CHAPTER 65 - YU-GI-OH

It was a new day. Natalie slowly woke up in a daze, still curled up in bed.

"What time is it..." she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"It's already 10 a.m.," said a soft voice. It was Cortana, the AI assistant. "Would you like me to open the curtains, Natalie?"

"Go ahead," she replied groggily.

Swish.

The floor to ceiling windows automatically slid open, revealing a stunning morning view outside. Sunlight poured into the room like a warm blanket.

Natalie sat up and yawned, stretching a little as she asked casually, "What's Tony up to?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have permission to share what master is currently doing," Cortana answered.

"Ugh, fine..." Natalie sighed. She reluctantly got out of bed and walked to the adjacent bathroom.

The sound of running water echoed inside. As soon as she entered, a warm basin of water was already prepared for her. She washed her face while blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Natalie, please hurry. The master is waiting for you," Cortana reminded her.

"Okay, okay... just let me use the bathroom first," she muttered.

The toilet door closed automatically behind her as she sat down. As soon as she finished, it flushed by itself, and the door slid back open. She padded out to the hallway, heading downstairs.

"Seriously... it all feels like a dream," she whispered to herself in amazement.

Over the past few days, Tony had installed an entire smart home system, all operated by Cortana. Natalie had no clue how he pulled it off, she was a liberal arts student after all, but the convenience was undeniable.

No need to boot up the computer, pull open curtains, or switch off lights by hand. Even appliances like faucets and the microwave could be voice activated.

It was like living in the future.

When she reached the living room, she spotted Tony already there, standing on a VR platform, fully suited up and immersed in a game.

But... his posture was weird.

He stood perfectly still, feet planted, left arm lowered, and right hand... moving back and forth repeatedly.

Wait a second... that motion...

Natalie's mind immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

"Is... is Tony playing that kind of game right in the living room?!" she thought, suddenly wide eyed and red faced.

She vividly remembered that Tony once had jokingly mentioned developing an adult-only VR game, one he never released, keeping it just for himself.

At the time, she thought he was kidding.

But now...

Was this what he meant?!

Living under the same roof with his sister, and playing this kind of thing in broad daylight?! How bold could he get?!

Her face flushed even more, but her curiosity quickly overtook her embarrassment.

Without overthinking it, Natalie tiptoed closer. Her plan? Sneak up behind him, yank off the VR headset, and put it on herself.

If it was that kind of game...

Well, honestly, she kinda wanted to see what it was like.

After all, whether you're a man or a woman, people are naturally curious, especially when it comes to immersive VR experiences.

It was decided.

She crept closer on her tiptoes.

But just as she was about to reach him, Cortana's voice rang out loud and clear:

"Master, Natalie is approaching."

"AHHH!!" Natalie jumped back, startled. "Can you not snitch on me like that?!"

Cortana remained silent, clearly unbothered.

Tony calmly removed the VR headset, glanced at his sister, who was awkwardly frozen in place, and frowned.

"I mean... seriously, sis. Why are you creeping up on me like that?"

"I-I just wanted to surprise you..." she stammered, trying to cover her embarrassment as she took a few steps back, hands behind her back.

"It's fine," Tony said with a shrug. He pointed to the dining area. "Breakfast's on the table. I got it from the clubhouse restaurant. It's actually pretty good."

"Oh, thanks," Natalie mumbled, heading over to eat. As she picked up her chopsticks, she threw a cheeky glance his way. "By the way, Tony, even if you're a young man, you've gotta take care of your health, y'know. Don't overdo things first thing in the morning..."

"...What are you even talking about?" Tony looked at her, genuinely puzzled. "Quit being weird and eat. I need your help testing a new game afterward."

"A new game?!" Her eyes lit up.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Just a little something I've been tinkering with."

"What kind of game?" she asked between bites.

"Hm... kind of like a card game. Think 'Fight the Landlord,' but in VR," he said.

"Landlord? Seriously?" Natalie blinked. "That game's everywhere. Why make a VR version of that?"

