Card Room - Chapter 5 - Lucky Draw

Qin Ran was kidnapped and sold by a human trafficker to the countryside at the age of three. The Qin family found her back half a year ago, but because they had taken a liking to their foster daughter, Qin Xue, and refused to let her suffer grievance just because Qin Ran had returned, they continued to let Qin Xue occupy the main bedroom, learn the piano, etc. Meanwhile, the real daughter, Qin Ran, could only sleep in the maid’s room on the first floor. Because Qin Ran refused to accept Qin Xue’s out-of-season clothes and wore a second-hand bag, she was labeled as being insensible. Since then, her mother never bought her another piece of clothing. The Qin family even strictly warned Qin Ran not to harbor any thoughts for Qin Xue’s fiance, Fu Li.

Later on, Fu Li was involved in a car accident that resulted in high paraplegia… Qin Ran’s mother said, “Xiao Ran, our family has a collaboration with the Fu family, so we can’t turn on them at a time like this. Although the engagement was for Qin Xue, you’re the real daughter of the Qin family. Madam Fu has been understanding and agreed to let you marry into their family.” Her mother even said, “Why aren’t you happy? The Fu family is rich, so if you marry into their family, you can be a young madam and enjoy life. Isn’t that great? Regardless, we’re trying our best to give you a better life than before!” But Qin Ran said, “I’m pregnant. Also, I’m severing ties with all of you from today on.” The Qin family was enraged, but they refused to believe that a brat like Qin Ran would really give up the Qin family fortune and sever ties with them.

No one expected Qin Ran to leave the Qin family with such a resolution. She then found her baby’s father and became the wife of the legendary bigshot, Mo Chi. The top-class bigshot thought he had married an inexperienced and pitiful girl with a sad past, but then… She defused bombs with her bare hands, possessed miraculous medical skills, and was highly trained in martial arts… Mo Chi was baffled. “What else don’t I know about you?”

By the time Li Qingran realized she had been transplanted into a book, she had already muddled through seventeen years.Growing up together as childhood sweethearts with the male protagonist Xie Ying’an, their relationship was rather passable.Endowed with the halo of the male lead, Xie Ying’an was like a hacked character from birth: good-looking, from a good family, with good academics...Li Qingran vaguely remembers that she was a female supporting character in the book, whose ending was not good due to constantly making trouble for the female protagonist.Li Qingran shuddered, feeling all too familiar with this plot; getting involved or not could both lead to trouble, so she needed to come up with some strategies to cope...PS: Unrequited love theme, male and female leads are high school students, and they do not engage in early romance.

No matter how twisted the world becomes, humans will always remain humans.In the face of their doom edging closer, their greed doubles instead of fading away. Their selfishness is unwavering—they simply want everything, even at the cost of endangering those closest to them.For that is the truth of humanity.So, if everything is linked to iniquities and sins, then unlike them, I won’t shy away from these possibilities—I will embrace them.---Synopsis:Kael, a young man from Earth—a dimension renowned for its technological advancements and brilliant minds—returns on a tour sponsored by his school.But fate has other plans.A Dimensional wave crashes into Earth, mutating the entire world into a grotesque landscape of unexplored horrors.Those who survived the dimensional impact awakened to newfound strengths, while those who didn’t perished—or worse—transformed into monstrosities far more fearsome than any beast.The world has returned to the law of the food chain. The strong will endure and rule, while the weak are devoured.Kael must cling to his sanity and navigate this nightmarish new world with a mission: to protect all he has left.But things take a darker turn when the system he acquired reveals an unexpected and horrifying backlash:{Consume human flesh}{Or perish within the next 24 hours}The clock is ticking, and Kael is left to grapple with an impossible choice that could seal his fate—or his humanity.

Akashi was a boy so beautiful it seemed the gods had sculpted him with a touch of mischief and a dash of fragility. He wasn’t handsome in the rugged, masculine way of knights or warriors. No—his beauty was softer, captivating in its innocence. His frame was small, almost delicate, and his pale skin looked as if it had never known hardship, kissed only by the gentle sunlight of his village fields.With wide, striking black eyes that shimmered like obsidian under moonlight, and hair the color of a calm, endless ocean, Akashi possessed a charm that defied age, status, or reason. He didn’t know it, but his very existence pulled at the hearts of those who saw him—like an untouched gem waiting to be claimed.And yet, he had been untouched for a reason. Akashi had never known life beyond the boundaries of his village. He grew up surrounded by warm smiles and familiar voices. Every elder knew his name. Every child wanted to play by his side. His days were simple, his heart untouched by cruelty.But peace is a fragile thing.One night, it shattered.The sky turned crimson. Screams tore through the quiet air. Fires devoured homes. Demons—twisted beasts of shadow and rage—descended without warning. They killed with a hunger that could not be reasoned with.By morning, the village was gone.Ashes, corpses, and silence were all that remained.And Akashi… Akashi was alone.The last heartbeat in a graveyard of memories.He wandered for days, hollow and dazed, until rough hands seized him. Chains replaced freedom. Smiles were replaced by cold appraisals. And so, the boy once adored by all became something else—something to be sold.A slave.At the capital's grand auction house, he was stripped, washed, and displayed like merchandise. His beauty caused a stir. Whispers spread like wildfire.“Look at those eyes...”“That hair... Is it dyed? No, it’s real...”“So delicate... Is he even human?”To them, he was no longer a boy with a heart, but a prize to possess. A fantasy in fragile form.He stood on the stage, trembling slightly, barely able to process what was happening. The voices of the crowd blurred together—hungry, leering, filled with desire and greed. The auctioneer’s booming voice called out the bids as if Akashi were nothing more than a fine vase or a rare jewel.The numbers climbed quickly. Too quickly. Akashi’s knees weakened beneath the weight of invisible eyes drinking him in. He stared at the marble floor, trying not to cry.Then, suddenly, the room fell silent.A voice—deep, commanding, and heartbreakingly beautiful—cut through the air like silk over steel.“Fifteen thousand gold.”Time seemed to pause.Every head turned.At the back of the room, standing beneath the golden chandelier, was a woman unlike any other.She wore a flowing red gown that hugged her form like it was crafted by the gods themselves. Her long, golden hair shimmered like strands of sunlight, cascading over her shoulders with effortless grace. Her eyes, cold and blue as a glacier’s heart, stared ahead with quiet power.Even the nobles drew back. This was no ordinary bidder.It was one of the Princesses of the Three Great Kingdoms.Whispers erupted anew—but no one dared challenge her offer.Who would?She stood like royalty incarnate, a goddess who walked among mortals, and she had just claimed Akashi as her own.The boy raised his head slowly, unsure of whether to feel fear or relief. His eyes met hers—just for a second—and something in his chest shifted. She didn’t smile. She didn’t leer. Her gaze was unreadable.But it was powerful. Absolute.And it made his knees weak for an entirely new reason.He didn’t know her name. Not yet.But she had bought him.And somewhere deep inside, something told him—his life was never going to be the same.