served himself some egg fried rice, and happily took a photo holding his all-in-one card, captioning it, “Let’s have breakfast.” After posting the card log, he began to ponder what to write for the Demon King’s card log. Since the Demon King had said the caption could be anything…

【Mist Forest · Saying One Thing, Meaning Another】 

“Tsk. Coward.”

“If you’re scared, don’t come to a place like this.”

“Don’t follow right behind me, don’t get so close; the fire will hurt you.” 

【You’ve completed the co-creation with the Demon King】

【 Do you wish to reveal your co-creation identity? 】

【No】

System: 【?】

The system felt like it was sticking its nose where it didn’t belong: 【Why did you choose “No”? Do you know how many players follow the Demon King?】

Tang Mian, holding a bowl of fragrant egg fried rice: 【Our target audiences are different. People who like cool, domineering CEOs probably won’t like my style. I just need to focus on attracting my specific audience.】

System: 【Your audience?】

Tang Mian cupped his face: 【A super-duper little sweetheart, right?~】 

System: 【 ……… 】I’m a sword too.

Tang Mian, with a serious expression: 【Besides, if any players mistakenly think I’m shipping with the Demon King, my career will be ruined.】

System: 【……….. 】It was doomed the moment its combat value hit 1.

Demon King: “Tsk, why are you still hiding your co-creator status? Do you think you’re too weak to be worthy of me? Since your adapted card log is better than the previous one, then I’ll reluctantly give you a chance to join the dark deck.”

Tang Mian tilted his head slightly but didn’t reply to the Demon King right away, because a new job posting had just popped up on his Boss Zhipin app.

【System automatically detected the latest suitable position】

【Special Assistant to the Boss】

Deck: Light Deck Boss: SSR·Battle Angel Position: Special Assistant to the Boss

Salary Details: 50,000–100,000 exchange value/Month.

Job Requirements:

Proficient in managing card logs.