Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Although both Jonouchi and Malik have Duel Disks that they can carry around for duels anytime, anywhere, to be honest, the Duel Disks are still a bit too heavy. Neither the high-quality full-power version released during the Duel City era nor the later stripped-down version released for promotional purposes are suitable for long-term wear.

Can you imagine drawing cards with a solid iron block weighing ten or even nine pounds strapped to your hand, held out horizontally? Even the stripped-down version weighs six or seven pounds. Although both Yugi, who has been wearing the heavier "Millennium Puzzle" for a long time, and Jonouchi, who has an inhuman physique, are used to that weight, it is still easier to use the dueling platform without extra burden if possible.

"Shouldn't Haima Group release a plastic version of the Duel Disk around soon? We don't necessarily need to use metal to ensure quality; the plastic version would be perfect for the students of the Duel Academy that's about to be established." Yugi thought to himself as he pushed open the door.

By the time he left Kaiba Park and returned to Kameji Card Shop, Jonouchi and Malik's record was 5 to 5, a true tie, with neither gaining an advantage. Even though Jonouchi managed to defeat Malik in the previous round by rolling a six on the dice, Malik could easily wipe out Jonouchi's points in the next round with a combination of attack-sealing and blood-burning tactics.

As a result, the agreed-upon winning formula of "whoever wins two more rounds than the other wins" dragged on for several hours without a clear winner. Yugi had no choice but to return to Kameji Card Shop to manage the business, while Kyoko, Honda, and Bakura continued to accompany Jonouchi and Malik in their battle for victory.

It wasn't that they cared about "whoever loses treats everyone to a buffet," it was mainly because they were particularly interested in Duel Monsters, yeah, that's it.

As for the cost of playing in the duel area of ​​the Seahorse Park, there's no need to worry. Guiping waved his hand and generously declared that all their expenses for the day would be on his head. Malik was so happy that he immediately went to the dessert area and grabbed two ice creams, only to have his head ache from the cold – who in their right mind would think of eating ice cream in January?

Upon entering the Guiji Card Shop, the game first flipped the sign in front of the door from "Temporarily Closed" to "Welcome," then turned on the lights inside. The soft light illuminated the many cards displayed in the glass display case, while maintaining a suitable temperature to prevent damage to the cards.

Among these cards are powerful cards like "Pot of Greed," "Treasure Card from Heaven," and "Angel's Charity," whose potential for great power has been gradually discovered and valued as Duel Monsters have become increasingly popular. There are also Normal Monsters like "Bone," "Sacred Night Dragon," and "Mediocre Demon," which now seem to have been out of touch with the meta for far too long.

However, in the eyes of Muto Sugoroku, the owner of Kameji Card Shop, every card is precious and cherished. In his spare time, he would take the cards out of the counter one by one to clean and maintain them. On sunny days like today, he would also take the cards out to air them.

The important thing about cards is not just their strength or weakness. A card is a card, and all cards should be treated equally.

It was thanks to Sugoroku Muto's teachings that Yugi learned to understand the spirit of the cards and fight alongside their spirits. In addition, Jonouchi, who originally knew nothing about Duel Monsters, was forced to memorize many card effects and learn the ability to draw cards precisely after Sugoroku's special training. It has to be said that Sugoroku was truly a great teacher.

Especially after he gained the ability to see spirits in the game, he realized this more clearly. Because, in his view, although his grandfather could not see the spirits and could not get a response from the spirits no matter how gentle his expression was when maintaining the cards, there were actually many spirits surrounding him.

Those weak spirits in the cards, even if they were opened from the card pack, were destined to be discarded. But even knowing that there was little chance that anyone would buy them if he put them in the display case, Mutou Sugoroku still took them back from their original owners and took care of them for a long time.

How could those elves not feel love and admiration for Sugoroku Mutou?

Even if his past life was that of the divine priest of Pharaoh Aknam three thousand years ago, and Simon, the personal priest of Atum, the connection between his past life and this life will become quite shallow after reincarnation. Grandpa Shuangliu himself will not have any supernatural abilities because of this, but under the protection of these elves, he will live a long and healthy life in the future.

