[Genichiro Onizuka, LP 0]
The final attack concluded, taking away all remaining Life Points, and in this Dark Duel he initiated, it also marked the true end of the duelist's life.
At this moment, he couldn't even feel the pain from the impact of the Dark Duel.
Because he had begun to lose all sensation in his body.
In the duel just now, he boasted wildly, saying that getting caught by him was the opponent's lifelong misfortune.
In hindsight, whose misfortune was it really...
This young man was strong, but the feeling he gave was different from any strong opponents he had encountered before.
How to put it, it was like...
...as if the duel in his eyes was completely different from what everyone else understood it to be.
This was also the first time in Genichiro's history that after a card game he'd had such a thought——
——Dueling is so difficult...
Defeated, Genichiro fell to the ground, and a layer of golden light enveloped him, then scattered into points of light and disappeared.
Like those who lost and perished in the GX Otherworldly Dimension Chapter.
Yugen gasped.
Wow, Dark Duels are indeed dangerous. Losing and even having your ashes scattered is terrifying...
Luckily, his skills were superior.
But to him, this guy's K-language proficiency seemed not even at the entry level; how could someone so weak be a Dark Duelist? Surviving till now in Life Bet Card games is truly a miracle...
No.
Yugen realized he was still thinking with the inertia of his past life's mindset.
Can't think like that. In this world, the duelist's strength is still more important than a "Divine Draw"; as for interpreting card text in K-language, it might just be a garnish...
Hmm, it's definitely still a dangerous world, can't afford a moment's relaxation.
It's still essential to collect strong cards to enhance power, that's the way.
Starting right now, for instance.
Yugen stepped forward, bent over, and picked up the Duel Disc Genichiro had dropped to the ground after perishing.
Since the person was gone, the card deck naturally became an ownerless object.
Then Yugen solemnly said, "It was a good duel. Don't worry, buddy. Your card deck and your will shall be inherited by me."
Saying this, he tucked the card deck into his pocket.
As he was leaving, he felt a chill down his spine, as if a gust of eerie wind had blown past.
...
...
The next morning.
Sunlight softly shone on the room's floor through the gaps in the curtains, and Yugen groggily opened his heavy eyelids, trying to focus his blurry vision.
Did he just see...a girl?
Silver hair fluttering, holding a magic staff with one hand, covering her mouth with the other, half her spirit body penetrated into the bed where he lay, blinking bright eyes, peering curiously, seemingly observing him.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, an exclamation mark seemed to pop up over her head. She swiftly turned her head and dived back into the card deck within the Duel Disc leaning against the table, with no more movement.
Yugen: "..."
After last night's master-servant first collaboration ordeal, Yugen realized that Silent Girl was not intentionally targeting or denying him as her master; she was simply "silent."
In other words, socially withdrawn.
Well, they say like master, like servant. A spirit of a socially withdrawn player being socially withdrawn seems reasonable.
Anyway, she did indeed help during last night's skirmish. It surely proved too dangerous to venture out in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! without a Divine Artifact or spirit by your side.
Moreover, he's uncertain if it's just his imagination, but he feels that during the Life Bet Card duel yesterday, with the Silent Magician in the deck, something indeed felt different from previous duels.
It's a feeling hard to verbalize clearly. But like a connection to his card deck, every time he drew a card, there seemed to be a faint rhythm.
Before, his card deck felt just like the Duel Disc, merely a tool used for dueling.
But during that, it was the first time he had the illusion that the "card deck had come to life."
Of course, this feeling is very metaphysical, and it cannot be ruled out that he thought too much.
"No matter what, still need to become stronger..."
The sudden appearance of the Life Bet Card made Yugen realize once again the importance of playing cards well in this world; it's even more reliable than carrying an arsenal when going out.
Moreover, after reviewing his recent battles, he has developed some new insights.
Many anime characters' card decks often amaze us card enthusiasts; how do they manage to make such systems work?
But if based on some top players' ability that they "never have a dead hand no matter the system," looking at their decks, one would find a similar trait.
Which is being filled with puzzling stuff... (crossed out)
Which is that they have solutions for almost any scenario within their decks.
In reality, card decks generally strive for consistency and efficiency, but even the most mainstream decks occasionally encounter situations where "the entire deck cannot pass through."
Facing a certain field, a specific situation, one clearly knows that no matter which card from your deck you pick, none can pass that field.
Such situations are rare; even if occasionally faced, surrendering directly doesn't affect a mainstream deck's status. But in this world, it's different.
A Dark Duel only has one round; winning is life, losing is death, with no chance for surrender.
Hence, some card decks that seem filled with puzzling stuff actually achieve the idea of "almost no field cannot be overcome".
Similarly, in reality, card deck construction usually pursues a tight 40-card limit, as simplification as much as possible to minimize dead hand rate and enhance operation efficiency. But in this world, constructing a 60-card deck is the norm... no, it even looks like the upper limit in this world might exceed 60 cards.
