The longer Deckard stood there, the more real it all felt.

  Ronan’s dark, slick skin gleamed under the shop’s light, and the gills pulsed gently with each breath. It was unnerving. But then, the somewhat stereotypical appearance—the antennae, the mouthless face—helped ease the tension. It was just a game, after all.

  Deckard was still trying to recover from the shock. The unassuming shopkeeper named Ronan, who had issued him a quest and had come across as a bit of a jerk, turned out to be an alien. He hadn’t seen that coming and now he had no idea what to say.

  Several questions raced through his mind: What planet are you from? Why are you this color? What are the antennae for? How do you speak without a mouth? Why do you have gills? Are you supposed to be an underwater creature? The questions piled up, jammed in his mind like a crowd trying to squeeze through a single door.

  And then, there was the one question that really mattered: How many players know about you?

  He had avoided relying on guides and walkthroughs. Was this some secret questline everyone knew about, or was he truly the first to uncover this hidden piece of the game?

  Before Deckard could decide, Ronan—or whatever his real name was—took the initiative to speak.

  “I am a Zulmer,” the alien said, his voice oddly mechanical yet smooth. “From the planet Guilconia.”

  Deckard blinked. The voice wasn’t coming from Ronan’s lips but from somewhere deeper—his chest? Deckard’s eyes caught the faint outline of a device implanted just under Ronan’s gills, buzzing faintly. A translation device, he realized.

  “My people are lovers of life,” Ronan continued, his antennae twitching slightly as he spoke. “We travel the stars, watching over worlds like yours, preserving life where we can. Earth is special. Its diversity... unparalleled, even in the vast reaches of space.

  “Centuries ago, we detected an attack coming for this planet. We couldn’t intervene in time. But your people... you survived. Life mutated, changed—but it endured. That’s why we’re here. My team of ecologists was sent to study these mutations, to save what we can before it happens again.”

  “Wait,” Deckard interrupted. “Again?"

  "Yes."

  "Does that mean there's another attack coming?"

  Ronan gave a slow nod. “Yes.”

  “And are you here to stop the attack? How exactly are you going to save us?”

  "We’re not here to save you—we’re here to preserve the planet’s biodiversity. We can't defend you from Their attack. We are preservers, not warriors.” As Ronan spoke, he pulled out a card—a dull gray rectangle that seemed to suck the light from the room.

  A familiar thrill ran through him. A card. It lacked artwork or a skill description. It wasn’t like anything Deckard had seen so far in the game. His fingers itched to study it closer.

  “This,” Ronan said, holding the card between two fingers, “is a dimensionalizer. It captures a creature’s essence—its DNA, behavior, traits—and stores it in a two-dimensional form. We use these to preserve species, but...” He sighed. “The devices are malfunctioning.”

  “Why?”

  “The radiation that altered life here made the creatures too complex. Our technology can no longer fully capture them. The dimensionalizers worked fine during our first visit, but now, to trap a creature, we’d need to study every second of its existence, which is impossible. There's not enough time! That’s where you come in.”

  Deckard tilted his head, still unsure of where this was going. “What do you need me for?”

  Ronan’s antennae spun around in what might have been frustration. He looked around the shop, grabbed a pen from the counter, and tossed it at Deckard without warning. Instinctively, Deckard caught it mid-air.

  "That,” Ronan said, nodding.“Took you a blink. Our best processors would need a week.”

  Deckard threw the pen back at Ronan, and he caught it just as quickly. “Can’t you do the same, though?” he countered.

  Ronan’s gills rattled in what could have been a chuckle. “Good point. I was just giving you an example using your motor coordination. But there’s so much more going on. Your immune system and your organs have adapted to thrive in the radiation. Here.”

  Ronan pulled out a card. This one wasn’t dull. It looked just like one of the cards that Deckard had. It was for the [Seagull Strike] skill. “Put it against your forehead.”

  Deckard obeyed.

  Would you like to learn [Seagull Strike]?

  “Yes.”

  You’ve learned [Seagull Strike].

  “See?! That’s what I’m talking about. Your cells have absorbed the information in the dimensionalizer in a split second. You’re like walking supercomputers, processing vast amounts of information subconsciously. The way your brains have mutated is beyond my comprehension.”

