Endo stood frozen in place, his fingers stiff in midair, not even daring to catch that virtual coin.
That feeling of having his burning fighting spirit drained away in an instant left his entire body weak.
The Cyber Style apprentices around him fell into a deathly silence. Even the coach who had been berating him just moments ago now only stared blankly at Endo's Life Points dropping to zero, his lips moving yet unable to utter a single word.
"Prison bro…"
Rikka stood to the side, her azure eyes wide open. She looked at those Trap Cards, then at Raku standing in the shadows with an expression as calm as ever.
"Winning like this…"
The Cyber Style coach suddenly stepped forward, his face flushed a dark, liver-like red. He stared at Raku, his tone no longer contemptuous, but something far more complicated and difficult to describe. "You… where did you learn such a vicious playstyle?"
"This isn't vicious."
Raku removed his right hand from the card slot on his Duel Disk. The illusory images of the Trap Cards flickered in the air for a moment before dissolving into fine red particles. He looked at those eyes, still dazed from shock, his voice carrying no discernible emotion. "This is the only solution. My struggle to keep winning."
He quoted that well-known maxim of the Cyber Style.
The students in blue uniforms around them all froze, as if something had caught in their throats. Using such a cold, almost despicable burn strategy, yet speaking the very belief in victory that Cyber Style revered most.
The coach opened his mouth, his fleshy face alternating between red and pale, before finally letting out a heavy snort and turning away to help Endo, who had yet to recover.
Raku didn't wait for them to react. He simply turned around and called out.
"Alright, let's go."
"O-oh!" Rikka followed right away, the hem of her oversized black coat dragging a line across the grass.
After walking some distance, the shouts in the park and that stifling, oppressive heat gradually gave way to the honking of cars on the street. Rikka leaned closer, lowering her voice as that silver-white ahoge atop her head trembled in the wind.
"Prison bro, how did you end up like this?"
Her small face scrunched up, her blue eyes full of curiosity. "That kind of playstyle… it's honestly terrifying. You felt like some ultimate final boss."
"What choice do I have?"
Raku sighed, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. "I opened packs at the card shop, two whole boxes, and they were all Spell and Trap Cards. Who am I supposed to complain to? I originally planned to go full beatdown, but I need Monster Cards for that, don't I?"
Rikka froze for a moment, then burst into unrestrained laughter.
"Ah! That's just terrible luck! Hahaha!"
She slapped Raku on the shoulder, laughing so hard tears almost came out. "I thought you'd awakened some weird, sadistic trait or something. If that's the case, then I'm relieved."
The common sense of this world told her that a deck reflected its user's personality. Since her brother had resorted to such a sinister strategy purely because of bad luck, the image of him as her laid-back, good-for-nothing brother remained as solid as ever.
"Whatever… Winning is what matters."
Raku stared at the interwoven light and shadows on the ground, his mind rapidly calculating.
Relying solely on Trap Cards like this was a one-shot deal; fine for crushing weaker opponents in low-level matches, but if he ran into a true Tier 1 deck with strong endurance and rapid resource cycling, these flimsy Trap Cards wouldn't even count as a shield.
Especially Runick…
Since this line of thinking worked in this world, he had to replenish his resources.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Rikka suddenly hopped in front of Raku, pulling out a small sealed package from the oversized sleeve of her coat as if performing a magic trick. "Here, an early reward for you, big bro. I saved up my allowance for a long time to buy this 'mixed all-types pack.' Want to give it a try?"
"It'll probably just be more Spells and Traps anyway."
Raku took it with a bit of resignation. The plastic wrapping of the pack still carried a trace of warmth, and the printed pattern on its surface was blurry.
Raku tore open the seal.
The first card: silver, with a metallic sheen.
[Cyber Dragon Core]
The second card glowed with a blue light.
[Cyber Dragon Herz]
Then came the projection of a purple Fusion Monster.
[Chimeratech Fortress Dragon]
And then, two faces all too familiar in the competitive scene.
[Infinite Impermanence], [Cyber Emergency].
Raku froze in place.
The moment his fingers touched the cards, a resonance he had never felt before traveled from his fingertips straight to his heart.
These were no longer cold, lifeless scraps of paper.
"What… is going on?"
Raku's mind began to race like an overclocked processor.
This wasn't a coincidence.
Absolutely not.
If it were simply because he wasn't recognized by Duel Spirits, why had the two entire boxes he opened earlier not contained even a single lowest-tier Normal Monster? And yet now, right after he had just defeated a Cyber Style user, this casually opened pack contained nothing but core Cyber Dragon cards?
No, that wasn't right.
It wasn't that the spirits disliked him… or rather, this wasn't about "recognition" at all.
Right now, he was like a newcomer who had just arrived. To the Duel Spirits, Raku was a complete nobody. They didn't know him, didn't understand him; he was nothing more than a stranger.
So they didn't respond. After all, you wouldn't actively approach someone you had never even met.
So, that duel just now… was the first mark Raku had left in this world.
Right under the gaze of the Cyber Dragons, he had used those Trap Cards that were treated as worthless scraps to forcibly bring their proud iron advance to a halt.
They had seen him.
Not only had they seen him, they had also remembered this anomalous existence named "Raku."
If the first rule of this world was dueling, then Duel Spirits were like knights searching for a king. To earn the allegiance of powerful monsters, strength alone wasn't enough; you had to let them know that there existed a "king" worthy of following, one of virtue and ability. Or at the very least, one with a distinct character.
Raku's reputation would be the perfect banner of recruitment.
He had to make a name for himself.
So that the spirits lurking within cards, slumbering in ruins, or seated high upon their pedestals would all see the name "Raku."
Looking at the few heavy monster cards in his hand, the gloom in Raku's heart suddenly lifted.
"What is it, big bro?" Rikka tilted her head as she looked at him. "Did you pull some weird Spell Card again?"
"No."
Raku closed the pack and reached out to ruffle her soft silver hair.
"I pulled something pretty good."
"Eh? Really? Let me see!"
"Later."
Raku looked toward the shop sign at the end of the street, steam rising from it, and his stomach growled right on cue.
"Come on, I'll take you out for hot pot."
Rikka cheered, the ahoge on her coat swaying as it traced a lively arc under the sunlight.
"Hehe, I want the spiciest one!"
"No way. Last time you had spicy food, you had diarrhea for a whole day. Forgot already?"
"That was an accident! That chili was the one at fault!"
The two walked side by side along the bustling sidewalk, as Raku tucked the warm Cyber Dragon cards into his coat.
...
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