Chapter 1255: The Last Card
After the door behind him closed, the passages on Xu Huo's left and right transformed into rows of playing cards, flipping from the disguised passage doors all the way forward to the end of the corridor.
At the end was also a giant black king card.
It seemed the instance wasn't over yet.
Xu Huo took a few steps over and pushed open the playing card door. In front of him, a bright light suddenly flared, dissipating after two or three seconds, replaced by three holographic projection playing cards, their backs facing him.
"Congratulations on obtaining five black flower cards. Every player who has collected four or more flower cards of the same color has one chance to draw a card."
The voice in the maze echoed all around: "Players may freely flip any one of these three cards, with a one-third chance of drawing a flower card of the same color."
"What are the other two cards?" Xu Huo looked up and asked.
"Similarly, you have a one-third chance of returning to the instance," the maze replied.
"One flower card, one trap card, and the remaining one should be a neutral card, right?" Xu Huo said, looking at the three cards before him. The maze didn't respond, so he asked if he could choose not to pick and just clear the instance directly, but again received no answer.
"Looks like I have no choice." Xu Huo opened his personal panel and bought a luck-boosting item on the spot—generally, such items didn't guarantee a hundred percent increase in luck or their effectiveness depended on mood, so he picked a low-level one just for show.
Whether it was a flower card or a trap, in an instance, clearing it again was only a matter of time, as long as the remaining card didn't wipe out all his cards and kick him out.
Sticking the luck-boosting sticker on the back of his hand, he casually tapped the middle card.
As the playing card flipped over, several beams of rainbow light surged from both sides to the center, converged, and shot into the air, passing straight through the maze wall into the sky:
"Boom!!!"
With a deafening explosion, from Xu Huo's perspective looking up, a massive firework bloomed in the sky that had somehow appeared above the maze. Multicolored sparks scattered in all directions, and in the center, a giant black playing card shimmering with starlight appeared.
This giant playing card was at least several dozen meters wide and had a certain thickness. Standing directly beneath it, Xu Huo couldn't clearly see the card's suit, but the passage created by the firework seemed to connect to Card City. Excited cheers came from outside:
"The Crown Card is lit!"
"The Crown Card is lit!"
"The Crown Card is lit!"
As if it were some special event, the sounds of celebratory cannons rang out from outside, illuminating the lower half of the giant playing card still suspended in the air with multicolored light—when the Crown Card appeared, the maze and the city outside seemed to briefly communicate.
The reason for the Card City residents' joy was unclear, but Xu Huo had cleared the instance.
[Congratulations to player Passerby A for clearing the instance "The Last Card" and obtaining the hidden Crown Card in this instance, earning an S-level rating. In addition to the standard instance rewards, you will also receive a prize set by the maze holder—a B-level item, and a Card City Crown Grand Gift Pack.]
Xu Huo checked the instance rewards. The more important ones included one primary trait upgrade, one extended trait, two B-level items, five C-level items, and various potions, White Notes, and tickets.
The upgraded primary trait was "A Sad Thing." "A Sad Thing" could make unfamiliar people forget Xu Huo in a very short time or never remember him at all, but it was useless against acquaintances or players with strong thinking abilities. After evolution, everyone's brains had improved somewhat.
At the same time, this was a passive ability that Xu Huo couldn't control. Its effectiveness mainly depended on the target, but by now, it could only work on ordinary people.
After the upgrade, it was renamed "Forget Switch." He could freely choose whether to activate it, and its effective range was a hundred-meter circle centered on him. When activated, it could make people within this range forget his existence for a long time, even those who knew him.
[The forgetting duration depends on the target's familiarity with the user. The more familiar the person, the shorter the forgetting time. However, it does not rule out that someone with a deep grudge against the user might remember in one second. Therefore, users are advised not to harbor a fluke mentality, since what comes sooner or later might as well come sooner.]
After reading this, Xu Huo felt it was a trait suitable for repeatedly jumping back and forth in team battles.
However, this trait was somewhat similar to Dr. Zhang's method—both involved forgetting, except Dr. Zhang's was permanent, while "Forget Switch" depended on the situation.
The added extended trait was more interesting. It belonged under "Accident Trigger Physique" and was called "Talented at Playing Dead."
[Given that Passerby A often inexplicably appears at accident scenes, and as a mere bystander, the danger level is high. To increase Passerby A's survival rate, playing dead is an essential skill. This trait helps Passerby A perform as a "corpse" with high acting skill, ensuring that no animal or plant can see through it within thirty seconds.]
[However, please pay attention to the disguise location and do not move during the process. Otherwise, you have a certain chance of being treated as a real corpse or as someone rising from the dead.]
Xu Huo felt this trait would be more aptly named "Half-Minute Corpse."
But the fact that it wasn't limited to just humans was already very good. The short duration was a normal shortcoming.
The two B-level items were:
[Firework: A point-blank explosive item covering a radius of fifty meters. Its inspiration comes from fireworks, but its lethality is more than ten times that of fireworks, and it also has a certain dazzling effect, causing people within it to be unable to see normally for a short time. Note: So players are advised to close their eyes when using it.]
[Nail Clipper: A very everyday item that can be worn as a finger sheath on any finger. When used, it can shoot a cutting line up to one meter long from the nail position, easily cutting through metal objects classified as B-level or below, as well as an enemy's neck. It's best worn on the left hand, because out of a thousand people, there's always one unlucky guy who accidentally shoots through the back of his own head while eating.]
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, took out the item to test it, and only put it away after confirming it wasn't a trap item like "Eye of the Dead" or "Holder's Demise."
As for the other C-level items and potions, he didn't look at them closely for now and skipped directly to the maze instance's additional reward.
[Magic Man: A combat item personally crafted by the Magician. The Magic Man in the card can maintain high-intensity combat for one minute each day. Its basic strength and speed indicators are set at 50% of the Magician's own abilities, and it can understand simple combat commands and cooperate flexibly.]
Xu Huo held the item in his hand. It was a normal-sized playing card, with the pattern in the center being a mechanical warrior in armor, both hands resting on long swords inserted behind its waist.