—Hey. You there. The person reading these thoughts. Can you give me your honest opinion?
Do monsters truly exist?
According to legend, sorcerers were able to create monsters with magic. They'd seal insects into a jar and watch as they fought to the death. The strongest bug would devour the others and emerge as a Kodoku demon; an evil spirit whose curses could kill almost any creature it touched! Right now, a certain school is replicating this process. Yeah, yeah. I know how it sounds, but I've seen as much for myself!
The wind was chilling. Flakes of snow kept falling across the glacier, bathing us in their powdery warmth, or rather, the lack thereof. To put it simply, it was cold; so cold that we thought we might die! Even those who had come prepared didn't look like they'd last through the night. Only the glow of the distant campus pushed us to keep moving forward, but once we'd finally reached the gates, we'd all grown too weak to move. It was at that moment that our class's professor decided to throw us a curve ball:
"Duel! Duel and the last one standing shall not be expelled!"
I'm sure you can figure things out from there. Only one student had passed. They ate a warm meal and slept in a bed while the rest of us got sent back home. There was no mercy. No respite for the Duelists who drew a brick hand. Just the cold embrace of the snow that had followed us on our way back.
So, are you starting to get it now? The test back then was a Kodoku. It took a large group and forced us to fight until only one person remained. That's why, if somebody asked, I'd tell them that monsters existed; especially since those "monsters" are just normal people like you and me.
Think about it. Kodokus can be found everywhere in our society. Their very existence seems to be tied to the conflict we call "competition." From jobs where we conspire to get promoted, to sports teams that duel for the throne, humanity's growth has always been bound by our need to fight to survive.
Knowing this, can you say that embracing that fact really makes one a monster, and if it does, can modern society co-exist with such beings? I don't know. Even now, I still haven't found a good answer. But one thing's for sure.
They couldn't, and that's why things wound up like this.
"Cyber Blader, Direct Attack!"
Her words come down like a hammer, promising pain and God knows what else on me: her foolish opponent.
God, how had it come to this? Wasn't I supposed to be sleeping? Resting away in a room of my own while preparing for tomorrow's big day?
No. I knew from the very beginning that this duel we're having's my fault.
In order to explain this disaster, let's take a look at this evening's events.
TAG FORCE ALTERNATIVE: LEARNING TO DUEL
PART ONE
"Kami"