When Xue Lang and Zaijie Nan Tiao saw Youyu returning for the first time, both of them were extremely delighted, instinctively wanting to go up and make themselves known.
However, when they saw the large group of players returning behind Youyu, they instantly felt a chill in their hearts.
You promised I was your only one, but it turns out I'm just one in a thousand...
Especially Xue Lang, he's feeling quite blue and quite down now.
It's a bit like a child's favorite toy being snatched away, or seeing the person you love holding hands with someone else...
Just like back when he met Xue Lang and Zaijie Nan Tiao, Youyu also opened the personal store feature for the new players.
Naturally, the new players reacted the same way as Xue Lang and Zaijie Nan Tiao did back then.
"Whoa! Look! It's Elemental Hero! You can directly exchange here!"
"Whoa! There's Pot of Greed too! You can exchange for Pot of Greed!!"
A large group of players were instantly thrilled, jumping up excitedly as if they were already imagining their decks filled with forbidden cards dominating the arena.
It was clear these players not only lacked gaming skills, but their cultural level seemed not much better, repeatedly shouting the same exclamation as if it ruled the world.
The players quickly realized they had hit the jackpot.
Previously, other players had also explored card shops—immediately seeking ways to obtain cards upon entering a card game was only natural. Therefore, everyone soon discovered that it was impossible to get cards they could use from NPC card shops.
But with Youyu, they could!
Soon, someone else excitedly shouted, "Look, there's Graceful Charity!"
"It seems to be true! It's not the 'banish all cards from hand and field, draw cards' neutered version, but the real Graceful Charity!"
The Graceful Charity also exists in the Yu-Gi-Oh! physical cards, but its effect was severely neutered. Originally, it allowed drawing up to six cards unconditionally but was weakened to "banish all cards from player's hand and field, draw cards from the deck until the hand is two cards."
This epic nerf turned Graceful Charity into a useless card with little practical value.
Such "draw until six cards" Graceful Charity was exclusive to NPCs in Yu-Gi-Oh! DM, something physical card players could never experience in their lifetime.
But now, with Youyu around, it became possible for the players!
Of course, someone soon pointed out a problem.
"This Graceful Charity needs an NPC Affinity of 100..."
Players quickly checked their current Affinity levels.
"Mine is 0."
"Mine is also 0."
"Huh? Why is mine -10??" A certain player was perplexed.
Youyu shot that player a glance—particularly at the ID above his head saying "I hung your mom on a tree."
Hah, you're clueless as to why your Affinity is negative?
"Hey, my Affinity is 5." Xi Yan, the female player who first did tasks with Youyu, looked delighted and surprised to be favored.
The players immediately started to feel envious: "Whoa, is this the benefit of being the first to trigger a task?"
"Damn, if only I had gone first back then..."
Seeing this group of silly players sighing beside him, Xue Lang couldn't help but snort in pride—and opened his panel with immense satisfaction.
The NPC Youyu's Affinity for him was... a terrifyingly high 15 points!
Actually, he didn't know why it was so high, he clearly remembered it was not this high before logging off at the end of the last beta test. Somehow, after logging off for a few days, it soared upon returning for the official test...
But at least it proved that Youyu still remembered him!
Next to him, Zaijie Nan Tiao, hearing Xue Lang's exclamation, was overjoyed and quickly opened his panel to confirm whether his Affinity had also increased during his absence.
Upon opening the panel, Zaijie Nan Tiao was pleasantly surprised to find...
...Damn, it seemed to have decreased?
Zaijie Nan Tiao felt like he was having a rough day. He remembered his Affinity was clearly at -9 before logging off, so how did it become -12 now?
Could it be if you don't keep showing your face in front of Youyu, it naturally decreases?
...It didn't make sense! Xue Lang also hadn't been on, yet his increased?
Zaijie Nan Tiao couldn't figure out why this was happening.
It's not like the NPC was bored and tweaking Affinity for fun while he was offline, right?
...
At this moment, Chinai was quietly watching the sudden appearance of this large group of "customers"—mostly male customers who surrounded Youyu, faces full of and anticipation, their behavior extremely odd.
Chinai felt something must be off...
"Outstanding men are always popular." The store owner appeared behind Chinai, munching on chips while sighing, "Back when I was young..."
"Did you often imagine being this popular too?" Chinai replied.
"Yes, that's right..." The owner smiled and nodded, halfway realizing something was off, "Stop talking nonsense! What's so great about being popular with a bunch of dudes?"
At this time, Xue Lang had also moved closer, checking out Youyu's personal store like the other players.
He quickly noticed that the list of items was a bit different from when he first encountered it.
For instance, most notably, the card "Graceful Charity" wasn't available last time.
Additionally, the newly added "Machina Series" and cards like "Upstart Goblin" were absent on his last visit as well.
Was it because it was beta testing before and now it's the official test, with adjustments made during the interval?
Or perhaps the cards Youyu sells change over time too?
At this moment, Xue Lang suddenly noticed that Youyu seemed to be... smiling at him?
Xue Lang's heart skipped a beat, a bit like being in school and noticed by a secret crush.
...No, it must be an illusion.
With so many players around, he must have just happened to look this way...
But Youyu said, "Long time no see, Xue Lang. You're back?"
All eyes instantly focused on Xue Lang.
Xue Lang's heart was engulfed in a tidal wave of joy, feeling an instant desire to soar into the sky and shoulder the sun.
Youyu actually remembered me!
Xue Lang quickly nodded like a pecking chick, "Yeah, yeah, I had something urgent to deal with before, now I'm back."
"The thing you asked me to do before, it's handled." Youyu smiled, "Thanks to you, evil was successfully prevented in time."
"Since we're familiar now, why don't you see if there's anything in my store you want, I'll give you a long-term 20% discount."
Xue Lang was stunned.
Long-term... discount!?
The happiness came so suddenly, Xue Lang felt like he was floating on clouds.
The surrounding players could more or less guess that Xue Lang was a beta tester who had encountered Youyu earlier, perhaps triggering some hidden storyline.
At this moment, the players' gazes toward Xue Lang were full of jealousy and envy, they couldn't bear it.
A 20% discount! And long-term!
Who could withstand that?
Xue Lang was elated to the point of soaring, unconsciously standing tall, feeling as if he had transformed entirely.
He was now more convinced of his belief—
—Lick! Lick thoroughly until exhaustion!
He, Xue Lang, vowed to become the number one fan club president of Youyu! Anyone wanting to join later would need his consent!
Upon hearing this, Zaijie Nan Tiao hurriedly came up with a flattering smile on his face, "Hehe, Youyu, do you remember me? I'm Brother Jie!"
Youyu looked at his "innocent" smile, with those iconic glasses, and that creepy face giving goosebumps...
"Ahem, sorry." Youyu rudely coughed, "I don't remember clearly."
Zaijie Nan Tiao: "???"
Why?!