Everything Could Be Turned into a Card Game

Noah Kaiba.

As a character introduced in an anime-original arc, his existence could truly be said to have cemented the Kaiba brothers' place in the anime, completely freeing the two of them from their characterization as ungrateful wretches who devoured their foster father.

In the original work, no matter how the President's brothers' characterization was revised, they could never escape the fact that they had driven their benefactor and foster father to death. But in the Noah arc, the anime directly changed Gozaburo's reasons for adopting the Kaiba brothers, turning a momentary appreciation and whim into a long-planned scheme. Thus, it became a case of helplessness and fighting evil with evil—a two-way bond.

Although some people had criticized this original setting, judging solely by its subsequent impact, the design was undoubtedly a success.

In fact, it was precisely through the anime's various original arcs that Mr. Kaiba gradually shed his role as a villain, leapt into the position of rival, and successfully kicked Mr. Normal Monster aside to seize the role of second male lead.

In other words, as long as Noah Kaiba was around, things were basically safe.

At the very least, the President everyone knew would not be the massive scumbag he had been early in the original work. After all, he had even given Noah Kaiba his early green-haired, white-clothed look.

Nice...

Yu Ming subconsciously tried to pull up the corners of his mouth, only to discover that he could not move them. His entire expression had already stiffened.

Nice my ass. He could not feel happy at all.

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

He had originally thought that, as a transmigrator, seeing anime characters would give him some strange sense of delight.

But now he realized it was not like that at all. Instead, he felt a bizarre sense of temporal disorientation.

What was this called?

Putting on a speedrun of an anime-original arc for the bros?

But this was not even anime plot!

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

When Yu Ming came back to his senses, he happened to meet those blue eyes.

Though he was only a child and somewhat short, his gaze carried a lofty, scrutinizing air.

"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 skills when it comes to dueling..."

"Keith."

"..."

"You must be tired too, right?"

Though Noah looked no older than a ten-year-old child, Keith appeared somewhat intimidated and awkward.

Amid the suffocating silence, only Noah's childish voice echoed:

"Why don't you return the Duel Disk first, then go rest for a while? There's another operation you'll need to participate in afterward."

"Sure. As long as the money's right, anything can be discussed."

Though he had been acting like an unruly rogue just moments ago, Keith was now rubbing his hands together like a fly.

"Then that's that. I won't disturb you anymore. I'm off."

Click.

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

However, Noah had no intention of letting the conversation go cold.

"Anyway, have a seat first."

He gestured with one hand, a spring-breeze smile on his face.

"Don't feel nervous. Just relax. You're safe here."

"...All right."

After giving a brief response, Yu Ming could not help sighing.

How should he put it? As expected of someone raised through elite education.

As the Kaiba Corporation's future heir in the setting, Noah had received an education meant for rulers, yet he was impeccable in the way he treated others.

Unfortunately, Yu Ming really could not handle this kind of attitude.

It was not that he disliked negotiations or anything like that. He simply was not used to being treated specially.

Compared with being so obviously singled out, he would rather be a nobody.

He even found himself missing Keith, whom he had only met recently. At least Keith would not keep smiling so politely at him.

"Awkward! Awkward!"

It was the crow perched on Noah's shoulder. Its loud cries made the atmosphere even stranger.

At that moment, Yu Ming did not know whether it was a trick of the light, but he always felt purple light surging around the crow's body, making him inexplicably uncomfortable.

"Ah, sorry. It's just babbling nonsense. It says all sorts of things like that every day."

Noah scratched the crow's head and took the initiative to apologize.

"I apologize to you on behalf of my partner."

To be honest, Yu Ming really was quite embarrassed.

Though he did not know the exact mechanism, that damn crow had indeed called out the random thoughts in his heart at once.

But he definitely had to come up with a different explanation on the surface.

"It's actually pretty interesting. Ordinary crows don't talk, after all."

