NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37: TST [37]
After Morgan finished her song, the other two finally came back to their senses. Applause filled the private room.
Jade and Isla clapped enthusiastically without rest. Though Morgan's singing was a bit unpolished, the song had definitely touched their hearts. After all, they both believed the lyrics were about them.
Just then, a scoring system appeared on the karaoke screen.
It seemed that reaching a certain score would earn a reward.
And the reward… well, the place was called Duel KTV. It had to be something related to Dueling.
Morgan's score bar appeared and climbed rapidly, soon surpassing all others. Like a rocket, it shot past the final benchmark and hit number one.
A low explosion sounded from the ceiling, and colorful confetti rained down, clearly celebrating Morgan's new high score.
Before anyone could react, the door to the room opened. The manager entered with a prize in hand, followed by two scantily dressed staff members.
"Congratulations, miss, on achieving the highest score in our venue. Here is your prize."
The three girls looked on in confusion. They hadn't expected to win anything just for singing.
Seeing their baffled expressions, the manager looked surprised.
"Wait… you weren't aiming for our prize?"
Jade and the others shook their heads. Though this karaoke bar was technically under her family's business empire, she genuinely had no idea.
Isla walked up, flipped off the red cloth covering the prize, and revealed the reward underneath.
"What is it, seriously? Why all the mystery?"
On a velvet cloth lay a well-preserved card.
Morgan picked it up curiously. It was a Monster Card featuring two ugly, shoulder-hugging zombies with wide open mouths, surrounded by floating music notes—as if they were singing.
Wasn't this the must-have Zombie card, [Uni-Zombie]?
Morgan's expression turned odd. It was a great card with excellent Graveyard-dumping potential. Normally, she wouldn't think much of it, but getting this after singing karaoke? It just felt off...
Isla's face darkened immediately. She scowled at the manager:
"What's the meaning of this? Are you mocking us for singing like zombies?"
Jade was equally annoyed. She made a mental note to discuss with her father the possibility of firing this insulting manager.
However, the manager looked awkward and hastily offered a sheepish smile.
"You've misunderstood. To be honest, most of our guests come here specifically for this card."
"By our rules, only those who pass the score threshold can receive it. Plenty of duelists even train their vocals just for this."
'Train their singing skills? Just for [Uni-Zombie]?'
Morgan was a bit surprised. While the card was strong, its use was limited to Zombie decks. It shouldn't be that popular.
Jade and Isla shared her confusion.
The manager continued, "Legend has it, this card was created by a legendary duelist who specialized in Zombies. It was one of the key cards in her deck."
"And apparently, that duelist wasn't even human—she was a Duel Spirit. A vampire named Myura."
"She was also a Shadow Duelist and turned countless duelists into her blood slaves."
"But after being defeated by the Duel King, she vanished."
The manager smiled. He used to be a teacher, and after being dismissed, became a manager here—so he knew this bit of history well.
'Duel Spirits?'
'This world has Duel Spirits, too?'
'And Shadow Duelists?'
Morgan was stunned. She had originally believed this was just a card game world without any mystical elements.
But the manager's words changed her understanding entirely—and a sense of danger began to stir within her.
Shadow Duels weren't a joke, especially not in the real world.
Losing meant being dragged into the darkness for real. And Duel Spirits weren't harmless either—stronger ones could threaten human lives.
If she wanted to stand against them, she needed to become an even stronger duelist!
"There are really Duel Spirits?"
Jade's eyes sparkled with curiosity. She was naturally inquisitive and found the idea fascinating.
"Of course there are," the manager nodded. "Some people are born with the ability to see them. You're in luck—there's actually a Spirit Duelist here at the Duel Amusement Park right now."
"Really?" Jade leapt to her feet excitedly.
"She should be dueling in the Duel Shop lobby at this very moment."
Hearing that, Jade immediately tugged Morgan's sleeve.
"Morgan, let's go see!"
Morgan didn't react—her mind, completely occupied with how to strengthen her deck.
Her Trickstar cards were too high-ranked for Virtual Duels, and the Melffys had lost their edge without ZEUS...
She stared blankly at the card in her hand. Maybe Zombies were an option… After all, this world had meta and off-meta decks, too.
Dragons and Machines were considered mainstream.
Zombies were off-meta.
Off-meta cards were generally cheaper.
Morgan thought for a moment and then spoke to the system in her heart:
'System, I don't have many Duel Points right now. Can I trade for a Zombie deck?'
[Searching based on Host's current Duel Points...]
[Search complete!]
[Found a deck suitable for Host. The entire deck contains only three monsters and is relatively low-cost.]
'...Three monsters?'
Morgan's expression turned weird. She already had a feeling what deck it was.
'Oh great.'
'System, are you trying to make me stop being human?'
…
TL: Bro… That song, celebration, and manager coming out of nowhere is so cartoonish… Anyways, I really enjoy this story, and am having fun! XD
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