2: Unbeatable opponent

Shi Li's first reaction wasn't to call the fire department.

Walking into the yard, he indeed saw his younger brother - Shi Yuan.

Before Shi Yuan, a pile of things was burning.

Although already charred and blurry, some outlines were still visible.

They were rackets, skateboards, models, and the like.

"What are you burning?"

Shi Li asked.

"My youth."

Shi Yuan didn't turn around.

Shi Li understood such an answer.

Shi Yuan was 16 and about to start high school this year.

In this world, most people awaken as Card Masters around the age of 16.

This kid must have awakened the Card Master system and was using this method to bid farewell to the past and show his determination.

"If possible, I hope you burn those books under your bed too."

Shi Li added.

"No."

Shi Yuan's answer was decisive: "Those are my life."

"Suit yourself."

Shi Li spread his hands and walked into the house: "It's your turn to cook today."

...

Shi Yuan stood still, silent for a moment: "Wait, how did he know I had forbidden books hidden under my bed?"

An hour later, he brought the dishes to the dining table.

Two simple dishes: stir-fried eggplant with minced meat and scrambled eggs with cucumber.

The brothers' cooking skills were similar, meeting the minimum standard for survival.

"Brother, my Card Master system has awakened."

As expected, Shi Yuan said this at the dinner table.

"Do you want to choose Second High School or Third High School?"

Shi Li held his rice bowl.

He knew Shi Yuan's grades; getting into the city's best Second High School and Third High School would be no problem.

"I want to go to Twenty-sixth High School."

"Hmm?"

Shi Li stopped his chopsticks.

For the entirety of Durian City, Twenty-sixth High School could only rank in the top ten, not even the top three.

In terms of teaching resources, there were at least four or five high schools better than Twenty-sixth High School.

When he was one of the two top scorers in the city's high school entrance exam, Shi Li chose Twenty-sixth High School because the school promised to waive all tuition fees and offered the most scholarships.

"Because it's close to home."

Shi Yuan appeared nonchalant.

In reality, he had inquired; although his grades weren't as good as Shi Li's back then, getting a tuition waiver at Twenty-sixth High School shouldn't be difficult.

One must know that the government's monthly allowance was only enough for the two of them to live daily, far from enough to pay the expensive high school tuition fees.

"Tuition fees are not for you to worry about, just go to Second High School or Third High School."

How could Shi Li not know what this kid was thinking?

...

"Got it."

There seemed to be an irresistible magic in Shi Li's tone, making Shi Yuan wilt on the spot.

Subsequently, the two remained silent throughout the meal.

It wasn't until after the meal that Shi Li looked at the empty bowls and plates on the table and spoke.

"Since you've become a Card Master, let's decide who washes the dishes the Card Master way."

"You're a Silver 3 fighting me, a Bronze; isn't that bullying?"

Shi Yuan suspected he had misheard.

"I can let you use one hand."

"What does that matter? The key is that I don't even have a single character card yet!"

"So you lost."

...

Watching Shi Li turn and leave after saying that, Shi Yuan was speechless.

Don't bully a young man for being poor; when I gather my deck, I'll beat you to death!

The cunning Shi Li leisurely returned to his room.

"If I can get into a provincial key university, the state will also provide a subsidy of 100,000 cubic coins.

Then Shi Yuan's three years of high school tuition fees will be easily solved..."

Sitting at his desk, he began to ponder.

However, you have to eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time.

The most important thing right now is to first win the top prize in the grade's card competition.

With the two-star card from the prize, he would have a chance to advance to the Gold tier, and thus achieve better results in the college entrance examination.

"The problem is that Gong Ping from the next class has already been promoted to Gold 1."

His fingers tapped rhythmically on the table.

Between Silver 3 and Gold 1, there was an insurmountable gap in raw power.

That is, Gold tier players can deploy 1 more card than Silver 1-3 players.

"My only option right now is to acquire 1 more one-star card and advance to Silver 4."

Silver 4 is also known as Silver Peak or Quasi-Gold.

Upon reaching the Silver Peak line, one can increase the number of cards deployed by 1.

This way, regardless of the quality of the character cards, at least in terms of quantity, he could be on the same starting line as the Gold tier.

Shi Li believed that with his deck, there was a high possibility of a Silver 4 player defeating a Gold 1 player.

However, getting another one-star card in just two weeks would be incredibly difficult.

Thinking of this, he took out his phone and opened his bank account.

His parents hadn't left much in savings, only a total of 100,000 cubic coins.

He had deposited this money into two accounts, 50,000 for himself and 50,000 for Shi Yuan.

These 50,000 were the two brothers' respective starting funds as Card Masters.

To become a good Card Master, a large amount of resources is indispensable.

Given his special circumstances, this was even more true for Shi Li.

For the previous three one-star cards, his account now had just over 10,000 cubic coins left.

This also included scholarships and money he had earned from odd jobs over the years.

Trying to get a one-star card with this amount of money was somewhat unrealistic.

However, he would absolutely not touch Shi Yuan's 50,000.

So, he had to find another way.

"Borrowing money won't work. Even if I could get tens of thousands with my conditions, not to mention if it's enough, the interest would probably be very high."

"Going to the Card Hall to gamble with others also won't work; facing those veteran Card Masters, a slight mistake could lead to losing even the principal."

"Hunting demons in the wild won't work either; I'm not old enough to get an outdoor hunting license."

Just as Shi Li was eliminating options one by one and at a loss.

Ding dong!

His phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and opened the screen; it was a message from his homeroom teacher.

Internal news: The Show Card Hall's suburban Monster Training Ground will officially open tomorrow. During the trial operation phase, it will be free and no admission fee will be charged.

Key point: No charge.

A Monster Training Ground is a place where demons are artificially bred for the training of Card Masters.

Demons have a chance to drop material cards that can be sold for money, and a very small chance to drop character cards.

It must be said that this resolved an urgent need.

"Old Class is awesome."

Shi Li was somewhat moved and quickly sent a thank-you message.

Although the other party didn't say much, he understood the meaning.

This was a very timely and useful piece of good news; it seemed Old Class had already thought everything out for him.

The only thing to worry about was safety.

After all, the demons in the Monster Training Ground were not the virtual imaginary enemies from the classroom, but real demons.

"As long as I'm careful, dealing with those not-so-strong one-star demons shouldn't be a problem."

Tomorrow happened to be a weekend, so Shi Li decided to set off early in the morning.

...

...