22: 【mascot】

Xiu Card Hall, top floor of the office building, Director's office.

Xiu Qingshan tapped his fingers on the desk, his brows slightly furrowed.

“You mean…”

He looked at Director Hou, who was sitting opposite him: “You were attacked in the Monster Training Ground, lost a card game, and were stripped naked by the opponent?

And the opponent managed to escape completely, not even captured by any surveillance cameras?”

The situation was too absurd, forcing Xiu Qingshan to confirm again.

“Yes.”

Director Hou gave a bitter smile.

“What did the opponent look like?”

“I couldn’t see, he was completely surrounded by light and shadow, and he didn’t speak the whole time except to laugh.”

“Then what was the strength of this guy’s deck?”

“He only showed nine 3-star regular cards to defeat me, without even revealing his Ace Card.

And I have a feeling that the strength of his deck is probably more than that.

He only used 3-star cards to match the strength of my deck.”

After listening to Director Hou’s account, Xiu Qingshan felt he had some clues.

“The guy who attacked you should not be human.”

“Not human?”

Upon hearing this, Director Hou’s expression immediately became much more serious.

If it’s not human and can still engage in a PVP card game, then it can only be an alien race.

An alien race silently infiltrating a human city is a huge deal.

In history, there have been cases where alien troops infiltrated and then destroyed an entire city.

“It’s not as serious as you think.”

Xiu Qingshan knew what his subordinate was thinking: “Do you think if it were those alien races, you would only be stripped naked after losing the card game?”

“This…”

Director Hou knew the Director was right.

With the opponent’s strength, he could have easily chosen to kill him.

“It seems you encountered a Mascot.”

Xiu Qingshan’s brows relaxed as he stated his deduction.

“Mascot? Do such things really exist?”

Director Hou thought it was just a rumor.

Mascots are said to be a very special alien race.

Their strength is often unfathomable, but they harbor no ill will towards humans.

They only occasionally engage in some mischievous or prankish behavior towards humans.

“Haven’t you just encountered one?”

Xiu Qingshan smiled mysteriously: “Legend has it that if you can defeat a Mascot in a card game, it will grant you one wish.”

“There’s such a thing!”

Director Hou certainly wouldn’t doubt the Director’s words, and upon hearing it, he immediately felt some regret.

He regretted that he was so “lucky” to encounter a Mascot but failed to defeat the opponent.

However, thinking about it carefully, even if he played another 100 games against the opponent, he probably wouldn’t win even 1 game.

“Alright, the appearance of a Mascot is not a bad thing.

The Monster Training Ground can be unsealed now.”

Finally, Xiu Qingshan made the decision.

When a senior official of the Card Hall was attacked and the culprit was not identified, they naturally had to take corresponding action.

Now that it has been confirmed to be the work of a Mascot, there is no need to pursue it further.

Those things are usually elusive, and no one can catch them.

“Ring, ring, ring…”

Just then, Director Hou’s phone rang.

“Director, the results of this contract assessment are out.”

After hanging up the phone, he proactively said.

“Oh, really.”

Xiu Qingshan didn’t pay much attention.

Director Hou was responsible for all matters related to the contract assessment; he was happy to be a hands-off manager.

“Shi Li’s assessment results this time are very good. Should we designate him as the first place in this assessment?”

Director Hou checked the summary sent to his phone and asked casually.

This time, a total of three people completed the D+ level assessment difficulty. In such cases, he would decide the ranking.

However, since Shi Li was someone the Director favored, he naturally had to ask for instructions proactively.

“Shi Li?”

Xiu Qingshan was stunned for a moment before remembering something from a month ago: “Oh, that kid.”

Director Hou looked at the other party’s reaction and couldn’t help but feel wise for his proactive inquiry.

The Director clearly knew him but still pretended to think for a moment, apparently intending to avoid suspicion.

The more this was the case, the more sensible he, as a subordinate, had to be.

“I’ll send you the summary to take a look.”

So he proactively said.

“Hmm, a Gold 1 rank completing 23 two-star LV3 Demon hunts alone is indeed quite good.

But to even dream of teaming up to challenge that Man-Eating Flower is a bit overconfident.

If you don’t have Platinum 1 or Platinum 2 level, it’s best not to think about that thing.”

Xiu Qingshan laughed after reading it.

That Man-Eating Flower was personally captured by Xiu Qingshan from another realm, so he naturally knew its details.

Their Monster Training Ground was for Silver and Gold rank Card Players, and that Man-Eating Flower was specifically used to hold down the fort.

How could it be so easily defeated by two young guys?

“But I think Shi Li has a lot of potential.”

Director Hou continued to flatter him: “Especially his Red Blade Maiden, it’s quite outstanding among Unique Character Cards.”

“Unique Character Card? Red Blade Maiden?”

Xiu Qingshan was stunned again upon hearing this.

“Send me a recording of his card game.”

Soon, his face fell.

“Alright, alright.”

Director Hou was a bit confused.

Did he say something wrong? Why did the Director suddenly become unhappy?

Soon, a recording of the card game captured by surveillance was sent over.

Although the full scope couldn’t be seen due to the angle, the projection and card face of the Red Blade Maiden card were clearly visible.

Bang!

The moment he saw it clearly, Xiu Qingshan’s palm slammed onto the table.

Then he gave a bitter smile.

Damn it!

After all that, it turns out this kid had intercepted it!

The key was that the token card this guy had was given to him by himself.

This made Xiu Qingshan feel both amused and frustrated.

He had tried dozens of token cards and still hadn't cleared the stage, yet someone else cleared it with just one.

However, he also understood that simulation missions were sometimes that mysterious.

One could only say that when luck arrived, some people just had a special connection with certain simulation missions.

“If I remember correctly, there’s an online assessment at the Card Hall next month, right?”

After thinking for a moment, Xiu Qingshan said.

Hearing the Director say this, Director Hou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed his flattery had indeed hit the mark.

“Yes, the minimum entry standard for the online contract assessment is a D-Level Contract.

However, other brother Card Halls usually send C-Level Contract participants. Wouldn’t it be too early to send Shi Li?”

The online contract assessment is also known as the Climbing Tower Competition.

Assessors need to defeat monsters on each floor, competing for the number of floors climbed.

In previous years, if there were no C-Level Contract holders, their Durian City Xiu Card Hall would not participate.

“With Shi Li’s current level participating, he probably won’t gain much.

I’m afraid his confidence will be overly shattered.”

Director Hou expressed his concern.

Given that everyone usually arranged C-Level Contract holders in previous years, Shi Li going would likely put him at the bottom.

“I have my own considerations; just make the arrangements.”

Xiu Qingshan waved his hand.

He just wanted to give this kid a bit of a setback.

Hmph.

…

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