Let them print cards, not slay gods 24

Chapter 24: Alice’s Mad Death

Sky One Academy, despite being in its inaugural year, initiated monthly inter-academy PK tournaments starting the second month after the school year began.

Dueling academies, at their core, are youth training bases that supply professional athletes to the professional circuit. While seemingly glamorous, they’re incredibly cutthroat. Sky One Academy, being a new institution, is a bit better off. Older, established dueling academies see several students suffer mental breakdowns and forced withdrawals each month due to the intense competition.

The stable career progression path leads to extreme internal competition.

Xin Yuan Tan Chun used her personal experience as an example: Sky One Academy’s first cohort comprised 300 freshmen. Approximately 50 students win three PK matches each month, roughly ten receive coach approval, and of those ten, very few pass the ranking tournament. It usually takes a year of consistently winning monthly PK matches to produce a single Rank 1 Card Master.

Students who fail the ranking tournament continue in the PK matches the following month, repeating the cycle – either they break their opponents, or they break themselves.

“You know the intensity of our academy’s dueling exams this year,” Xin Yuan Tan Chun told Shen Sui. “Every student who passes has the potential to become a professional player. You need to be prepared.”

Prepared?

In Shen Sui’s career plan, he wouldn’t be at Sky One Academy for long.

Once he completed the ranking tournament and became a professional Card Master, he’d have the right to apply for graduation and join a club. Of course, due to Sky One Academy’s stipulations, he had to choose Sky One Club first. If the club didn’t accept him, only then could he choose another club.

This didn’t bother Shen Sui; aside from club cup matches, most Card Dueling tournaments were individual competitions. The club couldn’t shelve him, at most they would only limit his opportunities, forcing him to start from the preliminary rounds.

Of course, in this world, there’s no problem a single duel can’t solve. If there is, then two will do the trick.

If you really have a dispute with a club, you can invoke the Fate Card Association’s protection clause, challenge the club, best two out of three. If you win, the Fate Card Association will unconditionally rule in your favor and grant you freedom.

One month: win the PK tournament first.

Then duel with Xin Yuan Tan Chun to qualify for the ranking tournament.

Shen Sui clarified his goals.

Alice was nearing the City of Sin. For the next period, he wouldn’t be able to leave the Soul Card world.

The Time Regulator’s duration was extremely precious. Shen Sui, currently somewhat impoverished, was reluctant to waste the time bought with his hard-earned money on this.

He needed to confirm the strength of the event-type magic cards he obtained after causing a major incident in the Soul Card world. This would determine how much he should guide Alice in the future.

She’s got such a knack for trouble; let’s turn the whole world upside down!

Returning to the dormitory, Shen Sui unloaded the large quantity of instant food, drinks, and bottled water he had purchased.

He had originally intended to buy blood pressure medication, but unfortunately, the pharmacy didn’t sell it.

After stretching his muscles, it was time to cause trouble in my Modena City.

Shen Sui opened his Dueling Instrument.

Soul Card world! Open!

[Isley Crowley used Life Burning on Alice. Alice suffered severe injuries and was dying.]

[Stellar Super Magic Array activated, used Revival on Alice. Alice was revived.]

[Melchio Brin used Death Curse on Alice. Alice was critically injured.]

[Stellar Super Magic Array activated, used Revival on Alice. Alice was revived.]

Upon opening the main page, Shen Sui was stunned. In the short time he had gone to see Xin Yuan Tan Chun, over twenty alerts of Alice being critically injured had appeared before his eyes.

Damn!

Alice, what exactly have you encountered?!

After scrolling for over a minute, Shen Sui finally found information other than Alice’s death alerts.

Alice, having caught the spring fish king, Paynga, became one of the high priests of the Sinful Festival.

Her true strength was only Rank 3, which was visible on the surface, so as soon as she entered the City of Sin, countless factions rushed to test her. In just one day, Alice was assassinated over twenty times by various factions from all angles.

Without exception, all assassinations were successful.

Shen Sui rubbed his eyes wearily.

Constantly using Revival isn’t a solution.

In the previous game, because infinite Revival was too overpowered (BUG), the developers later patched it. When the number of Revival uses reached fifty, the Death Goddess would descend.

This was originally a fatal punishment, but later, after research by the top players, it was discovered that the Death Goddess could be killed.

And then the Death Goddess became the easiest God-level BOSS to defeat, because you only needed to use Revival fifty times on yourself to summon her home.

Once the Death Goddess was defeated, the Revival skill would no longer be usable infinitely, therefore, the Stellar Super Magic Array was needed to reset its usage limit.

Almost all of the Gods who should be resurrected have returned to life in Dawn Continent. Shen Sui estimated that at Alice’s current reckless pace, she would summon the Death Goddess soon.

The Death Goddess isn’t that hard to fight; it’s just whether or not she can be made into a card.

Shen Sui thought to himself as he continued scrolling.

“Holy shit!” Shen Sui jumped up a second later.

[Continuous use of Revival allowed Alice to comprehend the true meaning of death, and she no longer fears death.]

What the hell does “no longer fears death” mean?! That’s a cheat I gave you! Calm down! People really die when they get killed!

[Ding! You obtained the magic card: Kiss of Death]

Good~! Alice, your comprehension is excellent! People shouldn’t fear death.

[The miracle of resurrection further cemented Alice’s image as the saint of Drodel among her worshipers; they swore allegiance to her.]

[Ding! You obtained the magic card: Ingratiation]

[Alice obtained Anna’s clues from her subordinate’s intelligence network.]

[The gang that kidnapped Anna seemed to be planning a sacrifice.]

[Alice established the Paynga Gang. She began indiscriminately attacking surrounding gangs, obstructing the hidden sacrifice.]

[Modena City fell into chaos, and the gang warfare added another layer of wickedness to the Sinful Festival.]

[Ding! You obtained the event card: Chaos.]

[Event Card: Special type of card. Only one can exist on the field at a time. Once activated, it remains in effect until its duration expires or is replaced by another event card. It does not occupy a card slot and is not affected by other card effects after activation.]

******

Card Name: [Chaos]

Type: Event Card

Stars: 5-star

Effect: Until the end of the third friendly turn, or until replaced by another event card, both sides pay half cost, and both sides’ follower spirit values are doubled.

******

Event Card? What is this? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this.

Shen Sui stared at the characters on the screen, falling into brief silence. But it seems quite powerful.

Also, I haven’t even done anything yet?

Alice, could you not be so proactive.

Interspersed among these characters were the numerous assassination attempts on Alice by Modena City’s gangs.

However, with the aid of Revival, Alice escaped every time unscathed.

This miracle further reinforced the belief among the Paynga Gang that Alice was the Sinful Saint. Coupled with her previous act of burning down the Thunderbolt Lord’s church, Alice became the most notorious criminal in the City of Sin.

Shen Sui finally reached the end of the log.

He couldn’t help but sigh. Was this the same Alice, the village girl who worried about whether she’d have dinner a few months ago?

What had turned Alice into this?

At that moment, another message lit up on the Dueling Instrument:

[Due to the number of Revivals reaching the warning threshold, Death Goddess Arianna has set her eyes on Alice.]

Here it comes! My first God card!

(End of Chapter)

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