Chapter 45: Chapter 45
"Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters cards, that enigmatic man who invented the rules of the game with his mind and created all the cards with his hands." Alone in the night, as Kaiba walked toward Pegasus' castle, he kept thinking, "On this island, every duelist is fighting for the star chips, aiming for that castle. But to him, the god of this card kingdom, it's just a game."
"Yugi, even you cannot defeat Pegasus." Thinking this, a trace of confusion appeared on Kaiba's face. "I once saw one of his duels. No, It could no longer be called a duel."
…..
It was during the American Championship held in New York, where I was invited as a guest to watch the match.
Pegasus' opponent was the number one ranked bounty hunter in America, Keith Howard. Because he had taken all the tournament's prize money, he was known as the Thief Keith.
"Haha, it's an honor to duel with you. After this duel, I will be the number one in the world." Sitting at the front, Keith arrogantly said to Pegasus.
However, Pegasus made no moves, merely watching Keith and writing something on a piece of paper. Then he called over a small boy sitting behind me to take his place.
"What is your name, boy?" Pegasus gently asked as he handed the paper to the boy.
"Tom…" The boy seemed nervous, probably because he was suddenly called onto the stage.
"Oh, don't be nervous, Tom boy. Just follow what's written on this paper to finish this duel for me." After saying this, Pegasus left his seat.
"Don't joke around, Pegasus. Are you trying to escape because you're afraid of losing to me?" Keith mocked as he watched Pegasus leave. "Well, as long as I get the prize money, nothing else matters."
But what happened next shocked all the spectators. Following Pegasus' instructions on the paper, the boy broke all of Keith's strategies and won the duel perfectly.
"It's Tom boy's victory. Let's give him a round of applause~" Returning to the stage and raising Tom's hand, Pegasus acted more like an award presenter, which was truly ironic for the American champion.
...
"Although I don't know what kind of tricks Pegasus used, he definitely saw through his opponent's mind." Looking at the suitcase in his hand, Kaiba showed a confident smile. "I wonder if this new duelist device can stop Pegasus' unknown tricks."
...
Early morning on the second day of the Duelist Kingdom tournament.
The early morning sun filtered through the dense leaves above, casting soft sunlight onto the face of a still-sleeping Hoshino.
"Ugh…" Probably disturbed by the sunlight, Hoshino slightly opened her eyes and instinctively turned over.
But as she turned, she seemed to unconsciously touch something soft.
"Nobu?" The touched object suddenly made an inexplicable sound.
Hearing the strange sound, Hoshino struggled to open her eyes a little more, glimpsing a familiar blue and white outfit. "What, it's just Okita-san."
Not noticing anything wrong, Hoshino drifted back to sleep.
"Nobu!!" The object, seemingly annoyed, hit Hoshino's cheek twice, waking her up.
"Eh? Okita-san?!" Realizing something was off after being hit, Hoshino exclaimed.
"No, it's not Okita-san, it's Nobu Nobunaga?!" Looking at the small, cute Nobu in Okita's clothes beside her, Hoshino was now completely confused.
"Nobu! Nobunobo, nono, bubu!" Nobu seemed to be trying to explain something, but Hoshino couldn't understand a word.
"What is going on? Am I still dreaming?" The scene before her was too fantastical for Hoshino, who had just woken up. Planning to slap herself awake, she realized her cheeks already felt burning pain.
"Oh right, I was slapped awake by Nobu." In her dazed state, this was the only conclusion Hoshino could draw.
"Where has everyone gone?" Realizing something was wrong again, Hoshino noticed that all her companions, who should have been sleeping together, had disappeared, leaving only half-burnt campfire and scattered sleeping mats.
A sense of unease crept over Hoshino. She never expected to encounter such a bizarre incident on her first morning on the island.
As Hoshino was at a loss, the bushes behind her suddenly rustled, making the sound of leaves brushing.
"Yugi? Anzu? Mai? Or Jonouchi?" Hearing no response, the increasingly frightened Hoshino instinctively hugged the soft Nobu beside her.
"Everyone, don't joke around, don't scare me!" Watching the shaking bushes, Hoshino was almost in tears.
"Nobu!" After a violent shake, a tank-like object charged at Hoshino from the bushes. No, it wasn't just a tank but a creature with only its lower half and arms as a tank.
"Help!" Overwhelmed by fear, Hoshino finally couldn't help but scream. But just at the critical moment, the mini Nobu in her arms jumped out, drew a small knife resembling the Kiku-Ichimonji Norimune, and sliced the tank Nobu attacking Hoshino.
Defeated, the tank Nobu exploded into a puff of smoke like in an animation, and a card fell into Hoshino's hand.
[Chariot Nobu★★★★ (4 stars) Earth][Machine/Effect][ATK1500 DEF:1500]
[This card's ① effect can also be activated during the opponent's turn. ①: Once per turn, you can activate this effect. This card's ATK increases by 1000 until the end phase. During the end phase of the turn this effect was activated, send this card to the graveyard.]
"What on earth is going on?!" Looking at the mini Chariot Nobu that exploded into a card in her hand, Hoshino was even more confused.
