Yutaka woke up with a massive splitting headache.
It was like someone was playing gongs in his head.
Was this how people with migraine felt like?
If so, he was not understanding enough of their pain in the past.
"Here is some aspirin." Someone handed him a pill and a canteen of water.
Since he was loopy, Yutaka took it without questioning it.
Of course, this was not some magic pill; it would not be able to stop his headaches just as he took it, but at least it helped him psychologically. It was called the placebo effect or something.
"You woke up just in time. We were about to play a game, you see; care to join us?" The kind voice continued. There was just something about this voice that made people want to trust them.
"Oh sure..." That was the instance when Yuta had looked up to see the person talking to him.
WTF!
It was the Demon King Yami Bakura!
He wanted to back out now, but he was afraid he was already in a shadow game and that would count as forfeiting the game along with his life.
"Wonderful! Come join us by the campfire; Yugi will explain the game," said Bakura kindly, which sent shivers down Yuta's spine.
He might have dissed Yami Bakura in the past as the most miserable boss to ever exist, but that didn't take away his final boss status.
ONLY the main character was allowed to beat him, and he would simply devour others like candy.
Maybe he should find a way to pass this burden to Yami Yugi. After all, it was his final boss. What did it have to do with a passerby like him?
"Oh great! You woke up Yuta. We were just about to play a game of Duel Monsters with Bakura for fun," Mini Yugi explained to him as he pointed beside him for Yuta to sit. He had especially saved it for him since there was so much he wanted to talk about with him regarding Duel Monsters. Maybe that way Yuta could open up to them and become even better friends.
"Yes, for fun... sureeeeee," Yuta replied sarcastically, but no one took him seriously, as they had just thought he was grumpy after waking up.
"So here is how we are going to play: each of us will pick our favourite cards and hand them to the player to add to their deck. In this case, for the first round I will be the player. And then the player will challenge the Demon King, which will be played by Bakura for this round. Then we will keep changing roles and keep playing until we get bored. It's such a fun game, isn't it!?" Mini Yugi explained excitedly. He loved anything concerning games and puzzles, as they were his forte.
"And I am assuming you were the one who came up with it?" Yuta asked hopefully because if so, he could back out without any fear.
"No, it was Bakura. And we all agreed to play. Why?" Mini Yugi asked, confused.
Doomed!
He was doomed!
The conditions to start a shadow game had already been established, and he had also already agreed to it as soon as he woke up.
Anyway, for now, Yugi was the first to go. Because of their relationship, even if Bakura intended to start a shadow game, he should go after Yugi instead of him... hopefully.
"Wait, so Tristan and Tea are also playing?" Yutaka asked, confused, since according to his memory they were nothing more than members of the peanut gallery. He wasn't even sure if they had their own decks. At least Tristan shouldn't since he already s-
"Yes, we are playing. Now that Yuta is awake, why don't we introduce our favourite cards once again? Mine is Magician of Faith!" Tea said as she proudly showed the Magician of Faith she owned.
Fuck! Another ten-thousand-year banlist card from the early format!
Though unlike Graceful Charity and Pot of Greed, it was actually released from the banlist.
Why?
Because it was a Flip effect monster, and as everyone knows, in the current format anything that didn't activate instantly was garbage, including trap cards.
That was why Labyrnth archetype in the modern format that focused on traps also had cards that allowed it to be activated the turn it was set.
Now why was this card banned in the first place?
This was due to its Flip effect, which allowed you to recycle a spell from the graveyard.
You could use it to recycle superpower spells like Feather Duster, Raigeki or Dark Hole, and you could also use it to recycle draw cards like Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, and Card of Sanctity.
It was that unreasonable.
So of course it was banned when the format was still slow.
And seeing it in the hands of a noob like Tea hurt his very soul.
He needed to find a way to chea- *ahem* trade it from Tea's hands.
"What's wrong?" Tea noticed the rapid changes in Yuta's face and thought there was something wrong with her favourite card.
"Nothing. Tristan, what's your favourite 'card'?" Yuta turned towards Tristan and asked, emphasising the last word.
"For me, it has to be my Cyber Commander! It's such a cool card; how could anyone not like it?"
"Is that right? I am excited to have a 'duel' against you when it is 'our' turn."
Hearing Yuta's words, how could Tristan not feel that there was something wrong?
That was when he remembered he had told Yuta that he was not a duellist and even belittled the game to him just because he felt like there was something wrong and didn't want to duel him.
