Recaps

Xie Mingzhe woke in a futuristic hospital and learned he had been unconscious for a month after a fall that left him with severe brain damage. His mental power had recovered to normal, and Doctor Qin arranged further tests as Xie Mingzhe remained confused about his situation.

• Xie Mingzhe woke from a nightmare in an unfamiliar hospital ward.
• A nurse saw him awake and rushed to tell Doctor Qin that the vegetative patient in Ward Seven had woken up.
• Doctor Qin explained that Xie Mingzhe had been unconscious for a month after falling from the third floor and suffering a serious head injury.
• Doctor Qin ordered No. 777 to test Xie Mingzhe's mental power, and the device reported a peak of 300 and a normal EEG curve.
• Doctor Qin reacted with excitement to the results and arranged a comprehensive examination.

Xie Mingzhe woke in a futuristic hospital in Star Calendar 3001 and realized he had transmigrated into another version of himself. After learning that this body was an orphan who had been unconscious for a month, he accepted that he was trapped in a new life and chose not to risk suicide.

• Xie Mingzhe underwent an examination by robotic devices after waking in the hospital.
• The doctor told Xie Mingzhe that it was August 1st, Star Calendar 3001, his eighteenth birthday, and that he had been an orphan.
• Xie Mingzhe saw his youthful face in the mirror and gradually recalled the original owner's life and recent accident.
• Xie Mingzhe compared his old life with the original owner's hardship and concluded that he had transmigrated into another spacetime.
• Xie Mingzhe considered suicide as a way to return to 2018, but a sharp pinch convinced him the body was alive and the risk was too great.

After being reborn into the body of an orphan who had awakened from a coma, Xie Mingzhe accepted his new life and prepared to leave the hospital. He discovered that the future world used Star Card Illusions, a game he knew nothing about.

• Xie Mingzhe resolved to make a better future for himself after accepting his rebirth.
• Xie Mingzhe asked Doctor Qin about discharge and medical bills, and learned he could leave the next day if his condition stayed stable and insurance would cover the costs.
• Xie Mingzhe sorted through his belongings and examined the futuristic city outside the hospital.
• Doctor Qin warned Xie Mingzhe that he would need exercise to recover after months in bed.
• Xie Mingzhe asked Doctor Qin about the giant rabbit-like creatures outside, and learned they were Star Card Illusions from a popular game.

After learning about Star Card Storm and the illusions its cards could create, Xie Mingzhe realized the game might offer opportunities in his new world. He worried about his limited funds, but after being discharged, he learned his insurance covered all his medical expenses.

• Xie Mingzhe searched for Star Card Illusions and learned that Star Card Storm was a hugely popular holographic card game with pet and battle cards.
• Xie Mingzhe read about professional players Nie Yuandao and Tang Muzhou, their powerful original cards, and the game’s competitive leagues.
• Xie Mingzhe learned that Star Card Illusions could be projected into reality but cast no shadows and could be passed through.
• Xie Mingzhe received a message from his landlord, Auntie Zhang, demanding 800 Crystal Coins in rent, and found he had only 1,000 in his bank account.
• Doctor Qin discharged Xie Mingzhe, and Xie Mingzhe discovered his critical illness insurance reimbursed all his medical expenses.

After leaving the hospital, Xie Mingzhe returned to his rented room and found he could not afford the next month’s rent. He began searching for work and asked to interview at a game-boosting studio, despite never having played its game, Star Card Storm.

• Xie Mingzhe thanked Doctor Qin, left the hospital, and took a hovercar to his rented room in the outskirts.
• Xie Mingzhe paid Auntie Zhang the overdue 800 yuan rent, but when she demanded August’s rent, he decided to move out rather than beg her for more time.
• Xie Mingzhe packed his belongings and searched online for part-time jobs.
• Xie Mingzhe contacted Nirvana Studio about its job listing and learned that it required experience with Star Card Storm.
• Xie Mingzhe told the studio he had years of boosting experience in other games and asked to interview, promising to learn Star Card Storm within two days.

Xie Mingzhe accepted a low-paid internship at a game power-leveling studio despite never having played Star Card Storm. He created his first game account as Fat Uncle, then entered the game and was stunned by the holographic world.

