The Chess Club room remained noisy long after Chuck and Ginny's duel ended.
Questions immediately started flying from every direction.
"How many cards exist?"
"Can you build custom decks?"
"What happens if both players run out of cards?"
"Can Trap Cards activate during your own turn?"
"Are there stronger dragons than Curse of Dragon?"
Alexander answered what he could while deliberately keeping some things vague.
Partly because some mechanics would be easier to understand through experience, and partly because mystery itself was a useful marketing strategy.
The more people wondered about Duel Monsters, the more they became invested in it, and soon enough, the other students could no longer resist trying the game themselves.
One after another, they approached the table to choose starter decks.
As expected, most immediately gravitated toward Dragon Assault.
Its big monsters and straightforward aggression made the appeal quite obvious; meanwhile, the more analytical students often chose Mystic Control after watching Ginny's duel.
Not because the deck looked stronger, but because it looked clever and for certain personalities, that mattered far more.
Naturally, not everyone in the club showed interest, as a few students preferred returning to chess matches and others simply observed from the sidelines without participating.
Still, the overwhelming majority became curious enough to try and before long, all twenty starter decks Alexander brought with him were already being used.
Even the teacher advisor eventually sat down beside one of the ongoing matches to quietly ask questions about game balance and strategic depth.
Alexander almost smiled at that because the man had clearly crossed the invisible line from sceptical supervisor to genuinely interested player.
Exactly as he hoped.
Meanwhile, Chuck immediately demanded a rematch from Ginny, then another and another after that.
The two quickly became the centre of attention again as surrounding students started debating around topics such as aggressive versus defensive playstyles, monster removal efficiency, tribute value, and whether Trap Cards were "fair."
Alexander simply observed the growing chaos quietly, while internally he was deeply satisfied because this was exactly what Duel Monsters was supposed to create.
Competition. Discussion. Rivalries. Excitement. Community.
At one point, a few particularly brave students even challenged Alexander directly.
Naturally, he accepted, and for fairness' sake, he always used the same starter deck as his opponent.
The results, however, were brutal.
Alexander crushed every challenger, not because the gap in raw intelligence was overwhelming but because his understanding of tempo, pressure, resource management, and risk calculation far surpassed theirs as his memories of the modern Yu-Gi-Oh! Era gave him a perspective that was decades ahead.
More importantly, he intentionally played the same deck in completely different ways each duel.
Sometimes aggressively. Sometimes patiently. Sometimes controlling the pace slowly. Sometimes overwhelming opponents with relentless pressure, as the students watched, they gradually started realising something important.
The decks themselves were not rigid, as the players shaped how they functioned, and that realisation alone made the game feel significantly deeper.
Chuck, unsurprisingly, challenged Alexander more than anyone else.
At first, the young man lost repeatedly, but then slowly he started adapting, improving, learning from mistakes, and eventually, he even managed to win a few duels.
Those victories immediately energised him even further.
Alexander could practically see the obsession beginning to form in real time. Honestly? It was almost nostalgic.
Meanwhile, as he took part in those duels, Alexander's YGO System kept quietly delivering notifications.
[Ding!]
_____________________________
[Victory Registered]
[Reward Granted]
• Duel Points (DP): +1
• Duel Energy (DE): +1
_______________________________
Again and again, and occasionally:
________________________________
[Reward Granted]
• Duel Points (DP): +1
• Duel Energy (DE): +2
_________________________________
Or slightly more or slightly less.
At first, Alexander paid little attention until he noticed something strange.
Chuck and Ginny's very first duel against him had granted:
______________________________
[Reward Granted]
• Duel Points (DP): +5
• Duel Energy (DE): +5
_______________________________
Far more than normal, however, Chuck's later duels gave less, still positive, still consistent but lower.
This immediately made Alexander start analysing the pattern and observing his opponent, and eventually, he reached the most likely conclusion.
The gain wasn't determined solely by victory, but it was connected to the emotional involvement of the player.
The stronger the emotional reaction created by Duel Monsters, the greater the reward.
Although clearly there were still additional unknown variables involved, because even highly invested players often only generated a single point gain in both DP and DE.
By the time the Chess Club session finally ended, roughly an hour later, Alexander had accumulated a total of: 45 DP and 47 DE
Painfully close to his first objective.
As the students reluctantly returned to normal club activities, many immediately started asking when the game would officially come out and if they could already obtain new cards to modify their decks.
