CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42: POST-MATCH CONVERSATION

[Whoa! 666, did this guy just play one card?]

[It’s the Fish King being greedy, didn’t even check the effect before trying an FTK, got caught and countered instead.]

[Honestly, I’m dumbfounded. If you just throw this card into the graveyard, how do you deal with it?]

[Wow! What a beautiful nun! Evil yet holy, I want to confess to her about me and the fish...]

[Details up front! Details!]

The comments section went wild.

"You juniors are really something else." After organizing the card decks, Yuan Youxin walked up to Shen Sui, eyeing him up and down, "Who knows, you might actually stir up some winds in the professional scene."

If it wasn’t for your greed, trying to force your way through my trap, it would actually have been tough for me to play.

Thinking back, if it weren’t for drawing Anna at the start, Shen Sui actually wouldn’t have had many options against Yuan Youxin’s move, maybe just using the Fish King and Flame Witch for a hard counter.

Life Card Duels can sometimes be like this, almost getting into a fight before the duel, but after the duel being able to speak calmly.

After the award ceremony, Yuan Youxin invited Shen Sui to eat at a restaurant.

A chance to mooch a meal is something Shen Sui naturally wouldn’t miss, as he’s really curious about the professional circle of Life Card Duels in this world. Though Yuan Youxin isn’t a professional player, since he chooses to stubbornly stay in amateur tournaments blowing up fish rather than participating in the ranking tournaments, he’s bound to know some information about the professional scene.

These kinds of things aren’t usually told to students by their coaches, and online you can only find vague keywords at best, you can’t really make sense of them.

It’s one of those ’if you know, you know’ things.

Somebody well-connected might spill the beans anonymously.

You’d have no idea what they’re talking about.

So, Shen Sui wanted to take this opportunity to really understand the industry news.

The Life Card Duel industry is flourishing in this world, but since the Life Cards don’t have extraordinary power, in the eyes of most countries in this world, Life Card Duels are just a thriving and prosperous industry, much like the entertainment and e-sports industries of the past life.

This specifically refers to Life Card Duels, not the Soul Card World.

The exploration of the Soul Card World is what the national leaders care most about.

It has long been proven that the Soul Card World is a real world, though due to the barriers of reality, those worlds with extraordinary power can’t invade the real world, not even the mightiest of World No. 2 Soul Cards in the seventeenth tier can break through the world’s barriers, but you still have to prepare for the worst, just like nuclear weapons aimed at other countries.

The leaders also monitor the activities of each Soul Card World in real-time.

It’s not uncommon for dueling families trying to bring in the extraordinary to be completely sent in there.

Also, certain sci-fi Soul Card Worlds with technology similar to ours are offering inspiration and guidance for the development of real-world technology; the explosion of technology development over the last century owes much to the knowledge and information from those Soul Card Worlds.

These countries strongly support the Life Card Duel system, possibly with the aim of nurturing more talent to explore the Soul Card World, much like how scientists use games to enlist players worldwide to help decode DNA.

Moreover, while powers can’t invade, that doesn’t mean ideologies and malice can’t.

If World No. 1 is simply unfriendly to Life Card Masters due to high Soul Card mortality, then Soul Card Worlds like World No. 8 are taboo to all peaceful nations. In these countries, during duel exams when drawing Soul Cards, you’re not allowed to choose banned Soul Card Worlds like World No. 8.

World No. 8 is a land where bizarre powers are gained through rituals and sacrifices from unknown entities—this world is brimming with terrifying and bloody religious rituals, mysterious and powerful unknown beings. While these powers don’t seep into the real world, Life Card Masters influenced by the ideologies inside might emulate the rituals from the Soul Card World in reality trying to worship their faith, leading to several tragic incidents, prompting most countries to ban selection of that world.

In fact, Shen Sui wanted to say that similar rituals aren’t uncommon on the Dawn Continent. After all, this famous blend-of-all-game desperately craves to sew in any popular element it can, things like Esoteric Buddhism simulator and Cthulhu and whatnot, all stuffed in there, and under the world view of Dawn Continent, these are uniformly called Evil Gods—but this part was censored in a certain game update.

"So, when you achieve results in Life Card Duels, the Exploration Bureau might come to recruit you, asking you to do some tasks to understand the Soul Card World you chose," Yuan Youxin explained, "Of course, you can also apply to become a full-time member of the Exploration Bureau. But, since it’s a secretive position, according to our nation’s regulations, you won’t be able to participate in duels any more, because some of the Life Cards you use might be related to state secrets."

"Oh? Are there many people who transition to become members of the Exploration Bureau?"

"Not many. This dead-end salary doesn’t compare to the fast money from winning duel prizes. But some people still apply every year, especially when things don’t pan out in their professional path, since it’s a stable job, even if your Soul Card dies, they’ll assign you to other jobs. As a side note, this position is sanctioned, and the difficulty of exams for the Exploration Bureau is much easier than civil service exams." Of course, what Yuan Youxin didn’t mention is that the difficulty of the duel exams is way higher than the civil service exams.

Alright, no matter what world you go to, you can’t escape exams and sanctioned positions.

Shen Sui spun the glass in his hand, suddenly asking: "So, what kind of rewards come from doing exploration tasks for the Exploration Bureau?"

"Generally speaking, these tasks are only assigned to fairly renowned Life Card Masters, because if your deck is strong, it shows that your Soul Card gets by well in the Soul Card World unless there are only a few Life Card Masters in your Soul Card World." Yuan Youxin glanced at Shen Sui, "Looks like you’re pretty confident about making a name for yourself."

"I think after winning against you this time, I might get a little fame for a while."

"News like yours are usually short-lived; the Exploration Bureau folks are very old-fashioned and only recognize professional tournament results," Yuan Youxin said, "As for the task rewards, sorry, there are none."

"Pro bono work?"

"In any case, they definitely won’t be handing out any rewards or prize money."

"And people still take on these tasks?"

"In fact, a lot of times those professional players are just hoping the Exploration Bureau would come to them with tasks," Yuan Youxin laughed.

Shen Sui was a bit surprised; are people in this world really so altruistic?

Yuan Youxin seemed to see through Shen Sui’s thoughts, saying: "Don’t think too highly of people, very few are willing to do things without benefit."

"Then are there any invisible benefits to these exploration tasks?"

"There are." Yuan Youxin nodded, enviously saying, "Tax deductions."

Shen Sui took a sharp breath.

The prize money from Life Card Duel tournaments is subject to a 20% income tax.

Out of Shen Sui’s 500,000 prize, 100,000 was directly deducted, leaving him with 400,000.

And the higher prize money in professional tournaments means even more tax deductions.

Shen Sui crossed his hands under his chin, reluctantly admitting: "Really is an irresistible condition."