Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

(Another week without a featured spot... I hope everyone can vote and comment to make this struggling author feel a little better... The current collection and recommendation numbers are just too terrible...)

040 The End of the Road to Domination

The overlord was wearing a mask, so it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

In the vast palace, apart from Adan who was reporting the information to him, there was no one else in sight.

“That duelist is just a visitor from another world. He’ll leave soon. Even if we don’t intervene, he won’t be able to stay here for long,” Overlord said to Adan, seemingly aware of Yusei’s background.

"Your subordinate obeys..." Yadan stood up, bowed slightly to the Overlord, and then left the hall.

Overlord: "..."

After Adan left, the Overlord walked toward the throne in the palace.

He sat down, placed his right elbow on the armrest of the throne, then clenched his fist to support his cheek, leaning back on the throne. He then closed his eyes and drifted into a light sleep.

Yusei's appearance only stirred a slight ripple in his long-cooled heart.

The man named Overlord, just like his name suggests, chose the path of tyranny.

He used his immense power to eliminate all those who dared to resist him, and employed swift and decisive methods to bring down his opponents one by one. Those who initially mocked him became stepping stones on his path to tyranny.

A man who aspires to be a tyrant needs neither friends nor lovers.

His life has been an endless battle. He has defeated all those once-renowned duelists. In the end, there is no opponent left for him to fight with all his might.

His wealth and status have reached the pinnacle of his time;

His dueling prowess is unmatched.

However, he had no trustworthy partners in his life;

He had no lover by his side who had vowed to stay with him forever;

Anyone who hears the name of the Overlord will feel a deep sense of fear.

Without a doubt, the Overlord has conquered the world.

The remaining resistance groups were just scattered individuals making futile struggles.

Logically speaking, he should be living a very happy life, after all, he has achieved the goal he set, and his path of dominance has come to an end.

But now, the overlord can only feel endless emptiness and loneliness.

As a king, he had no companions by his side with whom he could confide his innermost feelings, nor anyone to spend the rest of his life with.

He was alone from beginning to end.

Even though he had become king, even though he had conquered the world, even though he had obtained everything he had ever wanted, and even though he had achieved his greatest goal in life... in the end, all that remained in his heart was emptiness.

Now, he has almost lost the meaning of life.

For Ba Wang, every day was so boring and mundane.

……

...

When Yusei opened his eyes again, he saw a pure white ceiling.

He looked around and saw the familiar tables, chairs, and benches in the guest room. Lying on the table was the duel disk that Ria had given him. The scene of ruins that had just been there was nowhere to be seen.

Youxing picked up his phone, checked the time, and found that it was around 11:30 in the morning, which was almost lunchtime.

He slept from last night until noon today... and skipped breakfast.

Yusei looked around and noticed signs that someone had been in the room.

The clothes I changed out of after taking a bath yesterday seem to have been taken away by the maid for washing.

The Duel Disk, decks, and packs were placed exactly as they were yesterday, untouched.

Yusei felt something extra in his pocket. He subconsciously touched his pocket and pulled out two cards. The cards were the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] and [Demon Summoning] that he had obtained after defeating Naki in his dream.

Yusei: "?"

How could a card found in a dream suddenly appear in reality? Yusei rubbed his temples, pondering this question.

"Wait... if that's the case? Then the deck should also be..." Yusei seemed to have thought of something. He got up from the bed, went to the table, picked up the Duel Disk, and drew the deck from the Duel Disk.

“I knew it…” Yusei checked the cards in the Duel Disk one by one and found that the deck in the Duel Disk was not the [Elemental HERO] deck he used when he dueled with Ria, but the [Trap HERO] deck he used when he dueled with Naki.

This deck was the most frequently used competitive deck in his previous life. Many of the cards in it were kept at home and were not sent with him when he transmigrated.

But now, these cards have appeared right in front of Yusei.

"Where are my previous cards?" Yusei opened the card pack containing spare cards and found the deck he had used before, with not a single card missing.

"What's happening here?"

"Could it be that the duel wasn't a dream, but something that actually happened?"

At this moment, Yusei had countless questions in his mind, and he wanted to find answers, but no one could answer them.

Just then, a maid knocked on the door, reminding him that it was lunchtime.

"Young Master Yusei, if you are awake, please come with me to the restaurant for a meal. The young ladies are waiting for you there."

Yusei heard the maid's voice and had no choice but to put his doubts aside for the time being.

As a duelist, you need to carry valuable items like Duel Disks and Card Deck with you when you go out.

Yusei put the Duel Disk on his hand, put his phone in his pocket, and then hung the card holder on his waist.

After making the necessary preparations, he walked to the door, opened it, and said to the maid waiting outside, "Please take me to the dining room; I'm quite hungry..."

The maid was the old lady who had given Yusei the key to his room before, so Yusei's tone was relatively gentle.

It seemed that the old lady in front of me hadn't taken my clothes; it was probably other maids who were in charge, and they were likely using the spare key to the guest room.

