A young man with auburn hair partially covering a severely disfigured face sat against a wall, breathing raggedly in broken intervals. What remained of his clothes were smoldering remains of tattered cloth, barely holding together by the seams. The body underneath was in a much worse condition.

A small boy sat opposite to the young man, looking over a card. The card illustrated a classic embodiment of the knight in shining armor with intricate artwork, detailed to the smallest noticeable feature visible to the human eye. As the boy changed the angle he was looking at the card, the knight seemed to move and shine in a different way.

Champion of Virtue - Hope

Monster | LIGHT | Rank 4 |ATK: 2500 | DEF: 2000

Warrior | Effect:

2 Level 4 LIGHT monsters

During the turn that this card is Xyz Summoned: This card cannot be destroyed or affected by card effects. You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; draw 1 card and gain 1000 Life Points.

"Where did you get this," asked the boy, "And why are you giving this to me?"

The young man placed his hand on the boy's forehead. "It's easier to explain through my eyes, my memories. It'll be like a story. It all started…"

- The Story -

"Somewhere in a decrepit suburb where an old, downtrodden orphanage lay. The orphanage was inhabited by many little boys and girls, abandoned by the rest of the world. Most of them had lost their parents to the misfortunes of life, but one little boy never knew his parents. You see, that boy was born with a rare condition that left him with many health problems. His parents couldn't afford treatment so they decided to give him up for adoption, hoping that his new caretakers could. To the little boy's misfortune, the agency that took him in was very poor and nobody wanted to adopt a boy with such a terrible condition.

"Eventually, the boy became so sick that the agency was forced to get him treatment. They took him to a hospital for an operation, but because the agency had little money, the boy received the cheapest operation available. The operation worked, but it left the boy with a horribly disfigured face. Nobody would want the boy so the agency was forced to take care of him with no hope of getting him adopted.

Many caretakers thought it was a waste to save the boy's life. Without any caretakers to truly nurture him with affection, the boy grew cold and distant. He hated the world for its cruelty and had given up hope on living a normal life. Then everything changed.

"One day, a girl arrived at the orphanage. Her parents were common workers and had passed away like many others from disease. The girl caught the disease too, but she was strong enough to resist. Although she survived, she was left weak with many physical limitations and a significantly shortened lifespan. The world seemed evil, but the girl never lost hope, the hope that it might someday change. Her strength gave others strength, her endurance gave others endurance, and her hope gave others hope. Soon, everyone came to love the girl for her inspiration, everyone except the cold and distant disfigured boy.

"Because the girl had earned everyone's affection, the boy became extremely jealous of the girl and came to resent everything she did. The girl was hurt by the boy's resentment, and confronted the boy about it. But through the confrontation, the girl saw through the boy's cold exterior to see a damaged and lonely heart, much like her own. The girl felt a connection to the boy and tried to earn the boy's love too by spending time with him. At first, the boy was hesitant to let someone into his life, but the girl's persistence eventually broke through his cold heart and sowed the seeds of a true friendship. To everyone's surprise, the two soon became the best of friends.

"Although the two were friends, the boy still felt lonely since nobody else would be friends with him. As a way to help the boy get along with the other kids, the girl introduced the boy to the game of Duel Monsters so that he could have something in common with the other kids. Slowly, but surely, the boy started making other friends. The boy dreamed of one day becoming a pro so that he could change the world and make sure that nobody would ever have to suffer through what he had.

"But, nothing lasts forever. Shortly after, the girl's condition worsened and she began to lose control over her body. She had to go stay in the hospital so the doctors could try to figure out how to help her get better. But since the cost of treatment was too expensive for the orphanage to cover, the doctors never helped her, and she got worse. Eventually, she fell into a deep sleep and never woke up.

"Later, the boy found out that the girl had left him with an envelope. In it, she wrote him a final letter to say goodbye and enough money to finish his deck on the condition that he pursues his dream of becoming a pro and makes the world a better place…