• Xie Mingzhe agreed to start as an intern for 1,500 crystal coins a month and arranged to meet the studio that afternoon.
• Xie Mingzhe arrived at the studio, met Chen, and was shown the equipment and basic power-leveling expectations.
• Xie Mingzhe put on a helmet, selected Star Card Storm, and followed the system prompts to create an account.
• Xie Mingzhe altered his avatar and chose the game name Fat Uncle.
• Xie Mingzhe entered Star Card World for the first time and was stunned by what he saw.

After arriving on Gemini Star, Xie Mingzhe learned how card leveling and evolution worked and received two starter cards. He entered his first dungeon and faced a snake-like boss, with the tutorial explaining the limits on summoning cards.

• Xie Mingzhe arrived at his assigned apartment on Gemini Star and explored its living room, bedroom, and card operations study.
• Xie Mingzhe read the guide explaining how cards gained levels, evolved, and consumed resources.
• The system gave Xie Mingzhe an Ice Serpent card and a Thunderbird card, which he examined before entering a dungeon.
• Xie Mingzhe entered a plaza dungeon and encountered a snake-bodied boss and several smaller snakes.
• The system explained that Xie Mingzhe had 10 mental power points and that summoning each One-Star Card cost 5 points.

Xie Mingzhe learned how card damage, leveling, and repairs worked while clearing beginner dungeons, then joined Chen's team for a Seven-Star dungeon despite having only beginner cards. The team told him to watch rather than fight as they entered Misty Forest.

• Xie Mingzhe summoned Ice Serpent and Thunderbird, tested their skills, and calculated how attack stats and skill multipliers determined damage.
• The Great Snake Demon self-destructed, killing both cards, and the system taught Xie Mingzhe to use Repair Stones before he continued grinding for experience.
• A-Qing secured a bounty for one hundred Seven-Star Wood-element fragments, so Chen gathered the studio members to farm materials on Wood Planet.
• Chen invited Xie Mingzhe to join the team, and Xie Mingzhe found the galaxy map and teleported to the Misty Forest dungeon entrance.
• The team realized Xie Mingzhe had only Ice Serpent and Thunderbird, so Chen told him to come along and watch.

Xie Mingzhe joined Nirvana Studio on a seven-star Phantom Realm run and watched the team clear Misty Forest while learning how card combat worked. At the Flower Demon Boss, Chi Qing explained the elemental formations, and Xie asked whether he could help counter them.

• Chen introduced Xie Mingzhe, whose game ID was Fat Uncle, to Nirvana Studio’s members and brought him into the instance.
• Xie Mingzhe’s Ice Serpent and Thunderbird died immediately to the powerful monsters, so he put away his damaged cards and followed the team.
• Pang Yu sent a Rhino Card to draw the Tree Sprites together, and Chi Qing used Storm Goddess and Ice Goddess to gather and freeze them while the team attacked.
• The four studio members cleared seven waves of monsters and reached the five-element Flower Demon Boss.
• Chi Qing explained the Boss’s elemental formations, and Xie Mingzhe offered to step on them to help the team.

Xie Mingzhe helped Chen's team clear a dungeon by correctly countering every elemental formation, then learned about card attributes and deck bonuses. Meanwhile, Tang Muzhou secretly researched a new card and hired a power-leveling studio to obtain materials for it.

• Xie Mingzhe countered the Boss's five elemental formations perfectly, helping Chen's team clear the dungeon three minutes faster than usual.
• Chen praised Xie Mingzhe's aptitude and explained attribute counters, main stars, and same-attribute deck bonuses.
• Xie Mingzhe checked his Ice Serpent and Thunderbird cards, then agreed to focus on leveling up.
• Tang Muzhou admitted to Sister Xue that he had privately ordered one hundred wood-element Seven-Star Shards to research a new card.
• Tang Muzhou told Sister Xue that he planned to test the card in the arena before deciding whether to use it next season.

After a successful Misty Forest run, Xie Mingzhe’s group accepted a lucrative order for elemental fragments while he went off to level up. The game system introduced him to Star Card World and sent him to White Egret Star, where he found a girl being chased by Stone Spirits.

