Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

[King of Light War - Queen Mador] paused before the door, turned around to look at Judai and the others, and said, "Behind this door is the location of the thing I was talking about. You should have remembered the explanation I gave you on the way, right?"

"Compared to the dark games we've encountered before, those with special powers or constitutions are the ones you can't approach casually, and the game begins the moment you open the door and step inside..."

Marufuji Sho repeated what Queen Mador had told them before, and couldn't help but swallow hard. "Is it really okay? Letting us freely visit such an important place, isn't it said to concern the safety and survival of this world?"

"The specifics aren't something you can understand just by being told. You'll probably understand once you see it." [Light Realm King War - Queen Mador] shook her head helplessly and stepped aside to make way for the gate.

As mentioned in the previous description of [Battle of the King of Light - Queen Mador], the so-called "special powers" and "special physiques" include, but are not limited to, the abilities of spirit users and bodies modified by alchemy. Therefore, among the group of six, only Daichi Misawa, Sho Marufuji, and Ryo Kaiser can safely enter that door. The others can also enter, but they need to be more careful to avoid accidents.

Misawa seemed to have been brought here by the [King of Light War - Queen Mador] before. He wasn't in a hurry to be the first to open the door. Instead, he gestured for Marufuji Sho and Kaiser Ryo to go in first. However, Kaiser wasn't very interested in saving the world, so he was the first to open the door and lead everyone into the place that the [King of Light War - Queen Mador] regarded as "the place where hope lies".

Reaching out, he touched the smooth, textured doorknob wrapped in dried, hardened vines. Marufuji Sho instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but when he thought of Judai waiting behind him to open the door, he only hesitated for a moment before quickly mustering the courage to turn the doorknob and open the closed door a crack.

A rich, natural aura poured in from the crack in the door, even more so than the aura in the dense forest that Queen Mador and her group had passed through before. At the same time, a warm, yellowish-green light emanated from the crack, making it impossible to see what lay beyond.

"Oh!"

Marufuji Sho was the first to see what was behind the door because he was the one who opened it, but the next moment he panicked and slammed the door shut, staring wide-eyed back at Judai and the others.

"W-What's wrong, Sho?" Judai was a little startled by Marufuji Sho's sudden outburst and asked him curiously, "Why do you look like you've seen a giant monster from a tokusatsu movie?"

"I'm not sure if it is, but it seems pretty close, big brother!" Marufuji Sho said with a mournful face. "I just saw it, there's a 'deer-headed spirit' staring at us from behind!"

"How could that be? Sho, have you been playing too much Gwent 3? Even Kaiba Corporation wouldn't put characters from other games into this world, would they?" Judai didn't take Marufuji Sho's words too seriously, comforting him while opening the closed door.

Originally, Judai had specifically asked Marufuji Sho to be the one to open the door. He also wanted to use this method to help Judai gradually build up his self-confidence in his daily life. He didn't expect Judai to completely evolve into a corporate bull or be as uninhibited as a bassist who can't get others to notice his instrument on stage, so he would start dancing to get others to notice his instrument. But at least he could have some self-confidence and be able to communicate normally with others.

However, the fact that Marufuji Sho is so frightened by just opening a door suggests that the progress is too fast.

Thinking this, Jaden opened the door, then immediately closed it, leaning against it in sync with Marufuji Sho's movements, and said, "There really is a 'Deer-Headed Spirit'! We need to quickly replace our steel swords with silver swords!"

“How come even Judai…” Misawa shook his head helplessly, looking at Judai who was starting to look around for any materials to make sword oil. In the end, he opened the door himself. “This is very rude of you two.”

"Indeed, and do I look a lot like that 'Deer-Headed Spirit'?" A deep voice came from high above behind the door.

Even though it was afternoon when the Jadens and the others opened the door in the palace of the [King of Light - Queen Mador], the other side of the door was under a clear night sky, with starlight shining on a dense forest and on a giant oak tree with a human-shaped form.

The yellow-green light that had previously shone into everyone's eyes seemed to emanate from the gaps in the wood grain of this enormous Dendrobium tree. Even behind the human-shaped Dendrobium tree, among the outstretched branches that resembled a cloak or wings, there were points of light that seemed to be breathing, alternating between light and shadow like stars in the sky.

