“Normal Summon <Rescue Cat>.”
The corner of the eyes of the man across from him twitched violently.
He had already eaten three <Infinite Impermanence> in a row while going first against this self-proclaimed Cyber Dragon player, and now the other side had brought out something that had absolutely nothing to do with Cyber Dragons.
His fists were starting to itch.
To distract himself and keep from fast-forwarding straight to throwing punches, he looked out the window and sighed.
“The sky looks kind of gloomy today.”
The surrounding duelists couldn’t help but show expressions mixed with sympathy and disdain.
The sympathy was for this newbie who had just come to an IRL card shop for the first time and was lamenting the gloomy weather.
The disdain, naturally, was aimed at the one dueling him, the underworld freak fully armed with hat, mask, and sunglasses.
This guy was called Yugi.
Not a meme, he was literally named Yugi.
A notorious underworld freak in the local Yu-Gi-Oh!
scene.
How notorious?
Just look at how he could only manage to lure in brand-new players to duel with him, and you’d get a good idea of how much public outrage he usually inspired.
Meanwhile, Yugi was already completely immersed in his own joy.
“I banish three cards from my Extra Deck to activate <Pot of Prosperity>, excavate the top three cards of my Deck, and add one of them to my hand.”
When the three cards were revealed, a collective “dun-dun-dong” sound echoed in the hearts of the surrounding duelists.
“You’re not taking <Ties of the Brethren>?” The newbie laughed in anger and gave his final warning.
He had figured it out by now, this guy was definitely not some “Cyber Dragon player”.
“Obviously <Mystic Mine> is more fun.” With a shameless grin, Yugi added Mystic Mine to his hand.
“Activate Mystic…”
The very next second, for some unknown reason, the BGM playing in the card shop turned into “Goodbye Mom, I’m Setting Sail Tonight”.
………………..
“Mm, this is bad.”
At 8 o’clock in the evening, Yugi lay on his bed with a bruised and swollen face, wearing an expression of agony.
Not because he had gotten beaten up, but because the only newbie who had joined the game this entire month had stopped playing with him.
If it weren’t for the absurd amounts of money he usually spent when buying cards, the shop owner probably would’ve banned him long ago.
“Looks like next month I’ll have to change my name again and go troll players online.”
He casually took out his phone and realized that today was May 20th.
A mischievous thought arose, and he posted a long message on the duelist forum:
“Bro, bro, just now there was a girl with 3000 ATK, 2500 DEF, Dragon-Type, LIGHT Attribute asking around whether you were alone.
If you’re not human, then what are you?
I saw she was silver-white all over with blue eyes, saying she wanted to take you to the Underworld to be a priest.
Obviously not a good person.
I directly sent her to the GY for you, no need to thank me.
We’re bros.
Duel in peace.”
No one replied…
This guy’s online accounts were just as infamous in the duelist community.
The kind where if he didn’t change his ID, people would actively avoid him on sight.
“Ah…
now I finally understand why Yugi Mutou wished to the Millennium Puzzle for friends.”
After waiting a while with no response, Yugi shrugged, not seeming to care much.
After all, as an underworld freak, the moment he walked into a card shop with a Deck full of trap cards, he had already prepared himself to be beaten up and despised.
Just then, his phone vibrated.
Someone directly sent him a private message: “Hello, you were able to send Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the Graveyard all by yourself, so your effect must be really powerful, right?
Would you be willing to be my Boss Monster?”
“Pfft!” Yugi was amused by the meme and casually replied, “Sure.”
The other side immediately sent another message, looking extremely excited: “Great!
Then please take care of me from now on!”
Along with the appearance of that message, a mysterious and ethereal magic circle instantly manifested beneath Yugi’s feet.
Before he could even react to what was happening, his vision went black and he lost consciousness.
………………..
In another world, outside Duelist Academy.
Under the bright moonlight, Mutou Elsie walked up behind a tall, silver-haired, mature woman wearing an anti-gravity trench coat.
“This day has finally come, Kaiba Ayatsuki.
I challenge you to a duel!”
The silver-haired woman glanced back at the short, timid-looking girl who resembled “Little Blue” (referring to the Dragonmaid Half-Dragon form) and snorted disdainfully.
“Have the descendants of the Mutou clan fallen to such a pathetic state?”
“Even if I’m weak, the Mutou and Kaiba families have been rivals for generations!
I must duel you!” The blue-haired girl clenched her teeth.
“With that fragile, pitiful spirit of yours, you’re not even qualified to stand before Blue-Eyes White Dragon.” Kaiba Ayatsuki turned back around, her gaze razor-sharp.
A pure, elegant, and majestic figure suddenly rose behind her, shining brilliantly beneath the moonlight like a god.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
“Roar———-!”
“Hawawawa…”
Taking the full brunt of the Blue-Eyes spirit’s roar head-on, Mutou Elsie staggered backward several steps in terror and fell flat onto the ground.
“Hmph.
What a disgrace to your ancestors.
No wonder you don’t even have a single duel spirit.
Go back home.
Without a duel spirit, you’re not even qualified to enroll.
I won’t duel someone like you.”
Kaiba Ayatsuki strode past the fallen Mutou Elsie.
