Yugioh [354-356] (Patreon)

Chapter 354: Kira’s Unique Perspective

“Are you Fujiki Kira?”

A man wearing glasses and a white coat walked straight over and reached out his hand.

Kira shook hands with him. “Mr. Franz?”

“That’s me.”

Franz greeted him politely, nodded slightly, and adjusted his glasses.

“I’m Franz, the lead designer of the ‘Winged Dragon of Ra’ project in the God Cards Research Team at the Industrial Illusions.”

Kira sized him up and actually felt he didn’t quite match the image he’d built up in his head.

In the anime, Franz always appeared arrogant and aloof, not even putting their president Pegasus in his eyes. He’d swagger up to Pegasus and say “Beat me if you think you can,” leaving Kira with nothing but impressions like inflated and conceited.

And this wasn’t the type of arrogance born of absolute confidence in one’s skill, like Seto Kaiba. It was more like the “It’s sunny, the rain’s stopped, and now I’m awesome again” kind of misplaced self-assurance—a classic episode villain stereotype.

But the man in front of him right now seemed well-mannered and spoke politely, which surprised Kira in a good way.

Maybe in the anime, as the first person since the Pharaoh’s disappearance who could wield the power of the God Cards, he’d just let the power go to his head, which is understandable.

Even though he was just an episode villain and not even a great duelist, his talent couldn’t be denied.

He might have strayed down some dubious paths, but the Field Spell “Mound of the Bound Creator” he invented did really manage to restrain Ra and allowed him to harness the power of a God Card in a duel.

Regardless of whether his methods were right, he had truly solved a problem that had troubled even the Doma and the Tomb Keepers for years. He managed to summon a God with a mere mortal body and even used a copy card, breaking two taboos, and yet came out of the story unscathed. That was no small feat.

“Kira, you’ve made quite a name for yourself in academia lately. I’ve heard about the achievements of your lab—quite impressive for someone so young.”

Franz smiled, pushing up his glasses.

“I can’t even imagine how far you’ll go in the future.”

“You flatter me. I just got lucky with a bit more inspiration than others,” Kira replied with a smile.

“Hahaha, that’s hardly modest, Kira.” Franz said meaningfully, “Only those who’ve really worked in this field understand—what you call ‘a bit of inspiration’ is something no amount of effort can match.”

Kira smiled and didn’t deny it.

He had come to realize how, in research, finding the right direction made things much easier. When you know exactly which support cards and evolutions revolve around a card, and have a clear goal in mind, you’re already a big step closer to success.

“But I must admit, I was surprised when you reached out to our team, Kira. God Card research is taboo. Our president once even considered shutting down the project—he felt it shouldn’t even exist.”

“Mr. Pegasus, you mean,” Kira said. “But wasn’t he the one who brought the three God Cards into the real world in the first place?”

“Yes, but he often regrets it. Says it’s a power mortals shouldn’t possess, that it never should have been made, and now that it’s buried, it shouldn’t be unearthed again, blah blah blah…”

Franz shook his head as he spoke.

It was clear that, while less extreme than his anime version, he and Pegasus didn’t really see eye to eye.

“As card designers, we should be striving to reach the very pinnacle of Duel Monsters. Now that we know what the summit looks like, he blocks our way with arguments about danger.

You understand what I mean, right, Kira?”

Since Kira had come to learn about this taboo project, it was natural to assume he supported it.

“Of course. But Mr. Pegasus’ concerns are valid. After all, so far, anyone who’s tried to recreate the power of the God Cards has been hurt to some degree.”

“I don’t deny there’s risk,” Franz said, shaking his head. “But if you want to challenge the highest peak of dueling, danger is inevitable. As designers seeking ultimate power, how can we fear it?

In fact, I already have an idea.”

He frowned, a bit annoyed.

“With this method, I’m at least 80—no, 90 percent sure it’ll work. Even ordinary duelists could briefly control a God Card’s power.