The maids of the Amamiya family were quite understanding. They probably came in the morning and saw that Yusei was still asleep, so they didn't wake him up for breakfast or touch his card deck. They just took away his clothes and didn't do anything else.

Yusei asked the old lady about this and received an affirmative answer: after his clothes were washed, a maid would bring them back to his room.

"Please follow me." The maid led Yusei into the elevator, and they soon arrived at the floor where the restaurant was located. On the way to the restaurant, Yusei also memorized the corresponding route.

Next time I come here, I won't have to worry about getting lost or not knowing my way around.

(The Overlord's true identity can be understood as the protagonist of a parallel world, representing a certain possibility for the protagonist's future... He is not another transmigrator. To avoid misunderstanding, I'm clarifying this here.)

041 School Preparation

Yusei followed the maid into the restaurant.

He looked around and found that the furnishings were not the simple structure of tables and chairs connected together that he had imagined, but rather more like the furnishings of a high-end hotel.

In the restaurant’s vast space, round tables are evenly distributed, each covered with a special white tablecloth. On these tablecloths, glass vases filled with fresh flowers are placed.

The restaurant is located on the middle floor of the building, and the tables by the window offer views of the scenery outside.

It was lunchtime, and there were many people coming and going.

Throughout the restaurant, waiters and maids were scattered about, serving the diners.

The two sisters from the Amamiya family were already seated at one of the tables. Yusei looked at the table from afar and saw that the food seemed to have been served, but the meal had not yet begun.

Miss Jie was no longer wearing those thick glasses, but instead showed her charming face. Putting her together with Ria, they looked like a pair of lovely sisters.

The two sisters seem to be waiting for Yusei to arrive.

Grandpa Sebastian remained by Ria's side. When he saw Yusei walking towards them, he nodded slightly to him, and Yusei returned the nod.

"Big brother, are you a pig? The sun's already high in the sky and you're still not up!" Yusei had just walked to the table when Ria mercilessly teased him.

Yusei was momentarily speechless. He couldn't very well tell this little girl that he had a dream in which he defeated the Tyrant's minions, saved a boy, and unexpectedly obtained a new card...

He himself didn't understand what was going on with this inexplicable dream, and even if he told others about it, probably no one would believe him.

Thinking of this, Yusei scratched his head helplessly, gave Ria an awkward but polite smile, and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Alright, alright, Yusei, you must be hungry since you didn't eat breakfast! Let's eat now. Ria only said those things because she cares about her big brother." Fortunately, Yui-san smoothed things over, preventing the atmosphere from becoming awkward.

During the meal, he handed Yusei a small notebook, explaining that it was his student ID and that he would need it to prove his identity when enrolling in school.

"By the way, why don't you go to the Duel Academy?" Yusei asked. In his opinion, in this world where dueling reigns supreme, a place like the Duel Academy should be the place that all young duelists aspire to.

Duel Academy is a top-tier institution in this world, an ivory tower that only duelists selected through rigorous processes can enter, but Jie chose to give up this opportunity.

"Hmm... how should I put it?" Yui's face showed a thoughtful expression. She said, "For me, there are more interesting things waiting for me than duels."

Jie pointed around and said, "I'm basically in charge of running this company now. I find joy in this process, just like you find confidence in a duel."

He paused for a moment, then added, "I think my life is good as it is now, and there's no need to change it. I can just treat dueling as a hobby."

Youxing: “…”

Miss Yui saw through Yusei's true nature at a glance. Just as she said, Yusei, standing in the dueling arena, was confident and determined, as if no difficulty could defeat him.

"I think it's wonderful to be able to do what you love in your area of ​​expertise. There's no need to force yourself to become a duelist." Miss Jie picked up her water glass on the table, took a sip, and smiled warmly.

“Indeed, not everyone in this world wants to be a duelist. The operation of society requires the joint efforts of people from all walks of life…” After hearing the explanation, Yusei became serious for once.

Ria was too young to understand the underlying logic of their conversation; she simply found the topic they were discussing too difficult to grasp, and she couldn't find a way to join in...

Liya hugged the teddy bear in her arms and complained, "I don't understand these big principles!"

When Yusei saw Ria puffing out her cheeks and looking at him, he couldn't help but smile. He asked Ria, "Ria, are you planning to become a professional duelist in the future?"

Ria relaxed her puffed-up cheeks when she saw that Yusei was finally willing to take the initiative to talk to her.

She straightened her chest, placed the teddy bear in front of her, and said, "I originally had this plan... but after dueling with the big brother, I still feel it's necessary to study a bit more, so I'm not in a hurry to go to the Duel Academy right now."

"But big brother, don't forget about me when you go to the Duel Academy. Maybe I'll come looking for you to play!" Ria waved her little fist, indicating that she would continue to develop on the path of dueling.

"You're welcome anytime." Yusei has never been able to refuse a beautiful girl's request.

……

...

Lunchtime passed by in a flurry of chat among the three of them.