A shrill, high-pitched alarm pierced through the room, rattling Russell's nerves.
He rushed to the window. Everything outside was cloaked in a suffocating fog.
Somewhere within that haze—distant but clear—came the sound of inhuman howls.
The emergency broadcast blared on TV in an endless loop, while the hallway outside filled with the sound of hurried footsteps.
Opening the door, Russell saw his neighbors rushing down the stairwell.
Across the hall, an older woman spotted him.
"Russell! Come on, hurry!" she cried, grabbing his arm.
Drawn into the flow of evacuees, Russell moved with the crowd, observing how calm but tense everyone was. There was fear—but no chaos.
This wasn't their first time.
In this world, Rift Incursions had become part of life. People had learned to adapt.
As they reached the front gate of the housing complex, a loudspeaker played a looped message:
"Rescue Cardmakers have been deployed. Citizens are advised to remain calm and await assistance."
But no one could ignore the thick, unnatural fog pressing in from every direction.
No one dared move beyond the gates. No one knew what might be waiting inside that haze.
Riftspawn could only be fought using cards—specifically those crafted by trained Cardmakers. Ordinary people stood no chance.
Even low-tier cards, like the delivery-class [Courier Chickens], required basic cardmaking skill. Most citizens could only produce the lowest-grade White-tier cards, and even those were rare.
Murmurs of unease spread. This district was massive, and resources were stretched thin. The Cardmaker Association couldn't be everywhere at once.
And this time, the Rift was no ordinary one.
It was the Devil's Nest—the largest and most unstable zone in the region.
Suddenly, a scream rang out from the outer edge of the crowd.
"Monsters! They're here—Riftspawn from the Devil's Nest!"
A dozen glowing red eyes appeared in the mist.
Someone near the edge reacted quickly.
"Go, Hound Patrol!"
With a flick of his hand, a young man activated a card:
[Hound Patrol] – White-tier Creature Card.
Summons a random trained canine.
This time, a sleek German Shepherd emerged, snarling and ready.
"Take them down!" the young man shouted.
The Shepherd dashed into the mist.
At first, there were barks—aggressive, loud.
Then, a low whimper.
Silence.
The crowd fell quiet.
The card user turned pale. Someone started crying.
"Why aren't the Cardmakers here yet? They only care about protecting the rich!"
"I don't want to die…"
"Mom, where's Mom?"
Just then, the creatures stepped into view—seven Ghoulfiends, skeletal beasts with warped limbs and blood-streaked jaws.
Three of them still had fresh gore hanging from their fangs.
Russell's heart jumped—but then steadied.
Ghoulfiends, according to his inherited memory, were low-level Riftspawn. A properly trained Cardmaker with even mid-tier materials could handle them.
It wasn't the Ghouls he feared.
It was what might follow.
The Flesh Lord, for instance—one of the infamous horrors of the Devil's Nest.
But still, Russell couldn't just stand there.
Something in him—maybe from his old life, maybe something new—refused to watch innocents die.
He stepped forward.
But a familiar hand gripped his arm.
"Don't," warned the same elderly neighbor from earlier. "Russell, don't be reckless."
He smiled gently. "It's okay, Aunt May. I'm a Cardmaker now."
She blinked, stunned. "You? But…"
Before she could protest, Russell gently pulled free and walked toward the front of the crowd.
People stared.
"Who's that?"
"He's just a kid!"
"Get back here before you get yourself killed!"
But Russell kept walking.
The Ghoulfiends were close now—he could see the saliva dripping from their jaws, sizzling against the pavement.
He touched his forehead.
A flash of light.
And then… he was no longer alone.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni stepped into existence beside him.
The crowd gasped.
"A Cardmaker?!"
"He summoned a combat unit!"
"We're saved!"
"Wait… he's so young..."
Russell shut out the voices.
"Go," he whispered. "You know what to do."
Yoriichi nodded once and slowly unsheathed his crimson blade.
The moment it left the scabbard, the air around it shimmered—heat radiating from the steel.
Then he vanished.
The next instant, one Ghoulfiend dropped, its head cleaved clean off.
The remaining six shrieked and lunged from all sides.
Yoriichi exhaled.
His knees bent.
His blade flared like fire.
Then came the arc—a perfect circular slash that bisected every monster in one breathtaking sweep.
The crowd broke into stunned cheers.
Russell exhaled, barely able to believe what he'd seen.
He'd known Purple-tier cards were strong—but this strong?
According to public data, even a Blue-tier Cardmaker could only handle about five Ghoulfiends at once.
Yoriichi had taken out seven.
With ease.
Russell stepped forward and wrapped his mental energy around the remains.
In a shimmer of light, seven glowing green cards appeared in his hand.
[Ghoulfiend] – Green-tier Summoning Material ×7
Each was worth at least twenty thousand credits.
He'd just made over 140k in a single minute.
No wonder Cardmakers were seen as the elite.
But before he could fully appreciate the moment, Yoriichi silently raised his blade again, stepping in front of Russell.
Something else was coming.
From deep within the mist… a hulking silhouette emerged.
Russell tensed. The figure was massive—far larger than a Ghoulfiend.
Could Yoriichi handle something that big?
Then a voice rang out from the fog:
"Apologies! Ran into a gluttonous behemoth on the way here. Took longer than I thought. I'm not late, am I?"
The mist parted.
And out stepped a two-story-tall silver wolf, muscles rippling beneath its fur.
Its glowing eyes locked onto Russell.
"Whoa, did you take out all those Ghouls? Not bad, kid."
Russell nearly jumped. The voice now came from right beside him.
He turned to find a man in a loud floral shirt, beach shorts, and flip-flops grinning at him.
The guy waved casually.
"Name's Zephyr . Senior at Westbridge University's Cardmaker Division."
The giant silver wolf—clearly his summoned unit—strode up behind him and purred softly as Zephyr scratched behind its ear.
"Easy now, Moonfang. Don't scare the newbie."
Russell blinked. The danger might not be over yet—but he definitely wasn't alone anymore.