Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!
After a long wait, Link World Online has finally welcomed its official public beta moment.
The card enthusiasts from another world have long been eager, and a group of people are surely itching to log in to the game's interface now, impatiently waiting to jump in and play cards.
Isn't there a saying that goes like this?
My right hand is already itching with anticipation!
[Update complete, public beta launching, retrieving link data... Retrieval complete!]
[Link World 1.0 version is now live, Duelists, please prepare yourselves!]
To this world, perhaps without any warning, a large number of visitors from another realm suddenly descended upon this land.
This time is different from the closed beta; although it's just the first batch, the number of public beta players is much higher than during the closed beta. Naturally, the probability of players landing in the same place has also increased significantly.
Of course, as the core stage of the Yu-Gi-Oh World, Domino City remains the first map where players arrive.
The closed beta had just a three-digit number of players, so for most people, this is their first time logging into Link World. At this moment, players all look curious, full of anticipation for this new game.
"Are we really logged into the game?"
"Whoa, this feels so real, it's so lifelike!"
"Bro, did I log into the wrong game? Isn't this a card game? How can it be this realistic?"
"No way, the K Consortium really wasn't bluffing this time; this game is truly blowing my mind!"
"..."
Just one minute after the server opened, the players have already started to reveal their goofy nature.
Some are hopping around, some are rolling on the ground, some are jumping from side to side, and there's even a guy hugging a tree trunk, trying to see if he can climb it.
Someone is encouraging their friend to find the largest possible brick and swing it at their forehead with all their might. The reason? To test if you can die in this game other than just playing cards...
Another guy patted himself all over from head to toe, confirmed that clothes and pants seemed removable, and started lamenting: "Damn! If I had known this game is so open and real, I would've played a female character!"
Incredibly, this even received quite a bit of agreement from the players around him.....
Man, that wasn't smart!
If you play a female character and make a prettier face, couldn't you be self-sufficient?
If you're lucky and your charm value randomly gets high, maybe you could even seduce the President or the King for some benefits?
...Well, that last part was just talk.
After all, this place is famously the world of Yugi-King.
Everyone knows the only things the President is interested in are Blue Eyes and the King.
And the only thing the King is interested in is AIBO (Yugi)...
Actually, the public beta slots are also limited in number.
The short two-day closed beta was basically just to test whether the game runs well and if there are any major bugs; it's hard for players to make much progress in just two days of closed beta testing.
But the public beta is different. Because the public beta spans the entire Battle City arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! DM—the whole Battle City Tournament, as the anime tells us, only lasted a few days, but these few days encapsulated an incredibly important chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh! DM.
This is a storyline only public beta players have the chance to participate in. Not to mention the nearly impossible-to-see wager card rules in the Duel City Tournament; if you're lucky, you might make a fortune in the tournament over these few days.
However, each account only has one chance to create a character. Once you've fine-tuned your character's appearance and created it, you can't change it unless you delete your account and re-register.
However, it's pretty clear that deleting your account would invalidate your public beta qualification as well.
So the idea of a bunch of guys playing female characters probably has to be shelved...
...
After a long and excruciating wait, Xue Lang logged into the game as soon as the server went live.
Since he was a closed beta player, his login location was naturally where he last logged off—which was on the bridge where he previously triggered the Darkness hidden quest.
But of course, there's nothing there now...
Xue Lang stared blankly at his quest list, falling into a long contemplation.
Where's the quest?
Before logging off, he was sure there was a quest titled "A Mysterious Person's Challenge" in his list.
Although the quest description was empty and the rewards and contents seemed ambiguous... But at least the title was in the list!
How could a giant hidden quest just disappear like that?
Could it be... Youyu completed it alone?
That shouldn't be possible, right?
How could there be such an absurd thing as an NPC stealing player quests?
While he was still bewildered, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder from behind.
"Hey, man, what a coincidence that we've met again!"
The moment Xue Lang heard that distinct voice, he immediately guessed the person's identity, turned around, and exclaimed excitedly, "Jie-ge!"
Inexorably Jie pushed up his black glasses, revealing a "sincere" smile: "What a coincidence, meeting again."
Seeing "Jie-ge" standing there, solid and reliable, Xue Lang immediately felt much more at ease.
The two had already reached an agreement during the closed beta, secretly forming a "Youyu Fan Club." So far, it's just the two of them, and they plan to keep it that way for quite some time.
They didn't dare to dream of monopolizing Youyu. After all, as an important storyline NPC, he'll definitely participate in the main storyline eventually and become recognized by all players.
So what they need to do is suck up as much as they can before Youyu gets too busy with other players, exchanging as much goodwill as possible for powerful Rare Cards, becoming the top runners among the players.
The ultimate goal is to become the top-tier card enthusiasts dominating Linked World, showing off in front of thousands of card players!
Only by being the most flattering dog to NPCs can you show off the most stylishly among players!
But even flattery requires skill; first, you need to pick the right target.
At that moment, Xue Lang saw a group of clueless newcomers posting on the forum—some were asking how to enter Kaiba Company to meet the CEO, while others asked for the game store's address, so they could follow the map to flatter him.
Xue Lang immediately sneered in his heart.
Heh, newbies, so naive.
What's the use of flattering Yugi?
He won't play cards with you, won't give you quests, nor sell you cards—even if you buy cards from Yugi's card shop, players can't use them.
To Yugi, players buzzing around him may just be ordinary "Duel King fans," and you might end up reducing your goodwill by the end of your effort since he might find you annoying.
Look at how great our Youyu is.
Not only does he give you experience and quests, but he also sells Super Rare Cards, and if he's in a good mood, he might take you along for quests!
... It's just that if you disconnect during a quest, he might snatch your quest...
But those are all minor issues!
Xue Lang carefully reflected, believing that disconnections during quests were his fault and shouldn't be blamed on Youyu!
Youyu, wait for me, I'm coming!