The next development indeed completely matched the animation.
Noah hijacked the airship into an underwater base, using force to coerce everyone off the ship, allowing them to unknowingly enter a virtual digital world.
However, not everyone disembarked. The perceptive sister Ishizu remained on the ship, and the six-year-old Marik hid in a corner watching the situation, not getting off either.
Actually, if Youyu had chosen not to get off and just hid in a room to sleep for a whole day, the plot would have likely proceeded as well.
Even though the task panel had already popped up with a task "Duel Invitation from Kaiba Noah," the task options specified that this was an optional task that players could refuse to participate in.
Of course, in that case, the task rewards would certainly not be obtained.
So, with the means for self-protection at hand, there was no reason to miss out on this plot.
As for Xue Lang and Miss Yue Hua, it goes without saying.
For players, encountering a unique hidden storyline is a thrill, so why would anyone in their right mind choose to skip it?
This is definitely a no-brainer moment to rush in!
So, after disembarking, these two were the most excited, although they were being held hostage it felt more like a cheerful excursion...
However, even though Noah said it was about winning through card games, the rules differed from traditional Duel Monsters. Mainly because Noah introduced the "Deck Commander" rule.
In other games, this isn't an uncommon rule.
It means each player must select a Monster from their deck as the "Deck Commander" before the duel begins. Each Monster, when designated as the Deck Commander, has its own special abilities (different from card effects), and players can summon the Deck Commander anytime during their turn.
However, if the Deck Commander is defeated in a duel, the player will be declared the loser.
But in the animation, the description of this rule was vague, and it's only through speculation based on the animation that the Monsters eligible to be Deck Commanders might be limited.
For example, in later duels, The Big Five did not choose their ace Monster, Five-Headed Dragon, as the Deck Commander but instead used Ritual Magic to special summon the Five-Headed Dragon using their five different attribute Deck Commanders as tributes.
(In this plot of the animation, the Five-Headed Dragon is a Ritual Monster, not a Fusion Monster.)
For example, Kaiba did not directly use Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon as the Deck Commander to attack face-on unconditionally.
The behind-the-scenes boss Noah also did not use his ace Monster, Shinato, King of a Higher Plane, as the Deck Commander, possibly due to summon restrictions on that Monster.
This means there might be Monsters with summoning restrictions explicitly stating that certain conditions must be met, making them unsuitable as Deck Commanders.
After explaining the game rules, Noah divided everyone up, sending them into different corners of different maps in the virtual world through various tunnels.
He arranged for one of The Big Five in each map to be the opponent for the duels.
If anyone loses a duel to The Big Five, their body would be taken over by The Big Five, who lost their physical forms, while the original owner of the body would replace The Big Five in the computer world, wandering eternally.
It feels a bit like a technological version of Darkness Game... though the black technology used to take over someone else's body remains unclear.
Here, Youyu, like Yugi and others in the animation, was thrown into a map in the virtual world through a space tunnel.
Landing, he stood up and looked around, finding no one else seemed to have landed at the same spot with him.
His Duel Disc remained intact, but his Card Deck was gone. He tried calling out for the Dark Magician Girl several times, but the usually responsive magician spirit girl showed no reaction.
Of course, this was expected.
After all, this is the computer world, and everything here is data, not reality.
The real Dark Magician Girl spirit would still be in the outside real world, so she couldn't be summoned here.
Before Youyu could further confirm, a factory-shaped building beside him opened its massive doors with a low rumble.
What stepped out of the door was... a robot?
"Well, an interesting opponent has indeed arrived." The robotic figure walked out slowly, appearing quite bulky, "I am Daimon Soichiro, one of The Big Five you know, formerly the director of Kaiba Company's weapons factory."
Youyu frowned, "This image... is Robotic Knight, right?"
Robotic Knight is a level four normal Monster in Duel Monsters, with an attack power of 1600. Now Daimon Soichiro is using the image of Robotic Knight to appear before him.
"That's right, this is my current form, and also my Deck Commander." Soichiro's voice continued to sound deeply, "Before that annoying Kaiba Seto took over, I was known as the 'Ghost Sergeant of the Factory,' and had a very high reputation in Kaiba Company..."
"Alright, cut the nonsense." Youyu impatiently interrupted, "I don't care what sergeant you are, the point is we're going to duel now, right?"
Soichiro: "..."
He speaks so logically that I can't refute, what should I do?
"Hmph." Soichiro snorted, materializing a Duel Disc on his arm, "Since you know the rules, it saves me the trouble of explaining. Let's start directly, choose your Card Deck first."
As he spoke, a floating interface appeared in front of Youyu, with countless Duel Monster Cards slowly rolling past him.
Soichiro continued explaining: "Your cards won't work here. However, this system is directly connected to Kaiba Company's database, which holds every card ever registered. Feel free to choose forty cards."
It's here!
This is what Youyu was waiting for, a complete card archive containing all Rare Cards! (Limited to the DM era)
With the full card archive in hand, there's nothing to fear in dueling.
Not to mention, his trump cards are not limited to just these.
Youyu then opened the system task panel, taking a glance to confirm his Deck...
...As expected, all the cards from the system are there!
It seems the system is reliable in this aspect. Whether in the real or virtual world, the cards in the system are always bound to him, following him wherever he goes...
...Wait a minute, something seems off?
Why does it seem that the cards in this System Card Library have increased?