As Mokuba finished asking his questions and stepped aside, a large group of experts from the ruins immediately swarmed forward impatiently. Their eagerness startled Yugen, and their momentum was such that he momentarily felt they were about to corner him and grind him down. He almost thought about calling Silent to protect him.
Thankfully, despite looking ravenous, they didn't actually lay hands on him, but rather bombarded him with questions about what had happened.
So Yugen simply recounted how he merely touched a stone tablet and was sucked into the Spirit World, what he witnessed and heard there about the Evil God wanting to devour the Spirit World, and then his duel with Bandit Keith.
He now recalled similar events that occurred during the Orichalcos arc back then. That was when Yugi and Atem went to the Spirit World together, and Dark Magician Girl pleaded with them to defeat the Orichalcos Evil God and save the Spirit World.
The experts weren't particularly interested in his duel with Keith, but they meticulously questioned him about the circumstances of Black Luster Soldier's appearance.
"Besides that, there's one very important thing."
The team leader, whose hairline was a bit high, bore dark circles under his eyes, likely from countless sleepless nights, and continued to ask.
"Did you experience 'Spirit Vision'?"
Yugen was stunned for a moment: "What's that?"
The research team members exchanged curious glances. Then the team leader seemed to realize something, and said with a sudden understanding: "Oh, right, you're a student slated to enroll this year. Yes, you'll learn about it in detail when you attend classes at the academy later.
Simply put, it's a phenomenon that a small number of duelists occasionally experience when they achieve a very high degree of resonance with spirits. Under normal circumstances, we believe that people with the 'Spirit Affinity' talent have a greater chance of experiencing Spirit Vision, but it's also true that duelists without this talent can experience it."
"So what exactly is it?"
"Spiritual possibilities." The team leader explained, gesturing with both hands, "It's indefinable. Some people see forms and images of Duel Monsters seemingly from ancient times, while others have specific scenes or objects appear in their minds.
The meaning of many 'Spirit Visions' remains unsolved to this day. But there are also many examples where research teams have utilized images seen by duelists in 'Spirit Visions' to conduct research, resulting in the creation of new forms of Duel Monsters that appeared in the vision, or the creation of related Spell/Trap Cards based on the scenes and objects seen."
Yugen seemed to understand.
In other words, it's card design inspiration, right?
How to design many cards, what kind of new forms a monster's evolution will take, what type of supporting cards or objects there will be.
Perhaps if there was a reference to guide the specific research direction, it could greatly accelerate the research progress.
At this crucial juncture, Yugen instantly had a bold idea.
He clearly hadn't seen any "Spirit Vision" just now. But if what the research team wanted was just guidance on card design direction...
"Ah, yes, I think I did see something." Yugen frowned, putting on an effortful recalling expression.
The entire research team immediately rejoiced. This was the first time someone had shown resonance with the Black Luster Soldier-related ruins. If they could gain clues from Spirit Vision, they might be able to break through the years-long research bottleneck for this card!
The team leader quickly raised a hand to stop the excited members behind him, signaling them to calm down, then held his breath and carefully asked: "Then what did you see?
It's okay if it's vague; Spirit Visions are usually scattered fragments. Even a tiny detail can help."
"Ah, I remember. I saw two warriors, somewhat similar to Black Luster Soldier, but in a younger form, looking very youthful. Judging by the sword energy emanating from their swings, one should be LIGHT Attribute and the other DARK Attribute."
The experts: "!"
There really are clues!
The group was excited, quickly controlling their trembling hands and starting to frantically take notes.
"Two young warriors stepped onto an altar, with braziers burning flames on either side, and crossed swords behind them. They disappeared on the altar, one transforming into light and the other into darkness, converging to transform into the form of Black Luster Soldier."
The experts whispered among themselves while taking notes.
"What does that mean? This description sounds like 'Black Luster Ritual'."
"Is it the meaning of ritual tribute?"
The team leader, hearing this, was struck as if by lightning. An idea instantly flashed through his mind.
They had always been researching the possibility of a stronger form than "Envoy of the Beginning," but based on this Spirit Vision clue, could their direction have been wrong all along?
Perhaps the key to evolution was hidden in the choice of ritual tributes?
