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

When he arrived at the bus stop, Jonouchi and Honda had been waiting for him for a long time.

"I'm so angry! That Kaiba guy clearly did it on purpose!" Jonouchi said angrily, arms crossed, looking displeased.

Seto Kaiba sent invitations to almost all the top duelists, but notably not to Jonouchi.

This led to Jonouchi going to bed around 8 p.m. last night, and when he was woken up by his sister's phone call in the middle of the night, he realized that he had missed an incredibly grand duelist gathering.

As Jonouchi's best friend, Honda habitually joked about it: "I heard that only top-tier duelists receive invitations, so isn't it normal that you weren't invited?"

"What?!" Jonouchi shouted. "I'm a top four finalist in the Duel Kingdom Tournament! How could I not be qualified?!"

At this moment, Yu Che walked over and said with a smile, "It's alright, Jonouchi. I heard that KC Company has made a rating for every duelist."

"Any duelist with a rank of four or higher is eligible to participate in the Duel City Tournament."

"Since you are one of the top four in the Duel Kingdom Tournament, you must have the necessary qualifications."

Jonouchi waved his fist towards the KC Building in the distance: "Hmph! I hope Kaiba doesn't go too far!"

"Sizzle——————————"

At that moment, a yellow bus with Duel Monsters advertisements sprayed on its body stopped in front of the three people.

Since most people gathered near Tongshino Square today, there weren't many people on the buses, even though it was the weekend.

Yusho, Jonouchi, and Honda found a place to sit down.

A dozen minutes later, they arrived at Yugi Muto's card shop.

"Ding ding ding——————"

The wind chimes at the door rang, and the three of them pushed the door open and walked in. They saw that Kyoko, who seemed to have just arrived, was chatting with the energetic Sugoroku Muto, while Yugi Muto was running downstairs in a hurry, looking like he had just finished breakfast.

"Yo! Yuzuriha, kid! And my most proud disciple!" Muto Sugoroku greeted him warmly.

When Jonouchi first started learning dueling, it was Muto Sugoroku who taught him.

In just one week, Muto Sugoroku trained Jonouchi, a beginner, into one of the top eight in the Duelist Tournament. Although this ranking was only regional, such a result for a beginner was enough to demonstrate Muto Sugoroku's skill and Jonouchi's talent.

"Haha! Master, restocking again! Looks like business is getting better and better!" Jonouchi scratched his head as he walked in, a smile on his face, and said excitedly, "Hey! Isn't this the latest card pack series? I want three!"

"Don't take it from the shelf! Otherwise I'll have to go get more!" Muto Sugoroku laughed heartily. "By the way, Yuzuru, I've got the ritual monsters you asked me to find for you! They're Demis, the King of the End, and Luin, the Goddess of Ruin, right?"

The dueling rules have changed; duelists can no longer summon cards that are not in their deck.

Therefore, many Fusion Monsters and Ritual Monsters cards naturally appeared in the new series of cards.

"Yes! That's right! Thank you, Grandpa Shuangliu!" You Che said with a smile.

Muto Sugoroku asked, "I happened to open a Fusion Monster Judgment Eagle a couple of days ago, but you probably won't use this kind of card, right? After all, it's too weak compared to the other monsters in your deck. Of course, if you need it, I'll go find it for you."

Even in the current Duel City version, Judgment Eagle is still just a basic monster.

Yuzuru naturally had no need to put such a card, which had neither effect nor stats, into his deck, so he smiled and declined, and together with Jonouchi, they started rummaging through the new card packs in the crate.

Since Duel Kingdom, Sugoroku Muto has become more and more energetic every day.

Because his grandson Yugi Muto achieved a very high ranking in the tournament, many fans often came to visit. This small card shop not only saw a significant increase in business, but also became a popular spot for many dueling enthusiasts.

For the entire morning, everyone was adjusting their decks at Yugi Muto's card shop. Kyoko and Honda weren't duelists, but they each bought a pack or two to join in the fun.

As noon approached, the new card deck of Youche and his friends was taking shape.

When Yugi Muto noticed that Yugi had actually included those three Disruptor Monsters in his deck, and even added some Spell & Trap Cards specifically for them, he was somewhat taken aback.

"Youche-kun, is this... really okay?"

"While there aren't any truly weak monsters, those three cards have absolutely no effect..."

You Che smiled and said, "No problem, this is one of my tactics."

"Ha! It's finally done!" At this moment, Jonouchi, who had been feeling depressed for a long time, suddenly laughed and celebrated.

Honda curiously took his deck and flipped through it one by one: "Huh? What is this! It's all gambling cards that rely on luck? Jonouchi, are you really planning to compete with a deck like this?"

Jonouchi snatched the deck back in annoyance, saying, "What do you know! Besides, who gave you the right to mess with my championship deck!"

"Huh? You didn't even receive an invitation?" Kyoko teased with a smile.

"Kyoko!!" Jonouchi ignored the two and carefully placed his last trump card—Red-Eyes Black Dragon—into the deck.

After having lunch at the game house, the group headed to the city center.

The latest dueling equipment—the Duel Disk—is only available at card stores directly operated by KC Corporation.

Welcome!

As You Che and his group pushed open the door and entered, a bearded young man with a headscarf stood behind the counter and greeted them warmly.

The moment he saw the game and the game controllers, he immediately showed a look of surprise and joy: "The two champions of Duel Kingdom actually came to my shop at the same time! How lucky I am!"

As he spoke, the shop assistant took two Duel Disks from the shelf and placed them on the counter: "According to company regulations, only duelists with a rating of four stars or higher are eligible to participate in the tournament and can receive Duel Disks for free."

