Alexander had expected the strange sensation to return.
For the first couple of days, every time he went out wearing his now familiar disguise to mingle among Duel Monsters players, he found himself paying more attention to his surroundings than usual. His eyes wandered almost unconsciously over crowds, alleys and rooftops while his heightened Spiritual Awareness remained constantly active, waiting for that unsettling feeling to resurface, but it never did.
After nearly a week of deliberately keeping himself alert, Alexander gradually stopped expecting it and started searching for other reasons to explain it, 'If something truly dangerous had been nearby that day, surely it wouldn't simply vanish without leaving behind another trace or at least do anything. So, let's use Occam's Razor and consider that the most reasonable explanation is also the simplest one. My Spiritual Awareness had increased dramatically after I brought the last Personal Upgrade from the YGO System's shop. Likewise, my Ba has also grown noticeably stronger as a result of that. And because of that, my control over them has been slipping more to the point that I've started to actively train to get better. It isn't all that unreasonable to assume that my senses also simply need time to adjust. Not every strange feeling is some kind of omen. Sometimes, the human mind simply overreacts to unfamiliar stimuli.'
Satisfied with that conclusion, Alexander quietly pushed the incident toward the back of his mind, and life returned to normal, or at least, as normal as life could be after accidentally inventing the world's first trading card game.
School occupied his mornings, afternoons were usually spent reviewing Industrial Illusions' latest production reports, discussing expansion plans or checking sales numbers with his staff, the remaining daylight was dedicated to his increasingly routine "market research," which conveniently doubled as an excellent source of Duel Points and Duel Energy while evenings belonged to card creation where he did more prototype artwork, more negotiations with Duel Spirits which sometimes took a more "aggressive" form, and more preparations for whatever came next.
Meetings occasionally interrupted that schedule, but for the first time in weeks there were no immediate crises demanding his attention, and Alexander found he didn't particularly mind.
When the final bell rang that afternoon, Alexander walked toward the Chess Club almost automatically.
Opening the familiar classroom door, he was greeted by a sight that had become increasingly common over the past months.
Several chess boards remained occupied, but most didn't, and instead, Duel Monsters had completely taken over.
Two students were arguing over whether sacrificing a stronger monster early was worth maintaining field control, another pair had gathered a small audience around their duel, and someone else was enthusiastically showing off a recently traded card.
A small crowd had gathered around another table where two students were in the middle of what sounded less like a discussion and more like a heated argument.
"I'm telling you, if you'd summoned Battle Ox first, you would've won."
"No, because he still had Trap Hole."
"You don't know that!"
"He literally activated it the next turn!"
"That doesn't mean he was going to use it!"
Nearby, another student carefully sorted through a stack of freshly traded cards with an expression that suggested he'd just discovered buried treasure.
"I got two Mystical Elf and a Beaver Warrior for this."
"You got robbed."
"No, I didn't."
"You absolutely did."
Alexander quietly walked past them without interrupting.
A few months ago, conversations like these simply hadn't existed, but now they felt completely natural.
Strategies were beginning to evolve beyond "summon the strongest monster available." Players argued over card advantage without calling it that, debated tempo despite lacking the vocabulary for it and slowly learned through experience that sometimes preserving resources mattered more than dealing immediate damage.
It was exactly what he'd hoped would happen.
Seeing those scenes, Alexander couldn't help smiling as it was proof that the game had taken on a life of its own exactly as he'd hoped.
Suddenly a familiar voice said, "You look way too proud of yourself."
Alexander turned toward Chuck, who had apparently noticed the smile and replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Sure you don't."
Chuck laughed before gesturing toward an empty table where Ginny was already sitting.
Unlike many of the others, none of them seemed particularly interested in duelling today; instead, they simply talked while watching everyone else, and eventually the conversation drifted toward the approaching Spring Break.
Chuck leaned forward with an unusually excited expression, "I've got an idea."
Ginny raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Should we be worried?"
