Everything Can Be Turned into a Duel

Noah Kaiba.

As a character who appeared in the anime-original arc, his existence truly cemented the Kaiba brothers' standing in the anime, completely freeing them from the persona of "ungrateful wretches who devoured their adoptive father."

In the original manga, no matter how the President's brothers' character designs were modified, they couldn't escape the fact that they forced their benevolent adoptive father to his death. However, in the Noah arc of the anime, the reason Gozaburo adopted the Kaiba brothers was directly changed. What was once described as momentary appreciation and an impulsive decision was revised to a premeditated scheme, thus becoming a "helpless" and "fighting evil with evil" mutual pursuit.

While there were criticisms of this original setting, from the perspective of its subsequent impact alone, this design was undoubtedly successful.

In fact, it was precisely from the various anime-original arcs that Mr. Kaiba gradually shed his villainous identity, rising to become a rival and successfully kicking Mr. Normal Monster out to seize the position of second male lead.

In other words, wherever Noah Kaiba exists, one can generally rest assured.

At the very least, the Mr. President everyone is familiar with won't be the big beast from the early manga, especially since he even gave his early green-haired, white-robed image to Noah Kaiba.

Heh…

Yu Ming subconsciously tried to pull his lips into a smile, but he found he couldn't; his entire expression had stiffened.

Heh my ass, I can't smile at all.

After hearing several names that should have been familiar, Yu Ming suddenly felt an inexplicable emptiness.

He had originally thought that as a transmigrator, seeing anime characters would bring a strange sense of secret joy.

But now he found it wasn't like that at all; instead, there was a bizarre sense of temporal dislocation.

What do you call this?

Performing a speedrun of an anime original for my buddies?

But this isn't even an anime plot, is it?

"Let's put the Red-Eyes matter aside for now. I called you here for something else."

When Yu Ming came back to his senses, his gaze met those blue eyes.

Despite being a child, and a bit short, his eyes held a condescending scrutiny.

"Are you the Duelist Keith encountered on the road?"

"Yeah, Lord Noah, he's the kid I picked up on the road. I'm telling you, he's got some real dueling skills…"

"Keith."

"…"

"You must be tired too, right?"

Even though Noah looked like nothing more than a 10-year-old child, Keith appeared somewhat cowering and embarrassed.

In the suffocating silence, only Noah's youthful voice echoed:

"Why don't you return the Duel Disk first, then rest for a bit? There's another operational plan that requires your participation later."

"Alright, as long as the money's right, everything's negotiable."

Though he had been acting like a scoundrel just moments before, Keith was now rubbing his hands together like a fly.

"Well, I'll be going then. I won't disturb you."

CRACK

The mechanical door closed again, leaving only Yu Ming and Noah Kaiba in the room.

However, Noah had no intention of letting the atmosphere turn cold.

"Please, have a seat first."

He gestured with his hand, a warm, spring-like smile on his face.

"No need to be nervous, just relax. You're safe here."

"…Okay."

After a short reply, Yu Ming couldn't help but sigh.

How to put it? He could only say that it was truly the result of an elite education.

As the future heir of Kaiba Corporation in the setting, although Noah received a princely education, his social etiquette was impeccable.

Unfortunately, Yu Ming found this attitude a bit hard to bear.

Negotiations and such, it wasn't that he disliked them, but he wasn't accustomed to that kind of "special treatment."

Compared to such obvious spotlighting, he preferred to be a nobody.

He even felt a little nostalgic for Keith, whom he had only recently met. At least Keith wouldn't smile politely like this all the time.

"Awkward! Awkward!"

It was the crow perched on Noah's shoulder, its loud squawking making the atmosphere even stranger.

At this moment, Yu Ming couldn't tell if it was the lighting, but he kept feeling a purple glow rippling around the crow, making him vaguely uncomfortable.

"Ah, I apologize. It's just talking nonsense. It says things like this every day."

Reaching out to scratch the crow's head, Noah was the first to apologize.

"I apologize on behalf of my partner."

To be honest, Yu Ming felt quite awkward.

Though he didn't know the exact mechanism, that annoying crow had indeed blurted out all the random thoughts he'd been having.

