After a night of dueling, Youyu was walking back to the card shop, flipping through the "spoils" he had just gained today.
Yes, after defeating this new Rare Card Hunter, he naturally didn't hold back, and conveniently took the entire card deck from the opponent's Duel Disc.
Although "winning and then taking the opponent's entire card deck" sounds a bit unethical, but...
...who cares!
Isn't there an old saying? You don't have to talk about ethics with these scoundrels!
The mission "Challenge from the Ghouls" was completed, and the system's reward was the Rare Card Hunter's ace, "Machina Force".
However, its stats just looked a bit high. The conditions to summon it are also troublesome, it's cumbersome even if drawn, and actually not useful at all.
Youyu flipped through each card he had "won" and as expected, most were "Mecha" series monsters and support cards, which were of no use to him.
But he did acquire some UR and SR cards, and even if they were useless, they were a nice addition to expand his deck. When put in the private store, they might attract some Mecha enthusiast players' attention and favor?
When he returned to the shop, Chinai-chan, dressed in a maid outfit, was cleaning between the rows of shelves.
Noticing Youyu entering, she momentarily stopped her actions: "You're back."
"I'm back."
Chinai tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, "The strange person who came this morning when you went out came to see you again today."
A strange person? Probably a player.
"Did both of them come?"
"No, just one came," Chinai shook her head, "It was the shorter one, who looks a bit lean."
Looks... a bit lean?
Hmm... that sounds like Xue Lang.
Youyu had previously sent him out to find tasks himself, and he actually found one so quickly?
"Did he say what he wanted with me?"
"No. He just said he had something urgent to find you, but since you weren't here, he left, looking quite anxious."
Chinai looked at him with a puzzled expression: "By the way, those two... are they your friends?"
"...Not really friends, just acquaintances from the Duel Hall," Youyu said, "If you must say, they're customers."
That's the truth. In Youyu's eyes, the players are his customers and in the future, they would definitely frequent his business more.
"Oh." Chinai nodded gently, and said seriously, "Then I think you should be a bit careful."
"Huh? Careful about what?"
"Those two," Chinai said, "especially the one with glasses, he doesn't look like a decent person, seems... seems... to have intentions towards you."
Youyu: "?"
Girl, your thinking is dangerous!
So young and already thinking like this?
Chinai's face was serious, not at all like she was joking—of course, a stoic girl might not understand what joking is. Her expression clearly said, I'm suspicious that those two are after your body!
How can that be? I came first!
"I saw on the news that sometimes boys walking alone at night can get attacked too." Chinai continued "educating," "Now, even boys must protect themselves when going out, especially handsome boys."
The usually reticent girl was proactive in talking to him today, so it seems she was genuinely concerned.
Everyone loves beauty, and with Youyu's high charisma score, it's only natural for her to worry.
Such a handsome man, it would be such a waste if he just bent like that!
"...Um, Chinai, it's not what you think..."
Youyu spent quite some effort convincing Chinai to believe that the players were really just his customers. There's only a dirty monetary relationship between them, nothing else!
But speaking of this, Youyu couldn't help but think about that "Can't escape from Jack," suspecting that guy might actually have some issues...
And wondering if Xue Lang, who's hanging out with him, is okay...
...
When work hours ended, Youyu had some free time and started browsing the game forum.
Since the number of people granted game access during beta testing was limited, there weren't many people posting, far from the bustling scene Youyu remembered from when the game officially launched.
"Wow, the game is so realistic! Since when did unscrupulous card-selling companies become so conscientious?"
Evidently a post made right after the launch.
"Damn! This game is too realistic! I was just trying to see how detailed this game is by trying to take off my pants on the street, and the NPC girls shouted at me! A while later some people came and dragged me to the station, and I'm still in here receiving criticism... so annoying..."
"Haha respect for the OP!"
"Hahaha serves you right, for being so handsy."
"Scared me there, thankfully I didn't try taking them off at the time..."
...
"Damn, this starter deck is too weak, getting crushed by NPCs in duels! Any pro tips on where to find cheap and awesome Rare Cards? A deck full of Normal Monsters can't hold up!"
"Stop bothering us pros for everything, you noobs should learn to think for yourselves."
"I suggest the OP keep dreaming, anything is possible in dreams."
...
"Hahaha, triggered a hidden quest, joined the Ghouls' Rare Card Hunter crew! Got a ton of Rare Cards as joining rewards!"
"Holy crap, how do you join? I want in too!"
"Ghouls? Could that be the organization of the Yugi-oh facial expression pioneer, Marik?"
"OP, aren't you afraid of getting beaten by the King later for joining the Ghouls..."
...
Time flies when you're scrolling through forums. Silly players are all so talented, with their amusing words...
But for now, it seems most players are still in the newbie exploration phase, nothing surprising has popped up in the forum. Most players are still doing basic daily tasks or simply dueling in arenas, with no one triggering any major quests.
As expected, quite a few players immediately started carpet-searching the city for Muto Yugi's residence upon logging in.
After all, he's the anime protagonist, the one and only designated Duel King throughout the Yugi-oh series, so if you're going to fawn over an NPC, this high school Duel King is undoubtedly the top pick.
Yugi isn't a big shot and his residence isn't hard to find, so players quickly discovered his home address.
Players naturally tried to approach Yugi, but as expected, they were only treated as ordinary "fans of the Duel King" with no plot being triggered.
Youyu was behind the counter scrolling through the forum when the shop door suddenly swung open, and someone dashed in, collapsing on the counter.
It was unexpectedly Xue Lang, whom he had just seen not long ago.
"You... Youyu-san, help!" Xue Lang got straight to the point, "I've seen a ghost!"