Winged Kuriboh scattered into exploding golden light, and right after that Lava Golem's body also blew apart. Hot lava burst out with its self-destruction and burned Tomoki and the iron cage around him into ashes once again.
When his LP hit zero and he logged out of the virtual arena, Tomoki tilted his head back and let out a long, filthy breath.
For the first time, he began to wonder if the professional world was a little too cruel for him. Maybe he simply was not suited for Duel.
Tomoki, LP 3000 to LP 0
"The Link System really is impressive."
After logging out and returning to Blue-Eyes Jet, Yugen felt thoroughly satisfied. "This way, I can Duel opponents from all over the world anytime." Even time spent on a plane could be used far more efficiently, and making use of all those scattered moments to grind and improve would raise his leveling efficiency even further.
"See?" Mokuba Kaiba said with a smile. "I told you joining the Student Council was a good idea." Then he immediately remembered that happiness in the world always seemed to stay balanced, because whenever someone gained happiness through the Link System, someone else usually lost it because of the Student Council.
For example, today's victim was that unlucky rookie pro, Saito Tomoki. He was supposed to be a promising newcomer, yet he had not even played an official match. With a disaster like this hitting him one week before the event, it was hard to say whether the Student Council would affect his performance once he stepped onto the stage.
Mokuba Kaiba looked at Yugen with a complicated expression. As more and more players dueled Yugen through the Link System in the future, it was impossible to predict what the competitive scene might become under the influence of the Student Council. He had a feeling that one day Yugen's name would become famous in the pro world, or rather infamous.
It might even grow into a Big Bad whose name pro players would not dare mention. Of course, the future was impossible to predict, but for now, the first professional victim had already appeared. Even after logging off and leaving the Link System, Tomoki was still a complete wreck.
That damned Kuriboh and Lava Golem. And the moment he thought about that ID again, he felt even worse. It was called Joyful Duel.
When he had first seen that ID, Tomoki had assumed the other side must be some hot-blooded boy who simply loved Duel. Looking back now, he only wanted to laugh at his own childish ignorance brought on by the Student Council. Heh, Joyful Duel.
He tried imagining things from the other side's perspective. In that sense, it probably really was joyful. The effect of Duel was the satisfaction of taking successful revenge on society through the Student Council, while the activation cost was making the opponent deeply question his life.
"..."
"I hope he's okay," Mokuba Kaiba muttered to himself. He was naturally talking about that unlucky rookie.
"Who?" Yugen asked.
"Oh, nothing," Mokuba Kaiba replied. He had saved the replay too, and once they landed, he planned to share it with his brother. Even though his brother had never said so outright, considerate Mokuba Kaiba had already learned how to read his mind.
He had noticed that his brother loved watching these Duel just as much as he did. Mokuba Kaiba believed there were two reasons for that. First, once you reached Seto Kaiba's level, most Duel were no longer interesting, and even the super geniuses praised to the heavens by the media in the pro scene looked like child's play to Seto Kaiba.
Even the best of them gave him the feeling of being "genius elementary school students." No matter how talented they were, they were still elementary school students. But Yugen was different.
Leaving aside strength and Duelist level, his Duel at least felt fresh and interesting. Second, Mokuba Kaiba suspected that Yugen's style, the sort that had not appeared on the field for many years, reminded Seto Kaiba of an old acquaintance who had already retired, just as it reminded him.
"We're almost there. The plane should be landing soon," Mokuba Kaiba said as he put away the device. "They should be waiting to receive us at the airport because of the Student Council."
"Local friends?"
"More like helpers. A Shadow Duelists club," Mokuba Kaiba said casually. Yugen looked surprised. "You have friends like that too?"
That really was unexpected. In his impression, Kaiba Corporation and the Shadow Duelists did not get along very well, and after seeing the president kick in the door of a bar last time, that impression had only grown stronger.
"It's not like we have problems with all Shadow Duelists. Just the evil ones," Mokuba Kaiba said as if it were obvious. "The Shadow Duelists are just a group of people with extraordinary power. That doesn't make them all villains."
"If you really want to put it that way, even Duel King Yugi Muto belongs to that group." Yugen thought it over and realized that made sense. Among all the original characters, the first one to use dark power really did seem to be Atem.
"Don't worry. The people we're meeting may be Shadow Duelists, but they're good people. We have some history with their leader, so our relationship is pretty solid." Mokuba Kaiba added that their group was also somewhat famous locally, since they often used extraordinary power through the Student Council to punish evil.
For example, they dealt with evil Duelist who used dark power to commit crimes, criminals who escaped punishment by exploiting legal loopholes, and dark forces that oppressed ordinary people through the dueling momentum. "Duelist League, right?" Yugen said dryly.
In his mind, he immediately pictured a group of people in bizarre skintight outfits, each wearing flashy masks and uniforms, with some of them even draped in capes. The only difference from the heroes in the comics he remembered was that every one of them wore a Duel Disk. No matter what powers or talents they had, their way of punishing evil always seemed to circle back to card games.
As they spoke, the plane had clearly begun its descent. "Anyway, once we meet them because of the Student Council, you'll understand right away," Mokuba Kaiba said. The jet slowly dropped lower, and the view outside the cabin gradually sharpened.
The buildings and roads below rushed closer before their eyes. The pressure inside the cabin shifted as they neared the runway, and the moment the wheels touched down, the whole plane shook violently. After the jolt of the rollout, the aircraft finally came to a stop.
The cabin door opened, and the stairs were lowered. Yugen stood up and followed Mokuba Kaiba out of the plane. Based on Mokuba Kaiba's description, he had already formed a clear image of the welcoming party waiting outside.
He had expected tall, stern men with serious faces, people with the bearing of assassins and an aura like blades resting in their sheaths, ready to be drawn at any moment. But the instant he stepped out and looked, Yugen almost wondered whether they had somehow opened the scene the wrong way. They were certainly big men, and they were certainly tall, but the sight nearly blinded him.
They were heavily built, their muscles sharply defined, yet every single one of them wore a lace-trimmed maid outfit. Their skirts swayed gently, and the lace along the edges seemed to glitter in the light. No, it was not just maid outfits either.