053 The Arrival of the New Era Duel Disk

“Hm? Pegasus, why are there so many cards?”
After winning the duel, Kaiba opened Pegasus’s briefcase and was greeted by a fan-shaped array of cards. The cards on either end were at the bottom, and as they moved toward the center, their height increased, culminating in a single effect monster card at the very peak, its entire image displayed in plain view.

A mechanical dragon, its body sheathed in a blue-silver metal of unknown origin, radiating a pure and holy light—Blue-Eyes Radiant Dragon!

“The card in the center is the brand-new evolved form of your ‘Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon’—the Blue-Eyes Radiant Dragon!”
Pegasus explained, while Kaiba was already captivated by the sacred beauty of the Radiant Dragon’s form. His gaze dropped to read the card’s effect.

After several seconds of scanning, Kaiba’s pupils contracted as he absorbed every detail. Finally, he closed his eyes with a sigh, then opened them, complex emotions swirling inside as he looked to Pegasus.

“Pegasus, this…”

The Blue-Eyes Radiant Dragon truly surpassed every Duel Monster card before it, just as Pegasus claimed. Once summoned, it could decide the duel’s outcome in an instant! Its power was easily on par with the legendary “God Cards,” the ultimate weapons of myth!

“Kaiba-boy~, this is the reward you deserve for defeating me, the father of Duel Monsters!”
Pegasus laughed and shook his head. This card was created specifically for Kaiba—after all, there wasn’t a second person in the world who possessed the Blue-Eyes cards! And he could never print a fifth copy of “Blue-Eyes White Dragon.”

But knowing Kaiba’s personality, he understood that if he simply handed the card over, Kaiba wouldn’t accept it so easily, even knowing its value. So, he staged this ruse—inviting Kaiba to his villa and settling the card’s ownership through a duel.

“…Thank you.”
Such a tremendous favor could not be repaid with mere words. Even if Kaiba put his entire fortune on the line, it wouldn’t come close to the value of this card!

“By the way, what about these other cards?”

“Oh, the others? They’re all cards I designed using your ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’ as the blueprint—a series called ‘Blue-Eyes.’ Do you remember the ‘Elemental Heroes’ in Yugi-boy’s deck? These are similar to his ‘Hero’ series.”

The “Blue-Eyes” cards were inspired by Pegasus’s observation of Yugi’s “Elemental Heroes.” As for wondering where Yugi got those cards—when Pegasus himself had never printed them—he surmised they must have originated from a world inhabited by Duel Monster spirits, obtained by some unique means or personal trial, resulting in a “series deck” unique to the individual.

“With these cards, your deck’s power should increase dramatically!”
Pegasus had watched Kaiba’s duel with Yugi on the Kingdom island in detail. The reason Yugi won, and continued to win against other duelists, was not just his formidable skills, but because his deck was a nearly complete “system,” with cards that synergized and supported each other extremely well!

After the release of new cards by Yugi’s newly established Phantasm Corporation, Pegasus had come to understand one thing:

A pile of unconnected cards is no match for a synergistic deck!

Kaiba glanced through the cards, then looked up and asked Pegasus curiously, “What about them? Since you’ve given me these cards, what’s the situation with the other two?”

Pegasus understood instantly who Kaiba meant.
Yugi had already possessed a complete series deck back during the Kingdom era. Now, his deck was even more powerful—especially after being summoned by that mysterious woman and obtaining a certain card. There was only one word to describe it: “terrifying!”

As for Joey-boy, Pegasus had also prepared new cards for him, but that would have to wait until Joey, too, had visited the woman.

“They each have their own destiny. You needn’t concern yourself.”
“That’s good, then!”

Satisfied with the answer, Kaiba grabbed the case and strode out—he had no intention of being the only one to grow stronger!
Yugi! Joey! Just you wait—the new me will come to challenge you!

…

Two weeks later.

A massive gaming corporation dedicated to Duel Monsters had been founded by the International Phantasm Corporation and Kaiba Entertainment Group—KONAMI!
(Yugi had borrowed the name from his past life’s Konami, but made a few adjustments to suit the current reality.)

Now, in this new company’s technical development lab, an experiment was underway—one that could revolutionize Duel Monsters and take the game to even greater heights!

“Main computer, initiate system!”
“All system checks complete!”

“Big Brother! Yugi! We’re ready over here—the test can begin anytime!”
Through his headset, Mokuba in the control room reported to Kaiba and Yugi, who stood on the testing platform below.

The two, standing at the center of the lab, gazed at the device in their hands—a brand-new dueling apparatus developed after over three months of relentless effort. Excitement filled their hearts.

‘At last, it’s time for the final test of the next-generation Duel Disk!’

“Duel Disk—equip!”

They strapped the new Duel Disks to their left arms, recalling the months of hard work.
The new Duel Disk was far superior to Kaiba’s previous, self-developed version, where one had to throw out a dueling frisbee to summon monsters. This new device was vastly more convenient and user-friendly!

Now, all one needed to do was place a monster card on the disk’s slot. The card’s data would instantly be loaded and sent via the satellite system of KONAMI, the joint venture. The central computer processed the data at high speed, transmitting it back as image data, which the compact 3D projectors would render—allowing monsters to be virtually embodied anywhere, anytime!

It was truly dueling anytime, anywhere!

Kaiba spoke into his headset, addressing the control room:
“We’re ready—begin the test.”

“Received!”

At the signal, Mokuba beckoned to several lab-coated researchers, officially commencing the next-generation Duel Disk test!

The two duelists drew their decks and slotted them into the new disk’s card chambers.
Above the duel disk’s circular plate was a small electronic screen, roughly the length of a Duel Monster card. As soon as the deck was inserted, the white-lit text appeared: “4000 LP.”

“Yugi! It’s time to test!”

“Alright—bring it on!”

“Duel!”

Yugi: 4000 LP
Kaiba: 4000 LP

The test duel for the new era of Duel Disks—Start!