Card Room (Rebirth) - Chapter 20: Bloody Maple Leaf 01

It all started when the protagonist downloaded a game called “The Fool (Beta Version),” marking a pivotal shift in the style of his life. This was no ordinary game; it lacked visuals and music, composed solely of lines of text and a multitude of choices. Yet, each decision within the game had the power to alter the player's destiny, for on the other side of the game lay a real, unknown world.Players were unable to physically enter this otherworld or see its landscapes, experiencing the alternate realm solely through text, vicariously living each step of their character's journey.As the game progressed, not only could rewards from the game materialize in the real world, but creatures from the game began to appear in reality as well.Then came the day the game was released for global public testing.An era quietly unfolded, where the masses embarked on explorations and treasure hunts in an alternate universe through 'textual adventure,' heralding a new chapter of engagement and discovery.

In this world, orphans or just anyone without any hope for this world can apply to become a “walking target”. Their sole purpose is to be a practicing dummy for the students of the sect who train to become “Demon Hunters”. These students need “walking targets” to test their training on living, walking beings of flesh and blood.
In exchange, they will be provided with food & shelter.
Their existence value is lower than a slave, but if they manage to survive a few years they can receive a life long pension.

Xiao Han is such a “walking target”. One time he witnessed a powerful Demon Hunter disposing a demon. When the demon died, a fragment of the demon that managed to escape entered Xiao Han’s heart. No one saw that, and even Xiao Han himself only felt some discomfort for an instant.

But that thing in his heart soon gave Xiao Han visions, and the first one is of a cultivation method which allows Xiao Han to absorb damage to enhance his body. A perfect cultivation method for a “walking target”.

- Description from Novelupdates

When low-level healer Elias Vale stumbles upon a cursed cocoon in a forgotten ruin, the last thing he expects is to hatch the reborn soul of the Demon Queen Revantra—in the form of a scared little girl.To save her from divine execution, she binds herself to him through an ancient soul pact, fusing their fates. Now, Elias is stuck raising the former destroyer of worlds—who can barely tie her shoes, but occasionally melts furniture when she pouts.What starts as reluctant guardianship soon spirals into something far more dangerous. As Rhea (her new alias) grows stronger, older, and far too attached, Elias must keep her identity hidden from zealous church inquisitors, ambitious heroes, and the remnants of her own loyal followers—some of whom want her dead... again.But the longer he protects her, the deeper the bond grows—and the harder it becomes to tell who’s really taming who.Because the world once burned beneath her wings……and this time, she’s not letting him go.

When I opened my eyes I had become a princess!

But out of all characters in this romance novel, why is it the princess who has the fate of dying to her own blood-related dad, the emperor!

If I want to live, I must not be seen by that emperor dad.

“When did this kind of scumbag start living in my castle?”

The man who doesn’t have single drop of blood nor tear to drop, that cold emperor Claude! Will Atanasia who had been caught by the emperor be able to survive?

“I… What do I do…..?”