"A wave of monsters with more than 5000 ATK can blow it up easily!"
Yusaku strolled to the edge of the platform, his gaze sweeping over the various matches on the stage, and asked in an even tone.
Hearing that, Takeo's solid frame sank slightly. He raised his brows and replied, "Yes. As long as you have a monster with over 2500 ATK, you can enter. Friend, are you here to challenge it?"
Yusaku slowly took a card from his coat. As his fingertips brushed the silver-white dragon, his eyes lit up in an instant.
"A Blue-Eyes White Dragon with 3000 ATK. You've actually got the nerve."
Takeo lowered his voice.
"Friend, are you sure you want to use such a rare card as your entry ticket?"
Yusaku nodded decisively. "I'm sure. If there aren't any extra requirements, let's start."
"Alright. Get yourself ready for a moment." Takeo handed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the staff on the platform, then looked back at Yusaku and asked solemnly, "Then what difficulty do you want to challenge? Level Zero?"
The corner of Yusaku's mouth lifted faintly as he answered clearly, "The final difficulty. I'm clearing it with one card—no deaths."
The crowd instantly erupted.
"Is this guy insane? He's actually challenging the highest difficulty?!"
"One card against five cards, with no advantage at all. That's pure fantasy!"
"But what if—what if he actually succeeds?"
"There's no 'what if.' This challenge has been up for ages. Nobody's ever cleared it!"
"He can't clear it. I watched people challenge with three cards, and they were all going first. But the guy on the platform stuffed his deck full of Raigeki, Lightning Storm, Dark—"
Under the platform!
Takeo took a deep breath, hesitation in his eyes as he looked at Yusaku. "Friend, are you really sure you want to clear it with one card and no deaths? If you fail, your entry card won't be returned."
"Sure." Yusaku wore a calm smile. "I already read the rules carefully before I got on stage, so you don't need to worry about me not understanding what I'm doing."
Takeo said nothing more and simply nodded.
"Then please go behind the platform and choose the card you'll be using. Once you're ready, tell me."
Yusaku stepped onto the platform and drew the card he'd prepared from his Deck. "I'm ready."
Seeing that, Takeo immediately flared his aura, his voice sinking low. "Then we begin. By the rules, you cannot draw any cards, while I may draw my initial five. Considering you only have one card in hand, the right to go first is yours. If you're prepared, we officially start!"
"Let's begin!"
Rin, the referee standing to the side, raised a hand and shouted loudly.
"Then I declare the duel begins. The platform match officially starts!"
As the referee's words fell, both raised their Duel Disks and called out at the same time.
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
[Pause, LP 8000]
Raizan drew his starting hand of five, then calmly placed a card onto his Disk. The card shimmered with faint light.
Yusaku raised the single card in his hand.
"My turn. Draw—Main Phase!"
"Normal Summon. Gogogo Goblindbergh!"
As his voice fell, a goblin monster dragging a battered miniature slot machine suddenly appeared on the field, wearing exaggerated flight goggles. The machine body trembled faintly.
[Gogogo Goblindbergh]
[Level 4 / Warrior / Effect]
[ATK 1400]
Staring at the unfamiliar monster, Raizan froze for a moment. It was his first time seeing it.
Normally, you could guess a Deck from the monsters used, but with this monster, he couldn't tell what Deck it belonged to at all.
"I activate Gogogo Goblindbergh's effect!"
Yusaku's voice rang out clearly.
"When this card is attacking, you can activate its effect: Special Summon 1 'Gogogo' monster that isn't a Warrior from your hand or GY."
After explaining the effect, he looked at Raizan.
"Do you have any response?"
Raizan curled his lips into a smile.
"Go ahead. I don't have a single hand trap. In this event, most challengers choose to go first, so compared to your hand, I'd rather pack my Main Deck with—"
"If you can end on something that can interfere with Spells and Traps, maybe you'll have a chance to stop us. Otherwise, your one card is getting run over."
Yusaku gave a faint smile. "Don't worry. What I can build with two cards won't disappoint you."
