Surviving the Game as a Barbarian - Chapter 229 Turning the Tables (5)

Look, I’m Riven Kael.Twenty-eight, data analyst, zero ambition beyond paying rent and avoiding small talk. My life was spreadsheets, instant ramen, and the occasional ghost I pretended not to see.Then one mandatory company gala, because of course it was mandatory, turned into the universe’s worst prank.I touched a cursed amulet.I just touched it.Next thing I know, I’m waking up in a penthouse that costs more than my entire bloodline, sporting a glowing marriage sigil on my wrist, legally and magically hitched to Azryth Valek.Yes, that Azryth Valek.The CEO of half the planet, a walking sin in a three-piece suit, an ancient demon lord who was literally sealed inside said amulet until I accidentally set him free.He says we’re bound. Separation means both of us die slowly and painfully.Soul-consumption optional but very much on the table if I’m stupid enough to fall for him. Which, newsflash, I am not. I’m not.Shut up.So now I’m living with an unfortunately hot CEO from hell, dodging assassination attempts disguised as corporate mergers, banishing spirits that show up at my desk like unpaid interns, and pretending we’re a power couple for the cameras while he smirks like he knows exactly how much I want to strangle him. Or kiss him. Or both.Brain, we are not doing this.I didn’t sign up for boardroom battles, multiversal rifts, or the terrifying realization that the arrogant demon who ruined my life might be the only one who truly sees me.But here I am. Still complaining, still fighting, still falling, against every shred of common sense, hopelessly, stupidly, irrevocably in love.Because when the universe marries you to the devil, it doesn’t ask for consent.It just hands you the ring.And damn it, I’m keeping it.

A ring-shaped bio-computer produced in 3009 AD, traversing the space and time onto Du Cheng’s head, a powerful intelligent program let Du Cheng tapped into high-tech knowledge in the next millennium.

——Commerce, industry, science and technology, Du Cheng will be leading the way, developing high-tech from the future, and making himself invincible.

——From an illegitimate child who was driven out of the family to the economic leader, creating a business empire, Du Cheng’s future is the road to the ultimate glory.

- Description from Novelupdates

They stole his future and crippled his body. Now, he’ll rewrite the history in blood.Damon was on the verge of greatness—first in line to claim Bloodreign, the legendary artifact said to grant unmatched power in Earth Online, the world’s first fully immersive VR game. But his best friend betrayed him, stealing the item, and leaving Damon broken, crippled and nearly deleted. Kicked from the guild, mocked by the community, and trapped in a weak, crippled body, he was forgotten until his last desperate attempt somehow brought him back in time to the day when it all began.Now Damon was back and he knew what he was going after.A hidden lineage. A cursed class. A bloodline sealed since the dawn of the multiverse.Last time he played fair. Last time he trusted. This time he would hunt and devour. With years of knowledge of every exploit, every secret quest, every bugged mechanic, he will climb straight to the top. Armed with the blood of the first Vampire King, he was an apex predator now who stood at the very top.However, unbeknownst to him, a catastrophe lurks in the shadows. Damon finds out that the game itself might not be as simple as it seemed and the entire future of the humanity might depend on this game.

Step 1: Inherit a creepy old mansion.Step 2: Unlock a cursed system that makes girls fall dangerously in love with you… just by saying “hi.”Step 3: Learn that if you don’t reject them within 10 texts, something terrible happens.My name’s Ren.And apparently, I’m the “Catalyst for Affection-Based Catastrophes.”(Yeah. That’s literally what it said.)My peaceful new life? Over.Now I’m stuck in a house full of magically unstable girls:A sword-swinging elf.A fire mage with zero personal boundaries.A strict class rep who faints if I so much as look at her.And a witch who cursed the bathroom mirror to spy on me.They’re beautiful.They’re powerful.They’re dangerously obsessed.And if I mess this up, someone’s going to get hurt—maybe me.Reject them too late? Game over.Fall for one of them? Even worse.This isn’t a dating sim.It’s survival of the cutest.Welcome to my life. It's not just a harem. It's a hostage situation.