Chapter 39: Exposing the trump card
Mushroom people and straw people are both rather peculiar races.
Even in a place like the Cubic Metaverse where all races coexist, it is a rare existence.
Especially the straw man. According to its own account, hundreds of years ago, its compatriots once reproduced wildly here, and even showed a trend of surpassing the human + human-like complex and becoming the largest race.
But later, for unknown reasons, the race gradually declined.
By this generation, there was only one seedling left.
That is why it wants to marry many wives and complete the arduous and glorious task of passing on its family line and expanding its race.
Shi Li didn’t know whether it was true or not, but that’s what Cao Ren said.
"Commercial performance? Then what are they going to perform?"
"You'll know if you keep watching."
In the time it took for each person to exchange a few words, the straw man on the stage had been stuffed into a box by the mushrooms, with only the straw head sticking out.
Then Mushroom took out a bunch of sharp swords and started stabbing them in, crossing the entire box.
The straw man in the box was safe and sound, sipping milk tea through a straw.
Because the straw man's body is covered with grass, he is not afraid of being stabbed by a sword at all.
Such a performance immediately drew boos from the audience, who felt their intelligence was insulted.
But for the organizers, it is better than having the audience remain expressionless throughout the show. What they want is to let their emotions fluctuate .
This is also the requirement of the advertising sponsor, to arrange a bad program before the advertisement in order to increase the attractiveness of the advertisement in disguise.
Amid boos, Mushroom and Scarecrow walked off the stage.
Then a 3-minute commercial began to play.
This advertisement is different from the previous beautifully produced commercials. In the 3 minutes, an actor keeps repeating the slogan "He is good, and I am good too" over and over again.
No wonder they had to invite the straw man and the mushroom to open the show.
After the commercial was over, Shi Li and his opponent went on stage at the stadium.
The top eight teams used a more advanced holographic projection technology, which captured the situation between the two players at the poker table, then magnified it 100 times and projected it intuitively onto the stage.
"By the way, I really have to thank you."
"If it weren't for you, I might not have been able to enter the top eight so easily."
Standing across the card table, the knife-haired man smiled back.
"Nothing, just step on the gas."
Shi Li said modestly.
Soon, the decks of cards on both sides were placed and the round of unveiling began.
He stretched out his finger and flicked at the two first-row cards in succession.
Ding! Ding!
【Ahhh woof! 】
【Read, read, read, read! 】
The two cards were immediately turned over.
This time he did not use the Miserable Beast combination, but instead changed to [Miserable Beast Dog] + [Fox-Headed Guardian].
"Wow! It's the fox from the dungeon!"
"It's a C-rank card, and the panel is pretty good!"
"Hand of God, he actually picked the guard officer!"
When the figure of the Fox-Headed Guard holding a book was enlarged and projected onto the stage, many audience members exclaimed in surprise.
You should know that many people watched the live broadcast of the copy at that time.
With his mysterious vine skills, he once captured several groups of prisoners.
And she was the only guard who had a head-on collision with more than a dozen prisoner alliances at the same time.
He took a wave of attacks and finally survived.
Not only did he not die, he was lying in bed reading a novel even when he was dying.
Therefore, many people still have a deep impression of this guard officer.
"Huh?"
I just don’t know why when the knife-haired man saw the fox-headed man appear, his expression froze slightly, and then he revealed his card.
[Blow~Blow~Blow up a big balloon ~]
【Boom! 】
His first-round tactics did not change, and he still used the same two cards.
[Balloon Goblin] with E level and 25 points, a green goblin that keeps blowing balloons.
The E-level 20-point [Explosive Stone] is an irregularly shaped brown-black stone with small explosions constantly occurring on its surface.
When he saw these two cards, Shi Li felt relieved.
I am not the Gundam head from the last round.
The lowest level cards he could put on the table now were D-level cards.
The strength of this deck alone is enough to crush the opponent.
The action round is determined and the cards on both sides begin to act.
【Ahhh woof! 】
【Keep reading! 】
First, the beast hound and fox-headed guard rushed out of their own camp and attacked the brown-black stone.
-15, -15
Under the stone's [defense], two damage numbers popped up.
The knife-haired man's expression changed slightly at this result.
