Yu-Gi-Oh!: This is the real duel!

After losing the millennium artifact and suffering severe damage, the signs of aging that a forty-year-old man should have gradually appeared in the corners of his eyes. Looking at the contracts in front of him, he gently put down the glass of red wine in his hand and revealed a few faint smiles.

"Alright~ Since you agree, then sign it, Pegasus!"

Seto Kaiba stood arrogantly in front of him, tapping the document he had just tossed out a few times with his pen.

"I thought you'd be keeping me occupied for a while, but seeing how pathetic you are, it's not so surprising after all."

Pegasus did not take Seto Kaiba's pen, but instead slowly took out a more exquisite one from his pocket and carefully signed his name on the contract.

This is a document concerning the "transfer of some card issuance rights." Signing this document means that KC Corporation, which was previously only responsible for dueling equipment, can now independently design, print, and issue cards within the prescribed scope.

While some of the new cards in the Duel City tournament were also produced by KC Games, each card underwent review by Mirage International.

From now on, KC Company can operate independently without being controlled by the International Illusion Society, as long as it does not violate the restrictive regulations.

After signing his last name, Pegasus seemed to have let go of some burden, and leaned back in his chair to savor the red wine in his hand.

Looking at the newly signed document, Seto Kaiba's pupils contracted slightly, his excitement mixed with disbelief.

“Seahorse Boy~ Don’t be so surprised~” Pegasus’s voice was very calm, but his distinctive accent remained unchanged. “After that terrible experience, I don’t want to waste my energy fighting for anything anymore~”

"What I long for now is a life outside of duels and cards. When conditions allow, I will hand over my place to Game Boy~"

"As for how things will develop after the Duel Monsters arc, that's something for the two of you to discuss."

"Hmph!" Seto Kaiba handed the documents to his attendant and sneered, "Pretend all you want, Pegasus~"

"Even if you do relinquish some of your power to KC Corporation, I will not let my guard down against International Illusion!"

“I am well aware of your despicable tricks.”

Pegasus smiled slightly: "Whatever, Seahorse Boy~ But you should know one thing, the me of the past was influenced by the Millennium Items, which led me to do those things~"

"Ha!" Seto Kaiba was completely unconvinced. "Is it that same old mystical rhetoric again? How ridiculous!"

Upon hearing this, Pegasus looked up with interest: "Is it really just mysticism? Seahorse Boy? Didn't you personally experience that hellish nightmare?"

Seto Kaiba frowned.

Pegasus smirked and said, "Hmph~ Seahorse Boy~"

"Perhaps acquiring the crafting skills for making cards isn't something you'd be particularly excited about."

"The mysterious power contained within the cards is far beyond our full comprehension."

"Making ordinary monsters is fine, but a card as powerful as Blue-Eyes White Dragon is not as simple as just printing ink on a blank card."

"Tsk!" Seto Kaiba said coldly, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Pegasus did not rush to answer, but instead slightly lifted the long hair that covered his face, revealing his horrifyingly empty eye sockets.

Seto Kaiba's expression changed drastically.

“Right now, you are just like I was in the past,” Pegasus said, letting his hair fall, “with an intense, burning desire for power that is beyond your control.”

"And the price to be paid is extraordinary."

"Before we conclude this meeting, let me give you one last piece of advice, Seahorse Boy~"

"Definitely only do what you are capable of doing."

After saying that, Pegasus picked up the red wine again and began to savor it.

Seto Kaiba narrowed his eyes, re-examined the man in front of him, then snorted coldly and strode out of the palatial reception room.

"Rumble rumble rumble rumble ————————————"

The roar of the propellers filled the air as Seto Kaiba sat inside the helicopter, looking smugly at the documents in his hand.

"Yosh, with this, I can create a Blue-Eyes White Dragon form that's even stronger than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"At that time, neither the roaming Thunder Armored Dragon nor the game's Super Magic Swordsman will be a problem!"

"Furthermore, with this power, the second-generation Duel City rules will be promoted more smoothly!!"

Looking out the window at the sea under the night sky, Seto Kaiba's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Even before meeting Pegasus, he had already designed the abilities and attributes of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's higher-level form. Now that he has obtained the permission and procedures, with KC Corporation's technical capabilities, it won't be long before that extremely magnificent monster emerges from its cocoon!

Upon returning to KC Corporation, Seto Kaiba did not rush to the research lab. He had already sent the documents to headquarters. According to the estimated time, he would need at least seven more hours to see the brand-new and powerful Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

After taking the elevator to the president's office on the top floor, Seto Kaiba sat down at his computer and began to continue refining and modifying the rules.

The data from the Duel City Tournament was arranged in a document, and the scenes I had witnessed kept replaying in my mind.

"Tap tap tap——————————"

With his long, slender fingers tapping incessantly on the keyboard, Seto Kaiba gradually presented his organized thoughts on the computer screen.

He was the first to remove the rule that "Fusion Monsters cannot attack on their first turn after being summoned."

Judging from the tournament, this restrictive rule did not work well. Instead, it turned the magic card "Quick Attack," which was created because of this rule, into a scarce and worthless item.

Secondly, he eliminated the concept of attacks missing due to monsters disappearing during duels.

In Seto Kaiba's view, this special rule, which existed as early as the Duel Kingdom era, has too many unreasonable and ambiguous aspects.

He created a new adjudication method based on his own ideas, and after multiple tests confirmed it to be correct, he named this rule "Attack Rollback".

Finally, and most complicated, is the issue of the speed of the incantation.

At the beginning of the Duel City tournament, Seto Kaiba tentatively proposed this concept, but now it seems that it was far from enough.

