Chapter 8: Remember This Yugi: Back When He Was Still Playing Fair
Having successfully arranged the Duel, Yugi and Hayato immediately found an empty table in the shop and sat down, placing their Decks in the pre-marked Deck Zones on the table. After all, Grandpa Sugoroku's toy store now primarily dealt in Duel Monsters, so it was only natural to provide a space for customers who pulled powerful Monsters to test out their Decks.
Téa and Tristan gathered around the table with great interest, watching the now-serious Yugi and Hayato. Seeing this, Joey couldn't help but feel a little jealous. "Jeez, I play Duel Monsters with Yugi all the time, but I've never seen you guys this interested."
"That's right, we see you two play together all the time," Téa added, also a bit puzzled. "Why is this time different?"
Tristan retorted, "Isn't it obvious? Joey's just too weak. He's played against Yugi so many times and hasn't won once. Plus, every match is completely one-sided. It's just a terrible viewing experience."
"You jerk, Tristan!"
The bickering duo didn't affect the two Duelists sitting opposite each other. After they each Shuffled their Decks and Drew five cards for their starting Hand, Yugi spoke up. "Hayato, you can have the First Turn."
"Alright, then I won't be shy, Yugi-boy." Hayato accepted the First Turn without hesitation.
According to the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the player who goes first cannot Attack but can Set Traps and Summon Monsters, while the player who goes second can Attack, but has to face the first player's Traps. On balance, the first player has the advantage. However, in the Real Card rules Hayato played in his previous life, the first player couldn't Draw during their Draw Phase, while the second player could Draw one Card as compensation.
But here in the Yu-Gi-Oh! World, while the other rules are the same, the one difference is that the first player *also* gets to Draw a Card. This clearly puts the first player in a more advantageous position. Considering he wasn't in a culinary world where "the one who serves first always loses," Hayato naturally wouldn't pass up this freely offered advantage.
And so, Hayato's first Duel after arriving in the Yu-Gi-Oh! World began.
"My Turn, Draw!"
[Yugi: 2000 LP, Hand: 5]
[Hayato: 2000 LP, Hand: 5 → 6]
He drew a card with great flair, then began to examine the six cards in his Hand.
Five Fodder Monsters with ATK and DEF of 1000 or less, plus one completely ☆baf☆fling☆ Spell Card he had just drawn. Yep, a perfect hand.jpg
Drawing a card from his Hand with great gusto, Hayato excitedly slammed it down in his Monster Zone. "The Monster I Summon is this! Here I go! My glory, my Soul!"
Yugi, sitting opposite Hayato, was startled by his opponent's sudden, excited shout, and his heart skipped a beat. *Don't tell me... Did Hayato draw a powerful Monster on his very First Turn? This is bad, I don't have any strong Monsters yet.*
But when he looked down at the card, he was stunned—
*(Death Stalker)*, a Level 3 DARK Warrior-Type. With 900 ATK, it was Summoned in Defense Position with 800 DEF.
"Then I'll Set one card in the Back Row and End my Turn." Hayato, belatedly realizing he had gotten a bit too excited, quickly Set the Spell Card he'd drawn and ended his move.
[Hayato: Hand: 6 → 4]
*Oops, I got a little too excited because I'm Dueling against my idol, Yugi. He's the first and strongest King of Games, after all. Anyone would be thrilled in this situation, right?*
However, the onlookers, Joey and the others, quickly helped Hayato out of his awkwardness.
"Huh? *(Death Stalker)*'s ATK is higher than its DEF. Why Summon it in Defense Position?" Joey asked, confused.
"Are you expecting me, someone who just got into Duel Monsters, to have the answer for you?" Tristan shoved Joey's arm off his shoulder. "Just watch. It's Yugi's Turn now."
"My Turn, Draw."
[Yugi: Hand: 5 → 6]
Compared to the high-spirited Hayato, Yugi's drawing motion was much calmer. He drew a card from the top of his Deck and added it to his Hand, his eyes lingering on Hayato's Set Card in the Backrow for a moment.
"Alright, the Monster I Summon is this one." Drawing a card from his Hand, Yugi placed the Monster on the Field. "*Dark King of the Abyss*."
As if in a daze, Hayato heard a Dragon Roar as he watched Yugi Summon *Dark King of the Abyss* with 1500 ATK and 800 DEF to the Field.
*'Of course it's that card. The very first DARK Dragon-Type Monster to appear in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!, though (Red-Eyes Black Dragon) definitely gets more screen time.'* Hayato wasn't surprised that Yugi's Monster had much better Stats than his Hand full of Fodder Monsters. After all, Grandpa Sugoroku owned a Card Shop, so it was only natural that Yugi would have first dibs on any powerful, rare Monsters.
*'Still, this is all within my calculations.'*
"Why is it that card again?!" Joey wailed from the sidelines. "How can Yugi always play such an awesome card so calmly? If it were me, I'd be just as excited as Hayato!"
"And that's why you always lose to Yugi," Tristan added, twisting the knife. In the many Duels Joey had lost to Yugi, at least half of them ended with him being defeated by this very *Dark King of the Abyss*.
"So, are you going to Attack, Yugi-boy? I've got a Set Card in my Backrow, you know?" Hayato goaded, though he gave off the impression of someone bluffing.
Yugi wasn't fazed by Hayato's words. He simply nodded. "Mmm, it's not my style to hesitate just because I'm afraid of a Trap."
"Then, I Attack *(Death Stalker)* with *Dark King of the Abyss*."
With 1500 ATK against 800 DEF, Hayato's Monster was obviously defeated. However, because *(Death Stalker)* was in Defense Position, Hayato's Life Points took no damage.
"I see, so that's why Hayato used the weaker Defense Position," Téa said thoughtfully as she watched the Field. "So you have to use a monster's different positions to handle different situations in a battle?"
After the Attack Declaration was complete, Yugi smiled and pointed at *(Death Stalker)* on the Field. "Hayato, *(Death Stalker)* has been Destroyed. It's going to the Graveyard."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"What?!"
Shamelessly plagiarizing Yugi's classic line right in front of him, Hayato flipped over his Set Card in the Backrow and explained, "The card I Set was this one..."
"*(Time Machine)*!"
"'The Spell that, when a Monster on either side of the Field is Destroyed, can revert that Monster to its state before the Battle?'" Yugi was familiar with most card Effects, so he understood Hayato's move even before he finished explaining.
The moment *(Death Stalker)* was Destroyed by *Dark King of the Abyss*, Hayato Activated *(Time Machine)*, sending his monster into the Time Seam to escape the fatal Attack.
A brilliant smile spread across Yugi's face. "You're amazing, Hayato. This is going to be a fun Duel. I End my Turn."
[Yugi: Hand: 6 → 5]
Hearing this, Hayato's expression suddenly turned a little sour. He stared intently at Yugi's Backrow until he heard the words "End Turn," terrified that he would Set five cards in the classic 'T' formation.
*I can handle the mind games,* Hayato thought, *but if you pull out a Magic Cylinder, I'm going to Summon my fist in Attack Position.*
---
After all, this is the early DM era, so it won't be that exciting. Please bear with me.
Or hey, how about we play a game of 'Summarize the Chapter in One Sentence'? Let's prove that the essence of web novels is just padding the word count.
(end of chapter)