Chapter 17: Why is the XP System Full of Goblins? No, there are Tentacles and Orcs too!
Slurping instant noodles from a bowl, Hayato planned to open his second Card Pack, the SR-Rank Card Pack.
Compared to the barely-better-than-nothing Rare Card Pack, the quality of the SR-Rank Card Pack was much higher, as it guaranteed five SR-Rank Cards. Hayato speculated that the Achievement corresponding to this SR-Rank Card Pack might be something like a "beginner's perk." After all, it only required Dueling Yugi, with no win or loss conditions, making it practically effortless.
[You have opened an SR-Rank Card Pack. Congratulations, you have obtained the following Cards: (Goblin Attack Force), (Goblin Decoy Squad), (Goblin Thief), (Goblin Outflank Force), (Goblin Thief)]
Had he stumbled into a Goblin nest?!
Hayato hadn't expected too much; even a Card like (Command Knight) would have been fine, as it was one of the well-known Warrior-Type monsters. But why were all the Cards he got from this SR-Rank Card Pack from the Goblin archetype?
It wasn't that he disliked the Cards' strength. Frankly, the Goblin archetype Cards were a prime example of trading appearance for power. Whether it was (Goblin Attack Force)'s 2300 Attack Points, or (Goblin Decoy Squad)'s ability to Draw a Card after inflicting Damage, they were all quite good. (Goblin Thief) also had the effect of dealing 500 Effect Damage and restoring 500 Life Points, making it excellent for either finishing off an opponent or stalling.
However, the Card Hayato most desired from the SR-Rank pool was actually the (Normal Fusion Monster) (Gaia the Dragon Champion).
Yes, even though it was a (Normal Monster) with no effects, and its Attack Points were only a meager 300 higher than one of its Materials, (Gaia The Fierce Knight), it was classified as a higher SR-Rank than both (Gaia The Fierce Knight) and (Curse of Dragon). To specifically purchase this Card, a terrifying 3000 DP were required, enough to perform thirty consecutive draws and clear out an entire Basic Card Pack.
Due to previous Achievement settlements, Hayato's current remaining DP was [1100 + 1500 = 2600]. He still needed 400 more DP to make a specific purchase. Hayato speculated that the reason (Gaia the Dragon Champion) was priced as SR-Rank was likely because (Spiral Spear Strike), one of the core Support Cards related to Gaia, was based on (Gaia the Dragon Champion).
It was a well-known fact in Hayato's previous life that KONAMI, the publisher of Yu-Gi-Oh Cards, loved to include inside jokes. Many Physical Cards that never appeared in the anime adopted certain gags from it. The most famous example was arguably (Berserker Soul), which was a direct reference to one of Yugi's classic moves in the anime.
The Card (Spiral Spear Strike), which was often included in Gaia Archetype Decks, was also an anime gag. Even the Card's name itself came from the name of Gaia's attack move in the anime.
(Spiral Spear Strike) had two effects: first, it granted Gaia Cards the ability to inflict piercing battle damage; second, after inflicting Damage with the first effect, one could Activate an (Angel's Baton) — Draw two Cards then Discard one. As was well known, any Card that could generate card advantage was a good Card.
Hayato finished the last of the instant noodle soup in one gulp and began to use his final Rare Selection Card Voucher. This item was different from the previous Card Packs; the latter randomly picked a few Cards from a vast card pool (though Hayato suspected there was foul play involved in the "randomness"), while the former granted Hayato the power to choose for himself.
From the vast card pool, he could freely choose one Rare Card. Looking at the thousands of Cards densely displayed on the Screen before him, Hayato unconsciously began to take deep breaths. Not only were there Cards from the DM Era, where Hayato currently was, but even future Cards appeared before him. As long as a Card's effect or type didn't exceed the current era, he could freely choose one to add to his Deck.
"This is truly dazzling. Scumbag Aleister is Rare? And there's Raidraptor, even Infernoid!" Filled with endless hesitation, Hayato unconsciously bit his fingernails, pondering and wrestling with his choice. He wanted every single Card, yet he could only choose one.
After thoroughly browsing the virtually infinite card pool for a while, Hayato finally let out a long breath and clicked into the card pool's built-in filter function.
[Category — Spell] [Keyword — Destroy]
Though regretful, Hayato knew that the optimal choice now was to select the Cards that would provide the most help to his Deck, maximizing his strength. With sufficient strength, he could obtain those tempting Cards later on.
The largest component of Hayato's current Deck was still a large number of Normal Monsters. Even after restocking at the Kame Game Shop, the quantity of Spell Cards was still too low; he wanted to increase the proportion of Spell Cards in his Deck as much as possible. At the same time, his biggest problem was having too few Cards with Destroy effects. If he encountered an impenetrable defensive monster like (Millennium Shield), he would be helpless.
The filter function activated, and the overflowing card pool rapidly shrunk. Still, a large number of Cards remained, and Hayato began to meticulously sort through them. Before long, he found a suitable Card.
"This Card is...?" Looking at the three figures on the Card, Hayato hadn't expected this Card to also be categorized under "Destroy." However, its effect description indeed contained the word "Destroy." "Interesting, things are getting fun."
————Deck Organization Divider————
It was another bright and sunny morning. Hayato, alone at home but still obediently avoiding all-nighters, left early for school. After all, only children would recklessly stay up all night; having experienced it once, Hayato didn't want his glorious hair to go bald.
Waiting at the bus stop, he caught the bus heading to school. While riding, Hayato overheard a conversation between two girls from his school sitting together:
"Ugh, what bad luck. The magazine said my horoscope is terrible right now, and of course, our class has a surprise assessment today."
The girl speaking was fashionably dressed and sounded quite convinced by "zodiac signs" and "fortunes." Such people existed worldwide, but zodiac signs were a matter of individual opinion. After all, their essence was similar to a Chinese almanac. Depending on the publisher, the almanac's auspicious and inauspicious days would differ, and different interpretations of the same zodiac sign by different people would likewise yield different results.
"Should I go find that famous fortune teller, Huzangnai, at school to get my fortune told?"
Her companion pushed up the glasses that had slipped down her nose and calmly said, "Instead of those unscientific things, Tsuruya, shouldn't you focus more on the upcoming assessment?"
"You're right, but Nagato-san, you're so mature," the first girl sighed, noticing her companion was reading a newspaper. "Even the way you read a newspaper is as old-fashioned as my dad's. Any big news recently? Though it's probably just some boring celebrity cheating scandal—"
"It seems a murderer has escaped from prison."
"Really!?"
This will be the protagonist's second Duel, but it's only a transitional Duel, meant to ease him in, not a very intense one. It might even end within two chapters. Probably a "curb stomp" match starting the chapter after next and ending the chapter after that.
Appendix:
The protagonist's current Deck strength, while still a distance from Kaiba's three Blue-Eyes White Dragons or Yugi's reliance on his grandpa's Cards, is enough to curb stomp anyone else. However, this Duel has a purpose, which I will elaborate on later.
Regarding two chapters daily, the schedule is tentatively one chapter at 12:00 and another at 18:00. Please feel free to leave chapter comments or inter-chapter posts with any suggestions, preferably constructive ones (no constructive 'WTF'). The author often lurks in the comment section, but unfortunately, the comment section for this book is a bit shallow.
Above all, please recommend, bookmark, and comment~
(end of chapter)