Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

However, the person who attracted the most attention was neither the researchers who were making strange movements, nor the most reckless pioneers, nor even the special contestants like Jaden, but Kagurazaka Souji from the Yellow Dormitory.

Previously, because of the unique nature of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which only has three copies in the world, Kagurazaka, who had tried to imitate Yugi Muto but never had the thought of imitating Seto Kaiba, instinctively wanted to imitate him again after witnessing Kaiba's entire behavior after his appearance.

However, since he didn't have the card "Blue-Eyes White Dragon," he couldn't perfectly imitate Kaiba. But he did have a Level 8☆ LIGHT Dragon monster in his hand—"Shining Dragon."

Completely ignoring the stares from others who saw her as a chuunibyou, Kagurazaka even deliberately imitated Kaiba's slightly hoarse, magnetic voice, raising her hand holding the card high into the air and shouting, "Come out, wagatamashi!"

"That's not quite right, Kagurazaka. Just now, President Kaiba didn't raise his hand; instead, he just crossed his arms in a cool way." Several of Kagurazaka's classmates from the same yellow dorm laughed as they watched her rather chuunibyou (delusional) gesture.

“Although I am still imitating others, even on this path, I am hoping to forge my own path.” Kagurazaka paused, looking at the card she was holding up, and said, “In other words, I think this kind of action is cooler.”

"Well then, let's see how high these borrowed wings can fly! [Shining Dragon]!"

As Kagurazaka finished speaking, he discovered that the card he held up was actually emitting a golden light that enveloped him. Then, a golden dragon appeared out of thin air in the light, spread its wings, and carried Kagurazaka into the air!

Without wearing or using the Duel Disk, he actually managed to summon a Card Monster using only the cards he carried with him!

Kagurazaka himself never expected that his impulsive act would actually succeed. Not only was he surprised, but his classmates on the ground who watched Kagurazaka "ascend to heaven" were also dumbfounded.

Dude, are you serious?

While the students in the Yellow Dormitory had expressions that said, "Call the Bull Demon King out to see God," although they weren't as quick as Kagurazaka, who was skilled at imitation and had extremely high action, many students in the Blue Dormitory also successfully summoned their card monsters by raising the same card while the students in the Yellow Dormitory were still confused.

"[Seahorse]!" "[Morphin]!" "[Lion Wizard]!"

Although the monsters they summoned were somewhat unusual, they were undoubtedly just like Kaiba and Kagurazaka, successfully summoning card monsters without wearing or using the Duel Disk!

"Hmph, the Yellow Dorm students really aren't very bright. They still don't understand the situation?" A Blue Dorm student, being carried away by the shark-headed demon [Morlinfen] in a long dress, looked disdainfully at the other students who still didn't understand the situation. Ignoring the Red Dorm students who didn't even have the right to be mocked, she said contemptuously to the Yellow Dorm students, "Lord Kaiba clearly demonstrated it, and Brother Manjoume also demonstrated it with his own monster."

"In this world, you can freely summon card monsters even without using the Duel Disk, and these card monsters aren't just virtual projections from reality, but have physical forms!"

Clearly, they were inspired by the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] from the previous Manjou-moon, which had taken flight without permission and then immediately surrendered and ran back.

"I'm not a member of the Yakuza, I'm Mr. Manjoume!" Manjoume said unhappily when he heard how others addressed him, looking at the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] who had come with him to the grassland outside.

Turning his head, he glanced at Winged Kuriboh next to Jaden and sneered, "Looks like some people don't have any monsters to get around with. After all, his deck only seems to have some small humanoid monsters."

"Well, if you sincerely make a request to Mr. Manjoume, it's not impossible for you to hitch a ride."

"Hey~ Manjoume, are you also planning to use a monster for transportation?" Judai looked at the other classmates around him. Even though they hadn't been able to accept the setting of this virtual world so quickly, after so many people demonstrated, quite a few people successfully summoned their monsters, and the vast majority of them chose to use monsters as mounts for transportation, indulging in the fantasy of being a dragon knight, a wolf knight, or all sorts of other random knights.

"Hey you over there, get off 'The Unfortunate Girl,' the internet isn't a lawless place!" Professor Chronos said, pointing at a student who seemed to be thinking about something very ominous, as he rode on a geared motorcycle.

