The next morning, Xie Mingzhe got up at 7 o’clock and logged into the game before his power leveling partners could wake up.
As soon as he entered the game, he went to his study to create a new version of the Daiyu card. Then he took it to the auction house to test the waters.
There weren’t many players in the game early in the morning and even the square on Aquarius Star was very deserted. Xie Mingzhe entered the auction house, went up the stairs to the second floor and found the Auction Management Center. He pushed open the door and found that the layout was similar to a bank’s branch officer. There were a dozen service windows and rows of identical-looking girls in professional suits and skirts. These were probably intelligent NPCs in the game, providing auction-related services to players.
Several early-rising players were handling their business at the windows. Xie Mingzhe followed their example, walked to an empty window and sat down. The beautiful NPC at the counter immediately smiled. “Hello, how can I help you?”
“I want to auction this card. How do I complete the procedures?” Xie Mingzhe took out his Daiyu card and handed it to her.
The NPC displayed a table on the screen. “Please read the auction process carefully. Ask me if you have any questions.”
Auction Process:
- Players entrust their desired items or stores to the auction center, setting the starting price and minimum winning bid.
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After a system review, the items will enter a queue. The system will notify players of the specific auction time.
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If a sale is made, the auction house will take a 10% commission of the winning bid. During the entrustment period, an additional management fee of 500 gold coins will be charged daily.
He understood everything else, but the second point puzzled Xie Mingzhe. “Do I have to queue for the auction?”
“Currently, there are too many people bidding on cards and stores. Each auction has a time and quantity restriction, so you need to queue.”
Xie Mingzhe nodded in understanding. “Oh, how long is the queue?”
“For cards, it is usually three days.”
Xie Mingzhe continued to ask, “Is there any reference range for the price?”
The NPC said, “This is a one-star card. The reference range for the starting price of a one-star initial card is 100-500 gold coins. Last week’s transaction price range was 1000-5000 gold coins. You can set your ideal starting price and minimum transaction price.”
Xie Mingzhe thought for a moment before entering the prices in the pop-up transparent box: Starting price 3,000 gold coins, minimum transaction price 30,000 gold coins.
The NPC reminded him, “The set price is much higher than the system’s one-star card transaction price. This card might not sell. Do you want to confirm it?”
Xie Mingzhe pressed confirm without hesitation.
It didn’t matter if no one bought it. He was just testing the waters to see how much money he could make selling this card alone.
The cultural background of this world was different from the Earth he lived on and the instant death skill was only recently added to the database. This made him confident that he could sell this Daiyu card for a high price. If this one sold well, he would draw dozens more and open a store to continue selling them.
Opening a store was a wish he had harbored since he first saw the stores being sold at the auction. It should soon come true.
Xie Mingzhe quickly filled out the form and submitted the card.
“Please wait for the system review…”
Xie Mingzhe waited a moment before a line of text appeared on the LCD screen in front of him: The card Lin Daiyu that you have entrusted to the auction house has passed the review and has entered the queue. It is scheduled to be auctioned next Wednesday, August 8th at 8 p.m. Please confirm it.”
Xie Mingzhe pressed confirm and logged off happily.
Just then, Brother Chen came downstairs and saw Xie Mingzhe take off his helmet. Brother Chen asked in surprise, “Xiao Xie, why are you logging into the game so early?”
Xie Mingzhe smiled at him. “I want to study the game. I just started playing and there is a lot I don’t understand.”
Brother Chen walked over and patted him on the shoulder, encouraging him, “Don’t rush. You’ve only been playing for a few days and you’ve already caught up with everyone else’s pace. It is already very impressive. Many people find it difficult to control seven-star cards, but I see you controlling the Storm Goddess and Ice Goddess quite easily.”
Xie Mingzhe was taken aback. “Controlling the seven-star cards is very difficult?” He found controlling them very enjoyable, using the skills precisely and flexibly. He thought everyone else was like that.
Brother Chen chuckled, lit a cigarette and said while smoking, “Why else would there be a difference between professional players and ordinary players? This game requires a lot of mental power. Seven-star cards are difficult to control, especially in the arena where the high number of cards can make your head spin. If you can easily control seven-star cards, you can try playing in the arena or some amateur leagues after you get familiar with the game. Are you interested?”
Xie Mingzhe scratched the back of his head, unsure if Brother Chen’s words were intentional or unintentional. He could only reply, “We’ll see. I will focus on finishing my boosting job first. By the way, has the girl who took leave to get married said when she will return?”
“She will be back after her honeymoon,” Brother Chen said. “She will definitely be back before you start school.”
“Okay.” This way, it would be perfect for both of them. Xie Mingzhe planned to quit his job after this month and have the girl fill his vacancy.
At this time, Chi Qing, Pang Yu and Jin Yue also came downstairs. After having breakfast together, they logged into the game precisely at 8 o’clock and were immediately dragged by Brother Chen to run a dungeon.