"W-This is!?" Jaden's eyes widened as he exchanged a glance with Maeda Hayato.

Misawa nodded: "That's right, what's in front of you is—"

"—Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands: Top Transformation Buddha!" ​​Jaden and Maeda Hayato exclaimed in unison, excitedly.

"Yes, it's the real thousands... wait, what is that?!" Misawa almost got led astray by Jaden and Maeda, but he quickly realized what was going on and corrected them, "This is the hope for saving the world that [Queen Mador of Light] spoke of, and the 'falling star' mentioned in the prophecy."

"Its name is, [Astral Tree - Light Oak]."

The tall tree-man slowly bent down and looked at Jaden and the others. He was quite easygoing and said, "【Radiant Oak】is just the name of the species to which I belong. More accurately, it is a term derived from your language. Originally, I could have been called 【Star Tree - Ilmin Radiant Star Tree】."

"However, you can also call me [Astral Tree - Ilmistel] if you like."

"What a long name. 【光槍】is easier to remember."

Jaden casually remarked, then, seeing the giant treant—[Astral Tree - Light Oak]—frustrated as it tugged at its forked bark, he looked around and said, "But from the outside it looks like a normal castle. I didn't expect there to be such a forest inside. By the way, why is it already night in the blink of an eye? Did we spend that much time in the castle?"

"The starry sky here is not real; it's just an illusion I brought with me from the Astral Plane." [Astral Tree - Light Oak] shook her head, looked at Judai and the others, and after scanning them, her gaze finally settled on Misawa. "Ah, found it. To be honest, you all look too similar to me. It's really difficult to distinguish the differences between each individual."

"So, what brings this human boy named 'Misawa Daichi' back here to see me?"

Although it wasn't the first time, the feeling of being called by the correct name still made Misawa feel comfortable, and he couldn't help but show a relaxed expression before saying to the giant tree-like creature in front of him, "Actually, they are my companions. They are somewhat interested in what you said earlier about being able to save the [Light Realm]. Of course, the more help the better, right?"

“Ah, that’s right. After all, we’re dealing with that great one, that supreme god who reigns at the pinnacle of the astral plane.” [Astral Tree - Light Oak] said, becoming somewhat serious. “Before that, do you know a truth about this world? That is, the truth that this world is a reality built upon illusion?”

"Reality beyond illusion?" Marufuji Ryo frowned. "What does that mean?"

“We can understand the illusion, after all, everyone enters this world through the game pod of the Haima Group, but as for reality, I don’t understand, meow~” Daitokuji said, scratching his head in confusion.

"While you may see this as a game that doesn't exist in the real world, everything in this world is real, and if we don't stop a certain being's plan, this reality will also become the reality you see. Although it's a game, this is no joke."

Hearing the word "game" clearly from the NPC [Astral Tree - Light Oak] surprised Jaden and the others. This meant that the other party knew that they were in a game world and could clearly recognize that there was a real world outside the "box" of the virtual world.

“There’s no need to look so surprised. If I had to say, I’m actually a similar being to you all. We all came to this world from another world, and there was another one who arrived here with me.” Noticing the surprised expressions on Maeda Hayato’s and the others’ faces, [Astral Tree - Light Oak] also sat down and looked down at Jaden and the others. “Therefore, it’s not anything special that I can recognize the situation in this world.”

“Unlike you, who built this world from its very foundation and then entered it in a formal way recognized by the world, my way of entering this world was somewhat passive and special. Rather, it was as if I was simply dragged into this world by another being.” As she spoke, [Astral Tree - Light Oak] reached out her hand to Jaden and the others.

As he closed the distance between himself and Jaden and the others, Jaden clearly saw his casually held [Winged Kuriboh] emerge from his deck with extreme discomfort, resisting the approach of [Astral Tree - Light Oak]. The yellow-green light in the hollow fingers of [Astral Tree - Light Oak] dimmed and even nearly went out as it got closer to Jaden.

