Chapter 99 – A New Option

Bonus Chapter

After the meeting in the conference room of Industrial Illusions finally came to an end, Alexander let the various department heads return to their respective duties, as there was still plenty of work to be done before the Duel Monsters Grand Prix, but none of it required his immediate presence.

Roland remained behind to handle the inevitable follow-up work, while Alexander left the building and returned to what had, by now, become something of a daily routine.

The grind never ended, and it was now time to farm some more Duel Points and Duel Energy.

He drove his silver BMW Z1 through the city, keeping an eye out for the usual locations. Hobby stores were usually the best option, but parks, community centres, and other places where Duel Monsters players gathered worked just as well.

Once he found a suitable location, Alexander parked his car somewhere inconspicuous before changing into his usual disguise that consisted of a cap, a pair of glasses and casual clothes. A few minutes later, he was just another Duel Monsters player.

The duels themselves were relatively straightforward. Some opponents were beginners, others were considerably more experienced, and every once in a while he encountered someone who managed to surprise him with an unexpected play.

Those were always the more enjoyable matches, and they also tended to produce more Duel Energy and Duel Points.

Alexander had long since realised that the YGO System didn't simply reward the act of playing Duel Monsters. The intensity of the duel mattered as well. The more focused, emotionally invested, or mentally engaged the participants were, the more DE he obtained. Unfortunately, there was no equivalent shortcut for Duel Points, so to gather those he was still required to win, which wasn't that difficult, yet he still had to lose some games to maintain a low profile.

So Alexander continued playing until a little before evening, collecting what he could before eventually deciding that he had farmed enough for the day. After that, he returned to his car, removed the disguise, and drove back toward the Jones Mansion.

By the time he arrived, Roland was already there waiting for him.

Nothing particularly unusual happened after that.

Alexander trained. First, his physical body, pushing himself through his usual routine until sweat covered his skin and his muscles began to protest. Then came the more unusual part. He sat down and focused inward, directing his attention toward his Ba and Spirit Energy just as some Duel Spirits showed him.

The process was still something he found difficult to describe in ordinary terms. It wasn't simply exercise, meditation, or magic in the conventional sense. It was closer to learning how to control another layer of himself, one that existed beneath his physical body and yet was just as real.

He concentrated on maintaining the flow, then increasing it, then controlling it. Again and again. It was tiring, but Alexander had long since stopped expecting anything worthwhile to come easily.

Eventually, he finished his training and headed for the shower.

Afterwards, he joined Roland for dinner before eventually retiring to his study.

Usually, this was the point where Alexander would begin preparing the next batch of prototype cards.

Raw materials would be arranged across his desk. Tools would be prepared. Then came the painstaking process of physically creating the cards and, afterwards, dealing with whatever Duel Spirit happened to be connected to them.

Tonight, however, his desk remained untouched as there was simply no need. The reason for that was that Alexander had already created every possible card from Series 1 and Series 2 that he could currently make.

The exceptions were obvious.

The Level 11 and higher Monsters remained beyond his current capabilities, while the five cards that made up Exodia remained impossible for the same reasons. Even if he still didn't very well understand what he had to do to create them, he suspected that the YGO System would reveal the answer to him sooner or later.

Everything else? It was done, and that meant Alexander could finally afford to stop thinking about prototype production for a while.

Instead, he leaned back in his chair and mentally summoned the YGO System.

A familiar chime immediately echoed in his mind.

[Ding!]

___________________________________

User Identified: Alexander Maximillion Jones

System Type: Duel Interface

Primary Functions:

• Resource Management

• Card Database

• Card Manifestation Authorisation

• YGO System Shop Access

Resources Identified:

1. Duel Energy (DE)

• Generated through duels involving the user.

• Output increases with emotional and cognitive intensity.

• Used for manifestation and high-output actions.

Current DE: 3802

2. Duel Points (DP)

• Acquired through victory in duels.

• Used for system transactions and upgrades.

Current DP: 786

___________________________________

Alexander stared at the numbers for several seconds, then a smile slowly appeared on his face as he muttered, "Almost there... 786 Duel Points... I only need 14 more. 14!"

That was all that separated him from the next level of the Personal Upgrade: Spirit Capacity Enhancement.