"No... Well, maybe."
Alexander silently waited before Chuck suggested, "What if we all went to the beach?"
Ginny blinked and repeated, "The beach?"
"Yeah. Just for the day." Chuck shrugged, "Nothing fancy. Just hanging out and having fun."
"I actually like that."
"I knew you would."
Chuck crossed his arms proudly as he declared, "And before either of you ask..."
He pulled a set of car keys from his pocket and said, "...I'm officially the most useful among us."
Alexander stared for a moment before he replied, "You are aware that I can ask Roland to take me and whoever else wherever I want, right?"
Chuck looked genuinely offended as he replied, "Come on, Lex! Roland is old, and he is your guardian! With him around, we can't have fun... On the other hand, I'm sixteen, and I have the license."
He spoke those last four words with the unmistakable pride of someone announcing a great personal achievement.
Alexander couldn't help chuckling and said, "I stand corrected."
"Damn right."
Ginny laughed before looking toward Alexander and asking, "You'll come, right?"
He considered it for all of two seconds before replying, "I don't see why not."
"Great!"
"Julia's coming too, obviously," Chuck added. "Otherwise she'd kill me."
"Smart decision."
"I enjoy living."
The three of them spent the next several minutes discussing little more than food, swimming, whether Duel Monsters would somehow end up becoming part of the trip and how long it would take Chuck to get hopelessly lost despite supposedly being the driver.
Alexander found himself contributing surprisingly naturally.
It was nice. A completely ordinary conversation between teenagers, just friends making plans and for a brief moment, he almost forgot he lived in the hazardous Marvel Universe.
~~~▽~~~
Classes officially ended shortly afterwards.
The small group separated outside the school building.
"I've gotta pick Julia up," Chuck said while waving over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow."
"Try not to crash."
"No promises."
Alexander watched Chuck disappear toward the student parking lot before turning toward the school's entrance.
As punctual as ever, Roland was already waiting beside the luxurious sedan.
Ginny climbed into the back alongside Alexander while Roland quietly closed the door behind them.
The drive toward her neighbourhood passed comfortably as conversation resumed almost immediately.
"If Chuck gets lost," Ginny mused, "I'm blaming you."
"Why me?"
"You encouraged him."
"I acknowledged his license."
"Same thing."
Alexander sighed dramatically and said, "I see logic has abandoned this conversation."
"It never arrived."
They laughed.
By the time the sedan stopped outside Ginny's house, they had somehow progressed into debating which of them would lose the first Duel played on the beach.
"I'm betting on Chuck," Alexander said.
"He'll blame the wind or maybe even Julia saying that he beauty distracted him."
"He absolutely will."
Ginny smiled before climbing out and saying, "See you tomorrow."
"See you."
She disappeared inside her house, leaving the sedan pleasantly quiet once again.
Roland glanced at the rearview mirror and asked, "Home, Master Alexander?"
"Not yet."
Alexander started changing his clothes while saying, "Go and find a place for the usual market research. Maybe that park we found last week."
Hearing that, Roland nodded once and said, "Very good."
Nearly twenty minutes later, Alexander stepped out wearing far less expensive clothes, fake glasses and nothing that remotely resembled the founder of Duel Monsters but just another nerdy-looking teenager.
The park had become one of his favourite places to gather Duel Points as dozens of players occupied benches, picnic tables and even patches of grass.
Several recognised each other despite never learning one another's names. Decks changed hands, strategies were discussed, and rumours spread.
One teenager proudly held up a recently acquired Rare card while several others leaned closer to inspect it.
"No way..."
"You actually pulled one?"
"I traded for it."
"What did it cost?"
"...Almost my entire deck."
A collective wince spread through the small group.
Another table had become an impromptu rules discussion.
"So if I activate Remove Trap before he flips it—"
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"Because Remove Trap can only target face-up Trap cards, which means that you can only activate it after he has already flipped it up. Basically, you can only use it to destroy Continuous Trap Cards, or ones that remain on the field."
