Fairy Tail: Becoming stronger by spending money.

In the dead of night, inside the once lively guild, a group of drunk mages lay sprawled across the floor, fast asleep.

If it weren't for the heating array still running, half of them would have caught a cold by morning.

At the table sat Caesar, drinking alone, looking a bit depressed.

Why?

Because of the red card he had just drawn—Merlin.

Among the Seven Deadly Sins, Merlin possessed infinite magic power, which made Caesar wonder: If I take over Merlin, will I gain infinite magic power too?

After everyone had passed out, Caesar tried taking over Merlin.

And yes, for a moment, he really did feel it—endless, boundless magic power flowing through him.

He was ecstatic.

Isn't this invincibility?!

As long as he received another random card, with the support of infinite magic power, Caesar could unleash that card's full potential with 100% efficiency.

He imagined attacks that could split stars.

But reality quickly slapped him.

Though he took over Merlin, the infinite magic power still belonged to Merlin.

Caesar's own magic power was the battery fueling it.

To maintain Merlin's power, Caesar couldn't do anything else—he had to keep her summoned, doing nothing but providing his magic.

His magic burned away at an alarming rate.

Put simply, Merlin was like a turret with unlimited ammo, but Caesar's own magic was the electricity powering it.

When the juice ran out, the unlimited mode shut off.

And when Caesar tested this against other cards, he realized the time it took to cast a powerful ability without Merlin… wasn't that different.

So what was the point?

Was Merlin just a flashy, red-card dud?

"No. No way. There has to be a hidden use. Otherwise, why would she be so hard to pull?"

Caesar took a sip of wine. He couldn't shake the feeling that Merlin's card had a hidden mechanic he hadn't unlocked yet.

"Same with these two prop cards. I know they have a purpose—I just don't know how to use them. Rift this game and its lack of instructions..."

He muttered, pulling out two more cards from his inventory.

One was a glowing scarlet stone—the Philosopher's Stone, desired by all alchemists.

The other shimmered with blue-black light—Hōgyoku, from the world of Soul Reapers. It had the power to protect its host and grant evolution under life-threatening pressure.

Yet, both were practically useless in Caesar's hands.

The Philosopher's Stone?

All it did was speed up alchemy and reduce material costs.

And the Hōgyoku?

Aside from boosting spiritual pressure, it did nothing.

Even if it could upgrade a blue card to purple, that'd be something—it would save hundreds of cards and thousands of j.

But no.

A red card that did less than a handful of Hyorinmaru pills?

Rift that.

Still, Caesar believed there had to be a purpose. Otherwise, these wouldn't be red-tier cards. No way.

The only explanation: these were hidden-tier items, only usable after some conditions were met.

Maybe after his own card evolved further...

Name: Caesar (blue)Level: 37Physique: 566+ (782)Strength: 628+ (883)Agility: 449+ (689)

Three more levels to max out.

He had all the materials needed to evolve to purple—700 purple cards, 30,000 spirit stones.

But leveling up? Now that was the problem.

Weak opponents gave almost no EXP.

And strong enemies? There weren't many left.

Even on S-class crusades, with all the S-class mages from other guilds showing up, there wasn't much for Caesar to fight.

He was stuck.

As for upgrading the card level...

He sighed again.

Characters with low power weren't a big deal, but stars like Jiro or Saitama? He couldn't push them past level 30.

The burden was too high.

More power meant shorter take over time. Not worth it.

This wasn't just Caesar's own limit—it was a design limitation of the entire system.

Why did cards have stages and "turns"?

To cap their performance and force you to pay j and spirit stones to get full power.

Take Minato Namikaze, for example.

At base form, he was just Minato.

First turn: Sage Mode.

Second turn: Nine-Flame Sage Mode.

Sure, you could force it from the base state, but it would drain magic like crazy.

Only after evolving the card could Caesar unlock Nine-Flame Sage Mode for just a bit more magic than base form.

Let's say base Minato used 1 magic unit.

Sage Mode? 3 units.

Nine-Flame Sage? 9 units.

But post-upgrade? Nine-Flame Sage only used 2 units.

That was the beauty of evolution.

Now imagine starting with someone whose base form cost 50 units.

Their special mode? Hundreds—maybe thousands.

Who could afford that?

"Rift it... when are they going to add an instruction manual to this damn game?"

Caesar muttered and downed the rest of his wine.

"Card instructions have been issued."

A cold, emotionless electronic voice echoed in Caesar's mind.

His eyes widened.

"Who?!"

He jumped up and scanned the area.

The sudden movement stirred Mirajane, who had been curled up beside him.

She yawned and looked at him with sleepy eyes. "What's wrong?"

Seeing her, Caesar relaxed a little. He patted her head gently.

"It's nothing. I'm just too nervous. Go back to sleep."

She nodded and quickly drifted off again.

Once he was sure she was asleep, Caesar took a deep breath.

"System?" he whispered in his mind.

Nothing.

"...Broken game?"

Still silence.

"...How do I use the Merlin card to actually gain infinite magic power?"

"Before the protagonist card is promoted to a red card, consume the Merlin card. There is a chance her passive ability will be transferred to the protagonist during the promotion process."

Caesar: ???!!!!