The card in Deckard’s hand sucked in his newest target.

  This was the last of the ten starfish Ronan had asked him to capture back when he was drafting them. Deckard had captured them all again, albeit in a different way. Like all the others, it was a common card—barely playable. However, given the regeneration keyword, he could see its potential in certain decks.

  Especially in the beginning, his deck would contain both strong cards and plenty of fillers. If he could use the starfish as discard fodder and later resurrect them into play, they might prove useful. It was too early to tell what exact strategy the starfish cards would serve, but he was glad to have options for future deck-building.

  Additionally, after capturing ten starfish from Ronan’s list and two others he’d found along the way, his HP regeneration had increased to 1.4 HP per second. He could now recover a full HP bar in 70 seconds. As far as he could tell, it wasn’t half bad.

  Deckard had been wading through the water for hours, confident that he’d found every starfish in the area. He glanced out toward the horizon. At least, he’d found everything at this depth. Just in case, he decided to venture a little deeper. Maybe there were more starfish hidden further down.

  He walked until the water reached his chest. The surf made it difficult to see the bottom, so he instinctively reached to take off his glasses before he dove, only to remember he wasn’t in the real world. His vision was flawless in AstroTerra. Chuckling at himself for forgetting, he took a breath and dove his head into the salty, cool water.

  Beneath the surface, he noticed clusters of rock formations. He focused on them, scanning for starfish, but found nothing. Then, something different caught his eye: a series of sharp, fan-shaped shells clung to a rock, resisting the current’s pull. They jutted from the stone in strange formations, almost like teeth, their edges ready to bite.

  This was the first time Deckard had noticed this kind of creature—likely because it was his first time examining an underwater rock closely in-game. He studied them for a few long moments, and then, as expected, a notification appeared.

  You’ve observed blue mussels.

  Your understanding of them grows.

  So, I can capture these too, Deckard thought excitedly. Given that he now had some understanding, Deckard grabbed a card and pointed it at the clams.

  Subdimensionalize!

  The card shone brightly, and the clams disappeared, captured in one go.

  He twisted his mouth in disappointment. “Well, that’s underwhelming.” With its low attack boost, the blue mussel card was hardly powerful. He stowed it in his repository anyway.

  Collection updated!

  +0.1% damage resistance.

  “Cool. Looks like clams raise defense,” he mused, feeling optimistic about the new possibilities this might bring.

  Now that Deckard had found one clam, he kept his eyes peeled for more.

  “Starfish or clams. Come on! Daddy needs starfish or clams,” Deckard muttered as he scanned the ocean floor.

  He kept finding more mussels but nothing else of interest. Deciding to venture a bit further, he waded until the water reached his neck. Here, he found more rocks. Scanning the formations, he spotted a few mussels and recognized some of the same starfish he’d seen roaming the shallower waters. Then, just beneath a ledge, he noticed something different—a royal starfish nestled against a clam, half-buried in the sand.

  The shell was smooth and rounded, and its pale surfaces shimmered faintly in the watery light. Deckard dove down, picking up both starfish and clam and brought them over to the surface for a better look.

  You find a surf clam.

  Your understanding of it grows.

  You’ve watched a surf clam fighting for its life.

  Your understanding of it grows.

  “Sorry, starfish. This one’s mine.” Deckard chuckled, yanking it away from the shell and throwing it into the water. He pulled out a card and pointed it at the clam.

  Capture successful!

  “Alright! Second clam. Let’s go!” Deckard tucked the card away and continued his search, but the game’s system had other plans.

  You’ve run out of breath. Return to the surface, or you will die.

  You’re out of energy. You receive [Exhausted] debuff.

  -90% movement speed.

  -1

  -2

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Deckard surfaced promptly. His energy bar had hit zero without him noticing. “So, being underwater consumes energy. And after I run out, I start losing health. Bothersome but fair,” he noted.

  With no choice but to wait, Deckard trudged through the water as his energy bar filled at a snail’s pace. After a few minutes, he dove back in, resuming his hunt.

  At the edge of his vision, something caught his attention. Squinting, he thought he saw a large, flat rock a bit further out, deeper into the ocean. Drawn by curiosity, Deckard swam toward it, glancing at his energy bar. Swimming seemed to consume even more energy than keeping his head underwater, but he pressed forward.

  Once he was close enough, he dove to get a clearer view. It wasn’t a rock at all. It was a starfish—but unlike any he’d seen before. With wide, sprawling limbs, it seemed almost otherworldly, each arm flexing and pulsing in sync with the others as it moved. Counting quickly, Deckard noted it had at least twenty arms, each stretching out like the rays of a sun. The creature’s core pulsed slowly as though driving the limbs forward with purpose, making it almost hypnotic to watch.

  Deckard’s eyes followed its trajectory as it slid along the seabed, graceful despite its size, until he spotted another starfish fleeing just a meter away. So, this one hunts smaller starfish, he mused, thrilled at the prospect of capturing a powerful new card. He frowned as he realized there was no notification yet. Can this card even be captured? After half a minute, a notification finally appeared:

  You’ve observed a sunflower sea star chase prey.

