4 – The Transmigrator Shop – Part 2

As tough of a choice as it is, I ultimately make my decision. 

Selecting Shadow Games For Newbs, the book pops into existence in front of me and falls onto the bed. 

I really wanted to pick up another starter deck, but it is better to play it safe. As long as I live, I can always collect more Duel Points. One misstep in a Shadow Duel and it is all over.

I look at the faded, green, leather-bound book in front of me. It appears ancient and the leather is cracked and peeling on the edges. An Egyptian eye hieroglyph is the only outward decoration on the cover. 

Picking up the book, I set it in front of me and stare down at it.

'Okay...Now what? Do I just have to read i-' I think to myself as I flip over the cover.

The second I do, I am bathed in golden light. I feel a torrent of wind that blows my hair straight up and my eyes feel like they are on fire. Soon, my brain joins in the pain train and I feel warm liquid drip from my eyes, ears, and nose. 

As this is going on, my hand continues to flip the pages rapidly, unbidden by me, as my eyes are forced to look and comprehend the words on the pages. This continues for a good 15 minutes before, just as suddenly, it ends. 

I pass the fuck out, but, really, can you blame me? 

* | * | *

Waking from a dreamless sleep, I slowly open my eyes. I had fallen over after the spellbook finished, but when I look around, I am faced with extreme disorientation. I should be laying on the bed, but instead, I am sitting the same way I was before the book exploded into golden light. 

I reach up and feel for the blood on my face and find none. I am perfectly fine, if not a little shakey.

"What in all the fucks was that?" I ask the air as I do some mental checks on my body's wellbeing.

In short, I find no issues. Like nothing at all happened. 

'Did it...fail?' I think as I rub my chin whilst thinking.

As soon as the thought leaves my mind, the information is there. Just like with the first time I experienced this effect, having information appear to be native to your mind when you know it is not is extremely confusing and disorienting. 

It worked, though, so I guess I can't complain. I suddenly know about Shadow Games, how to enter and leave them, how to protect myself from them and the Shadow Realm influence, and how to inflict penalties for winning. 

I also know some hints at other magics and possibilities. Teleportation, mind control, time travel, mind break, enchanting, shadow magical attacks, and many more magics were hinted about in my mind, but none were fully explained or understood. 

'This is probably a teaser so that I buy more spellbooks, isn't it?...' I sigh at the realization. Even in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, capitalism is king. 

I decide to worry about that all later as another black translucent screen with golden edges pops up in front of me.

Smiling at the shopping interface, the first thing I look at was the individual cards. If I can just buy the perfect cards to build my deck, then there is no issue. Let me tell you, what I found was not encouraging. 

I blink.

I rub my eyes.

I look again.

"Fucking. Shit." I say, cursing my rotten luck. 

Wait...seven? Wasn't there only supposed to be four? Kaiba has three and Solomon Muto should have one.

Then I felt as if the floor had fallen out from below me.

'I am not the only transmigrator...am I?'

Yuuuuuuuuuup. Power in the shadows it is. Fuck! This is bad. If there is someone else messing with the story, then I have no idea where things are at now or how they might change in the future. 

Other transmigrators will absolutely know that my character isn't canon and will know that I am one of them. Hell, there might even be a ton of them out there right now! What this means to me is that I need a good disguise and I need it NOW.

With that in mind, I spend the next 3 hours perusing the store.

Some things of note:

• The only decks available were Yugi & Kaiba. It looks like the pre-order only worked during the one-time rewards. Additionally, they were limited to 1 each with no date on when they restock. Each is 6000 Duel Points.
• Only the 3 booster packs, Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Metal Raiders, and Spell Ruler, were available. These were limited to 10 each and say they restock monthly. Each is 1000 Duel Points.
• Individual card prices were exorbitantly more expensive than buying packs or decks. 

After checking the cards and making sure I wasn't missing anything important, I moved onto the One Time Unlocks section. Here I found some very interesting options:

The list went on and on, but these were the ones that stood out to me. I will not be buying any of them at this moment, but it is good to know I have the option. 

The spellbooks were not of particular interest to me at the moment, but I did peruse them nonetheless. Seeing as the cheapest one was around 100,000 Duel Points, I had no chance of buying any of them for a while. 

The item shop was absolutely massive. It contained things from magical items, useful mundane items, clothes, accessories, household appliances, furniture, etc. 

There was a section with a bunch of questionable objects called "Mysterious Items." Thinking this was a great way to get cursed, I quickly leave the page...or at least try to. 

When I try to leave the page, the screen shakes, and one item is highlighted by a golden outline. Any attempt to exit is met with the same screen shake. Sighing to myself at the plot railroading going on, I look at the item.

Well. Looks like I have an Exodia necklace now. "Necklace of the Forbidden One?" Who the hell else could it be in relation to? I confirm the purchase and expect to see my Duel Points reduce to zero. It has been a good run, I guess. To the Shadow Realm for me! Sorry, Dad. 

Another flash of golden light envelops me and, suddenly, I have the necklace on. 

I close my eyes and wait to feel the pain...

...

...

... 

