Casually executed the talkative subordinate, Marik scowled and severed the connection with this bunch of Ghouls.
A bunch of useless fools, can't even handle the simplest tasks!
Sure enough, the task of threatening Kaiba should be handed over to other more reliable subordinates, these wastes here surely won't get it right.
And not long after Marik left, these Ghouls tasked with watching Jonouchi encountered another unexpected situation.
"Hey, you guys, look over here!" A player suddenly popped up from who-knows-where, pointing at the bunch of sneaky Ghouls and shouting, "Look at these guys, they look like NPCs from the Ghouls Group!"
A player with a hippo headgear glanced over at the sound: "Can't be anyone else but them! Nobody other than those Ghoulish lunatics would dress this weirdly on the streets!"
The group of burly Ghouls looked at the absurd headgear on that guy and couldn't help but curse inwardly—who are you to say we dress weird?
It's strange, the Ghouls' task was "infiltration and tracking", yet they're decked out in their signature sack-like black robes, standing out on the street like they're afraid no one will recognize their organization...
This feels quite like the trope in TV shows and movies with agents in dark sunglasses and black suits looking mysterious and professional as they tail someone, while in reality, anyone not blind could spot that outfit from a block away.
Everyone knows online game players are a kind that loves gathering friends; annoy one and a whole bunch pops out in no time.
Before you know it, a bunch of players heard the shout and surrounded them.
"Ghouls? Where? Where?"
"Wasn't the Ghoul Hunt event already over? Would there still be rewards for taking them down now?"
"Who cares, let's take them down and find out! At worst, we'll lose some cards!"
"Turns out you can't actually lose cards, that's against the rules..."
The first player shoved his face in, directly activating his Duel Disc: "C'mon, Ghouls, duel me!"
But he was quickly shoved aside by the second player: "No, me first!"
"I was here first!"
"No rush, no rush, let's organize. Let's draw lots, everyone pick a Ghoul to go after, and queue up. No rushing..."
The number of players rallying grew. Even Jonouchi, the supposed target under surveillance, was drawn to the ruckus, and exclaimed upon arrival: "Ah! That outfit...you're with the Ghouls that attacked me earlier!"
The Ghouls found themselves surrounded by noisy players, not knowing what to do. A group of big, burly thugs, yet helpless like sheep strayed into a pack of wolves, all their minds unanimously flashed the same thought...
...Danger!
...
Leaving the aquarium, Youyu strolled down the street, eyeing the six puzzle cards in hand.
Next, he just needed to find an open area, project the upgrade location with the Duel Disc using these six cards, and head there to level up.
Still, there's a group of players, led by Miss Yue Hua, tagging along, though their numbers have dwindled.
Ambitious players hit a period of feverish activity before they scrammed to grind their levels diligently, leaving behind just the chill, laid-back ones munching on the scattered updates...
Of course, not all slackers are the same.
Take Miss Yue Hua, for instance, who's currently the proudest, most upright among the slackers.
Because...
...she's holding the Duel Disc that Youyu-san snatched from the Ghouls earlier!
Miss Yue Hua is brimming with pride, even the spectators around her are full of envy.
Despite the large following behind Youyu, he specifically chose Miss Yue Hua to carry his flute... I mean, his Duel Disc.
What does this signify?
There must be some unspeakable transactions behind the scenes!
And from Youyu's demeanor along the way, it's clear that amidst all these players, his eyes are solely on Miss Yue Hua.
For example, he'd toss the snatched Duel Disc to her to hold, or if he wanted something, he'd have her run errands—with bonus experience points, of course.
Miss Yue Hua, diligently running errands, felt her heart bloom with joy.
Ha! Despite so many followers here, he only gives me the chance to fawn over him. What does that say?
It means his heart is with me!
Miss Yue Hua reveled in her thoughts, even the hefty experience rewards for task completion seemed secondary, what mattered most was her pride.
As word spread in the forum, her livestream's popularity soared with more viewers joining, giving her the potential to break into top-tier streamers!
Miss Yue Hua browsed the forums, reading comments left by players.
"So envious 555, how did this streamer win over Youyu? I want to be his sidekick too!"
"First, you gotta be a girl, bro, I'd suggest you save your energy."
"Surely it's because Youyu fancies the streamer, bold prediction: next mission requires taking pants off!"
"Taking pants off is unlikely, maybe try standing on your head and barking like a dog..."
Miss Yue Hua sneered at these comments.
Hmph, you're all just downright jealous!
How could my Youyu place such weird tasks on me? Impossible!
As she was thinking, she looked up to catch Youyu staring at her with a glint in his eyes...
Miss Yue Hua felt a chill for a moment, unsure why.
"...It's a bit hot today, how about you buy me a bottle of water?" Youyu said.
Miss Yue Hua let out a sigh of relief.
Oh, good. I knew it, Youyu wouldn't give me such strange tasks.
Meanwhile, the chat in her livestream exploded with envy: "Running an errand for water gets so much experience!"
"MD, dueling isn't as good as being a simp, I want to fawn too..."
"Cuso, why aren't there more NPCs like this giving easy tasks..."
What they didn't know was that Youyu was also browsing the forum, having seen that very same thread.
The forum community is quite the talent pool, he wanted to see if someone had good ideas to broaden his perspective. As an NPC, continually inventing new tasks is a mental workout.
As he scrolled down, he stumbled upon the news of the "Youyu Fan Club" being set up, mainly founded by girls... and some guys with similar interests.
Quite peculiar.
Then, to his surprise, even his Dark Magician Girl had a support group form.
Earlier today before dueling Pandora, Youyu's Dark Magician Girl was materialized to help him smack down someone. This happened to be caught on Miss Yue Hua's livestream, spreading the news that "Youyu's Dark Magician Girl is a spirit" across the forum.
The news hit like a deep-sea bomb, even coaxing a bunch of normally silent lurkers into the open.
"Dark Magician Girl as a spirit!"
"Is she the kind you can hug in real life?"
"Cuso, so jealous of Youyu!"
"Newbie question, can you do naughty things with the spirit in this game?"
More exaggeratedly, the creative and prolific players wrote fanfiction between Youyu and Dark Magician Girl within a day!
Youyu peeked inside one, nearly going blind from the spice.
And that's not all, there were even demands for the plot to be turned into a comic.
So the comments thread was soon filled with replies: "Drawing, drawing..."
"..."
Seeing fanfiction of himself and his own spirit on the forum, can you believe it?
Youyu quickly closed the thread before he got sidetracked by these fools.
Kidding, we're proper Duelists, how could we have improper thoughts about our own spirit?
I, Youyu, would rather grow old alone, forever finding no girlfriend, and certainly would never have designs on my own spirit!
...Why does it feel like I've just raised a huge flag?