Xue Lang walked on the busy streets, watching the passersby, the colorful neon lights, and the scantily clad beautiful ladies (crossed out), and was taken aback for a moment.
Wow, the details here are unbelievably realistic and spot-on! Is this really a card game?
A certain unscrupulous corporation that thinks about selling cards all day surprisingly invested so much to create such a conscientious game? Am I time-traveling?
He suddenly remembered something and quickly and nervously reached down to feel around...
...Phew, thank goodness, the tools are still there.
Just don't know how they function, are there any restricted play features in the game?
However, during the walk from outside the city to here, it seems he hasn't seen any other players.
But there's nothing surprising about that. It is said that there are less than a thousand beta testers, with so few people scattered in such a big city, it's like finding a needle in a haystack; it's normal not to encounter anyone.
The beta tester slots were randomly selected from players across multiple countries worldwide, with such a large base, less than a thousand people were chosen, if we exclude any rigging, those selected are truly the luckiest of the lucky.
But although players come from all over the world, there is no language barrier.
This problem was solved when immersive online games developed. In the game, players can choose the language and interface they are familiar with. Everything players encounter during gameplay is translated into the language they know, and conversation exchanges are handled by the game's built-in translation system, so there are no barriers.
Plus, identifying other players is still pretty easy. First, players have IDs above their heads, and theoretically only players can see each other's ID.
Secondly, players walk differently from normal people. It's as if there's scorching hot lava beneath the floor in the game, and players like to jump a bit every few steps, sometimes even rolling on the spot.
Legend has it that this inexplicable tradition stems from the days before immersive technology became widespread. Back then, players could only play games using keyboard and mouse, and those players were especially fond of the "jump" and "roll" commands.
Though immersive technology has become prevalent, and everyone no longer uses a keyboard and mouse to play games, this "fine tradition" has been passed down like nostalgia through generations of players.
Xue Lang, with a curious look on his face, wandered around the city streets, exploring in a manner reminiscent of a country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time, finding wonder in everything he saw.
For a moment, he even forgot he was playing a card game...until he wandered aimlessly into a Duel Hall at the city center.
Only then did Xue Lang suddenly realize—wait a minute, wasn't I here to play cards?
"Duelist over there."
Xue Lang, who had just walked in with a bewildered face, followed the voice and saw a square-faced, robust-looking man walking slowly toward him.
"A new face we haven't seen in the hall, have you just arrived in this area recently?" the man asked.
Is this the plot?
Xue Lang wondered inside, nodded, and said, "Yes."
"So, do you want to have a duel?"
"Sure!"
As a player, there's no reason to refuse an NPC's challenge. He guessed this might be part of the game's newbie tutorial.
The two quickly arrived at the open field, standing at designated positions.
"Duel!" x2
It wasn't until the Duel Discs unfolded, and he drew five starting cards from the Card Deck, that Xue Lang suddenly realized an overwhelming fact—
—he forgot to check what cards were in his initial Card Deck.
When creating the account, the system did let him choose an initial Card Deck, but he skimmed through them and felt that they all seemed about the same, so he randomly picked one to start the game and forgot to check it until now.
Now, let's see what he drew with his first five cards...
Kattapillar, Lightning Conger, Earthbound Warrior, The Furious Sea King, Mountain Warrior...
These are all Normal Monsters!
All Normal Monsters is one thing, but why isn't there one with over a thousand attack points?
The strongest Monster he seems to have in his hand is this "The Furious Sea King," which is also a no-effect vanilla card, with the card description "The great king of the sea, calls forth unending tsunamis to engulf enemies."
At that moment, Xue Lang wanted to retort—A Monster with only 800 attack points, who are you going to engulf?
Being the great king of the sea without even a telepathy Monster effect is just too lame, isn't it?
Wait a minute, does this crappy deck have no Monsters with over a thousand attack points...
No, no, it must be that his starting hand is too unlucky this turn... Yes, that's definitely it.
Now let the opponent witness the true power of a Duelist's Bonds with their Card Deck!
