The rest of the afternoon was all about Story Weaving class, and Russell couldn't stop yawning.
Still, he forced himself to stay awake and listen. Even though he had countless anime stories in his head, learning how to shape them properly into usable card formats was a whole field of study on its own.
By the time school finally ended, Russell was ambushed by Du Heng at the classroom door."Russell, let's duel right now!"
Did this guy seriously not think about how a card that gets destroyed goes on a 24-hour cooldown?
No brain. Arrogant. Russell silently labeled Du Heng with those two words. Out loud, he replied casually,"Let's not. I've got something urgent to do at home today. Besides, the ranking matches are tomorrow anyway. Can't you wait one more day?"
Du Heng refused to budge, but Russell just squeezed past him and forced his way out.
Du Heng's face darkened as he watched Russell walk away."Hmph. Just a lucky bastard. That first card of his will be mine."
Russell hopped on a bus and headed back to his old, run-down apartment.
Sitting down at his desk, he started to tally up his current assets.
First off—seven green-rarity [Ghoul] materials, harvested from the monsters he had slain earlier. Russell didn't plan to use them himself. He listed them on a trading site, setting the price at 20,000 Daming Credits each.
Next was the purple-rarity [Elite Ghoul]—this was the core material for the next card he wanted to create. Naturally, he wouldn't be selling that.
As for cash, entering the special advanced class had earned him a 150,000 Daming Credit reward from Hu City First High. Black Iron-ranked cardmakers also got a monthly stipend of 20,000. Add that to the 100,000 reward for bravery and some leftover student loan money from earlier, and Russell now had just over 280,000 in liquid assets.
With that thought, he finally exhaled in relief. Things were looking up.
He picked up his phone and sent a message to someone in his contacts named "Brother Tiger."
"Brother Tiger, I've got the money ready. Are you free to come over today? I'd like to pay off my loan in full."
Elsewhere, a burly bald man stared at the incoming message from a contact saved as "Russell – Student – No Potential – Possible Recruitment."
That man, of course, was Brother Tiger.
"He got the money? Took another loan to pay this one? Or…"Brother Tiger tapped a reply:
"Sure, Russell. We'll be right there."
Then he looked up and called to someone,"Skinny, grab the contract. We're heading out.""It's on the shelf marked 'Potential Clients.'""Got it, Boss," the man called Skinny replied.
Soon, the two of them drove to the Harmony Homes complex.
Knock knock knock.
The knocks echoed in the stairwell.
"Coming," a voice replied from inside. Moments later, the door opened.
It was Russell.
"Brother Tiger, right? Come in. Don't worry about your shoes."
Once they were seated on the couch, Russell slid an envelope across the coffee table.
"There's 120,000 in here. Should be enough to cover the original loan and interest, right?"
As he spoke, Russell summoned Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
The silent swordsman stood against the wall, arms folded around his blade, his quiet presence watching the two loan sharks like a hawk.
"A registered cardmaker…"Brother Tiger's eyes narrowed slightly. He hadn't expected this. The reports had said Russell had no talent at all.
Still, he quickly forced a wide smile onto his face."Congratulations, Russell! Becoming a registered cardmaker is no small feat. Tell you what—forget the debt. Let's call this our gift from Duoduo Finance to celebrate your success!"
As he spoke, he took the contract from Skinny and tore it to pieces in front of Russell.
Russell watched the act with a cold smirk in his heart.
Kindness out of nowhere? Never trust it.
He had no intention of getting entangled with shady organizations like this.
But on the surface, he kept up the polite mask."A man is nothing without his word. Please, Brother Tiger, take the money. You lend it, you get it back. That's how trust works."
Brother Tiger's grin froze for a second.
This kid wouldn't bite the bait, huh?
Still, Brother Tiger was no fool. For a mere hundred thousand, he wouldn't risk offending a registered cardmaker—even if Russell was just Black Iron-ranked.
After a moment of silence, he chuckled and took the envelope."Russell, you're a man of principle. I respect that. Then let's call it even—Duoduo Finance and you are square."
"We won't take up more of your time."
With that, Brother Tiger and Skinny left.
Downstairs, Skinny leaned in and muttered,"Boss, that kid's got no appreciation. Just slammed the door in our faces—"
Smack!
Skinny caught a hard slap to the face mid-sentence.
Brother Tiger's eyes were cold and venomous, like a snake sizing up prey."Idiot. Say something like that again, and you can join our last few contractors as card fodder."
"Our priority is staying under the radar. Have you lost your mind? You actually thought about making a move on a registered cardmaker?"
Skinny shuddered at the thought of what had happened to his predecessors. He clutched his swollen cheek and lowered his head, not daring to meet Brother Tiger's eyes."I-I was wrong, Boss. It won't happen again…"
"Hmph," Brother Tiger grunted."Let's go. Next stop—the client who doesn't have the money ready."
Back upstairs, Russell finally let out a long breath.
The emergency was over.
Now it was time to focus on the next card.
He had already made a short list of candidates. Top pick: [Kokushibo – Michikatsu Tsugikuni].
Not only could it synergize with his current [Yoriichi Tsugikuni], Kokushibo was the Upper Moon One—a serious powerhouse. If he got good enough materials, Russell thought he might even hit gold rarity.
But there was one big flaw with Kokushibo—light sensitivity.
If he wanted to make that card, he'd have to find a way to overcome that weakness.
Still, for now, he only had the [Elite Ghoul] (Purple). The rest of the materials were still up in the air. He had time to flesh out the design.
"…Still short on cash."
Even the worst, least versatile purple-rarity materials started at 150,000. Anything strong cost even more.
And that was just for Black Iron-tier cards.
Higher-tier materials were often impossible to buy even if you had the money—elite cardmakers usually preferred to barter.
But as a student, he had no legitimate way to generate that kind of income quickly.
If he wanted to earn big, his only shot was for Hu City First High to win next month's Four-School Tournament.
Problem was, Russell's memories told him his school's results were always mediocre at best.
He shook off the stress and refocused.
Time for meditation.
The official method taught in Daming was called the "Deep Blue Meditation Technique," said to have been introduced by the legendary macho man, Lucas Steel.
Interestingly enough, nearly everyone in Daming used Deep Blue. Most remaining nations in the world did too—there weren't really any special family-based techniques being passed down.
Which meant meditation methods wouldn't be the bottleneck for a cardmaker's growth.
What truly held cardmakers back… was their ability to craft stories.