Miles connected his Duel Disk to the simulated duel system, and under the guidance of the professional researchers, he stepped onto the high-tech duel platform.
"So I'm really going to duel… the Duel King's AI?"
It was Miles' first time dueling an AI. Looking at the empty field in front of him, he couldn't feel the reality of dueling a human opponent at all.
But with the bits of anime knowledge he still retained, he could at least tell that this Duel King wasn't referring to the Pharaoh.
It was, in the literal and official sense, the Duel King personally acknowledged by the world—Yugi Muto's AI.
Even Seto Kaiba had lost to it.
And if nothing unexpected happened, Kaiba should still be holding Obelisk the Tormentor at this time.
If even a God Card had been defeated, calling this thing a hellish AI wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Anyhow, to make contact with Seto Kaiba as quickly as possible—
Defeating the Duel King AI that even Kaiba himself couldn't beat was undoubtedly the most efficient way.
"Do your best, Miles! I know I'm never wrong about people!"
Chi, still hoping to win back rare Gandora cards with her VIP hot spring recovery gold card on the line, cheered him on with all her might.
The bearded researcher boasted confidently, "It's not like we can pull in some random unknown duelist and expect him to beat the Duel King AI. This system replicates the Duel King's original strength as accurately as possible."
Chi bared her teeth in protest: "No matter how strong an AI is, it's still just an AI. It's not on the same level as a top duelist!"
"What?" The bearded researcher at once caught the implication.
"Chi, are you saying that boy is a top duelist? Impossible. I collect data on every ranked professional duelist."
This was why the researchers were so certain that Miles couldn't possibly defeat the Duel King AI.
If anyone in KaibaCorp understood the current world's top professional duelists better than anyone else, it was these elite intellectuals who spent their days upgrading the duel simulation system.
If someone didn't appear in their research database, that meant the boy in front of them wasn't a pro duelist, and therefore not a top duelist like Chi claimed.
"Just wait and see. You guys are tech specialists, that's all. Reading people—that's my profession!"
This wasn't just a bet over rare cards anymore; it was a duel of professional pride.
"They're just not busy enough. Too much free time makes them like this."
Ether, having finished her cigarette, mercilessly exposed the truth as she left the corner and walked toward the glass wall with the best view of the duel.
Pressed against the transparent wall, eager to watch, were Dark Aisha and Kaima as well.
Ether spoke: "That boy—Miles, right? You can tell he's a very capable duelist."
"Miles is the strongest," Dark Aisha declared firmly.
"Yeah. Just as strong as me," Kaima added.
"..."
Too similar… even their overconfidence matched.
Ether once again couldn't help suspecting: was this little girl actually Kaiba's secret daughter, unknown to the world?
Speaking of which—earlier, while trying to distance herself and smoking in the corner, Ether seemed to have seen Miles take a card from Kaima's hand.
Could it be that this boy had figured out how to deal with the Duel King AI and adjusted his Deck accordingly before the duel began?
"But from a researcher's objective standpoint… defeating the Duel King 2.0 system's AI is no easy task. The chances are very low."
"Miles will win!" Dark Aisha and Kaima answered in unison.
"Uh." Ether's brow twitched a little. "I can tell you two trust him a lot. Heh, that's wonderful. A duelist's true strength isn't measured by his record. It's measured by whether he has companions who believe in him."
From that perspective, even if Miles wasn't on the researchers' list of top pro duelists, the duel was already worth looking forward to.
Could a duelist backed by bonds and belief surpass a cold AI governed solely by calculation?
"It's about to start!"
Through the simulation room's speaker system, a researcher notified Miles.
"Please prepare for the simulated duel."
Miles nodded without a word and focused his gaze on the still-empty field ahead.
[Duel Simulation System, upgraded ver2.0. Duel King Deck shuffle complete! Start!]
With a crisp synthesized announcement, the previously dim sci-fi platform lit up in dazzling sequence.
The lights extended forward, forming a road of technological brilliance—and at the end of that road, they illuminated a man's silhouette.
"Oh? This time, the challenger isn't Kaiba?"
The man stepped forward into the light, emerging from the darkness.
The Duel King—Yugi Muto.
Though merely a virtual projection created through KaibaCorp's holographic technology, the presence felt no different from the real person standing there.
Especially that star-shaped hairstyle, identical to the Pharaoh's appearance in the mountains before—the symbol of a true champion.
