Master of Trading Star Card Game - Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – Tang Muzhou’s Decision

8:30pm, Adjudication Club.

“Any news from Uncle Chubby?” Huan Yue asked, frowning.

“He hasn’t replied to Shuang Shuang’s email.” Can Yang returned from the black market disappointed, “I didn’t find any cards created by Uncle Chubby in the black market. And many guilds are searching for some cards in the black market. Did they also buy [Wu Song] cards?”

“Don’t worry,” Huan Yue calmed down and analyzed, “The 20 cards he made are not necessarily all [Wu Song]. According to an undercover investigation, Fenghua Club is acquiring beauty cards. I guess he made a beauty card before [Wu Song], which startled Fenghua Club.”

“Yes!” Can Yang realized, “I have also received news from a spy saying that Hong Zhu is purchasing cards in large amounts. She also opened a stall to purchase beauty cards – maybe that beauty card is made by Uncle Chubby?”

“There are barely any designers who can make strong character cards in recent years. It should be him,” Huan Yue rubbed his chin and thought, “He even startled Hong Zhu – this beauty card’s skill is definitely not simple, maybe it also has the instant death effect. Then it makes sense – Uncle Chubby made a beauty card first to attract Hong Zhu’s attention, and at the same time, Shuang Shuang bought the [Wu Song] card. Our two clubs searched for these cards at the black market, and other clubs also came here after hearing the news.”

“I hope so…  the [Wu Song] card may not have spread throughout the black market yet.” Can Yang prayed silently.

“Well, do you remember how Tang Muzhou made his debut?” Huan Yue suddenly changed the subject and asked.

“Of course. Legend Tang made his debut in the black market. He made some low-level plant cards at the very beginning and sold them there. Then his cards went viral, with many people lining up to buy his cards. I heard that at that time, the black market street was packed solid with his fans…”

“Selling cards at the black market,” Huan Yue interrupted the vice president, “Don’t you feel that this situation is familiar?”

“!!!” Can Yang finally realized, “You mean that Uncle Chubby is mimicking Tang Muzhou?”

“No. I’m more worried that Uncle Chubby will become the second Tang Muzhou.”

“…” Can Yang couldn’t believe the president’s speculation, “The second Tang Muzhou? The genius in card designer circles? Just because of this [Wu Song] card?!”

“The [Wu Song] card is not popular, but it is quite difficult to make cards with the instant death effect, because the card maker must use his Inner Spirit to highly concentrate on the card and complete it in one go. I have a very bad feeling that in the future, Uncle Chubby may make more bizarre character cards with the instant death effect against various legendary cards, or with other skills…”

Huan Yue paused for a moment, then he continued grimly with his eyebrows frowning, “Tang Muzhou did the same thing at the beginning. He started his career with creating visually pleasing plant cards only, then he improved the whole set of plant cards with his outstanding talent. Various kinds of powerful cards, including tree cards, vine cards, succulent cards and flower cards, emerged in an endless stream, which soon promoted Tang Muzhou to become the most outstanding original card creator in the league.”

“But Tang Muzhou had been directed by his Shifu, who is the well-known…”

“His Shifu has indeed helped him a lot.” It seemed that Huan Yue didn’t want to mention his name. He interrupted directly, saying, “Tang Muzhou’s success in becoming a game guru is mainly credited to his talent, which is proved by the increasingly powerful cards he has made since his Shifu left.”

“So you believe that this Uncle Chubby is as gifted as Legend Tang?” Can Yang asked while listening to his president. He became increasingly uneasy.

“Yes.” Huan Yue replied affirmatively, “Uncle Chubby’s cards with instant death skills show that he has extremely high Inner Spirit. Look at this card, while he was concentrating his Inner Spirit on ‘killing the tiger’, he finished designing the Wu Song hologram brilliantly at the same time. He is more powerful than you might have expected.”

“…” Can Yang hadn’t imagined that he could encounter such a gifted man in the black market.

“Secretly find Uncle Chubby as soon as possible. You have to find him ahead of the Fenghua Club!” Huan Yue said in a low voice.

Can Yang always thought that the name ‘Uncle Chubby’ was funny. Ignoring his strange feeling, he said seriously, “OK. I’ll find him secretly. Do I need to bring him to you when I find him?”

“Take him to Legend Nie directly.”

“What? Legend Nie?”

“I’ll show [Wu Song] to Legend Nie at the club later. He will surely be interested in the creator. If possible, we need to try our best to lure him to our Adjudication Club. We have to do it quickly, or he will join other clubs.”

“Got it!” Can Yang nodded seriously before rushing to find Shuang Shuang.

However, Shuang Shuang said in disappointment, “Uncle Chubby hasn’t answered my email yet.”

“Maybe he hasn’t noticed the email?” Can Yang felt depressed, “Send an email to him again! Keep emailing him until you receive his answer!”

***

Xie Mingzhe had no time to return to his personal space, so he didn’t notice the emails.

Xie Mingzhe gained tremendous amounts of exp in the “Dark Cave” which had dense mobs. He had leveled up to 35 by 8:30pm.

The highest level of a character in the game was 70, which was consistent with the highest level of a card.

However, level 35 was an important threshold. A character would be allowed to enter the instance requiring ten players, located on the Ziyuan(which means resource) Star. In addition, he would now be able to use seven-star cards. The rich would increase their speed of upgrading by buying seven-star cards directly when they leveled up to 35.

Both Senior Brother Qi and Sisi were wealthy, so they went directly to the commercial street to buy seven-star cards.

However, Xie Mingzhe was poor. He said goodbye to his two friends, finally going back to his personal space to create cards.

