Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

“Are you… really going to play that weird card game?” asked Layla as she feigned laughter.

“We have no choice,” Oh Kang-Woo answered as he sighed.

He had no idea why the world’s residents depended so heavily on this card game, but one thing was certain.

‘I can’t make them despair unless I defeat them in the card games.’

Although Kang-Woo had held back, the beating he gave the chimera must have been severely painful. Despite that, the chimera did not falter; although he was in immense pain, his mind did not break.

‘If I can’t make them despair…’

He couldn’t fulfill Midir’s awakening conditions and his plan would be for naught.

“Hmm… Why don’t we just go to a different world?” asked Lilith as she approached Kang-Woo. She picked up one of the cards on the ground and continued, “It should be quicker than wasting time playing card games.”

“How dare you lay your hands on these sacred cards?!!”

The chimera, covered in blood, jolted as soon as Lilith touched a card. He glared at Lilith as he painstakingly stood up on his broken legs.

“Oh? Is there a problem?”

Lilith smiled and waved the card in front of the chimera.

“D-Did you just ask if there is a problem?” The chimera gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, furious to the point that Kang-Woo was surprised the chimera wasn’t getting violent. “Don’t grab the card like that!!!”

He walked agonizingly and pointed at Lilith— to be more exact, at the card she was holding.

“You’ll leave a thumbprint on the card—!!!” he screamed desperately, glaring at Lilith in fury.

“Oh, is that what you were worried about?”

Lilith expressed confusion, not knowing what to say, and snapped her fingers.

Squelch.

Her black hair turned into green tentacles and wrapped around the chimera. Yellow pus spewed from the ends and drenched the chimera.

“Urpp!” Kang-Woo, stricken by PTSD, covered his mouth to keep himself from vomiting as he flinched and stepped backward.

“The card… thumbprint… I-I need to laminate it…”

The chimera was only staring at the card, paying no attention to the tentacles wrapping him.

“Tsk, it seems my beauty doesn’t work on him.”

“Are you sure that was beauty?”

“This world’s values are… too different from our world’s.”

“I could say that right back at you.”

‘In no other world than Hell can that be called beauty.’

“My king… are you sure you don’t want to look for a different world?”

They couldn’t follow this world’s logic.

“Yeah, I’m thinking about it.” Kang-Woo sighed and approached the chimera wrapped around Lilith’s tentacles. “But we should at least give it a shot.”

They couldn’t give up before trying just because their values differed from other worlds.

‘We can just adjust our values to match theirs.’

Whatever the case, they needed to learn more about the Duels the chimera had been shouting about.

“Do you want your cards back?” Kang-Woo asked.

“G-Give me back my cards…!! MY CARDS—!!!”

‘The hell, man? Are you a drug addict or something?’

“You know what you have to do to get your cards back, don’t you?”

“A-Anything!! I’ll do anything you ask!!! I’ll lick your feet like a dog!! I’ll kill myself right here if you tell me to die!!!”

“Why would you kill yourself, you crazy son of a bitch?”

‘What the hell are these cards to you? I wonder if I can make him despair by pretending to return the cards and ripping them in front of him?’

Kang-Woo seriously considered it but shook his head. The chimera’s emotion when seeing his ripped cards earlier was sorrow.

‘Sorrow and despair kinda feel the same.’

However, he had to find another way since Midir said she couldn’t eat anything.

“Right, then. First….” Kang-Woo slowly turned his head and pointed at one of the square tunnels dug into the earth. “Take us to your city.”

***

The city Kang-Woo and the others were guided to was just like an ants’ nest— filled with long and convoluted tunnels.

Kang-Woo asked the chimera as they walked through the tunnel, “Uhhh… Tite, was it?”

Tite, the otherworldly chimera, nodded.

“And how many chimeras are there in Zexal?”

“We are not chimeras… we are Entrion.”

Entrion was the name of the race of beings ruling Zexal.

“How many Entrion are there?” Kang-Woo asked.

“I am not sure of the exact number, but… there should be around fifty million.”

“Mmm.”

There were only fifty million of a world’s dominant species— it was certainly a small number.

‘Only as much as Korea’s population before the Day of Calamity.’

Korea’s population dropped to thirty million after the Day of Calamity; in any case, it was a small number.

‘As expected of a satellite world.’

Kang-Woo was worried that Midir’s awakening conditions wouldn’t be met from plunging such a small world into despair.

‘But I have to try at least.’

He had a feeling it would work since the conditions did not specify a number of people.

‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll break this damn sword in half.’

[Why me?!] Midir shouted in frustration. [The despair of fifty million people is more than enough for me to awaken!]

‘Alright, I’ll take your word for it.’

“How many other caves like this are there in Zexal?”

“None,” Tite answered.

“None?”

“We Entrion live in one city. It is, of course, divided into different zones, but… you could say it’s one giant city.”

“I see.”

‘Fifty million in one city, huh? I guess that saves me the trouble of looking for them all.’

“By the way,” Kang-Woo added.

“What?”

“Why are you speaking so casually to me?”

“H-Huh?”

“Are you tongue-tied or something? Want me to cut it off?”

“G-Guh! W-We warriors of Zexal only speak respectfully to the Duel King!”

“Duel King? What’s that?”

“The strongest of Duelists… the ruler of this world. The ultimate Duelist who controls the Gods of the Heaven, Earth, and Sea!!”

