"Brother!"
Mokuba Kaiba waved suddenly, and Yugen turned to follow his gaze. At a glance, he saw Seto Kaiba standing in the doorway.
"How are things with those AIs?" Mokuba Kaiba asked.
"Just some boring tricks," Seto Kaiba said coldly. "They are a bunch of clowns. They will not be jumping around for much longer."
He paused, then looked toward Yugen. He seemed to notice that Yugen had chosen the newly developed Kuriboh build, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
It was as if he approved of Yugen's taste, and at the same time the choice stirred up old memories of his long conflict with Kuriboh. Maybe because of that, he saw a trace of an old acquaintance in Yugen, so the president repeated that Yugen had better not disappoint him in the match before turning and leaving.
Yugen suddenly felt that saying the president had never lost his original self while crawling through darkness was not entirely accurate. In fact, the Seto Kaiba from when he first appeared in the Student Council had already lost himself.
It was only because he met Yami Yugi. After losing to Yami Yugi, he took a hit from Pharaoh Atem's Mind Crush. The darkness in his heart was torn into a Rift, yet his stubborn sense of self remained.
In a way, maybe it was Yugi Muto who helped him find his true heart again. Perhaps that was also part of why the president could never forget Yami Yugi for the rest of his life.
"Oh right, about the Link System I showed you last time, the hardware debugging is almost done," Mokuba Kaiba said. He walked to the console, opened a case, and took out a device shaped like a headset.
"This is the new model after tuning. It can connect directly to the latest Duel Disk you received before," Mokuba Kaiba explained. "The system is still in internal testing right now."
"If you have time, you can log in and try it. You can duel other Duelists from all over the world."
Yugen examined the device with interest. "The Duelists in the test should all be pretty strong, right?"
"Not necessarily. Some of the slots were handed out by random lottery, so the people who got in may be at very different levels. Of course, some of them are players from the current pro league, so they should be more professional."
"There are also spots for our business partners, friends in political circles, and so on."
"I see." Yugen held his chin and thought for a moment.
That meant the duel environment in this Link System should be quite varied. When he had nothing else to do, it really would be a good place for online practice.
He could still find opponents at Duel Academy, but he was already too famous at school. Even if the students got beaten up, they were mentally prepared now. It was time to broaden his pool of opponents and let more Duelists from around the world experience the joy of Duel.
"Alright, I need to go to a Student Council too. If you have nothing else to do, head back first." Mokuba Kaiba stood up, then smiled mysteriously.
"Speaking of which, your school might get a surprise tomorrow."
"Oh?" Yugen asked. "A new card pack?"
"Hahaha, not that." Mokuba Kaiba kept him guessing. "You will know tomorrow."
Even without being told, Yugen seemed to have guessed what he meant. The legendary first Duel King, a copy of Yugi Muto's Deck.
Judging by the timing in the original plot, it was about time for that event. The one where Kagurazaka from Ra Yellow Dorm stole Yugi Muto's Deck.
To be fair, Kagurazaka actually played very well with Yugi Muto's stack of cards. He used the tactics he was supposed to use, and somehow a Deck full of high-level Normal Monsters did not even brick on him. In the end, though, he still could not match the person on the other side.
If he got the chance, trying a duel with Yugi Muto's Deck himself would not be bad.
"Wow, did you guys hear? Mr. Yugi Muto's Deck!"
As soon as he heard the news, Judai Yuki was so excited that he could not even sleep in class. At noon, he was still talking while chewing bread in the school shop.
"Tomorrow we get to see the legendary Mr. Yugi Muto's Deck! That belongs to the strongest Duelist in history."
"Big bro, you have already said that a lot of times," Sho Marufuji said with a laugh.
Hayato Maeda added, "To be exact, it is actually arriving tonight. The exhibit opens tomorrow, but they say the Deck is being brought to the island tonight."
"Seriously?" Judai Yuki got even more excited. "Alright, then tonight we sneak in and take a look early."
"Eh? That is not a good idea. Wouldn't that be against the rules?" Sho Marufuji said.
"Come on, what are you scared of?" Judai Yuki waved a hand without caring. His expression practically said that they had already broken plenty of rules before.
"Ah, Yugen! Over here, over here!"
The moment Yugen stepped into the shop, he saw Judai Yuki waving at him with exaggerated motions. Yugen walked over, and Judai Yuki immediately shoved Sho Marufuji into the corner to make room for his Sworn Brothers.
"What a coincidence. Are you eating lunch at the shop today too?"
"No, I just came to pick up the cards I preordered," Yugen said. "I reserved them a long time ago, and they only arrived today."
"I see. Ah, speaking of cards." Judai Yuki put away his smile and thought seriously for a moment.
"A couple of days ago, that machine that invaded Duel Academy Island, I could feel that it had power similar to what you told me about before. And dueling it felt dangerous too, just like the 'Shadow Duel' you mentioned."
Yugen nodded. "Yes. There is a dangerous group behind them, but Kaiba Corporation is already dealing with it."
"Yeah. Then after I dueled that thing, I remembered what you told me before. We cannot let the power of cards be abused by evil people, so..." He pulled out a Deck.
Yugen: "!"
Good grief, I only said it casually, and you actually went and got one?
Yugen looked Judai Yuki up and down as if he had suddenly gained a whole new level of respect for Jellyfish Hair. Are you really the same Jellyfish Hair I know?
"But whatever virus lock it uses on the Deck is a terrible match for me, so I cannot use it at all, haha." Judai Yuki scratched his head. "Then I thought maybe Yugen would be interested."
Yugen fell silent. At first he wanted to say, Is this really okay?
Even if you cannot use it, you could still keep it and trade it for something else. Then he suddenly remembered that Judai Yuki was a rich kid who had never lacked money.
In that case, never mind. He took a deep breath, accepted the Deck Judai Yuki handed over, and gripped his hand tightly.
The solemn look in his eyes seemed to say that from today on, they were brothers for life. That seriousness actually made Judai Yuki a little uncomfortable, and he scratched his head blankly.
"Ah, I did not really do much. Anyway, if I can help you somehow, that would be great. Haha."
For a moment, Yugen even felt a little bad about taking so many cards from Judai Yuki before. Well, forget it.