Hearing Yugi’s words, the crowd of Duelists immediately erupted:
“Are you kidding?
Rainbow Glow?
That’s the top tier!”
“And this guy has an astonishing level of self-awareness, he’s a super-intelligent type of duel spirit!”
“Wait, can a spirit duel independently of its Duelist?
You’ve got to be joking!”
“………”
What shocked them most was the Duel Disk on Yugi’s wrist glowing.
While it was a high-tech device, activating it required the unique spiritual energy of a Duelist.
Without that energy, the Duel Disk remained dim, and an ordinary person couldn’t use it even if they held it.
A duel spirit’s power, on the other hand, was entirely different, it was soul energy, not Duelist energy.
Theoretically, no matter how strong a duel spirit was, it couldn’t duel on its own.
Think of it like this: the duel spirit is a Gundam, and the Duelist is the pilot.
Only together could they claim victory.
Nobody had ever heard of a duel spirit ditching its pilot to play cards solo.
100,000 yen was roughly 5,000 RMB, a sizable amount but not huge for these post-freshman Duelists.
If they could use it to win a duel spirit though, it would be a jackpot.
After all, money in this world wasn’t particularly valuable, it could only buy regular cards.
The real currency inside the Academy was duel points, earned from performance in exams and missions.
That was how you could get rare, coveted cards.
As for Yugi, he had already tested this the night before when tinkering with the Duel Disk.
He didn’t need spiritual energy at all to use cards.
The only downside: he couldn’t communicate with the Deck Master to draw cards optimally.
No matter, through smart deck construction and access to rare cards Elsie couldn’t use, taking down these LV2 and LV3 Duelists to earn some pocket money was no problem.
It helped that student IDs were displayed like badges on their chests, letting him instantly gauge each Duelist’s level.
Yugi circled around first to make sure no Duelist was too high-level before setting up his stall.
After all, he only wanted money, not a disaster.
“I’ll go!”
Finally, a Duelist stepped forward, eager to try his luck.
Yugi glanced at his student ID.
Name: Ozawa Ryohei.
Duelist Level: LV2.
That meant, leaving Elsie aside, he probably wasn’t as strong as that Second Miss Kaiba.
“Welcome, welcome.”
Without another word, he activated his Duel Disk: “Come on!”
“We’re on!
Mikazuki!” the opponent shouted, then activated his Duel Disk.
“Uh…
Mikazuki is…?” Yugi frowned in confusion.
“Uh,” the opponent paused.
“That’s the name of my Duel Disk.”
“Wow, what a dramatic kid.” Yugi muttered under his breath.
“That’s not right,” Ozawa Ryohei said seriously, despite his plain appearance.
“A Duel Disk and deck are a Duelist’s most trusted partners besides their spirit.
Every duel spirit and card in the deck has a name.
If the Duel Disk doesn’t, isn’t that unfair?”
“Uh…” Yugi was momentarily speechless.
He had to admit, that made a lot of sense.
What made it harder to hold back was that the other spectators started chiming in:
“Exactly!
The Duel Disk is a Duelist’s shield, you have to treat it like a lover!”
“Agreed!
I hug my Duel Disk every night when I sleep.”
“After all, it’s a duel spirit, it doesn’t understand a Duelist’s heart.”
“……….”
“Alright, alright.
They just want to show off huh”, Yugi thought, rolling his eyes.
Looks like he’d have to give Elsie’s Duel Disk a proper name once they got back.
Something…
suitably underworld-themed, maybe.
As he was chuckling to himself, he heard his opponent shout: “I’ll take the first turn!”
“Huh?!”
First turn?
So it’s just whoever yells fastest?
Seeing Yugi’s confusion, Ozawa Ryohei, being a kind-hearted person, explained it patiently.
It turned out that in this world, first turn is determined by a clash of Duel Disks: when the disks connect, the Duelist whose mental energy dominates in that instant claims the first turn.
In other words, to seize first turn, you need to inject more spiritual energy, but overexertion could leave you unable to use your cards, so it’s a gamble.
Compared to the luck-based system in Yugi’s old world, this method actually had a strategic element.
When the Duel Disks had connected earlier, Yugi had been too busy complaining to inject any mental energy, so the first turn naturally went to Ryohei.
“Uh-oh…
Does this mean I’m always going second now?” Yugi fretted for a moment, but quickly calmed himself.
“No big deal, I’ll just max out my Gameciel later.”
For now, he needed to focus on winning this duel.
“Duel———-!”
Ozawa Ryohei, LP4000
Yugi, LP4000
“I’ll take the first turn.
Draw!”
Ryohei shouted, “Activate <Dark World Dealings>!
Both players draw a card, then discard one card to the Graveyard.”
“Next, Normal Summon <The Creator Incarnate> in Attack Position!”
A crimson glow flashed as a knight in armor appeared on his field.
<The Creator Incarnate>, ATK 1600
“Use it as a tribute to Special Summon this monster from my hand!” Ryohei held up a card triumphantly.
“Descend, <The Creator>!”
Despite the flashy name, resembling the light deity of creation, it was actually just a Level 8 Thunder-type Effect Monster.
<The Creator>, DEF 3000
Yugi wasn’t worried about that, but he observed the opponent’s Graveyard thoughtfully.
“Sharp observation.” Ryohei said with a smile.
“But the real trick I’m going to play is this!
<The Creator>’s effect, once per turn: select a monster in your Graveyard, send a card from your hand to the Graveyard, then Special Summon that monster to the field!”
“Come forth, <Wingweaver>!”
With <The Creator>’s effect, a radiant glow erupted from the Graveyard, transforming into a purple-haired angel with six pristine wings.
<Wingweaver>, ATK 2750
“Equip Spell <Horn of the Unicorn>, increasing <Wingweaver>’ ATK and DEF by 700!”
<Wingweaver>, ATK 2750 -> 3450
“Equip Spell <Horn of Light>, increasing <The Creator>’s DEF by 800!”
<The Creator>, DEF 3000 -> 3800
“So strong…
in just one turn, he summoned monsters capable of overpowering <Blue-Eyes White Dragon>.”
“Looks like he’ll be LV3 soon.”
The spectators excitedly discussed the plays, while some experts shook their heads: “The scary part isn’t just the power, it’s the combo’s repeatability.”
“My turn ends.
Impressive, right?”
Yugi didn’t quite know how to respond, finally muttering after a pause, “Oh…
you’re something else, Ryohei-boy.”