• Chen’s group defeated the Misty Forest Boss and obtained Seven-Star wood-element fragments and a complete Flower Demon card.
• Chi Qing reported a client’s expanded order for wood-, water-, and fire-element fragments worth sixty-six thousand gold coins, and Chen organized the team to gather materials.
• Chen told Xie Mingzhe that he was too low-level to join the ten-man instance, so Xie Mingzhe returned to his apartment to level up.
• Xie Mingzhe followed the system’s tutorial about the game’s planets and teleported to White Egret Star.
• Xie Mingzhe saw a petite girl being chased by several Stone Spirits and calling for help.

Xie Mingzhe teamed up with Sisi and Senior Brother Qi to level up and learn about card evolution. After upgrading their cards, the three headed to the Black Market to look for affordable attack cards.

• Xie Mingzhe let Sisi die to the Stone Spirits, then explained that his weak cards could not have saved her.
• Sisi and Senior Brother Qi invited Xie Mingzhe to join their party, and the three hunted Willow Tree Demons together.
• After half an hour of grinding, all three reached level 10 and their cards reached level 20.
• Xie Mingzhe evolved his cards to two stars and learned that leveling improved skill multipliers while evolution doubled base attributes.
• Senior Brother Qi suggested buying attack cards at the Black Market, so the three teleported to Aquarius Star Domain.

Xie Mingzhe, Sisi, and Senior Brother Qi attended a crowded Auction House auction, where Xie Mingzhe learned about the game’s shop market and considered opening a shop someday. After all ten shops sold, the first card auction began with a four-star Flower Demon.

• Senior Brother Qi took Xie Mingzhe and Sisi into the Auction House after they heard a rumor that one of Tang Muzhou’s original cards would be auctioned.
• The Auction House expanded from five floors to seven as players packed into the venue for the afternoon auction.
• The auctioneer announced that ten shops and four cards were up for sale, then began with ten shops near the Black Market.
• Senior Brother Qi explained that shop rents could reach twenty thousand gold a month, and Xie Mingzhe quietly considered opening a shop after learning more about the game.
• The ten shops sold for less than twenty thousand gold in monthly rent, and the auctioneer introduced the first card, a four-star Flower Demon with 3,600 base attack and a starting bid of 1,000 gold.

Xie Mingzhe learned why original pet cards commanded high prices at auction before a Seven-Star card created by Tang Muzhou stunned the crowd. The auctioneer revealed its name and stats, leaving the audience eager to see what made the famous card valuable.

• Xie Mingzhe watched a Flower Demon Card sell for 3,000 gold and a Nine-Tailed Fox Card sell for 8,000 gold.
• Xie Mingzhe asked Senior Brother Qi about the prices, and Senior Brother Qi explained that the Nine-Tailed Fox Card was an original design by Man-jie.
• The auctioneer announced the main event, a Seven-Star card, and displayed its distinctive black back marked with the character “Tang.”
• The crowd recognized the card as Tang Muzhou’s work and erupted in excitement.
• The auctioneer showed the card’s face and identified it as the Level 70, seven-star Tuberose (Wood Element).

Xie Mingzhe watched Tang Muzhou’s Seven-Star Tuberose card soar in price at auction, while Tang Muzhou revealed he had already created a replacement card. The chapter ended with Tang Muzhou falling asleep before Xue Linxiang could examine its data further.

• The host began the auction for Tang Muzhou’s Tuberose card at 100,000 gold, and bidders quickly pushed the price higher.
• Xie Mingzhe was astonished as the bidding climbed past 150,000 and then surged to 300,000 gold.
• Senior Brother Qi explained that the major bidders had only just entered the contest and that the card’s attributes and Tang Muzhou’s popularity drove its value.
• Xue Linxiang asked Tang Muzhou why he was selling Tuberose, and he said his teammates could not make full use of the plant card.
• Tang Muzhou showed Xue Linxiang the data for the card replacing Tuberose, whose attributes impressed her, then fell asleep while holding his tablet.

After witnessing the high prices original cards could fetch, Xie Mingzhe decided to learn how to create them. Senior Brother Qi explained the mental strength, artistic detail, and copyright review required, leaving Xie Mingzhe eager to try his hand at making original cards.

