The Card Apprentice

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Claimed to be the greatest team in the history of the card film industry — “Mu Lei” is born. With even the elites of the academic world unable to decipher these cards’ structure, his powerful cards were able to unnerve even the federation, causing the greatest Card Creators and Card Fighters to grow frantic, triggering open battles and covert maneuvers among various interest groups — all behind the silhouette of Chen Mu. Although he was not the originator of the federation’s unrest, he was definitely the number one reason for continuously escalating it.

Through his exceptional intelligence and toughness, he evolved from the weak to the mighty. From a solitary life of survival to his collaboration with his friend to the team’s business of fantasy stories: As card films full of fantastic oddities flowed from Chen Mu’s hands like an unending stream, his own fighting strength rapidly grew. Fame, wealth, beauties, dangers gathered all around from far and near until finally, he became a paragon of inspiration to all.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Card Disciple
Disciples Of Card
Ka Tu
Katu
The Card Apprentice
The Protege of Cards
The War of Cards
Tạp Đồ
卡徒
Related Series
Undefeated God of War (Shared Universe)
Recommendations
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation (1)
World of Cultivation (1)
Black Tech Internet Cafe System (1)
Cultivation Chat Group (1)
Divine Card Creator (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novels I Enjoyed (No BL)
  2. Highest Rated Web Novels in China
  3. Crafting Novels I have read
  4. Every Novel I've Read
  5. Non-Relationship Novels

Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/20/16 Fairly Accurate... c14
06/01/16 Ankou c14
08/27/18 Webnovel c14
08/05/18 Wuxiaworld Forums c14
06/01/16 Ankou c13
08/05/18 Wuxiaworld Forums c13
08/27/18 Webnovel c13
09/19/16 Fairly Accurate... c13
03/26/16 Pandora’s Book... c12
08/27/18 Webnovel c12
08/05/18 Wuxiaworld Forums c12
08/05/18 Wuxiaworld Forums c11
03/02/16 Pandora’s Book... c11
08/27/18 Webnovel c11
08/04/18 Wuxiaworld Forums c10
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19 Reviews sorted by


riida
riida rated it
June 4, 2016
Status: c15
This was written a year before WOC and has the same core and I can only compare the two. I'm sure the author made many improvements after this first attempt, as WOC is brilliantly balanced and a MASTERPIECE.

This here though,
... more>>
Spoiler

even though MC is weak and mostly alone (like in WOC)
hardworking and struggles to earn money (like in WOC)
sells his products to a man who owns a little store and has a friendly relationship with (like in WOC)
has a very special encounter which changes his life (like in WOC)
learns an incredible cultivation technique (like in WOC)

unfortunately, in this first attempt by the author,
-so far there's barely any worldbuilding at all (unlike in WOC)
-protagonist has no properly defined goal, not even surviving no matter what (unlike in WOC)
-entities of political/military power aren't defined well/at all (unlike in WOC)
-there's no clear sign of fighting skill being necessary at all (unlike in WOC), but his technique develops his strength
-protagonist has no hidden past and no interesting background (unlike in WOC)
-the hierarchy of the world that surrounds his is not defined (unlike in WOC)

[collapse]

I really really hope that all the aspects it lacks will appear in one form or another...

PS: How I hate people who claim for a novel to have potential just because it hasn't been ruined yet and thus give it 5 stars... How would you rate a great one which actually not only had potential, but developed it well? Still 5 stars? Well, what's the difference in rating then? None? Unbelievable.... <<less
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Stark3
Stark3 rated it
June 2, 2016
Status: c267
Very satisfying. Not sure if it's technically sci-fi, though I guess the adage is true : "any technology sufficiently advanced enough seems like magic". There are some components that make me think of other novels - the training space he gets early on makes me think of Tempest of the Stellar War (another novel that I recommend, though it loses a bit of appeal by the last 2 volumes), the crafting makes me think of Heavenly Jewel Change - but the overall concept is sufficiently unique, interesting, and fun.

