—Hey. You there. The person reading these thoughts. Can you give me your honest opinion?

Do monsters truly exist?

According to legend, sorcerers once created 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. That's an evil spirit, one whose curses could kill 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 curveball:

"Duel! Duel and the last one standing shall not be expelled!"

I'm sure you can figure things out from there. Only one student could pass. They'd eat a warm meal and sleep 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 would follow 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. These "monsters" can be found anywhere 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 a throne, humanity's growth has always been bound by our need to fight to survive.

Knowing this, I've got to ask: does embracing that fact make us monsters? 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.

"Flame Wingman, Direct Attack!"

His words swing out like a hammer, promising pain and God knows what else on me: his final opponent.

So, how did it come to this? And why am I dueling this person?

To answer that, we'll have to look back at the events that led to this day.

TAG FORCE ALTERNATIVE: LEARNING TO DUEL

LESSON ONE

"KODO"