MSC: Chapter 24

After returning to his personal space, Tang Muzhou took out fifteen Agility Enhancement Cards from the display case and fed them to Daiyu. Daiyu’s original agility of 85 was forcibly increased to 100. He handed the enhanced card to Xie Mingzhe and said, “All cards in the game have their attributes enhanced later on, but the production quantity of these enhanced white cards is limited and they are very expensive. For example, one of these Agility Enhancement Cards costs 5,000 gold coins.”

In other words, he just spent materials worth tens of thousands of gold coins to enhance the Daiyu card. This experimental maniac really didn’t blink an eye when using materials.

Xie Mingzhe took the enhanced Daiyu card and followed him again with complicated feelings.

The two of them arrived at the arena in the Phoenix star region.

The moment the countdown ended, Xie Mingzhe immediately summoned Daiyu and unleashed her skill. Daiyu stretched out her slender hand and threw slender petals. The moment the petals touched the Night Blooming Jasmine illusion, they instantly killed the full health flower.

Daiyu’s skill was indeed powerful once it took effect.

Xie Mingzhe was visiting the arena for the first time, so he was deeply shocked by the scene before him.

The next moment, Tang Muzhou took out another tree-type card, a banyan tree. A massive banyan tree with incredibly thick branches stood there, exuding an imposing aura. The Night Blooming Jasmine beside it appeared small and delicate.

“Again,” Tang Muzhou said.

“Should I use the Daiyu card to instantly kill your Night Blooming Jasmine again?”

“Yes, let’s give it a try.”

Five seconds remained on the countdown, and the match began.

Following his previous method, Xie Mingzhe instantly summoned Lin Daiyu the moment the countdown reached zero. She immediately activated the Daiyu Burying the Flowers skill and targeted the jasmine. Almost simultaneously, he saw the banyan tree’s branches suddenly unfurl, forming a huge, light green protective shield around it, large enough to block out the sun. Under the light, this thin shield resembled a large green bubble, looking extremely beautiful.

The Night Blooming Jasmine was perfectly fine inside the shield. It didn’t die.

Xie Mingzhe quickly realized, “Was it the banyan tree’s protective skill that blocked Daiyu’s instant death judgment?”

“That’s right.” Tang Muzhou was impressed that this guy understood so quickly and his tone became much gentler. “The divine tree’s protection grants all allies within range immunity to all control and damage for 5 seconds. My banyan tree also has 100 agility, so it can use its skills at the same time as your Daiyu. However, the arena has a specific skill resolution order.”

Tang Muzhou opened the combat panel’s records and explained, “You see, defensive and healing skills are activated first, control and instant death skills are activated second and offensive skills last. Your Daiyu Burying the Flowers was blocked by the banyan tree’s protective skill, so it lost its effect.”

“Moreover, you were able to kill the Night Blooming Jasmine in the second round because I deliberately gave you a 0.3 second advantage. Otherwise, even if your Daiyu card had 100 agility and we fought one-on-one, you might not have been able to kill my flower card. It is because my predictive awareness is better than yours and my attack speed is faster. In the arena, the speed and timing of attacks are crucial. You don’t know how to play in the arena and you can’t master this rhythm.”

Xie Mingzhe had truly learned something new. He realized there were so many rules in the arena he didn’t understand. He had countless novel card-making ideas in his head, but his understanding of the card world was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Instant death cards aren’t invincible. A skilled player can predict your move and prevent you from using an instant death skill. These cards aren’t used directly. They are used to exploit gaps in your opponent’s skills at crucial moments in the game, delivering a surprise kill as a tactical card.” Tang Muzhou explained gently. “I’m telling you this so you understand that a truly excellent card maker needs more than novel ideas. You also need to have a clear understanding of the various rules of the arena. Only then will your cards be truly useful.”

“I understand. Thank you, Master!” Xie Mingzhe’s gratitude was heartfelt.

The other person had personally brought him to the arena today, helping him understand many things. His imagination was truly boundless, but the cards he created weren’t necessarily effective. He had to be a master of the arena himself to create high-quality cards.

‘Only those who understand cards can make good cards!’

Tang Muzhou led him back to the Qianlin Restaurant to continue their conversation.

“Is the agility attribute of a card similar to the casting speed of skills in online games? 100 agility means instant skill casting while lower agility means longer casting time, right?” Xie Mingzhe asked.

“Yes,” Tang Muzhou said with a smile. “Instant death cards must be instant cast, so the initial agility attribute must reach 30 and it must reach 100 at the maximum level. Only then will it become a truly qualified instant death card. Otherwise, your card will be completely useless against experts. Currently, your instant death card is being fought over by various guilds because this type of card is too rare. Once it circulates in large quantities later, it will just be a tactical card and its price will definitely plummet. You can make some instant death cards first, learn more card-making techniques, try allocating card basic data and maximize the agility. Then try to make a complete deck later.”

“Yes.” Xie Mingzhe nodded seriously.

This expert’s guidance completely overturned his understanding of the card values.