For example, during his previous duel with Kaiba, even though he was so frightened by the realistic Duel Monster image that he had never seen it before that he had a heart attack, most elderly people of his age would have some aftereffects even if they recovered. But after resting for a few days, Grandpa Sugoroku was perfectly fine and was as lively as ever.

Then there's the part where Pegasus stripped his soul and turned his body into a vegetable. When his soul returned, he was perfectly fine. A few days ago, he was secretly reading adult magazines while the others were traveling in Egypt, and he was blushing. When the others suddenly came back and gave him a surprise, he was startled. Hayato even teased him, saying that he was old in years but young at heart.

—But then again, isn't Chicken Sauce way too easy to be taken hostage? Could it be that he ran away today to avoid becoming a hostage again?

No, no, that's impossible. Chicken Sauce just went to buy supplies. I heard that Pegasus worked like crazy making cards during the week he returned from Egypt, catching up on all the fishing he missed while in Egypt. Today is the day International Illusion Society releases a new card pack, and I'm really looking forward to the new cards.

With that thought in mind, Yu-Gi-Oh, walked to the inside of the counter, moved a small chair over and sat down, took out the gold box he carried with him, and took out the cards from it to sort them out.

Although he didn't plan to sign up for the "GeneX Tournament," the game was quite interested in the new dueling project launched within the Hikari Group, officially called "Legendary Duelist Simulator 2.0" and codenamed "Portal," and wanted to experience a few duels there.

It is said to be a system that incorporates data from many duelists using the Kaiba Corporation's Duel Disk, and uses AI to simulate specific legendary duelists, including data from many duelists such as Jonouchi, Hayato, and Yugi himself.

I heard that a year ago during the KC Cup, version 1.0 was actually released in the United States, but it was destroyed by someone. At the time, I felt it was a great pity. However, version 2.0 was recently released, and I think I should try it out a few times before that system is destroyed again.

(Hayato, who is looting the thugs he just defeated: Achoo!)

A velvet cloth was laid on the table to prevent scratches on the back of the cards. The player then laid out his cards in a row, displaying exactly forty cards in his deck.

Although he believed in his deck and never worried about getting stuck with bad cards, he didn't max out his deck to sixty cards; he only kept it at the minimum of forty.

He felt that even if you brought a lot of cards, it would be too lonely and desolate for the cards that couldn't be used to watch their companions shine on the duel field. A deck of forty cards was just right, allowing as many cards as possible to be used.

So, apart from the duel with Atem last time, because I also brought along Jonouchi, Hayato and the others' cards, the deck had to be increased to sixty cards. Generally speaking, players keep their decks at forty cards, since not everyone likes to shred their decks like Hayato.

Adding a card to the deck means that he needs to temporarily remove a card from the deck first. However, he picked up one card: "But I really can't take you out of the deck."

When Atem passed away, he took the cards he used, including the Egyptian God cards, with him. However, Yugi left behind a Dark Magician card, which is the one he has in his hand now.

However, the card was indeed left behind, but the spirit Mahad of the [Dark Magician] card, like Atem, was no longer there. When the game looked at the [Dark Magician] card, it could only see an empty shell.

"Ding ~"

Just as Yugi was lost in thought while looking at the [Dark Magician] card, the welcome bell in front of the Kameji Card Shop was struck, emitting a clear and pleasant sound. Yugi subconsciously looked up at the door and said, "Ah, welcome to Kameji Card Shop."

Pushing open the glass door and entering the store was a boy with dark blue hair, wearing the uniform of Domino High School. He looked like a classmate of Yugi's. This wasn't too surprising for Yugi, since it was the weekend and it was normal for a student from Domino High School to be here.

However, the other person's hairstyle felt somewhat familiar to the game, as if it were a combination of the hairstyles of Yusei and Jaden, who had fought side by side before. It felt like I had heard someone mention this hairstyle before, like Kyoko.

