The Archmage Makes Cards in Space

[A related upcoming story, The Feasibility of a Top Salesperson Saving the Card World, is on my author page. Please add it to your favorites!]

After an accident in his experiment, Archmage Zhu Quan transmigrated into a freshly certified E-rank card maker on a garbage planet.

His home was bare, and he was so poor it was practically poetic. Zhu Quan: As long as I'm not dead, it's not a big deal. :)

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For a mage, the most precious thing isn't money or treasure, but the knowledge in their mind.

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Is your innate card rank too low, with no hope of upgrading?

Zhu Quan: Fun fact, you can raise an item's rank by enchanting it. ^^

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Can't make powerful cards because you're an untrained amateur?

Zhu Quan smiled faintly. "Then what will you do when I play [S-Rank Frost Dragon], [S-Rank Celestial Pegasus], and [S-Rank Flame of Nirvana]?"

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And so, the whole Federation saw a disruptive force at the Card Maker League:

A pale-faced, useless card maker who looked like she was about to faint on the stage somehow made it all the way to the finals???

Audience: Have we misunderstood the world of card makers?

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Before the match, the opponent looked at the information in his hands and burst out laughing:

A useless card maker for a captain, a pretty boy who only knows how to hide behind his teammates, a healer who can't heal, a scum card maker kicked out of school, and a wimpy assassin who barely made it past the revival cutoff. What a team of "talented" people!

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Little did he know that while he thought victory was assured, the same message was scrolling frantically across the comments:

Run!!!!

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Looking at the oncoming opponents and her teammates doing their own thing, the black-haired girl flipped open her card book, glanced at the man clutching the hem of her clothes, and sighed. "The match has started. Stop playing around."

"Understood, Captain."

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The next second, the livestream exploded!

"Oh my god! That inconspicuous man just eliminated an owner of an S-rank innate card in one hit!"

"Oh, no! That's not the point. Everyone, look behind contestant Zhu Quan! What is that?"

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The livestream rang with the commentator's hysterical shout:

"A dragon! Contestant Zhu Quan summoned a dragon with a card!"

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Looking at her disbelieving opponent, Zhu Quan smiled without a word. Who says a person can only have one innate card? Ever heard of magic?

Giving the interstellar natives a little magical shock.jpg

Years later, Zhu Quan, the era's strongest card duelist, the most imaginative genius card maker, the hero who turned the tide during the Zerg disaster, and recipient of the Alliance's White Cross Medal of Honor, was asked at her investiture how she'd gone from a useless card maker to where she was today.

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The woman toyed with the card in her hand, looking nonchalant, though her eyes were sharp as a sword:

"There are no useless cards, only card makers who are useless."

"Truth has no bounds, but scholars have no fear."

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[Reader's guide]

1. I'm working hard to update daily, orz. Updates will be either at midnight or at three in the morning, qwq.

2. Card-upgrading progression plus team battles. The style may feel a little old-school.

3. A frail, pitiful, but formidable female lead × a green-tea male lead who's formidable but only wants to be the female lead's dog.

4. The male lead really is an oddball, and only acts normal around the female lead (he's pretending).

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[↓Please add my upcoming story to your favorites↓]

[The next story is The Feasibility of a Top Salesperson Saving the Card World. Add it to your favorites to help me start writing sooner, qaq.]

Her mother is missing, her sister is sick, and she's in debt.

Because she was poor, Su Wanli chose the most lucrative profession, card making, and raced down the road to selling cards.

One day, as she was getting ready to sell cards under an overpass, she suddenly drew a strange card numbered 199.

199 claimed the whole world was a story about a protagonist rising to success, with all the supporting characters there only to serve as the protagonist's foil. It kept repeating in her ear:

Angry? Jealous? Why shouldn't you be the protagonist? Do what I say and steal the protagonist's luck, and you can become the star of your own story.

The protagonist of a feel-good story? Then they must have plenty of money, right?

At its urging, its Host was indeed tempted.

199 was gloating, but then it saw Su Wanli pause to think for three seconds and head straight for the protagonist???

Hey! Isn't it too early to go after the protagonist? We should first hatch some shady schemes behind their back!

Su Wanli cheerfully ignored the strange card's shrieking and stood right in front of the transfer student, making a very forward sales pitch:

"Hey, want to buy some star cards? Handmade and custom-made!"

A scion of a great family like him would never be interested in your ordinary, low-rank cards!

199 raged helplessly in Su Wanli's mind, only to see the protagonist lower his head, ponder for a moment, and actually buy them all?

Was selling a whole bunch of low-rank cards to drain the protagonist's wallet part of your plan too, Host?

The protagonist was improving his abilities, while Su Wanli was making cards.

The protagonist was winning people over, while Su Wanli was haggling with card material vendors.

The protagonist was exploring dungeons, while Su Wanli was pitching cards to dungeon NPCs.

Su Wanli didn't care at all about the novel's plot. She just made cards and sold them as she pleased.

199 went from shouting in fury to watching coldly, then to despair, all in just three days.

But could someone explain why, even though Su Wanli had done nothing, the protagonist had come to her of his own accord?

He bought huge quantities of useless low-rank cards, spent his money, and even handed over his entire wallet.

He joined the protagonist's team, shared opportunities meant only for the protagonist, and eventually replaced him as captain.

Even during the protagonist's big moment in the original story, Su Wanli was the one who stole the show.

199 hesitantly realized that, even though Su Wanli hadn't done anything, the mission to steal the protagonist's luck seemed to have been completed.

But... that couldn't be right, could it?

Why was the protagonist even happier without the opportunities from the original story?

Why had the world's will grown stronger after the child of fortune was nerfed?

The gifts of fate came at a steep price. After a series of accidents, Li Weiming grew disillusioned and exiled himself.

Then one day a girl suddenly stood in front of him, trying to sell him something. There had to be a rare, high-rank card hidden in the lot, and after he snatched up the bargain, the seller would die mysteriously.

Li Weiming had meant to refuse, but when he saw the cards, he hesitated. These cards... really did seem to be nothing but the lowest-rank generic star cards?

Before learning that Li Weiming was the protagonist of a novel, Su Wanli made cards, sold cards, and made cards.

After learning that Li Weiming was the protagonist of a novel, Su Wanli made cards, sold cards... and when she ran out, made more.

Aside from having a weird card that loved to shriek, her peaceful life of making and selling cards hadn't changed at all.

Until one day, Li Weiming suddenly handed her his innate card. She casually stuffed it into her pocket, and the weird card let out a deafening scream. Only then did Su Wanli finally realize something was wrong...

Hadn't a strange voice claiming to be the world's will just said that she had escaped the fate leading to the abyss, that the world had risen as a result, and that she'd become the author of the Book of the World?

Never mind... that's not important. Friend, want to buy a card?

Theme: Truth has no bounds, and those who seek knowledge have no fear.