But outwardly, he had to change his tune:

"It's actually quite interesting, after all, ordinary crows don't usually talk."

And in this godforsaken place, these seemingly ordinary animals might have another identity.

"Is it a Card Spirit?"

"Yes, it's a card that's been with me for a very long time."

Yu Ming couldn't immediately identify which card it was.

But that didn't matter...

Whoosh

Suddenly, the crow spread its wings.

It left its owner and landed on the crystal ball sitting on the table.

Now he recognized it!

"Is that Yata-Garasu?"

"Mm, it's a card I'm very fond of."

"I like it a lot too."

Of course, he liked its effect.

"Then it seems we should have a lot in common."

"Mm."

Then, the scene fell into an eerie silence once more.

"Awkward! Awkward!"

He really should just stew that annoying crow.

"Danger! Danger!"

"..."

Staring at the incessantly squawking crow, Yu Ming couldn't help but reach up and rub his head.

"Calm down! Calm down!"

Amidst the bird's squawking, which sounded like a text-based emotional translator, Yu Ming finally carefully reined in his emotions.

Looking up, he gazed at Noah Kaiba.

Noticing the apologetic smile appearing on the child's face, Yu Ming smiled faintly:

"I think we should stop testing each other here."

Noah was startled, and then the apologetic smile on his face gradually faded.

After all, he was the heir to Kaiba Corporation, and such a person would never keep an 'atmosphere-ruining' crow by his side just on a whim.

"If I'm not mistaken, Yata-Garasu should be able to sense emotional changes... I think you intended to use that crow to disrupt my thoughts, to gain an advantage and control in our conversation and negotiation, am I wrong?"

"Oh no! Oh no!"

Just as Yu Ming spoke, that atmosphere-ruining crow started squawking again.

Honestly, if he kept thinking about it from this angle, Yu Ming might even have to consider whether the crow's squawks were meant to confuse, but at this point, there was no need to dwell on its purpose.

"I actually don't like this kind of scheming; it's meaningless and makes me a bit uncomfortable."

Anyway, from the moment he chose to flip the table, there was only one thing to do:

"Let's put everything on the table and talk honestly—I think since you actively sought me out, it means there should be room for communication, or a deal, between us, isn't that right?"

At this point, Yu Ming narrowed his eyes.

He looked at the boy in front of him—Noah Kaiba, who seemed to have just come back to his senses.

"That's true."

He chuckled, perhaps having thought of something.

"It was my preconceived notion. For many reasons, I always subconsciously treat those I'm speaking with as politicians or businessmen. If that made you uncomfortable, please allow me to apologize."

At this moment, the previous eerie dullness and gloom vanished, and even the entire office brightened considerably.

"However, even if we keep things simple, some routine procedures are still necessary."

Noah leaned slightly forward, his small hands supporting his chin.

"First, allow me to introduce myself—my name is Noah Kaiba. I live here now and am responsible for overseeing everything in this place, as well as its security."

"I'm Yu Ming, just an ordinary student."

That wasn't a lie.

While he didn't know what his original body was, he had indeed been a normal student before he transmigrated.

And this identity wouldn't arouse any suspicion; at least, Noah would definitely find no fault with it.

"Students… I used to long for school life too."

He casually pulled open his drawer and rummaged through it.

"Let's start the interview now. Although Keith did praise your personal abilities, I still need to understand who you are."

"Do I need to fill out any registration forms?"

"No."

Thud

A brief, muffled sound. When he came back to his senses, a stack of cards had been placed on the desk.

"Hmm?"

Yu Ming's gaze instinctively shifted upward, only to meet Noah's gentle smile.

"Since you dislike those tedious rules and trifles, let's communicate in the simplest way possible."

And that method was pretty easy to guess:

"A Duel."

Noah said.

"Of course, there's no need to wager anything like those guys outside."

He pressed a button on the desk, and then the 'Card Mat' that Yu Ming was familiar with appeared on the office desk.

"Let's just play a simple game."

"...Alright."

You have a new challenger!

Ah, I just realized there's a "notes from the author" section below, but I don't know what to say. Anyway, please bear with me.