“Everyone, my house is just up ahead,” Yugi said, pointing to a small house not far ahead as he led the group on their way home. He turned back to the other four.
“Oh, Yugi lives here?” Anzu, though she had known Yugi the longest among the four, was visiting his house for the first time.
After all, before Yugi became friends with Jonouchi, Honda, and Hayato, he had hardly ever played with other boys. In such a situation, even if Yugi invited Anzu, it would have been impossible for her to come alone, as it would easily cause misunderstandings.
Following the direction Yugi pointed, Jonouchi could clearly see the huge red “GAME” sign in front of the small house from a distance. “Is that the shop? I wonder how many powerful rare cards Yugi’s Grandpa has. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“I don’t think the strength of the cards is the most important thing. The most important aspect of duel monsters should be the synergy between the cards,” Yugi said, not showing much anticipation. Firstly, he had seen many powerful cards since he was young. Secondly, he had already seen the true form of the card his Grandpa kept.
Its powerful build and magnificent appearance were unforgettable once seen. However, Yugi did not think such a monster was invincible. As long as the deck worked well together, there was no enemy that could not be defeated.
“Is duel monsters really that interesting?” Honda asked, looking uninterested.
“Of course it is!” Hayato explained enthusiastically. “You control various monsters to battle in a small space. The strong can accumulate advantages to build an unstoppable army, and the weak can also rely on various Effect cards to turn the tide and make a comeback. The charm of duel monsters, you’ll know it once you play.”
Honda was somewhat swayed by Hayato’s words. Jonouchi, Yugi, and Hayato all seemed to play that game called “duel monsters,” which he hadn’t been interested in. But since his friends all played, should he give it a try? And Yugi’s family ran a card shop, so he could also support his friend’s family business.
As they chatted, they arrived at the small house. Yugi pushed open the door and said, “Grandpa, I’m home!”
“Oh, Yugi, you’re back.” Upon opening the door, they saw an old man with white hair standing behind the counter, reading a magazine. Hearing Yugi’s voice, the old man looked up and responded, quickly noticing the others who had followed Yugi in. “How rare, you came back with classmates today.”
“Excuse us, Muto Grandpa,” Anzu greeted first. Hayato and the other two also smiled and greeted the old man.
Sugoroku Mutou, officially rated as a powerful Duelist with both his Duelling skill and deck at 4 stars (maximum is 5 stars), had a hairstyle identical to Yugi Mutou. The only difference was that Sugoroku Mutou wore a yellow bandana on his head and his hair was gray.
Additionally, the height difference between Yugi Mutou and Sugoroku Mutou, this grandfather-grandson pair, was an awkward 0.
Looking at Sugoroku, who was clearly relieved that “Yugi finally has friends to play with,” Anzu couldn’t help but worry about Yugi—seeing Grandpa Sugoroku’s demeanor, was Yugi’s family’s height also inherited? Wouldn’t that mean Yugi’s current height was his peak?
Yugi and Muto Grandpa, both in good spirits, did not have the Millennium Eye, so naturally, they would not know Anzu’s inner thoughts. Without even putting down his school bag, Yugi eagerly asked Grandpa Sugoroku, “Oh, Grandpa, show everyone that super ~ amazing card of yours.”
“What, you mean that card?” Grandpa Sugoroku tilted his head, put down the magazine in his hand, and stroked the beard on his chin, looking thoughtful.
Yugi quickly put his hands together and pleaded, “Please, Grandpa.”
“Please,” Jonouchi also bowed very politely.
“Ah, there’s no helping you two, I’ll make an exception just this once.” Sugoroku Mutou, being a toy shop owner, was not a difficult person to deal with. His previous thoughtful expression was just his naturally playful character. Seeing Yugi and Jonouchi plead, a bright smile appeared on his face, and he walked into the back of the shop to retrieve his hidden treasure.
While waiting, Yugi led the others around the toy shop. Originally, this toy shop sold all kinds of toys, but due to the increasing popularity of duel monsters, Grandpa Sugoroku was considering transforming it into a specialized card shop. Even now, before the complete transformation, nearly 90% of the shop’s area was used for selling duel monsters cards.
“I say, are there really that many cards?” Honda couldn’t help but exclaim, looking at the almost dazzling array of cards. “There must be hundreds here, are there really that many duel monsters cards?”
“No, there aren’t.”
Seeing Yugi shake his head, Honda finally breathed a sigh of relief. “I knew it, there couldn’t be that many.”
Hayato smiled and patted his shoulder. “Yugi means that these aren’t all the cards. The number of duel monsters cards is much, much more than what’s displayed here, probably thousands. Some rare cards are even globally limited edition.”
“Th-thousands?! That’s a bit too exaggerated.” Honda and Anzu both showed surprised expressions, while Jonouchi spoke proudly, “Not only that, the number of cards is still constantly increasing. Maybe in the future, there will be two thousand, five thousand, or even over ten thousand cards.”
You really jinxed it, didn’t you? Hayato recalled the 10,000th card, also known as “Wan Sui Long.” It was a special commemorative card released to celebrate the Game King card issuance reaching 10,000, not only available in Japanese but also with only one rarity tier. And because some anime-exclusive cards were not made into physical cards, the number of cards in the anime would be even more than 10,000.
However, that was a long time in the future.
“duel monsters is what you call a collectible card game. Players can build different decks according to their preferences, and the more total cards there are, the more fun it becomes.”
“Wow, the illustrations are so exquisite. These cards are so pretty and cute,” Anzu said, seeming to really like some of the cards displayed in the counter. “But there are also some cards with very strange illustrations.”
“Is this your first time seeing duel monsters, Anzu?” Jonouchi asked. Anzu shook her head. “I’ve heard about it before, but I’ve only seen others play. This is my first time seeing the cards up close.”
Yugi seemed to have thought of something, pulling his deck from his school bag and asking Hayato, “Speaking of duel monsters, simply collecting cards, of course, it’s most fun to battle together.”
“We really were thinking the same thing, Yugi boy,” Hayato said, smiling as he took out his metal tin containing his deck. “Let’s have a duel monsters Duel.”