Jaden thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Let's forget it. Isn't it rare for me to come to a world like this? Anyway, there's no time limit for getting there, so I'm planning to walk there."

"Walk there?" After glancing at the giant tree in the distance, Manjoume looked at Judai, who was grinning foolishly, and asked, "Have you ever heard the old saying, 'Looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death'?"

"No, what's wrong?"

Manjoume paused for a moment, then said helplessly, "There are clearly ways to reach the destination faster. What's your obsession with walking? Even those who set off first have started trying to summon card monsters for transportation after seeing us summon card spirits."

"Because that's how heroes in epic stories are. They travel to reach a certain place and create legends along the way, like in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Odyssey.' Using portals or similar means just to get to your destination isn't cool at all!"

Manjoume had expected the Jaden to have some special reason, but after hearing his explanation, he was speechless: "That's it?"

"Fine, whatever you want. Anyway, Mr. Manjoume, I plan to get to the location of that tree as soon as possible. Although there is no explicit mention of any time limit, it is impossible for us to wander around like we're playing a game for several days. The sooner we get there, the better."

Having said all that, Manjoume knew that Judai was actually quite stubborn. Once he decided to walk, he would definitely walk all the way. Perhaps only when he got tired or ran out of time would he be able to face reality.

Manjoume said nothing more, and began to fly on the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] to catch up with those who had already left. Beside Judai, Marufuji Sho declared, "Brother, I'll follow you wherever you go. This time, I definitely won't lose you!"

He had just tried it. There seemed to be no stamina bar or similar restrictions in this virtual world. Even someone like Marufuji Sho could run at his fastest speed in reality without feeling tired or exhausted. At most, he would feel a psychological fatigue from constantly exercising.

If, like during the last "Seven Stars" invasion, the Jaden leads the charge, Marufuji Sho is confident that he will not fall behind and get caught this time.

"Me too. It's so satisfying to be able to have one last adventure with you guys before leaving school," Maeda Hayato said with great interest. In this world, although his appearance hasn't changed, he can move around much more easily because there are no physical limitations. He no longer gets out of breath after moving for a short while because of his weight, and he's really looking forward to "hiking" with Jaden.

However, only the two of them were with Jaden. Asuka had left for a short while on her way out of the venue, but now there were two more people beside her when she returned to Jaden's side.

Junko: "Hey~"

Momoe: Hi~

"As you can see, Judai, Junko, and Momoe didn't bring their own decks because they thought they wouldn't be playing this afternoon, so they can't summon even one monster to get around." Asuka said to Judai with a helpless and somewhat apologetic expression, "Although this is a virtual world, I felt I couldn't just leave them like this, so I decided to use a monster to take them to the finish line first. I won't be able to travel with you."

"It's alright, Asuka, let's meet under that big tree." Although she was a little disappointed by Asuka's departure, Jaden comforted her, "After all, we promised to meet again in the next match, didn't we? Promises must be kept."

"By the way, speaking of which, I don't think I've seen Caesar and Fubuki?"

Not far behind Jaden, Misawa squatted on the ground without looking up and said, "It seems that Caesar never came out of the stadium, but I saw [Cyber ​​End Dragon] fly out of there. It seems that he had already mastered how to summon card monsters while he was inside."

"As for Tenjouin Fubuki, it seems she had already set off with several girls from the Blue Dorm, including Riki Mackenzie."

"Huh~ They didn't even say hello? Does that mean Asuka and I are the slowest to set off?" Judai said in surprise, turning around to see various formulas written on the ground in front of Misawa. "What's this?"

“I’ve tested it. Gravity, temperature, inertia, even the human pulse and chemical changes are simulated here. Isn’t this virtual world interesting, Judai?” Misawa said excitedly. “I have a feeling that if I can calculate that thing, it will be an absolutely incredible existence. More than adventure, I’m interested in this unknown world.”

"Excuse me, Judai, could you move your foot a bit? I can't write here anymore."

"Oh, oh." Judai immediately moved his feet away and watched Misawa enthusiastically writing formulas on the ground with a twig that he couldn't understand at all. He scratched his head and didn't delve into it further.

After Asuka, Junko, and Momoe set off in her [Ancient Saint Dai - First Dragon], Jaden excitedly exclaimed, "Yoshi! Let's set off too, our destination is the end of the world!"

"But speaking of which, what does 'Odin's Horse' mean, and what are those two English words?"

