Chapter 12: The Card That Can Represent Yu-Gi-Oh!
"Eh, Hayato, are you buying cards?" Yugi noticed that Hayato was buying individual cards instead of "Card Packs". "Buying Card Packs is more cost-effective than buying single cards, right? Besides, the strength of the cards Grandpa has here is..."
"What kind of grandson undermines his grandpa's business all day, honestly." Although Grandpa Sugoroku was old, he was in great shape. Yugi hadn't lowered his voice, so he naturally heard everything clearly.
However, he couldn't refute Yugi's words. Most of the cards he had on display were bought from other people's cast-offs. While they weren't all things like '(*Petit Moth*)' or '(Frog the Jam)' that would completely pollute a card pool if added to a Deck, they were mostly just Fodder Cards with 1000+ Attack, with few worth buying.
Unless some duelist was a huge fan of the 'Only Designated God'—'*(Leo Wizard the Dark Fiend)*'. At least, there were several copies of '*(Leo Wizard the Dark Fiend)*' displayed on the counter.
"No, that's not it. I'm not buying Monster Cards," Hayato said, waving his hand and pointing to a few cards in the corner of the counter. "Grandpa Sugoroku, I'll take all of these. Oh, and these too."
"Hayato, what cards did you pick? Uh... why did you choose these? Can cards like this really be useful?" Joey, holding a few packs of cards, didn't open them right away. Instead, he leaned in closer to Hayato, wanting to see what kind of cards he had chosen.
He had thought that a 'powerful duelist' like Hayato would only have eyes for strong Monsters, but to his surprise, the cards Hayato got from Grandpa Sugoroku were just a few weak Monster Cards and some Spell Cards that looked useless at a glance.
"Don't underestimate these cards, Joey. Every card has its own unique purpose." Hayato held three Monster Cards in one hand and waved them at Joey. "They may look weak now, but their power is immense when they unite."
"I really can't imagine how a Monster with 0 Attack could be any good." Joey squinted at the three cards in Hayato's hand. "And besides, they're so ugly."
Hayato just smiled and didn't explain the use of the three cards in his hand to Joey. After all, as individual cards, they could indeed be called 'junk'.
These three cards were—
'(Ojama Yellow)', '(Ojama Green)', and '(Ojama Black)'!
All three Monsters, without exception, were Level 2 LIGHT Attribute Beast-Type Normal Monsters, and they all had the exact same Stats: 0/1000.
With an Attack of 0, it meant that even if the Opponent did nothing and let the three Monsters Attack freely for three days and three nights, they wouldn't be able to decrease the Opponent's Life Points by even a single point.
However, the three cards shared the well-known '(Ojama)' Archetype. Having an Archetype basically meant the existence of Support Cards, and their strength was worlds apart from other Generic Cards that lacked an Archetype. But without any Support Cards...
Alright, they were junk. The only reason he bought them was because, in his previous life, Hayato had been quite fond of the character who used the '(Ojama)' Deck in the anime. However, that character probably wouldn't make an appearance for several more years.
After putting away the three '(Ojama)' Monsters, Hayato looked at the other cards he had bought. A hint of regret on his face, he couldn't help but ask Grandpa Sugoroku, "Grandpa Sugoroku, do you really only have one copy of '*(Pot of Greed)*' here?"
What Hayato had purchased was none other than '*(Pot of Greed)*'—a card that nearly everyone in the anime had, but was banned early on in the actual card game environment because of its powerful effect that allowed for an effortless one-for-two trade. He had also bought other Forbidden/Limited List Regulars: the 'Draw 3, Discard 2' '(Graceful Charity)' and the anime-version of '(Card of Sanctity)'.
Among them, he had three copies each of '(Card of Sanctity)' and '(Graceful Charity)', but only a single copy of '*(Pot of Greed)*', much to Hayato's disappointment. Furthermore, cards like '(Monster Reborn)' and '(Painful Choice)' weren't sold at the Kame Game Shop at all.
"That's because normally, nobody wants to buy a card like '*(Pot of Greed)*'. The one you bought, Hayato, was only there because Grandpa kept it as a collector's item," Yugi explained. "Besides, '*(Pot of Greed)*' isn't some powerful Rare Card, it's actually pretty common. If you need more, Hayato, I'll give you any I pull in the future."
"Really? You're the best, Yugi." Hayato felt like doing a tactical lean back. Now *that* was what you call a top-tier best friend—Yugi.
Of course, that was assuming Yugi didn't start down the path of a Trap-heavy Strategy.
Joey and Tristan each opened their Card Packs, sharing what they got with each other. Seeing them having so much fun opening packs, Hayato couldn't resist and bought a few packs himself. Unsurprisingly, he didn't pull any incredibly powerful cards, but a few of them were decent enough. They were at least stronger than what was in Hayato's original 'card pile' and were worth adding to his Deck.
Joey and Hayato adjusted the strength of their respective Decks together. Because of the 40-card limit, they both had quite a few extra cards. These cards didn't go to waste; Tristan took all of them and actually managed to scrape together a Deck of his own.
Of course, it was just a Deck and nothing more. It had virtually no strength to speak of. Forget comparing it to Yugi's or Hayato's; even Joey's Deck was stronger than his.
Just as the group was immersed in the fun of 'Card Trading' with their Duel Monster cards, the door to the game shop opened again. Grandpa Sugoroku subconsciously called out a greeting, "Welcome to the Kame Game Shop, we sell Duel Monster cards... huh? Isn't that a uniform from Yugi's school?"
Hearing Grandpa Sugoroku's words, everyone turned to look at the entrance. The person who had opened the door was, just as Grandpa Sugoroku had seen, wearing a Domino High School uniform. What's more, he was someone Hayato and the others all recognized.
"Kaiba?"
"So this is Yugi's family's game shop?" Kenjiro Tsuda's magnetic voice rang out, making one want to instinctively say, '(Blue-Eyes White Dragon), attack (Valkyrie Brunhilde)!' Seto Kaiba scanned the shop, his brow furrowed, and asked as if for confirmation, "You sell Duel Monster cards here?"
"So you play Duel Monsters too, Kaiba," Joey said, casually striking up a conversation with him. "That's great! Now we have one more friend in our group."
"Friend? Hmph. You seem to be mistaken about something, you mere amateur." Kaiba's cold expression didn't change as he listened to Joey. "Don't be ridiculous. Do you think people like you are even qualified?"
"What did you say!?" Joey's expression turned ugly. Although Tristan often called him an 'idiot' or a 'moron', it was because they were very close friends. Those terms were more like nicknames between them, without any real malice.
***
Author's Note:
Speaking of a card that represents Yu-Gi-Oh!, the most iconic one is definitely *(Pot of Greed)*.
For anime fans, the protagonists used *(Pot of Greed)* to make comebacks time and time again.
For real card players, this is probably the card they most want to see come off the banlist.
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(end of chapter)