• The Tuberose card sold for 660,000 gold coins, and Xie Mingzhe left the auction feeling troubled by his lack of money.
• Xie Mingzhe realized that creating and selling original cards might help him earn a living, so he asked Senior Brother Qi how they were made.
• Senior Brother Qi explained that original card creation depended on mental strength and detailed imagination, and Xie Mingzhe recalled that his own mental strength was 300.
• Senior Brother Qi told Xie Mingzhe that cards also had to pass a strict copyright review, which barred copying existing cards, skills, or real people's facial features.
• Xie Mingzhe understood the rules and recognized that his drawing ability and mental strength might give him what he needed to create original cards.

Xie Mingzhe learned the requirements for creating original cards and decided to try making one, then bought cheap Nebula Paper and combat cards at the Black Market. Senior Brother Qi led Xie Mingzhe and Sisi to grind monsters in Dark Cave, where Firefly’s glow lit their way.

• Senior Brother Qi explained that original cards needed skills that matched their image, while Sisi warned Xie Mingzhe that making them could be expensive.
• Xie Mingzhe decided to try creating an original card and followed Senior Brother Qi to the Black Market.
• Xie Mingzhe bargained with a stall owner and bought ten sheets of Grade 1 Nebula Paper for seventy gold.
• Senior Brother Qi bought Firefly, Black Crow, and Water Sprite cards, giving Firefly to Sisi, Black Crow to Xie Mingzhe, and keeping Water Sprite.
• Senior Brother Qi took Xie Mingzhe and Sisi to grind monsters in Dark Cave, and Sisi summoned Firefly to illuminate the darkness.

After leveling with Senior Brother Qi and Sisi, Xie Mingzhe attempted to create a card and discovered how difficult it was to focus his imagination. He found inspiration in Lin Daiyu’s flower-burying scene and successfully created a card, which he submitted for review.

• Senior Brother Qi, Sisi, and Xie Mingzhe reached level 15 in the Dark Cave and collected the materials needed for card evolution.
• After Senior Brother Qi and Sisi left, Xie Mingzhe’s first attempt at card creation failed and shattered a sheet of Nebula Paper.
• Xie Mingzhe decided to create manga-style character cards and recalled Lin Daiyu burying flowers from the 1987 Dream of the Red Chamber.
• Xie Mingzhe vividly imagined the scene and successfully created a Daiyu Burying Flowers card.
• Xie Mingzhe submitted the card to the Star Card Database for review.

Xie Mingzhe created and registered his first original card, Lin Daiyu, but its weak stats and specialized skill left him unsure it could sell. After making nine copies and surveying Black Market prices, he brought one to a card buyer, who admired the artwork but questioned its poor attributes.

• Xie Mingzhe received approval for his card and registered the logo "Yueban" after "Zhe" was already taken.
• Xie Mingzhe examined Lin Daiyu's One-Star card and found that it had low Defense and a skill that dealt heavy damage to Flower Cards with a 10% chance of instant death.
• Xie Mingzhe made nine Daiyu Cards, noticing that focused mental power improved the image and slightly raised the final card's Defense.
• Xie Mingzhe surveyed Black Market prices and learned that original One-Star cards with poor stats sold cheaply, especially when bought as collectibles.
• Xie Mingzhe offered a Daiyu Card to a Black Market buyer, who praised its artwork but pointed out that its stats were too low.

Xie Mingzhe sold his Lin Daiyu cards and used the profit to buy more Nebula Paper so he could keep making cards. At Boss Zhang’s stall, Red Candle recognized the cards’ dangerous potential and began buying them.

• Xie Mingzhe sold all nine Lin Daiyu cards to Boss Zhang for 270 gold.
• Xie Mingzhe bought ten sheets of Nebula Paper for 70 gold and returned to his personal space to make more Daiyu Cards.
• Red Candle visited Boss Zhang’s stall to find cards for the Fenghua Guild’s new season and noticed a Lin Daiyu card with a skill that could instantly kill flower-type cards.
• Red Candle asked whether Boss Zhang had acquired all nine cards from the same maker and said she would buy them all.
• Boss Zhang, wary of Red Candle’s interest, quoted her 60 gold per card.

Red Candle discovered that Xie Mingzhe’s Lin Daiyu card could instantly kill Flower Cards, and Xue Linxiang recognized it as a major threat to Tang Muzhou’s deck. Xue went to warn Tang, but their conversation was interrupted by a young boy from the neighboring room.

