Saturnian Rescue
"In the year XX38 of the Star Calendar, a major descent event occurred on the planet Saturn Ring, located in the Baruch Starfield."
"The native card makers of Saturn quickly went to the rescue, but under the high intensity of the battle and the demand for rescue, the cards were consumed very quickly. The Federation mobilized card makers from all star systems to produce cards to support Saturn."
"This is the topic of this card-making competition."
What kind of cards would you choose to make?
With a more aggressive promotional campaign than ever before, the card-making competition's questions sparked discussion on the StarNet as soon as they were released.
[Saturn's Circumpolar Planet... Why does that name sound so familiar? Is it real news?]
No, but the official website provides a detailed explanation, suggesting it referenced the White Wave Planet descent event 35 years ago. Before the descent, White Wave Planet was a popular tourist destination; during the descent, a large number of tourists were trapped, posing a significant challenge to the rescue.
This fictional "Saturn-ring planet" is depicted as a mining world at its peak, inhabited by millions of miners and their families, and also facing immense pressure to provide aid.
Furthermore, the military in the Baruch Starfield is weak, while the guilds are strong. The location of Saturn, perhaps intentionally chosen by the organizers, is at the intersection of two large guilds, resulting in a relatively small number of card players stationed there, with varying quality, further complicating the rescue efforts.
This card-making competition really went all out.
——
To simulate the scene of card makers actively making cards for rescue operations, the competition method for this card-making contest is also quite unusual.
In previous years, the card-making competition only required participants to submit a card to the organizers and wait for the scores. However, this year's competition requires participants to enter a virtual pod and create cards in a simulated environment for several hours over three days. Points are awarded based on the validity of each card, and the winner is determined by the total score.
Mingxin Academy has prepared special virtual pods for the participants.
Two hours before the competition started, Ning Xi received a message from a card maker she had previously added on social media.
"Ning Xi, you can enter the virtual pod now. If you don't often simulate card making, you can enter the virtual pod first to get used to the environment."
Ning Xi expressed her gratitude to him.
She arrived at the virtual training room and unexpectedly met Luo Qing'an.
Unlike his dejected and weak state a few days ago, Luo Qing'an appeared calm and rosy-cheeked today, seemingly in good spirits. He glanced at Ning Xi, then slightly turned his head to avoid her gaze.
Beside Luo Qing'an stood a male card maker with long hair. He greeted Ning Xi, saying, "Ning Xi."
"Hello?" Ning Xi looked puzzled; she didn't seem to recognize this person.
The other person's unabashed scrutinizing gaze made her somewhat uncomfortable. Without bothering to greet Luo Qing'an, Ning Xi entered the training room first.
Upon seeing this, the long-haired card maker suppressed her smile: "It doesn't look particularly special."
"Luo Qing'an, don't be nervous. You're a genius who can create C-grade cards. You'll win."
Ning Xi entered the simulation chamber, and the virtual environment immediately transported her to the competition venue. She tried making cards and found everything went smoothly, except... her mental energy seemed to be more obedient than usual.
No wonder everyone says that virtual card production does not help improve card production capabilities, because it cannot simulate a real card production environment.
The competition started as scheduled.
There was no host, no meaningless small talk; a line of striking large characters appeared before the contestants' eyes.
[Saturn-Tombs Rescue Progress: 0%]
The card-making room was instantly filled with a tense atmosphere, as several card makers lowered their heads to work on card production or brainstorming ideas. Meanwhile, everything happening inside the card-making room was captured on camera and broadcast live.
Ning Xi opened the "Saturn Ring Star War Report," which recorded all the developments on this virtual planet.
[E and D-class regions have appeared in multiple locations on Saturn's circumpolar planet. Experts indicate that these regions follow a "synchronous and territorial principle," exhibiting highly consistent characteristics.]
[The following is a list of alien creatures from the planet Saturn.]
Ning Xi glanced over and saw that most of these strange beasts were earth-type, possessing the ability to manipulate soil and rocks and burrow into the ground... Wait, burrow into the ground?
She shivered.
Burrowing is not a common ability of alien beasts, which means that it is difficult for card masters to counter this ability, but it will undoubtedly have a huge impact on rescue operations!
Meanwhile, on the screen:
Finally, someone has realized this.
[I never imagined that the outcome of this competition would be decided before the cards were even made.]
[My friend dragged me here to watch this. Does every card-making competition have a virtual scene? I find it really uncomfortable to watch...]
The live stream, aimed at the audience, not only showcased a real-time card-making scene but also repeatedly played a simulated view of the "Saturn Ring Star".
The few remaining card masters went to the rescue, but were ambushed by a strange beast with the ability to burrow underground, suffering heavy losses.
[In response to the comment above, this step wasn't there before; it's a new addition.]
