Master of Trading Star Card Game - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Auction

The auction venue had five floors. With sharp eyes and agile hands, senior brother Qi snagged three tickets and sat down in their positions, together with Sisi and Xie Mingzhe.

Xie Mingzhe observed the surroundings curiously – the holographic scene looked extraordinarily realistic, and the appearance of the people sitting around were also clear. But nobody knew whether the virtual figures in the game were their real images in the real world.

Due to the increasing number of players, the tickets had been sold out, so the auction venue had been automatically upgraded by the game system, adding another two floors. Obviously, today, the auction was very popular.

In an instant, the seven floors were also filled with players, leaving no one seat.

A sea of people in the auction venue, there was busier than the cinema on New Year’s day on earth.

When the clock’s hands pointed at 3:30 P.M., time up, all entrances to the auction venue were closed.

The lights in the hall suddenly went out. One warm light was lit in the middle of the stage. On the back of the audience seats, 40cm wide virtual LCD screens appeared at the same time. The scene in the middle stage was enlarged and displayed on LCD screens. Even if one was sitting in a corner, he could see it clearly.

A hot belle, with curled hair and wearing high heels, walked to the middle of the venue. She smiled and said, “Good afternoon, distinguished guests, the auction is about to begin! The list of products for the auction has been displayed on the electronic screen in front of you. If you find the product you like, pay attention in advance!”

As soon as her words finished, a list of auction items appeared in the electronic screen.

The items for auction today were four cards and ten shops.

The concrete value of these cards was not referred on the list, just disclosing their patterns, colors and star rates on the back of these cards. There were two four-star cards, a five-star card, and a seven-star black card that seemed precious.

With a strong curiosity, Xie Mingzhe could not wait for the next good show.

“The first items for auction are shops. Please have a look at the planform of these shops on the screen.” The auctioneer briefed us on these stores with a smile, “Ten stores are all located on the south of the newly opened commercial street, next to the black market. Each store covers an area of 50 square meters with convenient transportation and stable customer base. The starting price will be 10 thousand gold a month.

“Let’s start with the first store.”

There were no different zones in the game, which meant all the players stayed in one single large zone. Xie Mingzhe speculated it might be the cloud storage technology’s strong ability to calculate that help the game ran smoothly even when thousands of players thronged the auction house. He could see everyone’s face clearly. The server was exceptionally powerful. If there were such servers in the 21st century, the game would run smoothly even when there was a war between different associations.

Because all the players were in the same zone and the number of shops was limited, new players would have no stores to rent, the game operators opened new commercial streets and rent stores out to players every month.

Players who sustained losses in business and didn’t want to run their business any longer could auction their stores to others. The game operators regulated the rental of the store in accordance with the market demand, which could maintain a healthy and steady business environment in the game without experiencing a depression in which lots of stores were shut down.

Xie Mingzhe went over and asked senior brother Qi, “Stores next to the black market have a booming business, right? How much is the rent?”

Senior brother Qi replied, “You will have to pay at most 20 thousand gold monthly for a store like this that covers an area of 50 square meters, or you will run a business at a loss. The number of players who can a successful business in the game is small. In order to avoid running a business at a loss, many players set up stalls in the black market.”

Understanding it, Xie Mingzhe nodded. The difference of running a store and setting up a stall in the black market was similar to that of running a 24-hour self-service convenience store and selling things in the night fair, each had its advantages.

Generally speaking, players who could run a successful business opened stores in the game. Xie Mingzhe wanted to open a store, since he was prudent and had made some money by opening stores in the online games before. However, he was a newbie with only two low-level cards in hands in the game of Star Card Storm. He still had a long way to go before opening a store in the game.

Maybe over a period of time, when he knew this game better and made a market research, he could try it?

Xie Mingzhe thought to himself.

The senior brother Qi, who had five-year experience in this game, knew the auction market very well. As he said, the 10 official shops were all sold at a monthly rental of less than 20,000. No one was willing to offer a higher price than 20,000.

