Rei was led to a dusty gate.

Inside a grandiose building where he was now, he unexpectedly found a neglected place. Filled with thick grains of dust on the surface, on the walls, and the ceiling too. The place was even dirtier than his warehouse that hadn't been taken care of for years.

He coughed every time the dust fell on his face. Despite trying to cover his breath, the dust particles still managed to sneak in.

Occasionally his feet kicked at the metal junk buried under the thickness of the dust and gave him a familiar pain. He didn't know if his feet had to have such bad luck, but who could see through the dust that was as thick as his ankles?

Still, that explained why the little robot was zigzagging suddenly. Rei was mistaken, he thought his little iron dwarf was possessed by a demon.

Anyway, they finally arrived in another huge room.

Before him, a gate that had never been touched by anything but dust, stood out. All the surrounding floors were covered in four centimeters of dirt, slightly thinner than the previous area. Still, it was messy nonetheless.

 

"Did you forget to pay for the cleaning service?" Rei asked, thoughtfully.

The 50 cm tall robot made its way to the gate and cleared the dust around it. "We have not forgotten,” The robot replied. “But this room has not been used since it was created."

"Why? Did you store dangerous items here?" In his head, Rei thought of swords, guns, and a possible hazardous chemical. Considering how suspicious his situation was, it was a reasonable guess.

"No, it's not. This place has never been used because there is nothing inside." The robot finally finished cleaning the area around the gate. And It pulled out a cable and inserted it into a console.

It makes no sense, he thought. However, as his head turned around to observe, it was true that there was nothing but the large gate before him. It wouldn't be wrong if this room was abandoned.

“Then,” Rei walked over to the robot. “What should I do now?”

Three seconds after he threw the question, the gate whirred and emitted light. He stepped back slightly and squinted. Then, a new screen appeared in front of him.

[0.5 Gate]

He guessed it was the gate’s name.

After the screen closed, the glow on the gate disappeared and the noise subsided. He didn't understand what had just happened, so he asked, "Is this route safe enough for me?"

"Yes," it replied firmly. "After passing through this gate, you just need to climb the stairs outside and you will arrive at the upper floor."

Rei touched his chin. "Can't I buy a drink at the nearby convenience store for a while? You know, canned food isn’t nice. At least a drink with a sweet flavor can help me swallow it."

The robot raised its head, as if it wanted to start a serious conversation. "You won't find anything there, Rei. Even if you try to find some, you'll just be wasting your energy in vain."

His little companion's statement was perplexing. If he was currently inside the room, wouldn't he be outside if he passed through the gate? How could there be nothing outside? What about the people there? No way they didn't exist.

This little robot wants to scare me, he thought. Trying everything to keep me from running away from this situation, huh.

"Alright. I just need to follow the stairs outside, right?"

"Correct," the robot continued. "However, there are a few things you need to remember and do first. Since I'm not coming with you anymore, then don't ever forget these matters."

Rei scratched his head and nodded. He didn’t want to get lectured again, but….

“Go ahead,” he agreed.

The little robot started to explain many subjects, from the most general things. About why it accompanied him, a review of the duel against Morgan, and some advice that Rei found unhelpful.

When he asked about the two robots holding Morgan hostage, the little robot didn’t respond to him. Likewise with the organization that kidnapped him, when he also asked for an explanation about that, it refused to answer. That made Rei unable to pay full attention to the junk metal lecture before him.

Yet, the next topic quickly caught his attention. The features of a Duelist, or rather the multi-functional bracelet attached to his right wrist. He liked to play games though not all genres, which was why the explanation of that feature immediately intrigued him.

"So, we can basically scan an object and store the information inside?"

The first subject that caught his eyes was the scanning feature of his bracelet.

"Correct. You can scan an object. From grass to animals to weapons. Then, the stored data will be able to be shared with others. Either via direct, cable, or Net-Field."

The robot also explained about Duelist Points. In fact, DP was a special currency that had a limited amount. The efficiency of its use needed to be considered. But, Rei wasn't interested in that. After all, he didn’t have a plan to play this game for a long time, he still had his goal; to get out of this building and meet his family.

The next topic was about the Global Search Engine or short for GSE. A Google clone, if you wanted to call it that. You could search for almost anything depending on the Duelist Level. The higher your level, the greater your authority. Unfortunately, it could only be used when connected to the Net-Field.