Before stepping up, he'd watched plenty of challengers and noticed the platform duelist never used hand traps. That was the only reason he'd decided to challenge the highest difficulty.
Otherwise, one card versus five, and still needing a no-death clear, was not "hard"—it was absurd.
And if he took this Blue-Eyes White Dragon somewhere else to use as collateral, it would be worth a fortune.
Seeing no response, Yusaku continued without hesitation.
"Then, by Gogogo Goblindbergh's effect, I Special Summon Gogogo Gigas from my Deck!"
As his words fell, a hulking monster cobbled together from massive stones, shaped like a steel golem, appeared on the field. The ground trembled slightly.
[Gogogo Gigas]
[Level 4 / Rock / Effect]
[ATK 0]
After the monster was successfully Summoned, Yusaku swept his arm and shouted.
"Next, I use Gogogo Gigas and Gogogo Goblindbergh on my field to construct the Overlay Network!"
The two monsters turned into twin beams of light and shot into the sky, plunging into a crystalline vortex that opened overhead.
In the next instant, a cute girl appeared in midair—wearing an oversized magician's hood, ribbons fluttering around her, tiny chains tied along the ribbons.
[Gogogo Star Magician]
[Rank 4 / Spellcaster / Xyz / Effect]
[Materials: 2]
[ATK 1500]
"I activate Gagaga Girl's effect!"
Yusaku declared in a low, forceful voice.
"If this card has a 'Zubaba,' 'Gagaga,' 'Gogogo,' or 'Dododo' card as Xyz Material, you can detach 1 material from it to add 1 'Gagaga,' 'Dododo,' or 'Gogogo' card from your Deck to your hand!"
"Because I Xyz Summoned using a 'Gogogo' monster as material, I meet the condition. I detach 1 material!"
[Gagaga Girl]
[Xyz Materials: 2 → 1]
"I add the Continuous Spell Card—Onomatopickup—from my Deck to my hand!"
After adding the searched card to his hand, Yusaku revealed a card in his GY and looked at Raizan.
"In my GY, Gogogo Goblindbergh's effect activates…"
As he spoke, the duel's automatic projection flared. The card rose slowly from the graveyard in a shimmer of light.
Yusaku slotted it back, then immediately pulled out another card and revealed it.
"I activate the Continuous Spell—Onomatopickup!"
A pale violet projection of the Continuous Spell appeared at his feet, the card's patterns flowing like liquid light.
"Onomatopickup's effect!"
Yusaku shouted.
"As this card is activated, I can add 1 'Onomat' card from my Deck to my hand, except Onomatopickup. I add Onomatopaira!"
With no pause at all, he played it.
"I activate the Spell Card—Onomatopaira!"
"This card's effect: You can send 1 card from your hand to the GY; then add up to 2 monsters from your Deck to your hand, choosing from 'Zubaba,' 'Gagaga,' 'Gogogo,' and 'Dododo,' up to a total of two."
He revealed the card in his hand and fixed his eyes on Raizan.
"I send Utopic Onomatopoeia from my hand to the GY, and add Dododo Buster and—"
"Buzzbuzzbuzz Meowmeowmeow—to my hand!"
After adding the monsters to his hand, Yusaku revealed one of them.
"I activate Dododo Buster's effect!"
"I send 1 'Dododo' monster from my Deck to the GY, then Special Summon this card from my hand. The Level of this card becomes 4, and its ATK becomes 1800."
[Dododo Buster]
[Level: 6 → 4]
[ATK: 2300 → 1800]
"At this moment!"
Yusaku's voice rose sharply.
"I activate the effect of Dodododwarf Gogogoglove in my GY! If this card is in the GY, and you control no 'Gogogo' or 'Dododo' monsters other than this card, you can Special Summon it!"
"My field currently has Dododo Buster, so I meet the condition. I Special Summon it!"
A golden beam surged up from the graveyard. A brilliant summoning effect blossomed, and a monster wearing a massive helmet and wielding gigantic iron fists descended onto the field.
