Duels should be played with a smile.

"It's truly unbelievable... there are so many strange things."

Listening to these wishes with the utmost indifference, Leyou sighed sincerely. Just as Orichalcos had said before, there is a dark side to human nature, and among these wishes are some heinous thoughts.

However, it also contains many beautiful visions that reflect the light of the human soul.

However, most of them are very simple and unpretentious wishes.

The journey continued, and the various wishes around the ears grew ever more numerous. Wandering through this "darkness of the planet" and "darkness of the human heart," Leyou seemed to have gained some insight.

The crystal on his chest kept illuminating the path ahead, and he sensed that the road was nearing its end.

As he listened to the voice of his soul, he also felt something within him gradually awakening.

"Was the system's previous task hinting at this situation?"

What exactly does "soul" mean in the context of "soul awakening"?

With a vague suspicion in his mind, and just as the road came to an end, two orbs of light, one black and one white, appeared before Leyou. The two orbs were surrounded by a ring of gray matter and were spinning.

Although it's a bit out of place, it does look quite like a yin-yang symbol.

want to.

A longing arose in my heart.

The overwhelming instinct caused Leyou to reach out and grasp the black ball of light before she could even properly observe what it was.

He looks just like a dwarf archaeologist who likes to randomly press red buttons.

"What's this?!"

Countless complex pieces of information flashed through his mind, occupying most of Leyou's thinking ability, leaving only a small portion of his autonomy to allow him to peruse some of the images.

That is a record of what has happened since the birth of this planet.

In the beginning, the tip of the pen depicted all things.

Later, the gods created the world.

After that, a broken shard of jade crystal fell into this world from who knows where, and was taken away by the first paintbrush.

The fragments are a peculiar existence, containing countless events. The paintbrush learned many stories from them, and based on its assigned mission, it drew countless inspirations from those stories. These inspirations were eventually depicted as the prototypes of twelve diverse things.

After that, all twelve strange things developed self-awareness. Only one of them, which carried the will contained in the crystal, chose to stay. The other eleven went to different places according to their own wishes.

And then...

"puff--"

Suddenly everything went black, the chaotic scene came to a standstill, and Leyou's thoughts almost stopped as well, making it impossible for him to think.

The memories of planets and worlds are already beyond his capacity to bear at this moment, let alone his attempt to glimpse higher and greater existences within them.

Leyou, who had always been healthy, now felt a complete mental fog and experienced intermittent stinging pains throughout her body.

His chaotic thoughts prevented him from controlling his body to let go of the black orb of light.

If things continue like this... perhaps we won't have the chance to learn what happened afterward.

At this potentially fatal moment, Leyou's only thought was to satisfy his curiosity first.

It's like a reader who's afraid of not seeing the ending of the story.

"Don't miss the ending of the story."

It sounded like heavenly music in my ears.

"Your story has only just begun."

Leyou felt her hand being held.

Her other hand was also grasped and guided to the white sphere.

The two people, with four hands, grasped together what seemed to be the memory of the planet, and also the condensation of the human souls of this world.

In that instant, it seemed as if the poetry of the human soul was playing in my ears.

"Sorry I'm late." Ella gave a smile she had never shown before.

If she was once an insurmountable iceberg, then she is now the gentle water that melts away.

"Despair and hope are nothing more than things born from the human soul. I am neither the god of despair nor the emperor of hope. I am your lost soul."

"I was born because of you, and I exist because of you."

"Hope resides in my heart, despair holds in my hand, so let me help you awaken your soul."

"Let us together bear the light, the darkness, and the burning spirit that belongs only to duelists of this world, to awaken your slumbering soul!"

Chapter 165 Life Will Change

Almost a month has passed since the battle that shook the heavens and earth ended.

For the past month, it was as if the Duel King had vanished from the world.

Everyone who witnessed that duel searched for the Duelist King, but all to no avail.

Some high-ranking figures knew about the relationship between Duel King and the Kaiba Corporation, so they tried to contact the Kaiba Corporation, whose status had now completely transcended that of an ordinary company, in order to obtain some "insider information".

That battle proved to the world that Duel Monsters was more than just a game, and everything related to Duel Monsters gained immense prestige, with Seto Kaiba and his Kaiba Corporation, the holders of the Duel Links world, being the most prominent.

"Blue-Eyes Boros! Blue-Eyes Tyrannosaurus! And Blue-Eyes Lupus! Attack!"

The three-headed dragon attacked Leyu, who only had one card left in the backcourt, and Kaiba had a confident smile on his face.

