So while it counted as a top-tier Deck for this era, it had not been difficult to handle. More precisely, after steady training and deeper support from Spirit power, Yugen's current power of destiny might still be a little below the true experts of the original story, but in the broader Duel world, even setting deckbuilding aside, his raw drawing power already placed him among the strong.
Because of that, this Deck had been somewhat wasted in the envoy's hands. That was fine, though, because from now on it would fall into the right hands and show its true value.
If the envoy knew his Deck would shine more brightly in the future than it ever had with him, he could probably rest easy. Yugen put away the Deck, quite pleased with what he had gained this time.
In truth, his body here was virtual, only a projection of consciousness that had entered the Spirit World. Once he logged off, he might simply vanish from the Spirit World, so he had no direct way to take the Deck he collected here back with him.
Even so, that was not really a problem. If he could not carry them out himself, then his own Spirit should be able to bring them back into reality.
As for this Divine Envoy's build, it was already close to an upper-tier Baboon deck, but in the end it was still only a specialized list centered on Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest as the core concept. Most of its strength came from Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest's own power, and the envoy's Deck still differed in several ways from a truly top-tier build.
After returning, Yugen felt he could study it and improve it further. Once refined, it should become a very powerful Deck.
Besides the Deck, he had also picked up a few small items. One of them was Orichalcos Fragment, which he already recognized as something like proof of rank for members with status inside the Divine Cult.
This time, however, he had also found a blank card. That surprised Yugen a little.
Blank cards were not unheard of in the original anime, and they were usually absurdly powerful items. The earliest example was probably during the DM era in Orichalcos Arc, the blank card printed by Maximillion Pegasus.
Everyone knew the greatest advantage of a blank card was that it could become whatever you needed. Its empty surface allowed the exact effect and text to be printed on the spot according to the needs of the Duel.
Of course, printing cards was not something just anyone could do. Usually, you had to be a very particular kind of dramatic person, and the atmosphere had to be perfect.
Yugen felt that although his power of destiny had improved, it was still far too early to talk about printing cards. Handing him a blank card felt more like giving him something he could not truly control.
But Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning quickly told him he was overthinking it. "This is a Mission Card," Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning said.
"A Mission Card?" Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning explained, "Yes. Some Dark God lackeys we captured in past battles mentioned it before, though this is my first time seeing one in person."
"To put it simply, it is an item Dark God uses to assign missions to his lackeys. When it receives a Summon from Dark God, images would appear on the originally blank Mission Card, and the text below would give a simple task order."
"I see." Yugen considered it. If instructions later appeared on this Mission Card, then they might at least learn something about what Shin Doma was doing inside the Spirit World.
If luck was on his side, he might even get personally involved. If that really happened, then without realizing it, he would be one step closer to infiltrating the enemy from within.
Of course, Yugen had not made any serious plans in that direction and was simply letting things unfold. After all, being mistaken for some envoy in the Bunker, then somehow becoming the Deputy Warden, had never been part of his intentions.
Plans could never keep up with change, and no careful arrangement was as effective as events falling into place on their own. Maybe that was one form the "power of destiny" could take.
In any case, today's business was done, and it was time to call it a day. After gathering his things, Yugen rose and strode out through the building's front door.
Every Fiend along the way looked at him as if they had seen a ghost, and each of them was desperate to stay as far from him as possible. They might not have been this terrified even if Satan himself had appeared before them.
That was hardly surprising. The commotion from the Duel just now had been enormous.
Opening with The Seal of Orichalcos had already drawn countless eyes from nearby, and anyone qualified to hold a Barrier here counted as upper-level Divine Cult personnel. To the ordinary people in the district, such figures stood far above them.
Then many of them had watched with their own eyes as that powerful Divine Cult figure was crushed inside his own Barrier. In the end, there had even appeared a terrifying being with infinite ATK.
This was not reality, but the Duel here was more than a mere virtual projection. A creature with infinite ATK inside a Duel radiated pressure that reached the soul itself, enough to freeze the whole body with a single glance.
Especially after seeing Lord Divine Envoy turned into a blur by one strike from Worm Gulse, they probably would not sleep for a week. As Yugen walked out, a female member of the Demon Tribe gathered her courage, hurried after him, and held out a thick stack of bills.
"My... lord, you forgot something." Yugen paused for a moment, then realized it was the entrance fee he had paid when he came in.
Since he had spent the Warden's money, he did not care much. Currency from the Demon Realm could not be spent outside anyway, and he still had plenty more, so Yugen waved it off generously. "It's fine. You can keep it."
The Demon Tribe forced a smile. "You should keep it, my lord. Since you dared to give it, to be honest, we do not really dare accept it."
Yugen did not waste any more time with her. He simply took it back and left. From that day on, no one in Phantom Capital ever saw this Duelist again.
But from that day forward, a legend remained in Phantom Capital about the mysterious "passing Duelist" whose true identity nobody knew.
**
Link System logged off.
By the time he returned to reality and took off the device, it was already past ten at night. Weekend days always seemed to slip by quickly, especially when he had spent the whole day online grinding instances and farming gear.
Still, the grind had paid off. He had picked up quite a few ownerless Deck, and he had even found one of surprisingly high quality. It was a solid haul, enough that he could spend the next few days sorting through it, selling what he did not need, and keeping anything useful for future builds.
He had not noticed it while grinding, but after sitting still for a while, hunger suddenly hit him. If this were Osiris Red, the cafeteria would have been closed by now, and the shop too. But thoughtful Yellow Dormitory had taken late-night student cravings into account and kept one service window open around the clock.