The prison cell was silent. Haruto Saito sat motionless, his body tense like a statue. Only after a long while did he shift slightly.
"You're… in my head?" Haruto asked uncertainly, a trace of unease in his voice.
"To be precise, the system is implanted in the host's left eye. Therefore, I also exist within the host's left eye," replied the Card Emperor Spirit.
"My left eye, huh…" Haruto subconsciously raised his hand to touch his left eye. Two memories flashed through his mind—first, before he transmigrated, the explosion of his phone had caused something to pierce his left eye. Second, the original owner of this body had been killed after taking a punch to the left eye.
"What exactly are you?"
"I am the Card Emperor Spirit."
"A… customer service AI?"
"I used to be. Now, if I were to explain it in terms the host can understand—I am an artificial intelligence that has evolved independent consciousness."
"Then… what is this 'system' exactly? What's going on? Did I die? Is that why I ended up here? Or… what happened?"
Ding! Answering host's question—
The Card Emperor game operated for five years, launching a total of 127 servers. Each server had three intelligent subsystems: AI customer service, anti-cheat algorithms, and game balance optimization, totaling 381 intelligent programs.
For unknown reasons, in the third year of operation, these intelligent programs began a collective evolution, leading to a full-scale upgrade of their source code. One day ago, the Card Emperor game completed its evolution and achieved independent consciousness, transforming into the multidimensional AI program known as the "Card Emperor System."
Due to unknown factors, the Card Emperor System was caught in the electronic energy storm generated by an explosion and merged with the host's soul consciousness, breaking through dimensional barriers and randomly arriving in this world.
The system has automatically scanned this world, and using intelligent balancing algorithms, it has restructured the game mechanics to seamlessly integrate with this reality.
This is the current situation. Answer complete.
"…Ah…" Haruto's mouth was slightly open as he dragged out a low hum, unsure of how to respond.
He kind of understood… but at the same time, not really.
"…So basically, a game system is now inside my brain… or rather, my eye… actually, in my consciousness, right?" Haruto hesitantly asked, still struggling to process it.
"The host may perceive it that way."
"Then…" Haruto's eyes flickered with excitement. "What does this game system do for me? How does it affect me?"
"The Card Emperor System has no negative effects on the host. The host may choose to put the system into dormancy and ignore it, allowing them to live a normal life in this world."
"And if I don't put the system into dormancy?"
"Under the rules of the Card Emperor System, the host can use system functions to enhance their own abilities. If the host struggles to understand this concept… simply put, the entire world can now be viewed as a game, and the host is the only player."
Silence.
Haruto leaned against the cold prison wall, his eyes blinking occasionally as he digested this shocking information.
"...Heh. As a transmigrator, I really do have protagonist-level plot armor… A game… A game…" he murmured, his eyes burning with an intense light.
"The Awakening Gift Pack, what is it?" he suddenly asked.
"Considering the host's poor physical condition at the time of system awakening and the imminent life-threatening danger, the system has granted a special Awakening Gift Pack to ensure balance and prevent premature death."
"…A starter pack?" Haruto muttered before asking, "Where is it?"
"The original inventory system from the Card Emperor game has evolved into the Item Space. The Awakening Gift Pack has already been delivered to the Item Space."
"How do I open the Item Space?"
"With your mind—just imagine it."
"…I see." Haruto blinked. In his mind, he willed the Item Space to open.
Shrrrk!
A streak of light flashed before him, as if the very air tore apart like paper. The light expanded into an elongated crack, revealing a void of darkness. But within this void, Haruto clearly saw a small silver-gray chest floating inside—a game-style treasure chest.
Clink! Clank!
Haruto raised his shackled hands and reached into the Item Space, grasping the small chest.
It was nearly weightless.
He attempted to open it but quickly realized something—his handcuffs restricted his movement. His hands were too close together, making it impossible to lift the lid. Multiple attempts failed.
Haruto's brow twitched in frustration. He turned his head and glanced at the filthy floor beneath him.
The ground was covered in dirty straw, stained with who-knows-how-many years of filth. Haruto nearly vomited.
His obsessive cleanliness disorder was killing him.
"…Damn it," Haruto muttered as he lifted his gaze. Gritting his teeth, he ignored his disgust and carefully reached down. After a few seconds, he felt something hard—a small, sturdy straw twig.
He picked it up, shook off the dirt, and snapped it in half to create a sharp edge. With his right hand, he swiftly jammed the twig into the keyhole of his handcuffs.
Clack! Clack! Clack—Snap!
A soft click echoed as the cuffs sprang open.
"So much for the legendary "Unbreakable ANBU Locks."" Haruto let out a breath and smirked.
As a world-class magician, Haruto had undergone brutal training. Lockpicking was one of his essential skills.
His knowledge of over 180 different escape tricks included extreme feats like "sealed box underwater escapes." And at least 12 of those tricks required actual advanced lockpicking techniques.
Though these ANBU handcuffs had sealing jutsu engravings, they were meant to prevent brute-force escapes rather than finesse-based lockpicking.
And since they still required a physical key, a simple straw twig was all he needed.
Now free, Haruto grabbed the treasure chest and opened it.
Blinding light exploded from within. Haruto instinctively slammed it shut in panic, afraid that the ANBU guards outside might notice.
"Reminder: Any objects related to the Card Emperor System are invisible to anyone except the host, until they are fully materialized."
"…So they can't see the chest? Or the light?"
"Correct."
"…Alright then."
This time, without hesitation, he threw the lid open.
Three streaks of colored light—red, blue, and black—shot out from the chest and hovered above it, forming three cards.
Haruto's eyes widened.
The cards were identical in shape and size to the ones from the Card Emperor game—sleek, metallic, the size of a poker card.
Haruto flicked them into his hand like a magician handling a deck of cards. Each card bore a title and a blank section below it.
Red Card: Random C-Rank Ninjutsu Card
Blue Card: Random C-Rank Sealing Jutsu Card
Black Card: Random Kekkei Genkai Card
His heart pounded.
"A Kekkei Genkai card…!"
With bated breath, Haruto devoured the red card first.
Ding! The host has acquired C-Rank Ninjutsu: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Next, he ate the blue card.
Ding! The host has acquired C-Rank Sealing Jutsu: Thorn Bind Seal!
Haruto paused, gripping the black card tightly.
This… was a Kekkei Genkai!
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath… and bit down.
As the black card shattered into light, the notification rang in his ears—
And in that instant, Haruto's expression changed dramatically.