章 4: Mystery card shop
After exiting the white office building, Daniel found himself walking aimlessly along the sidewalk, lost in his thoughts on how to recover his losses.
His former wealth was forever in the clutches of the royal family. He had accepted it as a loss in his mind, but his heart was unwilling to fully embrace such an outcome.
As time passed, Daniel, still wandering along the sidewalk, grew weary and hungry. He decided to take a break, grab a bite to eat, and ponder the limited options he had left.
Having finished his meal, he made his way towards the river. Watching the flowing water and observing the bustling activity of boats and ships provided him with solace when his mind failed to find a way forward.
Daniel slowly settled on a public gazebo near the river, observing the passing vessels and the passengers embarking and disembarking from nearby pontoons. He let his mind drift along with the current of the river.
He contemplated numerous escape routes, all of which required maintaining his anonymity and evading the radar of the royal family.
He was just an ordinary guy with no exceptional qualities, despite his skills in business and game design. In a country where the government neglected small companies lacking sufficient personal funds to kickstart their ventures, he saw no opportunity for growth.
Moreover, establishing any kind of business would require reinstating his identity from the status of death. Doing so would put him in grave danger, as any royalist who stumbled upon his name could expose him to the enforcers. It would result in his demise once again.
Attempting to operate a business without reinstating his identity would render him an easy target for unscrupulous authorities seeking to extort his hard-earned money. It would only worsen his already miserable life.
"Do I have any options left?" Daniel pondered, ruminating on the matter further.
While his mind wandered and found solace in the moment, he felt a surge of energy permeating his body, revitalizing his spirit and alleviating a significant portion of his depression.
Unbeknownst to him, during this uplifting experience, the "Dilmun" card, the prototype card in his pocket, emitted a faint glow before being absorbed into his body without his awareness.
As time passed, the energized sensation gradually subsided, and early dusk settled in. The nearby public clock indicated that it was already 6 pm.
Daniel made the decision to return to Murphy and inquire if he knew of any job opportunities that didn't require reinstating his identity. For now, he would engage in odd jobs to earn a modest income and sustain himself.
With this resolve in mind, Daniel stood up and headed towards the bus stop. After allowing his mind to wander and contemplate his tumultuous situation, he felt considerably better.
—
As the golden sky gradually darkened with each passing minute, Daniel's attention was drawn to an old wooden door at the end of a dimly lit alley. The door bore the words "Card Shop," sparking his curiosity. Driven by a desire to indulge in the experience of exploring card effects and admiring their captivating artwork, Daniel made the decision to enter the shop. Pushing open the creaky old door, he stepped inside.
The interior of the shop revealed a small, square, white room no larger than 10 square meters. The focal point of the space was a transparent glass counter, behind which rows of card boxes were neatly displayed.
What excited Daniel the most was the realization that all the cards in the store belonged to one of the sets from his very own card game.
The name of the card games was, "War of Magic and Mythology" each booster pack has 12 cards; it consists of 5 Common cards, 3 Uncommon cards, and 1 Rare category that are ranging from Rare > Epic Rare > Legendary, Of course, the rarest of them all was the legendary cards, and the remaining 3 cards were the common locations cards.
As Daniel stepped into the shop, a thought crossed his mind, [Didn't those companies scrap all of my work? Well, maybe that lousy crown prince decided to sell my game and make a quick profit for himself.]
Despite his suspicion about the situation, the sheer excitement of seeing his creation again overshadowed any doubts.
Amidst the absence of any other card games, a deep voice resonated, capturing Daniel's attention.
"Welcome, customer. Please feel free to browse," the voice beckoned from a figure draped in a black robe. Two faint glimmers of light emanated from where his eyes would be, while the shade of his hood concealed the rest of his features, adding an air of mystery to his presence.
Most people would feel fear in such a peculiar encounter, given the enigmatic appearance of the man before him. However, Daniel's perspective had changed since his resurrection. Previously, he would have swiftly fled to seek refuge in a nearby church or temple, hiding for days. But now, he was intrigued and yearned to embrace these peculiar situations. Who knew? Perhaps one day he would uncover the reason behind his resurrection.
Daniel attempted to browse through the card packs on display, only to find that there was nothing to peruse. The shop solely offered basic card packs for beginners. The initial set he had designed aimed to be straightforward and accessible, even with higher rarity cards, devoid of complex mechanics.
Furthermore, all the cards were sealed within booster packs, preventing him from examining them since he lacked the funds to make a purchase. The remaining money he had received from Murphy had to be reserved for transportation back to Murphy's shack.
"Ah ha ha, thank you for allowing me to browse, but I don't have any spare money right now. Perhaps another time?" Daniel said with a dry laugh, attempting to leave the shop.
