In the car, Kai noticed the driver didn't insert a key to start the engine. Instead, he slid a card into the car, and the engine roared to life.
Kai couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. So this world only looked like his own on the surface…its inner workings had changed long ago.
"That guy earlier… what's his deal?"
In response to Kai's question, Marina explained, "His name is Noir. He's the spokesperson for the younger generation of the Noor Family."
"They've always been in competition with us, the Skye Family."
Kai glanced curiously at Marina. From the way she said it, it was clear she herself wasn't from any ordinary background.
The two chatted idly and soon arrived at Marina's home… an elegant, luxurious estate.
"Pardon our humble abode," Marina said as she stepped out and made a welcoming gesture.
The two gatekeepers exchanged looks.
They had no idea who this guy was that their young miss brought back, treating him with such courtesy.
Regardless, since she was this respectful, they too bowed politely.
"Heh."
Kai gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
This was a "humble abode"?
Then what did that make his own place? A thatched hut?
Led by Marina, Kai arrived at a private courtyard. She brewed him a cup of tea, then excused herself.
Kai stared at the emerald tea and its gentle aroma.
He took a sip, and his eyes lit up—'What a brew!'
Orchid-like on the tongue, fragrant and refreshing, with a rich sweetness and elegant scent.
Kai considered himself half a shut-in. He usually preferred soda or milk tea to actual tea. But even someone like him could tell this tea was extraordinary.
No doubt the price was, too.
A few minutes later, Marina returned, slightly out of breath, with a pile of items.
"Here's a bank card. It has 250,000 Federation Coins. These are the cards I got as loot from Trials. See if there's anything useful."
Kai gathered the scattered cards and started checking them one by one.
Most of them were useless, but after sorting through them, Kai actually found a card listed on the Forbidden List:
[Soul Charge]
[Target any number of monsters in your Graveyard; Special Summon them. You lose 1000 LP for each monster summoned this way.]
This card had even appeared in the anime—a powerhouse that could revive an entire field from the Graveyard in one move.
And the revived monsters didn't have their effects negated.
With how the game had evolved into a combo-heavy environment, this card would likely never come off the Forbidden List. A single card to reestablish your full board? Beyond powerful.
Kai hadn't expected to find it here.
"I'll take this one. With this card and the money, our account's settled."
A card for a card—not a bad deal for Kai.
The money? Just a bonus.
Marina was a little surprised by his choice, but didn't say much.
She simply offered a word of caution, "That one? Just be careful using it."
Marina had tried incorporating [Soul Charge] into her own Deck before, but since Blue-Eyes had its own revival options, and the card's downside… For someone like her who regularly entered Trials, it was just too risky.
Sure, the effect was great; however, in a Trial, even 100 LP could mean life or death—Spending 1000 LP to summon one monster just wasn't worth it.
Some had even tried buying it from her at below-market price, yet she'd always refused; Being able to pass it on to Kai now wasn't a bad outcome.
She had hoped he would pick a few more cards, after all, she didn't want to owe him anything.
Albeit, it seemed Kai wasn't interested in the rest.
Marina had no choice but to take them back, and the two continued chatting.
During the conversation, Kai cautiously brought up his lack of identity. Marina assured him it wasn't a problem and told him to give her some time to sort it out.
Then she remembered something and asked if he wanted to shop for cards.
Kai certainly did. The three out of four Decks he had were all half-complete.
And this world didn't have a Forbidden List, so if he could find some generic staples that fit his Decks, it would be a great opportunity. At the very least, he could expand his knowledge… maybe even come across some original cards from this world.
Seeing him nod, Marina readily agreed.
After dinner, she would take him to the black market.
Dinner was delivered by the servants—just four or five dishes, more than enough for the two of them. Everything tasted great, and Kai could roughly identify the ingredients.
It seemed that aside from the existence of Trials and cards, this world wasn't too different from his own.
This time they went without a driver—Marina drove herself. The car sped through the streets and soon reached a bustling commercial district. Looking at the noisy stalls and the crowd of people, Kai couldn't help but feel this wasn't the kind of "black market" he'd imagined.
Marina walked ahead and explained as she went, "The black market is just a nickname."
"At first, it was a place for people to make deals outside official channels."
"But once profit entered the picture, others got involved. Now it's run by several major families in Tenkai City."
"So the authorities turn a blind eye."
As they spoke, the two arrived at an elegant, grand building. Above it, three glittering golden characters read: Sea-Skye Pavilion.
"This is one of our Skye Family businesses in the black market."
"Though our old man is strict. Even when buying from our own business, we still have to pay properly. At most, they won't overcharge us."
The two entered the Sea-Skye Pavilion.
No melodramatic "urban dragon king" tropes here—They were smoothly led to the upper showroom, where many cards were on display.
Many visitors were there too, clearly people of high status from their attire.
Several greeted Marina warmly.
Kai walked through, browsing the displays.
He didn't see anything particularly outstanding. There were indeed some Forbidden cards, but none suited the four Decks he currently had.
No reason to spend money pointlessly.
Suddenly, just as he was walking by a corner, a certain Monster Card caught his eye:
[Cyber-Stein] [Level 2]
[Pay 5000 LP to activate. Special Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck in Attack Position.]
This card was a truly busted entry on the Forbidden List.
Ignoring conditions to summon any Fusion Monster, whether to bring out [Naturia Exterio] and shut down your opponent's Spells and Traps, or [Last Warrior from Another Planet] to completely lock your opponent out… It essentially stripped the opponent of the right to play Yu-Gi-Oh!!
Originally, this card was hard to search for, but after Tearlaments and Kashtira came into play, it could be summoned almost every duel.
And as Fusion Monsters kept getting stronger, there was no way this guy would ever get unbanned.
...
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