The beauty auctioneer went on to say, “Shops have all been auctioned. Next comes to rare cards. The first to be auctioned is a battle card – four-star [Flower Monster]. The attributes of this card are great. Although it is a four-star card, its base attack reaches 3600 points. The starting price is 1000 gold coins!”

Xie Mingzhe just saw [Flower Monster] when he was in the instance with Brother Chen today. This card at auction had much better attributes than the one Brother Chen got. Xie Mingzhe clearly remembered that Brother Chen’s four-star [Flower Monster] had a base attack of only 3000 points, while this one had 3600 points. Base Attributes would continue to double as cards evolved. Cards with high Base Attributes were more valuable, no wonder it could be put up for auction.

This card eventually reached 3,000 gold coins.

The auctioneer said, “Next is still a card – five-star pet card [Nine-tailed Fox]!”

As soon as she finished her words, the card appeared before everyone’s eyes, so did the corresponding star card hologram – a lifelike white nine-tailed fox. The furry fox had clear green eyes with its white tails in the air. It looked so cute.

Xie Mingzhe saw such a beautiful fox for the first time. He wanted to buy one and take it back home. But he didn’t know this card’s price.

The auctioneer said, “This card is allowed to be brought out the game and generate a star card hologram in the real world. The starting price is 5000 gold coins!”

“…” Newcomers with only 100 gold coins in the bag could only be a looker-on. But Xie Mingzhe was very curious about prices in the game. He couldn’t help but lean over to ask senior brother Qi, “What is the ratio of gold price in the game to currency in the real world?”

“About 10:1 recently,” senior brother Qi said.

“Ahh.” Xie Mingzhe calculated – 5000 game coins were equal to 500 crystal coins in the real world. And this was just the starting price. Some offered higher prices soon, and the price shown on the screen quickly increase. Finally it stopped at 8000 gold coins.

“8000 gold coins once! 8000 gold coins twice! Is there anyone offering a higher price? 8000 gold coins three times! Deal!”

The auctioneer dropped the gravel – a buyer got it.

It seemed that only the official operators knew who had bought that  [Nine-tailed Fox] card since players marked up prices by pressing a certain button in their seats, which was a way to protect players’ privacy.

The commodity price in the game seemed to be very high. A pet card could be sold at 800 gold coins? It could cost the equivalent of a month rent for him.

Xie Mingzhe was curious to find out why the [Nine-tailed Fox] card could be sold at 800 gold coins, but the [Flower Monster] card was sold at a price of 300 gold coins. Was there a significant difference between them? Thinking of this, Xie Mingzhe leaned over to senior brother Qi, saying softly, “Why does the [Nine-tailed Fox] card sell at such a high price? Its base attributes are ordinary and it has no attack skills.”

“Because it is an original card that is created by players. Such a card won’t drop after you kill mobs or clear instances. The creator owns the copyright on it and he or she has the right to retain or sell it. The [Nine-tailed Fox] card is expensive because it is created by a well-known pet card designer in the game, sister Man. Sister Man produces dozens of [Nine-tailed Fox] cards to sell every month. Girls love to keep a fluffy pet like this, so some of them rush to buy it at a high price,” senior brother Qi said in a low voice.

It suddenly dawned on Xie Mingzhe that the [Flower Monster] card was sold at a low price because players who wanted it could get it through killing Bosses in the game. However, the [Nine-tailed Fox] card was special as it was created by players and Bosses wouldn’t drop it. Sister Man had the copyright on this card, so it was up to her to decide when to sell it. Selling dozens of such cards a month and each card was sold at a price of 800 gold coins, sister Man must have made a fortune.

Xie Mingzhe could not help but admire her for running such a successful business.

After the foregoing cards were sold, the beautiful auctioneer smiled mysteriously, saying, “Here comes the highlight of today’s auction. The extremely precious seven-star card will be auctioned next!”

