Three weeks after the adults disappeared, I learned that the world had become very simple.
Not easier.
Simple.
You needed three things.
Water.
Food.
Duel Points.
Everything else was optional.
My name is Kai.
I'm seventeen years old.
And, as far as I know, I'm one of the oldest people left alive.
That's a strange sentence to think about when you're seventeen.
Three weeks ago, being seventeen meant I was almost an adult.
Now it meant I was one of the people responsible for keeping civilization from completely collapsing.
I didn't feel responsible.
I felt tired.
I was sitting on the roof of an apartment building, eating crackers for breakfast.
One cracker.
Then a sip of water.
Another cracker.
Then another sip.
I looked at the half-empty bottle beside me.
"Breakfast of champions."
I stared at the crackers.
"Champions who are about to starve."
I shoved the rest into my mouth.
The city below me was almost unrecognizable.
Cars were abandoned in the streets.
Traffic lights changed colors for nobody.
A bus had crashed through a convenience store three blocks away and had been sitting there for almost a month.
There were fires in the distance.
Nobody had bothered putting them out.
Nobody was coming.
That was the hardest part.
Not the destruction.
Not the hunger.
Not even the monsters.
It was the fact that the world had stopped waiting for someone older to fix it.
The adults were gone.
Every person eighteen or older had disappeared.
No exceptions.
My mother.
My father.
My teachers.
Police officers.
Doctors.
Firefighters.
Politicians.
Soldiers.
Everyone.
One moment they existed.
The next, they didn't.
There had been theories.
Some people said they were kidnapped.
Some said they'd been transported somewhere.
Some religious groups said it was the end of the world.
Others insisted they'd come back.
I didn't believe any of them.
Because three weeks was a long time to be missing.
Especially when nobody had left behind a body.
Or a message.
Or even a clue.
Just an empty world.
And then, on the third day, the Duel Disks appeared.
Nobody knew where they came from.
They simply appeared.
On tables.
In stores.
In abandoned cars.
In people's bedrooms.
One appeared beside me while I was sleeping.
It was already registered to me.
That was when the voice first spoke.
WELCOME, DUELIST.
I threw it against the wall.
It came back.
I threw it again.
It came back again.
Eventually, I gave up.
The voice continued.
DUEL POINTS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED.
A number appeared on the screen.
1,000.
DUEL POINTS MAY BE EXCHANGED FOR FOOD, WATER, MEDICINE AND OTHER ESSENTIAL RESOURCES.
That part had made sense.
Then came the part that changed everything.
DUEL POINTS REACHING ZERO WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION.
I had thought it was a joke.
Then I watched someone reach zero.
It wasn't.
Since then, people had started calling Duel Points "life."
I hated that.
Life Points were already a thing.
Those belonged to the game.
Duel Points belonged to the person.
The distinction mattered.
A lot.
Because a duel could leave you bleeding on the ground while you still had hundreds of Duel Points.
And someone could have thousands of Duel Points and still die inside a duel if their Life Points reached zero.
The rules of the game hadn't changed.
The consequences had.
That was the part nobody was prepared for.
My Duel Disk beeped.
I looked down.
DUEL POINTS: 1,420
I smiled.
"Okay."
That was better.
I'd spent most of yesterday scavenging an abandoned shopping center.
Apparently someone had left behind a working Duel Terminal.
Apparently it had been very popular.
Apparently beating the automated duelists gave out Duel Points.
Apparently I'd been sitting there for six hours.
Apparently I was a loser.
But I was a living loser.
And I'd eaten yesterday.
That's what mattered.
I stood up.
The wind blew through the ruined streets.
My deck was inside my jacket.
I touched it.
Twenty-something cards.
Mostly Warriors.
Nothing fancy.
Just cards I'd collected over the years.
Some powerful.
Some terrible.
Some I liked because of their artwork.
Some because I'd once traded for them with friends.
And some because they had somehow become useful now.
Makyura the Destructor.
Freed the Brave Wanderer.
Knight of Twin Swords.
The Last Warrior from Another Planet.
And a collection of Equip Spells.
Including one card I had always thought looked ridiculous.
Metalsilver Armor.
Funny how quickly the stupid cards stopped being stupid when getting hit by them could actually hurt.
I climbed down from the roof.
The streets were busier than usual.
That was never a good sign.
A crowd had gathered around the old shopping plaza.
I stopped at the edge.
A boy stood in the center.
Seventeen, maybe.
Black jacket.
Short blond hair.
Duel Disk already activated.
Across from him stood a girl who couldn't have been older than fourteen.
She looked terrified.
The boy smiled.
"You heard the rules."
The girl nodded.
"Winner takes the loser's stake."
"Yes."
"Then put up your Duel Points."
"I only have eighty."
The boy laughed.
"Then eighty it is."
I frowned.
Something was wrong.
Not technically.
The system allowed wagers.
But he wasn't interested in the eighty.
