Opened?

"Duel!" x2

[Kira, LP 4000]

[Genichiro, LP 4000]

"I'll take the first turn. Draw."

Genichiro took the first turn. But he wasn't in a hurry to play any cards. After looking at his hand, he just let out a few sinister cackles, then stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

"I'll make you thoroughly enjoy this Duel, this dark feast. Let me savor your pain."

"First, I activate 'Pot of Greed'! I draw two cards from my Deck."

"Next is the Spell Card, 'Sanctuary of Demons'!"

He inserted the card into his Duel Disk. A magic circle expanded at his feet, and a small metallic figure with no facial features emerged from the barrier onto the field.

[Metal Fiend Token, ATK 0]

"The Effect of Sanctuary of Demons lets me Special Summon a 'Metal Fiend Token' to my field," Genichiro said. "Then I Tribute this 'Metal Fiend Token' for a Tribute Summon!

Guided by the will of darkness, making all enemies tremble in the shadows—

—Level Six, Dark Triangle Bird Dragon, Summon!"

[Dark Triangle Bird Dragon, ATK 2400]

"Then I Set two cards on the field and end my turn."

Genichiro licked his lips again.

"Now it's your turn. Hurry, let me savor the darkness and pain, cackle cackle."

That expression, that action, it always made Kira feel it had a bit of the flavor of a six-year-old Marik.

However, this person only had the form, not the spirit. Compared to Mr. Marik, a Yu-Gi-Oh! judge-level master of face-acting, he was still far behind.

"My turn, draw."

Kira was also very decisive.

"I Set one monster in my front row, and Set four cards in my Back Row. I end my turn."

A friendly five Sets right away.

"Huh?" Genichiro was taken aback.

Having watched Kira's final against Ryuzaki, Genichiro fully expected his opponent to start with Machina cards, but he didn't.

Could it be that the Deck this person used in the finals wasn't even his main Deck?

"Heh, just Setting cards? Such a lukewarm Duel will quickly make you a sacrifice to the darkness."

Genichiro chuckled coldly.

"But during your End Phase, I activate this Set card."

A Set card in his Back Row flipped over.

"Quick-Play Spell – Fire of Doomsday! This card lets me Special Summon two 'Black Flame Tokens' to my field!"

[Black Flame Token, DEF 0] x2

"The turn I activate this card, I can't use other effects to summon any monsters, but it's your End Phase anyway, so I couldn't Summon monsters regardless," Genichiro said.

"Now it's my turn. Draw."

After drawing, he paused and glanced at the Set cards in Kira's Back Row.

"Maybe you're trying to stall for time defensively with Traps, but that level of strategy won't work against me.

From my hand, I activate the Spell Card – Night Beam!"

The Spell Card appeared before him with a golden ripple. A beam of golden light pierced the darkness like a sword, pointing at one of the Set cards in Kira's Back Row.

"Night Beam lets me destroy one Set Spell/Trap Card in your Back Row. And when targeted by 'Night Beam', the targeted Set card cannot be activated!"

He pointed at the card in the middle of Kira's Back Row.

"I destroy the Set card in your middle!"

Kira waved his hand. "At that moment, I activate a Set card—"

"It's useless," Genichiro said. "I told you, you can't Chain to 'Night Beam's activation—"

"You can't Chain the targeted card to 'Night Beam', I know that. But the card I'm activating isn't the one you targeted, it's this one beside it."

Another Set card in Kira's Back Row flipped open.

"Trap Card – Deal of Magic! When your opponent activates a Spell Card, by paying 1000 Life Points, I can discard one random card from your opponent's hand!"

[Kira, LP 4000 → LP 3000]

The moment his LP dropped, his heart seemed to skip a beat, and an intense stinging pain washed over him.

It felt like a thorn piercing his body, opening a gash in his heart, and the essence of his life force poured out like a flooding dam from that opening.

"Uh."

Kira felt his body weaken and swayed slightly.

Silent Magician appeared beside him, casting a look of concern towards her master.

"I'm... I'm fine," he waved his hand.

It was just his first time; he was still a little unaccustomed to it.

As expected of a Dark Duel, the feeling of losing Life Points was like truly losing life.

Without a doubt, if Life Points hit zero in a Duel like this... he would die.

"Hahaha, can you feel it? This is the pain of a Dark Duel!" Genichiro burst into laughter. "Excellent, just like this. Keep suffering, feel the darkness devouring your life bit by bit. This is where the joy of a Dark Duel lies! Hahaha!"

Kira: "..."

The existence of Dark Duels undoubtedly stimulated the awakening of many hidden psychopaths. Some potential criminals, madmen, and serial killers became even worse after gaining dark power, making them stronger, harder to catch, and increasingly insane.

Some Dark Duelists weren't even seeking powerful strength or gaining any benefits through Dark Duels.

Some simply enjoyed the process of making their opponents suffer.

Kira quickly adjusted and continued, "The effect of 'Deal of Magic' requires you to randomly discard one card from your Hand. Discard the card on your far left."

"As you wish."