He used to think that cards with high health, defense and attack were good cards. Now he understood that for a utility card like Daiyu, health and defense were irrelevant. The key was only two things: agility and additional skills.

Similarly, control cards needed to stack agility for a quick victory and strong control first. If he wanted a battle of attrition or a defensive counterattack, he should stack health. For attack cards, the key was naturally to stack attack. The other attributes didn’t need to be too high since attack cards usually only acted when there were protective cards available. Protective cards naturally needed high health to act as the tank in the deck.

Protective cards, control cards, healing cards, damage cards, some special utility cards, tactical cards…

A good deck needed to balance all aspects of the data.

Instant death cards were just a ‘surprise attack’ tactical card in the arena.

He still had a long way to go before building a complete deck. He still needed to keep learning.

Xie Mingzhe was very grateful to the experts he had met in the past few days .God Nie and God Lan had frankly explained the function of instant death cards to him. If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t have realized his talent and potential so quickly. Today, this master with the numerical ID personally took him to the arena, making him understand the importance of the agility attribute and the concept of deck design.

He was extremely excited and couldn’t wait to return to his personal space to create more cards.

Tang Muzhou saw Chubby Uncle thinking intently with his head down and he couldn’t help asking, “How’s your decision about becoming my apprentice? We talked for so long and I personally took you to the arena to demonstrate. My skill level should be qualified to be your master, right?”

Xie Mingzhe came back to his senses and scratched his head. “God Tang is joking. How could I dare to accept you as my master?”

Tang Muzhou, “……”

Being exposed like this was really not a good feeling!

Tang Muzhou was silent for a moment before asking with some doubt, “How did you guess?”

Xie Mingzhe replied, “The system’s default face, the random digit ID, the restaurant’s decor full of vines and greenery, expertise in plant-based cards and terrifyingly strong arena awareness—The only one I can think of with all these things is Tang Muzhou, the strongest among wood-type players.”

He had just seen the side accounts of the two masters, Nie Yuandao and Shan Lan, a few days ago. Today, he saw this wealthy player, 7456789. Xie Mingzhe had initially suspected that this might be the alternative account of a professional player.

It was only after this period of contact that he dared to confirm the other person’s identity. Plant expertise, a numerical ID, a top expert, someone who followed him and bought all the Daiyu cards, and he had a Night Blooming Jasmine card. Who could it be except Tang Muzhou?

Xie Mingzhe answered frankly. To his surprise, the other person also readily admitted it.

Tang Muzhou smiled slightly. “Since you’ve guessed my identity, why are you refusing my offer to be your master? With a master like me guiding you, your future will be much easier than others, whether you become a professional designer or a professional gamer.”

Xie Mingzhe honestly said, “Thank you for your kindness, God Tang. Actually, I’ve met Nie Yuandao, the great master of the Judgment Club, before.”

Tang Muzhou’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Old Nie contacted you? Why?”

“He wanted to invite me to join the Judgment Club, but I didn’t agree. God Tang, taking me as your apprentice naturally means you want me to join the Fenghua Club, right? My disagreement isn’t because I feel you aren’t qualified to be my master. On the contrary, I feel very honored that a master like you would think highly of me and personally guide me. Unfortunately, I don’t want to be tied to any club. I can’t acknowledge you as my master for now.”

Tang Muzhou, “……”

Xie Mingzhe continued, “I’m sorry, Master Tang. I appreciate your kindness. You taught me a lot today and I will remember this favor. I’m just used to being free and don’t like being bound by club rules.”

Tang Muzhou narrowed his eyes at Chubby Uncle in front of him. “Bound by rules? Are you worried about copyright issues?”

Xie Mingzhe nodded. “God Tang, don’t think I’m ungrateful. I really don’t want to join any club. All the cards I make in the future must be copyrighted by myself.”

Chubby Uncle’s image in the game was chubby with a kind smile, looking very approachable. However, Tang Muzhou sensed a fearless spirit in this young man.

This person was clearly very farsighted. If someone truly had outstanding talent, who would willingly be tied to a club and hand over all the copyrights of their cards to the club? Tang Muzhou’s initial contract with Fenghua included a supplementary agreement stipulating that the copyright of all original cards bearing the Tang logo belonged to him. Top players like Old Nie, Fang Yu and Ling Jingtang also had copyright agreements with their clubs, meaning they could take all their cards with them if they switched clubs.

However, this was before Season 5.

During Season 5, a very unpleasant incident occurred in the league, stemming from a copyright dispute.

A top player sued his club. The lawsuit dragged on for a long time and caused a great stir. Due to this incident, contracts that separated the copyright of the original cards became increasingly rare. Newcomers signed after Season 6 rarely received such treatment. Clubs strictly controlled copyright, fearing a repeat of the previous dispute.

Recent rising stars had all signed contracts where the card copyright belonged to the club. Newcomers with original card creation abilities were rare. Most directly used cards designed by club designers, so they didn’t really care about card copyright.

In contrast, Chubby Uncle clearly cared a lot.