Generally, in the first round, the opponent will choose the card with higher attack power when attacking, because the higher the attack power, the greater the threat.
So he likes to put his more important cards behind the first card with lower attack power, thinking that it is safer.
But the guy in front of him seemed to have seen through his tactical intentions.
Fortunately, in order to be safe, he chose [Defense] for both cards.
After the action phase, the round officially ends.
Shi Li didn't think much about it and directly chose the unveiling location.
In this round, he thought that the strength of his deck was enough to prevent the knife-haired man from making any progress at all.
However, he never expected that in the second round of unveiling, the other party gave him a big surprise.
[Stop right there! ]
A burly wolf-headed man dressed as a monk jumped out of the card.
The reason why the knife-haired man was surprised when he saw the [Fox-headed Guard Officer] was because he himself had also drawn the Guard Officer card.
And it was exactly the [Wolf-Head Guardian] that Shi Li wanted to draw but couldn't, because this guy didn't appear in his card pool at all.
"Wow! I didn't expect to see two Guard Officer cards in one game!"
"I feel that this wolf-headed man is more majestic and domineering than the fox-headed man."
"Woo woo woo, my husband was actually picked by someone else."
The popularity of the Wolf Head Guard is quite high.
Especially, every time he fought in the boxing ring, he would blow up the prisoners with one punch, leaving people with the impression that he had explosive strength.
"Does he need to be hit by a punch before he will appear in the card pool?"
Shi Li looked a little envious: "I guessed right, it's a good card."
【Wolf Head Guard Officer】
Break, 40 points, C
Attack 40, 100/100, 0/3
[Arrest Boxing Ring - Passive]: When the Wolf Head Guardian reveals his card, he will enter a [Duel] with the enemy card that reveals its card at the same time.
[Sense of Accomplishment - Passive]: After the Wolf Head Guard defeats the [Duel] target, gain 50 points of [Healing]
(【Duel】: Both parties in the duel are only affected by each other's damage/effects)
This card is even more powerful than his D-level [Mutated Wild Boar] from the previous game, which also had a score of 40.
Obviously, the tactical change was made after seeing the strength of Shi Li's deck.
A high-scoring card of 40 points can restore 50 health points after winning a duel.
If he succeeds in a one-on-one duel, he can still gain a great advantage for his side.
However, for Shi Li, he was not worried about this situation.
Because the card I unveiled this round was...
【Brother! 】
A muscular man with a greasy body, red eyes and gray-brown skin jumped out of the card.
【Brother’s funeral】
Balanced, 35 points, C
Attack 35, 100/100
[Eat Meat - Passive]: The Brotherly Beast attacks humanoid cards with an additional 10 damage
[Muscle Flash - 0 Energy]: Brotherly Beast can select a target in this round and make it [Blind] for 1 round
(【Blindness】: Unable to select a target this round)
Most of the audience were seeing this card for the first time and they immediately started talking about it.
"It's over. The Wolf Head Guard has run into trouble!"
"The Guardian is also a humanoid card and will receive additional damage."
"Both sides can kill each other in 3 rounds, and according to the priority of settlement, his [Healing] is completely ineffective."
A 40-point card can only be exchanged for a 35-point card.
The knife-haired man looked a little unhappy. He suffered a small loss again in this round.
After both sides have completed their behavior selection, the action round officially begins.
[Stop right there! ]
【Brother! 】
The wolf-headed guard waved his hand and summoned a boxing ring.
He and his brother Sangshou appeared on the ring in a flash, wearing red and blue boxing gloves respectively.
The scenes on the ring moved as fast as a fast-forward shot, as an official and a soldier started to fight each other with punches.
【Ding ding! 】
It was not until the ring bell rang a few seconds later that they flashed back to their respective seats.
-40, -45
Two damage numbers popped up above their heads.
After the competition is over, the next step is the normal attacks from both sides.
The knife-wielding man wanted to predict Shi Li's target, but ended up being predicted by himself.
[Explosive Stone] is used for defense, not attack.
[Balloon Goblin] chose to attack [Mourning Dog].
As a result, the [Mourning Hound] + [Fox-Headed Guard] caught the [Goblin Blowing Up Balloons] and beat them up.
After two rounds, there was a clear gap between the two sides.
