The interface was extremely ordinary—just like many typical card gacha games.
The whole screen was very simple. There were only two options:
[10 Diamonds] – Single Pull
[100 Diamonds] – Ten Pull
The gacha screen showed cards as well. A single pull produced one card, while the ten-pull came in the form of a card pack.
There was no pity system, no events, no rate-up banners, no discounted pulls, and no final guaranteed reward.
None of that existed.
Just a dull interface with no probability display—purely based on luck.
It emphasized only one thing: simplicity.
If a big game company saw this, they would probably be shocked. It was such a waste of potential monetization.
But Cao Ye had no other choice.
This system was his only support.
In Orario, there were countless dangers lurking in the shadows.
Just a few days ago, while in the Dungeon, Cao Ye had even been stopped by a group of experienced adventurers trying to rob him.
However, thanks to his unusual constitution, the situation reversed—and they were the ones who ended up dead.
Since he wasn't an official adventurer and hadn't joined any Familia, Cao Ye couldn't go to the Guild to exchange magic stones for valis.
His usual income came from selling monster drop materials, barely enough to keep himself fed.
Fortunately, entering the Dungeon didn't require identity verification.
Otherwise, without belonging to a Familia, Cao Ye wouldn't even be able to enter the Dungeon.
Looking at the Fate card pool before him, Cao Ye took a deep breath.
"Jade Emperor! Buddha! Jesus! Virgin Mary! Please bless me—let me get something good!"
Whoosh—
After finishing his "prayer," Cao Ye decisively started the ten-pull.
A somewhat cheap-looking 3D animation began.
From the void, a card pack appeared. The seal on it was torn open, and several cards flew out, flipping over one after another.
[Black stockings]
[White stockings]
[Flesh-colored stockings]
[Fishnet stockings]
…
Card after card flipped open.
Without exception, they were all different kinds of stockings.
Cao Ye nearly ground his teeth to pieces.
I'm a grown man! What am I supposed to do with this many stockings?!
Come on—seriously?
I tried single pulls hoping for a miracle and got nothing.
Now even the ten-pull is going to be a waste?!
[Projection Magecraft]
"Huh? I—I got something?!"
When the final card flipped over, Cao Ye froze.
Projection Magecraft.
He had actually pulled Projection Magecraft.
Crack—
The card floated out of the interface, then shattered midair into countless particles of light that fell onto Cao Ye's forehead.
In an instant, the knowledge of Projection Magecraft appeared in his mind.
"So this is Projection Magecraft…"
After digesting everything, Cao Ye's lips curled slightly upward.
Projection Magecraft was a technique that used magic power to materialize the image or replica of an object that exists—or once existed—in reality.
Because it was formed from magic power, the projection could not exist for long periods.
Once flaws appeared in the imagined structure, the projection would disperse like mist.
Because of this, it was generally considered an extremely inefficient form of magecraft.
Someone like Emiya Shirou had taken Projection Magecraft to an entirely different level—even projecting Noble Phantasms.
But that didn't mean Projection Magecraft itself was powerful.
It was simply that Shirou's Projection Magecraft was extraordinary, something others could not replicate.
Moreover, what truly made Shirou powerful wasn't Projection Magecraft.
It was his Reality Marble: Unlimited Blade Works.
Projection Magecraft was merely a derived ability of that power.
What Cao Ye had obtained was simply ordinary Projection Magecraft.
After all, he wasn't Emiya Shirou.
"Projection… begin."
[Analyze the concept]
[Construct the basic framework]
[Replicate the material composition]
[Imitate the manufacturing techniques]
[Synchronize accumulated experience]
[Reproduce the passage of time]
[Surpass and complete every process]
[At this moment, the gathered fantasy takes form]
Whoosh—
In the empty air, a sword slowly materialized.
It wasn't anything extraordinary.
Just a normal longsword—the same weapon Cao Ye had used before.
Unfortunately, because he had used it so much, it had worn down badly and finally broke a few days ago.
That sword had originally been something he picked up in the Dungeon.
In Orario, even the cheapest sword wasn't actually cheap.
At least for Cao Ye, buying one required saving up valis for quite a while.
Meanwhile, in the anime—especially in "Sword Oratoria"—people like Ais could replace their weapons for tens of millions of valis.
For Cao Ye, that kind of thing was nothing but a dream.
"The magic consumption is about one-tenth of my reserves… probably because this is just an ordinary weapon."
He swung the sword lightly.
The feel was almost identical to his old weapon, since it had been projected from his own memory.
With this ability, at the very least, he would no longer need to buy weapons or repair them.
For someone as broke as Cao Ye, gaining magecraft was like solving an urgent problem.
After all, fighting monsters in the Dungeon barehanded could easily get you killed.
The only reason Cao Ye had survived until now was because he carried "All the Evil of This World."
He was no longer an ordinary human.
Ordinary injuries could be quickly healed by consuming magic power.
That was the reason he had managed to stay alive in the Dungeon.
Whoosh—
The projected sword suddenly disappeared.
Cao Ye sighed slightly.
After all, he wasn't Emiya Shirou and didn't possess his talent.
He also wasn't originally from the Fate world, and he didn't have magic circuits in his body.
The reason he had magic power at all was because his body had been altered by the black mud, allowing him to generate magic.
But just how far he could go with it—Cao Ye had no idea.
Fortunately, magic power could be improved by absorbing the magic inside magic stones.
However, with his current strength, he could only operate in the upper floors of the Dungeon, so the improvement was minimal.
Sometimes Cao Ye fantasized:
If I could absorb the magic stone of a Floor Boss, how much magic power would I gain?
After all, those magic stones were as big as small hills.
Of course…
That was just a fantasy.
At his current level, a Floor Boss was something he couldn't even think about touching.
Doing so would simply be suicide.
[Name: Cao Ye]
[Current Card Pool: Fate]
[Diamonds: 0]
Great.
His diamonds were back to zero.
Time to start grinding again.
One daily quest gave 10 diamonds.
Ten days meant 100 diamonds.
The efficiency wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't fast either.
"Yaah—! Yaah—!"
At that moment, two goblins spawned from the walls of the Dungeon.
The instant they appeared, they immediately charged toward Cao Ye.
That was the natural instinct of all Dungeon creatures—
a deep hostility toward humans.