‘How are you supposed to play Yu-Gi-Oh!
without money?’ Yusuke sighed inwardly.
Card games really were a hobby for the rich.
Mirror Force was certainly still a powerful Trap in the current environment, but it was also a card that had existed for more than thirty years.
If even one copy of Mirror Force cost several hundred thousand DP, then what kind of astronomical prices would truly rare cards command, especially cards so scarce that only a single copy existed in the entire world?
No, once a card reached the level of being genuinely unique, money probably stopped mattering altogether.
Some cards simply couldn’t be bought at any price.
Noticing Yusuke’s stunned expression, Rud chuckled.
“That’s nothing.
Mirror Force is an old card, so there’s still a limit to how expensive it can get.
The high-level duelists in the city are using Synchro Monsters now.
Those are supposed to represent the future evolution of Duel Monsters.
If you want to talk about expensive cards, those are expensive.” After asking Rud a few more questions, Yusuke finally got a clearer picture of the situation.
Synchro Summoning might have been the defining mechanic of Yu-Gi-Oh!
5D’s, but cutting-edge technology like that had almost nothing to do with the impoverished residents of Satellite.
Thinking back, that actually fit the anime.
When Yusei Fudo performed a Synchro Summon in the first episode, Tetsu Trudge had been visibly shocked that some piece of Satellite trash could possibly know how to Synchro Summon.
Trudge himself hadn’t even possessed any Synchro Monsters at the time.
He only gained access to them later, after receiving a specially authorized pursuit Deck from Sector Security.
So although Duel Monsters had already entered the Synchro era, Synchro Monsters were still exceedingly rare in Satellite.
Judging by the anime, they weren’t even particularly widespread among ordinary duelists in New Domino City yet.
During the early Fortune Cup arc, Sector Security invited accomplished duelists from all over to participate in the tournament.
Competitors included people like the knight duelist Sir Gill Randsborg, Commander Koda, the so-called Duel Profiler, and Hunter Pace.
All of them were considered skilled duelists by city standards, yet none of them used Synchro Summoning.
That alone showed just how new and exclusive Synchro Monsters still were, even in the city.
Which naturally raised another question.
If Synchro Monsters were rare even among New Domino City’s elite, then how had people from Satellite like Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas gotten theirs?
That was where being a Yu-Gi-Oh!
protagonist came in handy.
They could basically print their own cards.
People liked to joke that Yusei had assembled a top-tier Deck by scavenging through garbage, but most of what he actually scavenged seemed to belong to his Main Deck.
His Extra Deck was another matter entirely.
So unfortunately, his particular brand of dumpster-diving wasn’t something an ordinary person could easily imitate.
“The serious duelists in the city are all into Turbo Duels now,” Rud continued wistfully.
“Riding around on Duel Runners while they Duel…
Man, I don’t know if I’ll ever even get to see a real Duel Runner in my lifetime.
If I could just touch one and ride it once, I could die happy.” A Duel Runner was the motorcycle specifically designed for Turbo Dueling, powered by the practically inexhaustible energy system behind New Domino City’s advanced technology.
It was, in every sense, a machine straight out of a dream.
Naturally, cutting-edge equipment like that wasn’t something you normally found in Satellite.
Yusei Fudo, who had apparently built one from junk with his own hands, was once again an exception that should not be used as a reasonable standard for human behavior.
“Actually, Uncle Rud, I found some cards recently,” Yusuke said.
“Mind telling me what they’re worth?” “Oh?
You actually found cards?” Rud sounded impressed.
“Lucky bastard.
All right, let me see.” Yusuke spread more than a dozen cards across the counter.
Rud’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“You found this many at once?
What, did you find them on somebody?” “Come on, Uncle.
Relax.
I guarantee they didn’t belong to anyone anymore,” Yusuke replied.
“Just give me an estimate.” The original owners were dead.
That made the cards ownerless.
As far as Yusuke was concerned, his statement was perfectly accurate.
And these weren’t even all the cards he had acquired.
He had only brought the ones he was reasonably certain were useless to him.
Anything that seemed useful now, or even potentially useful in the future, he had kept aside for the time being.
Rud spent quite a while examining the cards before finally giving his answer.
“Nine thousand DP.” Yusuke’s eyebrows rose.
“Seriously?
There are more than a dozen cards here, Uncle Rud.
Can’t you at least round it up to ten thousand?” Rud rolled his eyes.
“You’re really haggling with me now?
When have I ever cheated you?” Yusuke thought about it.
Fair point.
Most of Yusuke’s original Deck had come from Rud for free in the first place.
T he cards Yusuke had chosen to sell weren’t especially valuable either, and nine thousand DP was probably already a very fair price by Satellite standards.
Yusuke smiled.
“Force of habit.
