Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!

It was over.

Delta lay on the ground, feeling like his body was floating in invisible water, drifting with the current, slowly sinking in the waves.

The duel was over, along with his mission—and his short life.

It was his last duel, and definitely the most unforgettable.

Four devastating bounces in a row—his Darkstorm Dragon got bounced back three times, Five-Headed Dragon once. The shadow world wind never stopped, leaving him numb.

But that wasn't the worst part. The final, most devastating blow was after all that, he got hit by "Conscription".

Check the top card of your opponent's deck—if it's a summonable monster, Special Summon it to your own field.

Of course, it was the freshly bounced monster. How could it not be a monster?

NTR'd from your own deck—can you believe it? Is this the evolved, latest and greatest cuckold form?

Everyone knows the darkest Monarch is "Caius the Shadow Monarch". Each Monarch has a different attribute, and Caius is the DARK one, the "Shadow Monarch"—should be the most evil, ruling the abyss.

But after today, Delta thought otherwise. Looking at Raiza on Kira's field, he felt that this was the real "Shadow Monarch".

What's Caius? His little evil ways are nothing compared to you.

Thinking back on this torturous duel, he suddenly realized—it was just like his life.

He spent his whole existence struggling in a fate that was already decided, just as short, just as full of torment.

Especially at the end, when "Darkstorm Dragon" landed on Kira's field and struck the final blow, he truly saw his father in the dragon's breath.

He seemed to see disappointment, blame, even disgust.

As darkness took his vision, he felt like time was rewinding.

Back to his creation, being made by his father, given intelligence and consciousness, trained with his brothers using different decks, learning and awakening more intelligence through duels.

Soon, he stood out among his brothers and became the best.

"My son, I'm proud of you."

That's what his father said.

"Soon, you'll be my right hand," the man said, patting him heavily on the shoulder. "Don't let me down."

"I'll never let you down," he promised earnestly.

Of course, that promise now seemed broken.

He remembered how his brothers looked at him—mostly envy and admiration, as if he was carrying not just his father's hopes, but theirs, too. He was their role model, their best—the one to serve their father on their behalf.

But it was bitterly ironic. Though modeled after Seto Kaiba, Delta had never felt even a shred of ambition. No desire for power, or to take KaibaCorp from Seto and stand on top of the world, or seek revenge.

He thought the world was fine the way it was. The only thing that interested him was the Kaiba Land amusement park built by Seto Kaiba.

"..."

"Seto Kaiba is a murderer, the most heinous criminal, robber, and thief in history."

The man would gather all the children, stand on stage, and denounce Kaiba's endless crimes.

"And he's the most absurd, too. KaibaCorp was once the world's top company, leading in tech and weapons."

"But what did he do after taking it for himself? Built a Blue-Eyes Amusement Park, made roller coasters? Why not start selling baby pacifiers too?"

His brothers all voiced their outrage, echoing their father. Only Delta muttered quietly, "Actually, I think Kaiba Land looks pretty fun..."

But maybe his father heard him. He looked up, annoyed: "Did you say something, Delta?"

"Ah, no, Father," Delta lowered his head. "I said you're right, Seto Kaiba is an unforgivable villain."

The man nodded and said no more.

But Delta never told anyone that he had a wish, brief as his life was: he wanted to visit Kaiba Land once.

That's the kind of weird AI Delta was. Created for revenge, the best among his brothers, yet deep down he just wanted to lie flat and do nothing.

Even if he didn't do anything—just selling balloons in the park, watching kids climb the slides, hearing the cheers on the Blue-Eyes roller coaster—that would be enough.

But of course, that was a pipe dream.

They were on opposing sides. His father and brothers shouted slogans about restoring the company, railing against the decadent, self-indulgent dictator, while he, his father's right-hand man, not only had no fighting spirit but even wanted to join the other side and have fun.

What was that about?

"..."

"If you didn't want to fight, why did you gamble your life?"

Kira approached the fallen, disintegrating Delta and spoke calmly.

"Even as an AI, if you have self-awareness, you should know the value of being alive, right?"

"Heh, are you asking if I want to die? Of course not."

Delta closed his eyes and smiled self-deprecatingly.

"That's why you humans will never understand. Our fate is decided from birth. What I want doesn't matter—my mission is to fight for Father, and that's enough."

Kira was silent for a moment.

"I think it's you who don't understand humans," he said softly. "If you can understand this concept, you're more human than you think."

"Oh?" Delta barely opened his eyes, confused.

"In this world, there are plenty of humans just like that," Kira said. "Fighting for others' expectations, doing everything they can to become who they're expected to be, because that's what's been expected of them since birth—even if it's not what they want."

"Is that so..."

Delta closed his eyes again and smiled, exhausted.

"Then maybe I really am more human than I thought."

But it didn't matter anymore. None of it mattered.

He'd tried his best.

Now he didn't have to fight anymore.

Delta's body fully broke down, dispersing into data in the virtual space.