Katsumi wondered as he walked back home.
“The game is kind of like YuGiOh, but it’s not really it.”
Vanguard was fun; that was certain.
However, the game’s mechanism tickled him strangely.
What do you mean there was no summoning type or limit?
And there were no spells or trap cards either!
“But I guess it’s for balancing.
Don’t want a field full of grade 3s in the second turn.”
Katsumi felt relieved that something like that didn’t happen to him.
But then it hit him.
“What am I even saying?
I have played YuGiOh!
Shits will summon divine beast right in the next turn.
Vanguard looks like a children’s hope while YuGiOh!
is the nightmare for adults.”
Nevertheless, he didn’t get discouraged.
There was no reason to get discouraged.
He would go home, get money and buy his new deck.
Not booster packs.
“Don’t want to ruin my playing experience by drawing only grade 1s.”
Katsumi amused himself as he slowly neared his home.
The sky was black, but the presence of people still brought him comfort.
‘Don’t want to get kidnapped.’
The stores were still active, so he was not that late.
‘But late enough to get my ass whooped.’
His mother will not tolerate his lateness.
Even if she loves him.
As they say, the strongest bonds come from the strongest punches.
“Grr…”
An almost inaudible growl came from a hidden corner.
Katsumi stopped for a while.
Although the growl was barely heard, it was not the same for him.
“Did someone call me?
But there is no one here?”
“Grr…”
Another growl.
This time Katsumi heard where the sound came from.
An alley.
A dark alley as black as the night.
Should one go in or not?
“Nah!”
Katsumi didn’t fall for such an obvious trick.
As he walked away, thinking he had won against the kidnapper, a distinct cry rang through the air.
“SKREEEE-E-E-CHHHT!!”
The intensity of the sound was immense.
Katsumi had to block his ears, but it didn’t do anything.
Then he realized something.
That was a…
cry.
Not just any cry but something very familiar to him.
“Am I dreaming?”
Katsumi hesitated.
Should he leave or should he check it out?
If he hadn’t heard the cry, he would have left.
But…
“Hm.”
Katsumi braced himself for the worst and dived right into the alley.
The darkness swallowed the lights from the streets.
Katsumi was visibly lost in that dark, but there was a strange, out-of-place shine in a box.
Katsumi walked up to that spot and grabbed onto the box.
The luster was seeping out of it, but the wrapping was tightly shut.
He looked around, trying to find something or someone that could call him, but there was nothing.
Nevertheless, he took the box outside.
‘Let me go outside.’
Katsumi took the box outside.
His world of darkness finally gained light.
He took a good look at the box.
“Oh my fooking God!
How many layers are there?”
The box was barely visible.
Why?
At least ten layers of transparent tape were latched onto it.
Katsumi glanced at his hands.
Chubby and soft.
He couldn’t open it.
One tug.
No impact.
Another tug and pull.
No progress.
“Yeah, I should go home.”
He left.
“What took you so long, mister?”
Katsumi was late.
He didn’t think the consequences would be bad.
Some warnings or something like that.
But now he was on his knees.
His mother was in the kitchen while he was in the corridor facing the kitchen.
“Explain yourself.”
The sweet voice of his mother induced fear in him.
*Cough
“I walked on the road–”
“Only the relevant part.”
“…decided to go to a card shop.”
His mother was surprised.
“Card shop?
I thought you hated Vanguard.”
“Wanted to see what’s so fun…”
His mother glanced at him from the sink, smiling slightly at Katsumi’s behavior.
For a good while, she let Katsumi stay kneeling on the ground.
Then…
“Okay, you can get up.
But do not stay outside late again.”
“Okay.”
Taking the box he had hidden, Katsumi wobbled upstairs.
Kneeling was a new experience.
Shutting the door behind him, he looked at the box he had brought.
No change.
“What did I expect anyway?”
Bringing the scissors from the table, he tore the wrapping of the box apart until only the bare…compartment remained.
It was a broken drawer with a cardboard cover on top, hiding the contents.
The sight was rather interesting, but Katsumi felt different.
“Have I ever seen something like this?”
He scratched his head in painful attempts to remember, but he was unsuccessful.
Nevertheless, he removed the cardboard.
Was there gold?
Hidden relic?
Some forgotten treasure?
None!
There were only cards.
Vanguard cards.
“Someone threw away their cards?
Nah, that’s some irresponsible beha-”
Turning the card around and looking at what card it was, he was flabbergasted.
“…Isn’t this sage with the eyes of blue?”
Sage with the eyes of blue.
A good card.
Very famous card.
Just not a Vanguard card.
Katsumi hurriedly flipped through each card.
Maiden with the eyes of blue.
Priestess with the eyes of blue.
White stone of Ancient.
All these were YuGiOh cards!
But in Vanguard format.
“The fucks happening….”
The compartment had only a few cards left.
But he was sure what they were.
The cards shone.
*Gulp
Nervousness was there, but Katsumi still flipped over the card.
And then…
He transported.
“Huh?
Where am I?”
Katsumi was in a corporeal body of his in a strange place.
It was a massive dry land with a silver sky.
His body was there, but it was ghostly.
One moment he was going through his mind, and now he was here.
Katsumi looked to his left and right but found no one.
‘Am I alone here?’
“SKREEEE-E-E-CHHHT”
As if trying to deny Katsumi, a shrill metal clashing screech filled the air.
The calm wind moved.
The world was engulfed in a shadow as a massive entity descended.
Katsumi’s focus was slowly deteriorating.
The moment the entity came into view, he realized.
“Is this your home…Blue-Eyes White Dragon?”
And then the world went dark.
Who is your favorite card fighter?