Who asked him to play Yu-Gi-Oh!

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At the White Dragon Festival in Kaiba Land, the vibrant energy of the holiday buzzed through the air.
Sunlight filtered through the colorful amusement park rides, casting dappled shadows across the ground. The massive theme park was packed with people, brimming with festive excitement.
Everywhere you looked, the presence of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon was unmistakable. You could see it roaring down roller coaster tracks, spinning above carousel-like attractions, or even perched atop a Ferris wheel like a silent guardian.

In short, it was omnipresent.
Once again, Yu Xuan marveled at the sheer influence of the legendary President Kaiba. Not only had he gifted his daughter an exclusive holiday called "White Dragon Day," but he’d also managed to make it a national statutory holiday. On this day, everyone followed the tradition of heading to Kaiba Land for non-stop fun.
Even Duel Academy wasn’t immune to the festivities. As part of their team-building exercise, the students were brought to the city’s Kaiba Land for some group bonding. And to everyone's surprise, the infamous friend from Bamboo Master Takeuchi’s excavation days actually showed up.

"Shadow Stream!"
"Andou!"
The two men embraced enthusiastically, slapping each other on the back as if they hadn’t seen one another in years.

"You’ve got no idea how much I missed you!" Andou exclaimed, pounding Takeuchi on the spine.
Yu Xuan sized up the newcomer.
He wore a flashy plaid shirt, and his smooth, bald head gleamed under the sunlight. His slightly weathered face, paired with dark glasses, gave him an air of someone who had spent decades coding rather than dueling.

His nearly squinted eyes and shiny bald head combined two legendary traits—"squinty-eyed" and "bald"—which might have been intimidating in another setting. But here? Without a flashy hairstyle, he already seemed outmatched.
"How long has it been since you last visited?" Takeuchi complained. "I thought you’d forgotten about your old buddy."
"Ahh, work’s kept me busy. By the way, let me tell you about this amazing resource I discovered recently—both projection and VR versions are available! The leading lady isn’t just stacked; she’s—"

"Stop! Stop right there!" Takeuchi interrupted hastily, giving him a pointed look. "We’ve got students here today."
Andou blinked, realizing his mistake. "Oh, right. We’ll save that conversation for later."
All °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the students: "..."

Actually, we’re far more curious about what you guys usually talk about behind closed doors.
"Cough… Anyway, allow me to introduce you all," Takeuchi said quickly, steering the conversation back on track. "This is Saijo Kazuya, once a proud member of our dojo and a fellow duelist. He’s like a half-disciple of ours."
The man named Saijo nodded slightly. "Indeed. Back then, Master told me I had extraordinary talent for dueling. With just a little effort, my achievements would surpass even Takeuchi’s..."
Takeuchi shot him a glare. "Hold on now. If that’s true, why did Master kick you out of the dojo?"

"Haha, that’s where you’re mistaken, my dear senior." Saijo grinned mischievously. "You see, Master adored me... until he caught wind of something between me and his daughter. Let’s just say things got heated after that."
Takeuchi gaped. "What?! Why have you never mentioned this before?"
"Youthful indiscretions—they’re best left buried in the past, don’t you think?"

Saijo flicked his wrist dramatically, as though reminiscing about ancient history.
Everyone else: "..."
"Cough… cough…" Takeuchi interjected awkwardly. "Let’s move on to discussing the ruins, shall we?"

He had a sinking feeling that letting Saijo continue would only lead to increasingly inappropriate anecdotes—not exactly conducive to fostering the mental and spiritual growth of young duelists.
"Oh, the ruins? Absolutely fascinating stuff..." Saijo began, launching into an animated explanation.
But before he could elaborate further, snap—the lights in the Dragon Duel Arena abruptly cut out, plunging the entire venue into darkness.

A series of thunderous metallic clangs followed as roll-up doors slammed shut simultaneously, sealing off every exit and window. All sources of light vanished, leaving the arena pitch black.
Panic rippled through the crowd.
"What’s going on?"

"Is it a system failure?"
"Refund my money, dammit!"
"...Seriously?"

Saijo glanced around nervously, muttering, "Strange. Even during a power outage, these arenas are equipped with backup generators. Something’s not right here."
Though Yu Xuan remained silent, the unfolding events carried a familiar scent—one reminiscent of classic anime tropes.
Hadn’t something similar happened in Yu-Gi-Oh! back when Kaiba Land first opened? The system was hacked, the arena locked down, and players were forced to duel against an AI. Victory was the only way out.