Fine, nine thousand.” Rud took the cards and transferred 9000 DP to him.
Combined with the 2000 DP Itagaki had promised him, Yusuke had earned 11,000 DP on his very first day controlling this body—and that wasn’t even counting all the other cards he still had.
Yusuke did the math.
The original owner of this body had spent his days taking whatever factory work he could find, doing the hardest and most exhausting manual labor available while constantly facing the possibility that there simply wouldn’t be any work the next day.
Even after working from morning until night, he earned barely more than a hundred DP a day.
At that rate, an entire month of nonstop labor without spending a single point on food would bring in only around three thousand DP.
Yusuke immediately reached a conclusion.
‘Then why the hell would I keep working in a factory?’ Robbery— No.
Finding cards was clearly much more profitable.
He browsed the shop for a while longer but didn’t see anything that immediately caught his attention, so he only bought a few cards that looked as though they might have some situational use.
One thing did stand out, though.
A surprising number of cards circulating around Satellite were cards Yusei had used in the anime, particularly low-Level monsters sitting at Level 1 or 2.
For example, there was Sonic Chick, a Level 1 monster whose effect prevented it from being destroyed by battle with monsters that had 1900 or more ATK.
That actually lent some credibility to the idea that Yusei really had built much of his Deck from discarded cards.
A lot of his Main Deck apparently consisted of cards that were relatively common around Satellite.
From Yusuke’s perspective, the average card available here was painfully underpowered.
Then again, talking about “card efficiency” in this era was probably missing the point entirely.
Finding anything genuinely useful was already difficult enough.
After thinking for a moment, Yusuke asked, “Uncle Rud, what if I wanted rare cards?
Or at least something a little stronger—cards that originally came from the city.
Is there any way to get those around here?” “Oh, look at you.” Rud gave him an annoyed look.
“You get a little spending money and suddenly my stock isn’t good enough anymore.” He waved a hand.
“You said it yourself.
They’re city cards.
Where do you expect people in Satellite to get them?
What I’ve got here is already about as good as you’ll find.” Then Rud paused.
“Unless…” Yusuke’s eyes immediately lit up.
He hadn’t expected a casual question to actually lead somewhere.
“Please enlighten me, Uncle Rud.” Rud chuckled.
“There is one way to get cards from the city without leaving Satellite.
We do have organizations based in New Domino City operating out here, don’t we?
Naturally, they’d have access to city cards.” Organizations from the city?
Yusuke blinked.
“Do you mean Duel Academy?
I already asked Yukine about that.
She said the cards available through Satellite’s academy aren’t anything special.” “You idiot, I’m not talking about Duel Academy.” Rud shook his head.
“There’s another organization from the city operating in Satellite.” He grinned.
“The one that specializes in solving problems with force.” That finally clicked.
“The organization that solves problems with force…” Yusuke’s eyes narrowed.
“Sector Security?” “Exactly.” Rud laughed.
“If you’ve got what it takes to get yourself into Sector Security, forget ordinary cards from the city.
I’ve heard that talented officers can even get access to the legendary Synchro Monsters.” He gave Yusuke a teasing look.
“Of course, first you’d have to somehow convince those arrogant officers that a kid from Satellite is worth noticing.
Good luck with that.” Rud wasn’t exaggerating.
In a world with such a rigid social hierarchy, someone born in Satellite getting accepted into Sector Security was hardly a realistic career path.
Most Satellite residents despised Sector Security, viewing its officers as the enforcers of the privileged class that kept them trapped in poverty.
Sector Security returned the sentiment.
As far as many of its officers were concerned, the people living in Satellite were unwanted garbage that society had discarded for good reason.
After leaving Rud’s General Store, Yusuke continued down the street, deep in thought.
So the best resources available anywhere in Satellite were concentrated in Sector Security’s hands.
If he somehow managed to get inside, he wouldn’t just gain access to better cards.
It might even give him a possible path out of Satellite and into New Domino City proper.
That was something to consider later.
As for tomorrow…
Yusuke searched his remaining memories and recalled that the original plan had been to go back to the factories and look for another day’s work.
He had absolutely no interest in doing that anymore.
‘Factory work?’ Why would he do that?
Playing cards paid better.
By the time he left the store, night had fallen.
Many streets in Satellite didn’t have working streetlights, leaving the roads swallowed by jagged shadows cast by ruined buildings and rusting structures.
There was an unmistakable sense of danger hanging over the neighborhood.
As Yusuke walked through the darkness, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘Would it really be too much to ask for one more nice guy to jump out and try to rob me?’ If someone did, maybe he could earn himself another Deck.
‘Come on, universe.
I’m begging you here.’ A figure stepped out of the darkness directly ahead.
The man wore a hood.
And strapped to his arm was a Duel Disk.
He stopped squarely in Yusuke’s path.