The Card Apprentice Chapter 18

Star Academy, one of the Six Great Schools, suddenly declared that they were conducting a student exchange with Dong Wei Institute. This information was definitely big news within the small Dong Shang Citadel.

Who was Star Academy? They were part of the majestic “Six Great Schools”. Their history was even greater than the United Federations College whose reputation was currently the highest, and their founder was Heiner Vincent, someone who stood alongside the Father of the Principle of Cards…

Every bit of Star Academy’s former glory was dug up, and for a moment, it seemed as though Star Academy had become the pride of everyone in Dong Shang Citadel.

Dong Wei Institute also rose with the tide; every student walked with their backs straight and their spirits trembling with excitement.

Star Academy’s reason for coming to Dong Wei Institute was also the most discussed topic by everyone. The Star Academy that ordinary people could only look up to not long ago was actually coming to Dong Wei Institute; when they heard this news for the first time, many Dong Shang Citadel inhabitants treated it with contempt, bluntly calling it fake information.

In one night, Dong Shang Citadel had seemingly transformed into a clean and orderly environment. In the streets, no more rubbish could be seen, and no more street urchins could be seen. There were workers whitewashing the walls everywhere as a result of the mayor’s personally transmitted orders.

The number of tourists in Dong Wei Academy rapidly increased. Many people were very curious, just which part of this unknown school attracted Star Academy’s attention? In the week following Star Academy’s announcement of this news, Dong Wei Institute received no less than one hundred letters from other schools regarding an exchange of students.

Chen Mu naturally didn’t know about this, he had already spent a considerable time without going out. However, he probably wouldn’t regard this to have any relevance to himself even if he did know.

Every day, he continued as usual, training and studying.

He didn’t know why he was like this, nor did he want to know; he just didn’t want to stop.

Under this kind of somewhat self-abusive training and studying, his level advanced fairly quickly.

Chen Mu felt as though he was in a dream, a dream that seemed very long and yet also seemed very short. Once he awoke from the dream, he even felt a little unfamiliar with himself.

His whole body seemed like it was brimming with power. He was now able to use one hand to easily lift things that he previously needed two hands to pick up. In addition, his perception had also become keener, and his explosive strength and flexibility rose overall. In comparison, the muscles on his body barely increased at all.

The thing he found most unfathomable was that his body was already flexible enough to practically bend at will, reminding him of the acrobats in those acrobatics troupes. Their flexible bodies even could shift about slightly in narrow tubes. However, those acrobats were all twelve or thirteen year old girls. Girls were naturally more flexible compared to boys, and they were at the age where their bodies were most flexible.

But what about him? He was already sixteen, and was also a man.

In Chen Mu’s eyes, there wasn’t much difference between boys and men, at least in regards to him.

Although Chen Mu had extremely astonishing progress with this kind of training, his mood was still a little gloomy. This progress couldn’t please him. The current him appeared to have lost interest in everything, apart from that mysterious card.

He was still just blindly training and studying, doing things automatically and habitually. Yet his brain had already started to resume its pondering. However, he wasn’t pondering about the meaning of life or anything; this was too distant to him. In fact, Uncle Hua’s death had a very large impact on him. He couldn’t help but lament occasionally, but would very quickly remove these superfluous sentiments from his mind.

Dead people were already dead, living people still had to live.

Living required pragmatism, he wasn’t accustomed to remain pondering over the so-called meaning of life. Instead, he thought about one of the most fundamental issues – his livelihood.

To Chen Mu, Uncle Hua’s passing not only involved leaving him forever. It also signified that from now on, he would need to find a new buyer for the one-star energy cards he made. This was a big issue, a very big issue. Without resolving this issue, everything else is illusory, everything would be pointless. He needed to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

At this moment, Lei Zi arrived.

Lei Zi entered, directly collapsing on Chen Mu’s bed while grumbling non-stop. “Ah, so comfortable, I’m tired as hell. Blockhead, it seems like your bed became more comfortable.”

Ignoring his grumbling, Chen Mu got up to pour a cup of water for him. “Why did you come today?”

“I missed you.” Lei Zi prattled, after which he made a suffering expression and haphazardly lamented soon after, “Nowadays, seeking a livelihood is really f-ing difficult.”

Once he heard these words, Chen Mu understood. Eight or nine times out of ten, this guy would come to complain after suffering some kind of grievance. He understood what he should do, and that was to do nothing and just quietly listen.

Sure enough, Lei Zi suddenly sat up, his face cynical, “This f-ing society! I spent so much energy, working myself to the death, and yet that devil actually claimed my efforts without a word. Hah, putting on airs, tell me, Blockhead, how is he still a supervisor!”

As Lei Zi blathered on indignantly, Chen Mu finally understood the whole story.

Lei Zi was both young and willing to bear hardships, and he quickly familiarized himself with the general scheme of things when he joined the Card Film business. As a result of having studied for a few years, as well as being quite bright, he begun attempting to write scripts on his own. However, this ambitious conduct was discovered by his chief-supervisor. The supervisor was extremely appreciative, praising his work, and even promised on the spot that as long as he could produce a good script, he would be promoted to an official screenwriter.

With these good prospects, Lei Zi thought hard day and night, and finally made a script that he felt satisfied with after a lot of effort. When he gave it to supervisor to look over, the supervisor was also greatly pleased, immediately decided on the spot to start a production based on the script.

Seeing his work so highly valued, Lei Zi was happier than anyone. He was also looking forward to the release of the Card Film more than anyone. However, he never expected that when the Card Film was released onto the market after it completed, the one credited as the screenwriter for the Card Film was actually that supervisor’s name. It was like he was hit by lightning, and didn’t recover his spirits for quite a while.

When he indignantly sought out his supervisor, the supervisor just sneered and tossed 50 thousand Odi at him without mentioning the matter of promoting him to an official screenwriter. Furthermore, the supervisor also threatened to expel him from the company that if he spread such drivel outside.

What made Lei Zi feel both proud and depressed was that the Card Film quickly became hot and was the top hit at the box office within two short weeks. Moreover, that supervisor also became a renowned figure of the Card Film world thanks to this Card Film.

All of Lei Zi’s rage and energy also seemed to have been exhausted with the conclusion of his narration, as he once again collapsed on the bed sluggishly. Chen Mu quietly listened without a word. In fact, no matter if it was him or Lei Zi, they had experienced a lot more unfair things compared to this matter. It was just that Lei Zi had invested too much effort in this script, causing him to be this agitated. Rationally speaking, he and Chen Mu have never believed this world was truly fair.

“How’s your Magic Card studies going?” Only after a long time did Lei Zi then ask Chen Mu dispiritedly.

Chapter end