Chapter Summaries

Caroso planned to sell custom-made cards at the Card Master Festival in the royal capital, while Krumen worried he was unprepared to compete with experienced Card Makers. He also learned from Teresa that his dungeon experience resembled a rare, unverified legend, and Teresa agreed to accompany him to the festival.

• Elena decided against running a stall with Caroso in the royal capital, fearing customers would overlook her cards, and devised a plan to spend more time with him.
• Caroso touched Krumen's ear, making her fear he had developed a strange fetish, then told her to arrange a third-tier stall in the royal capital using Kolia's name.
• Caroso gave Krumen a materials list and said he would accept custom card orders and make them on the spot, though he had prepared no cards.
• Caroso asked Teresa whether she had experienced anything unusual after the dungeon, and she described a rare legend about lone survivors who remembered dungeon events in unusual ways.
• Teresa agreed to accompany Caroso to the Card Master Festival, then reacted with disbelief when he said he had prepared no cards to sell.

On the Card Master Festival, Caroso set up a stall offering custom cards, including minions with card-drawing effects, and sold one to Alchemy Alliance researcher Harold York. The stall drew a crowd, and Harvey Colin arrived intending to use Caroso’s offer to embarrass him.

• Caroso opened a mobile card-making stall and offered custom cards for prices of one hundred to one thousand Magic Crystal Coins.
• Harold York commissioned a neutral Deathrattle minion, and Caroso made him Stingy Treasure Hunter, a three-star blue card that drew a card when it died.
• Harold praised the card’s research value and noticed its race label, while Caroso explained that a friend had invented the extra card-face text.
• Teresa left to browse other stalls as Caroso’s unusual offer attracted curious festival-goers.
• Harvey Colin approached Caroso, asked what cards below three stars meant, and appeared ready to exploit the wording to embarrass him.

Harvey challenged Caroso to prove he could make a zero-star card, then pressured him into signing a notarized wager. Caroso accepted despite Teresa’s warning and headed for the mobile laboratory to make the card.

• Harvey argued that a zero-star card counted as a card below three stars, and Caroso agreed to the challenge.
• Harvey proposed a wager of three thousand Magic Crystal Coins and added that the loser would have to bark twice.
• Harvey publicly shamed Caroso and demanded that their wager be notarized, and Caroso eventually agreed.
• Caroso and Harvey signed the agreement before a lawyer and the Card Maker Association branch.
• Teresa returned, warned Caroso that zero-star cards could not be made, and watched him head toward the mobile laboratory.

Caroso unexpectedly accepted Harvey’s challenge and revealed that he had made real zero-star cards, shocking the crowd and drawing the attention of the Alchemy Alliance. As people spread the news and demanded answers, Caroso realized the discovery had spiraled beyond his control.

• Harvey complained to Teresa that Caroso had raised their wager to three thousand Magic Crystal Coins, while Nimel struggled to hide her amusement.
• Caroso returned in under twenty minutes and showed Harvey a Mana Crystal card, which restored mana when Harvey used it.
• Caroso revealed several more zero-star cards, including elemental Companions, and card makers and Alchemy Alliance staff confirmed they were real.
• Teresa drew her sword to keep a card maker from grabbing Caroso, then demanded to know why he had not told her about the cards.
• The crowd spread news of the discovery through communication magic stones, and Caroso recognized that the commotion was becoming impossible to control.

Caroso’s zero-star card drew a huge crowd and stirred up the capital’s Card Makers, while he also realized that the Krumen beside him was an impostor. He credited Alita with teaching him to make the card, leaving her under everyone’s intense scrutiny.

• People from the low-, mid-, and high-level districts rushed to Caroso after word spread that he had made a zero-star card.
• Kong and other prominent figures reached the crowded street, while Harvey struggled to accept the card’s existence.
• Caroso noticed that the person posing as Krumen dodged his attempt to touch her ears, unlike the real Krumen.
• Alita arrived and recognized the zero-star card’s owner, and Caroso decided to involve her rather than let the crowd turn hostile toward Azure Wolf Province.
• Caroso told the crowd that Alita had taught him to make the card, drawing the Card Makers’ attention to her.