After several discussions, the KC Group decided to divide spell, trap, and monster effects into three speed categories. Normal spells, equip spells, and continuous spells are considered the slowest, the first speed category; quick-play spells and normal traps are considered the second speed category; and counter trap cards are the third speed category with the highest decision-making power.

This design not only makes the card classification exceptionally clear, but also eliminates complex and ambiguous chain situations.

However, considering the rigor of the settlement process, the effect text of some cards needs to be modified, and the categories of some cards also need to be corrected. Therefore, this is the most complicated and labor-intensive step, and Seto Kaiba is currently working on this problem.

Three hours passed quickly.

Slightly tired, Seto Kaiba stopped his research on the speed of the spell. He glanced at the time and then switched to an easier task as a break.

This job is very interesting and creative; it involves pioneering a new card category—Field Cards.

Although he often scoffed at the Duel Kingdom tournament, he never criticized the competition format designed by Pegasus. On the contrary, he thought the arena was a very good concept and was well-suited for inclusion in duels.

Inspired by the effects of Continuous Spell Cards, Seto Kaiba first designed some relatively common field cards, such as "Forest," which is relied upon by Plant and Insect types; "Sea," which is advantageous for Water but disadvantageous for Machine types; and "Mountain," which is the home field for Dragon and Winged Beast types...

Initially, most field cards simply increased or decreased attack power, but as ideas came in, Seto Kaiba not only designed some more innovative abilities, but also added active effects to some cards.

"Heh!" Looking at the draft cards in front of him, Seto Kaiba smiled smugly, feeling a great sense of accomplishment. "Designing cards is such a delightful task!"

"It's not nearly as dark as that Pegasus guy described!"

"Wait, dark?"

Seto Kaiba paused for a moment, as if he had thought of something, and then he tentatively created a new category—Field Trap Cards—and tried to design effects.

Just then, the phone rang. He glanced at the display and saw that it was the card research lab calling.

Is it...

Is it finished?

Seto Kaiba answered the phone with great joy, but the news from the other end immediately plunged him into an icy abyss.

"Kai, President Kaiba!"

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon's new form... is completely impossible to create!"

"What?!" Seto Kaiba shouted angrily. "Then try a few more times! The procedure is written very clearly in the document. Don't you know how to follow it?!"

The researcher replied hesitantly, "We've tried seventy-four times, but each time we fail for various unknown reasons..."

Seto Kaiba frowned, recalling Pegasus's warning—"...A card as powerful as Blue-Eyes White Dragon is not simply a matter of printing ink on a blank card..."

"What about the other cards?" Seto Kaiba asked coldly.

The researcher quickly replied, "All the other cards can be crafted normally, but the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the only one..."

"I understand!" Seto Kaiba's face was icy. After hanging up the phone, he strode out of the room with a serious expression.

"despair--------------"

The bright lights went out, plunging the large president's office into darkness, leaving only the computer screen emitting a glaring white light.

In the scene, newly designed venue cards are arranged in an orderly manner, but suddenly, a strange situation occurs.

In the newly created Field Trap Card section by Seto Kaiba, a dark red card was slowly being generated, first its shape, then its card face, followed by its effect text and card image...

Finally, accompanied by an eerie light, without anyone operating the computer, a brand new card appeared out of thin air in the form of data!

The card's name is—Pyramid of Light!

Its effect is to "seal all God Cards in the banished zone!"

Over the weekend, Youche and Youxi had a gathering at a card shop.

After the intense Duel City Tournament concludes, everyone can more easily enjoy the fun of dueling.

On the dueling stage, Jonouchi, one of the top eight contestants, showed no mercy and used a set of killer moves to defeat Honda. Honda, who was originally quite confident in himself, completely gave up the idea of ​​learning dueling after his fourth defeat.

"Sigh! Oh well! It seems I have absolutely no talent for this!" Honda sighed helplessly as he arranged the cards one by one.

Kyoko laughed and said, "Oh dear~ it's normal to lose to Jonouchi, after all, he's no longer just an ordinary person~"

"Kyoko!" Jonouchi interrupted Kyoko's joke, feigning anger, then picked up his deck and grinned smugly, "But speaking of which, Honda, I spent a lot of money to revamp my deck, so it's perfectly normal that you can't beat this level of strength~"

"Huh? Has Jonouchi upgraded his deck?" Yugi Muto, who was constantly arranging several spell and trap cards on the table, suddenly looked up. "I heard that Kaiba is going to change the rules, and then many old versions of cards will be unusable."

"What?!" Jonouchi exclaimed in utter despair. "Why does this guy keep changing the rules?! Besides, why does he have to eliminate old cards when he changes the rules?!"

Yu Che, who was drinking juice, put down his cup and said with a smile, "I heard that because the rules for spell speed have been improved, the text and effects of many magic trap cards need to be adjusted."

"By the way, I heard from Kaiba Keihei that a brand new card category will be added in this new version."

"It's called—Field Card!"

"A venue card?!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise; even Yugi Muto was hearing this news for the first time.

You Che nodded and continued, "Its general function is similar to that of a Continuous Card, affecting all monsters on the field that meet the conditions. However, only one Field Card can exist at the same time in a duel. In other words, under the new rules, duelists are likely to develop some special tactics to gain field advantage."

"I see..." The crowd seemed to be deep in thought.

Just then, a news report on television caught everyone's attention. The footage showed that new ancient Egyptian artifacts had been transported to the Domino City Museum.

Looking at the grotesque mummies, the group, who had planned to eat soon, couldn't help but feel a bit nauseous.