Destitute Girl

Cool City.

The moon shone bright, and the stars were sparse.

Su Li returned to his cheap rented room. Pulling a white card from inside his jacket, he couldn't help showing a hint of delight.

[Destitute Girl]

Tier: White

Type: Character

Skills: None

Overview: A down-and-out girl whose life isn't going well.

Su Li stared intently at the White Card. A hazy glow suddenly veiled his eyes, strange patterns flowing through it. He raised his head slightly.

An image slowly appeared on the wall of his rented room, drawing nearer, shifting from blurry to clear.

Under the starry sky, the girl sat on the grass with her knees drawn to her chest. Her skin was delicate, but her face and clothes were smeared with dirt. Her clothes were covered in patches, and her expression was troubled, weighed down by some bitter worry.

Information flooded into Su Li's mind.

This card can be enhanced. Choose one of the following:

① The awakening ceremony is imminent, yet the girl is being bullied at school. As her patched clothes are torn at and she is mocked for them, she feels even more worthless. This is bound to affect her ability-awakening ceremony; she may even fail to awaken an ability. Perhaps a brand-new, pretty outfit and some words of comfort will help her regain her confidence?

A character card from an ability world? There was only one way to enhance it, so he had no choice to make.

Su Li opened his phone and thought for a moment. In the search bar of a shopping app, he typed "confidence-boosting women's clothes." Items immediately appeared, with images and descriptions.

Black stockings and a JK uniform, high-slit cheongsams, camisole stockings, red high heels...

Was this really confidence-boosting women's clothing?!

In anguish, Su Li tried to find a trace of purity in that sea of yellow. An hour later, he left in bitter frustration.

In the end, Su Li picked out a blue-and-white tracksuit. After some thought, he bought the Destitute Girl a baseball cap, too.

The clothes would probably arrive in about an hour. Su Li opened Douyin, a video app for entertainment and current affairs.

"The Blood Clan invaded Dragon City and plotted a bloodsucking scheme, but the Lord of Dragon City foiled it. Hundreds died in the battle, and the invading Blood Clan was wiped out."

"An ancient ruin in the Central Land has been opened. A mysterious card streaked across the sky, but no one managed to catch it."

"Cool City News: Jiang Liyue obtained a Gold Card, Fantasy Land of the Divine Girl!"

This was a world of cards.

People cultivated their spiritual power, which strengthened their bodies and physique. They also used all kinds of cards to fight. Such people were collectively known as Card Masters.

Then came invasions from other dimensions, as countless worlds crossed paths and all kinds of civilizations emerged.

In short, the world was far from peaceful. Becoming a powerful Card Master was the most fundamental thing of all.

Before long, the delivery arrived, brought by a Messenger Bird summoned with a card. It was incredibly convenient.

Looking at the brand-new tracksuit, Su Li couldn't help pinching the hem of his old clothes. He really ought to have a [Destitute Boy] card of his own.

He took out the [Destitute Girl] White Card. Light shone in his pupils, and the image appeared on the wall once more.

Three days earlier, Su Li had come across a card by chance. To his surprise, he'd discovered that he could enhance the cards in his hand using information that surfaced in his mind.

Over the past three days, he'd wandered around the Card Hunt market, spending what little money he had to buy the White Card he now held.

White Cards were the lowest-tier cards. Most had no combat power at all, and some were completely useless. To Card Masters, they were truly worthless cards, though being connected to cards at least gave them a little value.

Eager to test this strange ability of his, Su Li had immediately bought the White Card as soon as he sensed that the [Destitute Girl] could be enhanced.

If the enhancement succeeded and it advanced into a Bronze Card, its value would soar.

As he watched the image on the wall, Su Li received more information, which appeared directly in his mind: he could enter the world of the [Destitute Girl]!

He had to give the clothes to the Destitute Girl in person and intervene in the card world for the enhancement to be completed.

He thought it over but didn't enter that world right away.

Instead, he went to his desk. He planned to be a caring elder who watched over her from the shadows, writing her an encouraging letter and giving her the clothes as a gift for her awakening ceremony.

Su Li put pen to paper.

What was her name again?

"Girl, all pain and hardship will become nourishment for your growth."

He stopped writing and took out his phone to search.

"As long as you're on the right path, there's no need to fear how far it leads."

He scratched his head.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river."

And finally:

"You must always believe in the future."

This was so moving. Looking at his bank balance, Su Li wondered why no one had ever written him a letter like this.

When he'd finished, Su Li packed the clothes and letter together and took out the White Card again. The image appeared.

He walked toward the wall, praying he wouldn't smash his head against it.

As if in a dream, he stepped through the wall as though crossing a doorway.

The surroundings were blurry, and seven-colored beams of light streamed past. The scene before his eyes gradually came into focus.

He arrived beneath the starry sky. In the distance, the [Destitute Girl] sat with her knees drawn up. The moonlight was deathly pale, lending the scene a desolate air.

Su Li quietly climbed into the yard.

After years of meditation, his physique had grown stronger as his spiritual power strengthened his body. He was strong and robust, and he dropped over the wall with an agile leap.

