"What happened to me?" A severe headache clouded Hoshino's mind as she barely managed to wake up, holding her head.
"Master, you're awake~" BB's voice sounded both complaining and filled with concern.
"This place is…" Hoshino recognized the familiar data space, somewhat resembling the one from the battle with the Five-Headed Dragons, but it felt different.
"This is the road to the underworld," BB's expression suddenly turned serious.
"Liar. If this were the road to the underworld, I'd be greeted by Ereshkigal, not you, BB."
"Tsk, no fun." BB, with her joke exposed, pouted. "This is the space between worlds, connected through data~"
"The space between worlds... so that means…"
Sharp as always, Hoshino quickly understood the hidden meaning in BB's words, her expression becoming more excited. "That means I can go back! I knew BB wouldn't let me down!"
"Of course! I'm the number one top-class, invincible, super all-purpose AI of Seraph!" BB proudly puffed out her ample chest, looking completely self-satisfied.
"You're adding way too many prefixes!"
"But as much as I boast, the truth is, in that last moment of crisis, it was almost a failure, even for me…" BB's tone dropped, becoming more solemn.
"Almost a failure? Just you? Was there someone else involved?" Hoshino tilted her head in confusion, suddenly recalling Beowulf, who had been fighting in the Dragon Domain until the last moment. He was probably blasted back into the deck too.
"It was me. Hero Hoshino Chiyuki, I am deeply grateful to you for saving this world~" A familiar voice came from behind BB.
"M-Mana?!" Hoshino's face filled with disbelief as she looked towards the direction of the voice, but there was no one there besides BB.
"Hero Hoshino, I no longer exist in this world. I ceased to exist a thousand years ago…" Mana's tone held sadness, mixed with some lingering resentment towards her fate.
"However, this world, my people, persevered for a thousand years. Under the weight of the world's evil and the terror of the Five Great Dragons, they endured for a thousand years until your arrival."
"I am truly grateful to you for saving this world."
"So as a token of my gratitude, let me use the last of my strength to send you back to your original world."
"I see… Mana…" Hoshino's previously excited expression slowly calmed down as she realized the situation. "It was you who saved me. Thank you."
"No, it was you who saved me. You saved this world~"
With Mana's final words, the entire space lit up with a blinding light.
"Master, if you're this reckless again, BB won't help you next time~"
(***)
Inside the VR gaming pod—
Hoshino opened her eyes, and the scene before her was exactly as it had been when she entered the game, except the mansion now appeared much darker due to the time of day.
"Hoshino! You're awake!" Mokuba, who had been watching outside the VR pod, immediately noticed Hoshino opening her eyes and quickly activated the external controls to open the pod.
"Chiyuki, why did it take you so long to log out? You had me so worried! Jounouchi and the others logged out ages ago," Mai muttered in a slightly angry tone, hands on her hips as she scolded.
"I thought maybe you couldn't log out because you didn't have your Duel Disk." Ever since earlier, Jounouchi had been worried about that, but Mokuba kept insisting it wasn't the case.
"Yeah, Hoshino, did something happen?" Yugi, who had logged out early, asked curiously.
"Well, there was a bit of a situation, but nothing too major." I just casually saved a world—no big deal, Hoshino thought to herself but didn't voice it.
"It's getting so dark, we should probably head home. This place is kinda creepy at night," Hoshino said, changing the subject as she glanced around. The menacing Blue-Eyes White Dragon statues lurking in the shadows made her once again question Kaiba's odd taste.
As she placed her hands on the pod door to try and stand up, Hoshino suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed back into the seat.
"Hoshino! What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Mokuba asked urgently, noticing something was off.
"I'm just…" Hoshino, now slumped in the pod, looked utterly defeated.
"I'm too hungry to move…"
Having not eaten a single bite since the morning, Hoshino had no idea what time it was now, but seeing the pitch-black sky outside, it was long past dinnertime. Once again, she had perfectly missed all three meals of the day. Despite being back in civilized society, it felt like she was still in the Duelist Kingdom, suffering from the hunger trials of that island.
