Soul Card Shop

When Shen Sui woke up, he felt refreshed and invigorated.

He opened the Duel Instrument and discovered that Alice was still on her way to Pa Yin Jia Lake.

He took out all the Life Cards he currently had from the Duel Instrument.

In this world, the Soul Card Duel industry had already developed into a highly complete system, with a well-established Life Card trading network. However, candidates were not allowed to use purchased Life Cards in the Duel Exam. Before the exam, cards had to be checked for transaction codes.

Therefore, twenty Life Cards was a strict requirement for the exam and the ultimate test of a candidate's abilities.

Shen Sui planned to visit the Soul Card Shop that handled Life Card transactions today. However, he was not there to buy cards, but to sell them.

As a direct-damage Spell Card, Fireball Spell did not fit Shen Sui's current deck style. Moreover, Shen Sui needed funds to cover the various expenses of traveling to Magic City for the Duel Exam.

Lin Ke'er was a good teacher, but she was not family, after all. Shen Sui was not shameless enough to freeload off her every day.

In this world, Soul Card Shops were even more common than lottery shops. These stores were directly operated by the Soul Card Association, all to make Life Card trading more convenient for Soul Card Masters.

There was one on campus. Some wealthy candidates intending to take the Duel Exam chose to buy Life Cards in advance to practice their dueling skills. Although those purchased cards could not be used in the Duel Exam, the dueling ability they developed still made them stronger than ordinary students.

Of course, ordinary students were not without ways to practice their dueling skills. They could make their own practice cards with playing cards.

Perhaps because the Duel Exam was drawing near, there were not many people in the Soul Card Shop aside from a few first- and second-year students who had come early to familiarize themselves with Life Cards.

The Soul Card Shop looked more like an internet cafe, with rows of computers neatly arranged throughout the store.

Lin Ke'er had once said that, in this age of advanced networks, many Life Card transactions could already be conducted directly online. However, Soul Card Shops supported countless livelihoods, so they would never be casually abolished.

Shen Sui took a number and walked over to an unused computer.

Unlike an ordinary internet cafe, the computers in the Soul Card Shop came with a card insertion device. Soul Card Masters could insert the Life Cards they wanted to sell, and the system would erase the card's data before uploading it to the Soul Card Shop's online marketplace. The card in the Soul Card Master's hand would then become a Blank Card.

If you decided not to sell it, you could download your Life Card's data back from the marketplace.

If you wanted to buy someone else's Life Card at the Soul Card Shop, you needed to insert a Blank Card into the device, then purchase the card you wanted online. The system would print the purchased Life Card's data onto your Blank Card, completing the transaction.

Shen Sui entered the online marketplace and registered an account.

Naturally, his account nickname was the one he knew best: White Dragon Inside is Warm.

After completing identity verification and entering the bank account he had prepared long ago, Shen Sui obtained a Soul Card Master account that could conduct transactions.

Transactions at the Soul Card Shop were completely anonymous. Only the Soul Card Association knew the identities of the card's seller and buyer, making it very safe for both sides.

Shen Sui inserted Fireball Spell into the device beside him, and the computer instantly read the card's data.

When he clicked sell, the system brought up a box for entering the asking price and displayed a suggested price below it.

The suggested selling price for a Life Card was generally its star rating multiplied by one thousand, with a fluctuation of ten percent either way. In other words, a one-star Life Card was suggested to sell for around one thousand yuan.

The scarcity of their sources meant Life Cards should have been extremely expensive. However, Huaxia had a vast number of Soul Card Masters, and many of them chose peaceful Soul Card Worlds where Soul Card Followers faced no risk to their lives, causing a large number of Life Cards to flow into the market.

More importantly, Life Cards in this world had yet to display the characteristics of Extraordinary Power. In the country's eyes, it was unacceptable for capital to flood into an industry that merely speculated on Life Cards and produced no tangible value, so domestic Life Cards were subject to price controls.

Abroad, Life Card prices rose exponentially with star rating and strength. There had even been an outrageous case of a Sapphire Dragon selling for four hundred thousand.

The price disparity had also given rise to certain illicit industries.

Of course, a suggestion was only a suggestion. If you had enough confidence in your card, you could ignore the system's recommendation and set a high price for a low-star Life Card. But consumers in the domestic market might not necessarily accept it.

