The human brain has a fertile imagination, making it difficult to focus on a single task. Even if someone concentrates on drawing only the character they want, external factors always intervene, especially when they hit a bottleneck. In such situations, their thoughts tend to wander, and confusion arises.
In Star Card Storm, the image on a card cannot be chaotic.
Thinking of the cluster of white tuberoses at the auction, Xie Mingzhe suddenly felt a sense of admiration for Tang Muzhou.
Legendary Tang was indeed an amazing player—he created such a vivid flower card like [Tuberose], and an incredibly complex plant card like [Thousand-year-old God Tree]—a massive tree that seemed to cover the sky. Tang Muzhou must have used his Inner Spirit to draw each branch and leaf perfectly, without error. His Inner Spirit must have exceeded 300.
Xie Mingzhe felt that even with his own Inner Spirit at 300, this was still a difficult feat…
Xie Mingzhe took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on the type of card he wanted to create.
Tang Muzhou excelled at making plant cards, leaving little room for him to create new ones. As for animals, there were already pet cards like [Nine-tailed Fox] and [Long-eared Rabbit] in the game. Imaginative card designers had created many pet cards. When Xie Mingzhe searched for information in the hospital, he found realistic designs for Persian cats, Teddy dogs, giant pandas, and more. Lions, tigers, and other animal cards felt clichéd, and he had no new ideas.
Characters…
Yes, characters! Senior Brother Qi had said that the approval standard for character cards was based on the character's facial features. The official guideline stated that players could not base their character designs on real-world people. But what if he drew characters in a comic style? Wouldn't that be unique?
He hadn't wasted his painting lessons—he could easily draw comic-style characters.
Xie Mingzhe clenched his fist, excited that he had found a solution.
But what character should he draw?
Suddenly, a scene flashed in his mind.
A slender girl sat by a river, scattering petals across the ground. She coughed lightly, her face streaked with tears.
—Daiyu burying the flowers.
The night before his rebirth, when he went out, one of his roommates, who was artsy, was watching the 1987 version of Dream of the Red Chamber in the dorm. At the time, Xie Mingzhe joked, "Seeing Cousin Lin crying so bitterly, how does it feel? Want to cry too?"
The roommate laughed lightly and replied, "Get out! My girlfriend sent me the video and asked me to review the classic."
Xie Mingzhe glanced at the screen and sighed, "Lin Daiyu in this version is really something."
The scene was so beautiful it was etched in his memory. It made one's heart ache to see such a delicate and touching girl with tears in her eyes. Even an otaku like Xie Mingzhe couldn't help but feel concerned when he saw her crying.
So the scene stuck in his mind.
So clearly.
Xie Mingzhe's eyes lit up—what if he turned this scene into a card? He wondered if there was such a card in Star Card Storm.
With this thought, Xie Mingzhe immediately started the card-making system.
He placed a Nebula paper on the Card Console, closed his eyes, and carefully painted the image in his mind… Please support the original translation from WangMamaread.
Green trees, flowers, a beauty standing by a tree, burying petals, and tears on her face.
The image became clearer, more detailed, and more complete as he continued to visualize it.
Once he focused on picturing the scene, the game system notified him, "Congratulations! You have created the card. Please insert the card into the card slot in the upper left corner to connect to the star card database for verification."
Xie Mingzhe promptly inserted the card as the system had instructed.
—After the cards were made, the first step was to check whether they would receive official approval. This was the crucial step.
Perhaps because the database was so large, the review took quite some time.
Five minutes passed…
Ten minutes passed…
Xie Mingzhe thought the system had crashed. Just as he was about to restart his game helmet, a voice suddenly rang in his ears, "The card has been approved. You can now print a unique LOGO on the card as a copyright certificate."
Approved! Xie Mingzhe was overjoyed. He decided to use his name "Zhe" directly and print it in the lower right corner of the back of the card—mimicking Tang Muzhou's style, as his logo "Tang" looked so cool and elegant.
However, when he entered the word, the system prompted, "The LOGO has been occupied. Please choose another one."
Xie Mingzhe felt helpless. With so many cards in the database, it seemed that name repetition was common. Since he couldn't use a cool logo, he opted for his game ID. So Xie Mingzhe simply entered "月半" (which translates to "Half Moon," but in a playful way, it implies the character is chubby). The system finally accepted it.
The back of the approved card gradually radiated a soft, green glow from the pure white Nebula paper.
Green cards are one-star cards—the lowest rank in the game. All original cards players create are one-star cards. It didn't matter—the cards could be upgraded and evolved. The cost to produce one-star cards was the lowest, and as long as it had good attributes, Xie Mingzhe was patient enough to slowly level up Daiyu to a seven-star card.
Rubbing his hands together, Xie Mingzhe picked up the card from the Card Console and inspected it carefully.
As someone who was skilled at drawing beautiful people, he had rendered Lin Daiyu as a charming and sorrowful ancient beauty in a comic style. She stood by a tree, burying petals into the ground. The composition was also wonderful, capturing 90% of the artistic concept of Daiyu burying the flowers.
Next, Xie Mingzhe checked the card's attributes.
Lin Daiyu (Wood)
Card Level: 1
Evolution Level: ★
Available Times of Use: 1/1
Base Attributes: Health 100, Attack 0, Defense 15, Agility 1, Critical Strike Chance 0%
Additional Skill: Daiyu Burying Blossoms (Deals significant damage to flower and plant cards, with a 10% chance of triggering an instant death effect)
Xie Mingzhe was utterly confused by the attributes.
What was this skill? Dealing huge damage to flower and plant cards?
Daiyu Burying Blossoms seemed to be useful only against flower and plant cards? Wouldn't that make the card useless if the opponent didn't have any flower or plant cards?
The defense was 15, but Xie Mingzhe remembered that Tang Muzhou's [Tuberose] card, at the highest level, had a defense of 50,000.
The gap between these two cards was enormous.
Even his [Icy Snake] card, given to him by the system, had a defense of 50. Wouldn't the [Daiyu] card be crushed like paper since its defense was only 15? "Poor Sister Lin, you couldn't change your fate even if you were made into a card," Xie Mingzhe thought.
Xie Mingzhe felt disappointed.
The card's data was really bad, and it seemed he wasn't destined for an overnight success.
Would anyone buy it on the black market?
Translator's Notes:
Daiyu burying the flowers: Lin Daiyu is one of the main characters from Cao Xueqin's classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. She is depicted as a fragile but intelligent, witty, and beautiful young woman. One of her most famous scenes is where, overcome with melancholy, she buries fallen petals while weeping, which symbolizes her deep sorrow over unrequited love. This scene is often portrayed in Chinese art and opera.