A Gamble with Destiny: The Cards of Survival

“Examine cards.”

Her initial six-card deck immediately materialized before her.

It consisted of three attack cards and three defense cards. She merely glanced at them, finding them precisely as she had when first activating her cheat in her previous life.

Then, she had deemed them a mere trifle; now, her assessment remained unchanged.

The so-called attack card’s effect was: Cost 1, attack an enemy, dealing 1x attack damage.

What did ‘1x attack damage’ truly signify?

It meant the damage she inflicted was precisely what her sword swings would naturally cause, the only paltry benefit being that it spared her physical exertion.

Yet, even such a card cost 1 and occupied a draw slot.

She could only draw three cards per round and recover two mana.

She would gladly have forgone these initial cards entirely.

Sovenia stepped onto the force field sphere, which rolled another turn, navigating among the ‘question mark cards.’

She swiftly scanned the ‘question mark cards’: [Slime’s Mucus], [Weak Regeneration], [Pseudopod Attack], [Slime’s Mucus]…

What an utterly bizarre assortment of cards!

If she wished to avoid becoming food for the slimes, she had best pray that destiny would favor her just this once, granting her a good card.

Please.

Though you, you *b*tch*, have toyed with me countless times, at least favor me this once.

A sliver of golden light caught her eye, and she held her breath; could a mere common monster possibly yield a gold card?

She immediately examined that ‘question mark card.’

The question mark card, shimmering with a golden glow, instantly transformed into three distinct cards, and her gaze immediately fell upon the gold one.

[Demon Form]: Cost 2, amplifies strength by 1 point per turn, each point of strength boosts your damage by 10%.

What a wretched card!

Most battles typically lasted only four to five rounds, and this card would only clog her hand.

One might say it held promise for the future, but if she perished now, there would be no future.

Who would ever choose such a card?

As Sovenia grumbled, she was reminded of years past, when, seeing its golden sheen, she had fixated on ‘fighting for the future’ and chosen it, only for it to become a dead card in her deck, costing two mana to discard.

The second card was a silver one.

[Reckless Charge]: Cost 0, charges a target enemy for a melee attack, dealing 1x attack damage, and adds one [Stun] card to the deck.

[Stun] Drawing this card will cause you to become stunned.

At the end of the round, [Stun] vanishes.

A classic case of fighting for the present at the expense of the future.

The third card was a white one.

[Sacrifice]: Cost 2, draw two additional cards next turn, while increasing defense by 2x.

Another card geared for the future.

Without a second thought, Sovenia chose [Reckless Charge].

Overdraft the future?

She needed to survive to see the future first.

After selecting her card, Sovenia swept her gaze over the remaining options, a heap of utterly useless, bottom-tier cards.

The slime horde pursued her, completely disregarding Wawalde, who was still pummeling their mother.

“Truly, these monsters possess no sense of filial piety,” Sovenia muttered under her breath, propelling the force field sphere with her foot, rolling from left to right like a hamster in its ball.

Now, she desperately needed an area-of-effect card.

She yearned for the golden card named “Incinerate” from her days as Jimi the Cruel, capable of scorching an entire football field, dealing five times her attack damage.

She searched through the options, but not a single area-of-effect card appeared.

In that case, could she at least hope for a decent defensive card?

None.

A sliver of silver light entered her vision; it was a silver ‘question mark card.’

She continued to propel the force field sphere towards it, silently praying for a good card.

Upon approach, the ‘question mark card’ unfolded into three cards for her selection.

Her eyes immediately fixed on the sole silver card.

[Blazing Strike]: Cost 2, deals 2x attack damage, infinitely upgradeable.

Another card geared for the future.

Cards could indeed be upgraded, but opportunities for improvement were scarce, typically only granted after defeating powerful foes.

This meant that even in the future, it wouldn’t necessarily be a stellar prospect.

What about the other cards?

[Slime’s Mucus]…

Why were there so many ‘Slime’s Mucus’ cards?

Sovenia cursed inwardly.

With a squelch, a purple slime lunged onto the force field sphere.

The sphere’s translucent shimmer began to fade, not due to damage, but because its duration was rapidly expiring.

No more.

This endless picking and choosing, this dissatisfaction with every option, was ultimately another form of ‘fighting for the future.’