When Marufuji Sho saw that Judai had turned his head towards him, he quickly shook his head to indicate that he didn't know, and looked at Maeda Hayato on the other side of Judai. Maeda Hayato, on the other hand, had quite a lot of knowledge about this, and the three of them explained it to Judai and Sho as they walked:

"The meaning of those two words is actually the hint itself. 'Odin's horse', 'Ygg' means frightening and is one of the names of Odin, the chief god in Norse mythology, while 'Drasill' means horse."

"However, if it were just 'Odin's horse,' people would generally think of Odin's mount, the eight-legged divine horse 'Sleipnir,' but the addition of those two English words refers to another existence."

"In the West, when prisoners are hanged, it is referred to as 'riding a horse,' which comes from the Norse myth of Odin offering himself upside down from the World Tree. Therefore, the so-called 'Odin's horse' or 'Yggdrasill' refers to the giant tree in Norse mythology that connects the nine worlds—the World Tree!"

When he got excited, Maeda took a eucalyptus leaf from the [Death Koala] next to him and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, seeing the [Poisoned] warning that jumped onto his face after he had only chewed one bite, he quickly started gagging.

"So, that tree is the World Tree? That makes it feel even more epic!" Jaden didn't understand the rest, but at least he understood that this virtual world seemed to be using mythology as a background template. He excitedly asked, "Are there any famous heroes in Norse mythology? Should we imitate them to enhance our immersion?"

"Norse mythology is full of legends, but it seems that they all died, even the gods are few and far between, and the world was even destroyed."

"Huh!? Then this world won't be destroyed too!" Marufuji Shoyu was startled and looked up at the stars in the sky in a panic. Then, he saw that the stars in the night sky were not moving, but the moon was obviously moving, and it seemed that something was chasing him.

The virtual world adventure of Jaden and his friends continues, but let's turn our attention back to the dueling arena where almost no one is left after they left.

“That Kaiba guy is plotting something incredible,” Jonouchi said seriously. “The virtual world that Hayato, Yugi, and I experienced with Kaiba before wasn’t like this.”

"What we were testing was the upper limit of the virtual world's carrying capacity, which is definitely a different version from the one officially launched for people to play." After a pause, the game also sighed, "But I didn't expect that Seahorse would have this kind of plan."

"What kind of plan is this? Can you stop making things up?" Kong Quewu said, arms crossed, looking puzzled. "I don't see anything special about it."

"Although Hayato kept mentioning it with a bit of a joke, there is actually some basis to the 'Lesson' he summarized. The most important one is his 'Lesson 3' - 'Trust the cards, just trust them.'"

Jonouchi took out a card from his person and held it out in front of him, and the monster [Earth Star Swordsman] was summoned by him effortlessly.

"They went to great lengths to make the virtual world so indistinguishable from reality, and then deliberately didn't load the Duel Disk when students entered it; they just brought their cards with them. Summoning card monsters using cards without relying on the virtual projection system—do you know what that means?"

The game answers Jonouchi's question: "This means that when duelists get used to summoning card monsters in this world, because they can't distinguish between reality and illusion, they will subconsciously believe that they have the ability to summon card monsters out of thin air in the real world. Whether this subconscious belief that the cards will respond to them can make card spirits or not, it can at least allow duelists to achieve a leap in growth."

"What feelings people experience in this virtual world is no longer important, because the most important thing is the virtual world 'Duel-Links' itself!"

In reality, Hayato, who was not present at the scene, stood in the control room, looking at one of the countless screens, and clearly heard the game's voice coming from inside.

"Kaiba's plan is like this? No wonder he values ​​this Duel Links world so much. But Gomamon, have you checked any data that's abnormal?"

"It's not Gomamon, it's Keihei!" Keihei said without turning his head, his hands typing on the keyboard in front of him, while sucking on a candy with a chocolate shell. "Although Hayato-kun said that this virtual world would attract beings from other worlds, at least I can't find anything unusual from here."

"Whether it was before or after starting up, even my brother personally checked it inside, and there was nothing unusual. Hayato, are you really sure something bad will happen?"

"I wasn't entirely sure at first, but after seeing that the game world you designed automatically using AI is based on Norse mythology and even uses that pattern as your logo, I'm pretty sure now." Hayato said confidently, looking at the tree-like arrangement of dots on one of the screens.

