Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Attracting Attention
Fortunately, all the glasses in Perry Yates’s tavern were props and couldn’t be broken.
"Is what you said all true?" the young man asked excitedly.
Perry Yates nodded. "I run an honest business, fair to all my customers. One session costs just ten one-star cards per person."
The young man calmed himself and said, "I’d like to buy a three-star Wind Attribute card. What’s the price?"
’A Wind Attribute card?’
’Come to think of it, I don’t actually have any cards with that attribute. But wait... I think there was a Wind Attribute card among the ten Tate Joyner brought over before.’
’As for the price, doubling it wouldn’t be too much, would it?’
"One hundred White Cards or ten one-star cards. If you pay with a card that has a rare attribute, it will count as two cards of the same rank."
The young man didn’t seem too surprised by the price Perry Yates quoted, as if he had come prepared.
"Alright, but I want to see the card first," the young man said.
"No problem. Please wait a moment while I go get it."
With that, Perry Yates turned and headed upstairs.
’I haven’t performed Ascension on that Wind Attribute card yet.’
After about ten minutes, seeing that Perry Yates still hadn’t come downstairs, the young man asked the nearby butler, "Nothing’s happened to your boss, has it? She’s been gone for a long time."
The butler glanced upstairs and said, "The storeroom is quite large. The boss is likely still searching for the card. Please wait patiently."
"A storeroom? You really have that many cards on hand?" the young man asked.
The butler smiled but said nothing.
Undeterred, the young man pressed on, "Since you have so many cards and can even upgrade them, why not cooperate with the Administration?"
"Sir, everyone makes their own choices. I respect my boss’s decisions."
Just then, Perry Yates came back downstairs, holding a black card in her hand.
"How about this one? Demon Wind."
After examining the card twice and confirming it was real, the young man shot up from his stool. "I’ll be right back," he said.
Perry Yates nodded, indicating that she would hold the card for him.
Only after his figure had completely vanished did Perry Yates finally let out a sigh of relief and slump over the bar counter.
’That scared me to death.’
It was then that Perry Yates realized that while she had a lot of cards, their attributes were too uniform. They were almost all Water and Ice. She had a few cards with other attributes, but the numbers were incredibly small, and she didn’t have a full range.
’Take that Wind Attribute card, for instance. If it weren’t for Tate Joyner, I probably would have crashed and burned with just my second customer.’
’Oh, right. I think there was a Wood Attribute card among those ten.’
With this in mind, Perry Yates took out the Wood Attribute card.
The face of the card depicted a small green sprout, looking completely unremarkable.
"Ascension!"
[Green Grass Card
Rank: One-Star
A resilient sprout with tenacious Life Force, capable of surviving in almost any harsh environment.]
’Seems like a decent card. I’ll keep it for myself.’
Meanwhile, after leaving Phantom Street, the young man, Jonah Chase, went straight to the Survival Game Administration.
There were already people there waiting for him.
As he pushed the door open, the people in the room couldn’t wait to ask, "Well? Is The Card Tavern real or fake?"
Jonah Chase nodded. "It’s real. And besides the cards, I gathered some other information."
Jonah Chase then recounted everything he’d learned: the custom cards, the ability to predict the next game and enter it in advance for a trial run, and even the healing. The others were left dumbfounded as they listened.
"Jonah Chase, are you sure all of this is true?" one of them asked.
"I can’t be sure about the rest, but the part about the cards is definitely real. I told her I wanted a three-star Wind Attribute card, and she pulled one out for me right away. Plus, I’d bet the owner of The Card Tavern has far more cards than we imagine."
At his words, the room fell silent.
In a situation like this, the best course of action would be to recruit such a person and bring them into the fold.
However, Jonah Chase had also mentioned that she doesn’t like being tied down.
Besides, if he wasn’t mistaken, that mysterious street and the tavern itself were likely a single item, and a high-level one at that.
"Since you already have a deal with the tavern owner, hurry back with the cards before someone else buys it."
"Right, exactly. Three-star cards are incredibly hard to come by. The tavern owner seems to place a high value on rare attributes, so she might only be taking cards with rarer attributes as payment."
"We don’t have the authority to give away one-star cards, but we can definitely spare the White Cards."
"Yes, sir! I’m on my way."
After Jonah Chase left, the people in the room prepared to report the matter up the chain of command.
After all, she was clearly planning to go solo. Since she wouldn’t accept their recruitment offer, their only other option was to stay on her good side.
"I remember that area is supposed to be a bunch of abandoned, unfinished buildings."
"Mhm. It was originally slated for development as a commercial street, but then the survival games began. The investor and his son were both chosen, and they never came back. The project was shelved after that."
"Should we cordon off the area, then? Forbid anyone from entering."
As soon as he said that, everyone turned to look at the speaker like he was an idiot.
"She’s open for business, and you want to cordon her off? Are you trying to make an enemy of her?"
"Let’s test her attitude some more. If the information Jonah Chase brought back is true, this could actually be a good thing for us."
"After all, you all know the difference between absorbing a compatible card and an incompatible one."
After all, not everyone was as lucky as Perry Yates, who had fused with a Yin Yang Harmony Card that could balance internal attribute conflicts.
Other players were extremely cautious when absorbing cards, not at all like Perry Yates, who would dare to absorb a multi-attribute card as long as it had even one attribute she could use.
Most players would only absorb cards that matched the attribute of their very first card.
For example, if their first card was Wind Attribute, then all subsequent cards had to be Wind Attribute as well. Adding even one other attribute was out of the question.
Single-attribute cards were one thing; the real difficulty lay with players who absorbed a dual-attribute card as their first one.
However, because these players had an extra attribute, their combat strength was also significantly higher.
If the thing about custom cards was true, it would be an absolute godsend for those Multi-attribute players.
Meanwhile, back at The Card Tavern, a third customer arrived.
This customer, however, didn’t play by the book. He walked right up to Perry Yates behind the bar and said, "I’d like to discuss a business proposition."
"What kind of proposition?" Perry Yates asked curiously.
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