Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!-Chapter 35: Rampaging AI

KaibaLand, White Dragon Festival.

Sunshine streams through the colorful rides, casting dappled light. The enormous park is packed, brimming with a festival vibe.

Here, you see Blue-Eyes White Dragons swooping along roller coaster tracks, flying-chair rides shaped like Blue-Eyes, and even one perched atop the Ferris wheel like a guardian.

They're everywhere.

Kira once again realizes just how powerful the legendary Kaiba is—he even established a holiday for his beloved Blue-Eyes. It's even a legal holiday; everyone flocks to KaibaLand for fun on this day.

The dojo, caught up in the festive mood, is here for a group outing. Takeuchi's friend from the excavation crew is present.

"Takeuchi!"

"Kazuya!"

The two embrace.

"I missed you so much!" The man pounds Takeuchi's back.

Kira sizes up Takeuchi's friend.

A flashy plaid shirt, a shiny bald head, a weathered face, dark glasses...

He looks more like a coder who's evolved than a duelist.

With his squinty eyes and bald head, he combines the legendary squinty-eyed and bald traits. In some series, he'd be a boss-level villain—just not here.

After all, no fancy hairstyle here in Yugioh means you've already lost half the battle.

"What took you so long to visit?" Takeuchi complains. "I thought you forgot old friends."

"Busy with work, you know. By the way, I've found some awesome new resources—both projection and VR! The heroine is not just big, but—"

"Stop! The students are here!" Takeuchi quickly signals.

The man gets it. "Oh, right. We'll talk later."

The students: "..."

No, we're more interested in these topics.

"Let me introduce you—this is Saito Kazuya, a duelist from the dojo, a sort-of fellow pupil," Takeuchi says.

Kazuya nods, "Indeed. The previous master once told me, I had great talent, and with effort could surpass Takeuchi."

Takeuchi glares, "Never heard that. If so, why did the master expel you?"

Kazuya laughs, "You don't know—the master liked me, but his daughter liked me more. When he found out, he was furious."

Takeuchi is shocked, "How come you never mentioned this?"

"Youthful mistakes, why bring up old stories?"

Kazuya waves it off, reminiscing.

The students: "..."

"Ahem, let's talk about the ruins."

Takeuchi quickly changes the subject, fearing more inappropriate stories.

"Oh, the ruins, of course." Kazuya grins. "This time's ruins are interesting—"

Just then, snap—the lights in the huge dragon dueling arena go out.

A rumbling follows as all the shutters drop instantly, doors and windows sealed. The place plunges into darkness.

The crowd panics.

"What's going on?"

"System malfunction?"

"Refund!"

Kazuya looks around, puzzled. "Weird. Even in a blackout, the arena's backup power should kick in. What's happening?"

Kira stays quiet, but the setup feels familiar.

Wasn't there a similar event in the anime, back when KaibaLand was first built? The system was hacked, the arena locked down, and everyone had to duel the AI to escape.

The villain then was Zigfried von Schroeder, Kaiba's business rival. But he should've been defeated by Kaiba eight years ago.

Is it just a system error?

Soon, light appears—focused on the center of the arena. A cocky figure stands in the spotlight, brown hair, blue eyes, white coat.

Then, he throws his head back and laughs: "Hahaha—!"

"That's Seto Kaiba!" the crowd exclaims.

"What's going on? Why is Seto Kaiba here?"

"Is this a surprise event?"

Kazuya realizes, "Wait—that's not Seto Kaiba, that's the arena's latest Duel AI!"

Everyone: "!"

"KaibaCorp's Duel Program includes AIs of the most famous duelists, perfectly replicating their tactics, thought processes, and even personalities.

Combined with today's realistic holography, visitors can experience dueling the world's top duelists!" Kazuya explains.

Kaiba's obsession with AI is no secret. Since the Pharaoh left, he's been obsessed with AI, constantly upgrading it. Check his research files and you'll find thousands of versions of Pharaoh AI.

In Pyramid of Light, Kaiba even lost to an AI Pharaoh and was furious. In Dark Side of Dimensions, he beat it but declared victory meaningless.

Takeuchi: "So now—"

"Someone's hacked the arena, making the AI into Seto Kaiba's image," Kazuya says gravely, "and it's linked to the system.

Weird, I heard none of the public attractions had AIs this advanced. Usually, legendary duelists like Yugi or Kaiba are for company testing only. Normally, they're not public."

Sure enough, after its three-part villain laugh, the AI Kaiba activates its duel disk: "To get out, you must defeat my deck!"

Kira wasn't surprised.

See? Time to duel.

The trapped crowd stirs.

"What? We have to beat Seto Kaiba? No way!"

"But it's just an AI. It can't have Blue-Eyes White Dragon, right?"

"You don't know? Because it's pure data, it has access to all the legendary duelists' cards—so it has everything!"

"What? Even Blue-Eyes? We're screwed!"

Chaos erupts.

The crowd is all casual tourists. To them, this AI not only replicates Kaiba's mind and tactics but has his full deck data—almost as good as the real thing.

He's the man at the pinnacle of today's dueling world, with the strongest deck. How could they win?

You'd have to be Yugi Muto. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Kira was calm.

Being locked in for a while doesn't affect them much. KaibaCorp will fix it soon, or at worst, break the doors. At most, they lose some time—maybe even get compensation from KaibaCorp.

But for KaibaCorp, it's a PR disaster. Competitors will make a huge deal out of it.

But that's their problem.

Takeuchi leans in, "This is your chance to battle the legendary Kaiba deck—want to try?"

Kira shrugs, unimpressed.

Even if it copies the mind and deck, it's just an AI—it can't cheat draws, right?

But then Kazuya whispers, "If someone beats this AI before the system is fixed, saving the company money and face, Kaiba might give out rare cards—or cash."

"No need to say more."

Kira waves him off and strides toward the dueling arena, leaving a dashing silhouette.

Money and cards are just material things.

But as a duelist, he can't miss a chance to challenge a legend.

Anyone who tries to beat him to it will have to go through him. (Righteously.)

"Let's go."

Kira stands across from the AI Kaiba, projected in holography.

"I'll be your opponent."

PS: Another Epic Battle!