Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Fantasy Construction

“I’m so nervous. The unified exam is about to begin.”

“I heard this one is being conducted on the exact same scale as last year’s college entrance examination. The difficulty back then was absolutely brutal.”

“I just hope to scrape together a decent score today. I need that extra bit of confidence before the real entrance exams.”

“I’ve been in complete seclusion for a full month just for this. I’m definitely getting a high score!”

The plaza of Third High School buzzed with a chaotic, suffocating tension. Hundreds of students shifted on their feet, their hushed whispers and frantic prayers blending into a low roar.

Standing amidst the sea of anxious teenagers, Luke allowed a faint, anticipatory smile to touch his lips. The nervous energy rolling off his peers only fueled his own rising excitement.

He was not originally from this world. Yet, in the long months since his transmigration, he had effortlessly adapted to the rhythm of this reality. This was a universe where the Magic Card Civilization dictated the laws of existence. Here, a Magic Card Master was the undisputed darling of society. As long as a person successfully awakened their core and constructed a functioning Magic Card, they ascended to the upper echelons of humanity—a status far more secure and lucrative than the most coveted iron rice bowl from his previous life on Earth.

Today marked the Cangling City unified exam. It functioned similarly to a massive mock exam from his past life, drawing in the student bodies of all the local high schools. However, unlike the endless barrage of practice tests back on Earth, this unified exam was a singular, monumental event held just once before the official college entrance examinations.

‘After waiting for so long, it’s finally time to bring her into this world.’ Luke’s dark eyes gleamed with quiet intensity.

The foundation of any Magic Card rested on two critical pillars: the overarching worldview, and the complex background lore of the Magic Card Spirit itself. The worldview dictated the spirit’s absolute potential and growth ceiling, while the background lore determined its immediate combat strength and unique abilities. For the average student, crafting a cohesive, original lore from scratch was a grueling ordeal.

For Luke, it was child’s play.

As a veteran anime and gaming enthusiast, his mind was an absolute vault of iconic characters, rich mythologies, and sprawling universes. Every single one of those memories perfectly met the rigid structural requirements for Magic Card construction.

He called up his personal interface. It was a translucent, glowing projection that only a successfully awakened Magic Card Master could perceive.

[Level: One-Star Soldier]

[First Authority – Fantasy Construction: Enhances memories related to the past life and materializes them within the Magic Card Civilization.]

[Item: Magic Card Editor]

[Skill: Peeling Technique]

[Material: Material Pack x1]

[Magic Card: None]

The interface was clean and straightforward. The Peeling Technique was a standard skill that allowed a Master to strip raw materials from defeated targets—essentially a loot-drop mechanic governed entirely by luck. The Magic Card Editor was the universal, foundational tool required to weave those materials into a functioning card.

But the Fantasy Construction authority was unique to him. It was the core ability of the system he had activated upon his awakening.

Resting quietly in his inventory was the Material Pack, a novice reward granted by the system. Opening it would yield a complete, flawless set of construction materials tailored for one specific Magic Card.

With Fantasy Construction bridging the gap between his Earth memories and this reality’s magic, Luke faced a different kind of problem: choice paralysis.

The Card Continent had spent millennia developing countless varieties of Magic Cards, but Luke was entirely unbound by local conventions. Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Fate/Grand Order, Ship Girls… the sheer volume of top-tier waifu cards at his disposal was staggering. He had spent days agonizing over who to construct first.

Ultimately, he reached a simple conclusion. Once his strength reached the necessary heights, he would simply forge them all.

Only children made choices. Adults took everything.

Armed with his system-provided Material Pack, Luke was absolutely certain he would dominate this unified exam.

A sharp, resonant chime echoed across the plaza. The designated hour had arrived.

Instantly, the spatial fabric around the students warped. Brilliant columns of light descended, swallowing the candidates of Third High School one by one. In a matter of seconds, the sprawling, chaotic plaza was reduced to dead silence, completely devoid of human life. At that exact same moment, the student bodies of First High School and Second High School were swept away by the same spatial magic.

The unified exam did not take place in the physical world. To guarantee absolute fairness and prevent any outside interference, the entire event was hosted within an isolated Dimensional Plane.

When the blinding light faded from Luke’s vision, he found himself standing in a pristine, enclosed white room. The silence was absolute.

“So this is the unified exam space,” Luke murmured, his voice echoing softly against the blank walls. He glanced around the sterile environment. “Incredible. If Blue Star had this kind of technology, it would be the ultimate examination hall. Cheating is literally impossible here.”

Before he could inspect the room further, a stream of cold, mechanical data injected itself directly into his consciousness.

[This unified exam is divided into two stages. The current stage is Stage One: Card Creation.]

[All candidates must complete a Magic Card construction within the specified time limit. There are no restrictions on the rank, level, or quantity of Magic Cards constructed.]

[Candidates who successfully forge a Magic Card within the time limit will proceed to Stage Two. Failure to do so will result in immediate disqualification and forced teleportation out of the examination hall.]

The rules were brutally simple. Stage One was a pure test of foundational skill. Stage Two remained a complete mystery, likely designed to test the combat viability of whatever the students managed to create.

“Simple and crude, but starting with card creation is exactly what I expected.”

Wasting no more time, Luke summoned his Magic Card Editor. A holographic workbench materialized before him, glowing with faint blue light. Across the isolated dimension, thousands of other candidates were doing the exact same thing.

The time allotted for Stage One was generous for a basic creation, but incredibly tight for anyone attempting to forge a high-star Magic Card. Passing the stage only required a successful construction, but since Stage Two was an unknown threat, relying on a weak, low-tier card was a death sentence. Crafting a high-star card was the only safe play.

Luke placed his hands over the glowing interface and began to type out the foundational lore, his fingers flying across the holographic keys.

[In the distant, super-ancient times, there existed a boundless realm known as the Duel Spirit Kingdom.]

[Within the borders of this kingdom lived the Duel Spirits—entities of vastly different races, unique appearances, and opposing elemental attributes.]

[These Duel Spirits formed their own distinct ethnic groups, mastering unique magical abilities. After a long period of evolution and development, their presence eventually spread across the entire world.]

Line by line, a massive, complex worldview took shape within the Magic Card Editor.

The worldview was the bedrock of creation. The richer and more complete the foundational lore, the higher the potential ceiling of the resulting Magic Card. Beyond that, establishing a flawless, ironclad worldview now meant that constructing subsequent cards from the same universe would require a fraction of the effort in the future.

Luke refused to cut corners. He poured his focus into the terminal, carefully detailing the ancient history of his chosen realm.

For his very first creation in this unified exam, Luke was bringing a Duel Spirit from Yu-Gi-Oh! into the light.