CHAPTER 8: CHAPTER 8: ALICE GATHERS INTELLIGENCE

After modifying numerous cards, Shen Sui had more or less figured out the pattern for modifying card effects.

Cards acquired from the Soul Card World have a fixed star level that cannot be changed. The star level represents the strength of the effect that can be accommodated. If Shen Sui wants stronger card effects at the same star level, he must bear some costs.

But what cost seems most severe, yet doesn’t impact the duel’s outcome as severely as it looks?

Several entries flashed through Shen Sui’s mind.

[Pay half of Life Value], [Pay all Soul Points], [Discard all cards in hand]....

[Pay half of Life Value], if you pay half each time, there’s essentially no cost.

[Pay all Soul Points], as long as you’ve already played all the cards you want to use, paying all Soul Points isn’t unacceptable. You could even perform a 1 Soul Point activation for a 15-star Life Card.

[Discard all cards in hand], this entry varies from person to person. For an average deck, this cost is quite significant, but if you use a graveyard-deck, this entry is an absolute delight!

Shen Sui first changed the target number for [Multi-Link Frenzied Fireball Technique] from 5 to 3. This allowed the 2-star card to gain more potential effects, and then following previous experience, he added the three aforementioned entries.

After completing this modification, the Dueling Device experienced a brief lag, as though the operation exceeded the program’s calculation capabilities. It couldn’t determine if the card’s effects exceeded its 2-star level.

Fortunately, after a while, the Dueling Device returned to normal operation, and his card, naturally, succeeded!

******

Card Name: [Multi-Link Frenzied Fireball Technique]

Category: Spell Card

Star Level: 2-star

Effect: Select up to three random followers on the field as targets, reducing their Spirit Value by 500. Followers whose Spirit Value drops to 0 are destroyed. Afterward, you may choose to execute one of the following effects (each effect can be executed only once per turn) to reactivate this card’s effect:

① Pay half of Life Value;

② Pay all Soul Points;

③ Discard all cards in hand.

******

Perfect! With this, I have a spell card with some field-clearing ability. Though it’s somewhat weak, given it’s only a 2-star, it’s more than enough for the duel exam.

Additionally, with [Thunder Strike], [Crushing Blow to the Crotch], and [Arson], Shen Sui virtually has the means to create practical battle space for Alice’s infinite death chains.

Moreover... our Alice has a second form.

In Life Card Duels, Form Transformation is exclusive to Soul Cards.

Soul Card followers, through their growth process, will undoubtedly have many forms corresponding to different periods’ states and occupations. In Life Card Duels, you can pay the corresponding form cost to transform the Soul Card followers on the field into forms of the corresponding star level. You can also summoning that form’s Soul Card directly from your hand by paying the cost.

Not long ago, Alice acquired her second form [Apprentice Mage Alice] in the city of Paiyiga.

A 2-star Life Card, though Alice as a mage of little lineage can’t possess spectacular abilities in form, she is guided by Shen Sui, after all.

Shen Sui quickly allowed [Apprentice Mage Alice] to have a brand new posture.

Looking at the second-form Alice in his hand, amidst the blazing fires of Zelie Mansion, the beautiful blonde girl rode a small white horse, holding her Mage Hat, with an excited smile at the corner of her mouth. Her light blue eyes reflected the flames, adding a hint of demonic allure to the girl.

*****

Card Name: [Apprentice Mage Alice] (Form Transformation)

Category: Follower Card

Star Level: 2-star

Effect: ① If this follower is summoned due to form transformation, you may choose a Spell Card from your deck and add it to your hand; if this follower leaves the field due to form transformation, you can choose an opponent’s Life Card on the field to destroy;

② Once per turn, if this follower is destroyed by battle or effect and sent to the graveyard, you can pay half of your Life Value to special summon this follower onto the field, then transform its form to [Magic Apprentice Alice].

Spirit Value: 600

******

This card is actually intended by Shen Sui to be used in conjunction with [Accidental Injury]. The effect of [Accidental Injury] is to destroy one of your own followers on the field and then activate a Spell Card from the graveyard or deck. It’s originally a one-for-one trade, but with the second form Alice, Shen Sui can gain even more.

Moreover, in the future, when Shen Sui modifies effects, he can even regard the entry [Destroy your own field follower] as a leaning-positive entry.

Having done all this, Shen Sui turned his attention back to the Dueling Device that was running.

He had experienced Alice’s troublemaking nature, so he dared not be even a little negligent while printing cards.

Opening the homepage and finding no conspicuous alerts, Shen Sui slightly breathed a sigh of relief. It seems Alice can also be quite peaceful. Shen Sui quickly browsed through Alice’s experiences over this period.

The time flow between the real world and the Soul Card World is not the same. The flow in the Soul Card World is significantly faster. Shen Sui can often see around five or six days of Alice’s activities within a single day, allowing the Life Card Master’s guidance to receive timely feedback.

[Miss Oshana Price thanked Alice for her rescue.]

[Alice held a barbecue to entertain this beautiful noble lady.]

[Oshana grew fond of barbecue and developed affection towards Alice.]

"Damn! What kind of fantasy novel protagonist gets a harem through barbecue?" Shen Sui couldn’t help but complain when he saw this part, but the next line on the Dueling Device instantly brought Shen Sui’s spirits back up.

[Alice asked Oshana about Clyde Modena.]

Originally half-lying on the bed, Shen Sui instantly sat up upon seeing this sentence. He was also curious about what the people of this game continent thought about Twilight Bishop Claude after a thousand years. In this Twilight of the Gods line, Claude actually acted as a good person, seriously ridding Dawn Continent of divine calamities. And in this main line, he didn’t do playboys activities; in this second run-through, the only female character he pursued was Vivian.

Vivian is my only sun!

[Oshana fearfully recounted Claude’s deeds.]

[Claude Modena, Twilight Bishop, the root of chaos on the Dawn Continent, disturb the entire continent for personal desires.]

[He was debauched, submitting to his own instincts.]

[He once snatched the empire’s empress from her wedding with the emperor.]

[He once desecrated the Goddess of Nature beneath her own statue.]

[He once seized a beautiful White Dragon in his research on Dragon Race bloodlines.]

[He once killed all the gods to please the Twilight Saintess.]

[...]

Defamation! Pure defamation!

Shen Sui was hopping mad with anger.

He pounded his hand violently on the ladder of the upper bunk, producing a loud clanging.

"Shen Sui, are you okay?" The dormitory manager’s aunt poked her head through the observation window, somewhat worried.

"I’m fine, I’m fine." Shen Sui quickly reassured her with a smile.

Looking back at the Dueling Device, his anger flared once more.

Damn it, who is slandering him?!

Shen Sui was very sure he didn’t perform these actions in this walkthrough!

He hates doing repetitive things in games.

What he did in the previous walkthrough, he would never do again in this one.