What an Enormous Price

Hearing this, Yūki felt a little relieved.

The Kaiba Corporation was certainly powerful.

But as long as the rules remained in place, cards were still just cards.

What was truly frightening had always been the people who wielded them.

Last night, he had lain in bed, tossing and turning as he thought for a long time.

The HERO Deck had won this championship in spectacular fashion.

Sunrise had made his entrance, Elemental HERO Terra Firma had finished things off, and the entire crowd had chanted for HEROs.

But he knew perfectly well that the HERO Deck's performance depended heavily on how things were going.

Yesterday's opening hand of Polymerization and Miracle Fusion had nearly made him put on a live performance of "HEROs brick before their victory" in the Championship Match.

More importantly, his connection to the HEROs was still too shallow.

Jaden could chat with Flame Wingman, and when his Fusion Monsters appeared, it was as though companions stood beside him.

What about him?

It certainly felt great when the deck got going, but he was still only at the stage of knowing how to use it and being able to win.

He was still a long way from a true bond.

For now, the HERO Deck could only serve as a strategic weapon.

He would bring it out when the situation suited it.

If he really wanted to make it his main deck, he would at least have to wait until his Soul Power level rose a few more steps.

In this world's terms, the system's Soul Power panel was actually closer to Dueling Power.

For people with high enough Dueling Power, even shuffling looked like bullying.

President Kaiba opening with three Blue-Eyes White Dragons stuck together was already a famous example.

Other people would see it and say that Seto Kaiba truly had the white dragons' response.

All Yūki wanted to say was, President, you really ought to have that deck checked for glue.

At an even higher level, powerful duelists could even make Duel Projections affect reality.

Summoning spirits, commanding monsters, altering their surroundings.

People who could command spirits were certainly strong.

But before truly top-tier duelists, even spirits might be only one part of the extension of their power.

Yūki was still very far from that stage.

So he would first get his hands on cards that could win.

That was what mattered in practical terms.

"Can we start choosing?"

Yūki asked.

Mokuba smiled and nodded.

"Of course."

"Each of you may select one card from the rare Card Vault. Once you've chosen, the physical card will be delivered from storage."

Tachibana Shingo headed straight for the stream of data on the left.

Clearly, he already had a target in mind.

A Dinosaur monster card soon flew out of the sea of cards and stopped before him.

The artwork depicted a gigantic dinosaur covered in bone armor, with an attack value high enough to be quite eye-catching.

The female contestant from City Second Middle School also quickly selected a WIND monster.

Both had asked about the reward rules yesterday. With clear targets in mind, neither needed to agonize over the choice.

Yūki stood where he was, looking at the Card Vault that resembled a sea of stars.

Of course, he had a target too.

And he had been thinking about it for a long time.

"Search card name."

He raised his hand.

"Card of Demise."

The surrounding streams of data went still for a moment.

Mokuba turned and glanced at Yūki.

The next second, a Spell Card flew over from the distance.

In its artwork, a guillotine sliced through a deck of cards.

[Card of Demise]

Yūki caught the card.

The moment his fingertip touched its edge, he felt better.

He finally had it.

The anime version of Card of Demise let its user draw from their deck until they had five cards in hand upon activation.

The price was sending their entire hand to the Graveyard five turns later.

Just listen to that.

Discarding your hand five turns later.

What a cruel, devastating price, enough to break the hearts of those who heard it and bring tears to those who saw it.

Looking at the card, Yūki almost laughed.

Five turns?

Under normal circumstances, whether his opponent could even survive until the fifth turn was questionable.

In his previous life, this card's effect had later undergone a revision, but it had still been an excellent card-filtering tool.

Drawing up to five cards sent card advantage soaring.

Most of the time, its so-called drawback merely told its user to try not to drag things out until the fifth turn.

"This card you've chosen."

Mokuba walked up beside him.

"My brother really likes using it too."

Yūki looked up.

"President Kaiba?"

"Yes."

Mokuba looked at Card of Demise with a slightly helpless expression.

"My brother runs three copies in his deck."

"He said Card of Demise has no cost."

"Because his opponents don't live past five turns."

Holding the card, Yūki nodded earnestly.

"The president is right."

Those words were nothing short of a card player's gospel.

Seeing how Yūki took it for granted, Mokuba suddenly felt that his brother and the person before him could probably find plenty to talk about in certain respects.

Of course.

That was assuming his brother was willing to chat with a middle schooler who ran around with Lava Golem, Card of Demise, and unknown HERO cards.

After all three had received their cards, Mokuba led them out of the Card Vault.

Tachibana Shingo put his new card into his card pouch, visibly in a good mood.

The female contestant was also repeatedly examining her rare WIND monster.

Yūki, meanwhile, first slipped Card of Demise into his HERO Deck's box.

His bond with the HEROs would still have to develop slowly for now.

But who would ever complain about having too many draw engines?

Walking ahead, Mokuba suddenly turned around.

"Oh, right, Fujiwara."

Yūki looked up.

"What is it?"

"The corporation has recently developed a new dueling system."

Mokuba smiled as he spoke.

"I'd like to invite you to try it out and help us test it while you're at it."

Yūki paused.

He had just collected their championship reward and taken a Card of Demise.

Refusing now would be somewhat impolite.

"Sure."

"I'd like to see the Kaiba Corporation's new system too."

Tachibana Shingo and the female contestant exchanged a glance.

Both wore quite remarkable expressions.

They had all come to collect their prizes together.

They had received their cards together too.

Why was Yūki the only one being invited to test the new dueling system?

They wanted to try it too.

But Mokuba was already leading Yūki in another direction.

"Please follow me."

They passed through a corridor leading deep underground and arrived at an enclosed dueling arena.

It was completely different from the league venue.

A ring of silver pillars stood around the arena, and floating data interfaces covered the walls.

At its center stood a black dueling platform, its surface inlaid with glowing blue lines, like a piece of technology that had just been activated.

A staff member brought over a brand-new Duel Disk.

Its body was thinner than the standard model, with several additional blue lines of light around the card slots.

"This is a test model."

The staff member said, "Both projection precision and card information synchronization have been upgraded."

Yūki took the Duel Disk and fitted it onto his arm.

The clasp snapped shut.

Blue light lit up along his wrist.

"How does it feel?" Mokuba asked.

"Pretty light."

Yūki moved his arm a little.

"Easier to use than the ones at school."

"That's good."

Mokuba also took a Duel Disk from a staff member.

Watching him put it on, Yūki stopped moving.

"Mr. Mokuba, are you..."

Mokuba Kaiba looked up with a smile.

"A test needs an opponent, of course."

"I'll be your opponent for this duel."

Standing at the edge of the arena, Tachibana Shingo's eyes suddenly widened.

The female contestant from City Second Middle School also took half a step forward.

Mokuba Kaiba was taking the field himself?

Yūki looked down at his newly fitted Duel Disk and brushed his fingers against his deck box.

Something suddenly occurred to him.

If he defeated Mokuba Kaiba, what archetype's card packs would the system unlock?

Yūki looked at Mokuba.

Mokuba had already inserted his deck into his Duel Disk and raised his hand to activate the system.

A blue screen of light rose between them.

"Yūki."

"Are you ready?"

The corner of Yūki's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected to have to play cards just to collect a prize.