  Your understanding grows.

  Satisfied, Deckard surfaced to open his repository. A rough sketch of the creature now decorated the nanite-made pages. Alright, I can capture it. Must be a higher-grade card if it took that long to register.

  It made sense if this creature was an apex predator. Judging from his experience, he doubted he’d capture it on the first try, so he resolved to be patient, keeping a close watch on the sunflower sea star.

  In the short time he’d spent above water, the sunflower sea star had closed in on its prey. Deckard watched with growing fascination as the larger predator reached the smaller starfish, which twisted and squirmed in an attempt to escape. The sunflower’s many arms wrapped around it slowly, engulfing the smaller starfish whole.

  You observe the sunflower sea star consuming a seven-armed starfish.

  Your understanding of it grows.

  Just like with the Coconut Seagull, each new action he observed added to his understanding. I’m starting to get the hang of this.

  The sunflower sea star paused for a moment, its arms shifting and fidgeting as it digested its meal. Deckard used the opportunity to lift his head above water, regaining his energy. When he looked back down, the sunflower sea star had resumed moving, leaving behind only a pile of small bones.

  “Gross,” Deckard muttered, shuddering but still curious. He continued to follow the massive creature as it roamed, and then its aimless drifting stopped. It had locked onto a new target, and Deckard’s eyes followed its path toward a small, round shape. Covered in sharp, needle-like spines, it moved cautiously across the sand, its spines occasionally shivering.

  What is that? Deckard wondered. He decided to wait for the system to answer, watching as the spiky creature’s crawl quickened as the sunflower approached.

  You’ve observed the sea urchin moving underwater.

  Your understanding grows.

  You’ve observed the sea urchin evading a predator.

  Your understanding grows.

  “So, it’s a sea urchin,” Deckard murmured. He’d heard of them before, though he didn’t know much. Now, he faced a choice: capture the creature or let the sunflower sea star continue its hunt so he could gain further understanding of it.

  “Well, the sunflower sea star isn’t going anywhere. And it did just lead me to a brand-new card,” he thought with a grin as he readied a card and captured the sea urchin.

  Subdimensionalize!

  Capture successful.

  You’ve run out of breath. Return to the surface, or you will die.

  You’re out of energy. You receive [Exhausted] debuff.

  -90% movement speed.

  -1

  -2

  Deckard gasped, releasing a cloud of bubbles, and went back to the surface. When he used the skill, he’d used up all his remaining energy! “Yikes. I have to be more careful with that!”

  He studied the new card in his hand.

  After a couple of minutes, Deckard dove back in. After its prey mysteriously disappeared, the sunflower sea star resumed its aimless roaming, searching for its next unfortunate victim.

  After a couple of minutes, it found another target. This time, it was a clam that Deckard already had in his collection, so he simply observed as the sunflower hunted it down.

  You’ve observed a sunflower sea star devour a mussel.

  Your understanding of it grows.

  The sunflower sea star resumed roaming again, and Deckard swam eagerly after it as it ventured into deeper waters.

  “Let’s go, sunflower! Show me more cards!”

  *

  It had been an hour since Deckard started trailing the sunflower sea star, and patience had paid off. He’d captured three new types of starfish and four additional types of clams. Some had eluded him earlier, their small size or perfect camouflage against the rocks, making them nearly invisible. The clams, in particular, had been a challenge to spot. Deckard grinned at the idea of putting a leash on the sunflower sea star, using it as his personal hunting companion.

  Just like the dogs they use at the airport to sniff out drugs and explosives, he mused with a chuckle.

  The sunflower sea star began homing in on yet another target. Deckard followed its path, only to discover it was yet another sea urchin—the fifth in a row. He sighed, realizing it was time to wrap things up.

  A vibrant, detailed picture in his repository now matched the sunflower sea star perfectly. It shouldn’t be a problem to capture it now. Deckard readied a card, pointed it at the massive predator, and whispered to himself, “So, like I mentioned—a leash.”

  In one swift motion, Deckard activated the card, and the sunflower sea star was drawn in without resistance. His high understanding of the creature had made it an easy capture. Eagerly, he picked up the new card, his anticipation mounting as its stats began to materialize. Then he froze, his eyes widening.

  It was…not a common card. It was his first rare card! Even better, it had a powerful effect—one that could tie his whole deck together. Suddenly, all the other starfish cards he’d collected had found their purpose.

  This is the card that makes all the other starfish…viable.

  He drooled as he thought of the card entering the field, becoming a huge creature, and winning him the game.

  Deckard’s grin stretched wide. This was the most excitement he’d felt in AstroTerra so far. Sure, defense boosts and HP regeneration had their appeal, but there was nothing quite like finding a truly playable card that could change his whole strategy. This was what he had joined AstroTerra for, after all.

  Carefully, he slid the card into his repository. As he did, he felt a slight shift—a ripple of energy pulsed through the repository, and something unexpected happened.

  Pre-order on Amazon for only a dollar.