The situation was similar for Daitokuji-sensei and Maeda Hayato. Daitokuji-sensei covered his eyes uncomfortably, and Maeda's "Death Koala" ran out and even dropped the eucalyptus leaves, losing his appetite. On the contrary, the fingers that reached out to Marufuji Sho, Kaiser Ryo, and Misawa Daichi showed no special signs, and they did not experience any discomfort.

“As beings recognized by this world, especially some of you special individuals who have mastered the ability to interact with spirits, you are practically an extension of this world's vision. Contact with you would allow me, this ‘smuggler,’ to be discovered and rejected by the world.” With a helpless sigh, [Astral Tree - Light Oak] withdrew its hand, wrapping its palm with vines as if bandaging a wound. “Perhaps it's because the power of the [Astral] I was in before was simply unable to adapt to this world?”

(Because it's a link, it can't be used lol)

"In short, compared to that lord, without the ability to create a disguise that could deceive the world's perception, I would probably have been banished from this world long ago without the help of [Light Realm King War - Queen Mador]. Even now, I can only cower in this hidden place and cannot leave." After a pause, [Star Tree - Light Oak] continued.

“No wonder they said we can’t get too close or it will be dangerous. Turns out the danger isn’t us, it’s you, [Astral Tree - Light Oak].” Marufuji Sho glanced at [Queen Mador of the Light Realm War], who was standing outside the door to avoid interfering with [Astral Tree - Light Oak], and suddenly remembered something. “But what does what you’re saying have to do with saving the [Light Realm]?”

"Not very tall, but quite impatient? I'll get to that soon." [Astral Tree - Light Oak] glanced at Marufuji Sho and continued, "In short, in order to survive, with the help of [Light Realm King War - Queen Mador], I created this hidden place to conceal myself, but I also unexpectedly discovered that this world actually has the ability to actively disconnect from the outside world and banish me to my original [Astral Realm]."

"To be more precise, I was originally pulled into this world from the Astral Plane like an arrow on a taut bowstring, but this hidden place has fixed the taut bowstring with a restraint. Although the bowstring is still taut, I have more time and room to maneuver. In fact, if I am ejected, I can take something with me."

“And this is our plan to save the world: one person will use the power of the Astral Tree - Light Oak to bring the being that wants to destroy the world back to its original world along with the Astral Tree - Light Oak. That way, we can avoid the destruction of the Nine Realms,” Misawa concluded. “And because of the Astral Tree - Light Oak itself, I was chosen to be the one to manipulate its power.”

"Bringing them back to their original world, does that refer to the 'that person' mentioned before?" Maeda Hayato asked, recalling what [Astral Tree - Light Oak] had said earlier. "Who exactly is this being capable of traversing worlds?"

"Hmm? Didn't I mention that? How embarrassing." [Astral Tree - Light Oak] scratched the back of his head and said seriously, "The world we were in before was called [Astral Realm], which should have been explained. In that world, there were three gods who reigned over all things and were called the 'Three Gods'."

"And the lord I'm referring to is the one among the three 'Gods' who represents wisdom; his name is Loki."

"【Loki, the Supreme God Emperor】." After a pause, 【Astral Tree - Light Oak】 added, "However, in order to come to this world, he did some degree of disguise. By abandoning his original power as the 'Supreme God,' his current name seems to be..."

"【Shadow of the Kings - Lopte】".

Achoo—!

Beside Hayato, [King's Shadow - Lopto] suddenly sneezed, earning a rather disdainful glare from Hayato.

"Odin must be talking badly about me!" Lopt, the Shadow of the King's War, declared confidently. Then, in a rather ingratiating tone, he asked Hayato, "Lord Dan Kuroto, after defeating Utgard, the King of the Hollow Realm, where do you wish to go next?"

"So proactive?"

"Because it is my greatest honor to be your dog, sir." While mentally calculating the power of the [King's War] he had already collected, the expression on [King's War Shadow - Lopte]'s face remained unchanged.

Chapter 1369 Untitled

"Ark, show me your script progress."

"Putting it on your screen, done."

As the seahorse finished speaking, ten vertical progress bars immediately appeared on the screen in front of him, with red as the background color and green representing the specific progress. Three of the bars were in a state where the red had completely disappeared and was filled with green.

“Number 00, ‘Spring’, the story is complete.”

