Chapter 219: 219 The Secret of the Diminishing Cards_1
"DING! System upgrade successful!"
Zero Egg, "GAHAHAHA, I, Zero Egg, have returned as a king!"
An hour later, Wen Jiang in her hotel room received the system upgrade notification. Simultaneously, Zero Egg’s equally silly voice followed suit.
This time, Wen Jiang’s personal information popped up. It was much simpler than the previous complex descriptions, and there was now a clear explanation for the function of the cards Wen Jiang created.
"Drawing System (Simplified)"
"Host Information: Wen Jiang (Heroine)"
"Age: 20"
"World Luck Value: -9,920"
"Fate Line: ? (Unpredictable, your existence has disrupted the ultimate course of this world’s fate)"
"Available System Card Decks: All"
"Optimized the previously overcomplicated array of card decks, adjusted to 1,000 points for a draw"
"Tasks:"
"1. Obtain the Jimo Family’s Heritage Card. (God Card x10)"
"2. The world’s ultimate fate line (This task has been modified due to repetition, reward: God Card x30)"
"3. Awaken the God of Desire (???)"
"4. Obtain a ranking in the A-Rank Group’s World League (Reward key fragments based on the final ranking)"
"Personal Card Library:"
It looked like there was more, but there actually wasn’t much more.
Wen Jiang studied it for a long time but couldn’t see how it was different from the previous system.
She hadn’t even directly opened the item library to exchange for anything.
However, thankfully, the words "clueless tragic heroine" were finally gone.
As for the Personal Card Library, it contained the data for cards Wen Jiang had created. It detailed that each Changer and Hou Yi card increases the Fate value by 10. The five B-Level Dual-Change Cards also increased the Fate value, but only by 1 each.
Logically, there should have been a Fate value of 95, but now there was an additional negative 15, which was clearly not right.
Perhaps grasping Wen Jiang’s confusion, the cold system prompt popped up with an explanation.
"The Fate value gained from the cards you created will offset some of the decline in this world’s Fate value."
Wen Jiang understood at once. The world’s Fate value declined a bit each day. The increase from her created cards offset this decline before adding to the actual net value. At the current rate, the offset wasn’t much. At least her cards could fully compensate for it.
As for the future, that was hard to say.
This so-called Fate value... once this world’s Fate value is exhausted, will it truly face destruction?
Since it’s already a negative number, why hasn’t it collapsed yet?
Zero Egg did contribute a bit of information.
"During my upgrade, I received some additional information. According to the original world line, this world was indeed doomed to collapse."
Zero Egg smacked its lips. "But it’s not clear why it was destined to collapse."
Wen Jiang narrowed her eyes and quickly drew a conclusion. "Because the cards are diminishing."
The cards she created increased the Fate value. However, the overall number of cards in this world had been decreasing previously, which explained the drop in the Fate value. From this, it wasn’t difficult to deduce the problem: the disappearance of cards could herald the end of the world.
She had previously thought it was just the strife between commoners and the Nobility. But now, seeing that creating cards increased the Fate value, it seemed it wasn’t that simple. Even if the cards completely vanished, the ensuing conflict might cause serious harm to the world in the short term. A large part of humanity might disappear, but that shouldn’t lead to the world’s end.
Unless...
Zero Egg found it somewhat strange. "Would the decrease in cards lead to the downfall of your world? If humans lose these extraordinary means of reliance, will the world descend into chaos?"
Wen Jiang lowered her head, carefully pondering the possible outcomes, and suddenly thought of something.
In her world, disasters had also occurred. However, during that process, Cultivators and various superpowered individuals had emerged. She didn’t know about the others, but Cultivators could achieve immortality and would not meet their end. She had come to this world only because she failed her Tribulation. In her own world, as long as no major disaster occurred, peace would have lasted for a very long time.
Wen Jiang thought of a critical point and frowned. "Could it be that the great disaster of this world hasn’t actually ended?"
"Congratulations, Host, for finding one of the fragments of the Heart of the World’s core answer! Rewards will be issued collectively after the completion of the task."
Wen Jiang: "..."
Zero Egg: "..."
As a System, Zero Egg tried to hold back but couldn’t resist asking, "For such a simple matter, why can’t the Heart of the World just tell you the answer directly?"
Wen Jiang, however, wasn’t concerned about this. She touched her chin in thought. "So the disaster in this world hasn’t ended?"
That would be troublesome. She had no idea what form the disaster in this world took. In her own world, by the time she became a Cultivator, the disaster was almost over. She remembered that its origin could no longer be traced. A multitude of Demons had appeared, wantonly slaughtering humans and destroying life. Only after Cultivators awakened could they be counteracted. As the Cultivators grew stronger, the Demons became fewer and fewer, eventually disappearing altogether. This world had embarked on the path of cards. It wasn’t the same as Cultivation but could be considered a different manifestation of the same source power. However, to Wen Jiang, cards seemed less stable than Cultivation.
Looking at it this way, if cards disappeared, wouldn’t this unlucky world be faced with the return of Demons?
If that happened, humanity would genuinely be finished, which would indeed be consistent with the world’s prophesied end.
Zero Egg was also startled by Wen Jiang’s words. It remembered that when it came to this world, its purpose was only to help the Host reach the pinnacle of life, not to save the world—a task for major figures, not a small system like it. It never expected this world to hold such hidden secrets! It too was frightened. "Could it be that the Empire’s armies are still struggling against these kinds of Demons?"
Wen Jiang shook her head. "That’s highly unlikely. If those things were truly still present, people wouldn’t be in the mood to hold card competitions. Besides, if such events were occurring, human travel would certainly be restricted. Yet, the people of this world seem to live quite securely."
Furthermore, the Heart of the World’s earlier confirmation supported her theory. Demons might indeed return, and the Fate value was what could suppress them. If she could restore the Fate value to a positive number, perhaps she could discover the source of the disaster.
For the Heart of the World, what would be the benefit of saving a world on the verge of destruction? If it only needed emotional energy, the Heart of the World wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to bring a Cultivator’s Remnant Soul to this world. It could have easily chosen a few lucky individuals in this world and harvested enough for its needs. Its schemes must be for something more.
At the moment, the only other thing Wen Jiang could think of was the mysterious God of Desire.
The God of Desire that the Heart of the World wanted her to awaken... if He is indeed a real deity, then what is the purpose of His existence?