Morikawa Katsumi didn’t think he would ever reincarnate.
For the past five or so years, he had watched, learned, and been disappointed.
Magic.
Swords.
Dragons.
There was nothing.
Just a typical Japanese life.
Except for the strange obsession with something called Vanguard.
A card game that even adults played.
But that didn’t concern him too much.
Having lived through a life where every piece of meat had to be counted and every piece of clothing had to be bought only when necessary, he was fed up.
He didn’t want to live with restrictions.
Freedom was something he yearned for.
But that could be addressed later.
“Say, Katsumi.
Do you want to learn Vanguard?”
His father, Hiroshi, sat across the table with several blue-and-black cards spread before him.
“Nah.”
Morikawa Katsumi rejected the offer immediately.
“Eh?
But why, Katsumi?
Don’t you like this card?
Or this robot card?
If you play with your friends, you’ll make even more friends!”
Hiroshi picked up several cards and waved them in front of him.
Katsumi gave them a glance.
Doesn’t look like Yu-Gi-Oh.
From the power scaling to the artwork, none of it reminded him of his favorite torturous game.
It looked interesting, sure.
But Yu-Gi-Oh had also looked interesting when he first started.
He didn’t want to invest too much time in a game when he could spend that time working toward success.
“Pa, I don’t want to play.
If I have time when I’m older, I might consider it.”
“Ehehe…
you’re missing out on a lot of fun, Katsumi.
But if you change your mind, you can always ask me.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Hiroshi could only laugh awkwardly at his son’s way of thinking.
He didn’t think the behavior was bad.
Studying and playing outside were good habits, but avoiding what was popular might hurt his social life.
Well, I did my best.
Katsumi, on the other hand, had already left the confines of his home and ventured into the streets.
A typical neighborhood.
Nothing too flashy.
Cars honked as they passed, and pedestrians walked merrily along the sidewalks.
People looked surprisingly happy and hopeful.
At least the economy isn’t crashing.
Giggling deviously to himself, he wandered off in search of something interesting.
The adults on the sidewalks didn’t interest him.
The cars didn’t interest him either.
“And I ride, Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!”
Neither did this strange fever that compelled children to play card games everywhere.
He had never shouted “Destiny Draw!” while drawing a card.
What made these kids so confident?
Tsk.
Children on one bench and adults on another.
What’s so interesting anyway?
Nevertheless, he continued his mission and grumpily walked onward.
A good amount of walking later, he was flabbergasted.
The benches weren’t safe.
The parks weren’t safe.
Even conversations with adults weren’t safe.
Who talks about card tournaments so happily?
It’s like they’re discussing football.
He didn’t go outside very often.
Even when he did, he never stayed out for long.
The infestation of cardfighting was on another level.
There were normal things too.
Stores selling fashionable clothes, internet cafés, restaurants, and all sorts of businesses.
But Vanguard always found a way into the conversation.
Like an antibody adapting to its surroundings.
“Fu…
I think I need to visit a card shop myself.”
It was like living in a world where pizza was the international food while disliking it because it was processed.
Thus, Katsumi set his goal.
Visit a card shop and discover what all the hype was about.
Let’s hope the cards are cheap.
“Nah, I’m done!”
Katsumi walked away from yet another card shop.
The contents were fine.
The problem was the noise.
“Yelling as if the cards are going to come to life.”
He muttered bitterly.
To be honest, he had done the same thing when he was younger and foolish.
And it had cost him.
“Well, a man can’t live with the past on his mind forever.”
Katsumi spoke to himself aloud.
The bystanders gave him strange looks, but he didn’t care.
After walking for a while, he noticed a signboard.
Card Capital?
Should be a store.
This time, he was optimistic.
At the very least, there wasn’t a crowd hollering outside.
Ding
The door opened with the sound of a bell.
“Hello!
How can I help you?
Looking for a new booster pack or maybe a new deck?”
Katsumi stepped inside and was immediately greeted by a green-haired man wearing glasses.