Miles unfolded his Duel Disk's arm blade and shouted a line he had long wanted to say.
"Bring it on! Yu↑gi↓!"
"Heh." Yugi's lips curved into a faint smile. "Then let's duel with all our strength, Miles!"
The Duel King Yugi Muto actually said his name?
Well… thinking it through, Miles realized that the researchers must have input his name during calibration, so the system could provide a more immersive duel.
As expected of KaibaCorp's top-tier tech, it really felt like dueling the real Yugi Muto.
[Yugi Muto, LP: 4000]
[Miles, LP: 4000]
"Duel!"
"I'll take the first turn, Miles."
Yugi's Duel Disk lit up first.
"My turn—draw!"
The simulated duel officially began. Behind the glass wall, Dark Aisha and Kaima nearly pressed their faces to the glass in tension.
Just how terrifying was the Duel King they'd been hyping up?
Yugi slapped a card onto his Duel Disk: "I Normal Summon a monster in face-down Defense Position!"
A face-down monster materialized on Yugi's field.
Then he continued.
"I Set two cards. Turn end!"
Three back rows. This was the opening of the Duel King Yugi Muto.
"Eh?"
It was a bit different from what they expected. Dark Aisha and Kaima exchanged glances.
So this was how the Duel King played?
"Feels… kind of like Miles, doesn't it?" Dark Aisha said.
Opening with one monster set, two back rows—this was exactly the formation Miles used all the time in the early days of Aisha's undeveloped Deck.
Yugi had just recreated Miles' classic opening.
"But my dueling has already evolved!"
As turns shifted, Miles' fingertip slid confidently across his Duel Disk.
"My turn—draw!"
Ether praised him softly, "Nice draw call. Looks like he's been through plenty of duels."
After scanning his opening hand card faces, Miles settled on a strategy and tossed a Spell Card into the Duel Disk.
"Spell Card—Enchanting Fitting Room—activate!"
[Pay 800 Life Points. Reveal the top 4 cards of your Deck. Special Summon all Level 3 or lower Normal Monsters among them to your field, then shuffle the rest back into the Deck.]
[Miles, LP: 4000 → 3200]
Paying 800 Life Points to start, Miles revealed four cards.
[Crowned by the World Chalic]
[Tri-Wight]
[Happy Lover]
[Dystopia the Despondent]
"Just as I thought, I still can't do it the way Aisha does—pulling four synergy pieces with a single flip, huh?"
Still, the result wasn't bad. Among the four cards revealed, two were Normal Monsters that could be Special Summoned immediately.
"I Special Summon the revealed Level 2 Normal Monsters in Defense Position—'Crowned by the World Chalic' and 'Happy Lover'!"
[Crowned by the World Chalic] Level 4│WATER│Aqua│1550 ATK
[Happy Lover] Level 2│LIGHT│Fairy│800 ATK
The flat‑chested maiden and the little pink angel with a heart atop its head materialized simultaneously on the sci‑fi duel platform.
With just one card, the entire research team observing from inside the simulation chamber exploded in shock.
Was it because Miles pulled out two Normal Monsters with a single Spell Card?
No way.
These researchers had run countless simulation duels. There wasn't a low‑probability outcome they hadn't seen before.
The real cause of the uproar, of course, was the final card Miles revealed.
"Dystopia the Despondent? What kind of card is that?!"
"A Level 12… a God Card?"
"Does that boy… possess a God?"
This shocking truth—just having such a card, even without summoning it, emitted an indescribable pressure. That was the overwhelming presence of a God Card.
The crowd turned back toward Chi, who had brought Miles and the others in—their gazes totally changed.
Even if there was no record of Miles among pro duelists, anyone capable of holding a God Card could not possibly be ordinary.
"So you planned this from the start?" The bearded researcher frowned deeply.
"Heheh, of course," Chi replied with smug pride.
Of course, she didn't know!
Before this, how could Chi possibly have imagined that a boy she bumped into on the street would be carrying a God Card?
A God Card was far beyond normal classification… Chi's innate talent couldn't see through something like that at all.
"As expected of the duelist I set my eyes on… Miles, you really are something!"
Regardless, the fact that Miles possessed a God Card only worked more in Chi's favor. The ones panicking the most now were the researchers betting their Gandora cards.
However, this duel—one enough to shake KaibaCorp—had only just begun.