Once he purchased it, his Ba would surge once more, allowing his body and spirit to become capable of enduring greater pressure, which in turn should finally allow him to create Level 11 Monsters.

That was an important milestone, very important. One that Alexander had been looking forward to for quite some time. He could already imagine what the next stage of card development would look like once he was no longer restricted by the current ceiling.

But there was something else he could already afford, something considerably more tempting.

He mentally opened the YGO System Shop and began scrolling through the available upgrades until his gaze landed on one in particular.

___________________________________

– System Upgrade: Expand Card Database Series 3

• Unlocks additional card templates

• Expands accessible archetypes

Effect:

• Increases available card pool

• Enables creation of higher-tier cards

• Improves system recognition range

Cost: 200 DP

___________________________________

He already had enough DP to purchase the System Upgrade: Expand Card Database Series 3.

The temptation was certainly there, as Series 3 would give him access to another enormous collection of cards and yet Alexander stopped himself from making the purchase, as there was no immediate need for it.

The existing card pool was already more than sufficient. In fact, the sheer number of cards he had introduced recently meant that many of them still hadn't even reached the wider player base.

He couldn't simply dump another collection of cards onto the market every time the System gave him access to one, as that would be counterproductive.

Players needed time. Time to actually acquire the cards. Time to learn what they did. Time to experiment with them. Time to modify their decks. Time to discover new combinations and strategies. Most importantly, they needed time to enjoy the game.

If he released new cards too quickly, the previous set would barely have time to establish itself before being replaced.

Alexander had plenty of experience with how this worked from his previous life. Even with a constantly evolving card game, roughly three months between major booster releases was a reasonable pace.

Long enough for the players to explore the current card pool but short enough to prevent the game from becoming stale, and considering how rapidly Duel Monsters was currently growing, his existing supply should last until the end of the year without any difficulty.

So Series 3 could wait. The Personal Upgrade, however, was another story

Alexander's eyes returned to his DP total, '786. 14 more. I will surely obtain them tomorrow...'

He was about to close the shop when another thought occurred to him, the upcoming Duel Monsters Grand Prix.

That thought made Alexander's mental command halt as he muttered, "Wait a moment..."

He quickly reopened the shop, but this time, instead of looking at the Card Database upgrades, he scrolled further down the list to the much pricier items.

There were dozens of entries, some useful, some interesting, some that were currently far too expensive to even consider, but eventually, his attention stopped on one particular entry.

System Upgrade: Duel Network Synchronisation Tier 1.

His expression changed, and without any hesitation, he opened it.

________________________________________

System Upgrade: Duel Network Synchronisation Tier 1

• Unlocks passive DP and DE collection from observed duels.

• Establishes a connection between the System and external duel activity.

Effect:

• Gain 1/10 of the DP generated by directly observed duels.

• Gain 1/10 of the DE generated by directly observed duels.

• Allows DP and DE collection without direct participation.

• Collection remains active for the duration of the observed duel.

Limitations:

• Requires direct observation of the duel.

• Cannot collect from duels outside the user's awareness.

• Collection range is limited by the user's ability to observe the duel.

Note:

• The amount of DP and DE generated by a duel varies depending on engagement, focus, excitement, emotional intensity, and other factors.

• Higher Synchronisation Tiers may expand the collection range beyond directly observed duels.

Cost: 850 DP

________________________________________

Alexander stared at the entry, then he leaned back in his chair before he let out a deep, "...Oh." while he thought, 'This is interesting. Very interesting.'

His first instinct was to immediately start calculating, 'The upgrade would only provide me with a tenth of what a duel generated, but that isn't the important part. The important part is that I don't have to participate in the duel, don't have to win it. I only need to observe. Normally, I have to spend hours driving around the city, finding players, putting on a disguise, and personally participating in the duels if I want to collect DP and DE. It worked. It had worked very well, in fact. But there is an obvious limit. I am only one person, and there are only so many hours in a day. So no matter how popular Duel Monsters becomes, my personal farming speed will remain relatively limited.'

That was becoming one of the biggest bottlenecks in his development.

Not the popularity of Duel Monsters. Not the number of players. Not even the supply of cards. His problem was that he could only personally farm so much. But this new upgrade had the potential to be the solution to his current problem.