  So he’s impressed with how players can learn skills in the game. Deckard grinned. Card games did have lore, and he knew the one from Nova Cardia back and forth. It was fun to see how the developers had woven cards into the narrative of this game.

  There was only one thing he couldn’t understand, though.

  “What about you? Can’t your cells do the same as mine?”

  Ronan laughed weakly. “While this suit helps me survive here, it has severe limitations. It prevents me from dominating a creature long enough to study it properly. Besides, Zulmerian bodies don't respond well to this radiation. It has been designed that way.”

  “Designed?”

  Ronan ignored the question. “Instead of elevating us like it did with you, it slows us down. I have to spend hundreds of hours tweaking parameters in my machines to get the settings just right to subdimensionalize a creature. Your brain can do that much quicker. Moreover, you’ve proven yourself to be resourceful and quite resilient. I think you’re well-suited for the task.” He threw the pen back at Deckard.

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  Deckard stared at the pen in his hand. “So, you want me to... understand the creatures? Study them with my mutated mind? Then, what—trap them with these cards?”

  Ronan’s gills pulsed again. “Precisely. With your help, we can preserve Earth’s ecosystems before the next attack.”

  Deckard tilted his head, tapping his foot. “So you're trying to capture every creature on the planet into these dimensionalizers, and then... what? Put them in some kind of Noah’s Ark?”

  “Noah’s Ark? Yes, I understand the reference,” Ronan said. “You could say that. However, our ark would be quite small. It's just the size of a shoebox.”

  “And what will you do with it?”

  “We’ve prepared a planetary reserve that will be safe from Their attack.”

  “They? Who are they?”

  Ronan avoided his gaze. “You let the Zulmers worry about Them.”

  Deckard squinted. The enemies of the Zulmers had to be the ones who designed the radiation. Was all of this flavor text or did it actually mean something? Just who were these attackers? He had assumed that the asteroid running into Earth’s orbit had been an accident. Just what race could shoot a cannonball the size of the moon to destroy a planet?

  Ronan turned toward the fish tank and observed the starfish. “Starfish are simple enough that I can subdimensionalize them." He turned toward the cage where the seagull cawed and tried to peck him through the bards. "I just can't deal with complex life forms. The more mutated the creatures are, the harder it becomes to subdimensionalize them.” He turned toward Deckard. “Will you help us save life on this planet?”

  You’ve completed: [The Truth About Ronan].

  [Ronan's] reputation points have been changed to [Zulmer's] reputation points.

  +10 reputation points with the Zulmers.

  Secret conditions fulfilled:

  [Ronan’s Drawings I-X]; [Against the Odds]; [The Truth About Ronan];

  No class.

  Would you like to accept the hidden class [Card Slinger]? [Y/N]

  “A hidden class,” Deckard muttered.

  Deckard’s mind was racing now. He’d read about them when researching this game. The stories were few and far between, but players who found hidden classes were game-changers. They carved their paths and became legends.

  One story had stuck with him: a player from the Ogres guild who had reportedly found a secret class that allowed him to take control of one of the most important cities in the game. He was one of the top rankers in the game and had allegedly single-handedly catapulted the Ogres from the 8th into the 4th place in the guild rankings.

  Hidden classes were rare, and they seemed to carry unimaginable power. Could this be one of those moments?

  Deckard paused and considered how he’d completed these quests. He hadn’t done much fighting. Combat in this game wasn’t his strong suit; Ronan had to know this. If he was still pushing this class onto him, that meant that this path really did suit him.

  This wasn’t just some off-the-shelf class. It had cards, and if cards were involved... His brain could work faster than his fists ever could. That was his strength. Maybe this was a path where he didn’t have to rely on swinging a sword.

  He grinned. There was never a real decision here. Ronan had him at “card.”

  “I accept.”

  “So be it.”

  Ronan stepped forward with the same dull card he’d held earlier. He pushed it against Deckard’s forehead, and the card flashed brightly.

  Congratulations. You are now a Card Slinger.

  Card Slinger (Hidden Class)

  Class description: You’ve taken the banner of the Zulmers, the ecologists who protect biodiversity in the galaxy. You learn how to wield their dimensionalizers to great effect.

  Class characteristics:

  Your character's progress depends on your card collection;

  You know [Card Throw] and [Subdimensionalize].