"Nobu!" Mini Nobu Nobunaga stylishly sheathed her small Kiku-Ichimonji Norimune, exuding an aura of 'my sword has slain something boring again.'
"Nobu, what's going on?" Helpless, Hoshino squatted down and asked the mini Nobu Nobunaga posing on the ground. Since it had just protected her, it seemed this thing was on her side.
"Nobu?" Facing Hoshino's question, mini Nobu Nobunaga looked puzzled.
"You don't know anything either, huh." Sighing, Hoshino felt truly unlucky. The new day had just begun, and she was already encountering such an incident.
"Anzu, Mai, Yugi!! Everyone!" After shouting for a while without any response, it seemed everyone really wasn't nearby. Despite the sleeping mats, sleeping bags, and various camping supplies still lying around as they were last night, where had everyone gone?
Holding Nobu helplessly, Hoshino wandered around. Strangely, on the vast Duelist Kingdom, there wasn't a single human, not even a trace of life.
"In broad daylight, not hearing any human sounds on the entire island is really strange." Under normal circumstances, a short walk would reveal the towering duel arenas and dueling contestants. Even if many had been eliminated in one day, it shouldn't be so deserted.
Thinking this, Hoshino shivered. Although she wasn't afraid of ghosts and spirits, such an eerie event would make anyone feel a bit uneasy.
"Am I the only one left on this island? Is this another shadow game?" With this thought, Hoshino glanced at the Millennium Bracelet on her right wrist. "Da Vinci are you there? Can you answer me?"
But aside from Nobu's mocking expression, there was no response.
Shaking her head helplessly, Hoshino punched Nobu in her arms that was laughing at her futile efforts. "Are you asleep, Da Vinci? How can you be absent at such a critical moment?"
"Nobu!"
But if it were a shadow game, Da Vinci wouldn't remain silent, so Hoshino ruled out that possibility.
Could it be...
With this thought, Hoshino was left with only one answer, and she trembled as she opened the system.
A grand BGM and...
[Limited-Time Event! Chattering Honnoji is heating up. Collect Nobu cards to win SR Servant [Oda Nobunaga]!!]
[Current mission: Collect Nobu cards to form a deck. Current progress: 2/40.]
"There really is a limited-time event! This system is too cool!" Looking at the grand and familiar interface, Hoshino was reminded of the Chattering Honnoji event she participated in when she first played FGO.(GUDAGUDA)
"I didn't expect the system to not only bring over the Servant deck and gacha system but also the limited-time events..." Can such events be participated in another world? Surely I don't have to farm dungeons for materials like in FGO.
But knowing it was a system event, Hoshino felt slightly relieved: "Since it's a system event, this place is probably just a special event space, and the fact that there's no one here can be explained. And since it's a limited-time event, things should return to normal once the time is up."
Since it was her own system, it shouldn't harm her, Hoshino told herself.
"So, this empty Duelist Kingdom was created by the system's power?" Scanning the empty arena, Hoshino couldn't help but marvel, "How much power is hidden within the system?"
"Well, since it's a limited-time event, I might as well participate. There might be generous rewards, right Nobu?" Knowing it wasn't a dangerous event, Hoshino was no longer afraid. She patted the soft Nobu's head and continued wandering around the island.
"Nobu!" The Nobu in her arms enthusiastically raised the Kiku-Ichimonji Norimune, exuding a 'leave it to me' vibe.
After all, FGO events were known for their generosity. As long as you were willing to grind, you could get rich materials and exclusive Servants. But would it be the same in the Yu-Gi-Oh world?
"What does this current mission mean? Does Nobu cards refer to this?" Picking up the card that the mini Chariot Nobu had turned into, Hoshino analyzed the system's '2/40' progress. "So, I need to collect 40 such cards to complete the mission?"
"I remember the mini Chariot Nobu appeared in the bushes, right? I haven't encountered a second one on this main road. Could it be they're only found in hidden places?" Thinking this, Hoshino couldn't help but laugh. This encounter system was quite similar to a certain world-famous RPG.
With this in mind, Hoshino left the wide main road and ventured into the dense forest.
"Nobu!" As expected, it didn't take long after entering the forest for another familiar mini Chariot Nobu to appear before Hoshino.
"They're all hiding, huh? It's not so easy to find them." Hoshino calculated in her mind. The first one that jumped out and attacked her was probably the system's tutorial.
[A wild [mini Chariot Nobu] appeared!]
"?!" The familiar prompt that appeared out of nowhere made Hoshino scratch her head.
"..Well, let's go! Go, mini Nobu Nobunaga!" Following the command, Hoshino threw Nobu towards the mini Chariot Nobu.
[Hoshino Chiyuki sent out [mini Nobu Nobunaga] to battle!]
"?"
"Nobu!!" With a fierce shout, mini Nobu Nobunaga drew the Kiku-Ichimonji Norimune and slashed the mini Chariot Nobu in half.
[[mini Nobu Nobunaga] used Kiku-Ichimonji Norimune, it's super effective!]
The defeated Chariot Nobu exploded into a card again, falling into Hoshino's hand.
[[mini Chariot Nobu] has fainted!]
"Hey, this is like Pokémon!" Unable to hold back any longer, Hoshino finally blurted out.
[******]
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