Meanwhile, others were already discussing deck strategies, favourite monsters, possible combinations, and more importantly, they were talking about Duel Monsters even after the duels ended.
Which was exactly what Alexander wanted, as it was a sign that the game was already spreading socially.
As Alexander left the room, Chuck loudly called after him, "Hey! Next time, I'm going to thoroughly defeat you with my dragons and force you to play seriously!"
Ginny immediately replied from nearby, "Or maybe try to improve first."
Chuck looked offended as he shot back, "I am improving."
"You forgot to draw twice."
"That happened one time. And it was because I was too excited to land the decisive blow!"
"It happened twice. And both times you lost."
Alexander left while quietly listening to their argument continue behind him, and for the first time since arriving in this world, he genuinely felt like something from his other life had finally returned, making the current one feel much more complete.
Outside the academy, Roland waited beside the luxurious sedan as usual.
The moment Alexander approached, Roland greeted him and opened the rear door for him before asking, "How did it go?"
Alexander entered calmly before answering, "Better than expected."
That alone made Roland slightly raise an eyebrow before he closed the door and stepped into the driver's seat.
Once the car started moving, Alexander noticed that the partition was already lowered and continued, "The students reacted extremely well."
Then, after a brief pause, he added, "I think it's time to fully commit and move forward with a larger production run."
Roland glanced at him through the mirror and asked, "Starter decks?"
"And the very first booster packs."
That earned genuine interest from Roland as Alexander continued, "During the past days, I have grown more used to drawing cards and expanded the prototype card pool considerably."
While saying that, he looked outside the window, watching the speeding scenery and thought, 'Over one hundred prototype cards now exist. Those are more than enough for a first edition of booster packs, creating a sufficient deck variety that will thus allow for early customisation and even some hint of localised metagame.'
Hearing that, Roland nodded slowly and concluded, "Then our next destination is probably Merriweather Commercial Printing & Design."
Alexander nodded once and replied, "Yes."
~~~▽~~~
The following day at school passed almost normally.
The biggest difference was that members of the Chess Club now greeted him throughout the day.
Some with curiosity, others with excitement and a few with outright competitive energy.
Chuck even stopped Alexander during lunch, holding one of the starter deck boxes, "Rematch after school. This time I'll force you to play seriously!"
Ginny also approached him and calmly added, "You said that yesterday too and in the end it didn't work..."
Chuck ignored her completely.
Alexander, on the other hand, stopped for a moment to greet her; then he simply replied, "We'll see..."
Then, after classes ended, Alexander headed toward the middle school section of the campus to repeat yesterday's effort, and there the reaction exceeded even his expectations.
Middle school students fell into Duel Monsters with frightening speed.
The appeal of the cool monsters, never-before-seen battles, deep strategy, collecting nature, and competitive nature of the game was almost overwhelming for that age group.
Within minutes, arguments started among the students, rivalries formed between various groups, favourite monsters were claimed, and groups gathered around active duels.
Unlike many older students who initially approached the game analytically, the younger students embraced it emotionally almost immediately.
Which in turn generated even more DP and DE when Alexander won some teaching duels against the middle schoolers who asked for one.
[Ding!]
_____________________________
[Victory Registered]
[Reward Granted]
• Duel Points (DP): +2
• Duel Energy (DE): +3
______________________________
Again and again and again.
By the time Alexander finally finished for the day, his totals had reached 55 DP and 59 DE.
Watching the balance on the YGO System's interface, Alexander almost let out a perfect Kaiba-style three-stage villainous laugh while thinking, 'Enough! I finally have enough points!'
Still, he held back and kept focusing on the students, answering their questions until it was time to leave to let them focus on their club activities.
Then he returned to the high school section and met with Chuck and Ginny at the Chess Club, playing a few games with them before watching the two obliterate all the other students who challenged them.
After spending some time with them, he left, and as he politely bid farewell to the teacher and students and exited the campus, Alexander could barely suppress the anticipation building inside him.
Because now he could finally buy the first item in the system shop and test his theory.
The drive home felt unusually long. Alexander spent most of it silently thinking about the YGO System, the Spirit Energy, the Ba, the high-level monster creation, and the strange sense of pressure he felt whenever attempting to create Level 6 monsters or above.
But in the end, the only obvious answer seemed to be that he lacked something fundamental and that the YGO System itself had already shown him the most likely solution.