"...Oh."
Alexander smiled to himself because players weren't just learning cards anymore, but they were learning the language of the game itself.
Alexander quietly joined them.
He answered a beginner's question about Quick-Play Spells, traded several duplicate cards he'd brought specifically for occasions like this and observed a surprisingly creative deck centred around maintaining field presence instead of brute force a clear sign that players were beginning to innovate and not copy just what others did.
Eventually someone challenged him.
The challenger looked to be around Alexander's age and carried himself with the quiet confidence of someone who had already won several games that afternoon.
"You've been helping people for almost half an hour," he said while shuffling his deck. "Figure you must be a pretty good duelist."
Alexander adjusted his fake glasses and said with a knowing smirk, "Indeed, I'm something of a duelist myself."
He barely held back a chuckle for the corny joke that no one would be able to understand.
Meanwhile, a few nearby players looked over.
Someone recognised Alexander as the teenager who occasionally appeared with unusual decks and almost always gave people close games.
"Hey, it's him again."
"The guy who beat Jason last week?"
"I thought Jason said he got unlucky."
"He always says that."
Alexander pretended not to hear any of it and accepted the challenge without hesitation, using one of the balanced decks he reserved for these outings.
The duel proved unexpectedly difficult.
His opponent opened conservatively, refusing to overextend despite several opportunities to push for damage.
Instead, he steadily built field presence while forcing Alexander to spend resources answering increasingly awkward situations, making him hide a smile while thinking, 'Good discipline.'
Alexander intentionally held back one of his stronger plays, curious how the other boy would respond.
The answer came almost immediately.
Rather than walking into the obvious trap, his opponent shifted strategies entirely, sacrificing immediate momentum to preserve card advantage.
Alexander couldn't help smiling.
He'd created that situation deliberately, and his opponent had still found the correct answer.
Several turns later, the opening finally appeared.
A single mistake on Alexander's side, small enough that many newer players would've overlooked it, was immediately punished.
The momentum shifted.
Two turns later, the duel was over; in the end, Alexander lost, but he wasn't upset as he smiled and said, "That was very well played. Good game."
His opponent looked almost embarrassed as he said, "Sorry."
Alexander laughed, "What for? You earned it."
As they shook hands, Alexander couldn't help feeling oddly satisfied.
There was something deeply gratifying about seeing players improve and surpass expectations using a game he'd created, as it meant Duel Monsters no longer depended solely on him.
As dusk settled over the park, Alexander finally gathered his cards and returned toward the waiting sedan.
Roland silently opened the door, and Alexander settled into his seat.
The city slowly rolled past the windows as evening descended.
Streetlights flickered to life one after another.
For several peaceful minutes, nothing happened.
Alexander leaned comfortably against the leather seat while absentmindedly watching the city drift past outside the window.
Evening had settled over Los Angeles.
Office workers slowly disappeared into apartment buildings, restaurants began filling with customers, and neon signs flickered to life one after another; aspiring actors and models moved around searching for that small chance that would help them break through.
It was peaceful, almost enough to make him forget that he lived in a world where there were countless entities capable of tearing apart reality itself on a whim.
Then something made him frown.
His gaze shifted away from the passing buildings, not because he'd seen anything, but because he'd stopped noticing something.
The city felt unusually quiet.
Traffic still moved, people still walked the sidewalks, yet his Spiritual Awareness no longer flowed as naturally as it had only moments earlier.
Instead, it pressed against his senses like invisible pressure building somewhere just beyond his perception.
Alexander slowly straightened in his seat but then thought, 'Wait... Not like this.'
He deliberately relaxed.
Ever since that first incident, he'd been reminding himself not to mistake unfamiliar sensations for genuine danger.
His Spiritual Awareness had grown stronger, and it was entirely possible this was simply another false alarm, but then the sensation persisted, and then it grew stronger.
His heartbeat quickened almost imperceptibly.