Wait a minute, there aren't that many people at Domino High School, and this person seems to be in the same grade as me. How come I've never seen them before? Even if I don't know them well, I should at least have some impression of them. They have that hairstyle that looks like it's for a duel...

"Ah, so this is the card shop in your house, Muto-kun." Just as Yugi was thinking, the dark blue-haired man greeted him. "What a coincidence! I randomly picked a card shop after I became interested in Duel Monsters, and it turned out to be your card shop, Muto-kun."

"Huh?" The game paused, looking a little confused and embarrassed, and said, "Um... I'm very sorry, but I don't quite remember your name..."

Even though the other person can call out your surname, you can't even remember if they are your classmate, which makes the game a bit awkward.

The person smiled and said, "Me? Aren't I your classmate, Muto-kun? My name is Ayakashi."

"Blue God..." As Blue God uttered his name, Yugi suddenly "remembered" some memories related to him. At the same time, he also sensed a subtle sense of unease. However, Yugi, who was less wary of strangers, did not suspect him. He simply thought that he had not interacted with his classmates enough and had completely forgotten about this person.

"I'm so sorry, I remember now, you're Ayaka, the guy who sits behind Hayato, right?"

'Hmph, despite possessing Prana's talent, manipulation of your memories still works, doesn't it? Yugi Muto—no, Pharaoh's vessel on this land.' Looking at Yugi, Aragaki's expression remained unchanged, but a cold laugh rippled through his mind. 'As expected, Kobayashi Hayato is just an exception.'

'Not all Prana are the same. Prana, who hasn't yet realized his own abilities, will be utterly defenseless against me if he can't maintain complete vigilance towards strangers.'

'A mere vessel for the Pharaoh? A worthless traitor! I'll take care of you while you're alone, that way I'll completely cut off any possibility of the Pharaoh being resurrected from the underworld and interfering with Lord Shadi's prophecy. I really look forward to seeing Kobayashi Hayato's expression when he finds out his comrade has been dealt with!'

"Since you're interested in Duel Monsters, you can try buying the known cards directly to build your own deck. However, that would be more expensive. Personally, I recommend buying card packs and using the cards you get from them to build your own deck. That way, the deck will be more suitable for you."

"If you buy any cards that you can't use, that's fine too. Our store supports card buyback, and I can personally offer the maximum discount." Muto, the second largest shareholder of International Illusion Company, who has no interest in money, enthusiastically recommended the game to Ayami. Compared to mere money, he actually prefers to see more people fall in love with the game Duel Monsters.

"However, Blue God, you look a little pale?" Game asked with concern, noticing Blue God's slightly ashen complexion.

The game reminded him of his crushing defeat against Hayato, and Ayaka's mood soured, but he still put on a nonchalant expression and said, "It's nothing, I was just annoyed by a really annoying bird on the way. Instead of that, could you get me a card pack, Muto-kun?"

"By the way, after I finish building my deck, could you please duel me once, Muto-kun? I want to experience the fun of Duel Monsters."

"Yes, of course, no problem." Yuqi readily agreed, completely unaware of the sinister expression on Lan Shen's face as he turned to get the card box. Lan Shen, too, had no idea what kind of being he was planning to challenge.

'Yosh! I've dragged someone else into playing Duel Monsters!'

'Yay! One taken care of!'

In the hearts of the game and the Blue God, each had their own thoughts.

Chapter 951 Duel with Monsters is Easy

Holding the card holder by one end with one hand and shaking it to make sure all the cards had slid to the bottom, Blue God used the scissors in his other hand to carefully cut the cards into the card holder, following the game's instructions.

"Muto-kun, is it really necessary to be so careful?" Putting down the scissors to retrieve a card from the card holder, Ayagami said to Yugi with a hint of exasperation, "It's just taking the card out of the holder..."

"No, this is no small matter, Blue God. You know, taking the card out of the card pack is an important first step for you into the world of Duel Monsters. It's a crucial connection. Many people, including myself, started from this step to become excellent and powerful duelists."

