Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon???
Are you kidding me?
Staring at the monster on the field, the two of them froze.
They traded a look and saw the same shock in each other's eyes.
This was the Satellite, after all. Down here, someone flashing even an Axe Raider was "strong."
Yet the very first guy they see drops a banned boss.
It was like your first time in Duel Links, queuing into the so-called "jobber" Ella from Yu-Gi-Oh!, expecting a field of Yomi Ship–tier fodder—only for the opponent to fuse straight into Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon on turn one.
They'd come in a bit unsure of themselves, but one glance at that monster settled it.
This had to be a special NPC—maybe even tied to a hidden storyline.
At the same time, Yusaku also noticed the two faces in the crowd lighting up like fireworks.
Hard not to—they stood out like sore thumbs. Weird mannerisms aside, their clothes were… something else. One wore a magician's hood with a black longcoat—and shorts underneath. The other had spiky hair, a full Saiyan cosplay, and—because why not—Kaiba's movie Duel Disk strapped on top. It screamed "player."
It even made Yusaku remember that pre-isekaied dev PSA: "Please dress like a person during cutscenes."
With the final blow, the duel ended.
After the dojo students peppered him with a few last questions and dispersed, Yusaku was still thinking about how to approach those two—only for them to scamper over on their own.
As they came up, Yusaku thought for a moment and borrowed the Newbie-Village elder tone from his MMO days.
"New faces, huh? Fresh duelists. Looking to join our dojo?"
Candle-in-the-Wind nodded vigorously.
"I see. Then go register first. From today, we're dōjōmates," Yusaku said.
He remembered that new players spawned with nothing but a Duel Disk and a Starter Deck.
Those starters were full of meaningless vanillas; the Spells/Traps were mid at best.
And during the closed beta, there was no daily login or daily quests.
In other words, players had no "oil to squeeze" yet. Only leveling up gave Crystals.
So he sent them to register while he pondered how to power-level them—and kick off his "thick-fortune plan."
Which, to be blunt, meant: sell cards.
Hearing Yusaku, both players' eyes lit up.
Story flag triggered?
They hurried to the front desk.
Ten minutes later, registered and back in front of him, Yusaku nodded. "Since you're in, we're senpai and kōhai now…"
He paused, then continued.
"I have a task that needs help from you two. Do you have time?"
Ask a stranger for help and you'll get an eye-roll ninety percent of the time—unless they're players. Players beg for quests, the more the better.
"Absolutely!" Both of them bobbed their heads like pecking chicks. "Anytime, senpai."
[Ding—New feature unlocked]
The system chimed in Yusaku's head.
New feature?
He flipped open the interface—and found a new Quest module.
It wasn't like his usual system-issued quests. This one let him write quests for players and push them out himself.
Just as he suspected.
Thanks to his attribute panel, he might be the only NPC in the game who could author and issue player quests.
Thinking a moment, he drafted his first one.
[The Dojo Ranking Battle is imminent. Yusaku needs reserve members. Help him find a suitable candidate, or win a duel yourself to prove you can serve as a substitute.]
The moment he finished, the system asked:
[Issue quest to "Candle-in-the-Wind" and "Joy-of-Fire"?]
"Yes."
Both players had a prompt slide into view.
Quest: Ranking Battle Substitute
Objective: With the dojo tournament imminent, help Yusaku find a suitable pick, or earn one duel victory to prove you can fill the substitute slot.
Reward: 200 EXP.
He could have added Crystals or card rewards—but Crystals would come out of his pocket, which was dumb, and if he started handing out cards this early, it'd be annoying to walk that back. EXP was safest.
He even tried to bug it—seeing if he could shove a huge EXP payout to power-level them in one go. No dice. The cap was 200 EXP.
"Find a sub… or be the sub?"
Both players exchanged a glance. They knew what the other was thinking.
Be the sub, obviously. Finding someone else was easier, but this was a quest from a special NPC. If they got chosen, they'd get closer—and maybe receive more quests later.
They split up, each rushing to beat the other to the clear.
Just then, a square-jawed student with a sturdy frame stepped out of the dojo.
The moment Candle-in-the-Wind saw him, he decided to challenge.
Big lug, blank face—probably not good at cards. Free win?
"Senpai, duel me?"
Ushio arched a brow. Spotting the fresh kōhai, he chuckled. "New guy, huh? Challenging me the moment you join. I like the guts. I'll even give you first turn."
They moved to an open space and took their marks.
"Duel!" "Duel!"
As he drew his opening five, Candle-in-the-Wind realized he'd made a serious mistake—he hadn't even checked what was in his starter.
At log-in, the game had offered a few starter lists. They all looked equally bland, so he'd clicked one at random.
Now he saw the problem: this deck was not beating anyone.
His opening five were meaningless vanillas.
Candle-in-the-Wind: "…"
He stared at Rock Spirit, Angel of Creation, Doma the Angel of Silence—no, wait—The Furious Sea King?—no, that wasn't here. What he did have was The Earth – Hex-Sealed Fusion? No—scratch that. The text said Earth Warrior (700 ATK), Queen Bird, and the truly cursed Lion Menace—a Level 5 with only 1350 ATK, the shame of 5-stars.