For example, Shen Sui's five-star Spell Card, Feigned Weakness, definitely could not be bought for 5,500 yuan. At the very least, its price would have to double.

Fireball Spell dealt 500 damage. For a one-star Spell Card, that amount of direct damage was already quite impressive. However, few current Life Card duels used deck archetypes built around straightforward direct damage, so its market demand was relatively low.

After considering it again and again, Shen Sui entered a price: 900.

That amount was more or less enough to cover his round-trip travel expenses, as well as his living and lodging costs while taking the exam in Magic City.

Ding! Transaction successful. 900 yuan has been deposited into your account.

To his surprise, the system notified him that the transaction had succeeded just after he uploaded the Life Card's data.

Damn! He sold it too cheap!

Shen Sui immediately realized that 900 yuan was too low a price, and he was instantly overcome with regret.

But there was nothing he could do. Life Card transactions followed the rule that once bought, the card was off the table. Once a transaction succeeded, there was no room for regret.

With a sigh, Shen Sui began browsing the Soul Card Shop.

Although the cards in the Soul Card Shop were not necessarily the strongest cards in the world, they still reflected current trends in the dueling environment to a certain extent.

Clearly, the current Life Card environment was very wholesome. Everyone was seriously competing through Follower Card battles.

Boring! Too boring!

Wholesome duels could not bring smiles to people's faces at all!

Then let me change this world!

Let the people of this world know what a real duel was!

After indulging in a burst of grand ambition, Shen Sui shut down the computer, pulled the Blank Card from the device, and casually inserted it into his Duel Instrument.

The Duel Instrument contained twenty Blank Cards gifted by the Soul Card Association, but a standard deck actually contained around forty Life Cards. Naturally, he had to pay for the extra Blank Cards himself.

Shen Sui was very poor. At least for now, he had no plans to replenish his Blank Cards.

A Blank Card that cost 500 yuan was not something Shen Sui could afford right now.

The 900 yuan he had earned in such a short time gave Shen Sui the illusion that making money seemed very easy.

That was probably why so many people wanted to become Soul Card Masters.

Well, hopefully Alice would pull through and farm more cards for him. If that happened, he would make a fortune through Life Card trading alone, without even relying on tournament prize money.

Of course, Shen Sui was not selling cards blindly. He would never sell cards that were useful to him.

Shen Sui returned to the dormitory. During these seven days before the Duel Exam, all Soul Card Master candidates were effectively on break. They could go wherever they wanted, so the campus had suddenly become much emptier, with many students choosing to go home and prepare for the exam.

Shen Sui had nowhere to go and could only return to the dormitory. It was quiet, at least.

All right, let's see how far Miss Alice had gotten.

Shen Sui opened the Duel Instrument and entered the homepage to check his Soul Card Follower's exploits.

Alice passed through Pa Yin Jia City. Her beauty attracted Fern Ze Lai's lustful attention, and Fern ordered Zod, a butler with third-tier strength, to capture Alice.

Alice sensed the danger and circled around to launch a surprise attack.

Alice killed Fern.

Ding! You obtained Spell Card: Crushing Blow Targeting the Groin

Alice looted all of Fern's assets and obtained three Intermediate Magic Crystals. She absorbed the crystals' magic power and advanced to become a second-tier magician. Your Soul Card Follower has gained a new form: Novice Magician Alice. You may pay the corresponding number of Soul Points to switch Follower Card forms.

Alice set Fern's mansion on fire.

Ding! You obtained Spell Card: Arson

Alice's actions drew Zod over, and she fought fearlessly.

Alice activated Feigned Weakness. Alice activated Resolve to Die. Alice activated Crushing Blow Targeting the Groin.

Alice was seriously injured, but she successfully killed Zod.

Alice's Little Mare carried Alice away from the scene and continued toward Pa Yin Jia Lake.

Ding! You obtained Spell Card: Little Pony Knows the Way

Sixth-tier magician Rhine Ze Lai expressed his fury over his grandson's death and swore that he would kill the murderer who had slain his biological grandson.

???

Wait! I was only gone for a little while. How did you get into trouble again?

And what the hell was this Crushing Blow Targeting the Groin? What exactly had you done to turn the tables on your enemy?