“Number 03, ‘Forging Hammer’, the story is complete.”

“Number 07, ‘Green Plant’, the story is complete.”

The report had barely finished when the synthesized voice on the screen spoke again: "Error, Error, recalculating—"

"Number 04, 'Black Dragon', story interrupted; Number 05, 'Flame', story interrupted; Number 08, 'Death', story interrupted; Number 09, 'Illusory City', story interrupted."

"Attempts to repair failed; investigating the cause of the error..."

As the synthesized voice reported, four of the ten progress bars, which were red, completely dimmed and replaced by gray, almost blending into the background color, indicating that the story could no longer continue.

"Huh? No way, that's it?" Guiping pulled out a Pocky stick, and like smoking, he held the chocolate chip cookie between two fingers and put it in his mouth. "You made up ten stories, three of which were successful and four failed. It's really unreliable to let AI write stories. You might as well write one yourself, brother. Like a masquerade ball that you can only attend by invitation, or a world called 'Mujica' or something."

"I'm not interested in that kind of nonsense. Hiding things has never been my style. A true king should be open and aboveboard." As always, Kaiba kept the [Kaiba Man] sacredly separate from himself, while frowning and glancing at his younger brother, "Have you been watching too many anime about girl bands lately, Keihei? Didn't you used to prefer tokusatsu (special effects) films?"

"I didn't want to either, but Hayato recommended these to me, like 'Hot Rock,' 'This Is My Go,' and 'Girl's Cry.' Suddenly I feel like band anime are pretty interesting," Keihei said with a grin. "How about we get Pegasus to design some band-themed duel monster cards?"

(Official designated band (confirmed))

"That third-rate duelist hasn't even finished creating his own idea from five years ago. You expect him to design new cards for you? Hmph, you might as well hope that Yugi will draw a few cards for you when he has some free time." Kaiba sneered and said disdainfully, "Even the card designer he recently recruited at the Duel Academy is more efficient at designing cards than him."

"That's true. But it would be a shame not to turn such a great idea into cards. I've already thought of seven different band girls based on the seven notes, or instrument monsters based on instruments like keyboards, guitars, and drum kits."

(The bassist couldn't bring himself to admit that he forgot to plug in the power cord after the performance ended (laughs))

Counting on his fingers, Guiping thought to himself, "I accidentally forgot about the bass."

"You should focus on making better use of your [Thunder Dragon] deck first."

“That makes sense. After all, not everyone can use so many different decks as skillfully as Hayato.” Guiping shrugged. Actually, he was just saying it casually. If Pegasus really designed the cards, he would probably still continue to use the [Thunder Dragon] deck that had been with him for five years.

Although he can't compare to the achievements of Kaiba, Hayato, and Yugi at the same age, Keihei actually has quite a talent for playing cards. He even managed to squeeze into the annual World Professional Duelist Championship once, thanks to his status as an organizer, and easily defeated his opponent, leaving behind a deck build with "100% win rate in the World Championship [Thunder Dragon]" on the internet.

"The cause of the malfunction has been identified."

The voice of the artificial intelligence "Ark" came from the screen, making both Keihei and Kaiba look over. Four scenes were displayed corresponding to the four broken side stories. Although the background and the person being beaten were different in each scene, without exception, it was the scene of Hayato sweeping everything away. The two brothers fell silent.

"...See? What did I tell you?" Guiping looked at Kaiba. "I said before when you wanted 'Ark' to write an epic adventure story for you as the stage for the duel. The premise for that kind of story to happen is that the strength of the two sides must be equal. But the problem is, when Hayato also gets involved in this game, the epic adventure becomes a 'Hayato Kobayashi speedruns the world in one day' kind of wish-fulfillment story."

"...Tsk. What a reckless guy, clearing out all the other players' challenges by himself. He's basically ruining the game." Kaiba clicked his tongue in annoyance and rubbed his forehead. "Even if you said my game would attract special enemies, this is just too much..."

"However, everything is still in the calculations. In the end, these are just side stories, not the main storyline I have planned." Looking at the three progress bars numbered 01, 02 and 06, which were still all red, Kaiba said confidently, "Those were just preliminary preparations to let the duelists familiarize themselves with the world of 'Duel-Links'. The real duel has not yet begun."