But President shot down my idea.”

Kira knew exactly what he meant.

The Field Spell “Mound of the Bound Creator,” as the name implies, shackles the Gods. It uses brute force to suppress their power and avoid divine backlash.

It seemed effective in the anime, but the risks were obvious. Sure, you could use the Mound to protect yourself during a duel, but you couldn’t hide there forever.

“Using cards that suppress the Gods’ power to reduce risk. It’s a valid approach,” Kira said. “But there are still risks, and the God’s power is suppressed. If the spirit and duelist aren’t in sync, it could have other consequences.”

“I understand,” Franz said. “But this is the only method that’s worked so far. No one else has come up with anything better.”

He paused, then his eyes lit up as he looked expectantly at Kira.

“Wait, does Kira have a unique insight?”

He’d already heard that many other departments had made breakthroughs after getting advice from Kira.

If someone like him suddenly reached out, it was probably for a reason.

“Haha, I wouldn’t say unique, but I did just have an idea,” Kira said. “Look, what if, instead of trying to copy the entire God Card, we designed cards that only borrow part of the God’s power, without replicating the whole thing?”

“Hm?”

Franz was stunned.

As an expert in God Card research, he’d never heard this perspective before.

“All current research focuses on copying and controlling the God Cards. But after all these years, progress has shown that this path is almost impossible.

So why not try a different approach?”

Franz pondered. “You mean fragmenting the God’s power, spreading it across various derivative cards to gain part of its power?”

“Something like that. Also, regarding the Sun God—you know, as an expert, that the ‘Winged Dragon of Ra’ has several forms, right?

If you can’t summon the full God, what about just one of its forms?”

The idea was novel and bold—a whole new world for Francis, who fell deep in thought.

Kira stepped aside, smiling as he watched Francis ponder.

Yes, that’s right—he wanted Ra’s egg.

A bird egg that can devour three monsters at once… who wouldn’t want that?

Chapter 355: The Ra's Disciple

Franz was hesitant at first, but after Kira continued to share his ideas, Franz’s eyes lit up and he grew more and more excited.

Besides proposing cards for Ra’s other forms, Kira also suggested a series of support cards with God-like powers, as well as cards to help search and deploy the Gods.

They had actually tried developing these before. For example, the card “Ra's Disciple,” which Franz used in the anime to summon Ra.

That card was also eventually printed, but it was quite different from the anime version.

In the anime, “Ra's Disciple” let you add two more copies of itself from your deck to your hand when summoned.

In the real card, this effect was upgraded—when summoned, not only could you add two more copies from your deck, you could even Special Summon them directly, making it easy to get the three sacrifices needed for Ra.

It sounds strong, but the card was saddled with a crippling self-limitation: as long as a Ra's Disciple is on your field, you can’t Special Summon by any means except its effect.

This severe restriction made the real card almost useless in serious strategies.

By contrast, in previous metagames, the anime effect was much more powerful—summoning one and immediately gaining two more cards was an incredible way to gain resources.

“Honestly, I think your ‘Ra's Disciple’ card has a lot of potential,” Kira said seriously. “If possible, could you give our lab a copy for research?”

“I suppose I could…”

Franz found it odd.

“But this card was designed just to quickly summon Ra. If the God Card summoning problem isn’t solved, what’s the use?”

Kira grinned mysteriously. “Well, even though it’s meant for Ra, I think it might have unexpected potential.”

Despite its severe restriction, creative players discovered hidden potential in the Ra's Disciple.

With “as long as this card is on the field, its controller cannot Special Summon,” the card became a tool for trolling: if you gave your opponent a Ra's Disciple, they couldn’t Special Summon anything at all.

So a derivative card meant to summon a God was repurposed into a lock-down strategy—using various means to give a Ra's Disciple to the opponent, so they’re stuck, unable to do much of anything.

No Special Summons also meant you couldn’t use it as a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link material.