Alexander looked at the upgrade again as he realised, 'This upgrade has a hell lot of potential... This could change everything!'

His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered the implications, 'The upcoming Duel Monsters Grand Prix is going to be enormous. Hundreds of competitors. Likely thousands of duels. And unlike the ordinary duel I participated in while farming, these aren't going to be casual games between people who happened to meet in a hobby store. These are going to be highly competitive matches between the best duelist the United States has to offer.'

His heart started to race as the picture became clearer and clearer, 'These people had trained for this Tournament. They had built their decks around winning. They would be under pressure. They would be watched by hundreds, perhaps even thousands of spectators. And depending on how the tournament broadcast develops, potentially far more, with the number reaching the millions. The emotional intensity of such duels alone should be considerably higher than that of an ordinary duel. Excitement. Tension. Frustration. Determination. Fear of losing. The exhilaration of winning. All of those things will increase the amount of Duel Energy being generated, and if the system's explanation was accurate, I will receive a portion of it simply by watching, something that I already have to do!'

He didn't even need to win the duels himself. He just needed to observe them.

Alexander slowly leaned forward again and muttered, "One tenth..."

He began running the numbers in his head, yet he didn't know exactly how much DP or DE a Grand Prix match would generate, as that depended on the participants and circumstances, so he couldn't calculate the exact return, but he didn't need an exact number to understand the potential.

There were going to be a lot of duels. A hell lot. And he would already be present.

That meant the upgrade could potentially recover a significant portion of its own cost during the tournament alone, possibly all of it, maybe even result in a net gain.

Alexander's gaze drifted toward the final line and repeated out loud, "Higher Synchronisation Tiers may expand the collection range beyond directly observed duels..."

That sentence was almost more interesting than the upgrade itself.

Tier I required direct observation. That was restrictive, but it also implied something else.

There was a Tier II and presumably a Tier III, possibly even more.

Alexander's imagination immediately began running ahead of him, 'If Tier I allows me to collect resources from duels I'm personally watching, then a higher tier might allow me to collect from an entire venue, perhaps an entire city. Maybe eventually something even larger...'

He stopped himself before going too far, as there was no point speculating about something he couldn't even purchase yet. Still, the possibility was enough to make him smile.

Alexander glanced at his DP again, '786.'

Then at the price of the upgrade, '850... I am only 64 DP short. That is marginally different from the Personal Upgrade, as the Spirit Capacity Enhancement required only 14 more DP while this requires 64. But that isn't exactly an insurmountable difference; in fact, if I'm lucky, I can gain that much during tomorrow's farming session...And once I have it...'

Alexander's fingers tapped lightly against the desk.

The Personal Upgrade would allow him to create Level 11 Monsters.

That was undoubtedly valuable, but it only increased his personal capabilities.

The Duel Network Synchronisation upgrade could potentially improve the rate at which he obtained the resources required for everything else.

More DP meant more upgrades. More DE meant more manifestations. More resources meant a faster overall development.

It was an investment in the foundation rather than another increase to the ceiling.

Alexander remained silent for a while.

He could simply wait, as 14 DP was nothing.

He could reach 800, purchase the Spirit Capacity Enhancement, and continue on his current path.

It was safe, predictable and immediate, but the more he thought about the Synchronisation upgrade, the less appealing that choice became.

His biggest problem wasn't that he couldn't do enough; it was that everything depended on how quickly he could accumulate resources, and that was a problem that would only become more important as his plans expanded.

Finally coming to a decision, Alexander smiled and said, "All right."

He closed the entry for the Personal Upgrade while declaring, "You're waiting."

His attention returned to the Duel Network Synchronisation upgrade as he thought, 'The Grand Prix was approaching. This means this opportunity has a deadline. The Personal Upgrade doesn't. I can buy that one later. The Network Synchronisation upgrade, on the other hand, can potentially start paying for itself almost immediately.'

Alexander leaned back in his chair and looked at the system interface floating before him and muttered, "Let's invest in the infrastructure first."

With that decision made, he closed the shop.

He still needed 64 more DP, but now, for the first time, Alexander wasn't looking at that number with impatience.

He was looking at it with anticipation because if his calculations were even remotely correct, the next major step in his development might not come from creating a stronger card, but it might come from making the entire game community work for him.