The yard was tiny. It had just rained, and everything was muddy.

Su Li entered the old stone house. This was probably the slums of this world. Similar houses stretched as far as he could see, and he could even spot cooking fires.

"Good grief, you're even poorer than me."

Su Li put the clothes on the table in the main room. With a thought, he vanished from this world and returned to his own room.

Holding the card, he watched the scene in the card world unfold.

The Destitute Girl wiped away her tears and returned to the house. She soon spotted the clothes and letter on the table. Surprised, she picked up the letter.

"Such ugly handwriting," the Destitute Girl blurted out.

Su Li clenched his fists.

But in the image, the girl cried as she read, tears streaming down her cheeks like pear blossoms in the rain.

By the end, the gloom in the girl's eyes had slowly faded, and her frail body seemed to have found something to lean on.

She carefully put the letter away, then picked up the brand-new tracksuit, cherishing it dearly.

After scrubbing away the grime left on her face by the school bullying, she finally changed into the new clothes with a sigh of relief.

The girl stood before a full-length mirror with one corner missing and looked at herself. Tears burst from her eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you."

A soft murmur drifted through the night.

Time flowed differently in the card world than it did in Su Li's, but he could experience the entire process. He kept his eyes on the Destitute Girl.

A few days later, the ability-awakening ceremony arrived. In the ability world, the government had established the Ability School, and even the poor were given one chance to awaken an ability.

The Destitute Girl put on the new clothes she'd been too precious to wear for the past few days. Staring at herself in the full-length mirror, she took a deep breath, her gaze resolute.

She went to the Ability School. The school bully still taunted her, but with the important awakening ceremony underway, he didn't dare go too far.

In the end, the bully awakened the lowest-ranked, G-Class ability, while the Destitute Girl awakened a rare B-Class ability. In this small city, a B-Class ability was already the highest tier imaginable.

Time flew by. The Destitute Girl received support from the Ability School and trained hard to master her ability. The card's image froze there.

Su Li emerged from the image. The White Card in his hand felt warm, glowing with a pale white light before finally transforming into a Bronze Card.

Su Li was ecstatic and checked the card's information.

[Shadow Sting - Su Miaohan]

Tier: Bronze Tier Three

Type: Character

Skills:

① Dark Affinity: Awakened a Dark-Type Ability and gained powerful control over dark energy.

② Shadow Cover: Consumes dark energy to create a shadowy darkness.

③ Shadow Sneak: Can merge into the shadows, moving without a sound.

④ Shadow Assassination: Strengthens the body with dark energy to deliver a deadly strike.

Overview: A girl full of hope for the future, working hard to improve herself.

The card's illustration had changed, too. The Destitute Girl sitting beneath the night sky with her knees hugged to her chest had become a cool-looking girl, dagger in hand and shadows swirling around her.

Su Miaohan's bearing had changed dramatically. With her already lovely looks, she gave Su Li the feeling that he was raising a paper-doll wife.

Excellent, excellent. A completely useless White Card had become a Bronze Tier Three card, and it leaned toward combat, making it even more valuable.

She had even awakened her true name. Cards like this had greater potential to grow and commanded a higher price on the market.

Just then, Su Li suddenly felt his temples throb. A strange energy welled up from the Bronze Card in his hand and flowed into his body.

"Is my spiritual power going through the roof?" Su Li sat down cross-legged and began to absorb the energy.

His situation was very similar to Su Miaohan's. He had no parents and was dirt-poor, taking odd jobs while studying Card Master basics at Third High School, founded in Cool City by the Card Master Alliance.

At Cool City No. 3 High School, Su Li had access to compulsory Card Master education and a meditation technique for training spiritual power. He'd meditated from childhood, but his spiritual power was nothing special among his peers.

Before turning eighteen—that is, before his final year of high school—even the wealthy heirs of the Card Master Alliance's richest consortiums, despite having access to unimaginable resources, wouldn't try to become true Card Masters. Instead, they meditated as normal.

Research over the years had shown that only once a person turned eighteen, when brain development stopped and the brain was fully formed, was it best to condense a Spirit Jade and become a Card Master.

Condensing a Spirit Jade too early would inflict irreversible damage on the brain, severely hindering a Card Master's future advancement.

Su Li had been in his final year of high school for half a month. Many well-off Card Apprentices tried to condense their Spirit Jades as soon as their brains were fully formed, and there were already quite a few teenage Card Masters at Third High School.

Now, after enhancing the card, the card was returning some of its enhancement to him, causing his spiritual power to surge. He'd reached the threshold for condensing a Spirit Jade.

His mind was shaking. If his brain hadn't finished developing, it wouldn't be able to withstand such turbulence. He would suffer permanent brain damage, or even have his brain torn apart and be reduced to an idiot.

The sky slowly began to pale.

Su Li let out a breath and opened his eyes, feeling refreshed. In the ethereal black hole of his mind, a bronze-colored Spirit Jade glowed faintly.

He'd become a Card Master!