"Bahahaha!" Her friends couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight of Hoshino, lying limp in the VR pod. Their laughter echoed through the dim museum, making the already eerie place feel even more ominous.
...
Back at Yugi's house, Hoshino and Yugi faced a round of questioning from Yugi's grandfather.
Luckily, Yugi was there to take the brunt of it. As Hoshino stuffed her face with dinner, Yugi launched into a grand recounting of their day's adventure, weaving in all sorts of wondrous details. When it came to Hoshino's heroic moments, she paused from eating long enough to add her commentary.
Their seamless back-and-forth storytelling, complete with embellishments, left Grandpa Sugoroku wide-eyed.
"You kids are truly amazing!" Sugoroku finally exclaimed, tears streaming down his face after Yugi finished describing Hoshino slaying the final Five-Headed Dragon with the Hero's Sword. "Grandpa, Grandpa is so proud of you!"
"Was it really that impressive?" Though they had tried to make the tale sound exciting, Hoshino felt a bit embarrassed by Sugoroku's overly emotional reaction.
"Hoshino, you're truly a wonderful girl. Grandpa knew it from the very beginning!" After blowing his nose, Sugoroku's expression turned serious. "Today, Grandpa went to see an old friend."
"An old friend? Grandpa, I didn't know you had any friends in Domino City," Yugi said, curious since it was the first time he'd ever heard about this.
"Of course I have friends! Yugi, don't underestimate your grandpa! I've got some connections here in Domino City!" Sugoroku said in a slightly offended tone as if Yugi had implied otherwise.
"An old grandpa who runs a toy shop… has connections?" To Hoshino, "connections" meant something like her business-minded father's relationships—based on mutual benefits. She couldn't see how a toy shop owner could have much in the way of influential connections.
"My old friend is a former colleague from my archaeology days, and now the principal of your school, Yugi!" Sugoroku said proudly, lifting his head.
"Huh? The principal? I never knew you had a history like that, Grandpa!" Yugi, intrigued, had no idea the principal of his school had connections to his grandfather. "So why are you bringing this up now, Grandpa?"
"Because I asked him to arrange for Hoshino to start attending school."
"Me? School…" Hoshino's eyes widened in disbelief as she pointed to herself. She had never imagined things would turn out like this.
Hoshino Chiyuki hates two things the most: work and school!
.
..
...
....
Amidst the flames and ruins of explosions, a boy dashed swiftly, his anxious expression suggesting he was either searching for something or trying to avoid danger.
"Kyu~!"
"Don't worry, Winged Kuriboh!" The boy in red smiled as he reassured the small Kuriboh with feathered wings, which had appeared behind him.
"Even though this incident is perplexing, I believe the academy is already handling it."
"Are you sure about that, Jaden?" A semi-transparent man with square glasses appeared next to Winged Kuriboh, his face full of concern. "The internet says explosions like this are happening all over the world. The academy must be in chaos too."
"Professor Banner, this isn't just a simple explosion!" Jaden, still running, responded firmly to Banner's question.
"This chaos is caused by Duel Monsters!"
Boom!
Another massive explosion echoed, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and blocking Jaden's path.
[Cyber Dragon ★★★★★ (Level 5)][Light] [Machine/Effect][ATK 2100/DEF 1600]
A silver mechanical dragon emerged from the dust, staring down Jaden with a menacing gaze.
"Damn, it's Kaiser's Cyber Dragon! What's it doing here?"
"Jaden, this is no time to be distracted, it's about to attack!" Banner warned, panicking.
The Cyber Dragon wasted no time, launching a direct attack on Jaden.
Unfazed by the oncoming attack, Jaden quickly raised his duel disk, drawing a card from his deck and tossing it onto the field. "Summon! [Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos]!"
[Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos ★★★★★★★ (Level 7)][Light][Warrior/Effect][ATK 2500/DEF 2000]
With the activation of the duel disk's holographic projector, the physical form of Neos appeared, crossing its arms in front to deflect the Cyber Dragon's assault.
"If Kaiser's Cyber Dragon is here, does that mean Duel Academy has fallen too?" Banner couldn't help but wonder.
