Youyu leisurely finished his lunch, even taking a moment to digest––if it hadn't been so soon after he got up, he might have considered taking a nap––then he set out for Kaiba Company.
Before that, he even had time to draw a card.
With the conclusion of the large-scale main story arc Orichalcos, players generally gained quite a lot of benefits.
The more benefits the players gained, the more profits flowed towards Youyu.
After all, you have to shear the sheep to get wool; if the sheep don't have wool, even the best shearing techniques are useless.
Looking at the pile of Crystal Stones in his inventory, Youyu felt like he was going to draw cards until his hands cramped...
Perhaps because today was an auspicious day for drawing cards, Youyu felt that the drop rate seemed higher than usual. Astonishingly, every 10,000 stones yielded a usable item on average, which was quite a rarity...
Then, with a swirl of dazzling golden light within the system, like a celestial event, a card spun out from the card pool, accompanied by the "USR" effect representing the highest rarity...
...Elemental Hero Airman!
Youyu's eyes widened in an instant.
!
The sudden onset of happiness caught him completely off guard.
Elemental Hero Airman, Level 4, Attack 1800, Defense 300.
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned, you can choose to activate one of two effects. You can add a "Hero" Monster from your deck to your hand; or, destroy a number of Magic Trap Cards on the field equal to the number of "Hero" Monsters on the field, excluding this card.
With simple yet powerful effects, it serves as a vital cornerstone in the Hero Deck.
This draw feels like a big step closer to becoming a real Hero!
... Or conversely, you could say, it is a path on which you can only move further with no way back...
After opening the card pack, Youyu finally prepared to head to Kaiba Company to report in.
Returning to Domino past three in the morning, the boss wanted him back by seven the next morning. If he really followed the boss's word to the letter, he might just collapse on the spot.
No worries, since the boss doesn't have anything urgent for him––the most pressing thing would probably be to help the boss curb his insatiable urge for dueling.
But Youyu reckoned it might not happen for now.
After the chaos caused by Doma, Kaiba Company faced the nightmare of a large-scale collapse of the 3D Imaging System and was almost maliciously acquired, leaving its reputation at a nadir since Kaiba Seto took over.
In addition, the construction of Kaiba Land had reached a critical stage, so the boss decided to temporarily withdraw from the Duel World, abandon his dueling addiction, and devote himself fully to salvaging the company's reputation.
Though it's unclear how long the boss can keep this up, at least Youyu wouldn't be dragged into dueling right away the next day, right?
Arriving six hours late at the boss's office, Youyu was not surprised to be met with Kaiba's gloomy and stern face.
"You're late," he said coldly.
"Yeah," Youyu nodded, with an expression that said, "So what?"
"The company's rules clearly state that tardiness is unacceptable in my book," Kaiba said in a deep voice.
The boss was putting on a good show; his voice was intimidating and frightening. But Youyu patiently waited for a long time and still didn't see the "Likeability Down" notification appear over the boss's head...
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly in resignation.
Can't you at least symbolically drop a point...
He really had no idea how to stop the boss's steadily increasing likeability...
Then Mokuba, the little guy, didn't even realize his brother's anger was feigned and tried to speak up for Youyu: "Brother! Youyu contributed a lot during the fight against Doma and was likely exhausted when he returned at dawn. It's normal to be a bit late..."
If it hadn't been for him, your soul might still be inside the Evil God's belly...
If it weren't for Youyu, both brothers, and even this company, might not have existed anymore. What's the big deal about being late?
Of course, Mokuba didn't dare to say that part out loud.
Youyu coughed, remaining calm and composed as he said, "Sorry, boss, because I live too far from the company, and there was a traffic jam on the way, I really couldn't help it."
The boss squinted his eyes: "You're still living in that shop?"
"Yeah, yeah." Youyu shrugged helplessly, "No choice, life's tough. If it's really a problem, how about you buy me a house closer to the company, boss?"
Since the boss's likeability seemed locked and wouldn't drop, someone was testing the limits on the edge of self-destruction.
Honestly, even Youyu himself can't believe how fast this train is running.