Once his monsters were Special Summoned successfully, Miles swept his arm sideways, overlapping the two monster cards on his Duel Disk.
"I overlay my two Level 2 monsters—constructing the overlay network! Here we go—Xyz Summon!"
"Xyz Summon?!"
This time, the KaibaCorp elite researchers fully lost it.
The radiance blooming on Miles's field was unmistakably a brand‑new summoning method.
And as KaibaCorp elites, they knew: Another department in the company was planning to develop a new summoning method. Still in conceptual stages, codenamed Xyz—and that was exactly what Miles was using now.
Not only did he possess a God Card—he could also use a summoning method that had not yet been introduced to the world.
"Chi… who on earth is that guy?!"
Having struggled in this field for years, the bearded researcher was no fool.
Someone like this, coming specifically to KaibaCorp, wanting to meet Seto Kaiba—This was bound to trigger an unimaginable storm throughout the entire Duel Monsters world.
At this point, Chi could no longer pretend.
"If I said I nearly ran into him by accident this morning while rushing to work… would you believe me?"
"Ha?"
The bearded researcher's expression screamed: Why are you treating me like an idiot when I've done nothing to offend you?
"Pegasus's wings pierce the rainbow! Ride forth with the lance of Xyz light! Xyz Summon! Rank 2—'Sky Cavalry Centaurea'!"
[Sky Cavalry Centaurea] Rank 2│LIGHT│Beast-Warrior│2000 ATK
[2 Level 2 monsters]
A resonant, heroic whinny shook the battlefield. Unfolding its magnificent wings in the Xyz radiance, the sacred pegasus knight surged forward, lance raised, appearing in the sky above the tech duel platform.
"It really is an Xyz Summon? Truly incredible."
Miles had absolutely surpassed Ether's initial expectations. Under the glow of this new form of summoning, perhaps this boy truly could stand toe‑to‑toe with the Duel King.
What surprised Ether even more, however, was that the two girls beside her showed no visible reaction whatsoever—not to Miles revealing a God Card, nor to him completing an Xyz Summon.
As if the rapid‑fire, worldview‑shattering twists that left KaibaCorp's elite stunned in seconds… were things these two found completely normal.
"Battle—!"
Miles declared his entry into the Battle Phase. The sacred knight flared its wings and spun its lance, the tip tracing a gleaming path of attack.
"Charge forth with your radiant spear—show me the monster you're hiding, Duel King!"
One thrust pierced the face‑down Defense card—but the soft, squishy sensation that followed made Miles grimace.
His knight's lance had pierced… a marshmallow.
Yugi flipped the facedown monster: "The monster I set is 'Marshmallon'. And Marshmallon cannot be destroyed by battle!"
[Marshmallon] Level 3│LIGHT│Fairy│300 ATK
[This card cannot be destroyed by battle.]
Called a marshmallow, but it looked more like a squishy mochi that could reshape itself freely.
Though 'Sky Cavalry Centaurea' had pierced a massive hole straight through it, the Marshmallon simply regenerated, returning to its original shape.
Yugi continued, "And when Marshmallon is flipped face-up by an attack while in face-down Defense Position, it inflicts 1000 damage to you, Miles!"
[Miles, LP: 3200 → 2200]
Even though Miles had initiated the attack, it was Miles who took the damage—his Life Points dropped to nearly half right from the start.
Just as he expected—despite being a simulation, this AI faithfully recreated Yugi Muto's dueling style.
Miles lowered his lance helplessly. His Xyz Monster still had another effect:
[At the end of the Damage Step when this card battles an opponent's monster: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; return that opponent's monster to the hand.]
An effect that could detach an Xyz Material to bounce the opponent's monster back to the hand.
If Yugi had summoned any other monster, Miles would have activated it without hesitation.
But this monster was Marshmallon.
If Miles returned it to Yugi's hand, Yugi would simply Set it again—and he'd eat another 1000 damage. His Life Points wouldn't survive the second hit.
"I end my Battle Phase."
Miles made the only reasonable choice.
Abruptly, then, just as he ended the Battle Phase—another disturbance occurred.
Not within the duel.
But outside of it.
The entire KaibaCorp building began to shake violently.
From deep beneath the structure, an ancient super‑civilization weapon—far beyond modern understanding—reacted to the evolution born from the attack of the newly‑summoned Xyz Monster.
...
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