It gives... more>> you that xianxia feeling of continuous advancement, self improvement, and exciting battles without the annoying repetitive elements and nearly copy/paste scenarios (so far, but then I'm nearly a third through). That for me makes this series very much worth my while. :) EDIT : Now at c267. This novel has surpassed my expectations. Even nearing the halfway point, the story feels fresh and flows along smoothly. I guess this goes to show that CN webnovels doesn't really have to really on an ad nauseam loop of tournaments, auctions, arrogant schools / personages to move the story along. Highly recommended. <<less
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Ars Roccii
Ars Roccii rated it
February 2, 2016
Status: --
It's awersome. It's have a big potencial. I have read to chapter 20 with GT and is very interesting =)

This novel for me, is the same of World of Cultivation, begin is slow, but in future...

P.S. English is not my native language, so I'm sorry for grammatics mistakes.
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Boon
Boon rated it
January 24, 2018
Status: Completed
2/5

Well below your average tr*sh xianxia. A step below ATG. Very disappointing when considering this author's other works. WOC is one of my favorite novels on NU.

The novel begins at a 1.5/5 and slowly climbs up to a ~2.5 by chapter 200+ before crashing down to 1 at the end. The author was clearly just trying to spam as many words as possible without much critical thought to overall plot lines or individual battles.

I don't know why I kept reading this, and I don't recommend anyone else to do the... more>> same.

In this novel world, most people battle using "cards". They are magical cards that go in a device on your wrist to cast spells of the xianxia genre. This is a story of a "genius" who is one of the few people in history that is both able to create top grade cards, but also battle as a top grade "ace" in multiple battle styles.

The overall plot progression is actually pretty interesting, but you must skim massive useless info dumps constantly, while suspending disbelief at the constant glaring plot holes.

So I'll first list a few of the problems I had with this novel.

Cons:

  • Low IQ enemies. Enemies that are supposed to be the best soldiers in the world don't even understand basic tactics, and so the MC's "brilliant" moves are extremely simple ideas that work because the enemy is mentally ret*rded, makes large mistakes, and the physics of the world are altered to suit the MC's new strategy.

    And then to insult the reader's intelligence, the narrator declares that the MC is perfect in strategy and unequaled in as many words as possible.

    Example 1: Single combat
    Spoiler

    This is a novel where flying and evasion are key and fundamental aspects of all forms of combat. In one fight, the MC is at least half the speed of the enemy in a semi-straight line, but is able to make much tighter turns and direction changes. So the MC makes a death defying move of dropping in altitude close to the ground, where he flies around part of a city, farms, and fields. Rather than simple fly above the MC at a leisurely pace, as apart from the city which may have had tall buildings (that aren't mentioned), everywhere else was pretty flat ground, the enemy decides to fly at the same altitude against the ground and through the grass and fields even though this drops his speed by half and is much more dangerous. Of course the MC loses him, as the enemy/author doesn't have time for critical thought.

    [collapse]

    Example 2: Small unit tactics.
    Spoiler

    Early on in the story an average enemy youth who will be quickly forgotten is able to change his cards within 9/10 of a second, while the MC only needs 7/10. Now, while the power card is removed, the "ace" card users are all weak as lambs waiting to be slaughtered. So later in the story, the MC "strategizes" to target that window of opportunity when a large group of world class aces change their cards.

    So the enemies are on their way to find the MC, and already know he and his friends can fight close range in hand to hand combat, and are excellent at hiding. So these world class aces have half of the squad remain flying hundreds of meters up in the air, while half the unit lands on the ground in a forest away from their allies cover, and proceed to pull all of their power cards out at the same time. And now suddenly the average time for switching cards for some of the worlds top aces is 10 seconds long.

    Everyone on the ground is instantly killed, and then the rest in the air are mopped up. No one in the world is able to come up with a backup power card switch? At least a quick access power card holder, so "soldiers" don't have to open up and sort their wallets in the middle of battle? No one has ever thought of tactics to stagger the changing of cards so that the entire unit cannot be wiped out by one guy? The MC was later praised around the world as a battle genius of the highest calibre.