"Oh, I also saw another scene."
The experts: "!?"
Nani?
Even a single instance of Spirit Vision was an extremely rare opportunity. How could this person have two in one go?
"The background was like light appearing in endless chaos, and the young warrior gradually matured into an envoy of chaos within the light. No, wait, I'll have your professional artists come and do a verbal portrait later; I can directly draw the scene for you."
Yugen continued.
"Oh, right, I also saw an image..."
The experts: "? ? ?"
There's more?
However, they soon realized they were still too naive.
Not just three. Yugen then went on a fluent description of several other different scenes: ancient ritual grounds, Gaia the Fierce Knight charging on horseback transforming into Black Luster Soldier, and so on.
In an instant, the expert team looked as if they had seen a miracle.
Not only did so many Spirit Visions appear in one go, but the ability to describe each Spirit Vision scene in such detail was simply unheard of!
The team leader even for a moment suspected that the other party might be playing a prank on them, but the fact that he resonated with the ruins and gained the acknowledgment of the Black Luster Soldier spirit was a clear and undeniable truth.
So, just how terrifying was this person's "Spirit Affinity"?
Of course, they didn't realize that Yugen hadn't experienced any "Spirit Vision" and hadn't seen anything. He was simply a person from the future of the physical card game, and he naturally knew what the future 강화 (enhancement) direction of the entire deck would be.
So while the research team felt it was incredibly accurate, Yugen even regretted not being able to describe it in even more detail.
He could even directly list the approximate ATK/DEF ranges and effect texts for each card and monster.
However, Yugen had previously taught himself some basic card design, so he understood that in this world, designing cards, monster ATK/DEF, and card effects weren't just arbitrarily written down. Instead, they were based on the type and level of ability the card possessed, which was then concretized into duel rule text.
A card designer writing text on a card isn't manually imbuing the card with the effect they've written; rather, it's describing the card's inherent power in a format that all duelists can understand.
So, even if Yugen truly recited a card's ATK/DEF data and effect text, it wouldn't be much help for card design. Because a card's inherent ability determines what kind of effect can be written on it, not just haphazardly filling in effects to make it invincible.
So, what Yugen first described were, in order, the future [Beginning Knight] and [Evening Twilight Knight] within the Black Luster Soldier deck, as well as the ritual spell [Super Soldier Synthesis].
[Beginning Knight] and [Evening Twilight Knight] are both Level 4 Warrior-Type monsters, specifically used as ritual materials. Black Luster Soldier summoned using them as ritual materials can gain powerful effects, such as banishing an opponent's monster on the field, banishing a card from the opponent's hand for one turn, and making multiple attacks in one turn.
[Super Soldier Synthesis], on the other hand, is the most powerful ritual spell card in the Black Luster Soldier archetype, capable of performing Black Luster Soldier ritual summons using monsters from both the hand and deck as materials.
Besides those, there were other auxiliary cards he simply described based on his impressions.
These were all new cards that only came out years later. However, by the time they received their boosts, it was already too late; the meta at the time was too brutal, and Black Luster Soldier had long since fallen behind. But if they could be empowered in the current meta with the help of Kaiba Corporation's research team, they might still be very strong.
Of course, Yugen was just trying it out. Currently, he had no direct evidence that future cards from the real world could be printed in this world, so this was also an opportunity for him to test this theory using Kaiba's top research team.
The team leader specifically exchanged contact information with him and repeatedly emphasized that he must contact him if he remembered anything else. And if the research team made any progress, they would immediately inform him.
If this experiment succeeded, it would be of extraordinary significance to Yugen.
It wouldn't just mean he could gain enhancements for his Chaos deck; it would also prove that his impressions of many future cards in his mind, his past life as a card player, might have the chance to transform into an inexhaustible goldmine!
"Overtime! Everyone, work overtime!"
The team leader, with his dark circles, excitedly shouted, as if he saw the dawn of a breakthrough.
The Black Luster Soldier spirit quietly hovered behind Yugen, listening to his lengthy and detailed descriptions, and couldn't help but have a question mark appear on its forehead.
Did master really see so many Spirit Visions?
Why don't I know any of them?
Am I a fake spirit?