You can’t tribute it for a normal summon either, because the effect says, “This card cannot be tributed except for the Tribute Summon of The Winged Dragon of Ra.”

In other words, the Ra's Disciple is so devout it recognizes only Ra, and in all other cases, it can’t be used as tribute by any means. It’s like an immovable nail—once you stick it on your opponent’s field, their mindset is likely to break.

That’s why Ra is the most trollish God Card. It has nothing to do with Marik being the sunshine boy with the strongest God in Battle City. Even its support cards are trolls to the core.

“Alright.” Franz agreed readily.

Kira was now quite famous in card design, and many teams wanted his insights. Besides, the Ra's Disciple was just a regular Level 4 monster, only valuable as Ra support, and not much else.

Franz generously promised to send Kira three copies for research.

Kira was satisfied—meeting the lead designer of the Ra team had paid off.

Even if he couldn’t figure out the right way to harness a God Card, just getting Ra’s egg and a Ra's Disciple was a great haul.

Those two cards alone would be enough to show an opponent what the most valuable God Card really means.

…

When Kira met up with Mokuba again, Mokuba was heatedly talking to someone on the phone—sounded like an argument.

He ended the call and, seeing Kira, let out a long, exasperated sigh.

 “This is a headache. The trouble never ends.”

“About the tournament?” Kira asked.

“Yeah. There was a huge disaster during Battle City, and a lot of people got hurt. Luckily, no deaths… but it’s still a mess. Some people are demanding the tournament be stopped, saying it’s too dangerous.”

“But it’ll go on, right?”

“Of course,” Mokuba said matter-of-factly.

After all, it was the president’s tournament. He’d never let it be canceled halfway.

“It just means the next couple of days will be busy. Big Brother has to go back to meet the board. Actually, there’s something I want to ask you…”

Mokuba hesitated.

“I’m not sure if it’s appropriate…”

“No worries, just say it.”

Kira waved it off—no point in holding back between friends.

“Alright. It’s about that guy, Luca, the new Doma Swordsman. After his duel with my brother, we looked into him.

No solid leads yet, but the clues point to a town called Shimizu. Ever heard of it?”

Kira shook his head. “No. What’s special about it?”

“That’s the problem—we don’t know. But if the clues are right, and that Doma Swordsman went there right now…”

“You think something’s there?” Kira said knowingly.

“We can’t say for sure—just a guess.”

Kira nodded. “You want someone to check it out. But if it’s just to confirm something, you’ve got enough people for that, right?”

“Yes, but for certain reasons, I want to send a strong duelist, just in case. Because…”

Mokuba hesitated again.

“Honestly, there was a duelist we know pretty well in that area. If it was him, I wouldn’t worry. When I first noticed that town, I tried to contact him.

But for some reason, I can’t reach him. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

“Oh? Who is it? Do I know him?”

“You probably don’t, but you’ve surely heard the name,” Mokuba said. “He’s Joey Wheeler, who made the Top Four in the first Battle City.”

Chapter 356: In the End, It All Comes Down to Dueling

Kira yawned, leaning against the bumpy window of the jeep, idly flipping through his cards.

These were all cards he’d picked up during Battle City—quite a haul. He was sorting them into useful, undecided, and for sale piles, thinking about new deck ideas.

It was barely dark, but the night was already thick like ink, with no moonlight. The forest seemed like a silent, ancient temple.

Branches twisted like skeletal arms reaching out in the dark. Leaves rustled with the wind, sounding like ghostly whispers.

The jeep bumped along a forest path, its headlights like faint fireflies. Wheels crunched over fallen branches and leaves with squeaky, creaky sounds.

The man in the front passenger seat turned to him. “You’re a duelist?”

He was a local guide, and both he and the driver had been arranged by KaibaCorp to wait for Kira at the station. After arriving in the city, Kira transferred to this off-road vehicle, heading straight for Shimizu Town.

“Yes,” said Kira.