"Impossible! The academy won't be defeated—especially with 'that teacher' around." Even in such a dire situation, Jaden forced a smile, as if his belief in his mentor kept him going.
"Professor Hoshino will never lose!"
---
"School, huh? What a hassle!" Lying on her bed, Hoshino stared at the ceiling, waving her pale hand in the light.
"But since Grandpa Sugoroku went through all the trouble of arranging it, it would feel wrong to refuse him."
After all, Hoshino was living under Sugoroku's roof, eating his food and using his money. And now, with such a serious expression, Sugoroku had brought up this matter, insisting that children can't skip school if they want a bright future.
"I can't even remember the last time I went to school." Hoshino closed her eyes, trying to recall, but quickly gave up.
"School is so boring, and there aren't any like-minded friends. Why do humans have to go to such a place?"
"I'm not a normie! School is a place for normies!" Hoshino grumbled to herself.
"As long as I have my waifu, that's all I need!"
"Wait, waifu?!" Startled, Hoshino sat up abruptly, quickly grabbing her phone and performing a series of swift, practiced actions.
[Current Saint Quartz: 115.]
[Saint Quartz Summon (Limited Banner) – Sealed Ends of the Four Seas [Okeanos] Featured Servants Available for Summon]
"I've saved up so much quartz without realizing it. Who would've thought that someone like me, who never saves past three quartz, would make it this far?" Looking at her stash of Saint Quartz, Hoshino felt a wave of emotion wash over her.
"Truly, when it comes to waifus, a person can accomplish anything." In a world without microtransactions, where quartz was limited, a little restraint went a long way toward summoning more beloved characters.
"My hard work will surely move my waifu to respond to my summon!" she muttered.
No more hesitation—ten pulls!
No more hesitation—ten pulls!
No more hesitation—ten pulls!
"Ugh..." Staring at the junk she had pulled after three consecutive ten-pulls, Hoshino felt conflicted.
"How? How could this happen? Everything was going so smoothly when I pulled from the Roman banner. Why is it now just a pile of junk?"
"Hey, Master, it's a little harsh to call us junk, you know. I'm at least a silver card!" David's disgruntled voice echoed from the pile of cards scattered across Hoshino's bed.
"Master, you used to call me a reliable three-star. Even if I've become a Duel Monster card, I'm still plenty capable—very capable!"
"Sorry, David. I didn't mean it that way." Feeling bad about her earlier outburst, Hoshino scratched her head awkwardly.
"And don't forget about me, the great Hector! I'm hurt too, you know," said another voice, this one lazier, coming from Hector. "I know I didn't get much screen time before, alright—fine, almost none at all—but when it counts, I'm really strong. As long as I put in the effort!"
"Hehe, well, I'll be counting on you, Hector~"
"Right, right! And I, Blackbeard, am a legendary pirate! I'm not just some—"
"Real-life bronze cards should just keep quiet, okay?" Before Blackbeard could finish, Hoshino cut him off with a disdainful glare.
"Huh?! That's some seriously biased treatment! But Master, that look of contempt excites me! More! Show me even more disdain!!"
"That being said, I'll prove myself in this new world and change how you see me, Master. One day, you'll say, 'Wow, Blackbeard, you're so reliable! You're my favorite!'"
"No, I don't think I'll ever say anything like that in my life." Picking up Blackbeard's card between two fingers, Hoshino sighed, shaking her head. "Have you even read your effect?"
"Hm? My effect is perfectly fitting for someone like me! If I do say so myself, its utility is through the roof!"
[Heroic Spirit - Edward Teach ★★★★★★ (6-star)][Water][Warrior/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 2400]
[This card's ① effect can only be used once per turn.
①: If this card is in your hand or graveyard and a [Lily] monster on your field is targeted for an attack or effect, activate one of the following effects:
Negate that attack, and Special Summon this card. If this card Special Summoned by this effect leaves the field, banish it.
Negate that effect, and destroy the card. Then, banish this card.
②: If a [Lily] monster on your field is destroyed by battle or effect, you can destroy this card instead.]
"You creepy, lolicon..."
(*****)
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