Compared to the somewhat nonchalant Blue God, who claimed to be interested in Duel Monsters but didn't seem to care about the Duel Monster cards at all, Yugi spoke quite seriously. He also pointed to the card pack seal that Blue God had just cut off, "Also, there have been cases in the past where people who opened rare cards accidentally cut off parts of the cards when opening the card pack, causing their value to drop significantly."

"Really? That's a huge loss!"

"So, careful maneuvering is still very important." Game nodded affirmatively, then looked expectantly at the cards that Blue God had already taken out of his card pack. "But before all that, let's see what kind of cards you drew this time, Blue God?"

"Can't the International Illusion Society optimize the card pack opening experience?" Blue God complained, flipping the five cards in his hand over.

Having seen many card shops in my family, I am naturally aware of the unspoken rule that Mirage International never explicitly states when releasing card packs: a pity system that guarantees at least one relatively powerful card in each pack.

Why not label them? That's obviously to prevent locking out the possibility of getting more powerful cards. For example, Jonouchi once got three cards in a row in a single box: [Angel's Charity], [Pot of Greed], and [Heavenly Treasure].

As the Duel Monsters environment has matured, these three cards, which used to sit unnoticed on the counter and were so popular that Hayato could buy them all at once with a wallet he'd swindled from others, have undergone a complete transformation and are now incredibly valuable. Pegasus, that despicable card seller—on Hayato's advice—quietly changed the rarity of these cards from the lowest "N" to "SR".

He also limited the number of cards reprinted and released, issuing only a limited number to exchange for old cards that had worn out over time, thus manipulating prices by strictly controlling the number of cards circulating in the market.

Unforgivable, Becca—oh, I think the game also has a stake in International Illusion, never mind then.

Back to Blue God's card box, he had already opened more than a dozen packs of cards before. Although there were some decent cards, they were far from being "rare cards". At most, they were "R" cards, which was still some distance from the guaranteed "SR" card. If nothing unexpected happened, that guaranteed "SR" rare card should be in this pack of cards.

However, even among rare cards, there's a huge difference between "SR" cards. [Pot of Greed] is "SR," [Treasure from Heaven] is "SR," but [Pot of Humility], whose effect is somewhat ambiguous, is also rated "SR" by Illusion International. The former two can sell for a very good price, but even if the latter is sold, you can't even afford the scissors to cut open the card pack.

I wonder what kind of cards Blue God will be able to pull.

Blue God looked down at the cards in his hand. The first card was the unremarkable [White Bone King], the second card was [White Bone Lady], the third card was [White Bone Nightmare], and the fourth card was [White Bone Prince].

He paused briefly as he revealed the last card, glancing at the previously revealed cards he had placed to the side, where there were also piles of cards bearing the name "White Bone".

No, am I some kind of grave robber? All I see are skeletons!

Although he had no expectations for the cards he opened, and merely regarded them as tools for Yugi Muto, the vessel of the Pharaoh, to temporarily close the distance, was his luck and judgment really that bad? How could the card box he chose have yielded such a bunch of junk?

I'll get my revenge on Yugi Muto later!

Filled with displeasure and resentment, Blue God looked at the last card, but was drawn to the figure of a magician on the card, who was raising his arm and guiding other-dimensional power.

The gamer next to him looked at the card in Blue God's hand with some surprise and said, "Wow, it's actually a UR-level card, [Dimensional Attractor]! This is the first time I've seen this card in person. But it's really good. Considering that there aren't many of them on the market, this one card alone is probably worth several boxes of cards."

"Ah, I didn't mean to encourage you to sell the card."

Fearing that Blue God might misunderstand, Game quickly added another sentence, but Blue God didn't listen carefully to what Game said.

Looking at the [Dimensional Attractor] card in his hand, Blue God vaguely glimpsed Xia Di's figure in it, and was slightly lost in thought.

