Happy Dueling

Kira had begun to discover the joy of playing cards in this other world.

But he soon realized that happiness in the world was apparently conserved. Since he had started having fun, the senior and junior disciples at the dojo seemed to have begun losing interest in dueling.

In just three days, no one was willing to arrange a duel with him anymore.

Kira could only tilt his head up at the sky and let out a faint sigh.

Now he seemed to understand a little why Yugi Mutou had said he could not make any friends before meeting the Pharaoh. Sure enough, Underworld Players did not deserve friends.

Later, the matter even reached the Master.

The dojo's master was called Takeuchi Kageyama. It was said that in his youth, he had once made the top thirty-two of the Town Dueling Tournament. Takeuchi Master heard that one apprentice's dueling skills had improved by leaps and bounds lately, defeating his prized Senior Disciple in one stroke and beating the apprentices into depression over the past three days, to the point that no one was willing to arrange a duel anymore.

Upon hearing this, Takeuchi Master immediately felt that he had to step in.

He promptly gathered all the apprentices. First, he praised Kira for his diligence and rapid improvement, then criticized the other apprentices for their negative attitudes.

The Master lectured them that arranging duels for practice was meant to help them improve. Having a powerful opponent was obviously a good thing. Otherwise, what could they achieve by spending every day picking on weaklings, punching retirement homes in the south and kicking kindergartens in the north?

The apprentices lowered their heads in silence under the reprimand, not daring to make a sound.

"Enough."

With a wave of his hand, the Master smiled and beckoned Kira over.

"If they aren't willing, then I'll personally see just how much you've improved. It'll also be a good chance to give you some guidance on your deck."

Having finally found someone willing to duel him again, Kira still had several deck adjustments he wanted to test, so he gladly accepted.

All right, then. Today, he would duel his master.

His master was very cool. He directly gave Kira the first turn, displaying the bearing of an expert. Naturally, Kira did not stand on ceremony and took the first move.

Right from the opening hand, he paid 1,000 LP and revealed the Spell Card "Confiscation." This familiar opening made the apprentices who had suffered under it for three days shudder all over, nearly triggering PTSD.

Then, Confiscation's effect activated.

Hey? Let me see your hand?

Kira glanced over it and immediately set his sights on the "Monster Reborn" in his master's hand, sending it away. Then he Normal Summoned "Green Gadget." Its effect allowed him, when summoned successfully, to search "Red Gadget" from his deck. Next, he set three cards in his back row and coolly ended his turn.

Then it was his master's turn. His master directly played "Iron Knight - Gearfried," a Level 4 monster with 1800 ATK. Very cool. But completely useless, because before Iron Knight could even find his footing, he ate one of Kira's "Trap Hole" cards and got sent down to the underworld.

Trap Hole destroyed any monster with 1000 or more ATK as soon as it was successfully summoned.

But a master was worthy of being a master; he still had plays. Although he had used up his Normal Summon for the turn, he activated the effect of Spirit of Stone - Titan in his hand, which could Special Summon itself by banishing an EARTH Attribute monster from his Graveyard. He banished Iron Knight from the Graveyard and directly brought Titan onto the field.

Then Master Takeuchi waved his hand and had Titan attack Green Gadget. But Kira snapped his fingers, flipping open a vivid red Trap from his back row.

I activate Hanoi's Sublime Power!

Holy Barrier - Mirror Force destroyed all Attack Position monsters on the opponent's field when they declared an attack.

Master Takeuchi: "."

After stepping on two traps in a row, his master could only helplessly pass.

Then it was Kira's turn again. He looked at the card he had drawn, then directly played "Twin Fairies of Mischief." He paid 1,000 LP, making his opponent discard two more cards.

Master Takeuchi looked down at the hand that had instantly evaporated until only one card remained, falling into deep contemplation about life.

Kira then summoned the "Red Gadget" he had searched last turn. Red Gadget's effect, when summoned successfully, let him search "Yellow Gadget" from the deck. During the Battle Phase, Red Gadget and Green Gadget each attacked directly, and the double Direct Attack took away his master's remaining 2700 LP.

And it was not even over. During the End Phase, he swept out his hand and flipped open another Set Card.

Seal of the Old Man.

Trap/Effect: Skip the opponent's next Draw Phase.

Believe it or not, this absurd Shady Stuff card was also one of Duel King Yugi Mutou's cards. Back in Battle City, Atem had printed it during his duel against a counterfeit-card-selling Rare Hunter who used the Dark Sage, "Exodia."

His hand had evaporated, and now even his Draw Phase had been directly erased by King Crimson. Master Takeuchi looked at his empty field, clean as a blank sheet of paper, then at the two Gadgets on the opposing field rubbing their hands together, and could not help seriously considering the feasibility of a Physical Duel.

"."

One minute later.

With his LP at zero, the arena master stepped down from the Duel Arena, tilted his head toward the sky, and took a deep breath.

Then he began reflecting on what possessed him to duel such Shady Stuff when he had clearly eaten too much and had nothing better to do.

The apprentices watching were even more grief-stricken.

Even their master had fallen!

Before this duel began, they had all still held out hope for the outcome. Every one of them had more or less believed that, although they had felt utterly powerless against this sinister bastard, frustrated by having strength they could not use and cards they could not play, it was probably only because their skills were lacking. If he faced a true expert, surely the result would be different.

Yet reality was that their master got up, their master attacked, and their master also typed GG.

The course of the duel was almost exactly the same as the way every one of them had been beaten by Kira over the past few days!

To them, it was a shattering blow to their worldview, the collapse of their entire understanding of reality. They felt endless confusion and deep concern over the dark future of the entire Dueling World, while a similar thought flashed through all their minds—

—The invincible Master lost to a shut-in taking revenge on society. Why am I having this dream?

The deck concept Kira had tested this time was actually very simple: an early traditional combination of Trap-Beatdown and Hand Destruction.

Anyone who had played Yu-Gi-Oh! in its early days knew that, in that era when Monster Effects were nowhere near as powerful as they were today and decks lacked anything close to modern consistency and combo potential, powerful Spell/Trap cards occupied an extremely important place in mainstream decks.

The Gadget Trio could each search the others when summoned to replenish the hand, keeping his side supplied with monsters. Meanwhile, powerful red traps and Spells could continuously break down the opponent's resources. As the gap between their resources kept widening, the opponent naturally could no longer play.

Still, Kira humbly asked for advice. "Master, what do you think of my deck? Is there anything else you could teach me?"

Only then did Takeuchi Master return from his contemplation of life. He gave Kira a meaningful look. It was strange—he was clearly such a handsome, sunny young man, but now, the moment Takeuchi Master saw that face, his heart trembled with unease.

Guidance? Heh. What could I possibly guide him on?

You're so damn amazing. You should be the one teaching me.

To be honest, if he were not worried about losing face, that was genuinely what he was thinking.

He wanted to learn how to duel from Kira.

Especially this kind of dueling that could bring people such roaring laughter.

"There's nothing more I can teach you."

Takeuchi Master let out a long sigh and spoke somewhat weakly.

"Oh, right, Master. I just remembered that I have one more favor to ask." Kira said.

"What is it?"

"I want to register for the Duel Academy Entrance Exam," Kira said. "I'd like to ask whether I can apply for a subsidy from the dojo."