Chapter 5

"Looks like you'll have to come next time."

Lu Ming smiled, "You can leave your contact information. I'll calculate based on your highest record today, 99 seconds. If you're the first, you can come back next week to claim ten thousand yuan."

"I..."

The middle-aged man wanted to write it down but felt embarrassed.

A man should be able to last for a hundred seconds, and you can't even make it to a hundred seconds?

Do you still have the nerve to write it down?

Claim the prize?

It doesn't even exist!

"That..."

"I don't want the reward."

"Can I try it again?"

The middle-aged man said somewhat reluctantly, "I was so close, really. Just one more time, and I'll make up for it later, really. One more time, and I'll pass."

"I have no problem with that, but..."

Lu Ming shrugged and pointed to the crowd outside, "You should ask them."

The middle-aged man turned around.

Only then did he realize that, at some point, the shop entrance was already surrounded by people, who were now looking at him with unfriendly expressions, ready to beat him up.

"Kid, you've been here for a long time."

A big man looked fierce.

"Exactly."

A young man sneered, "If you can't do it, just admit it."

"I can do it."

The middle-aged man's face turned red, "Wait, I'll go get the money."

With that, he hurried away.

"Who's next?"

Lu Ming was very happy.

"I'll go! I'll go!"

The crowd was eager to participate.

"Who's next in line?"

One person rushed in.

"Alright."

Lu Ming arranged the illusion for him.

After the middle-aged man's experience, everyone knew that this was a very simple illusion, but it seemed to really improve reaction speed.

So they were a bit more patient.

Then, they experienced the various fruits coming at them...

Once!

Twice!

Three times!

...

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Again!"

One experience after another, one sprint after another.

96 seconds!

97 seconds!

98 seconds!

99 seconds!

...

Most people got stuck here.

The reason was simple.

Lu Ming had set a high difficulty level here. The speed of the fruits remained the same, but the number increased, so many people failed here.

Of course.

The difficulty Lu Ming set was not really that hard, but it gave the impression that "If I just try a little harder, I can definitely pass! I just made a mistake! If I'm a bit faster, it will be fine! If I finish a bit quicker, it will be fine!"

Most people had this mindset.

So.

Lu Ming watched with a smile as they brushed up to their limits and left reluctantly.

In his previous life, as a programmer and a game enthusiast, he had multiple titles such as "Soul Scholar," "Death King," and "Enthusiastic Yharnam Visitor." Making "Fruit Ninja" into a high-difficulty game was incredibly easy for him.

"Boss, can I buy it?"

Someone suggested.

In most places where you can experience cards, they also sell the cards.

"Temporarily not available."

Lu Ming shook his head, "As you can see, the number of cards I made is limited. If I sell them, one person might buy them all. Do you know what others will think?"

Swish!

A row of sinister gazes turned to him.

The person who wanted to buy the card was immediately scared away.

"Hehe."

Lu Ming smiled without a word.

The real reason he didn't sell the cards was simple: no encryption!

Encryption is a technology in card-making. With encryption, others would find it much harder to copy your cards. Unfortunately, he hadn't learned it yet.

If he sold the cards now...

Within an hour, all the nearby shops would have them!

What's the point of selling cards?

It's much better to have a queue of people paying a hundred yuan each to experience it.

Lu Ming smiled foolishly.

He was sure that today's business would be particularly good.

In the afternoon.

Some people came after hearing recommendations from friends.

But not everyone was a fool. Soon, someone realized the problem. This method felt like a trap!

Especially after spending a thousand yuan!

"Is this really useful?"

Someone questioned.

"Come on."

Lu Ming smiled and asked, "How long did you last the first time?"

"Twenty seconds."

The person answered.

"How about now?"

"Uh, 98 seconds."

The person said.

"Oh, that's impressive."

Lu Ming praised, then said, "See, the duration has increased. What do you think made you dodge so many fruits?"

"Uh—"

The person, seeing Lu Ming's approving gaze, blurted out, "Because... because my reaction speed is faster?"

"Correct!"

Lu Ming was very satisfied, "Think about it. If someone has a very fast reaction speed, wouldn't it be easier to dodge the fruits?"

The crowd nodded subconsciously.

Yes.

If the reaction speed is fast enough, it would be easy to dodge all the fruits! Why couldn't they pass? Clearly, their reaction speed wasn't fast enough!

"Remember!"

"Having a faster reaction speed allows you to last longer."

