Youyu strolled leisurely down the streets of Duel City, wandering aimlessly.
He had no particular person he wanted to challenge, taking any opponent he encountered as fate decided. After all, in the entire city, players plus newly logged-in players, there were likely few who could be his match. Most strong players in this kind of chaotic tournament would choose to avoid other strong opponents.
If they could advance more easily, of course, everyone would want to save time and effort. Additionally, dueling with weaker opponents would increase one's chances of advancing.
Speaking of which, the advancement matches of Dark Yugi in the animation probably already represented the top level in all of Duel City. He repelled wave after wave of attacks by the advanced duelists from the Ghouls, which even included a puppet personally controlled by Marik from afar, wielding "Slifer the Sky Dragon."
Just as he was thinking of this, Youyu noticed a notification popping up in his task interface.
He opened it to see an automatic task cancellation notice. The explanation below was that the Ghouls' Rare Card Hunter was defeated by Muto Yugi, and all fifteen fake Exodia cards were torn to shreds by Yugi. That Hunter had lost the ability to fight again, so the sniping task Youyu had issued to the players was automatically canceled.
An expected result. According to the anime plot, this Rare Card Hunter was supposed to be defeated by Yugi, who reclaimed the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" for his friend Jonouchi.
However, Youyu guessed that quite a few players who received the task had already gone to duel this Hunter before that.
The headline news in the Underworld tomorrow could very well be about this.
Shock! A certain Ghouls strongman was successively challenged by multiple pranksters in Duel City!
According to Duel City rules, if each person took one card from this guy, then quite a few cards should have been seized...
Even though these cards seem to be in the hands of players temporarily, they're most likely to end up in Youyu's hands in the end.
After all, according to the Duel City wager rules, the cards obtained are just mission props for players; they can't actually use them.
It's widely known in the DM era, though there weren't many cards, many of them had simple and brutal effects, including many banned and divine cards that duelists today still don't realize the value of. It's not surprising if they appear in some random NPC's cannon fodder card deck.
The local NPCs might not recognize the prowess of these cards, but the players accustomed to physical cards certainly do!
Shuffle a hundred cards together, and a true card pro can always pick out the most useful card with just one glance.
The Duel City card wagering rules are seen by many duelists as an excellent opportunity to strengthen their decks because it allows access to top rare cards from around the world that are rarely seen. This was the same for Youyu.
However, unlike others, he was not fighting alone.
During this public test period, all players logged into the Linked World were his potential hunters!
As expected, this Duel City tournament ending would be another substantial harvest for him.
People on both sides of the street seemed to unconsciously decrease. Youyu glanced to the side and noticed a strange clown not far away.
This clown seemed like a street performer, wearing an oversized outfit, with a bright red smile, a pale face, and colorful makeup.
He bowed elegantly towards Youyu, gesturing towards the building ahead, then nimbly jumped backward into a bush, disappearing without a trace.
Youyu furrowed his brow slightly.
He remembered this clown... it seemed to be under the Magician Pandora?
In the animation, it was this clown that guided Yugi to the dueling arena Pandora had prepared, where they engaged in a "Saw" version of a duel—
——Both duelists' ankles were shackled, and there was a high-speed spinning saw placed on the side tracks of each. The one whose LP hit zero first would have their life ended by the saw.
Now with such developments… it seemed Pandora bore a grudge for him taking his card deck and came to trouble him instead of Yugi?
But wasn't it said Pandora was already banished to the "depths of darkness" by Marik after losing last time? How is he out causing trouble again?
Thinking about it, Yugi indeed had great courage. When others only sent a clown to provoke and lure him, he didn't care whether it was a trap and directly followed along the arranged path without any hesitation.
As another bearer of the You name, Youyu naturally couldn't show weakness either. So without much thought, he immediately...
…pretended not to see, and turned to leave.
…
…Well, isn't it obvious!? I'm no king.
Yugi not only had the protagonist's halo but was also the Pharaoh himself. There were hardly any on this Earth who would intimidate him, allowing him to charge directly without fear.
Youyu simply flinched here. The thirty-sixth stratagem is to retreat. Ni ge lu da yo.
(Japanese phrase, meaning "slipped away")
Isn't it foolish to knowingly fall into a trap by playing along with others' rules?
Youyu pretended not to see, and even bought a hot dog at a fast-food restaurant on the way—he hadn't eaten breakfast since heading out early for the Duel City opening ceremony.
It wasn't until he leisurely finished his breakfast while walking that a certain Ghouls magician couldn't hold back any longer and appeared before Youyu.
As expected, it was Pandora again.
"You!" This time Pandora wasn't wearing the sack-like black robe from their last meeting but was dressed in a magician's red suit with a halved white mask, staring angrily at Youyu.
Youyu saw him and not only didn't fear him but found it amusing: "I thought as long as I didn't go, you'd stay in that dark basement waiting all alone… Did you come up because you were so bored you couldn't help but check things out?"
Pandora frowned: "Enough!"
He snapped his fingers.
From the grass on both sides, several figures in the signature black robes of the Ghouls, with hoods pulled low to cover their faces, sprang out. They looked like mass-produced underlings of the Ghouls Group.
A group of black-robed musclemen instantly surrounded Youyu tightly.
"Oh?" Youyu looked around, "This time, you're not planning to solve the problem through a duel?"
"I gave you that opportunity, but you ran without accepting it." Pandora said coldly, "For a cowardly duelist like you who doesn't even dare to duel, I'm sure Lord Marik would approve of this approach."
The implication was that this time they'd directly resort to violence!
The musclemen didn't say a word, rolling up their sleeves, apparently ready to pin Youyu down and teach him a lesson.
However…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several deafening explosions sounded, and a tremendous shockwave burst forth, knocking the Ghouls musclemen off their feet in an instant. They lay on the ground groaning, bruised and battered.
The physical Dark Magician Girl stood protectively in front of her master, resting her small magic staff on her shoulder, pouting at the thugs who had plotted against her master.
Cute and fierce.
Youyu stood with his arms folded behind Dark Magician Girl, nonchalantly watching the dumbfounded Pandora, who was now questioning his reality.
What? You say it's embarrassing for a man to hide behind a girl?
Ha, this is called being a Summoner, you understand? A Summoner!
What you see now is actually my mount (erroneously)!