My Card Girl's Infinite Evolution

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. After all, living with a beautiful lady like you, I had to take a picture and post it on my card blog or social media, just to share my joy," Luo Sheng said with a sarcastic smile.

"You—!"

Qin Jianjia's face turned red from holding her breath. She wanted nothing more than to punch the person in front of her.

Luo Sheng pretended to be displeased. "Why are you so petty? I just posted: 'The goddess is in my home, and she loves picking her feet.' I didn't reveal your address, don't worry~ I'm a man of my word, I won't go back on it."

It was fine until he said that.

Qin Jianjia's pale skin was now visibly pulsing with veins, and her soft hands were clenched into fists, ready to go beyond the boundaries.

Luo Sheng quickly jumped off the couch. "A gentleman uses words, not fists. And we both agreed—no crossing this red line. You can't break the rules you set yourself!"

"Delete it...!"

Qin Jianjia almost squeezed those three words out between her teeth.

"No way, what if you beat me up after I delete it? A boy must protect himself when he's out, right?" Luo Sheng displayed the screen of his phone, pausing on the photo-sharing option.

"Shameless!"

Qin Jianjia turned and stormed back to her room, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. Moments later, the sound of the door locking could be heard, accompanied by the click of the lock.

"Got it." Luo Sheng smiled victoriously.

He stretched out on the soft couch, grabbed the remote, and comfortably enjoyed the morning.

In his home, status still had to be earned by himself.

He wasn't one to grovel, and although such actions were despicable to some, he originally wanted to live in harmony with others, but sadly, the other party didn't appreciate his intentions, so he had no choice but to resort to this.

Of course, teasing someone's goddess now and then seemed like a nice change.

Very satisfying~ But soon, Luo Sheng realized watching TV was no longer interesting. It was either about card introductions, related content, or news about the haunted areas in Pingcheng being conquered.

Especially since no one was competing for the TV, it was even less interesting.

He could only keep scrolling through the forum to pass the time.

After a while, he noticed that the official page for the second high school had created a new subpage on the forum.

It would announce the rankings of the new batch of third-year card masters, based on their spiritual strength, and it would be updated weekly.

At the end of the month, the top ten ranked card masters would be able to draw cards at the Card Master Building.

This was a move to encourage competition among card masters and also a benefit for them.

It was said that the cards in the pool were distributed by the Card Master Alliance according to the school's ranking, with a small portion coming from donations of useless cards by teachers or cards bought from graduated card masters.

The official notice particularly mentioned: [The cards awarded for the monthly ranking will not be lower than bronze three stars, with a 3% chance of drawing silver cards. The probability increases for the top five, e.g., 4% for fifth, 5% for fourth, and so on.]

This week's ranking:

1. Qin Jianjia, Bronze Seven Stars, 60%.

2. Li Shiyu, Bronze Five Stars, 40%.

3. Wang Ke'ai, Bronze Four Stars, 39%.

4. Xu Yourong, Bronze Four Stars, 38%

5. .Xu Tianai, Bronze Four Stars, 37%.

With the new weekly rankings out, Luo Sheng noticed his own update. Based on his performance in yesterday's battle, his rank was updated to Bronze Two Stars, but he only advanced about 100 spots, hovering around the 500th place.

"Looks like the competition is really fierce, especially since the school has announced these rewards, which should give card masters a good push," Luo Sheng muttered to himself.

It seemed the difficulty of obtaining these rewards was not small.

About half an hour passed.

A hummingbird messenger flew into the apartment, dropped off a testing glove, and quickly left.

Luo Sheng eagerly picked up the testing glove.

He recalled the card knowledge he had learned in high school.

Previously, card masters roughly divided "compatibility" into four stages.

The first stage: The card master cannot communicate with the card at all and has no qualification to use it. This often happens when a card master tries to use a card of a higher rank (e.g., a bronze card master using a silver card), or when a newly acquired card is used.

The second stage: The card master can barely use the card, but its power is not fully realized. Most cards, when first obtained, are at this stage. Some might still be in the first stage and completely unusable. Additionally, if a card master nurtures a card of a higher rank for a while, it can also reach the second stage. This stage usually consumes extra mental energy due to the instability.

The third stage: The card master is skilled at using the card and can consistently unleash its power.

The fourth stage: The card master and card are perfectly synchronized, allowing for effortless use and maximizing the card's power with minimal mental energy consumption.

Of course, how a card master uses a card varies from person to person. Some genius card masters can use cards of a higher rank right away, while others may struggle to use most cards but have a particularly high compatibility with a certain series of cards.

The advent of the testing instrument made it possible to quantify this vague connection, allowing card masters to evaluate their strength and test their compatibility with cards to build targeted decks.

Compatibility values are set between 0 and 100: 0-9 is the first stage, 10-39 is the second stage, 40-79 is the third stage, and 80-100 is the fourth stage.

Just now, Qin Jianjia tested her silver card [Angel's Glory], and her compatibility had reached 49.

"She really is a genius," Luo Sheng sighed in admiration.

Despite only being a Bronze Seven Stars card master, she could still use silver cards, which was an impressive feat.

What's more, she was an enhancer, basically the hope of the entire school.

Luo Sheng suddenly felt his scalp tingle. He had just teased her, but what if one day she lost her temper and decided to knife him?

He noticed a slight chill in his neck and swallowed nervously. He realized he had celebrated too early. The only guarantee for his safety was getting stronger. These little tricks were just psychological victories.

"Forget it, I'll stop worrying about her."

Luo Sheng eagerly took out the card [Fire Maiden] and followed the instructions, putting in some mental energy to cause the card to resonate with the mental jade.

Beep beep…!

The testing glove emitted a sound, and the soft LCD screen displayed the number "82."

"My compatibility with Alcoley has already reached this high? No wonder I hardly use any mental energy when I use her. Could it be that starting with a white card and nurturing it results in such high compatibility?"

Luo Sheng stared at the number on the screen, deep in thought.

To confirm his guess, he took out two more cards: [Battle Princess] and [F-type Jack Mecha], both bronze cards.

One was nurtured from a white card, and the other was strengthened after being seized from someone.

When tested, the LCD screen showed "84" and "81," with both cards reaching the fourth stage.

Even his newly drawn [Black Mist], a domain card, had reached 80 compatibility.

Luo Sheng could now confirm one thing: "The compatibility with cards seems to be influenced by that mysterious energy."

Though happy, his brow furrowed.

This mysterious energy was too alarming. Reaching the fourth stage at the starting point of compatibility could attract the attention of the entire card master society if discovered.

The Card Master Alliance might even take him for secret research. After all, in this world of disaster, anything that can improve a card master's strength is invaluable.

They might even use him to breed the next generation, who could easily master cards.

Shivers ran down his spine.

This world was too dangerous. There were always people plotting against him.

Luo Sheng quickly stored the testing gloves but was startled when Qin Jianjia's door opened.

Seeing Luo Sheng drenched in sweat, she furrowed her brow. "Is it hot in here?"

"???"

Luo Sheng was startled by her sudden appearance but quickly put on a serious face. "I just wanted to show you my eight-pack abs."

Qin Jianjia shot him a disdainful look and didn't respond.

Wearing a sharp sports skirt and black long-legged stockings, she marched toward the door, stomping her military boots.

"Where are you going?" Luo Sheng asked tentatively.

"Haunted area!"

Qin Jianjia slammed the door shut, and her voice came from outside as the sound of her boots gradually faded.

(The chapter ends)