Turning her head slightly, her tone was still cold, yet carried a faint trace of advice.
“Your personality is far too soft.
You’re not suited to be a duelist.
Our world is a cruel one.”
With that, she left without looking back, leaving Mutou Elsie alone in the moonlit wind, utterly disheveled.
“Mmm…
I won’t…
sniff…
I really won’t…
sob…
give up!”
Collapsed on the ground, Mutou Elsie was full of grievance and tears, looking exactly like Little Blue from the trap card <Laundry Trap>.
………………..
Duelist Monster Academy, commonly known as DM, as the name suggests, was an academy dedicated to teaching dueling techniques.
Because it had produced the first-generation King of Games, it became a sacred place in the hearts of all duelists.
With strong faculty and remarkable results, its admission standards were extremely strict.
Unlike small dojos and ordinary academies, enrolling in DM not only required passing the entrance exam duel, but also demanded the ability to command spirits.
Mutou Elsie’s ancestor was the legendary first-generation King of Games.
The Mutou clan’s name had once shone across the entire world.
Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the family inevitably declined.
By the time it reached Elsie, she couldn’t even command spirits due to her insufficient mental strength.
Tomorrow was the DM entrance exam.
Although she had received an admission notice thanks to the Mutou surname, she didn’t have a single duel spirit she could present.
If this continued, the glory of her family would be completely ruined by her own hands.
“Waaah…”
After crying pitifully for a while, the girl quickly pulled herself together.
“Calm down, Elsie.
When you were a child, everyone praised you as a genius.
Many people believed you could compete with Kaiba Ayatsuki, the Kaiba family’s young lady, for the title of King of Games.
How can you fall here?”
“That’s right.
At times like this, I have to overcome it with perseverance and courage!”
Elsie clenched her fists and stood up, brimming with fighting spirit.
“Redraw the summoning circle.
This will be the 114,514th time I call upon a duel spirit from another world!”
Just as her fighting spirit burned fiercely for three seconds…
“Grrr——–!”
An abrupt sound echoed far into the silent night sky.
“I’m hungry…”
Enduring the hunger in her stomach, Elsie finally finished setting up the duel spirit summoning formation.
The duel spirit summoning circles in this world were like the Servant summoning circles in Fate, extremely complex, but once mastered, they could be drawn with ease.
Just like how Waver in Fate/Zero could draw a circle and summon the King after killing a few chickens, no matter how useless Elsie was, she was still from the Mutou family.
She at least knew how to draw a duel spirit summoning circle.
And just like in Fate, when performing a Servant, no, duel spirit summon, if a corresponding “holy relic” was present, the process would be much more efficient.
The Mutou family had once been glorious, leaving behind many relics (mainly cards).
Unfortunately, those duel spirits were far too powerful.
With Elsie’s pitiful mental strength, she simply couldn’t sustain them.
So her plan was to draw the summoning circle herself and call forth a relatively weak die; spirit, just enough to scrape through the entrance exam.
Powerful duel spirits could wait for later.
She had tried this countless times before.
Sadly, every attempt failed due to insufficient mental power, burning out before she could even connect to the spirit world.
This was her final chance.
If she failed again, she would disgrace the Mutou family in front of the entire world tomorrow.
“Waaah…
Dad, Mom, Ancestor, please lend me your strength.”
Skillfully plucking an edible weed nearby and stuffing it into her mouth to fill her stomach, Elsie forced herself to stay motivated.
“This time, I must succeed.
Even Kuriboh will do.
Please, respond to me!”
She raised both hands, fingers spread, and poured her spirit into the summoning circle.
But having just been stimulated by Kaiba Ayatsuki, Elsie couldn’t help secretly wishing in her heart: “If only I could find a spirit that can defeat Blue-Eyes White Dragon…”
Perhaps her sincere prayer worked, or perhaps the 114,514th attempt carried some mysterious significance.
In any case, this time Elsie quickly felt her spirit open the gate to another world and connect to a spirit!
She hurriedly sent out her heartfelt request: “Would you be willing to be my Boss Monster?”
At this moment, Elsie’s heart was pounding wildly, panic surging within her.
If this unknown duel spirit rejected her too, then tomorrow she would truly bring shame upon the Mutou clan.
To her surprise, the other side almost instantly replied: “Sure.”
“Yay———!”
At that moment, Elsie was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes, feeling as though bitter hardship had finally turned into sweet reward, like a salted fish flipping over.
Without hesitation, she poured all of her meager mental power into the magic circle and shouted, “Open!”
“Buzz, buzz, buzz————!”
In an instant, dazzling seven-colored light interwove together, illuminating half the sky.
“My goodness…
it’s actually seven colors…”
Even in her excitement, Elsie was filled with disbelief.
The color of the light from a summoned duel spirit was tied to its strength.
Seven colors were practically equivalent to a UR card, only those favored by destiny could pull one in a single draw.
Overwhelmed with excitement and shock, and weakened from mental exhaustion, her legs gave out and she collapsed onto the ground.
When the light finally faded, beneath the pure moonlight, a handsome young man looked down at the girl and spoke in a slightly cold voice:
“I have come in response to your summons.
I ask you…
Are you my master?”