"Kaiba! You still haven't learned your lesson! I'm activating a trap card!"

"Muda! Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon is unaffected by trap cards, Light Dragon lets me choose whether or not to accept its effects, and when Jet Dragon is on the field, other cards won't be destroyed by effects!"

"But... your LP is less than 3000, your Jet Dragon has no targeting resistance, and my face-down card is Magic Cylinder!"

"Nani!! Ah!!!"

……

Outside the battle simulation room, the trio of Youyouyou who had come to visit heard the screams coming from inside and shook their heads helplessly.

"How many times has this happened? For the past two weeks, every time we come, he gets beaten up by the teacher's AI... It's unbelievable..."

I really don't know how to even begin to criticize Judai.

He's bad at the game but addicted to it, and he stubbornly insists on using a pure Blue-Eyes deck. Even after adding the Red Trap tactic, he can still go back and forth, but every time he gains the upper hand, he gets inexplicably turned around by a trap card.

The time before last, there was a weasel outbreak; the time before that, there was a dimensional barrier; and this time it's a magic cylinder. It seems there's always a new way to die.

Yugi chuckled awkwardly to himself, unsure of what to say. After all, in his experience, Kaiba and this place were similar, except the opponent had changed to himself.

About half a minute later, the seahorse emerged from the human-machine room with a blank expression. Upon seeing the trio, it nodded slightly and asked, "That guy hasn't come back yet?"

"No." Yusei shook his head and took a photo out of his pocket, handing it to Kaiba.

Above was the black sphere that had swallowed Leyou and Ella. After nearly a month, the black color on the sphere had faded and been replaced by an emerald green.

"So, what brings you here this time?"

After the trio returned that day, they went to find Philvo and explained Leyou's situation. Philvo didn't seem too surprised. After thinking for a moment, he took the trio to find Kaiba and told them all about the recent events and their background.

Haima used to be a superstitious atheist who believed in science, but now... Kisara is now one of the three leaders of the Haima Group.

The third is his younger brother, Keihei, who recently felt his position was greatly threatened.

Seahorse quickly accepted these things, and then the group went to handle the aftermath of the great war according to the arrangements made by Philvo on the spot.

But after they had almost finished getting things done, they discovered that Philvo and the Snow Woman had also disappeared.

At the time, the trio still had some doubts, worried that something unusual had happened, but it was actually the seahorse who first discovered the key point.

The Duel Links world is still operating normally without any problems—according to the information Philvo gave them at the time, this world is connected to Leyou, and since nothing has changed in this world, Leyou is naturally safe and sound.

"This time... we've come to say goodbye."

"Saying goodbye?"

"Hmm... the situation seems relatively stable right now. We plan to go back to our own world first..."

Judging by the time, they've been here for quite a while now.

Even though there are no longer any crises in their world, they still need to go back and take a look after being away for a long time, otherwise some things are indeed uncertain.

Anyway, the three of them had already agreed that after they returned to their world and confirmed that everything was safe, they would have Yusei drive the D-Wheel to bring them here again.

Bring two more along, it's a bit awkward for three grown men to squeeze into one D-class wheel.

None of them were the type to procrastinate. After explaining their respective matters and leaving behind their Kuribohs as beacons, they boarded the D-Wheel and left this dimension and this world at the speed of light.

at the same time.

[Mission Completed: Soul Awakening]

Inside the sphere, the large number of souls that had been gathered earlier had all dissipated and returned to their original bodies. The massive amount of soul energy they generated during this time was absorbed by Leyou and Ella.

The planet's resentment and the darkness in people's hearts have, at least for now, vanished completely.

The system notification woke Leyou from his daze. He instinctively opened his eyes, and the sight before him made him adjust his slightly open eyes to full-on mode.

No, am I not experiencing some kind of spiritual awakening? What's with this white expanse in front of me?

It's so big, who can withstand that?!

"Ella?" Leyou called softly.

Since waking up, he could feel that his connection with Ella had become very close—close in a spiritual sense.

It was as if they were originally one, or that Ella had once been a part of herself.

"I'm here."

Within this purified, purest planetary will, Ella slowly awoke. At the moment she awoke, Leyou sensed two other familiar presences not far away.

Without a doubt, it was Yuki-onna and Philvo; the only question was when they entered.

Similar connections exist between Ella and Snow Woman and Philvo, although the connection between Philvo and Philvo is not as strong as that between the two.

Leyou fell into deep thought.

Long ago, when Ella, Philvo, and the Snow Woman appeared one after another, Leyou actually had some guesses about the reason for their appearance.