Chapter 3

You Yu walked through the same dark and desolate alley for the third time, and by now, the streets outside were completely empty.

It was past midnight, and decent people had already counted their sheep and fallen into a deep sleep. The only people still wandering the streets were a few types—drunks, hoodlums, and some suspicious characters.

As for You Yu?

Just by looking at him, you could tell he didn’t belong to any of those categories.

After all...

...how could there be such a handsome drunk or hoodlum?

A cold and eerie wind blew from the other end of the alley, bringing a chill. It also brought a gnawing hunger, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since he had arrived in this world.

This also reminded You Yu that, despite having a game interface, he was no longer a player but a person living in this world.

It seemed he would have to find a way to earn a living when it got light tomorrow, at least to ensure he wouldn’t starve to death.

By this point, You Yu had already circled the same route for the fourth time. He had almost covered the entire town, but there was still no sign of any plot triggers.

He reviewed his memory again, confirming that he hadn’t remembered incorrectly. The hidden plot that the big shot from his previous life had revealed on the forum was indeed supposed to trigger in this area.

Maybe it was too early?

After all, the game was still a month away from launch, and the player who triggered the plot did so a month later. It was predictable that it couldn’t be triggered now.

You Yu had just been trying his luck, and if it didn’t work, so be it.

However, just as he was thinking this, footsteps began to echo from behind him in the alley.

The sound of leather shoes tapping on the sidewalk was particularly clear against the silent backdrop.

You Yu's eyes lit up.

Could it finally be here?

Sure enough, when he turned his head, he saw a black figure behind him. The person was draped in a large black robe, looking like a burlap sack dipped in black ink. A wide hood covered most of his face, but a white mask was faintly visible beneath it.

Additionally, he wore a duel disk on his left hand, indicating he was also a card player.

"The duelist over there," the man said with a light laugh, "dare to have a duel? A high-stakes one, with rare cards on the line."

He paused, his voice lowering, and a cold, icy gaze shot out from under the hood.

"Of course, you don’t have the right to refuse."

You Yu wasn’t surprised or panicked; his heart was calm, and he even felt like cheering.

Damn, after circling all night, I finally ran into you!

"Rare card hunter, right?" he asked.

"Wow? You know me?" the man laughed.

"Recently, I’ve heard about your kind. Because of the upcoming tournament hosted by Kaiba Corporation, duelists from all over the world have gathered in Domino City, so you rare card hunters have been quite active lately."

"Exactly," the man smiled. "According to Kaiba Corporation's rules, only duelists with recognized rare cards can obtain their latest duel disk and qualify for the tournament."

He paused, his gaze falling on the duel disk on You Yu's left hand.

"Since you’re wearing one, it seems you have a rare card." He slowly continued, raising his arm, and the duel disk on his wrist automatically unfolded.

"Let’s go. We’ll use the card gambling rules of Duel City. The loser must hand over their rare card."

At the same time, a system prompt appeared before You Yu.

"Hidden quest triggered: Challenge from Ghouls!

Description: A powerful rare card hunter from the Ghouls, Magician Pandora, has challenged you!

Victory Reward: Obtain the UR rare card 'Dark Magician'!

Defeat Punishment: Be randomly deprived of any card by the opponent."

As usual, the description was vague, and the punishment wasn’t clearly stated.

However, You Yu, having played the Link World for a long time, was already used to it. Randomness was a feature of the game. Sometimes, different players doing the same quest would have different outcomes.

But You Yu’s luck was good this time, and he had successfully encountered Pandora, the rare card hunter.

This character was the only one in the Yu-Gi-Oh! DM series, besides the protagonist Yugi Muto, to have the Dark Magician as his ace card. The big shot from You Yu’s previous life had apparently met and defeated Pandora during the Duel City quest, thereby obtaining the top-tier rare card, the Dark Magician.

Notably, while players generally couldn’t draw the Dark Magician or related cards from the system card pool, if they obtained a Dark Magician card through a special quest, the system would adjust their card pool, giving them a chance to draw related cards in the future.

The player from You Yu’s previous life had obtained a Dark Magician through this quest and subsequently drew a series of powerful support cards from the system card pool, becoming a renowned Dark Magician player in the Link World.

Of course, since the game hadn’t launched yet, no one had triggered the hidden quest with the rare card hunter Pandora.

So, although he felt sorry for the player who would have had this opportunity, You Yu didn’t intend to let this chance slip by.

You Yu chose this quest for another reason: it was relatively safe.

Pandora, although a subordinate of the famous Malik and a member of the dark organization Ghouls, did not possess extraordinary powers.

This meant it was just a regular duel, and the loser would only have to endure the impact of holographic images (as per the Yu-Gi-Oh! setting) and expend some energy, but it wouldn’t be life-threatening.

The other consequence was losing a rare card.

However, this...

...was basically irrelevant to You Yu.

Because his deck currently only contained the Four Elemental Heroes and mostly useless magic and trap cards, and he didn’t have a single rare card.

His duel disk wasn’t even given by Kaiba Corporation but was a gift from the system when he created his account.

So, his current state was like a house with nothing to steal; he had nothing to fear from thieves.

Even if you searched his entire family in broad daylight, you wouldn’t find a single coin, let alone in the dark.

"Duel!"

[You Yu, LP 4000]

[Pandora, LP 4000]

"Then I’ll go first, draw a card."

Pandora drew a card, glanced at it, and showed a barely noticeable smile, adding it to his five-card hand.

You Yu watched his movements and couldn’t help but sigh...

...Damn, I really miss the old days when the first player could draw a card.

Yes, by the time the Link World was updated to the point where he had arrived, the rule had already changed to the first player not drawing a card. Old players who were used to the traditional rules found it a bit difficult to adapt.

However, after getting used to the new rules, You Yu now found playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with the DM era rules a bit awkward.

"I summon this... Killer Tomato! In attack mode!"

Pandora placed a monster card on his duel disk. The holographic technology activated, and the card data was transmitted to Kaiba Corporation’s headquarters. A red tomato with a wicked grin immediately appeared on the field.

[Killer Tomato, Attack 1400]

"My turn ends," Pandora said.

Summoning a four-star monster and then passing the turn, even with a clean backfield...

That wasn’t You Yu exaggerating; if he were using his old account from before he arrived, the opponent wouldn’t have survived the second turn.

Eh, forget it, forget it, a hero doesn’t talk about past glories. Now, let’s focus...

"My turn."

You Yu drew a card, glanced at his hand, and after much deliberation, finally chose one card. He placed it on the duel disk with a determined gesture, much like Ash saying, "I choose you!"

"I summon Elemental Hero Wingman!"

[Elemental Hero Wingman, Defense 1000]

"Turn... end."

...

What else could he do?

You tell me, with two Elemental Hero Wingmen and two Heat Lady cards in hand, and no fusion, how am I supposed to play this?