Observing his merchandise, the Shopkeeper in the black robe quickly understood the predicament.
"Oh, I apologize, Mr. Customer. Our shop has just opened, so we haven't prepared any samples, and our selection is limited for browsing. As an apology, let me offer you these." The Shopkeeper placed three booster packs on the counter.
Daniel turned back and noticed the Shopkeeper retrieving one of his booster boxes from under the counter, rearranging its contents. It seemed the Shopkeeper's claim of the shop opening recently was indeed true.
"Are you sure you want to give me these?" Daniel asked, picking up one of the booster packs.
"Of course, Mr. Customer. It wouldn't bode well for my reputation if I were to say I was joking, would it?" the Shopkeeper responded.
"Oh! Thank you, boss! You may not know this, but this gesture of yours gives me something to look forward to in my current lousy life," Daniel remarked, injecting a bit of humor while opening the first booster pack.
"Please, call me Keeper, Mr. Customer," the Shopkeeper requested.
"Then, please call me Daniel, Mr. Keeper," Daniel replied with a smile. He found the Shopkeeper's preferred name a bit peculiar, but he didn't have any objections. Perhaps the Shopkeeper simply enjoyed playing the role of a mysterious shopkeeper, hence his appearance.
After a few friendly exchanges, Daniel gently opened the booster pack and realized it contained only six cards instead of the usual twelve.
"Mr. Keeper, is this a sample booster? It only has six cards," Daniel inquired, feeling perplexed.
Keeper shook his head and began to explain, "No, Mr. Daniel. This is a genuine pack that I just retrieved from this box here." The Shopkeeper pointed to the opened box on the counter, filled with neatly arranged booster packs of the same thickness. It seemed the policy regarding booster packs had changed after Daniel's death, resulting in the reduced card count.
As Daniel remained silent, Keeper thought he might suspect a scam. Letting out a sigh, Keeper addressed Daniel,
"Mr. Daniel, to earn your trust in our shop, how about this? You can choose one of the unopened boxes you saw and exchange one of your boosters with a booster pack of your choice from that box. How does that sound?"
Daniel looked at Keeper in surprise. This guy was more generous than any shopkeeper he had ever encountered!
"Thank you, but it's okay. I trust you," Daniel said, about to examine the cards from the first booster pack he had opened.
Daniel slid the last card in the pack up, eager to see the rarity symbol at the top before revealing the card itself. However, his excitement waned as he discovered it was just a rare card, which was the minimum guarantee in every booster pack.
Curious, Keeper asked, "Why do you do that?"
"Oh! For me, it's more thrilling this way. I get to see the rarity first and then discover the card itself," Daniel replied with childlike excitement, as if he had regressed to his younger years.
The shopkeeper simply nodded without offering any further comment.
"Oh, I almost forgot, Mr. Daniel. This shop has a few rules you should follow to make the most of your card experience," Keeper interjected, gesturing toward a chair and table in the corner of the shop.
"For the next booster, if you wish to open it, you must sit in that chair and place the card you've opened on the table. You can only open boosters within this shop, and they cannot be taken outside, even if I were to allow it. They must remain here."
The peculiar rule in the shop left Daniel feeling perplexed and finding it a bit odd. However, he didn't object since it was a minor rule that required little effort on his part.
Daniel nodded, bringing the remaining booster pack to the chair and table in the corner of the shop.
As he settled into the chair, he placed the unopened booster on the table and proceeded to examine all the cards he had opened from the first booster pack.
–1st Card–
Card: Warrior Golem
Picture: A humanoid human size golem made of unknown metal standing with a fighting stance with a heated battlefield as background.
Rarity: Rare
Type: Artifact, Creature
Mana Cost: 1 Non Element
Description: Mitigate 1 (Mitigate: Reduce all damage received)
Power: 2
Toughness: 2
Flavor text: The main assault group of any magi war has great hand-to-hand combat and good proficiencies in many varieties of melee weapons. It also has basic functions that could help any magi in running their daily day-to-day basis and necessities.
–2nd Card–
Card: Cultivate Prismatic flowers
Picture: The picture of a man taking care of two flowers that have prismatic petals that look like to be
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Spell
Mana Cost: 1 Wood
Description: Create two tapped "Prismatic flower" tokens with Ability: [Tapped and destroy the token, Get 1 Mana of your choosing]
Flavor text: These flowers are a rare kind indeed.
–3rd Card–
Card: Acidic Fire
Picture: The picture of a fire spell burning someone alive while the background has a naked dude running away.
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Quick Spell
Mana Cost: 1 Fire, 1 Non Element
Description: Choose one : [Deal 3 Damage to target creature]/[Destroy target artifact]
Flavor text: This fire could make you naked or it could make you baked.
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