• Red Candle bought a Lin Daiyu card from a Black Market merchant and asked him to acquire any more copies he found.
• Red Candle showed the card to Xue Linxiang, who realized its Instant Death skill could eliminate Flower Cards and threaten Tang Muzhou’s deck.
• Xue Linxiang ordered Red Candle to find the card’s creator while Xie Mingzhe, unaware of their concern, made ten Lin Daiyu cards and considered where to sell them.
• Xue Linxiang went to Tang Muzhou’s dormitory to tell him about the card, but found him falling asleep on his feet.
• A young boy emerged from the neighboring room and asked Xue Linxiang whether Tang Muzhou had offended her.

Xue Linxiang showed Tang Muzhou a Black Market card whose Instant Death skill targeted flower-type cards, and Shen An suspected it was designed to counter Tang Muzhou. Tang Muzhou concluded its creator was likely an inexperienced card maker, but warned that the coincidence was more troubling than deliberate targeting because the creator might accidentally make more cards that threatened his deck.

• Xue Linxiang summoned Shen An to join a serious discussion with Tang Muzhou.
• Xue Linxiang showed Tang Muzhou and Shen An nine copies of Daiyu Burying Flowers, a card Red Candle had bought from the Black Market.
• Shen An calculated that the card could reach a 100% Instant Death chance against flower-type cards and suspected someone had made it to target Tang Muzhou.
• Tang Muzhou pointed out the card's cluttered artwork and weak stats, concluding that its creator did not know how to make combat cards.
• Tang Muzhou explained that a deliberate counter would not frighten him, but an accidental counter meant the unknown creator might produce more dangerous cards.

Tang Muzhou and Xue Linxiang discovered that the creator of Lin Daiyu’s counter card had made 19 copies, prompting Red Candle to search for them. Xie Mingzhe sold ten more cards to other stalls and returned to his personal space, while Red Candle recovered eight and waited anxiously for the creator.

• Tang Muzhou searched the card database and found that Yueban had created 19 cards, ten more than Red Candle knew about.
• Xue Linxiang told Red Candle to recover every Daiyu Burying Flowers Card and find the creator; Red Candle began watching Boss Zhang’s stall and searching the Black Market.
• Xie Mingzhe sold ten Lin Meimei cards to three different stall owners and decided he needed to make better cards.
• Red Candle’s scouts found eight Daiyu Cards, which they bought back for the guild.
• Red Candle waited for the missing cards and their creator, but instead encountered Judgment Guild vice president Setting Sun.

Setting Sun learned that Red Candle was secretly buying beautiful female character cards, while Xie Mingzhe abandoned drawing beauties and created a Wu Song card based on the hero fighting a tiger. The chapter left Xie Mingzhe examining Wu Song’s newly approved starter card.

• Setting Sun spoke with Red Candle in the Black Market, then learned from his spy that she was secretly offering high prices for beautiful female character cards.
• Red Candle set up the stall to lure out the seller of Daiyu Burying Flowers, but random card makers flooded her with beauty cards instead.
• Xie Mingzhe concluded that combat ability mattered more than appearance and turned from Dream of the Red Chamber characters to Water Margin.
• Xie Mingzhe drew Wu Song punching a tiger on Nebula Paper, submitted the card for review, and received approval.
• Xie Mingzhe examined the approved level-one Fire card, Wu Song.

Xie Mingzhe sold his Wu Song Card for 140 gold, unaware that it had caught the attention of the Judgment Guild’s Setting Sun because its skill could instantly kill tiger-type cards. Shuangshuang tried to find Xie Mingzhe at Setting Sun’s request, but he logged out when Chen came to call him to dinner.

• Xie Mingzhe rejected a Black Market merchant’s offer of 50 gold for his Wu Song Card and sold it to Shuangshuang for 140 gold.
• Setting Sun examined the card and realized its Instant Death skill could threaten God Nie’s White Tiger.
• Setting Sun told Shuangshuang to find Fat Uncle and bring him to the guild so he could buy many cards.
• Shuangshuang emailed Xie Mingzhe, but he logged out before he could read it when Chen came to call him to dinner.
• Xie Mingzhe took off his headset and followed Chen to the living room, where he saw the boosting studio members for the first time.