Chapter 174: Development of the Survival Game Is Less Than One-Tenth

I have to admit, Amber Sheridan’s casual remark opened up a whole new world for Perry Yates.

After all, as The Card Tavern’s reputation grew, players from other countries gradually started appearing alongside the local ones.

Perry Yates didn’t drive them away; who would refuse money (cards) walking right through the door?

But with this influx, conflicts and clashes between players also began to increase.

The appearance of these fighting rings greatly eased those tensions.

"By the way, who’s this handsome guy with you?"

Perry Yates stared at the man behind Amber Sheridan, her gaze so blatant she looked like a shameless predator.

The man behind Amber Sheridan frowned almost imperceptibly upon feeling her unabashed stare.

Amber Sheridan, knowing Perry Yates well, knew she was being deliberately provocative. "This is Leo Sinclair," she said. "He’s one of the Night Owls, too."

"Is he a Dealer Player too?" Perry Yates asked.

"No, he’s not. He was a step too late." As she spoke, Amber Sheridan seemed to recall something. "Since you just became a Dealer Player, you probably don’t know this, but the title isn’t permanent. Aside from the games we experienced that could strip us of our status, you also need to watch out for other players.

And by other players, I mean those from your own planet. In a regular game, if a player from the same planet kills a Dealer Player, they can inherit their status and all their assets.

But don’t worry too much. This can only happen inside a game. After a game begins, the Executor’s whisper will sound in the ears of every regular player. It’s a sound that Dealer Players can’t hear."

"Based on what you’re saying, doesn’t that make us extremely vulnerable inside the games?" Perry Yates asked, frowning.

’She never imagined becoming a Dealer Player was so dangerous. She had assumed the only threats were the other participants in those special games, but now, even her supposed allies from her own world were a potential danger. Who could she possibly trust inside a game?’

’If I’d known it would be like this, I would have... well, okay, I still would have done it. If for no other reason than that 001 serial number. When you have the chance to be a crane, who wants to be a common chicken?’

Sensing Perry Yates’s concern, Amber Sheridan reassured her, "You don’t need to worry about that. While regular players know that Dealer Players exist, they won’t know our identities."

Hearing this, Perry Yates breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, what other rules are there? You might as well tell me everything at once," Perry Yates said.

"I was going to tell you even if you hadn’t asked. After all, that’s one of the reasons we’re here."

As she spoke, Amber Sheridan glanced at Leo Sinclair. He understood immediately. With a flip of his hand, a laptop appeared out of nowhere.

"Wait. It’s not private enough here. Let’s go to the second floor," Perry Yates said.

’Even though she’d soundproofed their conversation and most people were outside, they could come back at any moment. What if someone inside could read lips? Better to go upstairs.’

Once they were in one of the private rooms on the second floor, Leo Sinclair positioned the laptop in front of her, and Amber Sheridan continued, "The games you’ve been in so far have all been multiplayer, right?"

"There are single-player games?" Perry Yates asked, surprised.

"Yes," Amber Sheridan nodded. "And they’re incredibly dangerous. Even for a Dealer Player, getting chosen for one is a life-or-death situation. They’re also live-streamed, though we have no idea to whom. However, not just anyone gets to participate in a single-player game. You, at least, are not yet qualified."

Hearing this, Perry Yates thought for the first time that the words "not yet qualified" sounded incredibly sweet.

"However, when I say ’multiplayer,’ I’m referring to games with hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of participants. That’s likely the kind you’ve been in so far. But besides those, there’s another type with a much smaller number of players—only ten people.

In a large-scale game, you can at least find safety in numbers, but these ten-player games are often much more dangerous. And if I’m not mistaken, that’s the kind of game you’ll be facing next."

Amber Sheridan went on to explain some of the rules and key points to be aware of for ten-player games.

After listening, Perry Yates felt she had learned a great deal. ’As expected of someone who’s lasted three years in these survival games,’ she thought. ’By comparison, our understanding of them back on Cerulea isn’t even at ten percent.’

"By the way, how are you coming along with upgrading those cards?" Amber Sheridan asked curiously.

Perry Yates didn’t hide anything. "The four item cards are upgraded to four-star," she said honestly. "But I haven’t started on the Skill Cards."

"Why haven’t you started?" This time, it was Leo Sinclair who spoke.

Perry Yates answered honestly, "Because you all requested Dual Attribute Cards, and the device I use for Card Fusion is currently occupied. I can’t fuse new ones for you right now."

"You could have at least leveled up the base cards first," Leo Sinclair said, his eyes filled with condemnation, as if accusing her of slacking off.

"Because the time it takes to fuse cards increases exponentially with their level. Fusing a three-star card takes five or six days. Fusing a four-star card would take twenty days, minimum. Even if you’re willing to wait that long, I’m not. Are you satisfied with that answer?"

After their conversation, Perry Yates showed them to the door. Before they left, Amber Sheridan looked apologetic. "Leo Sinclair isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed—he’s got a one-track mind. He’s not a bad guy, really, it’s just his mouth. Don’t be mad. I’ll smack him around for you when we get back."

Perry Yates just waved her hand, signaling that she wasn’t angry. It was just a couple of questions; she wasn’t that petty.

When The Card Tavern first started, plenty of people asked those same kinds of questions, and she hadn’t gotten angry then, either.

After Amber Sheridan and Leo Sinclair left, Perry Yates still had no intention of getting back to work. ’It’s still early,’ she thought. ’I’ll browse the forums for a bit.’

Ever since The Card Tavern appeared, the old offline trading meetups had vanished completely. The survival game website, however, was still extremely active.

She’d been too busy to look at it for the past few days. Right now, players fresh out of games were on the site, exchanging tips on how they’d survived.

Perry Yates read about game types she had never encountered, committing the survival strategies to memory. She wanted to avoid going in blind if she ever faced one herself.

She didn’t expect to find a perfect walkthrough on the site, but at the very least, she wouldn’t be completely clueless.