For 30 advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/AutumnXd
"I can only describe it in two words: badass. By the way — what was that evolution at the end? Same system as the dinosaur?"
The moment the battle ended, Jake was already rushing over from the spectator platform.
"Yeah," Ethan said, then looked at the two girls approaching and gave them a polite nod.
"You're very strong." Ryan walked over from the other side, his voice carrying none of the earlier bravado. Just respect.
"Naturally," Ethan replied.
He could feel how much his personality had shifted since transmigrating. The old him would never have flexed like this in front of someone he'd just met.
Wait — that wasn't entirely true.
He thought back to the time he'd queued into a five-man ranked match with strangers at a gaming café, dropped a pentakill, spun his chair around, and asked the whole table if their daddy was a god or what.
He silently shook his head.
Okay, so maybe I've always been like this.
"What was that at the end?" Ryan asked. "Some kind of breakthrough?"
Evolution was rare enough in this world that Ryan didn't even reach for the right word. The dominant card systems — Arthurian, fairy tale, high fantasy — didn't have anything like it.
"It's called evolution," Ethan said. "The power of bonds."
He left it at that. Then: "I won. So we're done here, right? No more drama?"
Ryan shook his head. But instead of arguing, he turned to look at Lily, then back at Ethan.
"Can I ask — what's your relationship with Lily?"
"The two of us?" Ethan looked at Lily, then at Ryan, genuinely puzzled.
We'd known each other for what — two days? Before that, we'd barely exchanged ten words. What kind of relationship could we possibly have?
"Teammates and friends, I guess," Ethan said after a moment.
"I see." Ryan nodded slowly.
"In that case, I'll leave this room for you to train in. Good luck in the tournament." He turned to leave without another word, his two friends falling in behind him.
But at the door, Ryan stopped.
He looked back at the four of them.
They stared back, confused. His sudden pause made it impossible not to wonder if he was about to pull something.
"Let me ask one more time. You're really just friends?"
He was looking directly at Ethan.
"Yes."
A smile returned to Ryan's face. Not bitter — almost relieved.
"I'm not as strong as you. Teaming with you is the best choice for Lily." He turned to her. "I won't give up."
Then he walked out.
Inside the room, Ethan's mouth twitched.
That guy is clinically insane.
In his previous life, someone that openly persistent would've been roasted into oblivion on social media. The era of shameless simping was supposed to be over.
"Hey —" Jake suddenly draped an arm over Ethan's shoulder and leaned in, whispering. "You should've told him you and Lily were together. That'd shut him up and you'd get a—"
He finished with a suggestive eyebrow waggle.
Ethan pushed him off. "First of all — call me Godfather."
He glanced at Lily, then continued: "Lily and I are friends. Don't play matchmaker. She clearly doesn't want to date right now. If she did, she wouldn't need your help finding someone — with her looks, she could have anyone she wanted."
He turned to Lily. "Right?"
She didn't answer directly. Just smiled.
Sophie jumped in instead: "Exactly. If Lily wanted a boyfriend, she'd have one already. She doesn't need you orchestrating anything, son."
"I was just trying to solve the Ryan problem!" Jake protested.
"Ryan's upfront about it, and his pursuit is normal," Ethan said with a shrug. "There's no problem. Once Lily has a boyfriend — whenever she wants one — he'll back off on his own. Stop meddling."
Jake hurried over and grabbed Ethan's arm, whispering urgently: "Can you please give me some face in public? I'll call you Godfather ten times when we get back to the dorm."
"Deal," Ethan said immediately.
What could he do? The boy was his son. Had to spoil him a little.
He'd just make Jake kneel and say it when they got back.
Actually — focus. Back to business.
"Alright, alright." Sophie clapped her hands, pulling everyone back on track.
"Ryan's not using this room anymore, so let's just take it. Lily and I will reimburse him for the booking later." She paused. "Nobody has a problem training here today, right?"
Two seconds of silence. No objections.
She turned to Ethan.
"That Angemon from earlier — is it the same type of card as Agumon? A linked evolution system? And is it actually Gold?"
"Yeah." Ethan nodded. No reason to hide it anymore.
He'd held back the Naruto card before because he didn't want to overwhelm them. But they'd seen the Angemon now. They'd seen MagnaAngemon. Might as well put everything on the table.
"By the way — I also have another Tier 3 card called Uzumaki Naruto. It's Gold too."
"Uzumaki Naruto?" Jake leaned over to look at the card in Ethan's hand.
After confirming the info, Jake practically exploded. "Holy crap! That Gold card that appeared on the leaderboard a few weeks ago — that was YOU?! Do you have any idea how much people are offering for that card right now?"
"How much?" Ethan was genuinely curious.
He knew there was demand — he'd scrolled past plenty of posts and videos about the mysterious Naruto card — but he'd never looked up the price.
"A hundred thousand Spirit Crystals," Lily said. "Maybe higher. A Tier 3 Gold card hasn't appeared in three years. At this level, Gold cards are incredibly valuable — not just for their combat power, but for what they represent."
"What do you mean?" Ethan wasn't the only one confused. Jake and Sophie looked equally lost.
None of them had heard that Gold cards represented something beyond raw strength.
Lily thought for a moment, organizing her words carefully.
"Gold cards are so hard to create because the characters on them have exceptional growth potential and the story logic behind them is near-perfect. But the most important thing is this: every known series that's produced a Gold card has also produced Tier 4 or higher cards."
She let that sink in.
"The Arthurian system has incredible story depth. Centuries of legends, hundreds of characters. But it has one critical flaw: the combat power ceiling isn't very high. That's why in the entire history of Arthurian cards — even at the peak of their popularity a hundred years ago — not a single Gold card was ever created."
"In this era, there are fewer Card Makers than ever. Having the ability to build a system with a high enough ceiling to produce Gold cards is extraordinarily rare."
Ethan connected the dots. "So what people are really after isn't just the Naruto card — it's the story system and the copyrights behind it."
"Exactly."
"But if they want Tier 4 cards, can't they just make their own?" Ethan asked.
Lily glanced at Jake and Sophie, who clearly had the same question. She continued:
"Because Tier 4 and above cards can't just be made whenever you want. Every card at Tier 4 or higher — even White quality — must come from a mature, established story system. And card creation at that level isn't just about having a blank card base. It requires rare materials, deep lore, and enormous creative energy."
"Building a system from scratch and then producing a Tier 4 card entirely on your own? That's nearly impossible for a single person."
"The last Gold card that appeared — three years ago — the Card Maker sold the card, the copyrights, and the entire story system as a package." She paused. "For 500,000 Spirit Crystals."
"Five hundred thousand?!" Jake almost fell off his chair.
That was enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life. Multiple lifetimes, arguably.
"Yes." Lily nodded. "In that Card Maker's story, the setting was a frozen wasteland — a world of eternal winter. One of my Tier 3 cards, the Ice Crystal Phoenix, actually comes from that system."
PLZ Throw Powerstones ( For every 1000 powerstones a bonus chapter )