"Do a guy and a girl walking together have to be dating? Is it really appropriate for you to ship your little brother with someone?"
You Chen rubbed his temples, utterly unable to understand what these people were thinking.
It was as if a man and a woman couldn't walk together unless they were a couple.
Couldn't there be pure friendship anymore?
"Not exactly."
You Wushuang observed Hua Ningning. She seemed open and composed. Despite the probing remarks earlier, she had not cared in the slightest, nor had she shown any girlish shyness. You Wushuang had thought it was true.
After all, if it wasn't true, surely she would have awkwardly explained herself.
"Alright, stop going off-topic. Take out the loose cards."
You Chen had no interest in this topic and did not want to keep chatting. Don't waste my time making five hundred thousand.
"Just a moment!"
You Wushuang took out all the loose cards that had been pulled from the storage box.
The brand-new cards, already carefully preserved, were laid out across the box.
You Chen had not looked at these cards either, and there was no point in looking. Even for him, payment was required. That was why he said You Wushuang was really ruthless.
Only then did Hua Ningning realize that the two were siblings?
Fuck, had she been tricked onto a pirate ship?
Hua Ningning stared resentfully at You Chen, as if saying, If you dare scam me, you're dead.
During this time, Hua Ningning had already started opening card packs. For her, she had no expectations whatsoever for packs from such a shabby card shop.
So after tearing one open, she looked inside right away.
If You Chen had not recommended the place, she probably would not even have come here.
However, after opening the first pack, she realized something was off.
"Eh! This is the Amazoness Empress!!"
Hua Ningning discovered that the pack contained a Rare Card she had desperately failed to pull before.
It was the Amazoness Empress. This card fit her Amazoness Deck perfectly. She had opened fifty packs in a row for it before and still had not gotten one.
It was not as though she had never considered buying it, but the card was extremely rare, and cards could not simply be manufactured at will.
As a result, she had been waiting for an opportunity.
Of course, people had listed it online before, but because it was rare, some had even demanded over ten million.
It was directly more expensive than versatile cards like Pot of Greed.
Had they gone insane from wanting money?
Though rarity made things valuable, it still depended on their actual worth and versatility.
Thus, this card had become Hua Ningning's lingering obsession.
As long as she did not obtain it, she could never truly rest easy.
The instant she saw the card, her pupils trembled fiercely within her bright eyes, as though a light capable of illuminating the world had appeared!
"R-Really?!"
"I finally got this card!"
"Coming here was absolutely the right choice, hehe! (*∩_∩*)"
Hua Ningning practically danced with joy. The frustration from losing that morning had been completely swept away.
Because she had not expected anything before opening the pack, the unexpected delight of this moment made her as happy as a little girl.
She even grabbed You Chen's arm.
It seemed that whenever many girls got excited, they wanted to grab onto something.
You Chen immediately tensed and squeezed his legs together, turning sideways.
Just in case.
You Chen watched from the side in confusion. Could it be that his sister's card packs had some kind of bonus this batch? Or had he brought her the luck of his blessed body?
The remaining nine packs were not nearly as lucky. They only contained mediocre, dispensable cards, but Hua Ningning was already extremely satisfied.
With this major boost, she believed her deck's strength could rise another level.
You Chen opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but held himself back.
What he had wanted to say was that even after adding it, she would find it still did not do much.
One card could not change things significantly unless it changed the entire deck-building strategy.
But saying that now would have been far too much of a buzzkill.
You Wushuang was also depressed. Were the packs she stocked really that easy to pull good cards from?
Should she shut down the shop and open them herself instead?
The thought instantly made her feel as if she had lost several hundred million.
So You Chen said nothing and began helping Hua Ningning select cards for her deck.
He was also considering the deck-building approach.
Since they were putting together a deck, there were quite a few possible directions. It did not necessarily have to fully coordinate with her existing cards. Even a burn deck could strengthen it and make it easier to burn the opponent to death to some extent.
After all, this was called deck destruction, but it was really life point reduction.
This wasn't Duel Links, for crying out loud. Who would honestly try to mill all forty of your cards?
So the main focus was still burning life points.
Therefore, You Chen selected cards with that direction in mind.
Unfortunately, the truly powerful burn cards were not here.
Otherwise, with a burn trap deck, even eight thousand Life Points could be killed in one go.
The value of these cards was roughly comparable to the cards in his previous deck, so this round was effectively worth around another five hundred thousand for his sister.
Hua Ningning was satisfied as well. It was a win-win situation, so the question was: who exactly had lost out?
More than ten minutes later, the deck was complete.
"Done!"
"Your deck."
You Chen handed the deck to Hua Ningning.
"Thanks." Hua Ningning immediately began examining it. She found that many of the cards were extremely common, cards she had even pulled before and casually thrown into the trash.
Yet now she had to pay money to buy them.
Was this karma coming back around in card form?
After finishing the deck, You Chen and Hua Ningning did not linger any longer. After eating together, it was already past two in the afternoon.
By then, the first half of the elimination matches should have concluded.
When they returned to the Duel Arena, the advancement list for the elimination rounds had already been posted.
"The list is over there. Go see how many from High School Nine advanced."
Hua Ningning tilted her chin toward the crowd gathered nearby, her bright eyes looking in that direction.
You Chen was not actually interested. What did it have to do with him who advanced?
Still, he walked over.
At six feet tall, he could see the list without squeezing into the crowd.
Those advancing from High School Nine.
You Chen, Mu Qingyu.
Those advancing from High School One.
Chen Mo, Xia Sheng, Wu Zhifeng, Huang Tianhai, Lin Yingying.
Those advancing from High School Five.
Han Feng, Gao Zhiqiang, Liu Wenhui, Chen Ze, Zhang Kai.
Looking at the list, High School Nine was still in a miserable state.
Twelve people had advanced. High School One and High School Five each took half, while High School Nine only had two.
Seeing this, the students of High School Nine could not help recalling the dark days of being dominated by the other schools.
It looked like this year would be the same.
It even seemed worse.
"Too brutal. This year is even worse than last year. At least four advanced last year, but six have already been eliminated in the elimination round this year."
"In that case..."
"You Chen, do your best. Don't feel pressured."
Hua Ningning could also feel how brutal the situation was. This year, the duelists from the other schools did seem much stronger.
"You're overthinking it. Why would I feel pressured?"
"They should be the ones under pressure. The more highly people think of you, the greater the pressure."
"And no one has ever had high expectations for me, so where would my pressure come from?" You Chen said indifferently, his hands folded behind his head.
"How about this, then? To test whether the deck you picked works, why don't you use the deck you chose today for a match?"
Hua Ningning revealed a sly smile.
That way, she could learn from him and verify it at the same time. She truly was a little genius.
"You're even trying to fleece me for this?!"
"You're becoming more and more like my sister." You Chen frowned.
"As pretty as your sister? We really are about equal." Hua Ningning thought that was what he meant.
"No, no. As much of a dog as my sister," You Chen said.
"..." Hua Ningning said.
Thank you to Tulu Guilai, 5202, Heikeji Wan Buzhuan, Nanjing Penguin, Xiaoxiao Zhukaiyan, Senbonzakura Tou, Wuyu Wen Cangtian, Renyi, Yaoyue, and all the readers for your recommendation votes!! I'm deeply grateful! Recommendation votes are almost at three hundred; once they reach it, there will be an extra chapter! If investments reach one hundred people, there will be three extra chapters! Another extra chapter when monthly votes reach one hundred!
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