In the Fenghua Club office.

Xue Linxiang walked back and forth. Seeing Hong Zhu come in, she immediately asked, frowning, “Haven’t found the card maker yet?”

Hong Zhu was very helpless, “I opened a stall purchasing beauty cards in the black market, intending to pull the snake from its hole. I kept waiting for the maker this afternoon, but failed. I have sent a large number of members to the black market to search for original cards bearing the ‘月半’ LOGO. Once we find the cards, we can track him following clues.”

Xue Linxiang’s brow wrinkled more and more tightly, “You mean, you haven’t found out who the creator is?!”

Hong Zhu nodded, her face pale, ” There are too many players coming and going at Boss Zhang’s stall every day, so he can’t think of the name of the person who sold him the card. And now there is an even more troublesome thing – on top of me, other major guilds in the game, including Adjudication and Flowing Frost City, have all gathered in the black market. I’m not sure if they are coming to join in on the fun, or someone really bought [Lin Daiyu] and is also looking for the creator in the black market.”

Xue Linxiang, “…”

If someone bought [Lin Daiyu], then Tang Muzhou would be in trouble next season.

——Daiyu Burying the Flowers, instant death effect on flower cards. How did this genius make this card?

Tang Muzhou had a lot of flower cards, all of which would face the risk of being insta-killed by [Lin Daiyu]. The match would start in a few days. Even if he changed his set of playing cards now, it would be too late.

Tang Muzhou should be the one to blame – why did he propose to enrich the tactics during the game by adding the “instant death effect” skill at last season’s conference? He did a hell of a job! Now it turned out that he was the first one to be affected – he was hoisted by his own petard!

At a loss, Xue Linxiang suddenly heard the doorbell ringing. She turned around and said, “Come in.”

Tang Muzhou opened the door and came in. He was always sleepy in the afternoon, but at night he was full of vigor.

“Why did you come here?” Xue Linxiang took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

“I’m going to tell you bad news.” Although Tang Muzhou said “bad news”, but there was a smile in his eyes. It seemed that he was in a good mood. “I just checked the database. The number of cards made by ‘月半’ has increased to 30.”

“…” Ten more? Xue Linxiang and Hong Zhu just wanted to beat the creator in the game!

“Maybe the ten cards are all [Lin Daiyu], or he has created new cards against my vine and tree cards.” Tang Muzhou said with a smile.

“Are you laughing?” Xue Linxiang rolled her eyes quickly, “You are the one that proposed to add the instant death effect to the database. Now all flower cards are in trouble. Are you happy?”

“Not that happy.” Tang Muzhou did not mind at all, a relaxed smile on his face. “Compared to this [Lin Daiyu], I care more about the maker of the card. I think he is a bit like me. ”

“Like you?” Xue Linxiang didn’t understand.

“Sister Xue forgot how I made my debut?”

“…” Xue Linxiang finally understood what he meant, “Selling cards at the black market?”

“Yes. When I learnt how to make cards at that time, I sold those original cards in the black market at first because I didn’t know the market. Generally, newbies will have this misunderstanding as they believe that their cards will sell well in the black market, where players can bargain with each other. However, actually the black market is a place where people sell ‘low-level cards’ and ‘collection cards’. There are few people who know the value of battle cards.”

Sitting on the sofa, Tang Muzhou picked up a cup and took a sip of water, continuing, “He’s very much like me back in those days. He has made powerful cards and sold them in the black market because he doesn’t know the market. Experienced card makers know that high-end cards should only be sold in two places: the professional card acquisition stores of major clubs on the commercial street and the Auction House.”

“You should be glad that he is a newbie. If he knows the market and sells [Lin Daiyu] at auction… Well, I shouldn’t talk about that possible calamity.” Xue Linxiang immediately picked up a cup and gargled with water for fear that she would hit the nail on the head.

“His original cards with instant death effects are indeed novel.” Stroking his chin, Tang Muzhou said reflectively, “Such a gifted person should join our club.”

“What do you want to do?” Xue Linxiang looked at him vigilantly.

“I’m going to meet him personally in the game.” Tang Muzhou said.

“…” Xue Linxiang found his words a real headache and, supporting her forehead, said, “The match will begin next week. Are you crazy?”

“Legend Tang.” Hong Zhu warned with a trembling voice, “Your presence in the game will surely cause a sensation.”

“I’ll open a smurf account and meet him.” Tang Muzhou said with a serious expression, “Nobody knows my smurf account.”

“…Stop being that capricious, ok? The competition is about to begin. Shouldn’t you concentrate on studying sets of playing cards and other opponents and preparing for the match in the next season? We can deal with that newbie, you don’t have to meet him in person, right?” Xue Linxiang persuaded patiently.

However, Tang Muzhou stood up immediately, with a firm look filling his smiling eyes.

“Sister Xue, please stop persuading me. I must find him.”

“…” Xue Linxiang knew that she couldn’t stop Legend Tang. She massaged her aching head, saying, “Balance these two things and make sure it won’t affect your competition.”

“Rest assured Sister Xue.” Tang Muzhou waved his hands and left the office.

***

At the same time, in the game.

While Xie Mingzhe was about to sell his ten [Wu Song] cards that he had just made in his personal space at the black market, Chen Xiao directly called him in private, “Xiao Xie, it’s nine o’clock. Come to Jupiter and find me. All of us are waiting for you to clear the group instance.”

“But I have no powerful cards. Will I be a drag?”

“I will give you some seven-star cards at level 70. Come here quickly.” Chen Xiao said freely.

“OK, Brother Chen.” Xie Mingzhe’s eyes brightened, running to Jupiter happily.