She needed to overcome the immediate peril first.

Sovenia quickly scanned the battlefield.

The slimes lunging at her were scattered and sparse, numerous, yet utterly devoid of formation.

This implied that with good positioning, she could create many opportunities for one-on-one or one-on-two engagements.

She had to resolve this conflict swiftly, lest she find herself utterly surrounded.

Sovenia quickly calculated in her mind, realizing that if she chose [Blazing Strike], her deck’s damage output should be sufficient.

Very well, she would take [Blazing Strike].

Sovenia immediately selected [Blazing Strike], thus adding both [Reckless Charge] and [Blazing Strike] to her deck.

The purple slime outside lunged again, causing the force field sphere to roll, and Sovenia nearly lost her footing.

After steadying herself, she severed her magical connection to the force field sphere and kicked it.

The sphere vanished instantly, as if she had shattered it with her kick.

She began her first move with a demonic provocation aimed at the purple slime: “What kind of purple excrement is this? Are you a succubus’s violet mood?”

The purple slime made no sound, instead waving its sticky pseudopods, lunging towards Sovenia’s smooth thigh.

Simultaneously, behind it, a calf-sized medium slime was rapidly approaching.

‘Omni-Shifting Deck, activate! Draw!’

She anticipated that a single [Blazing Strike] would be enough to cleave it apart, allowing her to then contend with the second.

“Swish, swish, swish.”

Only she could hear the sound of cards being dealt, and three cards appeared before her eyes.

Upon inspection, they were three [Defense] cards.

Well, now.

Sovenia swiftly used two [Defense] cards with her will, and two thin ice shields materialized out of thin air around her, suspended in mid-air.

The visual effect was truly hideous, far uglier than her previous flame-bone shields.

Sovenia turned and ran.

“Bang!”

That was the sound of the two ice shields shattering.

Not only were they unsightly, but they were also inferior to her former flame-bone shields.

As Sovenia mused, she ran into the expansive, bowl-shaped cavern.

The ‘bowl rim’ above was precisely the opening she had incinerated into existence with ‘Incinerate’ during her battle in the throne room, back when she was known as Jimi the Cruel.

Having once housed the Slime King, its space was naturally vast and, thankfully, not quite as malodorous.

Sovenia ran ahead, the slimes in hot pursuit.

Reaching the cavern’s end, Sovenia hugged the wall and circled back, with the slimes relentlessly following.

The purple slime seemed to possess a semblance of sentience, bubbles continuously erupting within its form as it bellowed a roar-like cry: “Old Wu! Old Wu!”

It must have consumed a cat, Sovenia thought.

At that moment, the second round began.

Swish, swish, swish.

Three cards appeared before her: [Reckless Charge], [Blazing Strike], [Attack].

Excellent, no bad draws.

Then again, with only eight cards, a truly ‘ghostly’ draw was unlikely.

Many slimes took a direct path, led by the purple slime, which intercepted Sovenia and lunged fiercely, roaring “Old Wu! Old Wu!” mid-air.

Simultaneously, several other slimes blocked her path ahead.

Sovenia did not stop; to halt meant to be surrounded.

[Blazing Strike]

Sovenia forcefully swung her heavy demonic single-edged sword with both hands.

Flames flared brightly along the blade, striking the purple slime before it could even touch Sovenia.

Fire and steel simultaneously scorched and bisected it, causing it to split upon impact with the ground.

Behind it, more slimes writhed forward, but Sovenia kept running without pause.

Several small, chair-sized slimes lunged at her, but Sovenia, eyeing a calf-sized slime further behind them, simultaneously leaped into the air.

The pseudopods of the smaller slimes merely brushed past her knee-high leather boots.

[Reckless Charge]

Upon landing, Sovenia’s feet surged with power, propelling her directly towards the calf-sized slime.

She raised her sword and delivered a ferocious strike.

A deep indentation appeared on the calf-sized slime’s body, and its pseudopods began to flail.

Yet, before they could fully swing, Sovenia delivered another full-force strike, splitting it apart entirely, causing its pseudopods to fall limply to the ground.

With long strides, Sovenia stepped over the divided slimes, treading past the charred corpses of countless others at the cave entrance.

She emerged from the relentless pursuit of the slime horde utterly unscathed, not even a single breath ragged.