Translator: Star River
Proofreader: Rhith
[Wu Song] (Fire)
Card Level: 1
Evolution Level: ★
Available Times of Use: 1/1
Base Attributes: Health 300, Defense 300, Attack 300, Agility 10, Critical Strike Chance 20%
Additional Skill: Wu Song Slaying the Tiger (Wu Song throws punches at the tiger’s head to cause huge damage to it. Has a 15% chance of triggering the instant death effect.)
This card’s attributes were much better than [Lin Daiyu]. [Lin Daiyu]’s Base Health was 100, Defense 15 and Attack 0. While [Wu Song]’s Health was 300, its Defense and Attack were 300, which were over ten times more than [Lin Daiyu]’s. But its Additional Skill was only targeted at tiger cards, so it couldn’t be widely applied. However its base attributes were high, and [Wu Song] looked particularly handsome. [Lin Daiyu] could be sold for 30 gold coins, so [Wu Song] should sell for a higher price?
Xie Mingzhe decided to take his card to the black market first to figure out the market price. If the card sold well, then he would come back and create a few more.
When he arrived at the black market, he found a stall named “High Prices for Collectible Beauty Cards” at the entrance, where many people were selling beauty cards. The purchase price seemed to be at least 50 gold coins. His [Lin Daiyu] cards had all been sold out, so he ignored the stall and went deeper into the black market.
The black market was a place where there were talented individuals in hiding. There were many supposedly ‘normal’ businessmen, but, in truth, they may have support from major clubs in the game. In particular, the business of those large-scale stalls, that purchased cards, was no worse than the shops in the prime location of the central square.
Xie Mingzhe went around, trying to figure out the selling price for cards that have similar attributes as [Wu Song]. After gaining the knowledge of the market price, he arrived at a stall named “Purchase Cards with High Attributes”. He handed the [Wu Song] that he had just made, to the stall owner, “Hi, what do you think about this card? How much is it worth?”
The owner took it and looked at it, saying, “Its attributes are very balanced, and the Additional Skill is common, so it has limited usefulness. Such a balanced card can not be sold for a high price. The purchase price for this one-star card is about 50 gold coins.”
Xie Mingzhe smiled, and took the card back, “You’re just fooling me because I’m a low-level newbie? Forget it, I will go to another stall.”
Xie Mingzhe did not want to have dealings with such a wily merchant. It was okay to buy a card that was worth 100 gold coins for 70 gold coins. But this stall owner only offered a price of 50 gold coins. Did he regard others as fools? Xie Mingzhe had learned that cards, with base attributes similar to [Wu Song], could be sold for 100 gold coins, give or take, at other stalls nearby.
Xie Mingzhe, deaf to the stall owner’s call, took the card back and turned to another stall.
The owner of this stall was a cute little girl wearing a princess dress. She said with a sweet voice, “Uncle Chubby, do you want to sell original cards?”
“Yes. Have a look at it.” Xie Mingzhe handed the card to her. The little girl said, “This card’s base attributes are balanced. I’m willing to make a generous offer of 100 gold coins.”
“Isn’t that a little bit low? This one-star card has 300 Attack. If it is upgraded to seven stars, its Attack can reach tens of thousands. It also has an instant death effect on tiger cards,” Xie Mingzhe tried to sell his card, “how about 140 gold coins?”
“…” This player was eloquent and his words were reasonable. The stall owner nodded after thinking for a while, “OK. 140 gold coins then!”
Nebula paper only cost 7 gold coins, and now the card was sold for 140 cold coins, which was 20 times the former. He would make a fortune!
Xie Mingzhe was delirious with joy, but he pretended to be calm. After selling the card to the stall owner, he asked with a smile, “I’m the designer of this card, so I can make more [Wu Song] cards. Do you want more? If you do, we can establish a long-term cooperation and you can buy in bulk. I can give you a discount.”
The stall owner waved her hands, feeling a headache, “You really have a silver tongue. But I don’t want to buy in bulk. Thank you.”
Feeling disappointed, Xie Mingzhe turned around and left.
***
Can Yang wandered through the black market to hunt for some distinctive cards, but, after a long time, he had yet to gain anything. When he pa.s.sed by Shuang Shuang’s stall, he stopped and asked, “How is business recently?”
Shuang Shuang had set up the stall, to purchase cards in the black market, just for her Shifu today. Actually, she only had a limited understanding of cards. She thought [Wu Song] was special, so she bought one. Seeing that the vice president visited in person, she replied respectfully, “Everything is going well. Vice President, I bought one distinctive card just now. Here it is.” She pa.s.sed the [Wu Song] card to Can Yang.
Can Yang observed the card carefully. This card’s base attributes, including Attack, Defense and Health, were balanced. This kind of card was only third-rate. The Additional Skill… Wu Song Slaying the Tiger (Wu Song throws punches at the tiger’s head to cause huge damage to it. Has a 15% chance of triggering the instant death effect.)
Can Yang’s pupils contracted sharply, and his fingers also grasped the card with great force——
A skill of instant death that was against tiger cards! If legend Nie encountered this card in PK, his white tiger card would be easily defeated.
Immediately, Can Yang’s breathing became more rapid. He looked around and felt a little relieved when he found no acquaintances nearby. Then he lowered his voice, and whispered to Shuang Shuang, “Who sold you this card?”
Shuang Shuang said, “A level 15 beginner named Uncle Chubby. He said the card was designed by himself.”
Can Yang’s voice trembled, “You know him, right? Hurry up, find him and call him back!”
Shuang Shuang looked blank, “What do you want him for?”
Can Yang said, “Just tell him that we want to buy his cards in bulk. Bring him to our club!”
Shuang Shuang was aware of the seriousness of the situation, so after handing over the stall to her fellow club member, who had set up a stall beside hers, she rushed to chase Xie Mingzhe.
She chased all the way through the black market, and saw a familiar fat uncle in front of her. She immediately shouted, “Uncle Chubby, wait a minute…”
But before she finished her words, that person opened the portal and returned to his apartment directly.
There were countless apartments on Gemini. An address was included under a players’ privacy. Unless the other side actively informed you of their house number, it was impossible to find out where he lived; it was just like looking for a needle in a haystack. In order to avoid players being hara.s.sed, only nearby players and friends could have private voice chat in the game. One could only send emails when the other side was not around.
Shuang Shuang remembered his name, so she sent an email to convey Can Yang’s words to him.
However, Uncle Chubby went offline and left the game, just as the email was sent.
Because the game studio’s boss, brother Chen, personally called Xie Mingzhe to eat.