    [collapse]

    Example 3: Large army tactics.
    Spoiler

    No army or group of enemies of any kind, ever have any scouts or sentries to patrol defensively. As the small group was annihilated in ex.2, so is an entire army in ex. 3. An army of 10, 000 of some of the worlds most highly trained and educated soldiers don't put up a single scout despite knowing that the enemy army they are pursuing has just made a small attack on them previously, and is very close by. The MC and his army of 3, 000 walks right up to the enemy army of 10, 000 and simply starts tossing out large AOE damage, wiping them up with ease, and the MC is of course praised for this tactic of... walking?

    [collapse]
  • The battles are full of nonsense and can be incredibly boring. Between moves there will be a long explanation about the move's history, difficulty, and power followed by a round of exclamations from the crowd's perspective, often without actually explaining what the move is actually doing or looks like. In one battle, there was an entire chapter where only a single move was made. The MC held up a shield, and the enemy hit it. The entire chapter was about that one move that lasted.001 seconds in real time.

    The battles are often made even worse because of the...
  • Sleazy clickbaity cliffhangers. Whether it is a pivotal moment in battle or plot, expect a pause in action for a long drawn out explanation, or for the novel to shift to an entirely new scene for a few chapters before returning to the "pivotal" moment that you no longer even care about. If you are ever interested in the plot or enjoying an element of the story, expect that to be immediately ruined as that is a perfect time to pad the word count.
  • Dialogue between all high level powers is replaced by ceaseless flattery, fawning, and lying lips, occasionally interspersed with the narrator insulting you by telling you how perfect such and such statement was.
  • Plot holes are rampant and exist in the major plotlines, techniques, and individual battles. Clearly the author was moving at a breakneck pace without giving much thought to any plot device or situation. This means that generally...
  • The MC's breakthroughs are often incredibly s*upid.
    Spoiler

    For a while, his most essential technique can be thought of as turning a knob clockwise. This technique is everything to him, and it is incredibly important for him to experiment with it, understand it, and improve it. So after several training montages, each months long before upcoming life or death battles where he searches for any method to improve himself, he finally decides to turn the knob counter-clockwise. Low and behold, it is an incredibly beneficial idea that improves his power. It takes him a year to decide to turn the knob the other way, after experimenting with it every day, and the narrator praises his genius! So skip all the nonsense fake esoteric cultivation in this novel for at least the first 150+ chapters, as they are just that s*upid.

    [collapse]
  • The author uses every conceivable method to pad the word count without advancing the story. I haven't seen such abuse of the readership since I dropped reading TMW. TMW might still be worse at some points, but it is neck and neck.
  • The TL is not good. All of the previous problems are probably exacerbated by a pretty poor translation that I would not give more than a 3/5 at the best of times. If the grammar is not completely wrong, then it often sounds stilted and clunky. The TL also often mixes up nouns, adjectives, and verbs. A few small examples I remember:
    Spoiler

    fatigueness, aura of chill, mentee (debatable as a newish buzzword), sign of impatient.

    [collapse]
  • The ending is abrupt. The author clearly just decided it was going to end asap, and ended it within two chapters.
Now, if you can manage to skim through all of the worthless fluff without being too bored, or feeling your intelligence insulted too much to make it halfway through the story, then there are actually a few good parts about this trainwreck.

Pros:

  • A decent overarching plotline past ch 150+
  • No shallow harems
  • Not an overabundance of plot armor for the MC
  • Ok characterization of enemies and allies, even if there are plotholes in their decisions. If you can sympathize with the antagonist, at least something is being done right.
Overall, would not recommend unless you are incredibly bored and desperate. <<less
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dustmite
dustmite rated it
June 1, 2016
Status: --
Nearly finished with raws. It has decent story telling. Our main lead is not overly pretentious or arrogant and actually for once interacts normally with other characters, building strategic alliances while at the same time unwittingly gaining enemies from different factions left and right.

Every side character is developed and has their own brains with them, and oh joy when strong women (not harem) are introduced in later parts of the novel. It's great.

