Several minutes later, the group finally arrived at the first event location.
Kingsley Toys & Hobbies.
Even from outside, the store already looked livelier than Alexander expected for a Saturday morning.
Families moved in and out through the entrance, carrying bags and toys while children pressed themselves against the display windows, excitedly pointing at various products inside.
The moment Roland parked the car near the storefront, the owner himself stepped out from the entrance to greet them, "Morning, Mr Alexander."
The middle-aged manager, Harold Kingsley, extended his hand politely, and Alexander shook it calmly while replying, "Good Morning, Mr Kingsley. Thank you again for agreeing to host the event."
Harold smiled slightly, "Well, after your presentation the other day, I figured I’d regret it if I didn’t at least give it a try."
Despite the smile, Alexander could still see the caution hidden underneath.
That was natural, after all, from the manager’s perspective, Duel Monsters was still an unknown product made by a teenager with no proven market value. Scepticism was normal and expected.
Then Harold glanced toward the transport van currently parking behind them and commented, "…You really came prepared."
"We’re trying to make a good first impression," Alexander replied.
"That much is obvious."
The workers unloaded the folding tables first, followed by cartons of starter decks, display binders, banner stands, and boxes of promotional flyers.
Behind them came the heavier equipment, thick black cable coils, metal equipment cases, and two bulky CRT television sets wrapped in moving blankets.
A few customers slowed near the storefront windows, watching with curiosity as Alexander directed the setup like a stage manager preparing a live broadcast.
"Careful with the camera arm," he warned.
The centrepiece of the arrangement went up over the demonstration table: a portable aluminium truss frame assembled from interlocking poles and tightened with hand screws.
Mounted beneath the crossbar was a compact industrial video camera the size of a shoebox, aimed straight down at the playing surface.
It wasn’t elegant by modern standards. Thick analogue cables snaked from the camera down the frame, across the floor, and into a wheeled equipment rack holding a VHS deck, a small video switcher, and a humming RF modulator.
One of the workers rolled a television cart into position near the front of the store while another connected the second set near the action figure aisle. After a burst of static, both screens flickered alive.
The image sharpened into a bird’s-eye view of the duel table below.
A few kids immediately drifted closer.
"No way," one muttered. "Are they shooting a movie or something?"
That reaction alone made the extra effort worthwhile. Without the monitors, customers would have been forced to crowd shoulder-to-shoulder around the table just to see the cards. With them, people could watch from halfway across the store.
Alexander checked the framing on the nearest television. The camera captured the entire field perfectly: monster zones, spell placements, life point pads, everything was clear enough to follow even from a distance.
For a game built around artwork and strategy, visibility mattered.
And in 1990, most toy companies still treated live demonstrations like glorified board-game kiosks. Alexander intended to make this look closer to a televised sporting event.
Meanwhile, curious customers entering the store immediately began slowing down near the unusual setup, especially the children.
"What’s Duel Monsters?"
"Are those cards?"
"Whoa, look at the dragon!"
"Can we try it?"
Several parents initially lingering near the entrance gradually wandered closer as well.
One father looked at one of the cards in the glass case curiously before raising an eyebrow, "These illustrations are actually pretty impressive."
Nearby, an older woman accompanying her grandson watched the television setup with visible surprise.
"They’re showing the game on screens now?" she murmured. "Toy stores never used to do things like this."
Alexander quietly observed the reactions while organising several starter decks neatly across the central table, thinking, 'Good. The visual appeal alone is already attracting attention.'
Nearby, Chuck enthusiastically arranged several Dragon-type cards across one display stand before grinning proudly, "Okay, these are definitely the coolest ones."
Ginny glanced sideways while unpacking starter decks, "That’s because your standards begin and end at ‘big dragon.’"
Chuck looked offended as he said, "That’s not true."
"…Go on then."
Chuck opened his mouth, paused, then pointed dramatically toward a card, "That dragon-like monster with two heads."
Ginny stared at him for several seconds and said, "You’re proving my point."
"That's not true, the card clearly states that it is a Dinosaur Type, so it doesn't count as a Dragon!"
Alexander quietly ignored them while continuing preparations.
Honestly, their banter had become strangely normal surprisingly quickly.
Several store employees also watched curiously from nearby aisles.
One younger worker leaned toward another, "So what exactly is this supposed to be?"
"No clue."
"…Think it’ll actually sell?"
The second employee glanced toward the steadily growing crowd around the setup area.
"…Maybe."
Meanwhile, Harold Kingsley himself remained nearby with folded arms, silently observing everything.