At the Card Master Festival, Alita took credit for revealing the Zero-Star Cards while giving Caroso prominent authorship and promising to cooperate with the Alliance. After the crowd dispersed, Caroso forced Harvey to honor their notarized contract by barking for payment.

• The King learned that Alita had invented the Zero-Star Cards and considered negotiating with her over the lucrative market.
• Alita publicly credited Caroso with providing the crucial inspiration and said his name would appear before hers on the research paper.
• Alita agreed to discuss cooperation with the kingdom's general association alongside Caroso, then left to sell Blazing Storm.
• Teresa apologized to Caroso, while Harvey accused him of setting him up and resisted paying under their contract.
• Caroso offered Harvey a free card in exchange for barking, and Harvey barked twice before leaving.

Caroso confronted the woman disguised as Krumen and learned she was Messiah, a High Elf who had tested him to provoke his growth. As Messiah unleashed chaotic voices against him, the viewers discovered they could hear her and prepared to retaliate.

• Harvey noticed Krumen after Caroso pulled her away from Teresa and into the carriage laboratory.
• Caroso questioned Krumen, who revealed her true identity as Messiah, an ordinary High Elf who had escaped the notice of even powerful observers.
• Messiah explained that she believed Caroso was growing too cautiously and had targeted him after seeing his potential and his changing feelings for a girl.
• Messiah showed Caroso that his power had grown after he felt helpless and angry, then said she wanted to test his ability to withstand future chaos.
• Messiah spoke of a coming calamity and overwhelmed Caroso with chaotic voices, while the viewers realized they could hear her and planned to teach her a lesson.

After Messiah appeared and vanished, Caroso realized that people around him had forgotten her and the events involving her. Alita then summoned him to watch Blank and Bai duel the S++ card maker Xilok, leaving Caroso worried that an unknown force was affecting the timeline.

• Messiah faded away, and Caroso found that his memories of her and their encounter were already slipping away, while the comments still remembered what had happened.
• Caroso reunited with Teresa and Nimel, who had forgotten Messiah, and Alita called to tell him that Blank and Bai were dueling a challenger.
• Caroso left Krumen to watch his stall and traveled with Will, Teresa, and Nimel to the high-end district.
• Caroso saw Kong and Bai face Xilok, who proposed a four-hour duel to create Legendary Cards, with the winner decided by Star Level and then quality.

Bai and Kong faced Xilok in a high-stakes card-making duel, while Caroso watched their seamless techniques and entered a state of enlightenment. Alita recognized his rare talent and began imprinting a powerful card maker’s mark on him.

• Bai and Kong worked together to make a card as Xilok crafted her own, and Alita told Caroso to watch their techniques rather than try to copy them.
• Caroso steadied himself and admired Bai and Kong’s precise, harmonious card-making rhythm.
• Xilok questioned whether Blank could finish a seven-star Legendary Card within four hours, but Bai and Kong stayed focused on their work.
• Caroso became absorbed in Blank’s rhythm while retaining his sense of self, and Alita realized he had entered a domain.
• Alita began creating a card maker’s mark for Caroso, whose body felt as if it might explode when the mark was imprinted.

Caroso experienced a vision of Surtur’s ancient battle against monstrous beings as Alita and the Card Maker Association branch president tried to brand him. Surtur offered him her power, but Caroso refused because he wanted to surpass her.

• Alita and the Card Maker Association branch president poured their magic into Caroso as the War God’s mark resisted the Card Maker mark.
• Caroso saw the red power of the War God overpowering the familiar blue power and realized he was being asked to choose the Card Maker path.
• Caroso witnessed primitive humans threatened by a giant, eye-covered creature, and Surtur arrived and split it apart with the Sword of Flames.
• Surtur killed the giant beasts, whose crystals transformed the earth into the Sea of Taboo, while Caroso recognized the divinities and the ancient divine war.
• Surtur offered Caroso her power, but Caroso told her he could never surpass her if he accepted it.

Caroso rejected Surtur’s offer to give up his cardmaker power and insisted on gaining both kinds of power, explaining that he wanted to stop the gods from interfering in the human world. Surtur agreed to grant him power if he could endure it, then dismissed him without explaining why the gods’ voices had disappeared.

