Chapter 1004 – The Reborn

Even though she was mentally prepared, even though she had played this game for years in her previous life, at this moment, Xiao Xiao’s heart still pounded violently from the incomparable sense of realism.

How could this be a game? It was clearly like being thrown once again into that desperate wasteland, as if she had returned to the apocalypse.

She forced herself to calm down. Now was not the time for sentiment.

Time was life, was Gem Coins, was the chips for future survival!

She lowered her head and looked at the back of her left hand.

There, a purple card pattern roughly the size of a coin, with intricate and exquisite lines, was emitting an almost imperceptible soft glow.

At the center of the pattern was an abstract, swirl-shaped rune.

This was it! The core card system that ran through the entire game and the real apocalypse to come!

《Apocalypse Descends》had no character customization, no class selection. After entering the game, all a player had — besides this “game body” that was highly synchronized with their real-world physical fitness and mental state — was this mysterious card pattern on the back of their hand.

Xiao Xiao took a deep breath, extended the index finger of her right hand, and gently tapped the purple card pattern on the back of her left hand.

A semi-transparent interface glowing with a faint blue light unfurled like a scroll, materializing out of thin air directly in front of her field of vision.

The interface was clean and simple, divided into three distinct columns:

【Left Column – Personal Information】

Name: Xiao Xiao

Psychic Power: 58/58

Gem Coins: 0

【Middle Column – Personal Card Album】

Current Status: Not Activated (Activation requires Gem Coins)

Card Slots: 0

【Right Column – Card Shop】

Current Level: Lv.0 (Upgrade requires Gem Coins)

Available Products: None (Shop level insufficient)

The exact same basic interface as her previous life! Xiao Xiao’s heart settled with certainty.

Gem Coins were the only hard currency in the game world, and their source was singular — psychic power.

1 point of psychic power could be exchanged for 1 Gem Coin at any time.

Psychic power would naturally recover over time after being consumed.

Maintaining a good survival state in the game would accelerate the recovery speed of psychic power.

More importantly, engaging in constructive activities in this world — building, exploring, learning — could slowly but steadily raise the upper limit of one’s total psychic power.

Gem Coins served a critical purpose: they unlocked storage slots in the personal card album. Purchased cards had to be stored in the album so that when the card system materialized into reality, they could be brought into the real world.

Additionally, Gem Coins could be used to upgrade the Card Shop’s level and purchase cards. The higher the shop level, the more card varieties it offered, and the better their quality.

Xiao Xiao’s gaze swept across the empty Lv.0 Card Shop interface on the right, but in her mind, she could already see the dazzling array of products that would eventually appear here:

{Food Card – Dry Bread}, {Food Card – Clean Water}, {Tool Card – Simple Stone Axe}, {Tool Card – Crude Torch}, {Building Card – Simple Shelter}, {Medical Card – Hemostatic Medicine}… and of course, the most core and most expensive {Magic Card} series.

{Magic Card – Illumination}, {Magic Card – Water Condensation}, {Magic Card – Growth Acceleration}, {Magic Card – Ignite}…

In the game, these {Magic Cards} were single-use consumables. Their low price and ease of use were their only advantages.

But Xiao Xiao knew an earth-shattering secret — one that players in her previous life only vaguely realized long after the apocalypse had descended.

Sealed within every single {Magic Card} was genuine, complete magical knowledge!

As long as one purchased and used the {Meditation Card} series, mastered the meditation techniques recorded within, truly perceived and entered one’s own “mental sea,” and learned to wield their psychic power, they could use that psychic power to “read” the magical knowledge contained in those {Magic Cards}, study the magical principles embedded within, and thereby truly master these magics — no longer merely relying on the limited uses of the cards!

This was the deepest, truest value of this game!

The only problem was that in her previous life, after the apocalypse truly descended and the card system materialized into reality, the originally cheap {Magic Cards} in the Card Shop skyrocketed to over a hundred times their original price!

This meant that the vast majority of people might only master one or two of the most basic magics in their entire lifetime.

But now, she had been reborn! She knew this secret in advance!

Next, she would spare no cost to accumulate Gem Coins, open the card album as soon as possible, upgrade the Card Shop level, purchase {Meditation Cards} and every {Magic Card} she could get her hands on, and stockpile as many {Magic Cards} as possible before the card system materialized into reality.

Thought became action. Xiao Xiao tapped lightly on the “Psychic Power” value in the personal information column, and a simple exchange option popped up.

She chose “Exchange All” without a moment’s hesitation.

【Exchange Successful!】 【Psychic Power: 0/58】

【Gem Coins: 58】

Then she turned her gaze to the Card Shop on the right.

The Lv.0 shop was completely empty. She selected upgrade.

【1 Gem Coin consumed. Card Shop level upgraded to Lv.1】

The Lv.1 shelves immediately refreshed with a few simple items:

{Food Card – Black Bread}: 1 Gem Coin

{Food Card – Murky Water}: 1 Gem Coin

{Tool Card – Chipped Stone Flake}: 1 Gem Coin

{Tool Card – Coarse Hemp Rope}: 2 Gem Coins

{Building Card – Simple Grass Mat}: 3 Gem Coins

All the most basic — even somewhat pitiful — survival supplies.

Xiao Xiao didn’t spare them a second glance and directly selected upgrade again.

【10 Gem Coins consumed. Card Shop level upgraded to Lv.2】

【Gem Coin Balance: 47】

The shop interface shimmered briefly, and the inventory immediately became richer. Not only were there several more practical tools and slightly better food items, but more importantly, {Meditation Experience Cards} and {Zero-Level Magic Cards} had appeared:

{Meditation Experience Card – Zero Level}: 10 Gem Coins

【Effect: Upon use, guides the user into a meditation experience state lasting 1 hour. Effect: Greatly accelerates psychic power recovery speed (approximately 3x base recovery rate). Uses: 1/1.】

{Zero-Level Magic Card – Ignite}: 10 Gem Coins

【Effect: Upon activation, generates a small, stable flame at the fingertip or on a designated flammable surface, burning continuously for approximately 30 seconds. Uses: 10/10.】

…

There they were! Exactly as she remembered!

She clicked purchase.

【10 Gem Coins consumed. Obtained {Meditation Experience Card – Zero Level} x1】

【Gem Coin Balance: 37】

47 Gem Coins, minus the 10 needed for this card, left 37 Gem Coins remaining.

She immediately shifted her attention to the personal card album column in the middle.

She clicked “Activate.”

【Activating the personal card album requires Gem Coins. Initial activation cost: 10 Gem Coins, grants 10 basic card slots. Subsequent slot expansions increase in price. Activate?】

“Activate!”

【Gem Coins consumed: 10. Personal card album activated. Current Card Slots: 10/10】

【Gem Coin Balance: 27】

Now she possessed a card album capable of storing cards.

Only cards stored in the album could be called upon at any time, and in the future… materialized into reality along with the system.

The {Meditation Experience Card} was automatically stored in the personal card album she had just activated.