"It's not exactly the same," Tony replied. "It's a bit more complex. You'll see."

After breakfast, Natalie stepped onto the VR platform, fully suited up.

"Alright, how do we play?" she asked.

"Put on the VR headset," Tony said, pointing to the spare one on the stand.

She did as instructed. As soon as the connection established, Tony's voice came through her earpiece.

"We'll start with the background from Subnautica."

The world around her transformed instantly.

She was now standing on a wide beach. To her left, waves crashed against the shoreline, and in the distance, an enormous alien cannon tower, probably 400 meters tall, pierced the sky.

"Wait, this is the island from Subnautica! Why am I here?" Natalie looked around, confused.

She glanced at her left arm and noticed a strange device attached to it. It looked like a sickle, with several empty card slots built into it.

"Alright, background looks good," Tony said. She looked up and saw someone standing 50 meters away.

But... the figure was completely black, like a shadowy silhouette. It reminded her of the faceless criminals in Detective Conan.

Even the person had the same sickle like device on their arm.

"Don't worry, it's me," said the figure. It was Tony.

"Tony? What kind of game is this?" Natalie asked, more intrigued than ever.

"It's called Yu-Gi-Oh," Tony explained. "That thing on your arm is a Duel Disk. We'll use it to play cards."

"Okay... so what now?"

"I'll walk you through it. Let's begin." His voice turned serious. "Duel, start!"

As he said that, a digital display lit up on her Duel Disk: LP: 8000.

"That's your Life Points," Tony explained. "If your LP drops to zero, you lose."

"Got it."

"Now draw five cards from your deck."

She looked down and saw a deck had appeared on her disk. With a swipe, five cards fanned into her virtual hand.

"There are three types of cards," Tony continued. "Monster cards, Spell cards, and Trap cards."

"Okay..."

She noticed small labels appear under each card in her hand, identifying their type. Carefully, she selected one.

"Let's start with this one..." She placed a card labeled Baby Dragon onto the disk.

Bzzzt!

A pulse of light shimmered in the air. Suddenly, a small yellow dragon materialized in front of her, flapping its wings.

It looked exactly like the creature illustrated on the card.

"Whoa..." Natalie's eyes widened with excitement. "This is so cool!"

"Wow! The monster card actually summoned a real creature!" Natalie gasped in amazement as she looked at the little yellow dragon in front of her. "This baby dragon is so adorable..."

As if it noticed her gaze, the baby dragon turned around and gave her a playful wink.

"Ahh! It's so cute! Can I touch it?!"

She couldn't resist anymore, after all, who could say no to something so cute? Cute things were like kryptonite.

"Of course," Tony replied casually. "You summoned it. It'll follow your orders completely."

Natalie immediately rushed over and hugged the baby dragon tightly. The little guy was well behaved and didn't resist at all, letting her squish and cuddle it however she wanted.

"Seriously, Tony," she grumbled while stroking the baby dragon's soft scales. "If you can design such cute monsters, why is your other game, Subnautica, filled with terrifying sea creatures?!"

"That's because I'm going for realism. It's the deep sea. It's pitch black down there. Naturally, sea creatures evolved to be scary," Tony explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Natalie blinked. "...What kind of logic is that?"

Before she could say more, she noticed a display floating above the baby dragon's head:

[ATK: 1200] [DEF: 700]

"What do those numbers mean?" she asked.

"Every monster has attack and defense stats. You use your monsters to battle your opponent's monsters, and reduce their Life Points. The one who hits zero first loses."

"So it's a monster battle game?"

"Exactly," Tony said with a smile. "Let me show you. I'll summon a monster too."

He casually drew a card and shouted, "Come forth, Obelisk the Tormentor!"

With a loud snap, he placed the card on his duel plate.

BOOM!

The clear sky suddenly turned dark. Thunder rumbled as storm clouds rolled in. The wind howled. Space itself seemed to tremble.

Then, with an earth-shaking roar, a massive figure emerged from the swirling void.

BOOM!

When the giant landed, the entire beach trembled. The sand sunk beneath its massive feet, sending dust flying into the air.

