Youyu counted the spoils he collected from Pandora one by one.
According to the rules during the Duel City era, each Duelist's card deck was required to have at least forty cards. However, when Pandora dueled Muto Yugi in the DM animation, he seemed to use only about ten cards.
Now, Youyu took his entire deck and found that although Pandora claimed to be a "Pure Black Magician" deck, there were only a few cards related to Black Magicians in it.
Three Black Magicians, one Magic Card - Thousand Knives, one Dark Magic Curtain, and one Dark Renewal.
Thousand Knives, Normal Magic Card, can be activated when "Black Magician" is present on your field, targeting one monster on your opponent's field. That opponent's monster is destroyed.
Dark Magic Curtain, Normal Magic Card, during the turn this card is activated, both players can pay half their basic points, and Special Summon one magician-type monster from their hand or deck.
Dark Renewal, Normal Trap Card, activates at the moment when an opponent's monster is summoned, using that monster and your own monster as offerings to revive one dark species from the graveyard.
(All these are animation effects)
Youyu slipped the cards taken from Pandora into his Duel Disc and was surprised to find that they seemed usable!
To know, previously in the game of Linked World, players could only use cards obtained from the System Card Library or task rewards. Taking an NPC's deck directly and placing it on the Duel Disc, like Youyu just did, resulted in no reaction.
Youyu speculated it might be because he rebirthed as an NPC, so now he can use cards produced locally, like other NPCs.
At the same time, he has the player panel, allowing him to get cards from the System Card Pool like a player.
This means he became a being in between players and NPCs, being able to use both locally produced game cards and system produced cards.
The only regret is that the three "Black Magicians" in Pandora's deck had no reaction when placed on the Duel Disc.
Youyu wasn't sure of the exact reason, but he suspected it might be related to Pandora tampering with those three cards. The animation mentioned that Pandora's three Black Magicians had been slightly modified, allowing him to cheat and ensure he could draw his ace Black Magician before dueling.
Could be because he tampered with the cards, so the Duel Disc didn't recognize these three cards.
But there's no problem, he also has a "Black Magician" as a reward for completing a task, quietly lying in his deck.
Additionally, completing tasks and defeating Pandora rewarded him with considerable experience points, directly boosting his character from level 1 to level 3, along with 40 Crystal Stones.
Crystal Stones can be used to draw card packs in the System Card Pool, although for Linked World, 40 Crystal Stones are like a drop in the ocean, not enough to fill the gaps between teeth.
...
The faint night gradually receded, and the sky slowly started to brighten. The streets of Yutaka began to lazily wake up, with figures starting to appear in the empty district.
This was the second day of Youyu's rebirth.
Today's primary goal—to find a place to eat and sleep.
After all, if people don't eat, they'll die.
No matter how good you are at cards, you still have to eat.
The salary doesn't matter, he just needs a place to rest temporarily. After all, in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, once you can play cards, it's easy to earn money later.
After wandering on the morning streets for a while, Youyu soon stopped at the entrance of a card shop.
The window behind the storefront was filled with Duel Monsters card boxes, with a notice of "Hiring Waiter" posted at the top.
Youyu thought for a moment and walked straight in.
The shop door was open, but it seemed that it had just opened shortly since the sky had only just brightened.
The shop's interior was quite spacious, with rows of shelves that resembled library bookshelves, but all neatly lined with card packs and boxes. Some shelves also displayed replicas of popular Duel Monsters figurines and other merchandise.
"Welcome," a girl's clear voice came from behind a row of shelves.
A girl with silver, neck-length short hair appeared behind the shelves, her expression dull and looking quite young, as if she was a middle school student.
At first, Youyu found the conspicuous silver hair strange, but he then thought—given the world view here, with the protagonist Muto Yugi sporting a multicolored starfish head to school and nobody finding it odd—in comparison, silver hair seemed quite normal?
So compared to that, perhaps it's more noteworthy... was the maid outfit that the girl was wearing.
Indeed, the white lace dress, tight black stockings perfectly outlined her slender calves, and a big white bow tied at the back.
Clearly a standard maid outfit with regional characteristics.
Even more interesting, the first time the girl saw Youyu, she had a "Goodwill +10" indicator pop up above her head.
Youyu: "..."
Being handsome really has its perks.
Even though he didn't do anything, just meeting her for the first time already had a 10 goodwill bonus.
Recalling when he was a player, trying to increase an NPC's goodwill for tasks required lots of effort. Spending all that time running errands and playing cards, he only managed a meager "Goodwill +5" after half a week's hard work.
At that time, he felt this broken game was absurd, making players grind until their heads hurt. Thinking back now, it may not have been the game's fault, it may have just been because he was ugly...
However, the maid's professionalism seemed intact, her expression unfazed despite the goodwill increase, only formally greeting the guest with a bow.
"Hello, are you looking to buy cards or order coffee?"
Oh, they serve coffee too.
Youyu then noticed this place wasn't just a card shop, there were tables and seats available for customers to order coffee and read... or play cards.
Of course, high-tech stereoscopic imagery wasn't available in this small shop, playing cards here was akin to board game clubs in the real world, where friends gather around a table with a card mat, a leisurely and entertaining activity.
"No need." Youyu gestured to the notice on the window outside, "I just saw you were hiring and wanted to apply."
"Oh, I see." The girl nodded, "Okay, but you'll need an interview."
"And where is this interview?"
"Right now is fine."
The girl said, walking behind the counter, taking out a small black notebook from the drawer. She opened the notebook on her fair and slender wrist, and held a click-button ballpoint pen in her other hand, pressing out the pen tip with her thumb.
Youyu was surprised: "Right here... will you be asking questions?"
He instinctively looked around and found that there really wasn't anyone else.
The girl expressionlessly lifted her head: "Am I not allowed?"
"No... nothing."
Youyu just felt the girl seemed too young to be the store manager.
"Let's start with your name." She said.
"Youyu."
"From out of town?"
"Yeah."
"Age?"
"...Nineteen."
He made up the age. If he answered honestly, his character had just been created a day ago, strictly speaking, he's only one day old... but saying that, the other person definitely wouldn't believe him.
"...Nineteen, two years older than me..." the girl mumbled to herself.
Youyu noticed another "Goodwill +5" pop up above her silver-haired head.
Youyu: "?"
What did I do?
The girl's gaze then drifted to the Duel Disc on his left hand.
"Are you a Duelist?" She asked.
"Yes." Youyu nodded.
"Then why are you looking for a job?"
Youyu: "Duelists... still need to earn a living."
The girl's facial muscles remained still, but her eyes stared at him for quite a while, making Youyu feel a bit uneasy.
But she didn't say anything, lowered her head, and continued writing something in the notebook.
[Goodwill +5]
Youyu: "??"
What did I do again?
"The final question."
The girl's pen paused, her voice calm: "...Do you have a girlfriend?"
Youyu: "..."
Is this about the job or my household information?
Does this have anything to do with my job application?
But considering he's applying for the job, he answered honestly: "No."
This was entirely the truth, so painfully true—because even if counting his past life experience, this was an undeniable fact.
"Oh, you don't have one." The girl nodded.
[Goodwill +10]
Youyu: "????"