Only fault is it has a slow start, but it really shoots forward in later chapters.
... more>>
Spoiler

it has an extremely satisfying auction arc

[collapse]
<<less
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ScotlandForsythe
ScotlandForsythe rated it
June 1, 2016
Status: c12
?Ratings out of five?

Concept: 5 (cultivation technique is really unique, if you can call it that)
Main character: 4.5 (I like the mc's attitude, and for now there doesn't seem to be any mental issues)
Side characters: 2.9 (A bit shallow and typical, but their aren't many chapters yet)
Style: 3 (A bit average, but the story makes up for it)
World: 4 (ties in with the concept, a good take on the heiarchy)

Not many chapters yet, but it has potential. (I meant to review... more>> this ages ago, but I kept forgetting...) ? <<less
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Ezrah
Ezrah rated it
July 19, 2020
Status: c380
When you read this make sure to switch off reasoning, common sense and empathy parts of your brain. In fact, it's best to somehow revert to a brainless amoeba type existence that believes and accepts everything it's told. Don't try to use logic or try to immerse yourself in the characters because they only portray what the author wants, regardless whether it matches their profile or not.

Sometimes the MC is super intelligent, sometimes he's thicker than two planks and makes illogical decisions. Sometimes he's portrayed as having really low self... more>> esteem and considers himself unskilled and a bit of a noob compared to his companions but then next we see him inexplicably planning to take on large teams of enemies where all are higher skilled and more powerful than himself, SOLO. Of course he nearly dies but conveniently gets rewarded with either a power up or great loot.

He's described as someone who's got high IQ and survival instincts from years of living on the streets. Yet his response when facing two assassins is to hide in the sewers and snipe one of them, thereby giving away his location before being pursued all the way till he reaches the infamously lethal Outer Reaches where he then decides to pop out for a sightsee. Surprise! He nearly dies...

Escapes a bus hijacking, gets hunted by powerful gangs but is surprised by them ambushing him as he's leaving the forest. How did they know where he was headed? It's because he was headed to a certain location on the bus they hijacked and after escaping them he continues heading to the SAME city. He's so totally shocked at the 40+ high level experts lying in wait for him, cue yet another desperate near death battle... Facepalm.
Plus I find it really hard to believe 40 people can totally block off all routes within a HUGE frikkin forest. Why not detour around them FFS?!

Another thing, sometimes there's odd incidents where I feel the author deliberately padded out for word count. I just read a 4 chapter long fight versus a random mob character who you know will definitely die at the end of the fight yet the author chimes on and on about this guy's thoughts and feeling during the fight. Not the MC but the guy you only just met and is about to be killed. Why do we care what he's thinking? He's not a main antagonist, he's just a lowly minion. We just met him and he's going to be forgotten about with a chapter. Just hurry up and kill him off already? It's just making the MC appear as a totally inept assassin. AGAIN.

Oh there's also this weird thing how his enemies become insanely obsessed with him inexplicably. There's a guy who caught the MC give an evil eye about something and is absolutely convinced he's a remnant from his clan's nemesis sect. Doesn't go check up the MC's past or anything to validate his hypothesis but just goes batsh*t crazy in pursuit to the death. Cue months and months of him hunting and plotting, to the extent of leaving everything behind! The before mentioned bus hijacking is another, the gang sends team after team of powerful elites after him despite they're supposedly in the middle of a huge mission that he accidentally happened upon. All he did was escape the hijacking. It's obvious he knows nothing about them or their plan but the lengths they go to in order to silence him is gobsmacking. Al Quaeda hit squads haven't received as much attention. <<less
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Trent
Trent rated it
July 18, 2017
Status: c8
Not bad, but not unusually good either; it’s got many shortcomings common among novels by inexperienced writers. It’s not very interesting, either.

Sometimes, the novel does a good job at not overemphasizing, like how it doesn’t harp on how the cards make everything different in the world, but have been incorporated into life.

Explanations of the character’s and world’s backstory are okay. They’re mostly paragraphs of description, given when the information is about to be required, rather than previously hinted at or gradually uncovered. The MC had a master for a short period, but their encounter and relationship are sped past; it’s just used to justify how the MC learned his skills, instead of exploring what easily could have been a powerful, motivating part of the MC’s journey.