He was interested in the girl.
"You know what happens when your Duel Points reach zero?"
She swallowed.
"You die."
"Good."
The boy raised his Duel Disk.
"Then you understand the stakes."
Nobody intervened.
Of course they didn't.
The crowd had learned the same lesson I had.
Nobody wanted to become the next person lying on the ground.
I looked around.
There were maybe thirty people watching.
Thirty people.
And not one person willing to step forward.
I sighed.
"Great."
I walked into the circle.
The boy looked at me.
"You want something?"
"Yeah."
I pointed toward the girl.
"You're done."
He laughed.
"You her guardian?"
"No."
"Then mind your own business."
"I was going to."
I paused.
"But then you started being annoying."
A few people in the crowd snickered.
His smile disappeared.
"You got a problem?"
"Several."
I raised my Duel Disk.
"But we can start with you."
The girl stared at me.
"Don't."
I looked at her.
She shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"I probably don't."
"He's strong."
I looked back at the boy.
Then at my deck.
"That's unfortunate."
I smiled.
"So am I."
The Duel Disk activated.
A holographic field spread across the plaza.
The boy's expression changed.
"You know what happens if you lose?"
"Probably."
"You could lose more than your points."
I glanced down at my hands.
They were shaking.
I hated that.
Fear was useful.
Panic wasn't.
I took a breath.
Then smiled.
"Then I guess I shouldn't lose."
The system spoke.
DUEL INITIATED.
Both Duel Disks displayed the same message.
LIFE POINTS: 4000
Then another.
DUEL POINT STAKE: 100
I looked at the number.
One hundred.
Not much.
But enough for food.
Enough for water.
Enough to matter.
The boy drew his opening hand.
I drew mine.
Five cards.
I looked at them.
My heartbeat slowed.
There was no point being afraid anymore.
The game had started.
And this time…
Losing wasn't an option.
The duel began with the sound of a card being drawn.
The boy standing across from him glanced at the card in his hand before placing it with the others.
"Since I challenged you," the Lazar said, "I'll take the first turn."
The other boy scoffed.
"Go ahead."
The Lazar drew his opening hand down to five cards, keeping the faces hidden from both his opponent and the reader.
He studied the field.
Nothing.
No monsters.
No Spell or Trap cards.
Just five empty Monster Zones staring back at him.
His opponent had the same.
Lazar exhaled.
"Let's see what you've got."
Turn 1 — Lazar
Draw Phase.
He drew one card.
His eyes briefly moved across his hand.
Then he placed a monster onto the field.
"I Normal Summon Goblin Attack Force."
The machine-like Duel Disk registered the summon.
A hulking goblin warrior appeared on the field, gripping its massive weapon.
Goblin Attack Force — ATK 2300 / DEF 0
The other boy's expression changed slightly.
2300 ATK.
For a first-turn monster, it wasn't bad.
The MC didn't say anything.
He simply looked at the field.
Then he placed one card face-down in his Spell & Trap Zone.
Click.
His opponent watched the card carefully.
"One set card?"
Lazar leaned back slightly.
"That's all."
He didn't reveal anything else.
"I end my turn."
Turn 2 — Jamal
Jamal drew.
He looked at his new card.
Then at his hand.
A smile slowly appeared.
This was exactly what he needed.
His hand now contained six cards:
Tri-Horned Dragon.
Rabidragon.
Lord of D.
Luster Dragon #1.
Luster Dragon#2.
Flute of Summoning Dragon.
His eyes settled on Goblin Attack Force.
2300 ATK.
Strong enough to make attacking immediately inconvenient.
But it didn't matter.
He had a way around it.
His fingers tightened around the cards.
Lord of D.
Flute.
Rabidragon.
Tri-Horned Dragon.
That was the sequence.
First, Lord of D.
Then Flute of Summoning Dragon.
Then the two Dragons.
And once all three were on the field—
7000 ATK.
His opponent only had 4000 Life Points.
The duel would be over this turn.
He almost laughed.
He has no idea.
He placed his hand down.
"I'm starting my turn."
He entered his Main Phase.
His eyes went toward the 2300 ATK Goblin.
There was no reason to attack it with anything he currently had.
So he wouldn't.
Instead, he placed a monster onto the field.
"I Normal Summon Lord of D."
The card hit the field.
A dark-robed magician appeared, his staff resting against the ground.
Lord of D. — ATK 1200 / DEF 1100
Lazar's eyes narrowed.
For the first time since the duel began, his expression changed.
1200 ATK.
His opponent had just deliberately put a 1200 ATK monster in front of a 2300 ATK monster.
And there was no other monster on the field.
The boy across from him hadn't even bothered to Set a monster.
That was strange.
Very strange.
Jamal reached for another card.
"Now I activate—"
The MC's fingers moved.
"Hold on."
The opponent stopped.
The MC flipped his face-down card.
"Horn of Heaven."
