"Hello, boss. Is it true that you can help adjust and build a suitable deck for any Archetype written on your sign?"
Inside a shop with only a few computers, a girl in a white dress, Bai Yun'er, entered and fixed her gaze on the shop's sole occupant—Youye.
Seeing a customer arrive, Youye immediately stood up and began introducing his services with a practiced smile.
"Of course. As long as you tell me the Archetype, I can immediately find the cards best suited to it and build the most suitable deck. I'll free that Archetype from the plight of being nothing more than a Card Pile and make it one with its duelist. By then, Blue-Eyes Archetype, Galaxy-Eyes Archetype, HERO Archetype—they'll all be easy prey before your deck build. You'll win however you want!"
"That amazing? Then what about a completely new Archetype that no one has ever developed before?"
Bai Yun'er looked at Youye with undisguised curiosity. She had only come out alone to clear her head because she could not find a suitable build, yet she had unexpectedly run into a Deck Building Master in a back alley who so casually claimed he could defeat decks that had once produced Duel Kings.
"Of course!" Youye nodded confidently. Then, after looking Bai Yun'er over, he slowly said, "Miss, judging by you, you awakened an Archetype, didn't you? And it's an undeveloped Archetype, so you have no suitable build and no direction for growth or improvement, right?"
The moment Youye said that, the curiosity vanished from Bai Yun'er's face. Her lips began to curl downward, and her sadness was visible to the naked eye.
Seeing Bai Yun'er like that, Youye put on the air of someone who had been through it all. He lightly patted her shoulder, sighed, and spoke earnestly.
"Ah, a brand-new Archetype with no builds to reference. Creating a suitable deck requires long-term research. One person only has so much energy—how could they possibly manage it? Even a family or faction would need seven or eight years, if not a full decade, to figure anything out. Selecting suitable cards for a new Archetype, then using those cards to create an entirely new build... difficult. Far too difficult!"
Hearing Youye's words, especially his final emphasis, Bai Yun'er became even sadder, and her eyes began to redden.
What Youye described was exactly what she was going through. Her family had once regarded her as their hope for rising to prominence, but the Archetype she awakened had held her back. In only one year, she had gone from a Duel Nova to a Duel Cripple.
To keep herself from crying, Bai Yun'er politely stepped back and prepared to leave.
Watching Bai Yun'er turn to go, Youye gently caught her slender left forearm and spoke seriously.
"I'm also saddened by your past, but once you meet me, all of that will become the past!"
"As long as you seize this opportunity, I can immediately give you a build suited to your Archetype. You'll no longer be limited by it. When you meet one opponent, you'll defeat one; when you meet two, you'll defeat both!"
After saying that, Youye discreetly glanced over Bai Yun'er's clothes and appearance before slowly adding,
"And this build only costs 999999!"
"Really?"
"Just 999999 can really make me that strong?"
Bai Yun'er turned around and looked at the man with reddened eyes, seeking confirmation.
"Of course!" Youye released her arm and nodded with complete confidence.
As for why he was so confident? Naturally, because he was a transmigrator!
Ten years ago, he had transmigrated into this Duel World in the body of his ten-years-younger self. Yes, a world where every conflict and dispute was settled through duels—and the dueling standard in this world was a hundred times worse!
Why had it declined by a hundredfold into something so warped? The reason was simple.
If you awakened an Archetype in this world, things were not too bad. But if you did not, then you either bought cards at astronomical prices or joined a family or faction and became their dog.
Yet becoming a dog or having money did not mean you could obtain the full Card Pool. The families and factions that possessed cards tightly clutched their own Card Pools and shared nothing, leaving everyone's Card Pools severely incomplete.
Those who awakened Archetypes had it a little better. Through their bond with spirits, they could obtain Archetype Cards. Generally speaking, the stronger the bond, the more cards they received.
Besides that, they could reach Master rank or above in Master Duel. During the annual Master Duel rank settlement, they could also receive cards.
There was also an Urban Legend claiming that Archetypes could be acquired artificially, though Youye had no idea how.
The undeveloped new Archetypes he had just mentioned were Archetypes that had not yet been developed in this world. Duelists who obtained such Archetypes could only slowly feel their way forward through an extremely incomplete Card Pool. The difficulty was obvious.
Of course, for Youye, a shameless outsider, the difficulty was zero.
As long as the Archetype someone named was not absurdly obscure, then as a card game veteran, he could adjust and refine a build based on that person's Archetype and explain how to use it.
Then why, after transmigrating to a Duel World where dueling had declined a hundredfold, did he not take a deck and slaughter his way across the world? Why had he opened a shop here to attract customers and teach others instead?
