Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Purchasing Cards
"Can I see those cards?" Perry Yates asked.
"Of course, no problem. Please, follow me," the young man said politely.
After putting the meat and three animal hides into her Space Backpack, Perry Yates followed the young man to a secret room protected by multiple layers of security doors.
’The security here is as good as a bank vault’s, if not better.’
"These are all the cards we have on hand right now," the young man said.
Following the young man’s gaze, Perry Yates saw dozens of cards protected inside glass display cases.
Among them, the white ones were the most numerous, followed by the yellow one-star cards. The final two-star cards were placed in the most conspicuous spot in the middle, like treasured items.
Perry Yates glanced at the two two-star cards. One was Fire Attribute and the other Thunder Attribute, neither of which was the least bit compatible with her abilities, so she quickly looked away.
She turned her gaze to the yellow one-star cards. They were all common Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth Attributes.
Perry Yates’s gaze lingered for a few seconds on the only Thorny Rose Card among the one-star cards.
Because it was a Dual Attribute Card.
However, its Wood Attribute was dominant, while the other attribute was so minor that its symbol was almost too faint to see.
Seeing this, the young man behind her stepped forward and explained, "That’s a rare Dual Attribute Card. It’s just that its Dark attribute is very faint, so it’s not obvious."
’Dark attribute?’
’The Dark attribute should be related to the Moon Attribute, right?’
’After all, the Dark attribute makes you think of the night, and the night makes you think of the moon.’
’Besides, while they say a player can only absorb one type of card after choosing their first, that’s not entirely accurate.’
"How much is this card?" Perry Yates asked.
"Because it’s a Dual Attribute Card, it’s quite expensive. Ten million."
Hearing the price, Perry Yates thought to herself, ’It’s certainly expensive, but it’s worth it.’
"I’ll take it."
Then she looked down at the White Cards.
As it stood, ignoring their level, the White Cards were the most cost-effective option for her.
Not only were they plentiful, but they were also cheap.
The only problem was the high chance of getting a useless junk card, like that pot from before.
As she carefully examined each card, her gaze landed on a Safe House Card.
It was called a Safe House, but the interior was only about one square meter. It was also a completely bare-bones room with nothing inside, and its defense was practically nonexistent—as fragile as paper.
"I’ll take this one too."
One after another, Perry Yates picked out several more White Cards. In addition to the one-square-meter Safe House, there was a set of rusty knives, a Water Collector that could produce ten milliliters of water a day, a burning campfire, and a cat-head mask.
A Monster Book that could answer any question, but whether it answered depended on the mood of the monster inside. Before that, you had to give the monster a huge amount of food.
"A huge amount" here didn’t just mean a lot of food; it meant a massive quantity. The more difficult the question, the more food was required.
Moreover, each monster had its own preferences, and some even had a particular fondness for human flesh.
Wasting a massive amount of resources for an answer you might not even get was clearly not worth it.
Most importantly, once a Monster Book was activated, it would only leave after its appetite was satisfied. Otherwise, it would fall into a frenzied state.
Once, a player abroad activated a Monster Book Card. No one knows what demands the Monster Book made, but in any case, the player chose to give up on asking their question.
As a result, one second after they gave up, the Monster Book went berserk and, with a CRUNCH, bit the player’s head off.
Not only that, but it also resulted in over a thousand injuries and a hundred deaths.
The incident caused such a huge stir that it even made international news.
It was only then that people learned that if you activate a Monster Book and fail to satisfy it, the creature will go on a rampage and attack everything around it.
When the young man saw that Perry Yates had actually chosen the Monster Book Card, a hesitant expression appeared on his face.
"The Monster Book may be a White Card, but it possesses high intelligence and is extremely dangerous. Please don’t activate it unless you’re absolutely certain."
"Okay, I’ll be careful." Perry Yates nodded, showing she understood.
Back home, Perry Yates eagerly took out all her new cards.
She already had nine cards, and now she had acquired seven more. After setting aside the ones she didn’t need, Perry Yates prepared to give the remaining cards a major upgrade.
First was the energy supply for the process.
This was why Perry Yates had brought back half the meat.
Over the next two days, Perry Yates spent a great deal of time using Ascension on the meat in her Space Backpack, cutting it into normal-sized pieces, and then pan-frying it.
For several days straight, a tantalizing, meaty aroma wafted through Perry Yates’s floor of the building.
People in the residential complex’s group chat were even asking whose apartment the smell was coming from, how it was so fragrant, and if they would be willing to share.
’Sharing is out of the question. I don’t even know if I have enough meat for myself.’
Since most of the meat after Ascension came with its own seasoning, she didn’t have to worry about that part.
Looking at the growing pile of cooked meat in her Space Backpack, Perry Yates decided it was enough. She stopped and prepared to upgrade her cards.
First up was the Dual-color Rose Card, a reward from the game system.
As she slowly channeled her body’s energy into it, the card began to change.
Beside Perry Yates sat a small mountain of wild fruits and cooked meat.
When she felt that her energy had been depleted by more than a third, Perry Yates started stuffing food into her mouth.
Perhaps because the food was converted into energy so quickly, Perry Yates didn’t feel full at all during the process.
On the contrary, as she continuously poured energy into the card, an urgent hunger welled up inside her, forcing her to keep eating.
This time, because she had plenty of food and no safety concerns, Perry Yates raised the card from two-star to three-star in half the time it would normally take in-game. She then spent another two days raising it from three-star to four-star.
She stopped after the card reached four stars.
Previously, when she used Ascension on the Twin Sunflower Card to get it to four stars, she had received feedback from the card.
Five-star cards could not be obtained through Ascension.
If Perry Yates wanted to upgrade her cards to five stars, she would need the help of other four-star cards.
’A quantitative change leading to a qualitative change. It must be something like that.’
After fusing the card, Perry Yates knew the Bicolor Rose was an attack-type card—after all, roses have thorns.
She checked her body, but nothing had changed.
Perry Yates raised a hand, and a pale blue rose appeared in her palm.
Comments