Genichiro indifferently put the selected card from his Hand into the Graveyard, calmly continuing,

"But according to the effect of Night Beam, that Set Card you have on your field will still be destroyed—"

"No, it won't." Kira snapped his fingers again. "At this moment, I activate the Set Card you targeted with 'Night Beam'.

Trap Card - Raigeki Break!"

"Heh, are you stupid?" Genichiro wore a look like he was pitying an imbecile. "I already told you, cards targeted by 'Night Beam' cannot be activated.

Can't you understand simple words... Nani!?"

Seeing the 'Raigeki Break' on Kira's Back Row actually flip face-up in response, Genichiro's green eyes widened. His gaze looked like it was screaming one word—

—WHY?

How can your Set Card still activate after being targeted by Night Beam?

Could it be that you're a privileged KaibaCorp Platinum Member, and your Duel Disk has a built-in cheat function?

"I see you truly don't understand."

Kira calmly explained.

"Read your card's effect again. 'Night Beam' only says the targeted card cannot be activated in response to 'Night Beam''s activation. But my 'Raigeki Break' didn't Chain to your 'Night Beam' activation.

I Chained it to my own 'Deal of Magic'. Is there a problem?"

A giant question mark seemed to appear above Genichiro's forehead.

He seemed not to have understood.

"Is that how it works?" The Dark Duelist was half-believing, half-doubting.

His face was practically screaming, You're not Kouhu-ing me, are you?

"Buddy, you're betting your life in a Duel and you don't even understand this?" Kira narrowed his eyes.

"Things like this, of course I understand."

Genichiro mumbled a couple of sentences vaguely.

"I was just testing your skill level, ahem... yeah, that's right."

Although he still didn't quite understand, since the field was being handled this way, it must be correct.

But honestly, Kira wasn't Kouhu-ing at all. This was just a basic application of the Yu-Gi-Oh! rules by a Duelist. Although a Spell/Trap targeted for destruction by Night Beam cannot be activated in response to Night Beam, if another effect is inserted into the middle of that Chain, it is naturally no longer restricted from activating.

"You've got some tricks up your sleeve, kid." Genichiro narrowed his eyes. "You really are different from a normal Duelist; worthy of defeating that Ryuzaki... Well, a soul like that is certainly worth sacrificing."

Kira paid him no mind and continued resolving the effect.

"Then, the effect of the Trap Card 'Raigeki Break': I can discard one card from my Hand to destroy any one card on the field."

He Sent one card from his Hand to the Graveyard.

"I destroy the 'Dark Triangle Bird Dragon' on your field."

Black swirling clouds gathered in the sky, and a demonic hand reached out, unleashing astonishing lightning from its fingertips. The thunderbolt struck the Triangle Bird on Genichiro's field, which immediately exploded into fragments.

"Furthermore, the card I discarded as the activation cost for 'Raigeki Break' was the Spell Card 'Card of Compensation'. When this card is Sent from the Hand to the Graveyard, I Draw two cards." (Anime card)

Anime Draw Engines are so satisfying, letting you draw to your heart's content.

"Tch... Night Beam couldn't even protect 'Dark Triangle Dragon'?"

Seeing his big Monster get taken out before it could even attack once, Genichiro pouted in annoyance.

But it wasn't a big problem.

Genichiro Set one card from his Hand onto the field.

"I'll Set one more card from my Hand to the field, then activate the Spell Card - Card of Demise!"

Kira: "!"

Wow, it's Card of Demise?

President Kaiba's favorite Draw Engine in the anime. The user can Draw from their Deck until they have five cards in Hand, but they have to pay the huge price of Discarding their entire Hand after five turns.

However, anyone who's played the game knows that in Yu-Gi-Oh!, five turns is practically an eternity; the grass on the opponent's grave will be several feet high by then.

Compared to this thing, the "serving a life sentence" Pot of Greed is trash.

Years later, this card was also heavily nerfed before being made into a Real Card. Drawing up to five became drawing up to three, and after activation, it also had restrictions like not being able to Special Summon during the turn, not being able to inflict damage to the opponent, and having to discard the entire Hand during the End Phase. Yet, even nerfed to this extent, it still has practical value in the Real Card Environment.

Any Duelist who's transmigrated would absolutely try to find such an overpowered Draw Engine. Kira naturally looked for it too, but couldn't find it on the market for a while. In the original work, it seemed only President Kaiba used it, so perhaps not many were issued, maybe it was a special edition for the wealthy.

Never expected to run into one here.

Damn, that's tempting.

But it doesn't matter.

Kira mused that since it was a Dark Duel, if he won this Duel, the opponent's soul would naturally be gone. If the person is gone, their Deck becomes ownerless. If it's ownerless, it's only right that he picks it up. Otherwise, leaving such a god-tier card to gather dust on the street would be too much of a waste of resources.

So, he wasn't intentionally trying to steal someone else's card; he just couldn't stand seeing resources wasted.

Genichiro, who was just about to Draw, instinctively paused.

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he suddenly felt a sense of unease as he noticed...

...the kid across from him seemed to have suddenly gotten a hungry look in his eyes.