"Welcome to the Link System."
"Identity verification successful, card deck scan completed..."
"Please enter your ID."
Still need an ID...
Yugen pondered for a moment.
He was currently trying out the new equipment from the Kaiba Company's upgraded Link System. It seemed like the last time he and Keihei logged in, it wasn't officially tested yet, or they were using a GM account or something, so there was no process for creating an identity and entering an ID.
Yugen thought for a bit, and casually typed some words, "Joyful Duel."
Simple, honest, but it best represented his dueling philosophy.
He believed that through this Link System, more and more people would come to recognize the fun of dueling in the future.
"Signing into the virtual city of Tongshiyi, countdown ten seconds...nine seconds..."
As the numbers hit zero, a blue stream of numbers, like a torrent of 0s and 1s, rushed towards him, submerging his vision. Yugen's body floated as if caught in an icy wave, spinning with the current, gradually sinking into the swirling vortex.
His feet touched solid ground again. He landed in a half-squat, looking down at himself, only to feel his body gradually transitioning from a virtual state to solid form, with waves of data flow rippling around him.
He remembered Keihei's explanation of the Link System. This body of his was virtual data, merely simulated. But his state of logging into this system was akin to a projection of consciousness.
Metaphysics technology, typical of the Kaiba Company.
Yugen stood up, looked around, and found himself seemingly in a massive city.
Skyscrapers soared into the clouds as if breaking free from the atmosphere, piercing the sky. Unlike the construction of real-world buildings, the architectural designs here fused streamlined and geometric aesthetics, the surfaces flickering with a silvery sheen as if transparent data was flowing over them.
At the city's center stood a towering energy tower, resembling a giant crystal from afar, draped in a faint blue glow with the "KC" emblem representing the Kaiba Group in the middle.
However, the vast city appeared cold and desolate, like a static painting. There was no urban hustle and bustle, no vitality, even time seemed slow and heavy.
"After all, it's a ghost town during the beta phase with the servers not yet live..."
Yugen moved along the street.
He casually flicked open the player interface, finding some simple auxiliary functions inside.
For example, editing the current player's card deck, querying cards already registered in the player's inventory. There were also the city's maps, markers for important locations, and in-game friends, among other things.
Most of the buildings and facilities weren't open yet, but he discovered through the map that there were shops and an arena.
Curious, Yugen followed the map's guidance and located a shop.
"Welcome."
A young attendant smiled.
"How can I help you?"
"You've done a great job here," Yugen glanced around the store's environment, "As expected of the President's black technology, done so realistically..."
The attendant continued smiling: "How can I help you?"
Yugen pondered for two seconds, moved two steps closer, and noticed as he approached the counter, several buttons appeared in front of him.
"Talk; Buy; Sell; Leave."
Yugen: "..."
Just marveling at how realistic this place was, and suddenly the scene shifted to an old-style RPG...
After a few attempts at conversation, he discovered that the attendant was seemingly an NPC. And the intelligence level seemed to be just like that of an old-style RPG program, not anything advanced.
Maybe once the system officially launches, Kaiba Company would replace her with something more intelligent.
"Buy."
Yugen clicked the button.
There was nothing particularly special; the cards available for purchase seemed to be only the ones you could buy at regular card sale points in the real world, far less diverse than the ones from the Academy's internal channels.
Yugen casually tried buying one, realizing he couldn't directly obtain it from the game. Even if purchased here, he still needed to receive the purchased card's physical card in reality.
After all, the cards available for use in the Link System were not virtual data, and duelists needed to register them as physical cards into the system before logging in.
Besides that, the shop also had some other clothes, items, and such usable in the Link System. Yugen even saw motorcycles and flying skateboards...
By participating in dueling activities in the Link World, players could earn game points to purchase these virtual goods.
Yugen didn't have points yet. He withdrew for the time being, continuing to saunter around the city.
The currently open facility also included the arena, which was the core of the Link System. Here, anyone could match against duelists from around the world, unbounded by regional restrictions.
Keihei mentioned that quite a few people had received beta testing qualifications, and it would be nice if he could use this opportunity to spar with experts from the Professional Alliance.
Yugen was wandering in the direction of the arena when the virtual figure of the Chaos Warrior suddenly floated out beside him.
"What's up?" Yugen looked at him.
The spirit's power also worked in the Virtual World, which was something Yugen had tested the last time he came in with Keihei.
The Chaos Warrior floated there, as if contemplating something.
"Incredible," he suddenly said.
"You mean?"
"This place," said the Chaos Warrior, "A space created by humans, so real..."
"Oh, that," Yugen said. "This is a data world, all fake. Hmm, it's a bit hard to explain to you. But everything online is virtual..."
"No."
The Chaos Warrior shook his head.
"I understand what you describe as a data world. But this? Though it might be a space created based on data, it is already more than just that."
Yugen was startled: "What do you mean?"
He realized that the Great Opening was a powerful spirit with space abilities. Maybe he could see or feel things that Yugen couldn't.
"As I said, this place is nearly an independent dimension created by artificial power. Frankly, it's hard to imagine this as a realm built by current human capabilities," he said.
Although Yugen didn't fully understand it for the moment, he thought, no, don't casually define the President's abilities by "current human capabilities."
After all, a few years ago, the President already succeeded in charging into the Netherworld to duel with the Ousama, with technology beyond comprehension...
"Compared to the world you usually inhabit, this place is closer to our world," said the Chaos Warrior.
"Elf World?" Yugen asked.
"Indeed. I can feel it now; from this point, it seems like there's only a wall separating from some Elf Dimension."
The Chaos Warrior spoke, indicating his sword.
"If you wish, I can show it."
Could the Link System connect to the world of elves?
Yugen suddenly realized that what President Kaiba was developing might not just be an online dueling simulator.
And the Great Opening happened to be the spirit capable of exploring this system's potential.
"Sure, let's take a look."