Chapter 7: What did i do?

Youyu meticulously counted the trophies collected from Pandora one by one.

According to the rules of the Duel City, each duelist's deck was required to have a minimum of forty cards. However, Pandora had only used a dozen cards in the duel with Muto in the DM animation.

Now, You Yu took his entire deck and examined it. To his surprise, he found that although Pandora claimed to have a "Pure Dark Magician" deck, there were only a few cards in his deck related to the Dark Magician.

Among them were three Dark Magicians, a magic card called "Thousands Knives," a Dark Magic Curtain, and a Dark Renewal.

The Thousands of card was a normal magic card that could only be activated by targeting one monster on the opponent's field if you had a "Dark Magician" on your own field. It would destroy the targeted opponent's monster.

The Dark Magic Curtain was another regular magic card. When activated, players could pay half of their life points to Special Summon a magician monster from their hand or deck.

The Dark Renewal, on the other hand, was a trap card. It could be activated when the opponent summoned a monster, allowing user to use that monster and one of his own as sacrifices to resurrect a Dark Demon from the graveyard.

You Yu inserted the cards seized from Pandora into the duel plate and tried them out. To his surprise, these cards seemed to work!

In previous games that connected to the world, players could only use cards obtained from the system card library or mission rewards. However, when You Yu placed the NPC deck on the duel plate, there was no response.

He speculated that it might be because he had become an NPC after being reborn, allowing him to use locally produced cards like other NPCs. He also had his own game panel as a player, enabling him to obtain cards from the system card pool.

This meant that he had become a unique hybrid existence between a player and an NPC, and he could use both game-produced cards and system cards.

The only regret was that the three "Black Magicians" in Pandora's card group did not respond when placed on the duel plate. You Yu wasn't sure of the exact reason, but he guessed that it might be related to Pandora's manipulation of those three cards. In the animation, it was explained that Pandora had subtly altered the three black magicians, allowing him to cheat when shuffling the cards before the duel, ensuring that his ace Black Magician could be drawn into his hand from the beginning.

Perhaps because of Pandora's tampering, the duel plate attached to the system didn't recognize those three cards. However, it didn't matter. You Yu had a "Black Magician" as a task reward, and it was quietly lying in his deck.

Completing tasks and defeating Pandora had also rewarded him with a substantial amount of experience. His character had jumped from level 1 to level 3 in one go, and he received a reward of 40 spars.

Spar could be used to draw card packs from the system card pool, but in the linked world, 40 spars were relatively insignificant. It wasn't enough of a reward. But loot nevertheless, no loot is useless.

...

As the misty night faded away, the sky gradually brightened. The streets of Tong Yeshi lazily awakened, and pedestrians started appearing on the previously empty streets.

This was the second day of You Yu's rebirth.

His primary goal for today was to find a job so he could get some food and a roof over his head. He just needed a place to rest for a short time. In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh as long as he could play cards, he didn't need to worry about making money. It will come naturally.

After wandering the streets in the early morning, You Yu stopped in front of a card shop.

The shop window was filled with card boxes of Dueling Monsters, and a notice that said "Now Hiring" was posted at the top.

You Yu thought for a moment, then walked straight into the shop.

Although the store door was open, it seemed like it had only been opened for a short while. After all, the sky had just started to brighten.

The shop was quite spacious, with lined containers resembling bookshelves in a library. Rows and rows were filled with card holders and card boxes. Some shelves displayed imitation figures of popular Duel Monsters and other related merchandise.

"Welcome."

A girl's crisp voice came from behind the rows of shelves.

Emerging from behind the shelves was a girl with short silver hair, a rare sight. Her expression appeared somewhat naive, and she wasn't particularly tall, giving her the appearance of a junior high school student.

You Yu was surprised by the striking silver hair at first, but then he remembered—the protagonist in this world, wore a colorful starfish head to school, and no one found it odd. So, silver hair seemed relatively normal?

However, what drew more attention was the maid outfit the girl was wearing. A white lace skirt, tight black stockings accentuating her calves, and a large white bow tied at the back—it was a maid costume with distinct regional characteristics.

Even more interesting was when the girl appeared from behind the shelf and saw You Yu for the first time, he noticed a "favorite level +10" floating above her head.

You Yu: "..."

Well, being handsome does have its advantages. Though I'm not that good looking actually, but I still like to say or think I'm relatively handsome for confidence boost.

I haven't done anything, yet I receive a +10 favorability rating upon first meeting someone. I remember when I was a player, gaining favorability from an NPC was an arduous task. It took a lot of time and effort, running errands and playing cards for over half a week to achieve a measly "+5" favorability.

Back then, I thought the game was just frustrating, but now, I realize it might not have been the game's fault. Maybe I was just ugly... Unless there is another cause for this sudden rise of affection.

The maid's professionalism seemed top-notch. Although she had a clear favorability on her face, she maintained her composure and greeted the guest in a standard manner.

"Hello, would you like to buy some cards or have some coffee?"

You Yu then noticed that this place was more than just a card shop. There were tables and seats available. Guests could order coffee and sit down to read...or play cards.

Of course, this small shop didn't have advanced technology like 3D holograms. Playing cards here was similar to playing cards in the real world with friends from a board game club, gathered around a table with card mats. It was a leisurely form of entertainment.

"No, thank you." You Yu pointed to the notice posted on the shop window. "I saw that you're in need of staff, so I'd like to apply for the job."

"Oh, I see," the girl nodded. "Yes, an interview is required."

"Right now...?" You Yu looked around instinctively, realizing that there didn't seem to be anyone else in the shop.

The girl raised her head blankly. "Is there a problem?"

"No... no, nothing."

You Yu felt that the girl appeared rather young to be a manager, but since he was the applicant, he decided not to dwell on it.

"Let's start with your name," she said.

"You Yu."

"Are you from outside?"

"Yes."

"Age?"

Nineteen."

You Yu made up his age. Technically, his account had just been created the day before, so he was only a day old... But revealing that wouldn't be believable.

"...Nineteen, two years older than me," the girl muttered to herself.

You Yu noticed a "+5 favorability level" appearing above the girl's silver head.

You Yu: "?"

What did I do?

The girl's gaze then fell upon the Duel Disk in You Yu's left hand.

"Are you a duelist?" she asked.

"Yes," You Yu nodded.

"Then why do you want a part-time job?"

"simple really, money."

The girl's facial muscles remained unchanged, but she stared at him for an uncomfortably long time.

However, she didn't say anything and lowered her head to continue writing in her notebook.

[+5 Friendship level]

You Yu: "??"

What did I do again?

And why does this feel like I'm playing a dating sim game. With all the affection coming in.

"The final question."

The girl's pen stopped, her voice calm. "...Do you have a girlfriend?"

You Yu: "..."

Is this a job interview or a personal interrogation?

Does this even matter for a job application?

Nevertheless, as an applicant, he decided to answer truthfully. "No."

This statement was entirely true, even considering his past life experiences. It was a truth that couldn't be faulted. Truly sad..

"Oh, I see." the girl nodded.

[+10 Friendship level]

You Yu: "???"

Confusion level over 9000