Rex Raptor felt a rush of joy inside. The last time someone asked him for an autograph felt like ages ago, and for a while he had even wondered if he had already faded from relevance. Of course, that also had something to do with him not competing or showing his face for years.
"You're a lucky kid," Rex Raptor said cheerfully. "I'm in a good mood today." He took the autograph board, scribbled his name in bold strokes, and handed it back.
"Thanks!" The boy took it happily and turned to leave. "Hey, wait, don't rush off," Rex Raptor said, grabbing him by the back of the collar and pulling him back.
"You think you can just leave after getting my autograph?" The boy froze. "Huh? Then…" Rex Raptor waved his hand in front of him.
"Money. Pay up," he said. "My autograph isn't cheap. If you don't have cash, cards will do." The boy stared at him blankly. "You have to pay for it?"
"What?" Rex Raptor put on an angry face. "I'm Rex Raptor, you know. You think my autograph is worth nothing?" "N-no, I wouldn't dare…"
A few minutes later, Rex Raptor was walking down the street with several new cards and a wallet in his hand. He clicked his tongue and frowned. "So poor. Nothing valuable at all." In truth, he was not short on cards or money, he just liked doing this kind of thing.
His thoughts drifted to his old buddy Weevil Underwood. Back then they had been inseparable, even pulling autograph extortion schemes together. Of course, when they got caught and beaten half to death, they had suffered together too.
He had no idea where that old friend was now or what he was doing. As he snapped back to reality, he suddenly felt that something was off. It was clearly daytime, yet at some point the street had emptied of people.
Something was wrong. The sky had darkened without him noticing, and the heavy air pressed down on his chest. "I finally found you, Rex Raptor."
A rough voice came from the alley beside him. A man in a suit walked out slowly, green light shining in his eyes, a strangely shaped Duel Disk on his arm. Rex Raptor frowned. "Who are you?"
"I'm Ken Fujimoto," the man said. "The sworn brother of Go Onizuka, the one you killed." Rex Raptor stared at him in confusion.
Who was that supposed to be? Should I know him? Before he could think further, Ken Fujimoto gave him no chance and snapped open his Duel Disk.
"Playing dumb won't save you," he shouted. "Enough talk. Shadow Duel, activate. Today I'll use your soul to honor the dead Onizuka!" Rex Raptor could only respond with a baffled look.
So who are you even talking about? Have I ever met him?
At KaibaLand, inside the Duel Arena, the duel AI's Life Points hit zero. As expected, the system lock was released, and the armored panels covering the windows rattled open while the shutters lifted. Sunlight poured back into the venue.
The projected figure on the stage remained distorted, its image flickering as it repeated garbled words. "Is there something wrong with that AI?" someone asked. "Looks broken," another replied, and a third sighed that it seemed completely done for.
Soon, no one paid attention to it anymore. All eyes turned to Yugen, who had won the duel in such a flashy way and released the system lock. In the eyes of the audience, this young duelist had already reached an unbelievable level.
The AI had been loaded with Seto Kaiba's Deck data. From their perspective, its thinking, tactics, and even its strange dramatic lines were perfectly imitated. It had shown the overwhelming power of Blue-Eyes, yet all of it was casually shut down, and the most shocking part was that it died to its own Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack.
The students of Duel Dojo, led by senior Koji Sato, were already full of admiration during the duel. Watching from the sidelines, they felt chills now and then, yet somehow also found it more and more enjoyable to watch. As fellow members of the same dojo, they felt proud, even if their feelings were mixed.
If even the legendary powerhouse at the top of the dueling world had lost to this eerie junior, what would the future of dueling look like? Thinking about it, they could not help feeling uneasy, as if the rise of Yugen had cast a dark shadow over the entire card world.
The staff of KaibaLand quickly arrived, apologizing to the trapped visitors and offering compensation. They shut down the system and began inspections. Before long, people from the company arrived as well.
Seto Kaiba's brother Mokuba Kaiba personally led the team to check the situation. "Fujiki.Yugen, right?" he said, shaking hands with him. "You're the one who stopped that duel AI in time?"
"Thanks to you stepping up," he continued. "On behalf of Kaiba Corporation, I express our gratitude." Yugen waved his hand generously.
"It was nothing," he said. "Just doing what any Duelist should do. There's no need for cash rewards, and I don't need a Rare Card either. Really, no need to be so polite." Mokuba Kaiba blinked twice, then laughed.
"You're really interesting," he said. "I'm heading back to the local branch of Kaiba Corporation anyway, and the warehouse there should have plenty of cards in stock. Why don't you come take a look? We also want to ask about the accident and the duel in detail."
Going straight to Mokuba Kaiba's warehouse? "Ah, that's too embarrassing," Yugen said, yet he was already walking alongside him, like they were old friends. "It's fine," Mokuba Kaiba replied with a smile. "What you did saved us far more in losses."
The students watched Yugen's retreating figure in silence. After half a minute, Koji Sato finally muttered, "Junior… why does he look so experienced at this?"
"You don't get it," someone said with a chuckle. "That's a kind of talent too." Hall Master Takeuchi looked in the direction Yugen had gone and nodded slightly, a look of approval on his face.
"You all still have a lot to learn from him," he said. The apprentices fell silent.
The helicopter marked with the KC logo moved steadily through the air. Inside, the legendary duelist Seto Kaiba sat with one leg crossed, taking a tablet from a subordinate. The cabin was quiet except for the low hum of the rotors.
"President, the emergency situation at the park has been resolved." The subordinate spoke in a careful tone.
"A young Duelist at the scene defeated the hijacked duel AI and released the arena lockdown. The staff there are checking the equipment and tracing how the system was breached."
"Mm." Seto Kaiba answered as he unlocked the tablet, a slight frown forming.
It was that kind of situation again. He remembered clearly that something similar had happened many years ago. Back then, when the first KaibaLand was completed, the KC Cup was held as the opening event.
During that tournament, his former business rival Chico Lloyd had hacked the system, locking down the Duel Arena and hijacking the duel AI so that no one could leave without winning. By luck, that annoying Yugi Muto had been in the arena and defeated the AI right away. What happened this time felt like a repeat of that incident.
But who could it be now. It could not be Chico, not after what happened eight years ago at the KC Cup, when the enemy struck from the shadows and Seto Kaiba had not even known such a foe existed. After the KC Cup, Seto Kaiba had made sure Chico never had a chance to rise again.
Besides, the current KaibaLand was no longer in its early construction phase. The system flaws Chico once used had long been fixed, and Seto Kaiba was confident that even if that man returned, he could not break in. So who else could it be.
"President, the duel recording against the AI has also arrived," the subordinate said. "Would you like to watch it?"
"Send it to me." Seto Kaiba swiped the tablet.