Atop the rooftop of a luxurious mansion in the city,

  a girl with jet-black hair gazed through her telescope, carefully observing the stars scattered across the night sky.

  She was so immersed in her own world that she didn't notice anything else around her.

  "Six participants have been confirmed. The Desire Battle will begin in two days,"

  Ursa suddenly appeared, floating right in front of the telescope and completely blocking her view.

  "Move,"

  the girl said sharply, her voice cold and cutting.

  "You're blocking my sight."

  "I’ll be sending the schedules, locations, and brackets to everyone's phones. Thank you for your attention!"

  Ursa cheerfully announced before floating away.

  "Annoying plush toy,"

  the girl muttered under her breath.

  Next to her, resting casually on a small table,

  was a Guide Rise card.

  The illustration on the card depicted a woman clad in jet-black armor, with twin black wings and a massive scythe in her hands—

  as if ready to cut down anyone foolish enough to stand in her way.

  ***

  Vio and Liora sat across from each other at a table, a colorful playmat covering its surface.

  After hearing that Liora was interested in playing Guide Rise, Vio had confidently offered to teach her.

  "Alright, first things first—let's pick the Path you want to play,"

  Vio said as she placed six deck boxes onto the table.

  "In Guide Rise, there are six Paths."

  She pointed to each one in turn.

  "Lantern focuses on healing Life Points. It's all about healing mechanics and cards that raise or lower ATK."

  "Mirror specializes in turning the tables—transforming your opponent's strengths into weaknesses and flipping the outcome of their plays."

  "Chalice is great for beginners. It's an aggressive style, summoning lots of followers with high ATK and boost cards."

  "Fortress is all about defense. You'll summon tons of followers to create walls, dealing damage through card abilities rather than attacks."

  "Silence—true to its name—shuts your opponent down, trapping them in stillness and restricting their movements during battle."

  "And last, Enlightenment. This Path is about adapting to any situation. Sounds amazing on paper because it can generate Omni Points by itself, but the cards are extremely situational. Honestly, I don't recommend it for beginners."

  "So,"

  Vio spread her arms wide dramatically,

  "Which one will you pick, Lia?"

  Liora paused for a moment. Then, without a word, she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a single card.

  It was the card the girl in the sailor uniform had given her.

  Frontier Guide – Truth Scholar, Dorothy.

  A woman who mastered ancient magics, a pioneer who laid the foundation for modern sorcery.

  A relentless seeker of truth, unraveling the mysteries of the universe—an ever-curious scholar.

  Liora showed the card to Vio, whose eyes went as wide as saucers.

  "This—! This just dropped yesterday!"

  Vio exclaimed, her voice high with excitement.

  "Wait—no way!"

  "I’ve never seen this illustration before! The Dorothy art they announced yesterday wasn’t like this at all!"

  "Don't tell me... is this a secret art version?! They did say they were releasing a few secret arts, but still—for you to have one, Lia..."

  "Where did you get this?!"

  Bombarded with questions, Liora could only sigh.

  There was no way she could explain the insane things that had happened to her—

  the talking polar bear plush, the tournament with a prize that could grant any wish, or the mysterious sailor-uniformed girl who vanished into thin air.

  It was just too absurd.

  "Someone gave it to me,"

  Liora answered simply, not offering any further details.

  Vio stared at her for a moment, as if sensing there was much more beneath the surface.

  But instead of pressing further, she smiled gently.

  "Alright then, let’s get back to the lesson."

  "The main deck in Guide Rise must have exactly 40 cards—no more, no less,"

  Vio explained as she swept aside the unused decks cluttering the table.

  She grabbed a deck and placed the stack of cards in the lower right zone of the playmat.

  "This is where you place your deck."

  Following her example, Liora placed her stack neatly into the same spot.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Next," Vio continued, pulling a card from her jacket pocket.

  It was sleeved in a custom, deep-purple case adorned with a starry pattern.

  "You choose your Guide."

  "Guide?" Liora tilted her head.

  "Your Guide is a special unit. Think of it as the leader of your deck."

  Liora nodded thoughtfully. She lifted the card she had been holding.

  "Then this will be my Guide."

  For some reason, Vio suddenly looked... uneasy. Her expression tightened awkwardly.

  "Lia, could you... lend me that card for just a second?"

  she asked, her voice strangely tense, her eyes sharp and serious.

  Without questioning it too much, Liora handed her the card.

  The moment Vio received it, she sprinted toward the counter like a woman on a mission.

  She started rummaging furiously through the drawers.

  Barely three minutes later, Vio returned, holding the card out to Liora again.

  Now it was sleeved in a plain, solid-black case.

  "I just couldn't stand seeing a rare card like that without a sleeve,"

  Vio huffed.

  "You can grab the rest of the sleeves later if you want."

  "Thank you…" Liora said, still a bit puzzled. "But, I didn’t—"

  BAM!

  Vio slammed her fist onto the table, making Liora jump.

  "Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you say it again?"

  Vio asked, fixing her with a piercing glare that brooked zero negotiation.

  "...Thank you,"

  Liora quickly corrected herself.

  "You're welcome,"

  Vio replied brightly, smiling as if nothing had happened.

  Vio let out a long breath.

  "Alright, let's start the lesson."

  "To begin the game, extend your hand forward, holding your card face-down,"

  Vio demonstrated smoothly as she spoke.

  "Then, do this—"

  "Guide, Stand By!"

  Vio flipped her card over, revealing her Guide.

  A towering, black robot with an imposing figure was illustrated on it.