Once they finally returned to the mansion, Alexander immediately turned toward Roland and said, "I'll head to the study. I need complete privacy for a while."
Roland instantly understood the seriousness in his tone and replied, "Very well, I'll make sure nobody disturbs you."
Alexander nodded once before heading directly toward his study.
The room itself sat in one of the quieter sections of the mansion, far removed from the more active areas of the estate.
Perfect for concentration.
The moment the door closed behind him, Alexander exhaled slowly.
Then, without wasting another second, he summoned the YGO System interface, making the familiar translucent screen materialise before him.
His gaze immediately moved toward the shop, then toward the first item.
[Ding!]
______________________________________
YGO Shop:
– Personal Upgrade: Spirit Energy Awakening
• Enables detection of non-physical entities
• Unlocks Ba
Effect:
• Allows interaction with bound entities
• Enables advanced system functions
Cost: 50 DP
______________________________________
Alexander stared silently at the screen for several long seconds.
His eyes hovered over the confirmation prompt while doubt clawed at the edges of his mind.
Once he selected purchase, there would be no undoing it. Then, without another thought, he "pressed" the purchase button with his will.
The confirmation window appeared, and the world changed.
A violent surge of energy detonated inside his body without warning.
Alexander's eyes widened as agony ripped through him. It felt as though molten metal had been poured directly into his veins, scorching through every nerve and muscle simultaneously. His knees nearly buckled under the sudden pressure crushing down on him from all sides, making him grunt, "Ghk—!"
The sound barely escaped his throat.
Heat spread through his entire body in waves, growing hotter and hotter until it felt unbearable. Yet beneath the pain was another sensation, something stranger.
Something buried deep inside him was waking up.
No, it was better to say that it was being dragged to the surface by force.
The air around him suddenly became heavy.
The lights in the room flickered violently as an invisible pressure rolled outward from Alexander's body. His heartbeat thundered in his ears so loudly it drowned out every other sound.
Then came the faint and distant whispers.
Countless presences brushed against the edge of his awareness, making Alexander freeze as, for a single impossible moment, he could feel them.
Some felt cold and ancient, like monsters sleeping beneath dark oceans. Others burned with wild aggression or calm, overwhelming authority. Every presence was unique, unmistakably alive despite the impossible distance separating them.
And all of them were watching him, waiting for him to call them.
The realisation sent a chill down his spine, far colder than the heat consuming his body.
Spirit Energy.
The thought surfaced instinctively, as if knowledge not originally his own had been forced into his mind.
His breathing grew uneven as the connection deepened.
The presences remained distant, separated by what felt like entire dimensions, yet the bond between them was undeniable. Like invisible threads stretching across reality itself, but among all of them, one presence eclipsed the rest.
It did not come from somewhere far away, but it came from within him.
Alexander's body stiffened.
The energy raging through him suddenly converged toward his chest, compressing tighter and tighter until it felt as though his heart itself was about to explode.
Then he saw it.
For the briefest instant, a towering figure appeared within the storm of light engulfing his mind.
Pure white skin, crimson markings, a featureless face with glowing green eyes.
Silent and powerful.
Elemental Hero Neos.
The image lasted less than a second, yet its presence was overwhelming enough to leave Alexander unable to breathe.
That wasn't a hallucination or his imagination.
The figure was not introducing itself to him, but it was reminding him of something his soul had always known.
Then the vision vanished.
The violent energy rushing through his body slowly stabilised. The unbearable heat faded first, followed by the crushing pressure in the air. One by one, the distant presences withdrew from his awareness until only silence remained.
Alexander stood completely still in the middle of the room, breathing heavily.
His clothes clung to him from sweat, but his entire body felt different.
It felt lighter, sharper, and stronger.
Every breath felt clearer than before. Every sound stood out with unnatural clarity. He could hear the faint hum of electricity behind the walls, the movement of air through the room, even the subtle rhythm of his own heartbeat gradually slowing down.
And then Alexander realised the strangest part of all. The world itself had changed, or rather, his perception of it had.
The empty space around him no longer felt empty.
Something invisible now lingered beneath reality, hidden just beyond normal human senses. Streams of faint energy drifted through the air like unseen currents. Tiny traces of emotion and presence clung to objects, walls, even the atmosphere itself.
The world was not different from before; he had simply become capable of perceiving a fraction of what had always existed beneath the surface and deep within his soul, something that until now felt off finally clicked into place.
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