“Impressive. I really admire you duelists—I could never do it,” said the guide.

The driver joked, “With your brain? Forget it. Learn to play Karuta first.”

“What’s wrong with Karuta?” The guide puffed up. “It’s hard, too!”

The driver just chuckled. “I don’t know much about dueling, but I do know… Is there a monster called Dark Magician Girl? I’ve seen her—she’s really huge.”

Kira: “…”

“Pfft, what’s the use of just being big?” The guide shook his head. “I prefer hard-working and capable girls.”

The driver squinted. “If you’re lowering your standards, you can drop ‘hard-working’ too, right?”

“Hah, you get me, man.”

“…”

They joked for a bit, but seeing Kira uninterested, they fell quiet again.

After a while, the guide couldn’t help but turn again. “So, big-city duelist, what brings you to a backwater like this?”

“I’ll say this: if your company wasn’t paying so much, I’d never come,” the driver said. “A few people have gone missing here these past two weeks.”

“Oh?”

That finally piqued Kira’s interest.

“Yeah. Last week I came here with the police, looking for a missing traveler, but we never found them. Just ended up dropping it,” said the guide.

Kira pondered.

Maybe KaibaCorp’s hunch was right—something was up around here.

The trees grew denser. The jeep followed a side path and finally stopped.

“Let’s rest a bit, get out and stretch. I’m stiff from sitting so long.”

The guide got out, stretched, and pulled out a cigarette.

“Need a smoke?”

He offered Kira a cigarette.

“No thanks, I’m still underage,” Kira declined.

“Good for you. Healthy habit.”

The guide approved, then hummed a tune as he went to smoke.

Kira stayed in the car, sorting his cards.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but the night seemed even thicker. Even the wind had stopped. Every tree stood eerily in the dark, branches twisted like claws.

Ten minutes passed.

“Strange, he’s not back yet?”

The driver muttered, getting ready to get out.

“I’ll go check.”

“I’ll go,” Kira said, opening the door.

The atmosphere felt off. But he wasn’t worried—he had spirits at his command. There wasn’t much in this world that could threaten him.

As always: no matter what monster it is, are they not going to duel?

He walked in the direction the guide had gone and soon noticed something.

A half-smoked cigarette.

Still burning, lying on the damp ground, the smell of smoke mixing with earth and tobacco—a strange scent.

A little further, there were drag marks in the grass and bushes, faint in the darkness.

Had the guy been attacked?

But it was so close to the car, and yet not a sound.

A few steps further, the marks ended abruptly, as if the man had simply vanished.

He went back to the car, only to find it empty.

Again, no sound, just a few steps away—and the driver was gone. This time, there weren’t even signs of a struggle.

Darkness pressed in from the woods, wrapping around the car. The headlights were the only points of light, flickering like candles about to be snuffed out.

No, it wasn’t his imagination—the darkness really was closing in.

It was a crowd of figures.

Staggering steps, strange postures, arms raised toward him as if by instinct.

Judging by their clothes, they were probably locals, but their eyes were empty, bottomless black whirlpools. In the headlights, the black circles under their eyes glowed like burning coals.

Their posture and movements made one think of zombies at first glance.

But not traditional zombies—more like the zombies from GX, when the whole academy was transported to another dimension and infected.

All they had on their minds was dueling.

Come to think of it, that sounded a lot like Jaden.

It looked freaky, but Kira wasn’t worried.

“Silent,” he called quietly.

White light flared from his body and a magic circle formed under his feet. Silent Magician flew out, spinning her staff, launching blasts of magic that exploded all around.

The explosions shredded the ground, sending the zombie crowd flying.

But when the smoke cleared, one figure was still standing at the back.

He looked like the leader of the group—mindless and swaying like the rest, but clearly stronger.

He staggered forward, squinting at Kira.

Then slowly raised his duel disk, groaning, “Duuueeell…”

Kira relaxed.

See? Nothing to be afraid of.

Even zombies have to duel.