Because the more cards there are, the more possibilities there are.
But all of this is built on the foundation of "never having a dead hand."
Hence, only the top duelists have the ability to handle such systems, even mixing four or five completely different axes into one deck like Yugi and Kaiba, yet playing without any dead hands, giving the feeling of wielding four or five independent decks simultaneously.
When really out of options, drawing a card not in the deck isn't impossible either...
However, ordinary people without such skills mindlessly imitate these top players' constructions and strategies, everyone holding a deck of at least 60 cards, naturally learning more poorly and having more dead hands, thus forming the bizarre environment where the polarization between experts and novices becomes increasingly severe.
Thus, Yugen feels enlightened once more.
The Underworld is indeed strong, but in this world relying solely on the Underworld won't last long. Current opponents can be handled with construction alone, but in the future, more varied styles and strategies must be expanded upon this foundation.
Constructing decks is important, Divine Draw bonds are also important, both must be grasped firmly.
Recent card games not only made Yugen realize the difference in card deck environments within anime but also revealed many other locations that differ from what he's familiar with.
Previously watching anime, he wouldn't think deeply, but now experiencing it firsthand, he becomes aware that, just like the animation shows, duelists here fundamentally don't actively give you a chance to chain after certain effects are activated.
According to the rules familiar to Yugen from his previous life, after activating an effect one needs to give the opponent time, asking if they want to chain. Only after all cards within one chain are activated can effects be resolved in sequence.
Unless the opponent says "no trap quick movement" or "GKD," one can brazenly narrate happily.
But there's no such thing here. Whether in the anime or the duelists Yugen personally encountered, after activating effects they immediately proceed to resolve, lacking this awareness.
But he soon found that this actually doesn't matter much, because the chain timing rules aren't so strict in duels. Even if the opponent has started resolving the current card's effect on their own, it won't bypass the chain timing for your activation, allowing you to interrupt their operation and follow up with your own effect.
Which is of course reasonable. Otherwise, wouldn't it become whoever speaks fast enough can bypass timing, preventing the opponent from playing cards?
And this isn't due to incomplete rules in early anime; even in later periods where animations follow physical card rules, it remains the same.
From an animation production perspective, perhaps the production team decided that dramatic effects are more important than strictly adhering to rules because if everyone follows rules strictly, activating all cards and resolving them one by one might affect some reversal design's dramatic effects.
Though from a realistic standpoint, such operations aren't compliant, overall it's merely an effect in animation generally not affecting the game situation.
Last night, Yugen realized playing cards is truly a physically demanding task. The physical education teacher at Duel Academy even emphasized that having a good body is essential for playing cards well; Yugen found it amusing back then, but now he starts to comprehend the meaning behind it.
Especially the exhausting Life Bet Card game last night, laborious both mentally and physically. Didn't feel it while playing, but afterward, he felt drained, wanting nothing but to fall asleep.
Upon waking up, he felt refreshed, with his brain rebooting and resuming work.
The rewards from winning yesterday's match were quite substantial. Genichiro, after all, was a dangerous Dark Duelist, and his deck seemed rather valuable. Yugen estimated some cards could be sold at a good price even if he couldn't use them, ideally exchanged for what he wants.
The most significant, undoubtedly, is the anime effect version of the "Life-Reducing Treasure Scroll."
Instantly drawing five cards, a divine artifact, merely having a side effect of "discarding cards after five turns" akin to mocking the opponent face-to-face, rendering the likes of Strong Desire Angels trash.
Unfortunately, there's only one card. Yugen even feels that if this thing could be filled up to three copies, what a beautiful thing that would be...
Additionally, what he truly aspires to are the other two among the three major Treasure Scrolls alongside Life Reduction during the DM period, "Destiny Treasure Scroll" and "Celestial Treasure Scroll."
Destiny Treasure Scroll belonged to Joey, essentially rolling a dice to determine the number of cards drawn, then excluding those drawn cards from the top of the deck from the game. Another world-breaking divine card, yet besides Joey, no one was seen using it in anime, disappearing completely by the time of the GX Era.
Celestial Treasure Scroll was Yugi's, filling both players' hands to six cards, a divine-level killer weapon. Besides Yugi, others did use it in DM, considered a versatile card, even appearing during the GX era. But currently, Yugen hasn't spotted it on the market.
DM three divine Treasure Scrolls, all so desirable...
And now the biggest hope lies in the avenue named "Duel Academy."
Rumors outside say, once one enters the academy, it would be a whole different world. Massive amounts of rare cards unimaginable for ordinary duelists, rumored as a "having everything" type of internal purchase route...
Already within reach.
In three days, the annual Duel Academy entrance exam will be held at Kaiba Park.
Must take it down.