The Trap card activated.
Jamal's eyes widened.
Lazar continued.
"I Tribute one monster to negate the Summon of your monster."
His eyes moved toward Goblin Attack Force.
"Goodbye."
The 2300 ATK goblin disappeared from the field.
The Horn of Heaven's effect resolved.
Lord of D.'s Summon was negated.
Lord of D. vanished before it could properly remain on the field.
Jamal stared.
His mouth opened slightly.
"No…"
The MC said nothing.
His Trap had already done its job.
The opponent looked down at his hand.
Flute of Summoning Dragon.
Useless now.
Lord of D. was gone.
Without it, the Flute couldn't do what he had planned.
The boy slowly closed his hand around the card.
"You…"
The MC raised an eyebrow.
"Me?"
"You knew."
The MC gave him a confused look.
"Knew what?"
The opponent didn't answer.
Because that was the problem.
The MC hadn't known.
He couldn't have.
He hadn't seen the hand.
He hadn't known about the Flute.
He hadn't known about the Dragons.
He had simply looked at a 1200 ATK monster being summoned into the path of a 2300 ATK monster.
And he had suspected something.
The MC glanced at the destroyed Goblin Attack Force.
Worth it.
He had given up his strongest monster to stop something he couldn't fully understand.
But that was what made the play work.
He didn't need to know the opponent's entire plan.
He only needed to recognize that something was wrong.
Jamal stared at the empty field.
His perfect turn had collapsed before it even started.
He still had five cards.
But his strongest sequence was gone.
He looked back at the Lazar.
"You're annoying."
Lazar shrugged.
"I've been told."
Jamal clenched his teeth.
He couldn't attack.
He had no monsters left.
He couldn't activate Flute of Summoning Dragon.
And there was nothing else in his hand he could immediately use to recover the turn in the way he'd intended.
He looked at his remaining cards.
Luster Dragon#1.
Luster Dragon#2.
Rabidragon.
Tri-Horned Dragon.
Flute of Summoning Dragon.
He had power.
But not yet.
He placed his hand down.
"I end my turn."
The field went quiet.
Both players had taken a turn.
Neither had lost a single Life Point.
But the duel had already changed.
Lazar's Goblin Attack Force was gone.
His opponent's Lord of D. was gone.
And somewhere between those two losses, Lazar had learned something important.
His opponent wasn't going to play normally.
He was building toward something.
The Lazar looked across the field.
"Your move was weird."
The other boy stared at him.
"What?"
"You summoned a 1200 ATK monster when I had 2300."
Lazar leaned against the railing behind him.
"People don't usually do that unless they have a reason."
A pause.
"So next time…"
His eyes moved toward the opponent's hand.
"…I'm going to assume there's a reason."
Jamal said nothing.
But for the first time, his confidence was gone.
The duel was only beginning.
Turn 3 — Lazar
Lazar drew.
He looked at the card.
Then at the empty field where Goblin Attack Force had been.
He had traded his strongest monster for a Trap that had stopped whatever his opponent was preparing.
Now he needed to rebuild.
He placed a monster onto the field.
"I Normal Summon Freed the Brave Wanderer."
A warrior appeared on Lazar's field, sword drawn and ready.
Freed the Brave Wanderer — ATK 1700
The opponent looked at it.
1700.
Not enough to be threatening in the long term.
But Lazar wasn't planning to wait.
He entered the Battle Phase.
"Freed attacks you directly."
The warrior charged forward.
Jamal had no monster on the field to block the attack.
Freed's blade struck him.
1700 damage.
Jamal's Life Points fell:
2300 LP
Lazar's Life Points remained:
4000 LP
Jamal staggered backward, one hand clutching his side.
Lazar lowered his arm.
"Main Phase 2."
He looked over the field.
There was nothing else he needed to do.
"I end my turn."
Turn 4 — Jamal
Jamal drew his next card.
His eyes immediately returned to the field.
Freed the Brave Wanderer.
1700 ATK.
He had something that could handle it.
He placed a card onto the field.
"I Normal Summon Luster Dragon #1."
A blue-scaled dragon emerged onto the field.
Luster Dragon — ATK 1900
Lazar watched it carefully.
The opponent didn't waste time.
"Battle Phase."
Luster Dragon spread its wings.
"Luster Dragon #1 attacks Freed the Brave Wanderer!"
The dragon lunged forward.
Freed raised his sword.
The two monsters collided.
But the numbers were against him.
1900 ATK vs. 1700 ATK.
Luster Dragon tore through Freed.
Freed the Brave Wanderer was destroyed.
Lazar took the difference in damage.
200 damage.
His Life Points dropped from:
4000 → 3800
Lazar looked at the destroyed warrior.
The opponent had recovered.
He now had a 1900 ATK monster on the field.
And Lazar had nothing.
For the moment.
The opponent looked across the field.
His confidence was returning.
Lazar simply drew his next card into his hand.