“For fuck’s sake.”

‘Duel King, huh…?’

Leaving the cringe title aside, Kang-Woo had something to confirm.

“Then do you guys worship this Duel King?”

“Correct. We Entrion are all his servants.”

This world’s residents seemed to be highly loyal to the Duel King based on Tite’s voluntary use of the word servant.

‘In that case…’

Kang-Woo wondered if he could plunge this world into despair by defeating this Duel King.

“How, exactly?” asked Cha Yeon-Joo as she sighed, knowing what Kang-Woo was thinking. “Are you gonna start learning the card game or something?”

It was a nonsensical thought.

Yeon-Joo continued, “Even if you do, I’m sure that Duel King, or whatever his title is, has tons of overpowered cards. Ones that you can’t get normally.”

“Hmm.”

Yeon-Joo had a point.

‘But… I feel like there’s more to this.’

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

“Hyung-nim, I think we’re here.”

The long tunnel finally ended and they were met with a massive cavern.

“Dayum…”

“Wh-What a sight,” Han Seol-Ah remarked as she looked around.

A giant underground city was built in the cavern.

“I guess this world’s civilization is much more developed than expected.”

“This place kind of reminds me of Dubai.”

The underground city was filled with gray buildings, and at the center was a tower, similar to the Burj Khalifa, tall enough to almost reach the cavern ceiling.

‘I guessed their civilization would be highly developed if they could create devices that project holograms, but…’

The city was far larger than Kang-Woo had expected.

“This is our city.” Tite turned to Kang-Woo and stretched out his hand. “Now, give me back my—”

“No.” Kang-Woo shook his head and smiled. “You have to show us around the city, right?”

“Kurgh…” Tite bit his lip in frustration but he couldn’t refuse since his cards, which were more important than his life, were in Kang-Woo’s hands. “Follow me.”

Kang-Woo and the others followed Tite around the city. Since they would stand out because they were different from the Entrion, Kang-Woo used the Authority of Blindness to hide himself and his party members.

Wham—!!

A large sound echoed from a bar they were passing.

“Hm?”

Kang-Woo stopped and looked inside the bar.

“Why the hell are you pouring the sauce on it directly?!!”

“Using it like a dip is just inefficient!!”

Two Entrion were cursing at each other as they panted heavily.

“Kuh… This isn’t going anywhere.”

“I guess we have no choice. I wanted to avoid this, but…”

Click!

The two Entrion suddenly pulled out their Duel Disks and equipped them on their forearms.

“It’s time to duel!” they said simultaneously.

A card game began out of nowhere.

“What the hell kind of world is this…?” Kang-Woo muttered to himself a question that he had already asked several times.

“All conflicts are resolved via Duels in Zexal,” Tite answered.

“Yeah, okay. I more or less get it now.”

Kang-Woo swept his hair back and sighed deeply.

‘That’s just the kind of world this place is.’

He was honestly flabbergasted but decided not to think too deeply about it. Even different countries on Earth had vastly different cultures and values, so there wasn’t even a question for an outer world. It was not so far-fetched for there to be values here that were difficult to understand logically.

‘That aside.’

Kang-Woo paid close attention to the Duel between the two Entrion.

“I activate the Spell Card, Cyclone!”

“AAAARRRGGHHH! NOOOOOO!!!”

A holographic cyclone destroyed a card on the field. The opponent whose card was destroyed reacted as if he was in a real cyclone.

“Kurgh!! I-I’m about to fly away!!!”

‘It’s a hologram. Why are you holding onto that pillar?’

“I-I activate the Trap Card, Magic Barrier!”

“Dammit!! My Cyclone!!!”

“I then activate the Spell Card, Lightning Spear, dealing five hundred damage to your Life Points!”

“GAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! I-IT BUUUUUUUUUURNS!!! I CAN’T MOVE MY LIMBS—!!!”

‘Bro, it’s just a hologram. I’d think you were stabbed by a real lightning spear if I didn’t know any better.’

“They sure are going all out with their reactions, huh…?”

“I think I get why that Tite guy was upset about you not making any reactions earlier.”

Since they were reacting so over-the-top to holographic attacks, Kang-Woo could tell they truly wouldn’t despair unless they were defeated in a Duel.

“Huh…?”

Kang-Woo’s eyes shone as he was examining the Duel.

‘Wait… I could…’

An idea popped into his head as he watched the Entrion’s overreactions to the holograms.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

The cards never mattered in the first place.

“Pfft! Bwehehehe!!” Kang-Woo burst into laughter.

‘I found the key point of these card games they call Duels.’

He stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

“Looks like this will be easier than I expected.”

“Hm! You’re making that face again, Kang-Woo!”

“What face?”

“The face you make when you’re thinking bad thoughts!”

“Bad girl.”

Kang-Woo lightly flicked Echidna’s forehead.

“Ouch!”

“Bad thoughts? I’ve never had such things in my life.”

‘I swear on my father’s life.’

“What are you gonna do?” asked Yeon-Joo as she tilted her head.

“When you’re in an outer world, do as its residents do.” Kang-Woo smiled nastily. “I’m going to defeat the Duel King.”

‘In a Duel that they love so much.’

Translator’s Notes:

Sorry, Yugioh fans. I grew up watching the show in English sub so some nuances might not get translated the same as the English dub. I’m still trying, though!