That began with the fact that he had awakened the Tearalaments Archetype and became an exception before he could even celebrate.
No matter how he communicated with the spirits, he only had ten Archetype Cards: one Archetype Extra Deck Monster, Merrli; one copy each of five Archetype low-level monsters; and four Archetype Spell/Traps, including Perlereino. It sounded like Wheelchair Tearlaments might not be impossible, right?
But as mentioned earlier, this world's Card Pool was incredibly warped. So warped that even a somewhat stronger Normal Monster started at five figures, while Effect Monsters started at six figures. Yes, started—and they were still unavailable even at those prices!
He had arrived here with nothing and had no money to buy cards. He could only obtain cards through hard work in Master Duel. Fortunately, his rank was high enough that for the past four years, he had been able to choose Non-OTK Forbidden/Limited Cards from his previous life. But that happened only once per year, with only three cards each time, and he could not choose cards from his own Archetype. At his current rate of progress, it would take at least seven or eight years to gather everything.
Then, with the advice and assistance of teachers and the principal at Duel Academy, he had opened this deck-building shop half a month ago to attract customers. By selling deck builds from his previous life, he could earn money or cards and complete his own build as soon as possible.
"My Archetype is the Swordsoul Archetype, which has appeared for the first time. There are no build references at all. I don't even know the basic game plan of the deck. Can you really help me modify my build and make me stronger?"
Bai Yun'er emphasized it again. This time, she even revealed her Archetype and problem. On one hand, she was curious whether Youye had a solution; on the other, she wanted him to recognize the difficulty and back off.
Swordsoul!?
A trace of surprise flashed through Youye's eyes as he looked at the girl before him.
Swordsoul had been quite strong in his previous life. Not to mention Superheavy Samurai Swordsoul and other Swordsoul variants, Tenyi Swordsoul had been one of the most beginner-friendly decks for newcomers. Its game plan was simple and brutal, and it had high hand-trap compatibility!
Had she ever heard the legends of Swordsoul Thirteen Swords and the Sword Saint Miru?
Based on what Youye had learned about this world over the past ten years, he could only say that at the current stage, Tenyi Swordsoul would crush anyone it faced!
The prerequisite was solving the problem of the Tenyi Engine. After all, anyone who had played Pure Swordsoul would understand.
But that had nothing to do with him. He was only responsible for the build; how she acquired the cards was Bai Yun'er's problem, not his.
When Youye said nothing, the anticipation in Bai Yun'er's eyes instantly vanished. Disappointed once again, she lowered her head.
Ever since awakening her Archetype, her family had continuously sought people to research the possibilities of the Swordsoul Archetype with her. Yet all of them had been helpless, unable to find a suitable build. In the end, a Duel Master had even declared Swordsoul a trash Archetype and advised her to add another Archetype and use that instead.
It was not that she could not add another Archetype. Her family's inherited Archetype was Blue-Eyes, and she could use it whenever she wanted. But as dueling developed, Blue-Eyes Archetype had already had its ceiling locked in place. She did not want that!
But Youye's silence clearly meant that he had no solution either. Disappointment once again replaced the light in her eyes, and just as she turned to leave the shop—
"Wait, where are you going? Little sister, I have a sword technique called Tenyi Swordsoul. It has thirteen forms in total. Master it, and your lower limit will be Heavenly rank, your upper limit King rank. You'll become a Sword Immortal of your generation!"
Seeing her about to leave, Youye snapped back to his senses and immediately called out to stop her.
"Tenyi Swordsoul? Thirteen forms? But my Archetype only has Swordsoul, not Tenyi. And isn't Tenyi publicly recognized as one of the weakest Archetypes? Combining it with my Swordsoul Archetype can give me a Heavenly-rank lower limit and a King-rank upper limit?"
Bai Yun'er looked at Youye with reddened eyes.
She knew about the Tenyi Archetype. It was an Archetype even more useless than her Swordsoul. Though it had Special Summon starters and disruption, its attack power was low, and unlike her Tenyi Swordsoul Archetype, it could not even make the compromise of using Tribute Summons.
Would combining the Tenyi Archetype with her Swordsoul not lower the strength of her Swordsoul Archetype even further?
"Boss, you're not just making up nonsense to fool me, are you? Are you trying to make me spend money on a build that weakens itself?"
At that thought, Bai Yun'er looked at Youye with full vigilance.
As a descendant of a great family, she admitted that Youye's words had resonated with her just now, but that did not mean she had become stupid.
Before you continue