【Cover】【Wolf Head 55】
[Balloon 40][Stone 65] (Poisoned)
VS
【Fox Head】【Mourning Dog 80】
【Cover】【Brother 60】
The blood loss of both sides is 140 points to 60 points. Judging from the cards alone, the damage caused by Shi Li is more than twice that of the opponent.
In the third round, Shi Li still did not leave any chance for his opponent.
The fully charged [Fox Head Guardian] released his AOE skill as soon as the card was unveiled. A [Vine Seed Burst] was thrown over. Except for the [Wolf Head Guardian], the other three regular cards were all attacked, which further expanded his advantage.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the knife-haired man finally chose to surrender, resulting in neither side revealing their trump cards.
This made Shi Li secretly breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that this opponent was quite sensible.
Because if you continue to fight, even if you have a big advantage, your trump card may be revealed and you may expose some things too early.
In the audience, Director Xiu and Secretary He witnessed the entire victory.
"The deck and skills are far superior to the opponent's. I can't imagine how Coach Shi can lose this game."
After a morning of contact, Director Xiu was already quite optimistic about Shi Li.
Now looking at the actual operation at the poker table, I like this talent even more.
"Director, this is the first time I see you affirming an employee."
Secretary He next to him was a little surprised.
"Xiao He, Xiao He, you haven't done your job well while I was away."
However, Director Xiu shook his head at this time.
Secretary He: “?”
Director Xiu: "If I remember correctly, our card room hasn't held team building for many years."
Secretary He: "That is indeed the case. According to the museum's historical records, there was a tradition of regularly organizing this activity."
Director Xiu: “So, traditions cannot be lost.”
Director Xiu: "You are seriously derelict in your duty. When did you start canceling team building?"
Secretary He: "Well... probably started when this director took office."
Secretary He: "Because this director is a habitual tinkerer, the operation is…"
Director Xiu: “Ahem!”
Manager Xiu: "I shuffle cards to improve my deck. Only by improving my deck can I better promote the reputation of my card room."
Secretary He: "Director, let's not talk about your touching success rate in shuffling cards."
Secretary He: "That is to say, as far as I know, giving clothing materials to male cards will not improve the deck."
In fact, Secretary He has had complaints for a long time, so he really dares to speak out if he has any.
If it weren't for the fact that this girl was his cousin, he would have quit the mess of the card show hall long ago.
"In order to improve employee cohesion, I have now decided to restart the tradition of team building."
"Go back and make some plans, and organize and carry out the work in the near future."
Director Xiu skipped the topic he didn't want to mention.
…
After winning, Shi Li returned to the contestant seat and continued to watch other contestants' games.
The second card game was between a winged girl and a dog-eared boy.
The Winged People are somewhat similar to the Angels, both of them have bird-like feather wings.
But the key difference is that the angels have wings on their backs, while the winged people have wings on their hands.
The winner between these two people will face him in the 4-to-2 match the day after tomorrow, so he is very concerned.
The final result of the game was that the winged girl won with difficulty.
Both sides are equally good in terms of card skills and decks.
All 5 cards are 2E+2D+1C, so the game was quite intense.
If the opponent is really of this level, Shi Li is confident that he can easily enter the finals.
However, when he got the information of the winged girls from the Slime Gang, he found that things were not that simple.
Qingyu, female, 19 years old.
Height 175cm, weight 60kg.
Measurements...
“Some unnecessary information should not be collected.”
"Okay, Master. Next time I will only ask for your height, weight and measurements."
"?"
Shi Li suspected that this guy did it on purpose.
Then looking down, the information shows that Qingyu is a LV10 player.
But from the beginning of the Rising Star Comprehensive Competition to now, the deck used has not changed at all.
It’s the same set of 2E+2D+1C as before.
If this is a player of around LV5, he would still be willing to believe that the deck might not be deep enough, and this is the only deck that can be put together with a relatively strong combat capability.
But a level 10 poker player only has this much?
He is an unbeliever.
Even the most unlucky person wouldn't be like this.
So what does this prove? It proves that the other party must be hiding something.
“This is really difficult.”
Thinking of this, he pressed his temple.
He could only hope that the real thing his opponent would pull out the day after tomorrow wouldn't be too powerful.
Otherwise, you will have to reveal your cards in advance.