"You can't find anything wrong with Seahorse and Crimson using technological means. It seems that I have no choice but to personally enter that world and check it using other methods."

Stepping into a specially prepared game pod, Hayato shouted the activation command: "Madoka, start!"

Chapter 1326 Holy crap, a monument?!

"Shh-"

As the "Legendary White Stone" game pod—though Hayato still prefers to call it "Cocoon"—started up, a flash of golden light appeared before Hayato's eyes, and he successfully logged into the virtual world "Duel-Links".

However, unlike the Jadens who landed at the same time, Hayato arrived in a valley after entering the virtual world, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a valley.

"Is this the world of Duel Links?" Hayato muttered to himself as he snapped a photo with a magenta camera hanging around his neck.

In addition to the mass-produced game pods used by the students, the game pods that Hayato and Yugi used when they assisted Kaiba with testing were specially reserved for them, and special permissions were granted to Hayato and Yugi. It was with this permission that Hayato chose to enter the location closest to the NPCs in the game and edited his character model.

His original height of 1.95 meters was cut by more than one centimeter, turning him into a standard 1.8 meters tall. His face was also slightly altered, making him unrecognizable at first glance. Hayato also wore a lot of special accessories, such as the camera hanging on his chest that has the property of "absolutely out of focus".

However, none of that matters. What's important is that Hayato chose an entry point where there were NPCs nearby, but after looking around, all he saw were towering rock walls with nowhere to hide. Could there really be people here?

Or perhaps, I need to travel a little further along the path through this valley?

Hayato didn't want to choose the latter, because he didn't know which direction he was "going forward". After all, there were roads extending in front of him and behind him. If he chose the right one, that would be fine, but if he chose the wrong one and accidentally took the wrong path out of the valley, wouldn't he have to go back again?

He stood there, then suddenly spoke: "Do you want to come out now, or do you want me to raze this place to the ground and force you out?"

There was no sound around, only Hayato's voice echoing in the valley.

The Summoner Aleister, who had accompanied Hayato into the Duel Links world, poked his head out from Hayato's waist: "Nobody's coming out, Master? Isn't that a little embarrassing?"

"Anyway, I was just trying it out casually. If there are people around, I can trick them into revealing who I am, which means I succeeded in my act. If there's no one around and no one knows what I did, how can it be considered shameful?" Hayato winked at Alai and took out a card from his body.

(Tarot: The World)

The card was a tarot card found in the exhibition hall where Saiou Takuma had attacked. It was undoubtedly left behind by Saiou, who loved tarot divination; it seemed he had used the tarot to divine the outcome of his actions beforehand. Although the result of the divination is unknown, he completely failed to steal the game's cards and was even mistaken for a monster by Jonouchi and beaten up.

During the cleanup of the scene afterward, the staff found the card and handed it to Hayato, who then unexpectedly accomplished something remarkable.

[Achievements unlocked: Immortality, Eternal Youth...Stand-Power!]

[Achievement Description: Obtain the special Tarot deck that best suits you (revealed: The World)]

[Achievement Reward: 1000 DP, Specific [Arcane Power] Card (Limited: [Arcane Power XXI-World])]

The card that Saiou lost was the twenty-second Tarot card, which he regarded as the greatest proof that his actions would go smoothly. When upright, it signifies all positive symbols such as "perfection," "success," and "good fortune." It is also the number twenty-one in the Tarot that represents "the end"—"The World"!

Although Hayato wasn't quite sure why this "World" tarot card happened to be the one that resonated most with him, who would mind getting something for free? Without delving into the details, he claimed the achievement reward and obtained the corresponding [Mystic Power] card—[Mystic Power XXI-World].

He lightly tapped the side of the tarot card in his hand with his finger, and the image on it gradually cracked and turned into ashes, revealing the white background of the card. Then, the entire card was covered with golden light, removing all concealment and revealing its true form.

Hayato's move of directly modifying a card, just like that of a shameless conman, wasn't anything particularly worth showing off to him. He simply let go of the card and watched as [Arcane Power XXI-World] stopped in front of him, its face facing him as it began to spin.

Hayato casually pointed in a direction and asked, "Is this the right way?"

The spinning card slowly came to a stop, but it was reversed, which made Hayato quite annoyed. He said, "Tsk, I knew this direction was wrong. I almost chose that direction."

"If that side isn't right, then this side is?"