Lu Ming said earnestly, "Of course, if you feel the improvement isn't significant, let's put it another way. If... if you were fighting enemies outside..."

"What if the things coming at you weren't fruits, but hidden weapons?"

Lu Ming suggested.

"Whoa—"

The crowd drew a sharp breath.

Indeed.

If it were hidden weapons instead of fruits...

They shuddered at the thought.

"Think about it."

"Wouldn't you be able to deflect more hidden weapons?"

"Even if you're not a warrior and don't deflect them, wouldn't you be able to dodge? The longer you last, the stronger you become!"

Lu Ming concluded, and the crowd agreed.

It made a lot of sense.

Even the young man who initially questioned it was convinced.

"So... let's continue."

Lu Ming smiled at them, "Who's next?"

"Me!"

"I'll go first!"

The crowd was eager to try.

Lu Ming was very happy.

...

At the same time.

Shops a few streets away also noticed this scene.

They knew what business Lu Ming was doing here. They hadn't seen a customer in a month and had even bet on when he would go bankrupt.

Calculating the time, it was about right.

So.

When the crowd surged in the morning, they thought Lu Ming was having a clearance sale. But according to the information they got, it wasn't the case.

Lu Ming seemed to have made an illusion card for people to experience.

This wasn't usually worth paying attention to. After all, Lu Ming was just a small one-star card maker, a beginner at that. What threat could he pose?

Threaten with a one-star energy card?

So they didn't care. But this situation lasted the entire morning, and the crowd didn't disperse!

There was a problem.

"Go check what's going on."

Some store managers sent their staff to investigate.

However, it took them two hours to return, and they said they couldn't even get in line?!

Yes.

They couldn't get in line!

This unbelievable answer.

The only thing they brought back was the shocking content of the poster and the feedback from the crowd.

"Training card..."

"Improves reaction speed..."

"Fruits..."

"99 seconds?"

"Is it real?"

Some people didn't care, while others looked serious.

Later, some store managers or card makers personally went to Lu Ming's shop to see what was going on!

...

"One hundred per time!"

"Initial estimates show that there have been over a thousand experiences today..."

The surrounding shops were truly restless.

Initially, they didn't pay much attention to the lively scene. After all, these new illusion cards were mostly based on imagination, and even if one or two were good, they didn't make much money. They never expected the profit to be so terrifying!

Over a thousand times, that's a hundred thousand yuan?!

"What is Lu Ming up to?!"

They were somewhat frightened.

A hundred thousand yuan a day, what does that mean?

Too shocking!

"Quick!"

"I need to know what's happening."

The owner of the Yezi chain store, Qian Shengcai, looked serious, "Send everyone from the store over there. No matter what reason, we need to find out what's happening today."

"Boss..."

"We can't get in line!"

The employee complained.

"??"

The boss was speechless, "Are you stupid? Do you have to go in person? Can't you find those who have experienced it and buy their information at a high price?"

"I think they'd be happy to do business."

At that moment.

Another nearby card shop.

"Interesting."

"Old Qian acted so quickly."

The owner of Chunpin Card Shop, Zhang Chun, was somewhat surprised.

Yezi Card Shop was a flagship store of a brand chain, a strong dragon that had suppressed the local top card shop, Chunpin Card Shop!

Powerful!

Rich in resources!

Logically, such a large card flagship store wouldn't care about a small shop. It seems the situation was more interesting than he thought.

"Lu Ming..."

Zhang Chun tapped the table.

"Follow Yezi's people. Whatever they do, you do the same."

"Also."

"Investigate if Lu Ming has contacted any illusionists in the past two days..."

"Understood."

...

No one knew that as Lu Ming's shop gained popularity, the entire bustling street was also in turmoil, with countless eyes fixed on it.

The higher the fame of Fruit Ninja, the more terrifying the sales, the more they needed to know!

For no other reason.

The profit from this card was too astonishing!

A hundred thousand yuan in profit, what does that mean?

A top-tier three-star card is no more than that.

And now, Lu Ming had achieved this with a simple one-star illusion card, even creating a sensation in this bustling area!

What does this mean?

Controlling this card means controlling money!

Especially for Qian Shengcai, the manager of Yezi chain store.

"Zhang Chun's foolish eyes can only see Qingming City."

"This card can create a sensation here, and it can do the same elsewhere. If I understand this card and submit it to headquarters, and it's popularized in all branches..."

Qian Shengcai was excited just thinking about it.

He was determined to get this card!