As the dust settled, Natalie finally saw the monster clearly, a towering, armored blue colossus over sixty meters tall. Its stone-like muscles were stacked like walls. Its massive teeth gleamed menacingly beneath a cruel expression. It was a walking fortress of power.

The sheer pressure of its presence made her feel tiny and helpless. She and her baby dragon were completely swallowed in the shadow of this overwhelming behemoth.

She glanced at its stats:

[ATK: 4000][DEF: 4000]

"Tony! You call that a little monster?!" she yelled, flustered. "How is my cute baby dragon supposed to fight that?! Are you serious?! Isn't this totally unfair?!"

Tony shrugged. "It's my game. I make the rules."

Natalie was left speechless.

What she didn't know was that Obelisk was one of the legendary Egyptian God Cards from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and normally required three monsters to be sacrificed before it could be summoned. But since the game was still in early development, Tony simply brought out his favorite childhood card for fun and nostalgia.

"Sis," Tony said with a mischievous grin. "Prepare yourself. Obelisk, attack the Baby Dragon!"

"Wait, WHAT?!"

Natalie panicked. She had just put the baby dragon down and immediately turned to run.

But in this VR world, summoned monsters couldn't run away. The baby dragon just sat there pitifully, looking up at the incoming doom.

"ROOOAARRR!!!"

Obelisk let out a deafening roar, then raised his massive fist. The sheer force of the swing kicked up a storm of wind and even lifted ocean waves nearby.

BOOM!

That fist came crashing down straight toward the helpless baby dragon.

"AHHHHHH!!!"

Natalie screamed and dived headfirst into the ocean beside her, abandoning her monster completely. It was every woman for herself now!

Tony stared blankly. "Did she just... jump into the sea?"

It seemed that after playing Subnautica so much, Natalie's instincts told her that water was safer than land.

"Roar!!!"

With another earth-shaking cry, Obelisk's fist slammed into the baby dragon, reducing it to particles of light. The poor thing didn't even stand a chance.

"Awesome!" Tony grinned, feeling the rush of excitement.

As a kid, he had always dreamed of being able to summon monsters like in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. Sure, you could play the card game on a computer now, but that never came close to the thrill of actually seeing monsters fight in front of you.

Now that childhood dream had finally come true.

While he was caught up in his nostalgia, Natalie was still swimming desperately in the ocean, trying to escape.

To be fair, she was doing pretty well. All that swimming practice from playing Subnautica had paid off.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tony said, shaking his head. "Obelisk, go retrieve our runaway duelist."

The towering giant nodded, took a step forward, then crouched like a giant gorilla scooping up a toy. In one motion, it snatched Natalie from the water with a single hand.

"Noooo! Don't catch me!" she screamed, flailing wildly in the air.

The sensation was eerily similar to being grabbed by some colossal sea monster.

"Sis, relax. It's just a game, and it's my game. You're perfectly safe," Tony said dryly.

As soon as she heard that, Natalie stopped struggling. With a stiff face, she allowed the giant to carry her back to solid ground.

It was like watching the ending scene from King Kong, where the giant ape cradles the heroine gently in its hand.

Absolutely absurd, yet somehow kind of sweet.

As her feet touched the sand again, Natalie clutched her chest and looked at Tony with a look of grievance.

"All I did was play a card, and you had to scare me into running into the ocean!" she huffed.

Tony let out a helpless sigh. "You're the one who panicked and jumped into the sea. It's just a card game!"

"Card game?!" Natalie almost exploded. "You said it was similar to a dragon. But who the heck summons monsters like that this close?! That giant could stomp a house flat! What kind of card game is this?!"

She flailed her arms dramatically. "And what's with that ridiculously huge monster?! That wasn't a 'little creature', that was a walking natural disaster!"

Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "That's what makes it fun. Just tossing cards like in Landlord is boring. At least here, things actually happen."

"You think this is fun?" Natalie looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "How many games have you made like this?"