  "After revealing your Guide, announce the Path and your Guide’s name,"

  she continued.

  "Path of Fortress!

  Mechanical Champion, Automax–TwiceB!"

  "You and your opponent should do this at the same time."

  Liora nodded and held her card face-down, mimicking Vio’s movement.

  "Guide, Stand By!"

  "Path of Enlightenment!

  Truth Scholar, Dorothy!"

  A white-haired sorceress holding an ancient spellbook was beautifully illustrated on Liora’s card.

  "Nice job!"

  Vio praised her, smiling brightly.

  "Now, place your Guide in the upper left zone of the field.

  That's called the Guide Zone,"

  Vio explained while placing her Guide carefully, and Liora did the same.

  "At the start of the game, each player draws four cards from their deck,"

  Vio said, drawing four cards, and Liora followed suit.

  "A player’s turn always begins with a draw.

  Since this is just a practice match, I'll go first."

  "Draw!"

  Vio pulled the top card from her deck.

  "After the draw, we enter the Generate Phase,"

  Vio continued, placing a blank card outside the play area.

  "This blank card will act as your Omni Point marker."

  "Omni Point?"

  Liora tilted her head, confused.

  "Omni Points—or OP for short—are your main resource, alongside your cards,"

  Vio explained patiently.

  "You need to pay OP according to the cost listed on a card to play it."

  "The maximum amount of OP increases each turn, but it caps at ten.

  For example, on your second turn, your OP limit becomes two, and it keeps rising until it stops at ten."

  "After the Generate Phase, we move into Main Phase 1."

  "Main Phase 1?"

  Liora echoed.

  Vio nodded.

  "Main Phase 1 is the most important phase.

  It’s where you start building your strategy before moving into the Battle Phase."

  "Guide Call!"

  Vio declared, picking up her Guide from the Guide Zone and placing it onto the center slot of the field.

  "The three front squares are called the Battle Zone.

  You can place your units—called Followers—there."

  "The three squares behind them are the Support Zone.

  We'll cover that later."

  "You might've noticed,"

  Vio said with a grin,

  "I didn’t spend any OP to summon my Guide.

  Guides are special Followers that can be summoned for free."

  "And now—!"

  Vio tapped the OP marker.

  "By paying 1 OP,

  I summon Minbot, Cyrex!"

  "A player who goes first isn’t allowed to enter the Battle Phase,"

  Vio explained.

  "Since I can’t battle, I also can't proceed to Main Phase 2."

  "So my turn ends here."

  Liora nodded as she watched Vio’s demonstration.

  The explanation was easy to follow.

  "Pretty simple..."

  "Alright, it’s your turn now,"

  Vio said, prompting her.

  "Draw!"

  Liora drew a card from the top of her deck.

  "Generate Phase! OP limit increase! I generate 2 OP!"

  she declared confidently.

  "Main Phase!"

  "Guide Call!"

  "Dorothy, enter the field!"

  "By paying 2 OP, I activate Dorothy’s ability!"

  "I activate a Fixed Support directly from my deck: Omni-Generator!"

  Hearing that, Vio stiffened.

  Wait—this starting move sounded exactly like the current tournament meta.

  "Hold up! Liora, this is your first time playing, right?!"

  "...?"

  Liora tilted her head in confusion.

  "When you explained it earlier,

  I took the time to read through some of the effects in my deck,"

  Liora answered calmly.

  "So, I kind of figured out the basic strategy."

  "Seriously...?"

  Vio asked, staring at her in disbelief.

  Liora responded with a small, modest nod.

  Vio rubbed her temples—

  who would've thought she was teaching a prodigy?

  "I activate Omni-Generator!

  By discarding as many cards as I want,

  I can generate 1 OP for every two cards discarded!"

  Liora continued.

  She paused, unsure of where to put her discarded cards.

  Vio pointed to the space above the Main Deck zone.

  "Cards you discard or that are defeated in battle go into the Rest Zone,"

  she clarified.

  "I see."

  "Next, I pay 1 OP to activate the support card: Thunder Blast!"

  "All followers on your field are destroyed!"

  "Tch..."

  Vio clicked her tongue and moved Cyrex to the Rest Zone.

  Her Guide returned to the Guide Zone.

  "When a follower is destroyed, it goes to the Rest Zone.

  But a Guide just returns to the Guide Zone—you can summon it again later."

  "I’ll keep that in mind,"

  Liora said firmly.

  "Battle!"

  "Ugh...?"

  Liora hesitated.

  There was nothing left on Vio’s field.

  What was she supposed to attack?

  "If your opponent’s field is empty, you can deal Direct Damage,"

  Vio said, noticing Liora’s confusion.

  "Life Points—or LP—only drop when you do direct damage.

  If your opponent’s LP hits zero, you win the game."

  "Oh..."

  Finally, Liora grasped the true objective of Guide Rise.

  "Dorothy, Direct Damage!"

  Vio smiled at Liora.

  For some reason, she could faintly see a pure, happy expression blooming on Liora’s face.

  "Almost forgot to mention—starting LP is 8,000.

  Your Guide’s ATK is 2,500,"

  Vio added.

  "So my LP drops to 5,500."

  "And now..."

  Vio declared,

  "it’s time to get serious."

  The atmosphere around Vio sharpened instantly,

  intense and heavy with intimidation.

  Liora felt the shift too.

  She instinctively straightened up, her expression turning serious.

  So this is Vio... as a real Guide Rise player,

  Liora thought.

  "My turn!

  Draw!"