Seeing that Youyu's duel was over and he had even looted the Duel Disc—leaving nothing untouched—Miss Yue Hua, the bystander player, finally saw her opportunity.
With her vast experience from years of battling in the gaming zone and clearing hundreds of reverse harem otome games, Miss Yue Hua's mind quickly formulated a follow-up strategy based on typical game patterns.
All she had to do now was wait around the corner like a rabbit waiting for prey, and when the unsuspecting Youyu turned the corner, she'd bump into his arms, creating the most romantic of encounters!
Wow, it's like LOVE FANTASY, isn't it!
Ahem, of course, Miss Yue Hua told herself this was all for the sake of the show, just for the show's effect. After all, as a streamer, she was always responsible for engaging the audience in the live broadcast.
I, Miss Yue Hua, am definitely not infatuated!
Having been in the circle for so many years, how could she, a top streamer with a million followers, be interested in an NPC's body? Ridiculous!
Okay, all units in position, attention, he's coming!
Seeing Youyu seemingly reach the corner, Miss Yue Hua took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and charged forward!
However, unexpectedly, at that critical moment, the NPC tilted his body...
...and dodged!?
Thus, the carefully planned collision ended in vain, and because of her momentum, she stumbled several steps forward.
Although the operation didn't go as planned, the atmosphere in the live stream was stirred up as she anticipated...
"66666, this is too impressive, isn't it?"
"OMG, I'm laughing my head off..."
"Everyone, watch and learn, this is what we call 'playing hard to get'!"
"Thanks, Brother Youyu, I've already mastered the art."
At this moment, Youyu was also puzzled.
Why wasn't she out there dueling and collecting cards, what was she doing here?
Surely she wasn't planning to recklessly challenge me to a duel, right?
However, Youyu wasn't interested in accepting challenges from players. After all, players were potential allies, and in his view, players were virtually on his team.
Because their cards were essentially his cards, and his cards remained his.
That's why he felt eliminating players from his own team was a bit of a loss.
So for now, he decided to pretend he didn't see her and nonchalantly walk away...
"Hey, Youyu-san!" Miss Yue Hua suddenly remembered something, "I saved up quite a few Crystal Stones but didn't get a chance for a match to start. Can I still buy cards now?"
"..."
Youyu, who was about to walk away, turned back as if by an inexplicable force, with a gentle, friendly smile: "Huh? Isn't this the lady who previously visited our shop? Who would've thought we'd run into each other in Duel City... what a coincidence..."
Miss Yue Hua: "..."
Playing dumb, huh!
With such agile dodges, you tell me you didn't see me? Are you blind near-sighted or just plain blind?
Yet when she saw Youyu's gentle smile, even warp space enhancement couldn't match his charm in her live-streaming studio, all her displeasure vanished...
Damn, she's really spineless!
...because he was just too handsome...
But in light of this, Miss Yue Hua was sure she'd found a way to attract Youyu's attention.
It seemed like Youyu-san was particularly interested in business, so frequenting his business was sure to increase affection!
... To put it plainly, he's one of those NPCs who can easily empty your pockets.
As a famous streamer in the gaming zone, Miss Yue Hua knew this all too well. The developers' little schemes couldn't fool her!
... As they say, everything has its price, and money talks.
After a quick deal with the female player, Youyu earned a small sum of Crystal Stones.
After the transaction, Youyu continued: "Alright, with these cards, your Card Deck should be significantly strengthened."
Realizing he was about to leave, Miss Yue Hua quickly interjected: "Why don't I join you then!"
That had been her ultimate goal from the start of the competition—to act as a front-line photographer and live-stream Youyu's progression through Duel City!
In any case, her own progress was not realistic, she, as a rookie, never even considered it. This time her aim was to ride the wave of popularity with Youyu the NPC, and possibly boost her ranking on the streaming platform this week.
However, Youyu clearly wasn't thinking along those lines: "We're all Duelists; during the competition, we're opponents. It's quite inconvenient to act together, let's instead effort and strive to meet in the finals again..."
"Right, Youyu-san! On my way here, I defeated a Duelist and won a card, want to check it out?"
"Hmm?"
Focusing his gaze, Youyu saw Miss Yue Hua pull out a Trap Card with the image of a majestic bearded man in a long white robe...
...!?
This is... "Solemn Judgment"?
Solemn Judgment, a Counter Trap Card, requires paying half of your Life Points to activate. It can negate and destroy the activation of a Magic Trap Card or any form of Monster Summon.
A Divine Card! Truly a Divine Card in every sense!
You mean to say such a card could be grabbed from defeating some random person on the street?
Before the competition, Youyu opened thousands of card packs in his shop and didn't even catch a glimpse of a Solemn Judgment. He thought such disruptive cards were yet to be released, but it turns out every random passerby had one?
Guess it could only be blamed on his bad luck...
Thinking again, the "pay half LP" activation condition might deter 90% of Duelists in DM. Everyone still generally feels LP is the most precious thing in a duel, spending half your Life Points to activate a single effect or summon a Monster seems a bit too costly.
However, in the real trading card environment, everyone starts with 8000 Life Points, and each time someone activates Solemn Judgment, losing 4000 doesn't even cause a wince.
What? Losing LP? How did it lose? There are still 4000 points left, aren't there?
Trading 4000 LP for a chance to disrupt the opponent's strategy is a win-win situation!
Youyu was interested in this card and satisfied with this player's performance.
Feeling generous, he decided to pay a high price of five hundred Crystal Stones to recover Solemn Judgment!
Miss Yue Hua was overjoyed.
Wow! Trading a single card for five hundred stones, heaven knows how long it'd take to earn so many stones through missions and leveling!
As expected from Youyu-san, not only is he handsome, but he's also generous! I'm loving it...
Youyu was also satisfied.
Five hundred stones for a Solemn Judgment!
"So... can I follow you now?" the female player cautiously asked.
Youyu turned his head, looking at her wide, blinking eyes and those expectant, innocent looks, suddenly thought—
—Such an adorable girl, if I kicked her now, she'd probably fly pretty far?