Other times, the hand-waving of explanations is kind of crappy. For instance, by learning more, the MC is able to reduce the “manufacturing cost” of low-level cards... somehow. How, exactly? It’d be an easy matter for the author to say that the special ink used for them makes up a major part of their cost, and by understanding different schemata and becoming more precise and efficient, the MC creates non-standard, simpler designs which use less ink, and therefore cost less to produce. Instead, there’s no explanation. The inattention to necessary details, while spending paying much attention on unnecessary things, is one of the novel’s shortcomings.
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1life4death
1life4death rated it
September 21, 2018
Status: c78
This novel is in a very weird place for me. The concept and story of this novel is very interesting and not like any other novel I read before. But at the same time it gets very confusing and hard to follow the more you read. I'm not sure whether this is due to the quality of translation for this novel or the actual plot line but it just seems like its all over the place and very difficult to keep track of.

I still plan to read this because I... more>> really do hope it gets better but if it doesn't I plan to just wait and binge read it after its finish or just drop it. <<less
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timma
timma rated it
February 23, 2019
Status: c319
Long chapters, so tons of content to enjoy. For me this novel is a good find, and I think there is a good amount of elements that set it apart from other webnovels. I like the realistic balance of powers.

I'd recommend this over your average face slapping fluff fantasy novel easily. I'd recommend it to those willing to invest themselves in an interesting world.

If you don't feel it from the start, I suggest you put it down and try it again some other time. You deff need to be in... more>> the right frame of mind for this one. <<less
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yugmodnar
yugmodnar rated it
October 15, 2022
Status: c120
An interesting and necessary failure on the road to creating World of Cultivation. Read this if you would love something similar to WOC but mostly told in the form of word padding.
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kingelias
kingelias rated it
August 14, 2020
Status: c617
It's a decent read. It feels a lot like World of Cultivation, especially in the stretches where it develops characters outside of the MCs group, without having them interact for years at a time. The 'production' nature of the protagonist, as well.

However, it's a bit dull. The plot is directionless most of the time, and a lot of threads are unresolved. The finale is also quite a let down; a very lackluster fight that takes up about half of one chapter, with no real resolution afterwards.
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Chicken rice
Chicken rice rated it
July 19, 2020
Status: c210
Started of with good potential and new concept. Like card thing is really unique and enchanting, but there comes the f*cking crude characters.

Basically feels like a rookie authour. MC has no character at all. It changes for every 4 chapters. All side characters are all dummies just there for the sake of MC. Authour explained unimportant things more and didn't even care about most important things. The ones he explained are all confusing and misleading.

Very dissapointing. No professionalism. Crude way of explaining things. Too much tr*sh talking. You literally just... more>> read chapter names and skips 4 chapters and can still figure out what happened. Utterly a disaster. <<less
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ForestRPG
ForestRPG rated it
March 22, 2020
Status: c611
  1. The story is interesting and was has its good parts.
  2. The ending arc was rushed like 480s to end felt bad.
  3. The fights were interesting, and I wish there was more about card making.
    Spoiler

    He creates his own city, and then just leaves. He goes to figure out zara's home problem (house of hundred depths). That part of story is short. He f*cks up the HoHD. The fights are short. In that two years nothing happened to his city, other than getting bigger. It was even attacked. Then desert camp and modi domain decide to attack, but the war ends in like 3 chapters. The leader of modi domain happens to be the black king aka black hibiscus leader aka tang hangpei's older brother. He then fights tang hangpei for half a chapter and wins.

    [collapse]
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AnimatorOfSouls
AnimatorOfSouls rated it
November 17, 2023
Status: c332
The MC is constantly pushed into doing things he doesn't want to. Literally any time he makes a new type of card he ends up getting chased around by a powerful force and forced to run somewhere far away. I wanted to read about him making cards, not 10 chapter long fights.

Romance: yes, he has a gf, it feels very forced with the MC being instantly charmed and unconsciously acts gentler around her.

