Chapter 26 - Chapter 26 - Magic Card Exchange (Bonus chapter)

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Chapter 26 - Magic Card Exchange (Bonus chapter)

Thoughts reached an impasse.

Luo Bai opened the Magic Card Exchange and first calculated the cost of each card set.

The Magic Card Exchange is controlled by , one of the five major forces.

The price of finished cards are: C Card 2,000-5,000, P Card 5,000-100,000, R Card 100,000-500,000, EX Card 500,000 or more, no upper limit.

(T/N: In the raws, the rarity is listed as N, R, SR and UR, but that part's changed along with the translated rarities, Common, Precious, Rare, and Extraordinary.)

The price fluctuation is related to various reasons such as the degree of texture distortion, whether that card needs a , and the hype of the seller or middleman. For example, the card with the currently highest cost, , has been driven up to 87 million.

It seems like someone's stupid or has a lot of money to spend.

Looking at the transaction history though, only the name is listed. This is probably just some kind of hype. The publicity surrounding it has become a phenomenon in itself, already worth the 87 million investment.

Yeah, that one there really may not be stupid, just a heck load of money.

"If I create that myself..."

The price of a Blank Card is fixed, C-rank is 200 gold points, P-rank is 1000 gold points, R-rank is 10,000 gold points and EX-rank is 100,000 gold points.

However, the price of Elemental Beads fluctuates.

""

Just like ready-made cards, the price depends on supply and demand.

There are 138 types of Monster Card Elemental Beads for each combination of 6 Attributes and 23 Types. There are 6 types of Spell Card Elemental Beads: Normal, Quick-Play, Equip, Field, Continuous, and Ritual. There are 3 types of Trap Card Elemental Beads: Normal, Continuous, and Counter. There are 147 types of Elemental Beads in total.

Each type also has different rarities, C, P, R, and EX.

The materials for making Blank Cards and Elemental Beads are derived from the crystal core of "Wild Beasts" from outside the Fortresses. These beasts are mainly hunted by the Anti-Beast Brigade, one of the five major forces. Based on the characteristics of these beasts, one can easily determine the properties of the Elemental Beasts they'd get.

If one wants Elemental Beads with Fire-Attribute, they'd have to hunt Wild Beasts in hot places. If they want Elemental Beads with Water-Attribute, they'd have to dive into the deep sea. The higher the strength of the Wild Beast they hunted, the higher the quality of its crystal core.

Among these, the price of Elemental Beads with Light and Dark Attributes is significantly higher than those with other attributes.

"Water-Attribute Aqua-type Elemental Beads are really cheap..."

There aren't many cards of this type to begin with, and they're not particularly strong either.

"A vial of potion restores 5000 Ba points, but one vial costs 20,000 gold points..."

"Why don't they just go and rob a bank..."

Luo Bai muttered to himself, then looked down.

People in Biantana generally don't worry about the issue of Ba because that can be accumulated as a group. If someone doesn't have enough, they can call on friends and family to help. Besides, Ba replenishes itself after a while.

Of course, the premise is that that friend can be trusted.

Luo "Loner Old Man" Bai lamented his pain.

With his current 3.2 affinity level, he automatically regenerates 25 points every minute, with a maximum Ba of 400 points. It will be fully charged in 16 minutes per use.

Generally speaking, the Ba points consumed during card creation also fluctuate: C cards cost 100-500 points, P cards 500-2000 points, R cards 2000-20,000 points, and EX cards 20,000-100,000 points.

All Magic Card Exchanges will not even mention . Epic Cards are usually bound to a person, so if one wants to trade them, they have to purchase the Card Master along with the card. The "transfer" price typically starts at 2 billion or more.

Calculating the cost of each card, half an hour later...

"It's so expensive!!!"

Luo Bai let out a rending scream.

D*mn... Only when he calculated it did he realize it...

Even excluding the cost of having it as an Epic Card, with the Extra Cards included, the cheapest Deck would cost more than 20 million.

Among them, seems to have a more terrifying demand than , being completely bottomless. It might even be of a higher tier than Epic-tier.

All Cards below Extraordinary are referred to with , while those above Epic are referred to with .

Eventually, his biggest expense is the energy points———- Ba.

In the Alterlife Shop, he can mobilize the energy of the small realm...

