Value Created by Man

Joshua found something very familiar in this Alchemy Workshop—something that, back on Earth, had practically been one of the tools he used to make a living... a "Drawing Tablet."

It was precisely the advent of drawing tablets that had ushered Earth's Internet into the great age of digital art. All manner of grassroots CG Masters emerged one after another, and countless outstanding CG works began to appear.

Joshua's fingertips glided across the pale-blue cube. A faint glow radiated from it as unfamiliar inscriptions surfaced across its exterior, while the drawing interface appeared in the form of an inscription projection.

The experience was so advanced that Joshua could scarcely believe he was living in an age where the primary means of transportation was still carriages. This... was a drawing experience that, on Earth, humanity would only possess after moving into space.

Or perhaps Earth had already achieved it? Joshua had once tried an AR device at Google's headquarters; once worn, it allowed him to paint freely throughout the surrounding space.

With a blank sheet and a brush before him, Joshua, a true "master tentacle," naturally had to try this method of drawing that had leapt across several centuries.

In barely ten minutes, Joshua swiftly sketched the image of an elf—sharp eyes, and a figure that would make every woman look up in envy.

Most players on Earth would recognize this elf. She was Sylvanas Windrunner, Queen of the Forsaken from World of Warcraft.

What Joshua had drawn was only a rough line sketch, but the interface was quite powerful—at the very least, it possessed basic coloring functions.

While Joshua was sketching Sylvanas's outlines, Ciri and Helan emerged from the small partitioned room as well.

"Since I know a little about Magic Mechanical Devices too, I couldn't resist trying out your creation. I hope I didn't cause you any trouble?"

Joshua stopped drawing and looked toward Helan and Ciri.

Helan was the owner of this Alchemy Workshop, so this device must have been made by her.

"Don't mind it... Mr. Joshua. It was placed here for visitors to try."

Helan glanced at the image projected from the cube, and the sketch Joshua had drawn swiftly caught her attention.

Quite a few human painters had created works featuring elves, after all. By human aesthetic standards, elves as a race could practically be called synonymous with beauty. Yet the elf Joshua had sketched felt somehow different to Helan from those elves who lived in the forests.

"Visitors? Is this on public display?"

Joshua swept his gaze over the rest of the Alchemy Workshop. Aside from Helan and Ciri, he could not see a third person. Compared to the Alchemy Workshops he had passed earlier, where streams of visitors came and went without end, this place was rather deserted.

"So, Miss Helan, are you planning to take this Magic Mechanical Device to the Expo two months from now?"

Joshua's question seemed to strike a sore spot. Helan's expression became somewhat despondent.

"It would be wonderful if I could attend. The Magic Mechanical Devices displayed at the World Expo are all creations of renowned masters... Though I dearly wish for my work to be exhibited there, I'm ashamed to say that I should probably be considering how to trade this for some money now."

There was a hint of self-mockery in Helan's voice. More than money, she craved fame, but reality had forced her to face the importance of money head-on.

She had once been an outstanding student at Nolan's finest Advanced Magic Academy. The study grant she received each academic year had been enough for Helan to live comfortably. But recently, in order to get her mother's final work displayed at the World Expo, Helan had chosen to stake everything on completing this Magic Mechanical Device.

Naturally, Helan lost the gamble in the end. Not only had she lost her grant, even her eligibility to receive one hung by a thread. Furthermore, every last bit of her savings had been poured into the creation of this Magic Mechanical Device.

"I see."

Joshua could understand why Helan's invention, which ought to have been revolutionary, had been neglected—because it was simply too "revolutionary."

It was like if, on Earth, people were still marveling over the emergence of the "small steam engine" and crying out that the Industrial Revolution was at hand, when someone suddenly invented an LCD drawing tablet. To people of that era, it would look like alien technology; there was no way conventional society would accept it.

There were no enduring masterpieces in this world that were stored as "data." Only paintings on paper were qualified to be passed down through the ages.

"Then... Miss Wolan, I would like to invest in your research. Though 'invest' may not be quite the right word—perhaps cooperation, or... starting a business."

Joshua was not someone living in the age of the Industrial Revolution. He was a man of the twenty-first-century Information Age. Naturally, he understood the value of Wolan's Magic Mechanical Device. It would be of immense help in dragging this world into the Internet Age ahead of schedule. More importantly... Joshua could use this thing to draw game CG.

"Starting a business?"

Helan could understand the first two terms, but she had never even heard the phrase "starting a business." She turned a puzzled gaze toward Ciri beside her.

Ciri merely shrugged, indicating that she was already used to it.

"It means working with you to promote the artwork created by your Magic Mechanical Device."

"Artwork? Mr. Joshua, the pictures drawn on this Magic Mechanical Device are merely flows of magic power stored within Inscription Units. They are not tangible objects that can be touched. If this machine is damaged, all of these pictures will disappear."

Helan knew how to store these "flows of magic power" kept in the Inscription Units inside a Source Crystal Stone, but the fact that these virtual artworks could not be touched proved that they had no value at all. No matter how artistic they were, they could never possibly be displayed in an Art Museum.

"Value? Nothing in this world has value from the moment it comes into being. Value is created by people."

Joshua naturally did not expect that, in a world that did not even know what the Internet was, he could casually draw a CG and sell it for tens of thousands. Even in the twenty-first century, a CG painstakingly drawn on a computer might be utterly worthless.

Because data... could be copied.

"Create value?"

Helan's puzzled expression made Ciri inexplicably happy, because this was exactly what communicating with Joshua had always been like.

"Allow me to demonstrate."

Joshua walked over to the line sketch of Sylvanas that he had finished and added several markings to it. He wrote the number 6 in the upper-left corner of the picture, while two 5s were written in the lower-right and lower-left corners respectively.

After Joshua added a few more details and wrote, "Deathrattle: Take control of a random enemy minion," in the description box at the center—

Sylvanas Windrunner, the strongest neutral Deathrattle Orange Card from the card game Hearthstone on Earth, appeared before Joshua!

Back then, Joshua had paid Blizzard a full six hundred yuan just to open enough packs to get this one Legendary Card!

A mere line sketch, an ordinary CG—this picture might be worth absolutely nothing. But once this CG became a rare card in a card game, countless people would spend without hesitation on card packs just to obtain her.

And that was the man-made creation of value Joshua had spoken of!