The First Original Card

Senior Brother Qi added, "More importantly, your card skills need to match the card's image. For example, [Tuberose] has the skills [Bewitching Fragrance] and [Nightfall], both of which relate to the card's name. Tang Muzhou's strongest area-of-effect card, [Millennium Sacred Tree], has a skill called [Death Strangulation], which uses large-scale wood-element vines to strangle Star Card illusions. His cards are so powerful because the card, its stats, and its skills fit together perfectly."

Xie Mingzhe nodded admiringly. It seemed Tang Muzhou had quite an imagination! He had given all kinds of plants such powerful skills.

The official rules for original cards were indeed quite demanding. Players could not just make things up at random. To ensure competitions were as fair as possible, the officials surely had a professional database and calculation formulas to regulate card stats. For example, an absurd skill that instantly killed everyone within a hundred meters would definitely never pass review.

The earlier someone started playing the game, the easier it was to create original cards, since there were fewer duplicate cards. But Star Card Storm had already been operating for a full ten years. With so many players, hadn't all kinds of cards already been made by those who came before? Who knew whether the system's card database already included every kind of plant, animal, and person? The problem of "creativity" alone could stump plenty of people trying to make entirely new cards.

He had to make a new card that did not exist in the card database? What should he make? Xie Mingzhe stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Senior Brother Qi said, "If you're really interested in original cards, you can buy some Nebula Paper from the Black Market and try making one first."

Sisi advised, "Uncle Chubby, original cards cost a lot of money. One of my best friends wanted to create an original pet card last month. She spent several thousand just on materials and didn't even manage to make a single successful card. Don't jump into this pit so easily!"

Xie Mingzhe nodded. "Mm, I'm just interested and want to give it a try. If I fail, then so be it. I won't invest a huge amount of money." He did not have that much money to waste, but he truly would not be satisfied if he did not at least try.

At least his mental strength was high, and he knew how to draw. His hardware met every requirement. Perhaps he really could make cards and sell them, which would also be a source of income.

Having made up his mind, Xie Mingzhe followed Senior Brother Qi to the largest underground trading market on Commercial Star—the Black Market.

Author's Note: The rules for original cards have been explained clearly. You cannot directly copy someone else's cards; you have to use your own "imagination" to make new cards.

The Black Market was located in an alley behind the commercial street, an underground city. Unlike the bustling commercial street, this place was dimly lit, with all kinds of materials piled together in a chaotic mess, like the "night markets selling cheap street goods" from Earth's era.

Browsing the Black Market naturally required patience; you had to slowly hunt for bargains. Fortunately, Senior Brother Qi knew the place like the back of his hand and quickly led the two of them to a large stall. The stall owner was a plump middle-aged man who greeted them warmly. "What are you three looking for?"

"Do you have Nebula Paper?" Senior Brother Qi asked directly.

The owner's eyes crinkled with a smile. "Yes, yes, yes. I have every grade here." As he spoke, he took out five stacks of white paper in succession. From left to right were Grade 1 through Grade 5 Nebula Paper. The higher the grade, the better the paper's sheen.

"Does using higher-grade paper mean you'll make a higher-grade card?" Xie Mingzhe asked.

"No. Original cards made by players all start at one star and Level 1. But cards made with higher-grade paper tend to have relatively better stats. The key still lies in the card maker's talent. A gifted card maker can make good cards with low-grade paper, while someone with average mental strength will only make trash cards even with high-grade paper," Senior Brother Qi said. "If you're only trying it for fun, I suggest buying Grade 1 paper. Higher-grade paper is very expensive."

"Then I'll buy a few of the cheapest ones and try making something." Xie Mingzhe turned to the owner. "How much is Grade 1 Nebula Paper?"

"Ten gold per sheet."

"Can you make it cheaper?"

"That's already the lowest price!"

"How about seventy gold for ten sheets? A newbie's pockets are empty."

Haggling was Xie Mingzhe's specialty. Besides, Senior Brother Qi had said that bargaining was allowed in the Black Market. There was no reason not to haggle.

Seeing him immediately slash the price by thirty percent, the owner's expression turned somewhat strange. "No matter how poor a newbie is, surely he can't be short even a hundred gold?"

Xie Mingzhe looked completely serious. "I just spent my money buying cards. I only have seventy gold left in my pocket. Could you give me ten sheets?"

The owner said helplessly, "All right, all right. Here, take them."

Xie Mingzhe smiled. "Thank you, Boss!"

Senior Brother Qi was rather speechless—this guy really knew how to stretch every penny. It seemed he should bring this little haggling expert along whenever he visited the Black Market in the future.

After buying the Grade 1 paper, Senior Brother Qi took the two of them to the card stalls to browse around. They bought three suitable combat cards, all three-star evolution cards.

[Firefly] Skill [Firefly Glow]: Illuminated an area within a 10-meter radius for 5 minutes.

[Black Crow] Skill [Airstrike]: Dealt 100% lightning-element damage to all hostile targets within a 10-meter range.

[Water Sprite] Skill [Slow]: Applied a movement-speed reduction debuff to all hostile targets within a 10-meter range for 3 seconds.

The Firefly card cost only 150 gold, while the other two combat cards cost 200 gold each. Compared to cards at the auction house, they were dirt cheap. Senior Brother Qi gave the Firefly card to Sisi, kept the Water Sprite card for himself, and gave the Black Crow card to Xie Mingzhe.

Xie Mingzhe was somewhat confused. "These two combat cards also have area-of-effect attack and crowd-control skills. Why are they so cheap?"

Senior Brother Qi said, "Their skill ranges are too small, and their coefficients are also low. Good area-of-effect cards have ranges of at least twenty meters."

"Can't the range be upgraded when a card levels up?"

"It only increases by one meter every ten levels, so at Level 70, it can increase by seven meters at most. Tang Muzhou's Tuberose card sells for such a high price because both of its crowd-control skills have a range of thirty meters—thirty meters is the maximum range for group skills stipulated by the officials."

"So that's how it is." Xie Mingzhe nodded in understanding. He found that Senior Brother Qi was like a "game encyclopedia" who knew everything. Joining this couple's party in the beginning had truly been a wise decision. He had learned quite a lot from following Senior Brother Qi around.

Senior Brother Qi led the two of them to grind monsters in Dark Cave at the southernmost tip of White Egret Star. The place was pitch-black, and nothing could be seen. The holographic game was far too realistic. Sisi was terrified of the dark, but she maintained a calm facade and quickly summoned the Firefly card. Only then did a faint glow light up the area within ten meters around them.