The next morning, Yugen set out from the dojo, joining the other students on a trip to visit the ruins.
To be honest, Yugen was genuinely interested in the slab stones within the ruins before they were made into cards in this world. This was especially true after he learned that the ruins contained more than just slab stones that could be turned into cards.
However, the Yu-Gi-Oh world was always like this. Things that could be made into cards were far more than just slab stones; gemstones could be made into cards, swords could be made into cards, and sometimes even living people could be made into cards.
Or rather, perhaps turning slab stones into cards wasn't true "card creation" but merely "transplanting."
After all, the slab stones were cards that had been made thousands of years ago by ancient people. What Pegasus did back then was simply transplant ancient cards onto a brand new modern medium. The process of ancient people making the slab stones was the true process of cards being created.
The ruins were located on the outskirts of the city. Yugen got off the car and, after walking a short distance, arrived near the excavation site, where he met Uncle Saito, the good friend of Dojo Master Takeuchi.
"Oh, you're here."
Uncle Saito enthusiastically came forward to greet him, looking at Yugen for a few extra moments.
"Little brother, your duel yesterday was quite splendid, wasn't it? You should get a lot of benefits later, right?"
"It's alright," Yugen smiled. "Thank you, Uncle, for bringing us to visit."
Uncle Saito waved his hand: "It's nothing. Actually, I'm just bringing you guys a few days early to see it. The team seems to have decided that if there are no new discoveries in two days, this ruin will be opened to duelists Level 4 and above."
Uncle Saito led the group inside, explaining as they went.
"You've probably heard the rumors, right, about how spirits sometimes choose duelists themselves?"
"We've heard of it," the group nodded.
Yugen also remembered that the most representative example in the original work was the Crystal Beasts. After Pegasus created the Crystal Beast archetype, one day he happened to be observing the duel of a participant named Jesse Anderson at a certain dueling tournament. He didn't expect the deck stored in the box to suddenly emit light.
So, Pegasus later gifted the Crystal Beast deck to Jesse, and Jesse thus formed an incomparable bond with his deck that ordinary duelists couldn't match. So, often it's not the duelist who chooses the card, but the spirit that chooses the duelist.
"Master Takeuchi also said so," a dojo student recalled. "He said that duelists rejected by cards cannot unleash the true power of their deck."
Yugen listened, thinking to himself, What does it mean to be unable to unleash the power of a deck?
Does it mean that if the spirit dislikes you, it will desperately shove dead draws into your hand, making you doubt life due to hand bricking?
Damn, that's quite scary...
"Yes, some ruins are like that too. Sometimes, research on a certain ruin made no progress at all, but then when a certain duelist entered the ruin, a strange phenomenon that wasn't originally there suddenly appeared, as if he had been chosen.
But as for the specific criteria for selection, I'm not entirely clear."
Uncle Saito smiled.
"After all, I'm just an old brick-mover here; I just hear people talk a lot."
Sato Koji asked: "So, can you tell us what kind of ruins this is today? Master said it's very impressive, but he's also being mysterious and refusing to reveal the details."
Uncle Saito smiled mysteriously: "You'll know once you go in."
"..."
Following the manually excavated path, they quickly arrived at a massive chamber. All around were towering rock walls, intricately carved with patterns and mysterious symbols, which were still clearly visible despite ostensibly enduring thousands of years.
In the center of the ruins stood a giant stone pedestal, on which rested a peculiar, golden slab stone that had seemingly endured countless years. Engraved in the middle of the slab was a swordsman.
Despite the ancient drawing style being very abstract, everyone still recognized the figure at a glance, and many students even directly exclaimed in surprise.
"Black Luster Soldier!"
Some ancient mythological records were quite exaggerated, claiming it was the strongest warrior who split heaven and earth, using his sword to cleave chaos, one side becoming light and the other darkness, creating heaven and earth and all things. Of course, because this claim was too absurd, it was currently only regarded as a mythological background story.
It was also one of the famous ace monsters once wielded by Yugi Muto.
"Yes, Black Luster Soldier. A legendary monster. Ever since 'Envoy of the Beginning' appeared, it has become a key topic for many teams. Unfortunately, although 'Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning' caused a sensation in the dueling world when it appeared back then, it also became a research bottleneck.
