It had been almost three days since Koneko last visited Daniel's house. Though the loneliness disturbed his routine a little, he accepted the change calmly. He missed having someone to play cards with, but soon found a productive way to spend that time: exploring.
Ever since he arrived in this world, he had barely gone out. His life had been reduced to a simple cycle: from home to school, from school back home, with the occasional stop at the mall or a small convenience store. Now, walking through parks or quiet streets had become his way of filling the empty hours.
Daniel preferred to avoid the busy avenues, always crowded with traffic and people. That day, he had decided to pass the time by feeding pigeons that seemed to live in a nearby park. Maybe it was carelessness, or maybe he just enjoyed the feeling of giving food to something else, but time slipped away from him. By the time he noticed, it was already quite late, and getting home was more complicated than expected.
Until then, he hadn't really explored much of the neighborhood where he lived. The system had given him a house in a relatively secluded area, and after walking for a while, he began to suspect—with growing unease—that he was lost.
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Tap. Tap. Tap.
Daniel's footsteps echoed through the empty street. An unusual chill for the season crawled across his skin, and the dim light grew more unsettling under the flickering streetlamps, which cast twisted shadows against peeling walls. Overturned trash cans and cracked masonry completed the sense of abandonment.
—"Where did I end up? A warehouse?"
A wrong turn in the maze of streets had brought him to what looked like an abandoned factory or storage building. Daniel didn't recall ever seeing it near his home, which confirmed—much to his embarrassment—that he was completely lost.
—"Maybe I should've bought a phone…" he muttered.
He had never considered it necessary; after all, he had no one to talk to. But now, thinking about how useful a GPS app would be, he could only sigh. Of course, he wasn't even sure such apps existed in this world.
Shaking his head, he turned around. Best to retrace his steps—maybe then he could find the way home.
CRACK.
A sharp noise froze him in place. His eyes scanned the surroundings: empty bottles, rusted cans, garbage piled beside rotting wooden crates. Beyond that, the interior of the building looked even more sinister; darkness reigned where the streetlights couldn't reach.
Daniel hesitated. He wasn't stupid. He had seen enough horror movies to know that the curious always died first. So he turned on his heel, ready to bolt.
He had barely taken a few steps when something whizzed past him and smashed against the wall. He stopped instantly. What he saw made his blood run cold: embedded in the bloodied splatter on the wall was a pale, round shape.
A human skull.
Cold sweat trickled down his back, and his heart pounded wildly. He didn't need to think twice. Summoning every ounce of strength in his legs, he sprinted toward the exit. He didn't look back—but he didn't need to. The sound of something dragging itself and tearing through the walls pursued him.
—"Kyaajaja… why run, darling? Come, let this lady give you a hug."
The voice belonged to a grotesque creature, a monstrous amalgam: a giant spider with the torso of a woman jutting from its head. Had Koneko been there, she would have recognized it instantly—a stray devil, one who had fled or betrayed its master and survived by devouring humans.
Daniel had no idea what that thing was, but he didn't stop. He didn't even glance back at her voice. If he did, he was done for.
—"Tsk, you're no fun. Guess I won't be playing with you after all."
With a sudden motion, the creature grabbed one of the rotten crates and hurled it at him. Terrified, Daniel barely dodged in time. The demon shrieked with laughter and continued throwing crates, as if his fear was part of a sadistic game.
That's when Daniel realized: running wouldn't be enough. She wasn't trying to catch him—she was toying with him, like a cruel cat with a cornered mouse.
He backed up a few steps. The creature's playful smile told him she was already savoring the end. She blocked the only exit; escape was impossible. Daniel understood instantly: if he wanted to survive, he had to fight… or hope for a rescue that, realistically, would never come.
He focused on the system that appeared before his eyes. Fighting didn't seem so absurd now. After all, that had to be part of the system's function. When it rewarded him with duel energy and experience, Daniel had wondered if they were some sort of "currency" for acquiring cards. But when he asked, the system had answered plainly: energy allows the projection of monsters and effects.
So… was it only for playing cards with Koneko? Obviously not. The system had never set a limit. And now, standing on the edge of life and death, he decided to find out how far it could go.
Clenching his teeth, he ordered the system to use all his duel energy. It was all or nothing.
He felt power surge into his left arm, condensing into form. The shape that emerged startled him, painfully familiar from anime, manga, and games: a Duel Disk.
Its surface looked crystalline, dyed a deep black. The card slots were empty, but with a mere thought he loaded one of his decks into the device. Everything was ready… except for one problem: how was he supposed to use it in reality?
Unaware of Daniel's dilemma, the spider-creature grew more serious. The boy's aura had shifted, and the strange device on his arm stirred her suspicion.
—"A Sacred Gear? …Doesn't seem like it." She smirked maliciously. "Looks like playtime's over. Time to eat."
With a piercing shriek, she lunged at him.
Panic seized Daniel. With trembling hands, he drew a random card from his deck and slammed it into the Duel Disk: Ancient Gear Soldier (ATK 1300 / DEF 1300). Praying it would matter, he watched the monster's claws descend straight toward his face.
—"So this is how it ends…" he thought with a resigned sigh. "At least I enjoyed a month."
A strange calm settled over him, as if he had already accepted his fate. He was about to close his eyes.
But the pain never came.
The claws stopped mere inches from his face. In front of him stood a metallic colossus nearly three meters tall, its rusted frame armed with a crude cannon on its arm. It was the Ancient Gear Soldier—a living machine, its gears grinding loudly with each movement. Steam hissed from its body as it fought to hold back the spider demon.