"I'll take the first move, draw!"
With the principle of putting in great effort for miracles, Xue Lang used all his strength to draw his miraculous sixth card from the deck... and was left speechless.
Psychic Kappa, Attack 400, Defense 1000. Card description: A kappa capable of using various psychic abilities to avoid attacks.
Xue Lang: "..."
Forget it, this one's a loss. Anyway, it's the first newbie duel, might as well consider it the tuition fee.
"I summon Psychic Kappa in defense position, and end my turn."
[Psychic Kappa, Defense: 1000]
Xue Lang was already too lazy to struggle. He just hoped that the NPC on the other side would quickly finish him off so he could see what his initial card deck was all about.
"My turn, draw!"
The opponent glanced at their hand and unexpectedly showed a very conflicted expression—Xue Lang couldn't help but wonder what there was to be conflicted about on his side with just a Normal Monster with 1000 defense on the field.
The opponent then played a card: "...I summon Battle Warrior in attack mode!"
[Battle Warrior, Attack: 700]
The opponent seemed quite unwilling, gritting their teeth: "Tch, Battle Warrior's attack is lower than Psychic Kappa's defense. I end my turn."
Xue Lang: "?"
Are you kidding me, dude?
You can't even deal with my 1000 defense Normal Monster?
"My turn," Xue Lang said, "then I summon The Furious Sea King!"
[The Furious Sea King, Attack: 800]
"Go, Furious Sea King's attack! Annihilate!"
The Furious Sea King roared and charged forward, hefting the Fish Spear... oh wait, the Divine Artifact Trident, and with one strike, swept away the opponent's Battle Warrior.
"Ugh!" The NPC Duelist raised a hand to protect his face.
[Bystander, LP 4000 → LP 3900]
Xue Lang suddenly realized that maybe he could actually win this.
Because the opponent's cards... might even be weaker than his!
...
After a grueling twenty turns of cat-and-mouse battle, the fight reached a fever pitch! The entire duel was incredibly intense, both Duelists relentlessly clinging to each other's LP without giving an inch...
In the end, Xue Lang skillfully secured a thrilling victory in this duel.
(Actually, it was just because he drew a Great White Shark with 1600 attack power at the last moment, and the opponent couldn't handle it...)
As the duel ended, Xue Lang wiped off his sweat, feeling like he had never fought such an intense battle with Normal Monsters in his life...
He then wandered around the Duel Hall a bit and found that most duelists around here seemed pretty much the same.
The NPCs just kept summoning Normal Monsters for slugfests, and the card decks were just piles of cards without any construction or combos, hardly even using Magic Trap Cards.
The stronger bystanders had some high-attack or high-level monsters, but after observing for a bit, he couldn't help but think—
—If only I had a Cyber Dragon in my hand...
Soon he noticed a large crowd gathered in the battle area nearby, packed tightly both inside and out.
What's going on? Is there a tournament?
Xue Lang quickly nudged closer and casually asked a bystander in the crowd, "Excuse me, what's happening in there?"
The person enthusiastically explained, "Someone's challenging the new Duel King of this Duel Hall tonight! The game has already started!"
Duel King?
Xue Lang's eyes lit up.
Could it be the protagonist, Muto Yugi?
He didn't realize he automatically ignored the "of this Duel Hall" prefix.
Xue Lang squeezed his way in, barely managing to get a glimpse of the Duelists in the battle.
On the left field was a muscular, shirtless, dark-skinned guy (by the way, why would you take off your clothes for a card game?). But this one's generic "extras" face could be ignored.
As for the Duelist on the right, Xue Lang's first impression was—
—Whoa, so cool!
He could clearly see that this character's design was different from the other NPCs, obviously given special attention by the art team, and was likely an important character in the game.
Could he be an important plot NPC?
"Battle!" the young Duelist on the right shouted loudly, "Elemental Hero Nova Master, attack directly!"
Xue Lang nearly fell over in shock.
Did he just say Elemental... what!?