However, he can only stay in the shop for 3 hours a day. According to his current permission level, even if he doesn't pick up customers and makes cards all the time, he can only make three cards at most. and are very difficult for a novice like him, making the process quite time-consuming.

That said, time outside the shop can't be wasted!

"First find some C cards to practice with."

Making up his mind, Luo Bai started placing orders for C card manufacturing materials.

20 sets totaling 10,000 gold points, plus 2 vials of Ba potions costing 40,000 gold points, adding up to a total expenditure of 50,000 gold points.

When he clicked to make the payment and saw the price, Luobai paused for a moment, murmuring softly, "If you don't count the cost of the Crest, it doesn't seem that expensive..."

The materials for 20 C cards are only 10,000 gold points, and Ba is something he can produce himself.

A 40-card Deck consisting purely of cards would only total 20,000 gold points, and even if there are some mistakes in card making and some materials are wasted, it wouldn't cost much more.

It's actually affordable for ordinary people.

But a single ready-made C card costs at least 2,000 gold points, making a set of 40 cards 80,000 gold points. That's a whopping four times more!

It seems the remaining three times are all eaten up by the Crest cost and middlemen.

"Why don't I start selling Crests?"

Luo Bai actually considered that issue seriously.

However, the price for a Crest is hard to determine and he had no channels to do it.

For example, if he sells a C card Crest for 1 million, after others get it, those who have the channels can sell it twice for 600,000 each, making a profit of 200,000.

If they sell it for more, the greater their profit will be.

That said, the end result of that happening would be the Crest getting distorted on the same day, the card could be overused, and when someone really needs that card in the future, it can no longer be produced and the "stockholders" will have to raise the price.

That's something that can't be denied.

The monopolization and control of pattern circulation by the five major forces is indeed correct.

The True God hasn't sent down for 20 years, and many Card Masters are going crazy waiting for "new cards" and "re-release".

Thinking about it for a while, Luo Bai gave up selling Crests.

He pressed the purchase button and waited for delivery.

There are no professions such as couriers and takeout delivery in a Level 4 Fortress. Everything is delivered by drones. When a Fortress reaches Level 5, each residential unit is equipped with a "transportation pipeline". If one needs anything, they can just order it online, and it'll be delivered within half an hour after a successful transaction, which is extremely convenient.

Biantana has already mastered spatial folding technology, so it's not strange for a sports car to rush out of a transport pipe the size of a fist.

The premise is that that Fortress can maintain their level.

If they continue to lose in the Duelist League, they will fall down a level. If their Fortress level were to fall down to Level 3, their living standard would be no different from that of Earth in the late 20th century.

Strictly speaking, Fortresses below Level 2 aren't really meant for human habitation.

Slave mines, technology test sites, human experimentation labs, arenas, prisons, etc...

Bianyuelong, where Luo Bai is currently at, has already gone 7-3 in the Spring Season Preliminaries. After the twelve Swiss-style rounds, out of over 300 teams, the top 16 advance to the playoffs, usually requiring a record of 9-3 or better.

It would be quite challenging for teams with an 8-4 record.

Thus, they would have to win their next two matches.

With the livelihood resources of the 8 million residents of Bianyuelong at stake...

......

While Luo Bai was waiting for his card-making materials....

The branches of the five major forces in Bianyuelong Fortress are holding a "joint meeting".

that controls the Card Masters.

that controls technology.

that controls the army.

that controls finance.

, that's made up of all sorts of people, welcoming all newcomers, Card Hunters, mercenaries, resellers, smugglers, condemned criminals, scavenger teams, etc...

In the dimly lit conference room, the atmosphere was solemn and dignified. Neatly arranged documents and files adorned the long table, while flags representing different factions hung behind. Attendees sat in their respective delegation positions, focused on their tablets.

[DING!]

The main screen lights up.

"What do you think..." Dr. He, an old man dressed in a white coat, held a laser pointer, pointing the red dot at the large screen.

Everyone's eyes immediately turned towards him.

"Who did this?"

Dr. He's cold and ruthless voice echoed.

Depicted on the screen was a dark underground mine.

The surveillance footage is chaotic, with panicked screams echoing hoarsely and piercingly.

Within these screams were the rampages of the Epic Card: , tearing through homes, roaring deafeningly, and engulfing everything with its black inferno flames.