  Card Throw (Rare)

  Description: You can use the dimensionalizers' sharp edges to deal some damage at mid-range.

  Skill effects:

  Passive: Throwing cards deals damage. Range, attack speed, and damage scale with your collection.

  Restrictions: Card slingers.

  Subdimensionalize (Rare)

  Description: By studying a creature’s DNA, behavior, and quirks, you can understand them and capture them in a card completely.

  Skill effects:

  Passive: Gain Understanding of creatures through interaction.

  Active: Capture a creature in a card; success scales with Understanding.

  Restrictions: Card slingers.

  You’ve received a new item: [Dimensional Binder].

  Your body weakens after undergoing an alien mutation. Your level and attributes are zeroed out.

  Deckard read through the class description and frowned. He had expected to gain some stats; after all, that was part of the reason everyone rushed to unlock classes. Why hadn’t he gained any?

  But as he delved deeper into the skill descriptions, his apprehension melted away. He loved both of them!

  [Card Throw] allowed him to sling cards to deal damage. That was so much better than swinging a sword, and thankfully, it was something Deckard was quite good at. He had spent countless hours tossing cards in his apartment, especially since the queue times in Nova Cardia had become unbearably long.

  He tried imagining what it would be like to fight a seagull using cards. Thinking back on how he often flinched and froze during chaotic battles, he realized that attacking from a distance could be advantageous. If he stayed out of the fray, perhaps he could keep a clearer mind. He would have to experiment with it, though. It was one thing to experiment with trick shots in an apartment, and quite another to use cards to fight mutants.

  [Subdimensionalize] was even better! It provided a guaranteed way to obtain creature cards. After running a dungeon and only managing to snag a single creature card, Deckard could appreciate how valuable this skill was. With this ability, building a deck in Terralore would be much easier! The skill did mention the need to gain Understanding of a creature, though—how that worked was beyond him. Still, it was an exhilarating development. He couldn’t wait to venture out and start collecting every card he could!

  As he kept reading, he blinked at the last notification. “Zeroed out?” His stomach sank as the character sheet loaded. No level. No stats. Just blank fields where his progress used to be.

  CHARACTER INFORMATION

  Name: Deckard

  Race: Human

  Alignment: Neutral

  Relationships: Villagers of Stiltwave (100/300), Zulmers (20/100)

  Titles: [Beginner Dungeoneer]

  STATS

  HP: 100

  HP regeneration: 0.2 per second

  EP: 100

  EP regeneration: 0.2 per second

  Weight: [Light] - (5.3/30Kg)

  Running Speed: 102%

  Attack Speed: 101%

  EQUIPMENT

  Right Hand: [Empty]

  Left Hand: [Empty]

  Head: [Beginner’s Hat]

  Top: [Beginner’s Jacket]

  Gloves: [Discarded Gloves ] | +1% attack speed

  Bottom: [Beginner’s Trousers]

  Shoes: [Salvaged Shoes] | +2% running speed when outside of combat.

  Cape: [Empty]

  SKILLS:

  Passive: [Card Throw]

  Active: [Subdimensionalize]

  He rubbed his eyes, struggling to make sense of the chaotic screen before him. Where had his attributes gone? What about the skill he had just learned—[Seagull Strike]? It had vanished without a trace! Why didn’t he have strength or dexterity anymore? He didn't even have a level anymore! The only things remaining were his title and relationship points.

  He navigated to the equipment section. Something was off with the item descriptions. Double-checking to ensure he wasn’t hallucinating, he confirmed it: the equipment had lost its stat bonuses. His shoes, which were supposed also to grant him +1 dexterity, now offered only a boost to movement speed.

  Taking a few steadying breaths, Deckard reviewed the system notifications once more. Ronan stood off to the side, giving him space to process this bewildering situation.

  Your character progress depends on card collection. This had to be the reason his attributes had disappeared. In AstroTerra, a character’s progress was tied to their attributes; higher strength meant more HP, better HP regeneration, and increased physical damage.

  If he was interpreting this correctly, those crucial numbers now hinged on his card collection. Deckard moved to inspect the item he had received from Ronan, the one somehow tied to his new class. As he glanced at the rarity grade, he gasped. It was unique!

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