Let's play cards! In a fantasy world of swords and magic

"Little Ai, have you heard about the rumors of the Three Phantom Lords?"

It seemed like Ilin was staying over at Aisha's dorm more frequently, perhaps to keep an eye on You Ling.

After dinner, the two of them were quietly reading their respective novels in the dorm. After about fifteen minutes of silence, Ilin suddenly brought up the topic out of nowhere.

"The Three Phantom Lords? What's that?"

You Ling: "Aisha, you don't even know about the Three Phantom Lords?"

"I have no idea."

"Have you even played card games before?"

Even You Ling, who wasn't a hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh! player, had heard of the Three Phantom Lords. They were practically synonymous with the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, known worldwide.

To You Ling's surprise, in this Elven Continent where Duel Monsters were the primary power system, his host, Aisha Carlos, had no idea about the existence of the Three Phantom Lords.

You Ling even began to wonder what kind of strange books Aisha had been reading in the library all this time.

"It's normal that you don't know, Little Ai. After all, there's no official written record about the Three Phantom Lords. Only some rumors circulating on the continent."

Clearing her throat, Ilin was ready to boast about the topic to Aisha.

"The so-called Three Phantom Lords are the pinnacle of all monsters, divine cards possessing the strongest power. To this day, no one has truly seen their true forms, and very few know the specific names of the three Lords. But I do! They are..."

"Oh, you mean Osiris the Sky Dragon, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and Obelisk the Tormentor, right?"

Cutting off Ilin's buildup, Aisha answered the question before Ilin could finish.

Ilin was stunned, her cute little mouth slightly opening and then closing, at a loss for words.

"W-why? Little Ai, you didn't even know about the Three Phantom Lords, but you know the names of the three Lords?"

"Tehe." Aisha stuck out her tongue playfully. "Mr. You Ling just told me."

"Ugh, that guy again..."

Ilin, who harbored a mysterious jealousy toward You Ling, would always puff up her cheeks in dissatisfaction whenever Aisha mentioned him.

"Hmph, even if you know the names of the Three Phantom Lords, there's something that guy definitely doesn't know!"

For some reason, Ilin always wanted to show off her superiority over You Ling in front of Aisha.

"So, what is it that made you suddenly bring up the Three Phantom Lords?"

"Don't be shocked when you hear this. According to reliable sources, someone saw the Three Phantom Lords' cards in the academy's back mountain!"

"..."

Contrary to Ilin's expectations, Aisha wasn't particularly excited. She just blinked her emerald-green eyes a few times.

"Fake, right?"

"It's real! I have chat logs as proof!"

"Can those even count as evidence?"

You Ling: "Wait, the bigger question is, how does a world of swords and magic have chat logs?"

Actually, they did. While it wasn't something like LINE or QQ, the Elven Continent had a communication tool called 「Guiding Bugs」, which could record messages using fluorescent secretions for long-distance communication.

"I didn't believe it at first either. I thought it was just a rumor. The idea of the Three Phantom Lords' cards appearing in such an ordinary place like the academy's back mountain seemed too fantastical. But..."

Ilin, feigning mystery, leaned closer to Aisha like a crouching kitten, whispering into her ear.

"But... there's a reliable eyewitness. Ron from the first year."

"Ron? I think there's someone like that in our class."

The name sounded familiar, but Aisha couldn't recall his face. Such a 100% pure background character was hard to leave a lasting impression.

"So, Ron saw the Three Phantom Lords?"

"No, Ron was the first to go to the back mountain to investigate after hearing the rumor."

You Ling: "A background character like that actually had the guts to do it? I bet he ended up in a pretty bad state."

"Ron seems to have been sent home to recuperate due to mental instability."

"Told you so." The outcome was exactly as You Ling had predicted.

Aisha complained: "If he's been sent home due to mental instability, how can he even count as a reliable witness?"

"That's exactly the point! The mental instability!"

Ilin's red eyes suddenly turned serious.

"When Ron was found and carried out from the back mountain, he kept muttering, 'It's a god, a Phantom God, it's divine,' as if he'd been brainwashed."

"That's way too creepy."

Like hearing a terrifying urban legend, Aisha felt a chill run down her spine and tucked her head into her clothes.

"Anyway, let's go!"

"G-go? Go where? Don't scare me, Ilin-chan!"

"Where else? Of course, to the academy's back mountain."

"No, no, I'd rather die than go there. Besides, it's already so late."

You Ling: "Actually, I'm quite interested too."

"(」＞＜)」Then I'll go!"

Swallowing her tears of fear, Aisha decided to endure a little discomfort to satisfy You Ling's curiosity.

Fusion Academy Back Mountain

The sky had completely darkened, though it wasn't as late as Aisha had made it out to be.

It was only about an hour or two after dinner, and couples could still be seen strolling around the academy.

As for the back mountain, while it was referred to as the 'academy's back mountain,' it was actually just adjacent to Fusion Academy.

Separated by a wall, it was technically outside the academy's jurisdiction.

To reach the back mountain, one had to climb over the academy's wall, which was a clear violation of school rules and would definitely result in a deduction of credits if caught.

"We can still turn back now, Ilin-chan."

"We've already come this far. There's no turning back now. Besides, it seems someone has already beaten us to it."

Noticing footprints left outside the wall, Ilin deduced that someone else, like them, had heard the rumors about the Three Phantom Lords and couldn't resist investigating.

"Hurry up, Aisha. In situations like this, it's always first come, first served."

With her decent athletic ability, Ilin climbed the wall in two steps, then reached down to pull the lighter Aisha up before tossing her over to the other side.

"Ahhh! My first time... my first time breaking school rules, wuu!"

Stepping outside the academy, a strong sense of guilt weighed on Aisha's heart.

You Ling: "Well... this back mountain does seem a bit off."

However, the moment Aisha set foot on the back mountain, You Ling immediately sensed something unusual.

Initially, he had thought the rumor about the Three Phantom Lords' cards had a credibility of at most 20%, likely just a prank by some bored individuals.

But now, the Millennium Puzzle was more restless than ever.

Even You Ling, in his soul state, felt an overwhelming, indescribable pressure.

"Could this really be... the pressure of a god?"