Alexander noticed immediately that the man wasn’t really watching the cards, not yet, at least.
He was watching the customer behaviour, movement patterns, engagement duration, and reactions, just like any businessman would do when observing an investment.
Before long, the setup was complete.
Large colourful banners displaying various monsters had been positioned near the entrance while the central demonstration area occupied a sizable portion of the store’s open floor space.
Booster packs and starter decks sat neatly organised across several display tables.
And more importantly, people were staying that was the first major sign that something was going in the right direction.
Customers entering the store slowed down almost instinctively near the setup area.
Children dragged parents closer.
Teenagers lingered nearby, pretending not to be interested while very obviously listening to every explanation.
Even adults occasionally picked up cards to inspect the artwork curiously.
Alexander calmly answered questions repeatedly.
"It’s a strategy game focused around summoning monsters and reducing your opponent’s Life Points to zero."
"You use monsters, spells, and traps to overcome your opponent."
"Some cards can even combine together to create stronger monsters."
That last explanation especially captured attention.
"You can combine them?"
"Like some kind of transformation?"
"Sort of," Alexander answered.
That was enough to immediately hook several children.
Nearby, Ginny was somehow successfully managing increasingly excited younger kids trying to crowd around the demonstration table.
"Please don’t grab the cards."
"But I just wanna see the shiny one!"
"You can see it perfectly fine without climbing the table."
Meanwhile, Chuck naturally slipped into explaining basic mechanics to several older boys.
"No, stronger monsters destroy weaker ones during battle unless there’s a card effect involved."
"What’s the strongest monster?"
Chuck immediately grinned.
"Obviously dragons."
Ginny sighed from nearby.
"Please ignore his bias. Every card can be the strongest in the right conditions."
"It’s not bias if I’m objectively right."
Harold Kingsley silently watched the entire scene, then slowly frowned thoughtfully because people weren’t moving on after a few minutes, as in normal promotional events.
They stayed. They talked. They gathered. And more importantly, they seemed genuinely interested.
Eventually, the demonstration time finally arrived, and by then, roughly twenty children alongside accompanying parents, older siblings, and relatives had gathered around the central table.
The atmosphere inside the store had become noticeably louder than earlier.
Alexander stepped beside the demonstration field calmly.
"Welcome, everyone," he announced clearly enough for the gathered crowd to hear. "Today we’ll be demonstrating a new strategy game called Duel Monsters."
Immediately, dozens of eyes focused on him before Alexander gestured toward Chuck and Ginny, seated across from one another and said, "These two will be holding the demonstration duel while I explain the mechanics as the game progresses."
Both nodded.
Then the decks were shuffled and Life Point counters placed beside the field, and just like that, the world’s first public Duel Monsters demonstration officially began.
"Each player starts with 4000 Life Points," Alexander explained while both drew their opening hands. "The objective is simple. Reduce your opponent’s points to zero before they can do the same to you."
The audience listened attentively.
Some children leaned so far forward they nearly touched the TV screens before their parents pulled them back a bit.
Chuck took the first turn, "I summon Baby Dragon in attack position!"
A card depicting a small dragon appeared on the field card.
The younger children immediately reacted.
"A DRAGON!"
"No way!"
"That’s awesome!"
Chuck looked incredibly pleased with himself while Ginny rolled her eyes before calmly starting her turn, "I summon Mystical Elf in defence position."
Unlike Chuck’s aggressive opening, Ginny immediately adopted a defensive posture.
Alexander used the opportunity naturally to explain to the audience, "Different strategies exist within Duel Monsters. Some players prefer overwhelming offence while others focus on control and defence."
Several adults exchanged mildly surprised looks at that explanation.
One mother quietly commented to her husband, "So it’s not just luck-based?"
"Looks more complicated than the board games we had growing up," he admitted while continuing to watch.
Nearby, an older brother who initially seemed embarrassed to stand near the children eventually leaned forward alongside everyone else after Ginny’s Trap Hole play.
Harold Kingsley quietly noted several older children nodding while listening carefully.
The duel continued steadily.
Chuck constantly pushed offensively by summoning stronger monsters, attacking aggressively, trying to pressure Ginny’s defences until she makes a mistake.
Meanwhile, Ginny responded through strategic positioning, clever use of Trap Cards, defensive monsters, and carefully timed reversals.
The audience gradually started understanding the flow of the game.
At first, they asked.
"What’s ATK?"
"What does defence do?"
"How do Trap Cards work?"
But several turns later, they quickly adapted.
"Wait! Don’t attack yet!"
"Look at that set card! She definitely has another Trap Card!"
"Use the dragon!"