Just as the beautiful auctioneer stopped speaking, an emcee came to the center of the stage with a delicate box and slowly opened it in the spotlight.

A black card was lying in the velvet box quietly.

Its pure black back shined with a faint metallic gloss. There was a green pattern on the back of the card.

Thinking of his two-star cards that had no patterns on their blue back, Xie Mingzhe found them were very dull. However, the pattern on the back of the seven-star black card was both gorgeous and exquisite. The pattern, like composed by green threads, stretched and spread on the back of this black card, deep and shallow. The green pattern was carved without any rules, while it looked not messy, instead, it seemed like a work of art carefully created by a master sculptor, with strong third dimension.

Just judging from the delicate back of this card, even Xie Mingzhe, a layman, also knew that the card must be valuable.

Xie Mingzhe observed the card carefully and found that in the lower right-hand corner of its back was a very small character——

Tang.

When the camera was rested on the character “Tang”, Xie Mingzhe heard that the girl sitting behind him suddenly screamed out, “God, it’s the work of legend Tang, isn’t it?” “Ahahah, it must be the work of my Prince Charming! Only he will use this LOGO, and no one dares to copy!” Another uncle’s sound rang out from the front side, “Oh gosh! The grapevine news is right – there really has Tang Muzhou’s card in today’s auction?” “Why would legend Tang’s card be auctioned?”

Gradually, the original whispering sound around Xie Mingzhe grew noise and confusion, just like dropping a stone into a peaceful lake that led into billows —— the billows of sound rolled ceaselessly, and in an instant, the venue had been submerged completely.

Sitting in the crowd, Xie Mingzhe was deafened by the sound.

Who was Tang Muzhou? So influential?

The auctioneer picked up a microphone to maintain order, “Everybody, quiet, quiet, quiet, please!”

After the auctioneer said it three times, the excited audience calmed down. The pretty hostess continued to say, “This seven-star card is exactly created by legend Tang, Tang Muzhou!” She carefully flipped the black card over and said, “Please look at the data on the card!”

On the electronic screen, Xie Mingzhe also saw the front of the card clearly.

On the front of the card was a cluster of blooming white flowers, each of which had a very clear pattern. Some of them even had crystal-like clear dews. Small flowers, white as jade, had met and piled above the other. They were so lifelike that they seemed to scent the air.

Tuberose (Wood)

Card Level: 70

Evolution Level: ★★★★★★★

Available Times of Use: 7/7

Base Attributes: Health 100000, Attack 0, Defense 50000, Agility 100, Critical Strike Chance 0%

Additional Skill: Alluring Scent (Targets within 30 meters round will inhale its special scent and be under illlusions for 5 seconds.）

Additional Skill: Night Falls (Targets within 30 meters round will be blind for 3 seconds.)

The audience burst into cheers again once they saw the card’s data.

Xie Mingzhe heard a heated discussion from behind, “100,000 Health and 50,000 Defense – it totals 150,000 HP! It is almost a tank!” “A card with 100 Agility enables the player to make an AOE attack in the fastest speed. Moreover, its two skills, illusions and blindness, are strong controls – what a formidable card!” “I remember legend Tang once used this card in the league?” “Why did he sell such a great card?” “Has he created a better card?”

Seeing that audience had gotten excited, the host smiled, “Seven-star [Tuberose], AOE control card, now started! The starting price is 100,000 gold!”

Xie Mingzhe, “What??”

Were the rich in this world all crazy?

100,000 gold coins, equivalent to 10,000 crystal coins in the real world, were enough for his annual living expenses!

It was just a card! Would any fool buy it?

However, it turned out to be a slap in his face – so many people had a run on it!

As soon as the host announced the start, the price on the screen rose wildly.

110,000… 115,000… 120,000… 125,000…

Xie Mingzhe watched the price going higher and higher, his eyes popping out of his head.

So much money! Now he’d seen everything.