Rei tried it right away, using the keyword "Akane Dixon" in the search bar and found five locked sites. He tried to enter, but a small red window popped up instead.

[Access Denied: You Don’t Have Sufficient Authority]

All the sites gave a similar response.

"If you go all the way to the upper floors and raise your Duelist Level, you should be able to unlock it, Rei."

Rei scowled, he didn't want to play in this suspicious game any longer. After all, wouldn't the best way to meet his family be to leave this building?

In the midst of his scowl, he noticed the "Code Shop" icon next to the GSE. As his hand touched it, a typical e-commerce display appeared on his floating screen.

"Hyper Code Shop ... what is this?"

"You shouldn't have overstepped my explanation, Rei. But, alright, I'll explain." The screen on the robot's head displayed some sort of shopping guide. There were also promos and discounts for certain items.

"Can I get a sweet drink or cola?" was his first question without listening to the speech. Since it was said that he wouldn’t find a drink outside, didn't that mean it could be delivered instead?

"You can't buy anything other than cards. Hyper Code Shop is a store selling goods that have been materialized into cards. You can buy them with Orbit Dollars, Duel Points, or trade with the seller."

Rei's face became wry. "What kind of shop is that? There's no way I'm eating cards, right?" He was disappointed. Yet, his fingers kept moving around. Skipping from one subpage to another.

Now, he pointed to another bar next to the main search bar, isolated at the top left of the page. "Redeem Code?” he asked. “This is to get points after shopping at the Code Shop, isn’t it?"

"No, it's not. It's for inputting codes to get cards or decks that are sold in secret. This was done to prevent items from being sold out by greedy buyers."

After hearing that explanation, he recalled something, a specific word from his memories.

[Dragun0va]

No matter how long he looked at it, the word was too childish for a bank account password, let alone a code for a research folder. It was definitely related to the card game in his hometown. He came to that conclusion real quick.

However, was it possible that the card game there was the same as the one he played in this building? He didn’t remember that well, although there was a vague feeling that the way of playing was quite similar.

He touched his chin and stroked it a few times.

Dragun0va. He input it without the robot's knowledge. Suddenly, a blue window appeared overlaying the Hyper Code Shop display on the screen.

[Dragun0va Deck]

[Price; 0 Orbi$]

[Uploaded on: May 22.]

[Are you sure you want to buy it?] [Y/N]

Rei swallowed. He didn't understand how the deck he built was for sale here. The only ones who could do so were himself or Apollo. It could be Akane, but it didn't make sense to her to do that.

[Thank you for making a purchase.]

The blue window disappeared from the screen and the Hyper Code Shop's main display returned.

His heart was beating fast. And became faster as he examined each card in the deck. Everything matched exactly with his memory. All the cards were arranged exactly the same. The ace card in Dragun0va's deck was Dragon Jewel - Rubystack. That card had the exact same artwork as he remembered.

But, how was that possible?

Suddenly his head throbbed heavily, an undefined whisper passing through his mind. It ached like an arachnid crawling and biting into the outer layers of his brain.

"Who are you?"

“I am? Your guidance.”

As the loathsome buzzing dissipated, his vision brightened. "Huh? Did I say something?"

“Oh, yes. I answered your question and now, please pay attention to my lecture, Rei. I won’t explain the same thing twice.” The small robot showed an angry emoticon on its face.

“A-ah, sorry.” That wasn't what he meant. He felt like hearing something important a few seconds ago. But no matter how he pressed his memory, nothing was left behind.

Feeling nothing could be done about it, he immediately fixed his eyes back to the front, focused on the lecture while kneading his head a bit. “So, what’s the next topic?”, he asked.

He actually wanted to check his own deck, but he decided to do it later.

“Materialization,” the robot continued to play its role as lecturer. “The most important feature you have as a Duelist.”

On this topic, the little dwarf took its time to explain, slower than before. It even emphasized some words and that made him a little confused.

"You mean, I can summon the cards and materialize them into real objects? Just like in the trial, but we can touch it as a real thing?" Rei rephrased the explanation hesitantly.

"Correct." That answer was enough to make his jaw drop.

Of course, he didn't fully believe it without any valid evidence. That’s why he immediately opened the Deck menu and selected a card.

"How do I manifest?" he inquired.

