"Of course." Josen paid and took his food, then said between bites, "We're getting together for dinner at old man Bang's dojo after work. Apparently, one of his new disciples is good at Chinese Cuisine. His Mapo Tofu is supposed to be delicious!"
Saitama's eyes lit up. "Really? Then I'll definitely be there on time!"
The moon rose high overhead.
After getting thoroughly drunk with the old man, Saitama ended up staying overnight at the dojo. The fast-food restaurant where he worked part-time didn't open until noon anyway, so he had plenty of time to get back the next day.
Thanks to his recently acquired skill, "Instant Transmission," Josen now had complete freedom of movement. Within the One-Punch world alone, even heading to Headquarters in A City to report for duty in the middle of the night took only an instant.
So the moment the drinking session ended, he was already back at the Apartment.
There would have been no harm in staying overnight at the Flowing Water Dojo, but Josen had something important to do tonight, so he skipped the Hot Pot gang's second round.
[Fantasy Card: Limiter Fragments] ×42 [Fusion available!] [Fusion requirements: "Limiter Fragments" ×40]
After more than a month of preparation, his accumulated "Limiter Fragments" finally reached the third threshold tonight, and the fusion prompt appeared once again.
The number required for fusion had doubled since last time. Stacked together, forty special N-rank cards were nearly as thick as a deck of playing cards.
By that calculation, he would need eighty cards for the next fusion.
And there wasn't an unlimited number of times he could fuse the fragments.
In about a year, once Saitama went completely bald and the fully realized "Bald Cape Hero" officially made his debut, this beginner's perk that let him ignore bottlenecks and break through his limits at will would disappear for good.
Josen had already prepared himself for that, but he wasn't worried.
After all, he had always relied on his own hard work-meaning his Stand's-to get stronger. It had nothing to do with anything external!
He also wanted to see just how far he could go without "Limiter Breakthrough"!
Deep Blue...
No, wrong line.
Fantasy Card, fuse!
Blazing white light burst forth. All forty fragments melted away like snowflakes, and when the light faded, only a single pale blue Fantasy Card remained, floating quietly before Josen.
[Fantasy Card: Limiter Breakthrough ACT3] [Card type: Special Card] [Rarity: R] [Description: Fused from unknown fragments, a normally invisible conceptual power.] [Effect 1: Limiter Release] [Designate any target and break through its racial growth limit once.] [Effect 2: Controlled breakthrough] [Choose one attribute of any target and break through its racial growth limit.] [Effect 3: Limit expansion] [Designate any target and randomly gain a brand-new supernatural ability.]
Compared with the previous two "Limiter Breakthrough" cards, its rarity had finally surpassed the limits of N-rank cards and entered R-rank territory.
Its list of effects had also gained another entry: one spanking-new supernatural ability, free of charge.
While Josen was debating whether to give this breakthrough opportunity to himself or his Stand, Fantasy Card, which usually did little more than hang around, timidly raised a hand in his consciousness. It indicated that the energy supplied by its first breakthrough had been completely used up, so...
"Heh, heh..."
"Hearing" his Stand's comment, Josen the taskmaster sneered. "The sun's out, the rain's stopped, and now you think you're hot stuff again, you little scrub?"
Fantasy Card: "..."
"Ah, that's the problem with a Stand having its own consciousness. If I ignore it, I feel like I owe it something..."
Josen let out a long sigh and walked forlornly onto the balcony, letting the slightly chilly night breeze wash over him.
"Here. Take it."
From the void, Fantasy Card conveyed its gratitude. The special R-rank card floating in midair vanished into the deck in a blink, rivaling a husky in how fiercely it guarded its food.
This time, the Stand undergoing its second evolution did not return to the egg form that symbolized its beginnings.
Through their linked consciousnesses, however, Josen could faintly sense a stellar eruption of upheaval unfolding in a subconscious dimension overlapping the real world. At the center of this raging transformation, Fantasy Card continuously unleashed the conceptual power of "Limiter Breakthrough." Layer after layer of solid seals was torn open by force, and invisible shackles were mercilessly shattered. In just a few breaths, it underwent a world-shaking change.
That fast?
Josen was slightly taken aback. In the blink of an eye, his Stand's breakthrough was complete. Compared with last time, it was as though it had fully adapted to the properties of the conceptual power.
Just as during his own breakthrough, his Stand's stat options appeared on Josen's retinas.
Destructive power, speed, precision, growth, persistence, range!
"You want me to choose a stat to break through?"
Understanding his Stand's intent, Josen pondered for a moment, only to suddenly find himself paralyzed by indecision.
You're a deck of cards. What do you even need stats for?
Your innate growth and persistence are already maxed out. What do the other stats have to do with you?
After thinking it over again and again, Josen casually tapped an option.
I choose you!
With the selection complete, the conceptual power erupted once more. This time, he completely lost his connection to his Stand.
Having experienced a Stand upgrade before, Josen knew there was no point in rushing it.
After waiting a while without the connection returning, he took off his alcohol-reeking clothes, quickly cleaned up, and went to bed without worry.
The next day.
After a sound night's sleep, Josen stretched as he got out of bed. His perfect, steel-forged physique released a series of crisp cracks from his joints as he moved. Seeing the clear blue sky outside his window, he instantly felt refreshed.
He got up to wash and, out of habit, summoned his Stand.
Unlike before, Fantasy Card did not appear. He initially assumed that even after an entire night, its final evolution still wasn't complete.
But in the next moment, his updated Stand panel appeared in his mind.
[Fantasy Card (Fantasy.Cards)] [Stats] [Destructive power A; speed C; precision B; growth A; persistence A; range B] [First ability: Card Control] [Grant targets the concept of a "card," turning them into Fantasy Cards and controlling the power within.] [Second ability: Fate Draw] [Randomly draw one Fantasy Card each day. Draws can accumulate (current: 4).] [Third ability: Element Pickup] [Randomly collect supernatural element fragments within a ten-meter radius and turn them into Fantasy Cards.] [Fourth ability: Divine Draw] [Consume "Fate Draw" ×10, specify a card pool/type, and randomly draw one Fantasy Card.] [Rank C: Equivalent to an ordinary human.]
So it really did awaken a fourth ability?
Josen paused in the middle of brushing his teeth, then resumed while thinking it over.
Specify a card pool or type... so it's a targeted draw, like in a mobile gacha game?
Too bad I used up all my accumulated draws earlier. Otherwise, I'd definitely give it a shot right now.
Before you continue