• Surtur warned Caroso that Messiah was using him for amusement and would not care if he fell into the abyss, but Caroso said he already understood her motives.
• Caroso stayed calm despite the Netizens’ anger and used his conversation with Surtur to gather information rather than openly oppose her.
• Caroso told Surtur he wanted to keep his cardmaker power while gaining hers, and she agreed as long as he could endure the power.
• Surtur asked about Caroso’s dream, and he described his friends’ vision of human equality and self-rule without gods interfering in the human world.
• Surtur dismissed Caroso when he asked why the gods’ voices had disappeared, saying he would not be able to hear the answer even if she told him.

Caroso struggled to survive as the War God's mark and the card maker's mark began to merge, while Merlin attempted to intervene. He rejected her help and forced the two marks out, then drew their powers back into himself in a stable, intertwined form.

• The red and blue forces began merging inside Caroso, causing him severe pain and making blood seep from his skin.
• Nimel tried to approach Caroso, but Teresa and Will stopped her from interfering.
• Caroso drew clarity from Nimel's concern and the netizens' comments, then focused on Blank and realized that two powers could coexist without merging inside the soul.
• Merlin offered Caroso help in exchange for a future favor, but Caroso refused her intervention.
• Caroso's power and spirit surged to EX-class as he forced both marks out of his body, then pulled their distinct forces back inside and intertwined them.

Caroso survived the dual-class breakthrough, gaining both the warrior and card maker marks, and advanced to fourth-tier. Teresa followed his example and reached fourth-tier as well, while powerful factions watched Caroso with interest and possible ill intent.

• Nimel, Teresa, Merlin, and the gathered experts watched Caroso successfully gain dual classes, leaving Merlin and the president astonished.
• The prince considered whether to recruit or eliminate Caroso, while Teresa asked Will to help protect her friend and Will refused unless Caroso went to the Presia Empire.
• Caroso explained that he could use the two classes one at a time, then told Alita he had become both a warrior and a card maker.
• Caroso's power surged, and he advanced from third-tier to fourth-tier as Alita and Teresa watched in shock.
• Teresa also broke through to fourth-tier, while Nimel tried and failed to advance.

Caroso drew the attention of powerful factions after revealing his two intertwined class marks, and he negotiated the terms under which they could study his unusual abilities. He left the factions divided and his safety backed by Mal Academy, the Perus Kingdom, and his family.

• Andre tried to take Caroso away for questioning, but Alita stepped between them and the prince, the principal, and other leaders challenged Andre’s authority.
• The Alchemy Alliance, Warrior Association, Mage Guild, and Mal Academy disputed who had the right to investigate Caroso’s dual class.
• Caroso said he would document his experience and cooperate with research, but he refused to choose a single organization to work with.
• Caroso demanded three hundred million Bronze Coins in compensation and insisted on guarantees for his safety as an underage student and heir to Azure Wolf Province.
• The Mage Guild and Alchemy Alliance agreed to pay, while Caroso’s conditions divided the factions and secured support from Mal Academy and the Perus Kingdom.

Grand Duke Osiris ordered military exercises near Horn Peak Province and sent Red to the royal capital after learning of Caroso’s dual-class advancement. At the card-making challenge, Kong and Bai completed a seventh-tier Legendary Card and advanced to eighth-tier, drawing the crowd’s attention while Caroso’s plan succeeded.

• Grand Duke Osiris ordered a division to conduct military exercises near Horn Peak Province and told it to attack if provoked.
• Grand Duke Osiris sent Red to the royal capital and warned that he would respond if the kingdom tested his resolve over Caroso.
• Kong and Bai completed a seventh-tier Legendary Card in four hours and both advanced to eighth-tier card makers.
• The crowd praised Kong and Bai, while the prince resented Caroso for having claimed the day’s attention earlier.
• Xilok conceded defeat to Kong and Bai after their advancement and card-making achievement overshadowed her sixth-tier Legendary Card.
• Caroso was left temporarily overlooked as the factions focused on recruiting Kong and Bai, which had been part of his plan.

