178 – The Game of Nymphs and Darkness #2
It was said that it was important to meditate consistently without skipping it.
I sat cross-legged in the living room, inhaling and exhaling deeply.
At that moment, I heard Illinois let out a mischievous laugh.
“Muhuhu, the secret card set up by Illinois is activating…! It is the ‘Squirrel Trap’…! All monsters summoned this turn will have their attack power decreased by 500…!”
“Yikes…! The attack power of the ‘Death Squirrel’ just summoned by this Inoi has dropped to 0…! At this rate, it’s just a small and cute squirrel, not a deadly squirrel…!”
“It’s a desperate moment…! This Coris has no idea who will win this game…! In fact, this Coris doesn’t even understand the rules of this game…!”
Hu-hah.
I tried to focus on my meditation, continuing to breathe steadily.
However, thanks to the nymphs who had been chattering for hours, my meditation today was a complete failure.
“What’s so funny?”
I stepped outside to the yard, where the autumn was fast approaching and the leaves were starting to turn.
The nymphs, who were laying out a mat in the cool breeze of the yard, spoke to me.
“The master of the house should join us…! This ‘Dual Stone’ is incredibly fun…! This Inoi can’t even tell how time is passing…!”
‘Dual Stone.’
It was a game where the person who reduced their opponent’s health to 0 using various cards would win.
There were various types of cards and strategies, making it quite popular among both men and women as a board game.
Additionally, there were collecting elements, with rare cards going for billions.
Teto, the S-ranker from Egypt, had gained attention for purchasing a ‘God Card.’
To think someone would spend billions on a single card in a card game was truly enviable.
“It’s fascinating that it’s making a comeback.”
I found it quite intriguing that ‘Dual Stone,’ which had been in vogue during my elementary school days, was regaining popularity.
They said cards that had only been sold in the past were being reprinted, and they were actively holding tournaments. I heard that Egypt was promoting Dual Stone on a national level.
“This ‘Mystical Pack of Dimensional Rift’ is extremely important…! In this pack, you can obtain rare cards like ‘Squirrel Beast’ or ‘Honey Ant’…!”
What’s this ‘Mystical Pack of Dimensional Rift’?
Is it a recently released card pack?
To think Squirrel Beast and Honey Ant are now available as cards.
It felt like the card game was evolving along with the changes in the world.
“Hey! Illinois! I told you to wait outside when I arrived for lunch!”
Just then, Seo Ye-rim arrived at the well house.
Seo Ye-rim frowned as she saw Illinois engaged in the card game.
“Ugh, this kid spends tons of money every day trying to draw god cards from card packs…! Haildo, it’s been a problem lately because you’re leading Illinois on for no reason…!”
Seo Ye-rim blamed me as if it were my fault that Illinois and the nymphs were so absorbed in the card game.
It seems she thought I had sparked a worthless whim in Illinois when I recently handed her a ‘Dual Stone Card Pack.’ It was a logical conclusion.
“Muhuhu, this Illinois is aiming for the ‘Underground Fairy – Osiris’…! No one has obtained it yet…! No one can stop this Illinois…!”
A set of three god cards, each only released once.
It seemed Illinois was buying card packs left and right, gathering all her funds to aim for one.
The amount she was spending was apparently immense.
Thanks to that, the nymphs had accumulated many extra cards and were assembling their desired decks to play joyfully.
Swoosh.
Seo Ye-rim let out a sigh as she wiped her sunglasses, which were resting on her forehead, with a glasses cleaner.
“Because Illinois is buying card packs like a madwoman with her corporate card, there are even rumors that our Telos and Egypt’s Dual Stones Company are collaborating, causing the stock prices to fluctuate.”
“Is it that serious?”
“Now that the topic has come up, we have collaborated. The Egyptian Dual Stones Company proposed it first. I don’t know why a company that rarely moves suddenly decided to take action.”
The Dual Stones Company had reportedly become a huge megacorp comparable to Telos.
I heard they managed over 70% of Egypt’s GDP and were responsible for the country’s fifth industrial sector.
And with the impressive performance of the Dual Stones Company, Egypt had reportedly leaped to become the fourth-largest economy in the world.
“This time, Telos will work with Dual Stones to create a mobile game. I’ll be doing the advertising personally. Haildo, you should download it too. Got it?”
The mobile release of a famous card game.
That’s why S-ranker Teto from Egypt was coming to Korea.
“Seo Ye-rim, you’ve been working hard. I’ll commend you.”
I reached out my hand towards Seo Ye-rim.
It was on my training list to pat Core’s head.
“What’s that hand? Who are you teasing? Hmph!”
However, Seo Ye-rim was a woman more cantankerous than an irate Kkungkkungi.
I thought that patting her head might be safer than putting my arm into the mouth of a starving shark, so I decided to look for my next opportunity.
# # #
The ‘Official Dual Stones Tournament’ held to commemorate the mobile game release.
People from all over the world flocked to Seoul for this tournament.
“Muhuhu, I will showcase Illinois’s skills…! This Illinois’s deck is a ‘Capitalism Deck’ that uses high-cost monsters…! It showcases the power of capitalism…!”
Illinois announced her participation in the card game tournament.