Many years have passed, and no team has been able to make a breakthrough. Some expert teams even declared that they believe 'Envoy of the Beginning' is already the full potential of Black Luster Soldier, with no possibility of further evolution."
It seemed normal to have such a thought. Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning had extremely simple summoning conditions, 3000 ATK, and possessed powerful abilities to banish one monster on the opponent's field and attack twice in one turn.
It was so powerful that it was banned by Konami in 2005 in the real game. Its strength was indeed very high in this era's environment.
Of course, as a future person, Yugen knew this was not the limit; there were many undeveloped "Black Luster Soldier" archetype cards yet to be released.
Looking at this slab stone, his thoughts became somewhat active.
In fact, even without future new card support, "Envoy of the Beginning" was already strong enough in the past. In the real game, after the [Destruction Hand] deck he used previously, the next two consecutive world championships were dominated by Chaos themes, with "Envoy of the Beginning" as the main force.
That year, Chaos already felt very much like a modern meta-defining deck, almost dealing a dimensional blow to other decks in that environment. It even remained strong until it was banned. Later, a year after that, a card dubbed "little Envoy," "Chaos Sorcerer," barely replaced its position, and the world championship that year was still a [Chaos Deck] build, still a Chaos theme.
Yugen wondered if he could find a way to establish a major creation initiative. Perhaps he could consider trying out a full champion-level deck once again.
"Then shouldn't the newly excavated ruins be helpful for new research?" a student asked curiously.
"I don't really understand the specifics," Uncle Saito said. "But I think I heard the research team's experts say no. Because the slab stone found in these ruins corresponds to the Ritual Monster 'Black Luster Soldier' that was already created many years ago, a card we already have.
It seems there are no clues here about any further evolution of monsters..."
The Ritual Monster "Black Luster Soldier" is the original form that was summoned in the game's Duelist Kingdom arc. It's a 3000 ATK Ritual Normal Monster with no effect. Although it bears the title of "legendary monster," it has long since fallen behind the current version.
"...Here."
Yugen: "?"
He seemed to hear someone speaking in his ear. Turning to look in the direction of the voice, there was no one there.
The students were all in the opposite direction, excitedly discussing topics related to Black Luster Soldier and the former Duel King, Yugi Muto. People came and went in the grand hall of the ruins, and no one was standing in the direction the voice came from.
Did he mishear?
He looked around vaguely, but couldn't find any other explanation. But just as he turned around again.
"Here."
It was that voice again.
Yugen turned his head to look again. That direction was still empty, and it didn't look like anyone could have been talking to themselves.
What was going on? Telepathy? A secret message?
Then his gaze locked onto another slab stone in that direction, a different block of stone that had been excavated from the ruins.
Unlike the Black Luster Soldier slab stone surrounded by the crowd, this was an empty slab stone.
It was like... this blank slate?
As if possessed, he walked closer, slowly raising his arm.
It felt like he was being drawn by some invisible force.
At the same time, among the research staff in the ruins' camp, someone suddenly exclaimed in shock: "Team Leader!"
"What is it?"
The team leader, wearing a white coat with the KC logo, quickly walked towards the person.
"Energy! The duel energy readings are suddenly skyrocketing!"
The team leader glanced at the instrument readings and was immediately shocked: "Is this a spirit's reaction? But the intensity of these readings... How is this possible?"
His expression was disbelieving.
They had previously detected no monster spirit reactions from these ruins, yet in just one second, the instrument readings suddenly surged as if possessed.
And if it truly was a spirit manifesting, the energy readings were incredibly exaggerated.
"Isn't that as strong as 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'?" the research team leader asked in surprise.
Now, large numbers of ruins were excavated in various places around the world every year, which was no longer a rare occurrence. But spirits on the level of Blue-Eyes White Dragon were still as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.
"..."
The moment his fingertip touched the slab stone, Yugen suddenly felt a powerful suction.
He was caught off guard, feeling his feet lift off the ground. His entire body seemed to merge into a giant vortex, being sucked into another world.