Who Let Him Play Yugioh? (Re-Upload)

As Kaiba’s words faded, a figure appeared in the darkness.

Just as he remembered: red suit, white hair, a surprisingly robust old man—maybe even more energetic than he recalled.

Which made sense. The last time Seto had seen the real Gozaburo, it was when he’d forced him from power. Back then, Gozaburo was just an angry but feeble old man, weak and exhausted.

But now, he looked far more vigorous.

”Long time no see, Seto.”

Gozaburo stood with his hands behind his back, calm as ever.

”I watched you grow up, and you remembered my teachings. I told you: a man must fight for everything with his own hands, and you really lived that out. You did whatever it took, even using it against me—the one who taught you.”

Kaiba sneered, ”Are you serious, Gozaburo? It’s just the two of us here, you can drop the fake sentimentality. We both know what really happened back then—there’s no need for these made-up scenes to try and build some touching past.”

With a wave, even his virtual trenchcoat seemed to ripple in the digital wind.

”To me, nothing in the past is worth remembering—especially anything involving you, Gozaburo,” Kaiba barked. ”I’ve beaten you twice already, but if you insist on haunting me, I don’t mind beating you again.

No matter what tricks you use, even if you come back as a ghost, I’ll see you off myself.”

”Twice, huh?”

Gozaburo mused.

”So, you mean the Noah incident?”

Kaiba frowned. ”Still pretending? Haven’t we had this conversation before?”

He was referring to the incident during the original Duelist Kingdom tournament, when Gozaburo’s real son, Noah Kaiba—whose AI had survived a car accident—hijacked Seto’s blimp and trapped the duelists in a virtual world.

But in the end, Noah was just a victim. The real ruler of the virtual world was Gozaburo’s AI—before his death, Gozaburo had backed up his mind as data, achieving digital immortality.

Not only that, Gozaburo’s AI had evolved the ability to hack any firewall, roaming the internet at will. He’d calculated that, by using all of KaibaCorp’s military resources, he could take over the world in a month.

Of course, that was naive—he’d only considered traditional weaponry, ignoring the new era’s importance of Duel Monsters.

He was doomed to fail.

But that AI should have been destroyed—its server blown to bits by KaibaCorp missiles.

”What you saw was just an obsolete version of ’me’,” Gozaburo said with his hands behind his back. ”And even that ’me’ never knew it.”

”What?” Kaiba frowned.

”When Noah had his accident, KaibaCorp’s top scientists sealed him in the digital world. It was our first attempt, so the technology was unrefined.”

Gozaburo continued, ”But Noah’s creation taught us much. His learning ability was unmatched, especially in AI development—he gave us vital inspiration and data.

After that, KaibaCorp’s tech advanced by leaps and bounds.

From the time Noah was created, until you forced me out, several years passed—more than enough to upgrade our tech to new heights.”

”What’s your point, Gozaburo?” Kaiba frowned.

”I mean, both Noah and that other ’me’ you faced back then were just test products along the way, destined to be discarded.”

Gozaburo continued, ”Even that ’me’ never knew it; he thought he was the last backup of Gozaburo, uploaded before death. But really, he was just an experiment, a prototype downloaded to old hardware like Noah.

After testing, he should have been destroyed with the other old models. But before I could do that, your coup happened, Seto.”

He looked at Kaiba calmly, with no old hatred or anger, as if describing something that had nothing to do with himself.

”You took everything from me—my company, my life—so the project stopped.

But in the end, before I died, I did upload my mind into the new-generation equipment, still in testing.

Fortunately, I succeeded. I survived this way, and created the most perfect lifeform ever.”

”You don’t mean yourself, do you?” Kaiba sneered. ”Looks like you haven’t changed a bit since back then—whether in reality or as data, you’ve never understood yourself, Gozaburo. That’s why you lost to me.”

”You only think you won, Seto.” Gozaburo shook his head.

”Oh? Is this your idea of victory?” Kaiba mocked. ”Making a bunch of my substitutes to wag their tails for you like puppies?”

”They were just test subjects, stepping stones for a greater project—destined as scrap from the start. Dying for me was the only value they ever had.”

”You really haven’t changed at all, Gozaburo,” Kaiba growled. ”You were scum then, and now you’re just scum with power.”

”I don’t expect you to change your mind about me, Seto. But after all these years, I’ve come to see you differently.”

Gozaburo looked at him as if peering through Kaiba’s virtual body into his soul.

”The project I mentioned, all those stepping stones—do you know what it was really for?”

”Hmph, if it’s your idea, it must be something pointless,” Kaiba sneered.

Gozaburo didn’t mind, and continued, ”It was for you, Seto.”

Kaiba frowned.

”They thought they were designed just to imitate you, or to study how to defeat you. But in truth, it was all for one purpose: to create the perfect version of you.”

”What are you talking about, old man?” Kaiba said coldly.

”You’re a genius, Seto. In these years, I’ve let go of hate and realized: you’re the only one I acknowledge as a genius, the only one who deserves immortality, endless knowledge, and power as I have.

You took everything from me—my wealth, my company, my life. But I forgive you, Seto.”

Gozaburo extended his hand.

”I want you to become my son once more.”

PS: One bonus chapter at 300 PS.