[Dodododwarf Gogogoglove]
[Level 4 / Rock / Effect]
[ATK 0]
"Next, I activate Dodododwarf Gogogoglove's effect!"
Yusaku continued.
"During my Main Phase, I can Special Summon 1 'Buzzbuzzbuzz' monster or 1 'Gagaga' monster from my hand!"
He revealed the card in his hand, eyes on Raizan.
"The 'Buzzbuzzbuzz Meow' I just searched—Special Summon!"
He slammed the card onto his Duel Disk.
In the next instant, a knight monster clad in silver-white armor appeared on the field, gripping chainsaw-like long blades in both hands. The teeth of the blades buzzed faintly.
[Zubababa Knight]
[Level 4 / Warrior / Effect]
[ATK 1600]
"I activate Zubababa Knight's effect!"
Yusaku declared.
"When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add 1 'Zubaba' monster from my Deck to my hand, except 'Zubababa Knight.' I add Zubababancho Gagagacoat!"
After adding the searched card to his hand, he raised his hand and shouted.
"Then I use the three Level 4 monsters on my field—Zubababa Knight, Dodododwarf Gogogoglove, and Dododo Buster—to construct the Overlay Network!"
"Xyz Summon! Rank 4—Primathmech Alembertian!"
...
The moment Yusaku finished speaking, the three monsters turned into three dazzling streams of light that shot into the sky, intertwining into a spiraling beam that slammed into a golden Xyz vortex.
Gears and circuits poured out of the vortex, spinning and recombining at high speed inside the light.
Then—amid a dense roar of machinery—an armored humanoid mecha descended slowly, holding an alloy greatsword. Blue electrical arcs flickered along its surface circuitry.
[Primathmech Alembertian]
[Rank 4 / Cyberse / Xyz / Effect]
[Xyz Materials: 3]
[ATK 2000]
"I activate Primathmech Alembertian's effect!"
Yusaku's voice was heavy and controlled.
"I can detach 3 materials to add 1 Level 4 monster from my Deck to my hand."
"I activate this effect!"
[Primathmech Alembertian]
[Xyz Materials: 3 → 0]
"I add the Level 4 monster—Astral Utopia—to my hand!"
After adding the searched card to his hand, Yusaku shouted again.
"Next, I activate Dododo Buster's effect in my GY—and then I chain Zubababa Knight's effect!"
"First, Zubababa Knight's effect!"
Yusaku spoke first.
"If this card was detached from an Xyz Monster to activate that Xyz Monster's effect, I can add 1 'Gagaga' monster from my Deck to my hand."
"It was just detached as Xyz Material, so I meet the condition. I add Gagaga Boost Knight from my Deck to my hand!"
After adding the card, he continued.
"Dododo Buster's effect is the same—if it's detached as Xyz Material, I can activate it. The effect is to add 1 'Zubaba' monster from my Deck to my hand."
"I add Utopic Onomatopoeia with 'Zubaba' in its name to my hand."
As Yusaku added card after card to his hand, a group of players who had been wandering around the venue happened to walk over.
When they saw the duel information displayed on the platform, their eyes went wide.
"I heard players can join this event too. You guys want to try?"
"Why not? It's just one monster with 2500 ATK. I've got one!"
"Look, someone's already challenging it. I wonder what difficulty he picked."
A bespectacled player leaned in, glanced at the field, then turned to a duelist watching near the edge of the platform.
"Bro, what's going on up there? What difficulty is that guy challenging?"
The duelist didn't even turn his head. "This match? He's doing the highest difficulty."
The bespectacled player froze. He pushed closer to the front row, stared at the field and the hand count, and blurted out in shock.
"The one-card no-death clear?"
"If it's not that, what else would it be?"
"But he's got two Xyz Monsters on the field, a Continuous Spell, and he's still holding four cards. You're telling me this all came from one card?"
"I don't know how to explain it either. Just watch him play it out step by step. How did Dododo Buster's lines even resolve like that?"
(End of Chapter)
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