And in a place like this, animals that looked perfectly ordinary might very well have another identity.

"A Card Spirit?"

"Yes. It's a card that has been by my side for a very long time."

As for which card it was, Yu Ming could not identify it right away.

But that was fine...

Flap.

All of a sudden, the crow spread its wings.

It left its master and landed on the crystal ball placed on the table.

Now he recognized it!

"Yata-Garasu?"

"Mm. It's one of my favorite cards."

"I like it too."

Of course, he liked its effect.

"Then it seems we should have plenty of common topics to discuss."

"Mm."

Then the room once again fell into an awkward silence.

"Awkward! Awkward!"

Maybe he really should stew this damn crow.

"Danger! Danger!"

"..."

Staring at the crow that kept shouting, Yu Ming could not help rubbing his head.

"Calm down! Calm down!"

Amid the cries of that bird, like a text-based emotion translator, Yu Ming finally carefully reined in his emotions.

He raised his head and looked toward Noah Kaiba.

Seeing the apologetic smile on the child's face, Yu Ming smiled faintly.

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

Noah froze, and the apologetic smile gradually faded from his face.

At the end of the day, he was the heir to the Kaiba Corporation. Someone like that would never keep a crow that ruined the atmosphere by his side merely on a whim.

"If I'm not mistaken, Yata-Garasu should be able to sense emotional changes... I assume you intended to use that crow to disrupt my train of thought, giving yourself an advantage in conversation and negotiation while taking the initiative. Am I right?"

"Bad! Bad!"

Just as Yu Ming said that, the atmosphere-ruining crow began shouting again.

Honestly, if he kept thinking along those lines, Yu Ming might even have to consider whether the crow's cries were meant to confuse and mislead him. But at a time like this, there was no need to care about the meaning of its existence anymore.

"I don't actually like this sort of scheming against each other. It's meaningless, and it makes me uncomfortable."

Anyway, ever since he had chosen to flip the table, there was only one thing he needed to do:

"Put everything on the table and speak openly—we should have something we can discuss or trade between us if you took the initiative to find me, shouldn't we?"

As he said that, Yu Ming narrowed his eyes.

He looked at the boy before him—Noah Kaiba—who seemed to have only just come back to his senses.

"That's true."

For some reason, Noah began to smile.

"I was the one who made assumptions first. For many reasons, I always subconsciously treat anyone speaking with me as one of those politicians or businessmen. If that made you uncomfortable, please allow me to apologize."

At that moment, the strange heaviness and gloom vanished completely. Even the entire office seemed much brighter.

"However, even if we keep things simple, certain formalities are still necessary."

Noah leaned forward slightly, propping his chin up with both small hands.

"First, allow me to introduce myself—I'm Noah Kaiba. I currently live here, oversee everything here, and am also responsible for this place's security."

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

That was not really a lie.

Though he did not know what the original owner of this body had been, he really had been an ordinary student before transmigrating.

And this identity would not arouse suspicion either. At least Noah would definitely not be able to find any issue with it.

"Students... I used to admire campus life too."

He casually pulled open a drawer and reached inside, searching for something.

"Then let's begin the interview. Keith did praise your individual abilities, but I still need to understand what kind of person you are."

"Do I need to fill out some registration form?"

"No."

Thud.

With a short, dull sound, Yu Ming came back to his senses and found a stack of cards placed on the table.

"Hm?"

Yu Ming's gaze instinctively moved upward, only to find Noah's gentle smile.

"Since you don't like all those tedious rules and trivialities, let's communicate in the simplest way possible."

And he could basically guess what that method was.

"A duel."

Noah said it.

"Of course, you don't need to wager anything like those people outside."

He pressed a button on the desk, and then the familiar Card Mat appeared atop the office desk.

"Let's just play a simple match."

"...All right."

You have a new challenger!

Ah, I just noticed there's an author's note section down below, but I don't know what to say. Anyway, please take care of me.