"With the central courtyard locked, the only way to approach the World Tree is to bypass it and seek other ways from other worlds. After defeating the rulers of each world, the strong gather on that unpredictable stage of fate and then head towards the top of the World Tree." Looking at the progress bar numbered 02 and codenamed "Victory," Kaiba rarely showed his anticipation for what was to come. "The only shortcut that exists in front of them seems to be passable, but in reality, there is no chance at all, because I have specially added a powerful gatekeeper with overwhelming power that I designed myself."

As he navigated the screen, Guiping tapped on the progress bar for number 02. Looking at the valiant swordsman depicted, he couldn't help but remark, "Even with the added mask, armor, and wings, once you remove those things and look at it again..."

"Isn't that Katsuya Jonouchi? No wonder you suddenly decided to collect duel data from the duelists under the Kaiba Corporation the other day." Pointing to the image of the [King of Swords] in front of him, Keihei retorted.

"So, you actually quite agree that Jonouchi Katsuya is a powerful duelist, don't you, brother?"

"Hmph, what are you misunderstanding, Keiping? I've never recognized that mediocre person. It's just that he took money from the Kaiba Group, so I wanted to squeeze every last drop of value out of him. That's why I used his data to create this NPC." Kaiba retorted without changing his expression. "As the gatekeeper guarding the shortcut to the World Tree, there's no one more suitable than him."

“That’s what you say, but you didn’t even design the movements much, brother.” Guiping pulled up the data for another card. “It’s basically just swapping the left and right hands on this card and adjusting the angle.”

"Hmph, there are only a few sword-wielding moves. This isn't plagiarism; it's just basic borrowing." Kaiba said confidently, arms crossed. "To reach the final arena, unless someone can defeat the gatekeeper designed based on that mediocre genius, the only option is to take a long detour to other worlds to obtain the 'key' to the top of the World Tree."

"But that's absolutely impossible, because Kobayashi Hayato is still wandering around the other Nine Realms and hasn't taken the route through the Central Court. Without his threat, the gatekeeper's existence is an insurmountable barrier for the other students."

Upon hearing this, Guiping glanced at the screen and said, "I agree with you on that point, brother, but there's something you've forgotten. Besides Hayato and the teachers, there are other people who have also entered the virtual world."

Before Kaiba could even react to Keipai's meaning, a screen popped up on the screen in front of him under Keipai's control. It was the [Sword King Battle] that Keipai had just pulled up the data on—to be precise, [Sword King Battle - Frode], an extremely powerful NPC designed with the Norse mythological figure Frode as the prototype and then filled with the dueling data of the legendary duelist Jonouchi Katsuya.

Even the seahorse had full confidence in him and entrusted him with the most important task in the entire game: "preventing others from quickly completing the main storyline." [Sword King War - Frode] indeed fulfilled his duty by guarding the [Sword Realm], which is the fairy kingdom where the light elves originally lived—Alfheim. At the same time, he also sent his soldiers to descend on Midgard, forming an encirclement to hinder the player's progress.

In Norse mythology, Frey and Queen Mador of the Light Realm are siblings. Kaiba may have taken this into consideration when choosing Frey as the Sword Realm King and filling in Jonouchi's duel data, since Jonouchi also has a sister.

Furthermore, [Sword World King War - Frode] is the most suitable representative of the Warrior race among the [King Wars] of the Nine Realms, and the Warrior race is the deck that Kaiba believes is most suitable for Jonouchi. After all, no matter how much he approves of Jonouchi, Kaiba still stubbornly believes that [Red-Eyes] is far inferior to [Blue-Eyes]. Even when it is fused with [Dark Magician] to form [Super Magician Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider], Kaiba believes that the main credit for that power lies with Yugi's [Dark Magician].

But at this moment, [Sword King War - Frode], who was entrusted with an important task by Kaiba and placed in the [Sword Realm], in front of the entrance to Asgard at the top of the World Tree, is dueling with someone, even though [Sword King War - Frode] was assigned a large number of subordinates by Kaiba to act as obstacles to the player's progress.