Only Earth Warrior was normal-summonable, and it had 700 ATK. Its 1400 DEF was "okay"… for 2002.
After a long sigh, he set his lone Trap and passed.
"Oh?" Ushio tilted his head. "Turtling, kōhai? Then I won't be shy."
"My turn—draw!"
He slid a card into the Field Slot. "Activate Field Spell—Amazoness Village. While this card's on the field, my Amazoness monsters gain 200 ATK."
"Normal Summon—Amazoness Swordswoman!"
Amazoness Swordswoman
LV4 / Warrior / Effect
ATK 1500
"Battle!" Ushio pointed. "Show me that set."
…
Three turns later, Candle-in-the-Wind lay on his back, staring at the sky.
It wasn't that he didn't want to win. His draws simply couldn't. Everything he top-decked was either not summonable or didn't break 1500 ATK. He never punched through.
Ushio helped him up and patted his shoulder. "Kōhai, your deckbuilding's off. Ask Yusaku—he's got a knack for tuning lists."
Candle-in-the-Wind: "…"
"I refuse to believe it. This is the Satellite—no way everyone's cracked!"
He stormed off to find another opponent.
Joy-of-Fire didn't fare much better. With roughly the same starter power level, he went 0–5. He almost stole one—until his opponent top-decked Raigeki and wiped him.
Still, the losses didn't break them. If anything, players—being players—only got more stubborn.
Watching them keep queuing after 11 straight L's, dojo kids started whispering. Real grit. Future greats, maybe.
"That should be about enough."
From the stairwell, Yusaku stood up. He'd been watching since he issued the quest.
He'd designed it specifically to bait them into dueling themselves—no way they'd go "find someone else." Players always pick the hard route if it smells like story.
And duels gave EXP. A win was worth 200; a loss, 50. Every level gave 300 Crystals.
Now both sat on the plaza steps, sighing.
"Maybe we just go find a substitute," Candle-in-the-Wind groaned. "With our decks, winning is just too hard."
"Try a little more. If not, we look," Joy-of-Fire sighed too. Name said "Joy"—he felt anything but.
"Wait! I've got it." Candle-in-the-Wind brightened. "The quest only needs a win. What if we duel each other and trade surrenders—both clear it?"
Joy-of-Fire thought, then shook his head. "That's bug-abuse. This game has a Favor system. If he finds out, our favor drops and we'll lose future quests."
"…Fair."
"You two look troubled. Need help?"
They looked up. Yusaku stood there, expression gentle.
"Yusaku–senpai," Candle-in-the-Wind said, "we might not be able to finish your quest."
Joy-of-Fire lowered his voice. "In this game, there's no official card shop. We only get cards via quests or by converting Crystals into Vouchers and pulling in the Commercial District. But the gacha's evil. In the last two tests, my pulls were worse than the trash we're running now."
"So what then—do we just—"
Before Candle-in-the-Wind finished, a prompt popped in front of them.
[Ding—NPC Yusaku has opened a Private Shop]
Joy-of-Fire got the same alert.
A private shop?!
They snapped it open.
Items were sorted by rarity and price—from N to UR—rows of gorgeous foils so bright it made their eyes water.
"D—Dude, Axe Raider (1700 ATK) for just 60 Crystals? That's value!"
"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon for only 100 Crystals? What a steal!"
"Board-wipe Raigeki and the S/T nuke Harpie's Feather Duster for just 120 each—I want both!"
They scrolled up—and found some entries blurred out behind a Favor requirement.
Then Candle-in-the-Wind stiffened, grabbed Joy-of-Fire's sleeve. "Look—third row, third column!"
Joy-of-Fire zoomed in—then sucked in a breath.
Pot of Greed. The eternal, legendary ban.
"…That price, though…"
Hype cooled fast. Pot of Greed cost… 100,000 Crystals.
Daylight robbery.
They wanted everything—but they were poor.
To stop torturing themselves, each bought three copies of Axe Raider and one Raigeki, then forcibly closed the shop.
Even so, the catalog lit a fire under them. They swore to grind hard and earn the cards they wanted.
Fresh purchases slotted, the two headed back into the dojo with renewed swagger, ready to challenge again. This time, they wouldn't lose.
"By the way, if Pot of Greed is only in row three, what's behind the Favor locks above it? Could it be Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon?"
"No idea. I am curious how to raise Favor, though. Without it, we can't even see the top shelf."
"When we finished our buys, I saw Favor +1. Three hundred Crystals for three Axe Raiders and a Raigeki—we made out like bandits!"
"Facts. That gacha is a black hole. Getting those four from the public shop would take thousands of Crystals."
Watching them stride off, Yusaku's lips curled.
Player money was easy money. Not even an hour, and he'd pocketed 600 Crystals—while they felt lucky.
And with three Axe Raiders plus one Raigeki, they still wouldn't win consistently. They'd be back soon enough.
(End of Chapter)
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