Alexander nearly smiled seeing the progression, 'They are learning. More importantly, they are becoming emotionally invested.'
Then the duel escalated further as Chuck grinned suddenly and said, "Time to end this."
He slammed down a card dramatically, "I summon Curse of Dragon!"
The card depicting a large yellow dragon appeared in the field, causing several children to audibly gasp.
"That thing’s so cool!"
"2000 ATK!? So strong!"
Chuck immediately pointed forward dramatically, "I attack–!"
Only for Ginny to calmly reveal a face-down card, "Hold up! I activate Trap Hole."
The audience collectively froze, then Alexander immediately explained the card effects, "As said before, Trap Cards activate in response to specific conditions. In this case, when a powerful monster is summoned."
The Curse of Dragon card was immediately sent to the Graveyard by a grumbling Chuck, while several children reacted louder than before.
"NO WAY!"
"She destroyed it instantly!"
"That’s unfair!"
Even several parents laughed at Chuck’s horrified expression while one grandfather watching beside the aisle crossed his arms thoughtfully and muttered, "Kid’s got good timing."
Another adult quietly asked an employee, "Do these cards come randomised?"
"Uh… I think so?"
"Smart," the man replied immediately. "Kids will keep coming back for specific ones."
Chuck himself looked personally betrayed as he commented, "That card is so evil... And you dare to put three copies of it in your deck."
Ginny smiled slightly and shot back, "Skill issue."
Even several adults laughed quietly at that exchange.
Meanwhile, Harold Kingsley had unconsciously stepped closer to the duel table several turns ago, not enough to disrupt, but close enough to observe both the duel and the reaction of the customers.
He finally noticed when one employee approached him nervously, "Uh… sir?"
Harold blinked and asked, "What?"
"We’re almost out of starter decks."
He stared, "…Already?"
The employee nodded helplessly as he explained, "People started buying them during the duel."
Harold’s eyes instinctively flicked toward the product tables while thinking, 'Fifty starter decks. Over a hundred booster packs.'
He remembered the pricing Alexander proposed almost perfectly because at the time he’d considered it optimistic for an untested card game.
$7.99 per starter deck.
$1.99 per booster pack.
And they were disappearing. Fast.
Even conservatively, they were already pushing several hundred dollars in sales before the demonstration had even ended, but what truly caught Harold’s attention wasn’t the immediate revenue.
It was the pattern.
Children buy starter decks, then booster packs, and then drag their friends toward the displays.
Repeat customers. Expansion sales. Organised events.
'If the game spread between schools the way it appeared to be spreading through the store right now…' Harold suddenly realised Alexander might not merely be selling a simple toy; he might be creating an ecosystem.
Harold slowly looked around the store.
Children sat at nearby tables, already opening booster packs excitedly.
Others attempted practice duels using freshly purchased decks while Chuck occasionally paused between turns to answer questions rapidly.
Parents who originally intended short shopping trips still remained inside watching.
And somehow the atmosphere inside the store felt completely different now.
Alive. Louder. Energetic. Community-driven. Not passive shopping but engagement.
Harold Kingsley slowly looked back toward Alexander.
The boy calmly continued explaining game mechanics while simultaneously managing the crowd with surprising ease.
Then Harold glanced toward the rapidly shrinking product displays once more and muttered in disbelief, "…Holy shit."
Eventually, the duel finally reached its conclusion after a dramatic final exchange that left Chuck victorious by only a few hundred remaining Life Points.
The crowd erupted immediately afterwards.
Questions exploded from every direction.
"Can I try?"
"How much are the starter decks and booster packs?"
"Do you have more dragon cards?"
"What does Polymerization do?"
"Can monsters evolve again?"
Several children immediately rushed toward the product tables while employees scrambled to reorganise increasingly chaotic displays.
Some parents attempted to slow them down at first.
Most failed almost immediately.
"One starter deck," a mother firmly warned her son.
Five minutes later, she returned carrying three booster packs as well.
Nearby, two older brothers were already arguing over who would get the dragon cards while their grandfather watched with open amusement.
"Haven’t seen you boys this excited about something together in months," he commented.
Booster packs vanished almost frighteningly quickly, Starter decks were sold continuously, and perhaps the most important moment of all, Alexander noticed several children already teaching other children how to play.
Without his involvement. Without guidance.
The game was already spreading on its own.
Alexander stood silently for a moment, watching the excited arguments, the reaction to newly opened cards, children trading, improvised duels, and enthusiastic discussions happening all around him.
Then slowly he smiled while thinking, 'The first public Duel Monsters event had been a success.'
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