“Yeah.”
Katsumi nodded expectantly.
“Uh…
which one?”
“The help part.”
“The help part?”
“Teach me Vanguard.”
“…”
After a brief conversation, the green-haired man looked thoughtful.
Then excited.
“Haha!
Most people come looking for cards.
You’re the first person I’ve met in my few weeks of working here who asked about Vanguard itself.”
“Wanted to know why it’s so popular.”
Katsumi simply stated his objective.
It was obvious enough.
“Well, kid, that’s a dangerous curiosity.”
The man smiled mysteriously.
The light reflected off his glasses, hiding his eyes.
Katsumi became slightly wary.
But the mystery quickly dissolved.
“Since you’ll become a fan like everyone else eventually.
Come here.”
The green-haired man stepped behind the counter and returned with several cards.
“These are Vanguard cards.”
He spread them out on the table.
Various humanoid figures of different colors and designs.
“This is a Grade 0 unit.
Lizard Soldier, Conroe.”
He held up a card depicting a small lizard-like soldier.
“Grade 0?”
“Yep.
All units have grades.
Grade 0 to Grade 3.”
Kinda like levels.
“Then how do you play?”
“Glad you asked!
But first, there’s one important step.”
The green-haired man placed a hand dramatically on his forehead.
“You must imagine.”
Katsumi frowned.
“Imagine what?”
“Imagine you’re on a different planet.
Planet Cray.
A world where all these units exist.
Imagine yourself leading them into battle.”
Katsumi didn’t understand why that mattered, but he tried anyway.
Closing his eyes, he imagined a world filled with dragons and magic.
“Yeah.
I imagined it.”
“And?”
“And nothing.”
The man sighed.
“I don’t think you imagined hard enough, but it’ll do.”
He picked up a deck box.
“Before revealing your Grade 0, both players draw five cards.
The decks are shuffled and cut by the opponent.”
He gestured with the cards as he explained.
“Once everything is ready, you do the thing Vanguard is famous for.”
“And what’s that?”
“Hehe…”
With a dramatic motion, he slammed a card onto the table.
“I ride!
Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!”
Katsumi twitched.
Seriously.
There was no need to yell.
“After revealing your Grade 0, you ride into the next grade if you have it in hand.
You can’t skip grades, so remember that.”
“Oh.”
“At the start of your turn, you draw one card.
Then you can call units to your rear-guard circles.”
“Rear-guard circles?”
“Your Vanguard is your leader.
The rear-guards are the units supporting it.”
He pointed around the center circle.
“You can place them here, here, here, here, and here.”
Katsumi nodded.
Although the layout was different, it reminded him somewhat of Yu-Gi-Oh.
“So we have one main unit.”
“Exactly.
Your Vanguard is the center of your strategy.”
“Hmm.”
“And these are the Guardian Circle and the Damage Zone.”
“Why?”
The green-haired man looked exhausted.
“What do you mean, why?”
He pointed to the Guardian Circle.
“This is where you place cards to defend against attacks.”
Then he pointed to the Damage Zone.
“And this is where damage accumulates whenever an attack gets through.”
He raised a finger.
“And remember this.”
His tone became serious.
“If you ever reach six cards in your Damage Zone, you lose.”
“…”
Katsumi listened silently.
The lesson continued for quite some time.
Customers entered and left the store, but Katsumi remained seated.
Eventually, the man leaned back.
“…And that’s the basics.
Satisfied?”
“Mostly.”
“Then you should head home, kid.
It’ll be dark soon.”
Katsumi glanced at the orange sky outside.
It really was getting late.
He stood up and headed toward the exit.
Not before giving his thanks.
“Thanks, Manager.
I’ll come back tomorrow, so be ready.”
Then he left.
The green-haired manager watched him go with an awkward smile.
“Kids these days.
If only Misaki were this outgoing.”
Muttering to himself, he resumed dusting the shop.
And hoped tomorrow would be a little more interesting.