Over the next few days, Xie Mingzhe spent his days clearing dungeons and farming materials with the studio’s staff. In his spare time, he considered how to make cards.
The instant death judgment was just one of many skills. Perhaps he could try making other cards as well.
He was slowly developing other card design plans in his mind, such as characters from the Three Kingdoms period like Sun Qian, Liu Bei and Cao Cao. There were also characters from Journey of the West like Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Tang Sanzang. He wanted to put the plan on the agenda. Having a plan would give him more motivation!
Xie Mingzhe thought optimistically.
In any case, he could make countless character cards so there was no rush. For now, he would wait to see the auction results, determining if his approach was correct or not.
What if the Daiyu card sold for a high price and made him, the original designer, famous at the auction? If everyone knew about Half Moon, the original character card designer, he could open a Half Moon Specialty Store and there would be no need to worry about customers.
Economic foundation determined the superstructure. Without money, becoming a freelance designer or competing in competitions would all be a pipe dream. For now, he would accumulate funds step by step. Then opening a store and becoming a boss would be just around the corner.
Three days passed quickly.
For Xie Mingzhe, these were three peaceful days. He spent them clearing dungeons and crafting Daiyu cards. Brother Chen would treat everyone to good food and life was quite comfortable.
However, they were three extremely difficult days for Hongzhu, Huanyue and the others.
The system’s search showed that the number of cards made by Half Moon was increasing daily, but his cards could no longer be found on the black market. Hongzhu worried that he was crafting a bunch of Daiyu cards to sell to various cards while Huanyue was worried he would realize his card making talent and refuse to join the Judgment Club.
The emails sent to him vanished without a trace, with no response at all.
Xie Mingzhe hadn’t developed the habit of checking emails. It was partly due to the sheer number of players in the game. In order to prevent players from being harassed by various advertisements, the official rules prohibited strangers from sending voice or text messages directly. Private chats had to be done via email, and players had to add each other as friends before they could communicate privately.
Every day, he would log in and immediately clear dungeons with Brother Chen, leaving him with no time to check his emails. Exhausted after a day of dungeons, he would return to his apartment and bury himself in his study, working on card drawing. This left even less time for emails. He rarely went to the living room. Plus, he previously turned off the living room’s notification sound because he found it too noisy. He hadn’t even noticed the flashing icons for new emails.
Thus, Wednesday evening arrived.
After dinner, Xie Mingzhe logged on early after resting. The dungeon started at 9 o’clock, giving him an hour of free time. He went straight to the auction house, wanting to see for himself if anyone would buy his Daiyu card.
In a corner of the auction hall, a young man with a string of random characters as his ID sat. He even had the system’s default Number 1 face.
Xie Mingzhe naturally didn’t notice him.
During prime time that evening, the auction hall on the fifth floor was packed.
Xie Mingzhe sat in the crowd, his eyes fixed on the LCD screen in front of him.
At exactly 8 o’clock, the doors of the hall closed, all the lights went out and the NPC auctioneer came to the stage, smiling as he said, “Good evening, distinguished guests. Tonight’s auction is about to begin. First, let’s announce the auction list…”
The screen displayed only cards. There was one level 70 seven-star card, two level 50 five-star cards, three level 40 four-star cards and one level 1 one-star card.
Seeing this list, the surrounding audience became somewhat agitated, whispers entering their ears. “How can there be a level 1 card?”
”How lazy is this person? Couldn’t they upgrade the card before selling it?”
“Why come to the auction house instead of selling trash level 1 cards on the black market?”
”Maybe it is a top-tier initial card with exceptionally good stats, so it is auctioned off directly?”
”The chances of getting a top-tier card are rare, right?”
The host interrupted the discussion. “Next, we will auction this level 1 one-star card. The creator of this card is a newcomer and this is his first time auctioning his work. His logo is quite unique. You can see it on the back of the card.”
The back of the one-star card was completely undecorated and looked very plain.
Therefore, the logo in the lower right corner stood out clearly.
Half Moon.
The audience was completely bewildered. What type of name was this? Put together, it just meant Chubby.
Sitting in the corner, Tang Muzhou smiled slightly. ‘I’ve been waiting for you for days. You’ve finally appeared, Chubby Uncle!’
Upon seeing this logo, the card expert sent by the Judgment Guild to the auction house immediately messaged Huanyue privately. “Guild Leader, Half Moon’s card has appeared at the auction!”
Huanyue decisively replied, “Get this card no matter the cost!”
The Fenghua Guild also received the message. “Sister Hongzhu, Half Moon’s card has appeared at the auction. What should we do?”
Hongzhu hurriedly replied, “God Tang’s alt account is there. Just watch and don’t cause trouble!”
She was very uneasy. Could this Chubby guy have taken Daiyu’s card to auction? Could Sister Xue’s jinx have come true?
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