Not to mention with the prize money he got from winning the Duel City Championship, plus his status as the Duel King and commercial benefits, if he wanted to move out, he could have done it long ago.
It's just that Youyu never really cared about that. The Dream Card Shop has already become his place to rake in the profits, convenient for trading with players and posting missions. Moving the shop would just be bothersome.
As for living too far away and traffic jams on the road...
...to be honest, no matter how far he lived, even if he was riding a bull cart, he should have arrived already. There's no way he'd be six hours late...
However, unexpectedly, President Kaiba pondered for a moment after hearing him, then turned to Mokuba and said, "The estate in the Central District, I remember the boss of Huiyue Company is interested in selling it, right?"
Youyu: "?"
Mokuba was taken aback, and immediately started typing on the keyboard to check the information: "Ah, that's right."
"Is it not far from the company headquarters?"
"About 1.4 kilometers, not far."
"Alright, tell him we've bought it." President Kaiba glanced at Youyu, "You should be able to move there within two days. It's not far from the company."
Youyu: "???"
No, President, wait a minute, that's not what I meant...
"Don't misunderstand." Of course, the President didn't forget his standard phrase and maintained that cold tone, "I've long decided to buy this estate, just haven't used it yet..."
Youyu: "......"
Youyu's mood right now must be——
—— I'm shocked, is this the joy of being rich?
Sure enough, poverty limits my imagination.
Rich guy! Is there still room for a pendant on your thigh?
...oh I'm already a pendant on a rich guy's thigh? Sorry for bothering you...
The President gave him no chance to argue or refuse, swiftly changing the topic to business.
Surprisingly, today the President didn't mention playing cards at all, truly discussing with him some matters and plans regarding the company in the Duel Monsters field.
Neither Kaiba nor Mokuba hid anything from Youyu, directly telling him that the current state of the company is indeed quite dire. A series of blows have caused the company's reputation and stock to plummet. It's not an exaggeration to say it's a critical moment.
But simultaneously, Kaiba, Mokuba—and even others in the industry—are actually very optimistic about Kaiba Company's prospects.
Dartz made such a worldwide commotion, it indeed scared quite a few people. "Duel Monsters" which was already popular globally, has further entered more fields and people's attention—not just as a card game this time.
Duel Monster Spirits are real, and more and more people are beginning to realize this. The scarier part is not only that, this existence seems to contain supernatural power exceeding all current human military capabilities, enough to destroy the world.
It is said that after the embarrassingly helpless situation in the Doma incident, major countries have started accelerating the excavation of ancient sites, trying to find mysterious products left by ancient civilizations in their respective fields.
Lately, there's news circulating in the Underworld that Peru's officials seem to have excavated ruins suspected to belong to "God." Although there's no official news, it is said the excavation revealed stone slabs painted with Nasca lines.
Right after that, rumors from Northern Europe came, saying they excavated stone slabs painted with the Father of Gods Odin, the Thunder God Thor, and the Trickster God Loki. But these are just circulating rumors in the Underworld, not necessarily facts.
Meanwhile, the upper-class society is also making some noise lately. After the Doma incident, governments have realized how ineffective their elite and heavy weaponry are against supernatural forces, so now many countries are reflecting accordingly, wanting to establish specialized departments to tackle related fields.
...yes, plainly speaking it's a Duel Department, specifically recruiting top card players from each country and region as the backbone for preventing a similar crisis from happening again...
Influenced by this series of events, the attention given to Duelists is increasing, and the influence of Duel Monsters is growing larger.
Under such prospects, as long as opportunities are well grasped, large enterprises like Kaiba Company which are mainstays in the Duel World can easily achieve success.
Kaiba and Mokuba analyzed all this, and Youyu listened and understood. However...
...I understand the reasoning, but why are you telling me all this?
Youyu half-jokingly teased: "President, do you remember who the manager responsible for the Duel Monsters department is? I suspect what you're telling me is even more than what you've told him..."
As soon as Youyu spoke, he realized his blunder and quickly shut his mouth.
Sure enough, President Kaiba fell into brief contemplation and then slowly said, "That makes sense. How about starting today, you become the manager of this department?"
Youyu: "I..."