“Huh… wh-what?”

The day after the chat stream, I rush home, out of breath.

I went out for a walk and got stopped constantly. Maybe it’s because I showed my face during the stream, but feels like everyone knows me now.

I totally freak out from the surprise.

“Whoa! You can do that too? Wait, is that part of the subscription perks?”

No way. This is seriously starting to scare me.

“This service… it’s almost too good, it’s scary.”

“What? Even if I use ten cards?”

My brain’s about to explode. Are they adding new features every day? Or am I just imagining it?

“I wonder… is it like feeding monsters to each other?”

“Wait, seriously?”

Didn’t she just casually drop something huge? I thought the nature of summon card monsters wasn’t clearly understood yet.

<…Or so the rumor goes online.>

“Oh, just a rumor? That’s fake news.”

AI absorbs everything, so you really shouldn’t let it learn internet gossip.

Still, when something new starts, my bandwagon-loving self wants to give it a shot.

“Alright, I’ll try it out a little.”

Then, a window showing the list of summon cards pops up near the ceiling. I’m starting to get scared by how used to this I’ve become.

“Wow… looking at it like this, I’ve gathered a ton. Well, I’ll start with the weaker summon cards for now.”

Looks like I need to select at least two cards, but what should I pick? Maybe I’ll go with goblins and zombies to start.

“Yep.”

Then, something different starts. The cards suddenly float up and begin circling around one central card.

It’s not the usual cosmic-style scene, but it still feels flashy enough.

And then, all the cards suddenly overlap and emit a burst of intense light and sound!

“Whoa! That’s awesome.”

The single card spins around, and it looks like an S card.

＝＝＝＝＝＝

High Big Turtle

Card Rank: S

Limit Break: ☆4

Card Use Effect: Halves damage received from all enemies

Card Possession Effect: In battle, increases the card holder’s HP by 15%

＝＝＝＝＝＝

“Huh? I’m pretty sure this is my first time getting this card, but it already has a limit break!”

“No way.”

That’s a sweet deal. But wait a second…

“Come to think of it, you can’t tell what kind of card you’ll get before fusing, right?”

“Then yeah, it’s probably best to only use spare cards for this. Alright, next time… I’ll try throwing in an S too.”

This time I want to fuse ten cards. I look over the window that opened again and start tapping away with my fingers.

“Alright! Let’s go with this.”

“Yup! Let’s do this.”

This time it’s ten cards. And there’s even an S card in the mix. That means I might get an SR I’ve never seen before!

Thinking that, I watch the swirling scene with excitement. I’m totally hyped as the cards merge into one.

But then, something unbelievable happens.

Just as the glowing card flips and reveals a muscular monster, black lightning suddenly shoots in from all directions and strikes the card.

“…Huh?”

＝＝＝＝＝＝

Shadow of the Reaper

Card Rank: SR

Limit Break: None

Card Use Effect: Allows reuse of summon cards previously used in a dungeon

Card Possession Effect: None

＝＝＝＝＝＝

An unexpected event? Did something go wrong?

“Wait, that buff monster from earlier looked way stronger.”

“Whaaat…”

Can I even use this card? I’m starting to doubt it when-

The AI asks me, and I nod.

“May as well. Let’s do it.”

“Huh? Wh-whoaaaa!?”

The ceiling lights up, and a massive pile of gems comes raining down. I heard there’d be a bonus, but isn’t this way too much!?