In a matter of days, the largest Duel Monsters event ever, "Duel City," hosted by Kaiba Company, was finally about to start.
Equipped with the latest Duel Discs, Duelists were swarming the streets, suddenly everywhere in Domino City. They gathered at the designated places notified to them, waiting for the tournament organizers to make a declaration.
Youyu was among the crowd of Duelists, observing a specially crafted transparent card in his hand.
The Dark Magician Girl floated behind him, her curious head peeking from his shoulder: "Master, what is this?"
"This? It's a Puzzle Card," Youyu explained, "Each participating Duelist gets one Puzzle Card. I remember the first eight people to collect six Puzzle Cards will qualify for the quarterfinals."
Usually, Puzzle Cards are given away at stores when receiving the Duel Disc gifted by Kaiba Company, which also counts as an entry qualification for the Duel City Tournament. Therefore, since the Duel Disc is the default system for Youyu and other players, they theoretically don't have it.
However, they can claim the "Fierce Battle Duel City" mainline quest two days before the tournament. The system will distribute Puzzle Cards as special quest items to all players who take the quest.
The Dark Magician Girl nodded thoughtfully: "So, if you win against others, you can snatch their Rare Cards?"
"That's right. So not just winning is important, but speed is crucial too."
"No problem! When it comes to Master, getting into the top eight will be a piece of cake!"
The spirit girl was written all over with "My Master's the best in the world".
As they talked, Youyu had already reached the plaza filled with Duelists.
Though mostly strangers, there were quite a few familiar faces as well.
First and foremost was the absolute protagonist Muto Yugi, whose colorful star-shaped hair was always easy to spot anywhere. Next to him was the fiery figure that must be Kujaku Mai—although she wasn't facing Youyu, one could always recognize her by her curves, given that size generally can't be mistaken.
Thinking of this, Youyu subconsciously glanced at the Dark Magician Girl floating beside him in ghostly form.
...
...Hmph! Still, no match for my spirit girl!
Dark Magician Girl: "?"
Master, why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?
Ahem, focus, focus...
Then Youyu noticed the eternal underdog duo from DM, Lyuzakii with the Dinosaur Deck and Haga with the Insect Deck.
Though Haga was just a regular person by DM's standards, he was undeniably a bad egg. Back in the day, he threw Yugi's five pieces of the Dark Great Mage into the sea, rendering the world's only set of Dark Great Mage pieces out of print.
Now, Haga was again taunting Yugi with reckless abandon, boasting something like "My insects are ravenous" and "The insect army is unstoppable" and so forth.
Yet Haga clearly hadn't grasped the gravity of his situation or realized that the star-headed boy before him would eternally haunt his psyche in the future...
(In the Orichalcos arc, Haga was KO'd to zero LP, with soul ascending, receiving post-defeat whiplashes from Yugi, a signature scene from the Yu-Gi-Oh realm)
And expectedly, there were those eager prankster players from the beta days.
In groups of twos and threes, players showed sheer excitement—which was normal. This was the first involvement in the DM's main storyline, especially with the clear card-betting rules of the Duel City Tournament; every player fantasized about breaking into the top eight, advancing into finals, reaping vast benefits, and perhaps rewriting history;
But they were more likely delusional.
In the first beta version, players had only two weeks to mine for cards, with limited Deck strength.
Bullying average bystanders might work, but facing uniquely styled players likely leads to overturning.
The early phase tournament for players is essentially sightseeing; breaking into the top eight isn't realistic.
Predictably, a flock of prankster players gathered around Yugi, clearly intent on sticking with the protagonist for perks.
Though most players realized after two weeks that hanging around this original protagonist didn't seem fruitful, some persisted.
What if?
What if the King or AIBO saw my beauty and took me back as a follower?
Youyu knew this mindset all too well, but he merely found it amusing.
Ha, with my handsome look and not even being picked, these folks are dreaming.
Time is nearing, and the tournament's opening remarks are about to formally begin.
"Hahaha!!!"
A thunderous tri-tier laughter rang from above, swirling city-wide via massive speakers.
A large shadow, like a dark cloud, loomed as a airship bearing the KC emblem slowly approached, covering the plaza sky.
Large electronic screens hung below the airship, clearly displaying President Kaiba Seto's visage.
Never missing a chance to show off, and do it grandly, typical of the President's demeanor.
You have to admit, Kaiba stood before that giant screen, his bold tri-tier laughter indeed exuding the aura of a tyrannical president. It's easy to forget that, all along, this guy is actually just sixteen years old, still classmates with Muto Yugi...
...Speaking of which, Mr. President, have you ever gone back to study?
A sixteen-year-old President, relying entirely on his own prowess, indeed commands admiration. After all, starting from an orphanage with a younger brother isn't something anyone can manage to rise to a multinational group president.
Rather than a business genius, more like a maverick...
Youyu remembered the animation detailing Kaiba's childhood, his first pot of gold. For his birthday, adoptive father Kaiba Gozaburo gifted him 2% company shares, challenging him to multiply assets by a hundredfold within a year.
Ordinary folks may find such a monstrous demand daunting, but not the then-teen Kaiba. He first tasked someone to use the assets at hand to buy a historic ceramics company, then resold its shares at five times the price to the original holders...
What? You won't buy?
Sorry, then your entire company is for sale!
Upon seeing this, Youyu's expression was: Σ(°△°|||)︴
Mr. President, this is basically daylight robbery, isn't it?
Apparently, money could be made this way?
No rules, no law in this world?
Where's the judge? Where is the judge?
Oh right, maybe the judge can't beat President Kaiba at cards.
No worries then...
Thus, Kaiba Seto not only met the adoptive father's expectations but greatly exceeded them. Eventually, he outright ousted Gozaburo and took full control of the massive Kaiba Group.
Thus, calling him a business maverick wouldn't be an understatement.
Kaiba succinctly explained the game rules in midair.
Briefly, all of Domino City is the Duel stage, and Duelists can duel each other anywhere, anytime within the city.
Victors can not only take Puzzle Cards from losers but also freely choose a Rare Card from their Deck as trophies.
The qualifications match deadline is today. During this period, all other daily activities throughout Domino City cease; schools halt, businesses pause, all make way for Kaiba Group's card-playing tournament!
The uninformed might even mistakenly believe Kaiba Seto is the Mayor of Domino City...
However, Youyu knew this is just the start.
In a few years, with the timeline advanced to the "Dark Side of the Dimension" movie, Kaiba issued new rules—unregistered Decks couldn't even enter residency.
You won't believe it, but without playing cards, you can't reside...
By then, Youyu discovered President Kaiba might not be the Mayor of Domino City; he could possibly be a deeply concealed national leader...