Now, that lie had come to bite him in the rear.
"Hahaha, me too, buddy!" Tristan awkwardly scratched the back of his head, acting like he was oblivious. After all, no one would hit a smiling man, right?
"My turn! For me, the best card is definitely THE Flame Swordsman! Speaking of, Yuta, where did ya get your Blue one? If you have extras, wanna trade?" Joey came and wrapped his arm around Yuta's shoulder as he showed his card.
"Sorry, I only have a single one. As for where I got it, through packs, of course, where else could you get cards? It's not like you can print them out of the ground... pfft! hahahaha"
Yuta couldn't help but laugh at his own joke.
Too bad that no one understood it and he was the only one in on it.
"Well, for me, it is my partner, the Dark Magician." Seeing the awkward situation, Mini Yugi cut in and showed his handsome purple Dark Magician. It definitely looked better than the Red and Dark skinned dark magician of Arkana. The only other duellist shown to use Dark Magician aside from Yugi in the anime.
When he had summoned the Dark Magician with the curtain and Yugi also did the same, it was such an iconic scene, so how could he even forget it?
"Wow, so cool!" Yuta clapped his hands as Mini Yugi scratched his nose, embarrassed by the praise.
"What about you, Yuta? Is it Red-Eyes Black Dragon?" Mini Yugi asked and wanted to know Yuta's answer.
"First of all, it is Yutaka, not Yuta, and secondly... well, it is indeed Red-Eyes but-... Yes, it is" Yuta answered as he showed his card, but he was confused.
He didn't want to hand over Red-Eyes to anyone else for this game since he felt like there was something wrong with anything Bakura was involved in, and instead, he wanted to hand over his useless Scapegoat.
I mean, he was not Kaiba; why would he get upset over anyone else using the black dragon?
Yep, he totally wouldn't.
Uh-huh, yes sir.
He was totally okay with anyone else beside Joey using Red-Eyes.
Maybe Atticus as well...
Paradox too...
...
Anyway!
The point was his body had replied on its own as if he was being controlled by something, but he didn't feel anything weird, which was concerning.
Could it be possible that the Shadow Game had already started and he was already affected?
"That's so cool! I can't believe this card rivals that schmuck Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. What rival!? It must have already surpassed it!" Joey said excitedly as he grabbed Yuta's Red-Eyes and looked all over it. He wanted to have such a card in his deck as well. He was so jealous!
"You are right, Joey! My Red-Eyes is obviously superior to Kaiba's dragon!" Yuta puffed up his chest as Joey was praising his card.
Red-Eyes, on the other hand, was thinking it was the one getting praised, so why was its stupid master the one getting all prideful?
Then again, this blondie definitely had discerning eyes.
It could see in one look that it was superior to that white bitch.
Yep.
Yuta also thought Joey didn't look so bad to his eyes anymore.
Since he knew how to cherish it, Yuta decided that using the leftover cards from Bandit Keith's deck, after he was done adjusting his own deck, of course, he would help Joey build a better deck for him.
Now that he thought about it, Bandit Keith's Barrel Dragon was a much better ace for Joey compared to Red-Eyes, and it also had a gambling mechanic, which was Joey's forte.
This was not a bad deal at all.
Joey didn't know it, but because of a sincere comment he made offhandedly, his future had taken a drastic turn.
Originally, as he lost Red-Eyes to Yuta, his deck would focus more and more on warrior-type monsters like Flame Swordsman, but because of his comment, he would end up being one of the strongest Machine type duellists in the future, reaching greater heights than he ever would just focusing on warrior monsters, as the Barrel Dragon, or rather Gun Dragon, archetype was one that suited him the most.
It was like a 1+1 equals greater than two situation since they complemented each other perfectly.
Though that was a story for the future.
"It's my turn then. For me, my favourite card has to be Change of Heart"
As Bakura showed his card, Yuta's expression took a weird turn.
Good guy.
He seemed like the exact person to like to NTR other people's monsters.
The classic British attitude.
After all, even in their history, if they liked it, they just took it.
Otherwise, how could they even have the British Museum?
Someone once said that if they returned everything to their original owners, there might not even be a single article left in the British Museum.
He could even imagine the scenario that Yami Bakura used it.
Yuta: I summon the dragon with a thousand faces –
Yami Bakura: Wow! Such a strong monster. I will take it, activate my set card Change of Heart.
Yuta: ...