I crack one eye open when none comes and see the golden light has faded. I am completely fine.

I look to the store and the item is no longer listed. Furthermore, I am able to exit the page now. 

'Huh...Weird. I expected more to happen.' I think with a shrug as I try to take the necklace off to inspect it. Try is the opportune word there. 

When I move my hand to interact with the necklace, it passes right through it as if it is not there. A piercing cold sensation assaults my fingers where they pass through the necklace and I feel as if I am being stared down on by a monster. The pressure in the gaze that I cannot see makes me sweat buckets.

"Yup. Looks like I am wearing this perfectly normal necklace from now on. No reason to ever take it off. It is such a nice buy! I can't believe how lucky I am!" I say to the air and move my hand away quickly. 

The pressure I felt before leaves and I breathe out a sigh of relief. 

'Well, that was terrifying.' 

I choose to ignore the necklace and what just happened and move on to my purchases. Not like dwelling on it will change anything. I am sure I will learn more about it eventually. 

Moving back to the item shop, I see that I was subtracted 1 Duel Point for the purchase. This leaves me with 2030 Duel Points - Hopefully enough to get what I need.

I go to the magic item section and browse through until I find some items that have me wearing a shit-eating grin. I buy them immediately, without even second-guessing it. 

I wasted no time when the items appeared and put them on. The mask felt cool to the touch, but not uncomfortable at all. In fact, as soon as I put it on, it felt like nothing was there at all! The cloak was much the same, though I did feel a slight tug from the front clasp.

I thought of a look - A solid black Anubis style mask and a black trench coat - and went to the mirror in my master bathroom excitedly. 

When I looked in the mirror, I saw something even better than what I could have ever imagined. The Anubis mask was black with gold edgings, and some sort of Egyptian symbol adorned the top in inlaid turquoise and rubies, moving from the forehead to the very top of my head in a circular pattern.

It looked like a winged scarab, the turquoise beetle larger than the rest of the symbol and sticking out over my forehead while the turquoise wings outlined the circular pattern. Where the wings met at the top of my head and halfway through the circle, a red sun was placed made out of rubies. 

Footlong, black ears shot from the top of the mask with the inner ear being made or plated with gold. Line patterns were engraved horizontally in the ears and gave them a segmented look. 

The last part was a black scarf-like piece that fell from the bottom of the sides and back of the mask. It covered the skin on my neck completely and it seemed to be made of silk and had flecks of gold and silver weaved in, somehow. When one looked at it, it was as if they were staring into the cosmos. 

The cloak did make the kind of black leather trench coat I wanted, but instead of being pure black, it had sold gold buttons, linings, corners, and accent pieces. Additionally, several golden Egyptian hieroglyphics were sewn into the sides and lined the back edges like a flowing script. The back had the same symbol as the top of the mask emblazoned on it in blue and red. None of my skin showed as I now was wearing gloves and calf-high combat boots - both with golden accents.

Not only was it amazing to look at, but it was also comfortable as hell! It was like I was in gym shorts and a t-shirt on a cool day! The temperature and comfort levels were perfect.

All in all - "This is fucking badass!" I yell and notice that my voice is much deeper than before. It doesn't sound robotic, like voice modulators would back home, but instead, sounded like a completely different person's voice.

1750 Duel Points well spent. This is exactly what I needed and now I was ready to take the world by storm.

'Alright, Josh...No...My name is Arakaki Toshiaki now. Gotta get used to that. Okay, Toshiaki, let's plan out what to do next.' I think and correct my thinking while nodding. 

I make my new mask and cloak return my look to how I was originally - with said gym shorts and t-shirt. This way I can wear them at all times without worrying about having to go home to get them. This will help me blend in more. Hell, I may make 3 or 4 different personalities to help me blend in and get to where I am going unnoticed before I transform into Anubis. I sit back on the bed and open a text editor on the laptop to jot down my thoughts.

First things first, I need to decide what to do with this house and the car.

Having a car is undoubtedly useful. I own it completely and have a driver's license to use it, but with public transportation being such a big thing in Japan, it will probably sit there unused until I have a need for it. It might be worth selling the car and then just buying rides and taxis to wherever I need to go outside of Domino City. Then again, that leaves a money trail that owning my own car does not. Maybe I can buy an illusion item for the car as well? 

I check the Blue Book on the car and see it is worth roughly 3000 Duel Points. I will have to think on it. 

The house was another issue. I had 2 rooms I wasn't using right now - three if we convert the office into another room. I could absolutely rent this place out to people...but that risks me getting caught. Then again, it gives me a pretty solid alibi if people think I am in my room when I am not. I could make a point to be seen by my roommates on the same nights I go out as Anubis...

Another option was to sell it. I could get a HUGE sum of Duel Points for that. Checking other ones like this, I can reasonably expect to earn 40,000 - 60,000 Duel Points for this place if I sold it, but it isn't like I would be able to use them all immediately. I might run into issues with my Uncle too if I try to sell the house. I am not sure if it is worth provoking him.

That being said, the nest egg would set me up well for the future...

I Sigh. I wonder if choices will ever get easier?