After the royal capital learned that Caroso had two professions, was the youngest person ever to reach fourth rank, and had helped Alita develop zero-star cards, Caroso and Teresa set off for the Golden Pool Ballroom. The chapter ended with the group settling in as Teresa prepared to spend freely at Caroso’s expense.

• Alita apologized to Caroso for being unable to speak up when important figures pressured him, and Teresa explained that Will wanted Caroso to visit the Presia Empire first.
• Caroso invited Teresa to an activity where she could spend a future enemy’s money, and she eagerly agreed.
• Elena and the academy students reacted to news of Caroso’s dual professions, Alita’s zero-star cards, and Blank’s rise to eighth rank.
• Harvey regretted leaving the royal capital, while Karei resolved to lure Caroso into a dungeon and avenge his humiliation.
• Caroso, Teresa, Alita, and Nimel arrived at the Golden Pool Ballroom, where Caroso offered to pay for whatever Teresa wanted.

Caroso and Teresa discussed inequality, political reform, and the limits of changing society as they watched Elizabeth Hackmedia perform. They agreed to pursue gradual reform and raised a toast to becoming pioneers together.

• Elizabeth Hackmedia sang a sailor's song, and Caroso learned that she would become a pirate captain called the Black Pearl.
• Teresa criticized the wealthy elite and politicians for keeping ordinary people poor.
• Caroso argued that rulers could reduce exploitation by gradually weakening noble privileges, while Teresa questioned whether equality was possible.
• Caroso described the Perus Kingdom's decline and contrasted it with their own move toward industrialization.
• Teresa agreed to ally with Caroso if their ideals remained aligned, and they toasted to the pioneers.

After the ball, Caroso returned to his stall with Nimel and discussed his dual-class marks and plans with the barrage. As the viewers argued over how he should invest his startup capital, a stranger asked whether he could customize cards for any profession.

• Caroso told Alita and Teresa to return without him while he and Nimel went back to the stall, where Krumen had been waiting.
• Caroso explained to the barrage that his dual-class marks formed through a balance of strength and spirit, though he said the method would be difficult for others to replicate.
• Caroso asked the barrage how to use the three hundred million in startup capital to support his army, and viewers proposed competing business ideas.
• A stranger interrupted Caroso and asked whether he could customize cards for any profession.

Elizabeth visited Caroso’s stall to commission two Rogue spell cards and discovered that he had recognized her disguise as a famous star. She bought the cards for all five hundred of her Magic Crystal Coins and asked Caroso for a discount.

• Elizabeth asked Caroso to make two third-tier Rogue spell cards, despite their high price and the class’s illegal status.
• While Caroso and Nimel made the cards, Elizabeth questioned Krumen about Caroso and learned that his father was Grand Duke Osiris of Azure Wolf Province.
• Caroso presented Elizabeth with Skyfall of Blades and Double Fortune, both three-star Rogue spell cards with card-drawing effects.
• Elizabeth agreed to buy both cards but admitted she had only five hundred Magic Crystal Coins, and Caroso offered to sell them for that amount.
• Caroso revealed that he had recognized Elizabeth by her voice and her visit to the ballroom, and Elizabeth removed her veil and asked him to give her a discount.

Caroso made four cards for Elizabeth after bonding with her over her love of the sea and pirates, then exchanged contact information and agreed to attend her concert in Free City. Back at his dormitory, he found Alita waiting to demand an explanation of how he made the zero-star card.

• Caroso praised Elizabeth's Sailor's Song and told her he had dreamed of becoming a pirate and exploring the Sea of Taboo.
• Elizabeth promised to perform the song in Free City, and Caroso agreed to make her two more cards of each type for four hundred Magic Crystal Coins.
• Caroso and Nimel made the cards, and Elizabeth paid him, exchanged contact information, and invited him to her January 6th concert.
• Caroso returned to school with Nimel, parted ways with her, and headed to his dormitory without walking Elizabeth home.
• Caroso found Alita waiting outside her dormitory, exhausted by the card-making teachers surrounding her, and she demanded to know how he made the zero-star card.