Auction House┃The Card Author's Logo Is: Yueban

President Illusory Moon had not lied to him. Judgment was indeed a highly capable club. Nie Yuandao and Shan Lan were both elite players at the very top of the league pyramid. Nie Yuandao in particular had been competing since the first season, nearly ten years now. Even other top players had to call him Senior when they met him.

Anyone else would have been tempted if a top club in the industry had taken the initiative to extend an olive branch.

Xie Mingzhe had indeed been tempted at the time, but in the end, reason won out over impulse.

He had been poor before. Before selling the copyright to the Wu Song Card, he had only 200 in savings. Of course he liked money, but he was not short-sighted—the most valuable thing he possessed was his imagination, and the experience of being reborn was a priceless treasure.

Sign on as a designer and hand all the card copyrights over to a club? Only an idiot would agree to that!

He wanted to be a freelance card designer even more, making whatever cards he liked without being bound by any club regulations.

From now on, he would not sell copyrights anymore. He would only sell cards.

Wu Song only targeted tigers, and its copyright had sold for 300,000.

Daiyu had a much broader target range—flowers.

Even without selling the copyright, a Daiyu Card alone would surely fetch a good price.

Selling it cheaply on the Black Market had been a huge loss. He should take the Daiyu Card somewhere more upscale.

—The Auction House!

Auction House┃The Card Author's Logo Is: Yueban

The next morning, Xie Mingzhe got up at seven and logged into the game before his power-leveling partners woke up.

As soon as he entered the game, he went to the study and made a new version of the Daiyu Card, intending to test the waters at the Auction House.

There were not many players online so early in the morning, and even the plaza on Aquarius was unusually deserted. Xie Mingzhe entered the Auction House, followed the stairs to the second floor, and found the "Auction Management Center." After pushing open the door, he found that it was laid out much like a bank lobby. More than a dozen service counters stood in a row, each staffed by identical young women in professional skirt suits. They were probably intelligent NPCs set by the game to provide auction-related services to players.

A few early-rising players were handling business at the counters. Xie Mingzhe copied them and sat down at an empty counter. The beautiful NPC behind it immediately smiled and said, "Hello. How can I help you?"

"I want to auction this card. How do I go through the procedures?" Xie Mingzhe took out his Daiyu Card and handed it to her.

The NPC brought up a form on the screen and said, "Please read the auction process carefully. Ask me if there is anything you do not understand."

Auction Item Process:

1. Players place the items or shops they wish to auction under the Auction Management Center's custody and set a starting price and minimum sale price.

2. After system review, the auction item enters the waiting queue, and the system notifies the player of the specific auction time.

3. If the item sells, the Auction House charges 10% of the sale price as commission. During custody, an additional management fee of 500 gold is charged each day.

He understood everything else, but the second point confused Xie Mingzhe. "There's a queue for auctions?"

"There are currently too many players auctioning cards and shops. Each auction has limits on time and quantity, so you need to wait in line."

Xie Mingzhe nodded in understanding. "Oh, about how long is the wait?"

"For cards, it is generally three days."

Xie Mingzhe continued, "Is there a reference range for setting the price?"

The NPC said, "Your card is a One-Star Card. The reference starting-price range for One-Star initial cards is 100 to 500 gold. The reference range for transaction prices last week was 1,000 to 5,000 gold. You may set your ideal starting price and minimum sale price."

After thinking it over, Xie Mingzhe entered the prices in the translucent window before him: starting price, 3,000 gold; minimum sale price, 30,000 gold.

The NPC reminded him, "The price you have set is far above the system transaction price for One-Star Cards. The card may fail to sell. Do you wish to confirm?"

Xie Mingzhe pressed confirm without hesitation.

If it failed to sell, it just meant no one bought it. That was fine. He was only testing the waters to see how much he could earn from selling this card by itself.

Since this world's cultural background differed from that of the Earth he had lived on, and instant-death skills had only recently been added to the database, he was confident he could sell this Daiyu Card for a high price. If this one sold well, he could draw several dozen more and open a shop to keep selling them.

Opening a shop had been a wish buried in his heart ever since he first saw shops being auctioned. It should be realized soon enough.

Xie Mingzhe quickly filled out the form and submitted the card.

"Please wait for system review..."

After waiting a moment, a line of text appeared on the LCD screen before him: "The card [Lin Daiyu] you placed in the Auction House's custody has passed review and entered the waiting queue. It is expected to be auctioned at the auction on Wednesday, August 8, at 20:00 next week. Please confirm."

After pressing confirm, Xie Mingzhe happily logged out.

Just then, Chen came downstairs. Seeing Xie Mingzhe take off his helmet, Chen could not help asking, "Little Xie, what were you doing logging into the game so early?"

Xie Mingzhe smiled. "I wanted to study the game. I've only just started playing, so there's a lot I don't understand."

Chen came over, patted him on the shoulder, and encouraged him. "No need to rush. You've only been playing for a few days, yet you can already keep up with everyone. That's impressive. Lots of people struggle terribly when controlling Seven-Star Cards, but you seem quite relaxed when using the Storm Goddess and Ice Goddess."

Xie Mingzhe froze. "Is controlling Seven-Star Cards that difficult?" He found controlling Seven-Star Cards exhilarating. Their skills struck wherever he pointed, and they were incredibly flexible. He had thought everyone was like that.

Chen smiled, lit a cigarette, and spoke as he smoked. "Otherwise, why would there be a difference between professional players and ordinary players? This game has high demands on mental power. Seven-Star Cards are hard to control, especially in matches. Once there are too many cards on the field, your mind turns into a mess. You can control Seven-Star Cards so easily. Once you become more familiar with the game, you could try the arena or some amateur leagues. Interested?"

Xie Mingzhe scratched the back of his head. He did not know whether Chen had meant that intentionally or not, so he could only answer, "We'll see. I'll focus on doing the power-leveling work properly first... Oh, right, did that girl who took leave to get married say when she would be back?"