Dropped because too much fighting, too little agency, and annoying romance.
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AzuriEclip
AzuriEclip
June 7, 2021
Status: --
I haven't gotten very far in the story yet, but I feel that many reviewers here give this story much injustice for their idiotic reviews.

I will first give my own review before correcting the 'false' reviews i've seen, ones that clearly show that the person either most likely skimmed through the chapters or are really forgetful.

Chen Mu is the typical mc; hardworking, having a love for money, and has a past where his parents were absent for most of the time. This makes him rather dull, but you could see... more>> that there are rooms for devolepment of his character.

Early on, signs of worldbuilding has already been seen, which is a good thing though I won't deny that some information are completely unnecessary, just as other reviewers said. Though one does have to agree that it's at lesst better than a novel with little to no worldbuilding at all, right?

The characters are a bit typical so far--but that may just be because of how I haven't read many chapters. I have high expectations due to what the comments said and because this is WOC's author, which has really intruiging side casts such as Luo Li and the others. Though I like Luo Li much more simppy because villain redemptions are one of my favorite things to see if you can even call him a villain. Tbh, he seems more like the typical cannon fodder of most series' but less arrogant.

The novel is also rather slow-paced for now, but I don't mind too much.

The only thing I dislike is the genre itself (sci-fi), but that's just my own preference. When the novel, movie or anime is good, I tend to make exceptions for my dislike for the genre. I just really prefer the ancient times overall, no matter if it's medieval fantasy or ancient china.

Now, onto the false reviews.

I saw a reviewer criticize this novel for having the MC being weak but hard-working, loving money, and being a loner. Why?

Because he's similar to Zuo Mo.

He even complained about how the MC had a golden finger, which every MC basically has!

Are you kidding me? That's like the dumbest reason i've ever heard, especially if you consider the fact that most MCs have the same personality if you exclude the 'weak' part! The guy even criticized the fact that Chen Mu doesn't have a mysterious past, which most MCs don't even have and yet are still sufficiently fine and well-developed! What I find more s*upid is that he made this a con of a novel, comparing everything to the author's (future? Past?) works when clearly that's how it's supposed to be because it's a different novel, just made by the same author!

Next, no worldbuilding. There is worldbuilding, if you didn't skim through the chapters. Sure there are some unnecessary worldbuilding then and there, but still, like I said earlier, it's much better than nothing at all.

Lastly, about how dull the novel is. Considering the high reviews and from what i've seen so far, it may just be your personal tastes.

It confuses me how this novel is rated a 3.9/5.0 when normally a novel like this would at least be 4.0+ <<less
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Phaos
Phaos rated it
September 25, 2019
Status: c617
i enjoy this but as a new reader you have to know its only 617 chapter the early parts are more enjoyable than the later half as its a rush to end the series with lots of loophole and time-skip with no detail explanation.
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SayMrrp
SayMrrp rated it
August 8, 2019
Status: c554
Well, at first, I was skeptical, but it got more and more interesting. There are boring parts, but the overall development is good. It can be a bit messy/complicated, but I prefer to think that the setting and politics are vast and intricate. It's not easy to predict each main antagonist's plots. Of course, there's still some shallow face-slapping meant for entertainment.

I think it develops closer to WOC's style as the story goes on. The MC isn't s*upid, just lacking knowledge, and the side characters remain almost as vibrant as... more>> they did in WOC. The side characters are memorable enough despite having so many.

The novel moves a bit slow, especially in the technical parts (I skimmed those, haha) but the wait is worth it. <<less
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Gsichtselfmeter
Gsichtselfmeter
July 13, 2019
Status: c515
Well written, a nice mix of getting stronger, fighting, scheming and reactions. What I really like is that the plot flows freely an doesnt really care about previously established encounters. For example the MC makes a promise to character A but then is forced to leave the town and will not be able to fulfill the promise. In other novels character A would come back and play an important role, but in this novel you never know if someone is important or not, resulting in a refreshing story.

All that bothers... more>> me is that at the beginning the dimensions of time and money are not really thought out well, but this gets better in the later parts. <<less
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