The ‘Capitalism Deck’ Illinois used was supposed to be a deck that utilized the field card ‘Capitalism,’ where dice are thrown to activate effects based on the number rolled.
It could be said that the performance depended on the luck of the dice.
It sounded odd to associate capitalism with dice, but there it was.
“Muhuhu, in a capitalist society, luck is also important…! No matter how hard you try, if you don’t have luck, you can end up being a loser…!”
That seems to be the case.
Soon, the nymph Inoi was also looking at her deck and shivering nervously.
“This Inoi is curious to see how far I can go with the ‘Squirrel Deck’…! The Squirrel Deck is a deck that spams low-level squirrels to pressure the opponent early on…!”
Inoi operated the ‘Squirrel Deck,’ focused on dominating the field in the early game and relentlessly pressuring the opponent.
After overwhelming the opponent early on with various squirrel cards, they would boost the squirrels’ attack power with enhancement cards like ‘Growl’ and finish the game in one swift strike.
“This Coris will be using the ‘Core Deck’…! I have three super rare cards of ‘Blue-Eyed Core’…! When fused, it becomes ‘Ultimate Blue-Eyed Core’…!”
I wasn’t sure what kind of deck Coris was using.
I even questioned whether Coris understood the rules of the card game at all.
Anyway.
I felt satisfied that the nymphs were enjoying the cultural life of the 21st century and living happily day by day.
I could sense that I was fulfilling my role as the temporary guardian of the nymphs.
Of course, I didn’t come to watch the card tournament just for the nymphs.
“Hello, everyone.”
A woman stepped onto the stage and spoke into the microphone.
Her Korean was fluent and elegant.
“Today is a very auspicious day blessed by the gods, perfect for holding a grand event.”
She was a woman with bronzed skin and long orange hair that caught the eye. Her golden eyes shone as if radiating an aura.
With her flowing silk clothes reminiscent of an ancient goddess and a staff adorned with gold, carnelian, turquoise, and diamonds held like a king, she was indeed the embodiment of rumors.
“That’s the ‘High Priestess – Teto’…!”
The S-ranker from Egypt.
In ranking, she was an entire tier above even the so-called ‘strongest’ Achilles, holding the fourth place in S-rank.
I was slightly moved by her appearance after being shrouded in mystery and only having whispers surrounding her official appearances!
“It’s someone who’s hard to come by!”
It was all the more fascinating that someone who rarely gave interviews and did not easily expose herself to the media had come to Korea to celebrate the tournament for the card game known as ‘Dual Stone’ in Egypt.
It seems that even the mystical High Priestess Teto couldn’t help but be sincere in promoting a game considered the national game of Egypt.
“Let the games begin!”
“For the next week, Seoul will become a battlefield for Dual Stone…!”
“Ordinary people, get out of Seoul now!”
The tournament began.
People started scattering everywhere, and the nymphs raised their hands high in excitement.
“Let’s all do our best…!”
The tournament was to be held over the course of a week.
Dual Stone users would meet to battle, stealing points from each other to advance to the preliminaries, finals, and championship.
A tournament that would take Seoul as an entire stage.
It reflected just how much the Korean government emphasized collaborations between megacorps.
As a side note, participants had mechanical devices attached to their wrists.
The latest gaming PC from Osa Group, which also had augmented reality features, was said to be worth several million won each.
It was a serious tournament.
“By the way, Lee Jin-A, why are you wearing that disc?”
I asked.
Lee Jin-A noticed me and shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m participating in the tournament too.”
“Seriously?”
I was quite surprised that Lee Jin-A played a card game like ‘Dual Stone.’ She seemed like someone who would never do such a thing.
Card games are generally considered an indoor hobby.
She was definitely an outdoor type.
“What’s up with that? I play cards too. I stole from the gloomy kids in my class. I’ve collected tons of rare cards. Here’s my card.”
Swoosh.
Lee Jin-A pulled out a card from between her tank top.
Where on earth had she been keeping that…!?
I couldn’t understand.
Anyway, it turned out that Lee Jin-A had been playing games by taking cards from her classmates.
That made sense.
Then Lee Jin-A soon asked me.
“Haildo, aren’t you participating? I thought you’d be interested in the prize of this tournament. The winner gets an official card with their name on it.”
What? I didn’t know that.
Are you saying that if I win the tournament, I get a ‘Living Legend – Haildo’ card?
That would be great for boosting my fame!
“If you register the deck you have by 1 PM today, you can join the competition. There are 2 hours left.”
“Lee Jin-A, are you aiming for the victory prize too?”
“No, I’m doing it for a request. Some gang I know asked me to. They say there’s a secret organization participating in this tournament that does something called ‘Dark Game.’ All members are Awakened, and it’s a dangerous group. The risk level is A rank.”
It sounded like something out of a comic book.
But Lee Jin-A’s expression was serious.
“Some juniors I know have already lost in the card game and are in a semi-catatonic state. It’ll take several days to recover. There’s also a missing gang member named Kim Dal-geon.”
“Really? I didn’t see anything about that in the news?”
“There’s a lot of suspicious points regarding this tournament. Especially that woman called the ‘High Priestess.’ Haildo, be careful. You always get into problems and trouble.”
With that, Lee Jin-A whisked away somewhere.
Indeed, I was worried about the nymphs.