He was undoubtedly wise. In the long run, he could earn more as a freelance designer than if he was tied to any club. He wouldn’t be under the club’s control and would be able to fully unleash his imagination to design all sorts of different cards.

He didn’t rely on any clubs and would work alone. Did he really have that type of courage?

Tang Muzhou saw Chubby Uncle’s firm attitude and was forced to change his tune. “Since you are unwilling to become my apprentice, let’s be friends instead. If you have any questions about card design in the future, you can send me a private message and I will reply when I see it.”

The other person was completely unpretentious and even offered to guide him. Xie Mingzhe couldn’t be happier with such a ‘god-level’ friend and immediately nodded. “No problem. If God Tang doesn’t mind that I’m a nobody then let’s be friends.”

“You will soon be someone who isn’t a nobody anymore. By the way, don’t you have the habit of checking your emails? Remember to check your inbox when you have time.” Tang Muzhou smiled and stood up. “I have some things to do at the club. I’ll log off now.”

“Okay. God Tang, goodbye.”

The man in front of him disappeared immediately, logging off very decisively.

Xie Mingzhe was still a bit uneasy seeing someone suddenly disappear from his sight. He paused for a moment before turning around and going downstairs, intending to take a stroll around this entertainment planet.

He found the door closed when he reached the restaurant entrance, with a ‘Closed’ sign hanging outside.

No wonder he and God Tang had chatted so long without being disturbed.

The waiter at the door smiled. “Chubby Uncle, the boss said you are welcome to come to our restaurant at any time. We only serve special guests, and you have been added to the VIP list that allows free entry and exit.”

Xie Mingzhe was flattered. “Thank you.”

He left the restaurant and glanced back at Qianlin Restaurant. The character ‘Qianlin’ was wrapped in green vines, surrounded by some light blue flowers. It was a fresh and unique design.

Since the waiter called Tang Muzhou by ‘Boss,’ this restaurant was clearly rented and operated by Tang Muzhou. Surely no one would spend money on food in a game, right? It isn’t like they could fill their stomachs. Renting a store to sell things could make money, but renting a restaurant would cause a loss, right?

The confused Xie Mingzhe walked towards another bar street.

The bar street was bustling at night with singers performing. The bright lights and vibrant atmosphere made it hard to connect his scene with the game world.

Xie Mingzhe sighed as he found a seat on the side of the bar street, lowering his head to think hard.

The Daiyu card being bought by God Tang for a high price of 660,000 had already caused a sensation at the auction. Many people were live streaming the event, and he guessed that the card maker Half Moon was now quite famous. Players’ first impression of him was as the creator of the instant death cards.

Initially, the cards shouldn’t be too varied. Everyone had their own specialty, so it was better to start with instant death cards to establish a foothold in the original card creation world. Once he made a name for himself, he could create other cards later.

He had already made instant death cards out of Wu Song and Lin Daiyu.

The copyright for Wu Song was sold to God Nie, so he couldn’t continue making them. However, Daiyu could be made indefinitely. However, his card store couldn’t just sell Daiyu, right? That would make people think he had run out of ideas and only knew how to make this one card.

Why not make a few more instant death cards and sell them alongside Daiyu?

Speaking of Daiyu, he naturally thought of another female protagonist in Dream of the Red Chamber, Xue Baochai.

Since he already made Lin Daiyu, why not make Baochai too?

A flash of inspiration struck Xie Mingzhe. Baochai chasing butterflies, Daiyu burying the flowers!

This was a story from the same chapter of the original novel, Dream of the Red Chamber. Xue Baochai went to Xiaoxiang Pavilion to find Lin Daiyu and happened to see Jin Bao enter. She was afraid of arousing Daiyu’s suspicion and silently left. On the way, she encountered butterflies. In a playful mood, she took out her fan to chase them.

First there was Baochai chasing butterflies and then Daiyu burying the flowers. This description perfectly illustrated the two women’s completely different personalities.

Catching butterflies would definitely kill them. He just wondered how many butterfly-related cards there were in this game.

Xie Mingzhe stroked his chin, carefully considering how to use the Baochai card.

At the same time, the club headquarters of Dark Night City.

Ye Zhu burst out laughing. “Hahaha, that card really got bought for 660,000? I’m dying of laughter! Tang Muzhou proposed the concept of instant death at last season’s summary meeting and someone made flower-themed instant death cards to target him at the auction! Hahaha! God Tang must be very depressed right now!”

The boy clutched his stomach and laughed so hard he could barely breathe. Pei Jingshan saw this and patted his shoulder helplessly. “Xiao Zhu, don’t gloat too much. What if this creator named Half Moon makes an instant death card targeting your butterfly-type cards? You won’t be laughing then.”

Ye Zhu suppressed his laughter and waved his hand. “Don’t worry, Brother Pei! My butterfly-type cards are all super agile. How could they be hit so easily by instant death judgments?” Just as he said this, he suddenly sneezed several times. He rubbed his nose hard until the tip of his nose turned red.

Strange, why did it feel like someone was cursing him?