Although Youyu went to help the International Fantasy Society this trip, he gained quite a lot.
Not only did he get his hands on the Magician Girl Deck which isn't even available on the market yet, he also acquired some rather good quality single cards.
Take for example those rare cards used by Pegasus in the last duel. At that time, Youyu was quite envious but felt too embarrassed by the situation to ask.
This time he finally seized the opportunity to procure those two Rare Cards he had his eyes on for a while.
Magic Book in the Pot, Normal Magic Card. Effect: Both players draw three cards.
Monster Recovery, Normal Magic Card. Effect: Shuffle all cards in your hand and on the field back into the deck, then draw five new cards.
In addition to these, he had another unexpected gain over here.
Counter Trap - Red Reboot!
It can negate the activation of an opponent's Trap Card and set it down again, afterward allowing the opponent to choose another Trap Card from their deck to set on the field. However, the opponent cannot activate any Trap Cards during this turn.
Additionally, this card can also be activated directly from the hand by paying half of your Life Points.
This is quite a powerful trap card, ensuring that you won't have to worry about stepping on any traps for the entire turn. More importantly, it can even be activated directly from the hand, considered as an ultimate killer.
This card was originally supposed to appear in the parallel world of Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains, but unexpectedly, it could be seen here at the International Fantasy Society.
However, it seems this is not surprising.
After all, cards like "Mirror Force" and "Magic Cylinder" which are common in DM's setting, are still considered Legendary Level Super Rare Cards in the Vrains worldview...
...
Upon returning home that evening, as soon as he opened the door, Youyu heard the excited voice of Yuki Judai.
When he entered, he found Judai and Yusei gathered around the small table they had used for card games last night, "thoroughly discussing."
It can be imagined that these two duel kings from different eras, like two of the world's top sword masters meeting, found themselves wishing they had met sooner after a display of their skills and discussion.
"Hey, Teacher Youyu, you're back?" The jellyfish-headed one had totally given up on changing the way he addressed Youyu.
Judai seemed as excited as discovering new land.
"Teacher, you definitely haven't heard about it, right? The concept of 'Synchro Summon'!"
Youyu: "..."
"Is this the summoning method of the future? It's so amazing!"
Yusei was unmoved by the elder's praise, quietly gathered the cards on the table, and seriously said, "Senior Judai is too strong, I am no match at all..."
Although he didn't witness the duel process, Youyu could more or less imagine it.
It's really tough on Yusei.
If the anime settings are accurate, the current Yusei should be from the early timeline of 5DS, limited experience, lacking powerful gear, still a newbie in training. Forget about the final boss battles; he hasn't even seen the elite monsters in the main plot.
While Yuki Judai is akin to having unlocked all achievements at full level, creating cards at will, drawing magnificent cards on a whim...
"By the way, Teacher Youyu, wanna join for another round?" Judai was eager to give it a try.
"Not today, today I need to get some early rest."
"Oh, I see, then let's duel happily together another time."
"Mm."
While smiling and responding, Youyu was thinking—
—Happily my big-headed ghost happily!
Your style of playing cards doesn't bring me any joy.
...
These days, Kaiba Company has also taken action.
After suffering previous consecutive blows, Kaiba Company's stocks have fallen to rock bottom, and the reputation is sliding unprecedentedly. Hence, under President Kaiba Seto's leadership, after a series of board meetings and discussions, everyone ultimately unanimously agreed on the best solution now to quickly restore the company's reputation and stock price—
— Hosting a large-scale duel competition with high international recognition.
After all, card games can save the world, so they should obviously save the company too.
Isn't this common knowledge?
Then Kaiba made a sweeping decision, directly launched the "KC Cup" Duel Grand Prix project, inviting strong duelists from around the world to participate.
Early that morning, Youyu was still groggily lying in bed when his phone nearby started buzzing with vibrations.
Youyu yawned sleepily and sat up, with Kuriboh chirping "Kuriki Kuriki," holding the phone and flying onto Youyu's bed.
Youyu rubbed Kuriboh's fluffy head in thanks, picked up to see it was Kaiba calling.
The President spoke as directly as always, meaning basically that the organization decided after discussion to host a duel conference, intending to send Youyu over to showcase and attract attention.
"Even the Duel King will attend" is indeed quite an attractive hook, surely promising to draw in hordes of spectators.
The competition modes were roughly arranged by the President as well.
It's slightly different from the original anime, with preliminaries held around the world. Duelists willing to participate and passing the review would qualify for the semi-finals.
The semi-finals and finals would take place at Kaiba Land which had just been completed and was about to open officially.
With Kaiba Land's opening, the KC Cup would officially start. Players passing the qualifiers would compete in the semi-finals at Kaiba Land, vying for the championship title.
Then the President said that as the Duel King, Youyu would be directly promoted to the top eight, needing no qualifiers.
By the way, Youyu vaguely remembers, according to the anime, Muto Yugi as a special guest for the KC Cup seemed to be directly promoted to the finals by Kaiba?
Yet here swapping for Youyu only granting him top eight, isn't this treating him differently?
Or perhaps it's because he is his own Duel King, there's no pressure in deploying him, so they let him play a few more rounds for the audience to enjoy?
President Kaiba also clearly stated that he had fully retired from the duel world for the sake of Kaiba Land and the company's development, not participating in this tournament himself.
Frankly speaking, Youyu kind of admired this determination.
Watching others play cards in his own venue while being a card game addict himself yet unable to participate, do you know this pain?
This further highlighted the fact that Kaiba Company's current situation might indeed be formidable, even reaching a point where the President can't happily play cards anymore...
To Youyu's surprise, Kaiba didn't invite Yugi to this competition.
Is it because they feel having their own Duel King is sufficient, without needing outsiders to keep the scene stable?
Of course, if Youyu really didn't want to go, he could refuse, presumably President Kaiba wouldn't force him.
But Youyu probably understood this was already considered as President asking him for a favor.
After all, President is quite awkward, would never directly ask someone for help. Taking the initiative to call Youyu to help maintain the scene already means he doesn't consider him an outsider.
Given President has indeed been kind to him, with generous prizes for Duel City, salary paid generously, and himself visiting Kaiba Company's card storage frequently to take a few cards (so much so that the storage management uncle has become quite familiar with him), then his current residence is still the President's...
...Youyu still agreed.
Of course, Youyu didn't forget to remind President someone might stir up trouble during the KC Cup, yet as expected, Kaiba disregarded it.
"Hmph! Being in a high place naturally draws attention, if timid, there's no way to progress!" Kaiba said disdainfully, "If any rats dare make trouble, then come on! I'll beat them black and blue, making them realize the biggest mistake of their lives!"
That tone, those lines, along with the President's unique voice, Youyu felt the flavor was strong over the phone...