Even though I know it's all fake, I still feel so sad...
Ning Xi didn't spend much time thinking; she immediately started making cards.
The selection of card-making materials is based on a point system, meaning that a fixed number of points are allocated to each participant. Participants can use these points to purchase any card-making materials, as long as they can afford them.
While some card makers were studying the price list, Ning Xi didn't pay much attention to that and directly selected several common soil-based materials.
First, the cards you create should have a warning function against burrowing monsters, but they shouldn't be limited to that; they should ideally have some other effects.
Several ideas popped into Ning Xi's mind. Instead of filtering them, she made all the cards that came to mind.
【Eye of Reconnaissance】, a specialized underground reconnaissance card that can roughly sense the number of monsters underground and provide early warnings of approaching monsters.
【Earth Elemental Guardian】, a summon card that allows you to summon an Earth Elemental Guardian to directly attack underground monsters or to defend yourself. The highlight of this card is that the summoned Earth Elemental Guardian can compete with the monsters for energy, thus gaining more sustained damage output.
【Road Hardening】, a wide-range spell card. As its name suggests, it can transform soft soil into hard stone, hindering the emergence of strange beasts.
[Road Hardening - Modified], a wide-range spell card that generates sharp stone spikes underground to pierce the bodies of strange beasts.
...
Ning Xi didn't review the process. Every time she created a card, she directly put it into the card teleportation box. Then, these cards were put into the simulation scene of Saturn to test their specific effects.
The audience quickly saw the production effects of these cards.
Who came up with the idea of "Eye of Reconnaissance"? The card masters are already mentally overloaded; they simply don't have time to activate such a purely supportive card!
["Road hardening" seems rather wasteful; so much effort was spent, only to delay the excavation by two seconds.]
The "road surface hardening and renovation" project is somewhat interesting; it'll wipe out a bunch of sleeping sandworms. The way they burst open is disgusting.
No, I just came out of livestream room 1121. A rescue team there was wiped out by sandworms. It was fake, but it still broke my heart.
[I can't even imagine how many card masters in the real world have died silently like this...]
Look at this "Earth Elemental Guardian"!
A group of card masters were leading disaster-stricken people to evacuate when they were attacked by a horde of monsters. The card masters were almost exhausted, but after releasing the [Earth Element Guardian], they managed to absorb the energy of the dead monsters for a full fifteen minutes, helping the group wait for rescue.
[What an amazing card! Incredible endurance!]
Who designed this card?
[Replying to the previous post, this is livestream room 1089. The card maker is mass-producing D-grade cards; it's quite exciting.]
[Is the above just bragging? Anyone capable of mass-producing D-rank cards could already be making C-rank cards.]
Don't believe me? Come and see for yourself.
On the other side, Ning Xi also received feedback on these cards. She was somewhat surprised, but still read them at three times the speed. After seeing the practical feedback on [Ground Hardening], her pen trembled, and she immediately threw away the half-finished card sketch and began to study another card.
Is she really studying the cards, or just reciting pre-memorized card templates?
[I don't believe it. What D-rank card player has that kind of skill?]
What if she's a C-rank card player?
[Then she must be working on C-rank cards. D-rank cards are time-consuming, laborious, and yield fewer points, far inferior to C-rank cards.]
But wasn't the purpose of this competition format to select talented individuals who could adapt to changing circumstances and design cards?
Ning Xi's card sketch gradually took shape. Her movements were so skilled that the netizens watching her were divided into two camps: one camp thought she was really designing cards, while the other camp thought she was just memorizing the cards.
[If she really designed cards, how could she have succeeded on her first try? Look at how skilled she is at card making; she must have practiced beforehand.]
Ning Xi finished adjusting the card and drawing the card in one go, and a new card appeared in front of her.
【Mud Swamp】, a wide-area spell card that can turn the land into a swamp with strong suction.
Ning Xi put the cards into the teleportation box and began creating more [Earth Element Guardians].
The points reward for the card maker varies depending on the card's feedback. [Eye of Reconnaissance] and [Road Hardening] only earned her 500 points each, [Road Hardening Modified] earned her 1000 points, while [Earth Element Guardian] gave her a whopping 2000 points, making the latter undoubtedly the most cost-effective.
[1089 really understands the competition rules. At this point, many card makers are still busy creating cards, not looking at battle reports or feedback, and haven't even put the cards into the teleportation box yet.]
[Anyone from Mingxin Academy in the live stream? I feel like Ning Xi really has a chance of winning; Luo Qing'an hasn't even created his first card yet.]
[Because Luo Qing'an is making a C-grade card. Don't be fooled by his slow pace; once it's finished, the points he'll earn will be dozens of times more than Ning Xi's.]
Ning Xi needs to train for a few more years if she wants to beat Luo Qing'an.
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