Back then, the culprit was Zigfried von Schroeder, a business rival of Seto Kaiba’s. But that was eight years ago, and Schroeder should have been dealt with by now.
Could it really be a simple malfunction?
Before anyone could speculate further, a single spotlight illuminated the center of the arena. Beneath its glow stood an arrogant figure with crossed arms—a perfect replica of Seto Kaiba himself. Brown hair, blue eyes, white trench coat—the works.

And then came the trademark laugh: "HAHAHA!"
"That’s... Seto Kaiba!" the crowd gasped.
"What’s going on? Why is Seto Kaiba here?"

"Is this some kind of surprise event?"
Saijo immediately realized the truth. "Wait, that’s not Seto Kaiba! That’s the latest Duel AI installed in this arena!"
Everyone: "!"

"Kaiba Corporation has programmed advanced AIs based on famous duelists’ data. These AIs can perfectly replicate their strategies, thought processes, and personalities. Combine that with cutting-edge holographic technology, and visitors get the ultimate experience of dueling against world-class opponents!" Saijo explained.
It was no secret that President Kaiba had become obsessed with AI ever since Yugi Muto moved on to the afterlife. He poured endless resources into upgrading his virtual systems, creating countless iterations of AI replicas—most notably, versions of Yugi himself.
In Pyramid of Light, Kaiba dueled an AI version of Yugi and lost, which sent him spiraling into a rage-fueled quest for vengeance. Later, in Yu-Gi-Oh GX, he defeated the same AI—but instead of satisfaction, he dismissed the victory as meaningless, claiming it held no weight since it was merely a simulation.

Takeuchi grimaced. "So what’s happening now...?"
"Someone hacked into the arena’s system and set the AI to resemble Seto Kaiba," Saijo said gravely. "It’s likely that the entire system is now linked directly to the AI. Oddly enough, I heard that high-level AIs like this aren’t supposed to be publicly accessible. Figures like Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba’s AIs are typically reserved for internal testing—the pinnacle of dueling AI technology."
Sure enough, after finishing his signature three-part laugh, the AI Kaiba activated his duel disk. "If you want to leave this place, you’ll have to defeat me and my deck first!"

Yu Xuan wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
Of course. It always comes down to a card game.
The trapped spectators erupted into chaos.

"What? Beat Seto Kaiba? That’s impossible!"
"But wait—it’s just an AI. Surely it doesn’t have Blue-Eyes White Dragons, right...?"
"Don’t you know anything? This is a Duel AI! Its deck is purely digital, built using data from top duelists. It has access to every card imaginable!"

"What?! So does that mean it even has the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Then what’s the point of trying?!"
The audience descended into disarray.
Most of the people trapped in the arena were casual tourists. In their eyes, this AI wasn’t just replicating Kaiba’s personality and tactical genius—it also wielded a fully optimized deck powered by pure data. Essentially, it was as close to the real Seto Kaiba as one could get.

How could anyone hope to win against the man widely regarded as the strongest duelist alive, wielding the most powerful deck in existence?
Unless you were Yugi Muto reincarnated, victory seemed utterly unattainable.
Yu Xuan, however, remained calm.

Being temporarily locked inside wasn’t such a big deal for them as tourists. KaibaCorp would undoubtedly work overtime to resolve the issue, and it wouldn’t take long to restore normalcy. Worst-case scenario, they could always resort to breaking out physically. At worst, they’d lose a bit of time—and maybe even score some compensation from KaibaCorp.
For KaibaCorp itself, though, this was nothing short of a PR nightmare. Their competitors would seize upon this incident with glee, painting it as yet another example of corporate incompetence.
But that was Kaiba’s problem, not theirs.

Takeuchi leaned over to whisper to Yu Xuan. "This is your chance to duel against a legendary deck modeled after Seto Kaiba. Want to give it a shot?"
Yu Xuan shrugged indifferently. To him, it didn’t seem particularly special.
Sure, the AI replicated Kaiba’s personality and deck—but it was still just an AI. Could it replicate the unpredictable nature of actual draws? Probably not.

However, Saijo chimed in with a reminder: "Knowing Seto Kaiba, if someone manages to defeat this AI before the breach is resolved, thereby lifting the lockdown and saving the company face, he might reward them handsomely—with cash, rare cards, or both."
"You don’t need to say more."
With a wave of his hand, Yu Xuan stepped forward toward the duel platform, leaving behind a cool, confident silhouette.

Money and cards were trivial matters. But as a duelist, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to challenge a legend.
Anyone who tried to stop him would find themselves on the receiving end of his wrath.
"Bring it on."

Yu Xuan took his position opposite the holographic AI Kaiba.
"I’ll be your opponent."