[Bonus]
Passing through the portal opened by BLS, Kira felt the world spinning as if flying through clouds. When his senses returned, his surroundings were completely different.
It was night. A blood-red moon hung in a dark sky, and moonlight shone on ruined rooftops, and old stone roads reflecting a reddish glow.
Medieval-style buildings lined the street, their doors and windows shut tight, with no sign of life. Occasionally, the breeze rustled curtains, making a whispering sound.
"We're in the spirit world now?" Kira frowned, looking down at himself.
Something felt off.
"Isn't this spirit world a little different from before?" he asked BLS.
BLS appeared beside him, looking at him strangely before replying, "No, it's not the spirit world that's different. It's…"
He paused.
"It's you."
"Me?"
Kira clenched his fist. Everything felt real—the sights, the touch, the smells—but he couldn't shake a lingering sense of dissonance.
"Yes. To put it simply, you're not here—just a projection. It's similar to how we spirits appear in your world."
He paused, his expression growing stranger.
"That consciousness-projection device… Incredible. Even I've never seen anything like this."
Kira guessed the truth.
It was KaibaCorp's Link System.
The system was built on the dimensional shadow technology from the movie, projecting the user's mind onto a shared virtual platform.
Combined with BLS's rare space powers, Kira had managed to glitch his way into the spirit world while logged in.
He was still using his virtual form from Link System; his body here was a fake, created from his consciousness.
He didn't know if KaibaCorp realized their tech could do this, but it worked even in another world. He could always log out and return to his real body in Yellow Dorm.
Just like BLS said, it was similar to how spirits appear in the human world—except spirits needed their cards as a medium.
This made exploring the spirit world much easier—lower risk, and he could log out anytime, attend class by day, and resume his adventure at night.
The town he was in seemed deserted. He walked down the street—no one in sight.
After about ten minutes, he finally saw movement at the end of a street: a group of armored figures—clearly fiends by their style.
The fiends spotted him and started yelling:
"Over here! There's a live one!"
"Stop!"
"Don't run!"
They charged, weapons raised—but slowed, exchanging confused glances.
Because Kira just stood there calmly, not running at all.
Surrounding him, the fiends looked at each other.
This guy's not running… What are we supposed to do?
"Uh, should I have run?" Kira muttered.
It was a bit awkward for everyone.
One fiend menaced him with a shiny knife. "Move."
Kira shrugged.
Move? Fine.
His state was like a spirit in the real world—unless it was a shadow game that could directly harm consciousness, he wasn't worried. Even with a knife at his face, he felt no pressure.
As he followed the fiends, he took the chance to ask about the local geography: "Can I ask where we're headed?"
The fiends were baffled by his calmness, but one kindly answered: "We're taking you to the bunker, of course."
"The bunker, right." Kira nodded. "Could you remind me what the bunker is?"
A fiend gave him a weird look as if the question was ridiculous.
"I'm an outsider, just passing through," Kira explained.
The fiend sized him up, then laughed.
"An outsider, huh? Well, don't expect to leave."
"The bunker is the stronghold of the True God, a prison for rebels—a hell for all who dare defy the will of God," another fiend declared.
True God…
Kira thought, Lemme guess—is your "God" a certain cheating snake?
Looks like Orichalcos's snake has its claws everywhere—even in the spirit worlds.
So these fiends were probably spirits recruited by Orichalcos. Maybe this town was once a spirit settlement, emptied during a dark invasion.
The bunker was one of Orichalcos's bases and also functioned as a prison.
The town's original spirits were probably interned there.
Kira had visited Orichalcos strongholds in the spirit world before and had fond memories.
The enthusiastic Bone King once hosted him with his whole family, entrusting Kira with their care after a fun duel.
Another base's boss, Insect Knight, went out of his way to welcome Kira, even though he'd never visited.
Both times, the duels were great and the rewards generous.
So Kira had a good impression of these generous Orichalcos bases. When he heard about the bunker, he looked forward to it.
After all, the spirit world was the place to find card archetypes unknown to the outside world.
"How much farther?"
"How long will it take?"
"Are we there yet?"
"…"
After a few steps, Kira asked another question, leaving the fiends utterly confused.
Why is today's prisoner more eager than we are?