"Technically, I haven't released any official ones," Tony said, rubbing his chin. "But I've made test scenes for a bunch of game types. That duel we just did? That's based on a card game. You know, Yu-Gi-Oh! style."

"There's more?!" Natalie blinked. "What other types have you got?"

"Oh? Sounds like someone wants to try them all now," Tony said with a teasing smile.

Natalie froze. "Wait, no, I mean, that card game nearly gave me a heart attack. If your other games are scarier, I'll pass."

"Too late," Tony grinned. "You said you're interested. Cortana! Switch the scene, load the FPS module, 'Zombie_BETA'!"

"Understood," came the calm voice of Cortana. "Loading materials. Adapting to environment... Scene generation complete."

In the blink of an eye, the massive god-like titan that had just been towering over the beach vanished. The duel disk on Natalie's arm disappeared as well, replaced by an Uzi submachine gun in her hands.

"...Huh?" Natalie stared at the gun. "How did playing cards suddenly turn into shooting guns?!"

Before she could gather her thoughts, she noticed movement in the distance, at the entrance of a strange alien like structure. Figures were pouring out in droves.

"Roar!"

"Graaaah!!"

Their movements were jerky and frantic, charging out like rabid beasts.

Natalie squinted, and then screamed.

"Z-Z-ZOMBIES?! Again?!"

Their rotting skin, exposed veins, tattered clothes, twisted faces... It was like something out of a horror film. And worst of all? They ignored Tony completely and made a beeline for her!

"Natalie! Don't just stand there, shoot them!" Tony shouted.

Panicked, Natalie fumbled with the Uzi and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets flew, and a few zombies fell. But more kept coming. The snarling, the groaning, the stench, it was too much. She could practically smell the decay.

"AHHHHHH!!!"

Tossing the gun aside, Natalie once again turned and jumped into the ocean with a splash.

"..."

Of course, the moment she hit the water, the zombies vanished. Gone. As if they were never there.

"Sis," Tony called out, exasperated. "You've already played Subnautica and Silent Hill. Why are you still scared?"

"Because your games are too real!" Natalie shrieked from the water. "Even if I play them a hundred times, they'd still scare me!"

Tony chuckled. "They're just placeholder monsters. I haven't even implemented full AI yet. If you step within a meter, they disappear automatically. See? Harmless."

"Nope!" Natalie waved her arms like she was swimming away from a shark. "You didn't invite me to test a game, you invited me to die! Where's your conscience?!"

"Wait, wait!" Tony called out quickly. "No monsters in the next one, I promise! Come on, just try one more!"

"Really? You swear?" Natalie narrowed her eyes.

"Swear!" Tony raised his hand solemnly. "If there are monsters in the next game, may I never find a wife!"

"Dang, that's brutal." She stared him down. "Fine, I'll give you one last chance. But you better make something peaceful next time. This scary stuff's gonna give me nightmares."

"I'll follow your wise advice." Tony nodded seriously. "Now then, are you ready for the next game?"

"As long as there are no monsters, I'm in."

"Got it." Tony snapped his fingers. "Cortana! Switch scene, load action module: 'Sekiro'."

"Calling materials. Adapting scene... Generation complete."

Once again, the environment shifted. Natalie looked down at herself, her clothes had changed. She now wore a long, black, traditional robe with a yellow cloak draped over her shoulders. A Tang-style sword hung at her waist. Her hands looked rough, calloused, like a battle hardened warrior.

"Wow, what kind of style is this?" she exclaimed. "This outfit makes me look pretty badass! Am I some kind of wandering swordsman?"

But before she could finish admiring her new look, a thunderous roar echoed across the scene.

"I AM THE ADMIRAL OF GHOSTLY RETRIBUTION!!!"

The voice boomed like muffled thunder, shaking the whole area with its echo.

Natalie looked up sharply, and froze.

In the distance, a towering general clad in dark, heavy armor rode atop a massive warhorse. Waves surged beneath the horse's hooves as it galloped on the sea itself, thundering toward the island.

"...You said no monsters, Tony!!!"

2976 Words.