Competition Card Making (Part 1)

Ning Xi sat upright on the hospital bed.

In front of her, a small black box faced her, from which Song Shichun's slightly distorted voice came out.

"Ning Xi, I'm going to ask you a few questions. Don't be too nervous, just answer truthfully."

Ning Xi swallowed.

For a simple video call, screen mirroring from the terminal would suffice, but the school opted for specialized equipment.

"First, how did you deal with the assassin?"

"I originally intended to use the card to distract him and escape to a safer place. But I accidentally activated the card you gave me. I used this card to create a barrier, and after that, I don't remember much."

"You didn't activate that card on your own?"

"No, it actively draws on my spiritual energy, thereby activating its function."

Song Shichun remained silent for a moment.

“I was very worried about you when I received the news. I recently received information that the previous user of that mysterious card died from exhaustion of mental energy. I originally wanted to take back the card from you, but I was too busy and forgot.”

Song Shichun didn't tell her that she had originally wanted to replace the mysterious card with something else, but the Luo family stopped her with the intention of "changing the exam questions." They might not have been unaware of the card's danger; they simply didn't care about Ning Xi.

“It’s alright,” Ning Xi smiled. “Without this card, I might already be dead.”

She asked, "Is Teacher Song planning to take this card back?"

“No.” Song Shichun quickly rejected the question. “Now that we know its dangers, we can find a solution, such as asking Teacher Murong for a mental energy blocker. I have something more important to tell you.”

"Teacher, please speak."

Song Shichun's tone was calm and slow, yet inexplicably made Ning Xi feel very heavy, as if she had swallowed these words countless times before speaking them.

"I have some expectations for you."

"But if these unauthorized expectations bring you danger, you can choose to end them."

"The teacher has confirmed that you're the one who dragged me into this incident."

"Not yet." Song Shichun shook his head. "We may never be able to be sure. The person who came to kill you has already been taken away."

"So, the academy can't actually be sure where the danger I'm facing comes from either."

Ning Xi lowered her eyes, trying hard to recall what she had experienced.

She once thought of herself as an ordinary girl from the edge of the planet, harboring the dream of becoming a powerful card maker. She spent her days reading, drawing, and listening to online classes... and finally got into Mingxin Academy.

But that's not the case, or rather, it's not just that.

When she was attacked, she was not panicked; on the contrary, she was surprisingly calm, as if this was something she was meant to face. She even had a sense of relief, as if a weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders.

And that touch of golden-red in the dream world...

Where did she come from?

Ning Xi gathered her thoughts and continued to ask Song Shichun, "What are your expectations of me, teacher?"

Song Shichun said, "I hope you can create even better cards."

Is that all?

"I hope you can become a cure for the increasingly declining card game industry." Song Shichun said with a serious expression. "Those families and guilds each have their own calculations. Compared to them, I hope you can obtain that qualification. For this, you may offend them, those forces that think they can take what they want just because they are powerful."

"What qualifications?"

"The qualification to meet 'Wanxiang'. You should have heard the legend on the forum that the entity operating the Wanxiang system is not the Wanxiang Operations Department, but a super AI called 'Wanxiang'. Its database stores the spiritual power models of various cards from the past few hundred years."

"A mental power model? It's—"

"It's a structure that can't be learned from papers or videos, but only through personal contact with the cards. But how many card artists have the opportunity to come into contact with all sorts of cards?" Song Shichun said. "'Wanxiang' was previously contaminated by malicious data, so it has sealed itself off and doesn't meet with ordinary people. Only a very small number of people have the authority to contact it and recommend new contacts."

"Of course, meeting 'All Things' isn't entirely safe either. It doesn't mean any harm; it's just that its defense mechanism has been triggered, so it might accidentally hurt others. However, with your level of mental strength, it's not really that dangerous."

"but……"

However, the person whose opportunity was taken away will definitely resent her and may even scheme against her in order to take the opportunity back.

If she refuses Song Shichun, those people will have no reason to hold a grudge against her, and she will be safe... right?

Ning Xi blinked, and an intuitive feeling flashed through her mind, making her realize that the real danger was not limited to this one place.

She needs to become stronger; she needs leverage.

"Teacher Song, I want to try to get this opportunity."

...

The new investigation results came out quickly.

The Bureau of Investigation considered the assassination attempt on Yale to be "a spur-of-the-moment murder for money," even though Ning Xi didn't have much money on her. But progress was made on another matter.

The provocative phone call to Zhang Min was investigated thoroughly, and the person who ultimately instigated it was eventually identified.

"Luo Xian?"

The patrol captain readily admitted it.

