Hellfire-like effects wrapped around the Dragon before it reappeared on Yugen's side of the field. The audience fell completely silent, words failing them as they stared at the impossible scene. Stealing such a monster felt unreal, like something that would stay satisfying for months.
"My Turn!, Card Draw," Yugen said, activating another Spell. "I activate Shining Absorption. I choose one Light-attribute monster on your field, and all my face-up monsters gain ATK equal to that monster's ATK until the end of the turn."
The AI projection stuttered, its image flickering as if the system was failing. "I choose your Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon," Yugen continued. "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon gains its ATK."
Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon surged from 4500 ATK to 7500. The crowd could only shout praise, lacking any better way to measure such overwhelming power.
"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Chiron the Mage."
Three mouths opened at once, unleashing a flood of white light that erased everything in its path. The AI's Life Points dropped straight to zero, and the projection dissolved in the glare, leaving the arena in stunned silence.
At the same time, somewhere else.
Rex Raptor was in a pretty good mood today. After staying out of sight for several days, he came to the arena and crushed a string of weaker opponents, winning several matches in a row and getting his confidence back. This finally felt right to him, like dueling was supposed to be.
So it really was not his problem in those previous matches. After seven straight wins, Rex Raptor left the venue feeling satisfied. He bought some dinner nearby, and as he stepped out, he unexpectedly ran into a fan.
"Ah, it's Rex Raptor!" A teenage boy spotted him from far away, his eyes lighting up as he ran over. "I'm your fan. Could you give me an autograph?"
Rex Raptor felt a rush of joy inside. The last time someone asked him for an autograph felt like ages ago, and for a while he had even wondered if he had already faded from relevance. Of course, that also had something to do with him not competing or showing his face for years.
"You're a lucky kid," Rex Raptor said cheerfully. "I'm in a good mood today." He took the autograph board, scribbled his name in bold strokes, and handed it back.
"Thanks!" The boy took it happily and turned to leave. "Hey, wait, don't rush off," Rex Raptor said, grabbing him by the back of the collar and pulling him back.
"You think you can just leave after getting my autograph?" The boy froze. "Huh? Then…" Rex Raptor waved his hand in front of him.
"Money. Pay up," he said. "My autograph isn't cheap. If you don't have cash, cards will do." The boy stared at him blankly. "You have to pay for it?"
"What?" Rex Raptor put on an angry face. "I'm Rex Raptor, you know. You think my autograph is worth nothing?" "N-no, I wouldn't dare…"
A few minutes later, Rex Raptor was walking down the street with several new cards and a wallet in his hand. He clicked his tongue and frowned. "So poor. Nothing valuable at all." In truth, he was not short on cards or money, he just liked doing this kind of thing.
His thoughts drifted to his old buddy Weevil Underwood. Back then they had been inseparable, even pulling autograph extortion schemes together. Of course, when they got caught and beaten half to death, they had suffered together too.
He had no idea where that old friend was now or what he was doing. As he snapped back to reality, he suddenly felt that something was off. It was clearly daytime, yet at some point the street had emptied of people.
Something was wrong. The sky had darkened without him noticing, and the heavy air pressed down on his chest. "I finally found you, Rex Raptor."
A rough voice came from the alley beside him. A man in a suit walked out slowly, green light shining in his eyes, a strangely shaped Duel Disk on his arm. Rex Raptor frowned. "Who are you?"
"I'm Ken Fujimoto," the man said. "The sworn brother of Onizuka Genichiro, the one you killed." Rex Raptor stared at him in confusion.
Who was that supposed to be? Should I know him? Before he could think further, Ken Fujimoto gave him no chance and snapped open his Duel Disk.
"Playing dumb won't save you," he shouted. "Enough talk. Shadow Duel, activate. Today I'll use your soul to honor the dead Onizuka!" Rex Raptor could only respond with a baffled look.
So who are you even talking about? Have I ever met him?
At KaibaLand, inside the Duel Arena, the duel AI's Life Points hit zero. As expected, the system lock was released, and the armored panels covering the windows rattled open while the shutters lifted. Sunlight poured back into the venue.
The projected figure on the stage remained distorted, its image flickering as it repeated garbled words. "Is there something wrong with that AI?" someone asked. "Looks broken," another replied, and a third sighed that it seemed completely done for.
Soon, no one paid attention to it anymore. All eyes turned to Yugen, who had won the duel in such a flashy way and released the system lock. In the eyes of the audience, this young duelist had already reached an unbelievable level.
The AI had been loaded with Seto Kaiba's Deck data. From their perspective, its thinking, tactics, and even its strange dramatic lines were perfectly imitated. It had shown the overwhelming power of Blue-Eyes, yet all of it was casually shut down, and the most shocking part was that it died to its own Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack.
The students of Duel Dojo, led by senior Koji Sato, were already full of admiration during the duel. Watching from the sidelines, they felt chills now and then, yet somehow also found it more and more enjoyable to watch. As fellow members of the same dojo, they felt proud, even if their feelings were mixed.
If even the legendary powerhouse at the top of the dueling world had lost to this eerie junior, what would the future of dueling look like? Thinking about it, they could not help feeling uneasy, as if the rise of Yugen had cast a dark shadow over the entire card world.
The staff of KaibaLand quickly arrived, apologizing to the trapped visitors and offering compensation. They shut down the system and began inspections. Before long, people from the company arrived as well.
Seto Kaiba personally led the team to check the situation. "Yugen Fujiki, right?" he said, shaking hands with him. "You're the one who stopped that duel AI in time?"
"Thanks to you stepping up," he continued. "On behalf of Kaiba Corporation, I express our gratitude." Yugen waved his hand generously.
"It was nothing," he said. "Just doing what any Duelist should do. There's no need for cash rewards, and I don't need a Rare Card either. Really, no need to be so polite." Seto Kaiba blinked twice, then laughed.
"You're really interesting," he said. "I'm heading back to the local branch of Kaiba Corporation anyway, and the warehouse there should have plenty of cards in stock. Why don't you come take a look? We also want to ask about the accident and the duel in detail."