"One day towers fell from the sky.

White, their exterior smooth.

The End of the World, the Apocalypse, the Judgement Day.

Mankind was in a panic.

Food was bought in bulks, people were killed because of the greed of others.

It was chaos, almost like hell on earth.

Until, the towers broadcast a message.

"Humanity's Judgement, Start!""

-

The professor finished his lecture with a serious look on his face, "Does anyone want to add anything to this?"

His gaze wandered over the classroom; only a few students seemed to have really listened to him.

Only one student responded to his question: "Oh come on, we've heard that so often, Professor! Let's start the transcription already!"

The Professor's face darkened, he frowned and shot a glance into the back corner of the classroom.

"Mr. Eifer, this is important basic knowledge which cannot be repeated often enough. After all, it is the foundation of our current lifestyle," the professor with thinning hair nagged.

He shook his head briefly before returning to the blackboard.

"Now, if you are not interested in the beginning of our life as you know it, we will continue with another topic. I hope that Mr. Eifer will now be able to concentrate more on the lesson."

-

"Soul-Realm Cards.

This was the name given to these strange objects by the people.

Objects that appeared in more and more people after the message of the towers.

They looked like playing cards, but it was impossible to find two of the same kind in the world.

Many said that they originated from our wishes and dreams. Others said that they reflected the deepest desires of our soul, and that is how their names came to be.

An unlabeled, white card was created on the 16th birthday, only with the transcription would it become a real Soul-Realm Card.

Students were asked to perform their transcription only within the protected space which is their class, after the first transcription, only complete cards would be produced. However, there was always the danger of a sudden ' Realm '.

' Realm', the owner of a card was dragged into the world of that card to complete a task in it. Only after this trial could the strange powers contained in the card be used.

There were three different types of cards: Beast, Character, and Equipment.

Beast Soul-Realm Cards had by far the highest attack power and defense. Therefore, they were extremely useful in combat, but rather less so in daily activities. All kinds of beasts could appear, but generally, the more unknown and special the beast, the weaker the card, general descriptions were best.

Character Soul-Realm Cards were relatively rare, usually appearing as the fifth card. Every Character card possessed a special skill. The more famous the individual on the card, the more powerful they would be. However, they usually also needed to be supported by Equipment cards to reach their full potential.

Equipment Soul-Realm Cards were used to support Beast and Character cards, but they could also include the 'card player' in some cases. With these cards, crucial factors were the choice of words used to describe the item. Consequently, the comb of a goddess would be better than the comb of a simple peasant woman. The most common type of Soul-Realm Cards.

They all helped the 'card player' overcome the challenge, which was called 'Court'.

Court', as already mentioned in the message of the towers, judged mankind. The Elite, in other words, people with at least five cards, competed in various categories. The better the performance of a country's Elite, the better the people there would fare. While a country with a bad result had to reckon with several misfortunes. 'Court' was anticipated by the people as if it were the pre-apocalyptic Olympics."

-

"But it is rather unlikely that any of you will become part of this Elite. After all, the average person only has 2 or 3 cards. Although... we have a relative of such 'card players' in our class," the professor concluded his lecture.

Facing the class, he could see that all eyes were on one particular student.

Januar squirmed under the intense stares of his classmates.

His cheeks, neck, and ears were flushed, he tried to hide his face with his hands and hair as discreetly as possible.

The professor sighed softly. How could such a family produce such a child?

He had taught all the Stolz children, compared to the others, Januar was a complete disappointment.

He was chubby, unathletic, not very smart, and a little slow. Qualities that made him special were friendly, polite, reserved, and ... naive. Of course, he was a nice boy, but none of these were skills that would assist him in the life of his family.

The eyes of the professor wandered unintentionally into one of the back corners of the classroom.

Frederic Eifer.

This student was in contrast, almost like a real Stolz. He was confident in his abilities, as athletic as one can be, always scored very well in tests, had leadership qualities, and remained true to himself no matter what.

Secretly, the professor hoped that Frederic would rise to the ranks of the Elite.

As for Januar, the professor took a quick glance at the blushing boy, it would be good if he could successfully form even one card without dying.

"Then let us now begin the transcription."

The students immediately turned away from Januar at these words and pulled white, spotless card blanks from their card pouches.

Nervousness was written all over their faces, and excited whispers now spread throughout the classroom.

All around them, they were speculating about what kind of cards they would get, what they would look like, or what property they would have.

"That's easy for you to say, your card will surely be something cool, some weapon or beast, haha!"

A loud voice laughed and attracted the undivided attention of the class.

"That's right. Frederic is sure to get something totally badass, then he can join 'Purge'!" Another voice added this, which led to a heated discussion about Frederic.

"Stop it, you're exaggerating. My first card won't be much better than yours," Frederic objected, you could hear that he liked the attention a lot, and with a nasty twinkle in his eye he added, "You should be more curious about Jan's card, after all the first cards of his siblings were so special that entries in the card encyclopedia were dedicated to them."

Januar flinched at these words, immediately all attention was focused on him again.

"Pfff, what would he even get? A fork?" Sophie drew her red painted lips into a gloating grin, the whole class laughed out loud at her comment.

Januar was now as red as a tomato, yet he said nothing.

The professor uttered another disappointed sigh before calming the class again and telling them once more how the transcription would be done.

The hand that had hidden Januar's face was secretly clenched into a fist.