Alexander looked through one window, but he saw nothing; then the opposite side, but still nothing.
His fingers unconsciously tightened around the edge of the seat as he realised, 'This isn't imagination.'
He was certain of it now; something was there, but he just couldn't see it.
His Spiritual Awareness reacted violently. Like a compass suddenly finding north, Alexander's eyes widened, 'This feeling...'
His heartbeat skipped, 'It's back!'
Suddenly, Spiritual Awareness reacted so violently it almost hurt, and every instinct screamed the same direction.
Alexander slowly turned toward one of the side streets as the sedan passed, but he saw absolutely nothing, yet the sensation only intensified, making him call out, "...Roland."
The butler immediately recognised the unusual seriousness in his voice as he asked, "Yes, Master Alexander?"
"Stop the car."
Without asking why, Roland slammed the brakes.
The sedan had barely stopped before Alexander opened the door and stepped outside, and the next moment he started running, making Roland exclaim, "Master Alexander!"
Roland hurried after him as Alexander didn't answer.
He couldn't because he didn't know what compelled him forward, only that every step made the strange sensation stronger the closer he got to where his senses and instinct told him, until he reached a narrow alley squeezed between two ageing buildings.
Then he stopped as he saw a teenage boy collapsed onto the pavement while darkness slowly seeped from his unconscious body.
Alexander's eyes widened as darkness condensed, twisting into a grotesque humanoid shape before solidifying into an emaciated figure.
Its green-black flesh clung to a skeletal frame. A mouth full of needle-like fangs stretched into a monstrous grin, but it was the eyes that froze the alley.
Crimson eyes covered its body by the dozens, staring from its face, shoulders, chest, and arms with silent, ravenous malice.
Every slow flex of its sharp talons seemed accompanied by drifting wisps of deathly shadow, as though the monster itself had crawled from the depths of a forgotten grave.
Countless crimson eyes met his own, and recognition flashed across them as the shadowy figure said, "You..."
Alexander's expression hardened as he instantly recognised the figure, "Shadow Ghoul..."
His voice became colder as he asked, his tone unable to hide his disbelief and confusion, "How?"
Only then did he notice another unconscious teenager lying several meters away, lying perfectly still.
At the same time, his mind immediately connected the pieces.
The news of the unexplained comas throughout the month. The victims with no visible injuries. The reports that had quietly circulated throughout the city for weeks.
All that made him reach one possible conclusion, "You've been feeding..."
For several long seconds, neither moved.
When Shadow Ghoul finally spoke again, the voice no longer belonged to the teenager it had emerged from; it was deeper, distorted, and filled with unmistakable hatred, "You... remember me."
"I do."
"You defeated me. You bound me to that card. You left me with nothing... but scraps."
Darkness slowly spread across the alley floor as it continued, "I endured. I waited. And now..."
The shadows climbed the surrounding walls while it declared, "...I am free."
Roland finally reached the alley entrance only for reality itself to twist as darkness folded inward like closing curtains, sealing the alley away from the outside world, making Roland exclaim, "Master Alexander!"
His voice became muffled as the barrier completed itself.
Inside, Alexander instinctively reached toward the Deck at his side and across from him, Shadow Ghoul produced its own.
Its twisted laughter echoed throughout the unnatural darkness, "Hiehehe... So... It seems... We finally have the opportunity to finish what we started."
Alexander's pulse quickened.
The overwhelming spiritual pressure surrounding him felt strangely familiar, like standing inside the Spirit World itself, making him immediately guess, 'A Shadow Duel! Shit... This is dangerous. Very dangerous...'
At the same time, his heart started to beat faster as a grin formed on his face, 'Yet somehow... Also incredibly exciting!'
The barrier expanded slightly as transparent Duel Fields materialised before both duelists.
Shadow Ghoul drew five cards, and Alexander mirrored the action.
Silence filled the alley. Then Shadow Ghoul smiled and announced, "Let's duel."
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