[Kaiba, LP 0]
...The president lost.
Since his defeat to Yugi in Duel City, President Kaiba has once again tasted the bitterness of defeat.
At the same time, this might also mean that his days of reigning over the Duel Monster Realm are gone forever.
Back then, even if he kept losing to Yugi, the president could at least still be considered a "one-man below, everyone else above" character, which sounded pretty impressive.
However, Duel City ended with a tie, two Duel Kings. Doesn't that mean Kaiba Seto has become an "everyone else above except two" kind of character?
Although it's only one more person, somehow it feels entirely different. It's kind of like when Jonouchi points at someone and says, "You're the eleventh duelist who made me take things seriously," it's just...not as impressive.
But of course, the president isn't someone who can't accept defeat. He won't use excuses like bad luck or bad state; a loss is a loss, nothing to argue about.
However, with this, the duel that President Kaiba had been eager for is finally over. He can finally seal his deck and focus on construction work... at least temporarily.
When Youyu finished the duel and left Kaiba Corporation, he saw President Kaiba's head continuously popping with "Favorability UP," and couldn't help but ponder.
There's always this illusion of sinking deeper into a pit...
...
After dealing with the boss's card cravings, Youyu returned to the store, and it was already late at night.
Aside from gaining quite a bit of favor with President Kaiba (it's unclear whether this is good or bad), he also received a lot of experience and crystal stone rewards.
Unfortunately, the system didn't give a Blue-Eyes White Dragon as a reward for winning, which is a real pity. Otherwise, when the president craves cards again, Youyu could bring out a whole set of blue eyes to play with him, which would surely be more thrilling.
After collecting a lot of crystal stones from players combined with system rewards, Youyu's once depleted stock of crystal stones returned to five figures. So now it's time for the beloved card draw.
After dueling with Mr. Phoenix, Youyu spent several days drawing cards, investing most of the crystal stones collected from players into the system card pool.
As expected, the system card pool added a new "Destiny Hero" series.
However, during the real card era, the Destiny Hero series was always relatively weak, and there weren't many cards in the series that were useful. In the cards Youyu pulled recently, things like Tenacious Man, Dagger Man, and Fear Servant were all pretty useless.
Until today, he finally pulled a few usable cards.
Destiny Hero Malicious, Level 6, ATK 800. Effect: While this card is in the graveyard, you can banish it from the game and special summon another Malicious from the deck.
Destiny Hero Celestial, Level 4, ATK 1600. Effect: When this card attacks, it can destroy one face-up magic card on the field and deal 500 damage to the opponent. When you have no cards in hand, banish this card and another Destiny Hero from the graveyard to draw two cards, but this effect cannot be used the turn it goes to the graveyard.
Finally, when Youyu's stock of crystal stones was once again nearly depleted, accompanied by a dazzling rainbow light, the system card pool finally showed some kindness and gave him a legendary card from the Destiny Hero series, which had almost gathered dust on the forbidden card list.
Destiny Hero Disk Commander, Level 1, ATK 300. Effect: When this card is special summoned from the graveyard, draw two cards.
This card was once considered as unlikely as Pot of Greed to ever come out of the ban, until its effect text was altered in 2018, adding the restriction "Disk Commander's effect can only be used once per duel and cannot be used the turn it is sent to the graveyard." This is when this old hero finally saw the light of day again.
Since Youyu's current deck, "Elemental Hero," shares the "Hero" archetype, the two series are mutually compatible.
Adding these Destiny Hero cards somewhat strengthens Youyu's current deck's sustainability and brings his hero system one step closer to a complete future Hero Deck.
With the deck strengthened, the first thing to do, of course, is to find someone to practice with and test the strength of the new deck.
However, in the dead of night and at home, the only target for practice and testing would naturally be...
...
A few minutes later, in the alley behind the Dream Card Shop.
Dark Magician Girl had a duel disc on her slender arm, and the field in front of her was empty. On the other hand, across from her, Youyu's field was filled with Elemental Hero Gaia, Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, Elemental Hero Nova Master...
In short, a group of large, well-equipped heroes cornered a weak and helpless magician girl, making for a rather disharmonious scene...
Dark Magician Girl swallowed and took two steps back, covering her face, "M-Master, please be gentle..."
Youyu: "..."
Girl, don't say things that are so easy to misunderstand.
We're just playing cards, after all. If someone passing by outside heard you, they'd think we're up to something inappropriate...
Dark Magician Girl closed her eyes, but the anticipated confrontation didn't come even after a long time.
The girl opened her eyes confusedly.
What's going on? Has it not started yet?
Then she just saw the images of the tall heroes in front of Youyu gradually disappear, and the duel disc's 3D projection system had already shut down.
The girl blinked in bewilderment.
Huh? Is it over already?
"M-Master?"
"The duel is over. It's just a test anyway, so this is enough." Youyu shrugged, "It was just a card test, after all; there's no need to determine a winner."
"Oh... oh."
Dark Magician Girl nodded her little head.
...Master is so considerate!
Sure enough, Master is the best!
[Favorability +10]
Youyu packed up the duel disc and headed back to the store with the happy spirit girl, only to find Chinai standing at the door with a strange expression.
"Youyu."
Youyu: "?"
What's with the sudden seriousness?
Is this silly girl about to confess?
Chinai looked up seriously, "Teach me how to duel."
"...Huh?" Youyu didn't react at first.
"Teach me how to duel." Chinai looked serious, "I'll work really hard to learn. I'll take notes carefully, practice diligently, and memorize whatever there is to read. I'll do whatever you want me to..."
"Wait, hang on," Youyu interrupted, "Before that, why suddenly decide to learn dueling? Are you planning to participate in a tournament?"
Chinai shook her little head like a rattle drum.
"Because... because I just saw it through the window, that magician girl was dueling with you," she said softly, "If... if I learn how, I can spar with you too..."
Youyu: "..."