"However, since you two are champions, then it must be the highest duel level—eight stars!"

"This is a gift from us to you both, please accept it!!"

Youche couldn't wait to unpack the package and put the silver-white duel disk on his arm.

After the deck is inserted into the slot, the entire Duel Disk immediately lights up with cool lights, which then slowly dim...

Youche tried waving it. Although it looked like it was made of metal, it was surprisingly light. He wondered which of KC's black technologies it used.

Beside him, the game's duel disk was also mounted on his arm.

Seeing this, Jonouchi's already impatient heart became even more eager: "What about me? What about me! My name is Jonouchi Katsuya, and I'm a top four in the Duel Kingdom Tournament! I should also get a free Duel Disk, right?"

The shop assistant was taken aback for a moment, then typed Jonouchi's name on the keyboard. When the rating appeared on the screen, he was somewhat surprised.

Seeing this expression, Jonouchi was very puzzled. He quickly turned the computer screen around, but when he saw the level below his name, he was immediately filled with anger.

It wasn't a "four-star" or "eight-star" rating, but rather a comment filled with Seto Kaiba's wicked humor and malice—"a three-legged cat"!

"What?! That seahorse guy?!"

"Hahaha! Jonouchi, it seems you really aren't qualified to participate!"

"Why didn't the top four contestants qualify?! It's clearly Kaiba's doing this on purpose!"

Just then, the shop assistant suddenly said apologetically, "I'm so sorry! There might have been a problem with the system just now."

"After refreshing, it shows that Jonouchi Katsuya's level is six stars, and he can also obtain the qualification to participate in Duel City and the Duel Disk."

Honda and Kyoko were taken aback.

However, they had only been within Doucheng, so as companions, they were naturally happy with the outcome.

With his emotions surging like a rollercoaster, Jonouchi laughed excitedly, "Hahahaha! I knew it! How could such an important match be complete without me, Jonouchi?! Quick, quick, give me my Duel Disk!!"

And so, Jonouchi also obtained his Duel Disk.

Is it just system latency?

You Che was stunned for a moment.

Due to the angle of view, he couldn't see whether the guy had done anything underhanded, so he couldn't determine whether what just happened was part of the original story or just a minor incident with the rating system.

In the original work, as the Duel City arc was about to begin, a mysterious evil force quietly infiltrated Domino City.

This dark force is the Ghoul Gang, led by Malik Ishtar!

This evil organization is skilled at manufacturing counterfeit cards and uses these fake cards to win real rare cards from duelists.

If it's really like the original story, then the seemingly enthusiastic shop assistant in front of me is probably a spy planted by the ghouls.

In order to locate Jonouchi using the Duel Disk and then seize his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, the shop assistant secretly manipulated things, using special means to change Jonouchi's level in the system...

But the game mechanic cannot be certain of such a thing.

Given Seto Kaiba's personality, it's quite possible that he deliberately set up a program in the system that would display a "mediocre" rank when searching for Jonouchi's name for the first time, but would display a normal duel rank after refreshing.

If Yu Che remembers correctly, the ghoul gang member who infiltrated the shop and became the manager in the original work was given a four-star rating by Jonouchi, instead of the current six-star rating...

Yuzuru didn't know which situation it was, so he could only remind Jonouchi to protect his deck and not make any mistakes before the match started.

However, Jonouchi, who had just obtained the Duel Disk, was clearly carried away with his pride. He excitedly walked out of the card shop with the others, talking about how he was going to use Red-Eyes Black Dragon to fight his way into the finals.

At an intersection, Jonouchi, wearing his Duel Disk, smiled and greeted everyone: "Alright! I'm off now! My sister Shizuka's surgery is starting in a few hours. Without her older brother, she wouldn't dare to go on the operating table!"

Honda asked, "At this time, there should only be buses available, right? How about I lend you my brother's motorcycle?"

"No need!" Jonouchi laughed. "I reckon the next time we meet will be at the Duel City Tournament! Yugi, I dueled with Yugi last time, but I've never had the chance to fight you. I hope I'll have the opportunity this time!"

You Che smiled and said, "Okay!"

And so, humming a little tune, Jōnouchi disappeared around the corner of the street.

After the city was destroyed, everyone went their separate ways.

Kyoko was going to her dance class, Yugi Muto was going home to continue preparing his deck for the tournament, and Honda had made plans to play video games with other friends.

After saying goodbye to the others, Yu Che walked towards Domino Plaza with the Duel Disk on his back.

He had almost finished building his deck, so he wanted to find a duelist to test it out.

Having played under the Duel Kingdom rules for so long, it might take some getting used to the Duel City rules.

These days, duelists are everywhere in Tongshiye Square. I guess he can find a decent opponent no matter what.

On the bustling streets, the sound of car horns could be heard from time to time.

Youche stopped at the zebra crossing at the intersection and waited for the red light.

Just then, a mysterious man quietly passed by You Che and secretly scanned him with a device that looked like a mobile phone.

"Heh..." After acquiring the data, the man hid in a corner and grinned smugly. "With the new equipment issued by the organization, completing Lord Malik's mission is really easy~"

This mysterious man dressed in loose black clothes is a member of the ghoul gang.

The device he just used was a new technology developed by the Ghoul Gang, which could obtain data on all cards within a certain range by scanning.

"Heh heh~ Now I know this guy's deck construction! Lord Malik will surely reward me!"

The man was secretly pleased and turned on the scanner that looked just like a mobile phone.

However, when the card information popped up from the device, he was completely dumbfounded.

and many more!