"Ning Xi and I had a feud before she even enrolled, and ever since then, I've held a grudge against her and wanted to kick her out of the competition. I tried to sow discord between her and her teammates so she couldn't continue competing, but I really didn't expect that to happen—"

Luo Xian's expression turned horrified: "I didn't order anyone to kill her! I couldn't possibly do such a thing!"

"Did you really instigate this?" Song Shichun's tone was not angry, but rather gentle. "Luo Xian, your efforts and dedication are recognized by all the teachers in our academy. You don't want all your hard work to be in vain, do you?"

"I have failed the academy's teachings..."

“Tell us who the real mastermind is.”

Luo Xian's breathing became heavy, which was especially noticeable in the quiet conference room.

"The academy has no intention of interfering in the power struggles between aristocratic families, but it will never allow students to be harmed by them." Song Shichun patiently explained, "We are committed to providing students with a fair, safe, and innocent environment for growth."

“Any student.”

"Now, can you tell us who really instigated this?"

Luo Xian closed his eyes in despair.

He didn't seem to be persuaded; on the contrary, he was just desperately convinced that the card-making director must already have the answer in his heart, so his concealment was meaningless.

"It's Luo Qing'an."

“I am the illegitimate child of the Luo family. They told me that I was able to stay at Mingxin Academy only because of the Luo family.”

"Without the Luo family, I will lose everything I have."

"The Luo family promised me a bright future, but they asked me to do some... dirty work."

“Last year, a commoner student offended Luo Shangqi, so they asked me to harass and suppress him in my own name until he voluntarily dropped out of school.”

Ning Xi was somewhat surprised: "So this is why your reputation is so bad?"

“I’m not a good-tempered person to begin with, otherwise I wouldn’t have targeted you because of a low-ranking D-level beast,” Luo Xian shook his head, “but I’ve forgotten about it recently, and I really didn’t want you to die.”

Song Shichun said, "If you are referring to Jing Qiao from the Yukat special branch, she has been transferred to the Star Naval Academy. However, to avoid any retaliation, we have not made this information public. Judging by the time, she is now a sophomore."

"That's good." Luo Xian closed his eyes and shrugged. "Anyway, that's the situation. Luo Qing'an has a problem with Ning Xi. He doesn't want Ning Xi to continue participating in the competition, but he probably didn't intend to kill her..."

“He probably didn’t,” Ning Xi said. “If he was determined to kill, he wouldn’t have tried to sow discord among my teammates. That would have been pointless.”

If she were dead, she wouldn't be able to participate in the competition.

“Thank you, Luo Xian.” Song Shichun looked at him. “We have to go. But if you’re interested… perhaps going to the guild for training would be suitable for you.”

...

Regardless, Ning Xi decided to go find Luo Qing'an and settle things once and for all.

She had already obtained the details of the competition from Song Shichun: the interpretation of the Royal Card League and the mysterious rewards.

Her team and Luo Qing'an's team were already able to reliably use their school team slots to participate in the planetary preliminary rounds of the Royal Card League, and it was difficult to determine a winner in the short term. As for the mysterious reward, it seemed that neither she nor Luo Qing'an could figure it out.

If the competition continues, who knows what will happen?

For the sake of her quality of life and safety, she decided to find Luo Qing'an and end this matter as soon as possible.

She found Luo Qing'an's account and easily arranged a time with him.

A day later, Luo Qing'an went to the appointment.

After a long absence, his face had grown increasingly pale, and his body increasingly thin, as if he were a willow swaying in the breeze. He had deep dark circles under his eyes.

He gazed at Ning Xi with a complex expression: "It's good that you're alright."

Ning Xi didn't bother with pleasantries; she went straight to the point: "I know about the 'competition'."

Luo Qing'an lowered her head: "At first, I thought I could win easily. But later, I gradually became afraid that I would lose and let my father down."

“I—I asked my father if he had done anything. He said he wouldn’t interfere in the affairs between us kids.”

But his face turned even paler.

Ning Xi asked, "Don't you trust your father?"

“When I was a child, I wanted to become a card master. I studied hard, trained, underwent treatment, and participated in one gene improvement experiment after another... My father agreed to my request.”

“But when I was sixteen, he said that for the sake of the family, I should become a card maker, even though my older brother and sister looked down on this profession.”

“So you don’t believe him, but you have no evidence,” Ning Xi said. “I don’t want to discuss this. I just want to end this competition as soon as possible.”

What do you want to do?

“We’ll have a competition between card makers, the simplest kind. We’ll make cards, then score them, and the score will be the final result.”

"You might think that having Director Song as the judge is biased, so I suggest... that the judging panel from the Card Maker Competition be brought in."