Different World Card Master: Change the World with Cards

301: Voting beginsAfter the final report session of the afternoon concluded, everyone took a half-hour break before gathering in the hall.

The hall had previously been filled with various stalls, but it had now undergone a complete transformation; for one thing, the space was three times larger than before.

Xu Bai looked around curiously; he hadn’t heard any sounds of walls being demolished, so how had the space expanded?

Soon, his question was answered. He discovered that some of the previous room walls were movable. Now, the walls of several rooms had been moved to one side, which was why the space was so large. Xu Bai could even see the tracks on the floor used to facilitate the movement of the walls.

At this, Xu Bai could only marvel at the ingenuity of the person who designed this hall.

Besides the space, there were many other differences. For instance, the previously empty hall was now filled with individual chairs, each with a name written on its backrest, meaning that everyone could not sit wherever they pleased but had to sit in their designated seats.

In front of the chairs, a half-meter-high platform had been erected, and a large blackboard hung on the wall behind it; they would likely need to record everyone’s votes on that blackboard shortly.

Without observing further, Xu Bai began to look for his name to find his seat.

”Xiaobai, over here.”

Bai Shan waved at Xu Bai from a distance.

Xu Bai walked toward Bai Shan; since the other person was calling him over, his seat must be over there.

Upon arriving, sure enough, Xu Bai saw the characters ’Bai Xiaobai’ written on the backrest of the chair next to Bai Shan. He didn’t say much and sat down directly.

Although many people were attending this meeting, there were also many service staff nearby, and those who couldn’t find their seats were quickly guided to their designated spots by the staff.

...

The meeting began quickly, and Yan He, who was sitting in the front row, stepped forward to speak.

In fact, many people were already well aware of the current situation; some had known the inside story from the beginning, while others had learned about it through conversations at the banquet.

Yan He: ”I am very happy that everyone is able to gather here together. This is the gathering with the highest attendance of mid-to-high-level personnel from our Card Maker Guild. This meeting is not only for us to share our respective experiences in card making, but also because our Card Maker Guild has a matter to announce.”

”Of course, we also advocate freedom and equality, so this matter also requires consulting everyone’s opinions, as everyone is a member of the Card Maker Guild.”

”First, let me tell everyone what we need to vote on: whether or not to make the data of the Card Maker Guild public.”

”This is the proposal we need to vote on next. However, before voting, I need to explain to everyone in what form these materials will be made public after they are released, and I will also talk about the future development direction of the Card Maker Guild.”

...

The crowd below the stage listened to Chairman Yan while whispering to those beside them, wanting to know what others thought about this matter.

Of course, there were also some who sat unmoved; these were the people who had known about the news early on and had already confirmed their voting choices.

Half an hour later, Chairman Yan finally finished explaining everything, and he began to announce the method of voting.

This vote was not a simple one-person-one-vote system where the side with the most votes wins. One must understand that there are differences between individuals, and it is impossible for a vote from an elder to be equal to a vote from an ordinary Card Maker.

Therefore, they adopted a system where one’s guild level multiplied by one hundred equals the number of votes an individual possesses. Because of his recently published paper, Xu Bai’s guild level had jumped from level seven to the highest level, nine, so Xu Bai had ninety votes.

After explaining the voting rules, the service staff began distributing voting papers and markers to everyone. The voting papers were all the same color, but the colors of the markers were distinguished according to the guild level. This was to prevent people with lower guild levels from writing a number greater than the amount of votes they were allowed to cast.

Voting began.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Bai wrote down his choice and folded it back along the original crease lines.

The person next to him moved in much the same way and also finished writing quickly.

The service staff nearby waited for two minutes before coming over with transparent boxes to collect the voting papers. The reason for using transparent boxes was to let everyone present see clearly and to inform everyone that the voting process was fair and open.

...

It was still Chairman Yan on the stage. He reached his hand into the transparent box, and the crowd could clearly see his hand reaching for a voting paper.

”In favor, 500 votes; in favor, 600 votes; opposed, 900 votes; opposed, 800 votes... in favor, 900 votes; opposed, 400 votes; in favor, 600 votes...”

After Yan He finished reading the number of votes on each paper, he would unfold it and display it before the eyes of the crowd. As he announced the numbers, the technicians behind him would write the corresponding votes on the blackboard, ten per column. Once a column was formed, another staff member would calculate the total for that column and then erase the numbers above it. The people in the audience also picked up pens to record the votes on paper.

Xu Bai was no exception. He calculated the current tally: there were 4,500 votes in favor and 4,800 votes opposed. It seemed that those who were opposed were in the majority.

However, this was just the beginning; there were still many voting papers left in the transparent box, and the final result remained unknown.

At this moment, Xu Bai curiously glanced at the expressions of some people nearby; it was truly quite interesting. Many people had very expressive faces that changed along with Chairman Yan’s announcements.

Through their expressions, Xu Bai also roughly knew who was in favor and who was opposed.

However, he did not observe for long and immediately continued with the next round of calculations.

Now there were 1,085,000 votes in favor and 1,076,000 votes opposed. Half of the voting papers in the box were now gone. Although the gap between the two sides had widened slightly, there was still a possibility of one overtaking the other. Therefore, no one present was discouraged; their eyes were fixed on the count above, and their minds were frantically calculating to avoid any errors.

”Opposed, 700 votes; in favor, 800 votes; opposed, 900 votes. Alright, all the votes have been reviewed. Let’s look at the calculated results.”

Yan He turned to look at the blackboard behind him.

The numbers on the blackboard settled at 2,986,600 votes in favor and 2,943,800 votes opposed, a difference of 42,800 votes; the ’in favor’ side had more.

When the result came out, the crowd below applauded.

Regardless of what everyone thought internally, the result was as it was and would not change based on individual wishes.

And the Card Maker Guild would also begin a new chapter today.