"Pull a card from your screen and it will automatically become a real card. Then simply say it internally to materialize its shape according to the image. Or you can say the card’s name."

He quickly got ready to start practicing. He set his gaze on one card from the deck menu, pulled it out of the screen and held it firmly in his hand.

Ten seconds passed and nothing happened. It was still in the card form.

"You want to scam me again, huh?" His shoulder fell, disappointed.

"Like I said before, I gained nothing by scamming you, Rei. Anyway, what is the card you want to materialize just now?"

He turned the card over and showed the artwork engraved on the front. A girl in a bunny costume. A unit card.

"You can't materialize unit cards in the Inner Plane, Rei. Only Armament Spell can be used in the Inner Plane. Even then, not all places can be done."

Rei pouted. He was genuinely disappointed. He just wanted a female friend to chat with. Relax, not for a perverted purpose, although his reason was quite absurd for anyone’s ear.

He looked for another card. This time, he chose the Armament Spell, Slimy Whip. He pulled the card from the screen and grasped it tightly.

"Slimy Whip!" As he said it, the card emitted light, splitting into a number of small blue glowing cubes. In a flash, it turned into a whip.

"Wow... this is cool." Rei swung the whip back and forth. Twirling it in the air like a cowboy. He was too absorbed into his fun, he briefly lost control and accidentally hit the robot.

Shit!

"Hey! Don't ever do such a thing again!" Luckily, the robot was just a pile of metal and made of electronic components, so it was unlikely to take offense or get angry, even though he almost knocked it down to the floor.

But, he stopped due to his guilt. What he did was definitely wrong. Besides, he would be at a disadvantage if the robot was damaged due to his carelessness right now.

However, after he put a deep thought into it, he discovered another disturbing fact.

Wouldn't this method allow others to easily smuggle in dangerous weapons? Moreover, since it could hit the robot earlier, it meant that even though the weapon had been turned into a card, when it was recalled back, it still functioned the same as before.

Isn't this too crazy?

If you wanted to turn a weapon into a card, it would mean that its molecular components would also have to be changed. Indirectly, the weapon should be destroyed and compressed into a much smaller size.

Then, in order to restore its original form, you would need to reverse the process without breaking a single molecular chain. In other words, that would be impossible. Even with the science of today's modern world.

That conclusion should lead Rei to believe that he was currently in the virtual world. Living in a game ecosystem. But, he didn’t. His doubt grew immense because of what happened inside the R-Room earlier.

He also considered Augmented Reality theory, where his body was completely restricted by sophisticated machines that were able to give instantaneous responses to whatever he experienced. However, this theory also had its loopholes.

The question about his current whereabouts remained unsolved. He could only breath a heavy sigh, then flashed a dry smile as he stretched his body.

"Hey, is my presentation too funny for you?" The robot gave a sharp look.

"No, it wasn't. You did great actually. It's just … you know, I'm starting to understand a little."

The little robot shook its head many times, "Gosh, out of all the things I've explained, you only understand a little? This has gone too far."

"Huh? That's not it! You have the wrong impression of me!"

"I do not care, Rei. As I said, I won't repeat my lectures."

The robot's misunderstanding was not cleared up. He gave up, he didn’t really care either. For some reason, he just got triggered a bit.

Five minutes later, the short lecture ended. Then, the robot wheeled to near the gate and pressed the console on the side. A loud noise echoed, as he looked at the gate, the gate's lock came off.

The leaves of the gate widened inward, revealing darkness with a bright light at the end of the passage.

"Alright. It’s the time, Rei. Have a nice journey."

He stepped inside and waved a hand without looking back. "Thank you, Metal Brain."

"Stop being so rude, can you?"

"Sure." His chuckle followed.

When he looked back, the gate slowly drew itself shut. The silhouette of the robot slowly thinned until it vanished from his sight. With a clang of metal, the gate closed completely. Somehow he felt quite lonely for no reason.

Anyway, he turned forward, his feet got back on track. He marched for a quite long time and arrived at the end of the dark passage. He squinted, his eyes tried to adapt. Shortly after his sight returned to normal, he discovered what the robot called the Outside.

What lay before him was a vast green landscape with a lot of hills, trees, and a blue sea in the far end. The fresh breeze flowing through his hair while the new temperature warmed his body slowly.

He took a really long breath and said, “That small metal brain lied to me.”