After his duel with Hayato, he was almost defeated and fell into the dark side of the dimension. He was able to survive only because of the power that Shadi left in the Quantum Cube. Shadi then moved him to a place far away from Hayato Kobayashi, allowing him to escape.

However, that was the last trace Shadi left in the world. To save himself after his failure, Lord Shadi even left behind his final mark...

Lord Shadi once said that anyone who exists in the world will have fear, the fear of losing life, loved ones, land, country, etc. Even those who are high above and dominate others, who are not afraid of anything and have taken many things, will fear losing their dominance. Those who take from others will also be dominated by the fear of being taken away.

The end of fear is struggle. In order to eliminate all kinds of fears and gain "peace of mind", people fight endlessly. As long as this fear exists, humanity will continue to fight and will never be able to escape the Möbius strip.

That very night, Lord Shadi saw through his own fear. Although he claimed he had nothing to fear, that being with his companions and Lord Shadi was enough, Lord Shadi pointed out that it was precisely his fear. He was afraid of losing his companions and losing Lord Shadi.

What kept him awake at night was that the fear became a reality that very night. The white demon took Lord Shadi's life, killing him right before their eyes! If it weren't for the power of the Millennium Key and the Millennium Scales resonating with Lord Shadi as Prana, he wouldn't even have been able to leave behind his soul.

Previously, when Pharaoh Atem returned to the Underworld, the Millennium Items were sealed away and fell into a deep sleep. Lord Shadi, who had lived for several years in a non-human form, died once again. Even though he did not witness Shadi's disappearance, Deva, who was a Prana and had the ability to sense each other across thousands of miles, was saddened and shed tears.

Then, not long ago, the last trace of Lord Shadi also disappeared because of that Kobayashi Hayato!

Blue God's eyes gradually filled with hatred and loathing, but he quickly closed them to avoid exposing his sharp gaze to the game. After calming his agitated emotions, he looked at the game and said, "I really like this card. I sensed the possibility of a higher dimension in this card."

"Hmm?" The game tilted its head. "The possibility of a higher dimension? What's that?"

"No, it's nothing. More than that, Muto-kun, I need to trouble you with a duel. I want to test my abilities." Ayami changed the subject, walking to the cards he had drawn and starting to assemble them. "Although I could trouble you to guide me in building my deck, that might affect the duel ahead, right?"

“Yes, that’s true.” Watching Blue God pick out cards with a slightly awkward demeanor, Yugi smiled and deliberately avoided looking at the cards in Blue God’s hand. This was for the sake of fairness, since knowing the opponent’s deck thoroughly would be a huge advantage in the upcoming duel. Blue God was just a newbie in Duel Monsters, and Yugi couldn’t take advantage of him.

However, should I go easy on her? I feel like I can't quite manage that. As a duelist, I have my pride too (Rebecca: *stares*).

While the game turned to get his own deck, Blue God quietly took out his own deck, which he had actually prepared beforehand, and swapped it with the deck he was holding, which was just a cover.

By using this seemingly simple deck of cards and the fact that I'm a newbie to mislead my opponent, I figured the seemingly weak Yugi Muto would definitely hold back, right? Then I could unleash my invincible [Cube] deck and utterly crush my opponent!

Stimulated by the [Dimensional Attractor], Blue God became even more determined to carry out the prophecy that Shady had told them, in order to achieve the "Dimensional Ascension" that could save all mankind.

However, just as he was about to put away the cards he had drawn, Blue God hesitated for a moment. Looking at the card [Dimensional Attractor], he inexplicably divided the [Cube] card set in half, leaving half of the card slots empty, and put in some cards he had drawn earlier, including [Dimensional Attractor].

This is just to lull Yugi Muto into a false sense of security, that's exactly it. And this time, I won't start the Dimensional Domain Duel too early, so as not to let Yugi Muto gain an advantage like that Hayato Kobayashi. This time, I'll start the Dimensional Domain Duel only when I'm absolutely certain of victory, and then take down Yugi Muto in one fell swoop!