Happy Duel

Kira began to find the joy of dueling in the Otherworld.

However, he quickly realized that happiness in the world is indeed conserved. Because he started to be happy, the interest in dueling among his fellow disciples in the dojo seemed to wane.

Within just three days, no one was willing to duel him anymore.

Kira could only look up at the sky and let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

Now, he was starting to understand a little why Yugi Mutou said he couldn't make friends before meeting Atem. People from The Netherworld truly aren't meant to have friends.

Later, the matter even reached the Master.

The Master of the dojo was named Takeuchi Kageyama. It was said that in his youth, he was a top 32 competitor in the Town Dueling Tournament. Master Takeuchi heard that a new apprentice had recently made rapid progress in dueling technique, single-handedly defeating his favorite disciple, the Senior Disciple, and in just three days had managed to make all the other apprentices depressed, so much so that no one was willing to challenge him anymore.

Hearing this, Master Takeuchi immediately felt he had to step in.

He immediately gathered all the apprentices, first praising Kira's hard work and rapid improvement, then criticizing the passive attitude of the other apprentices.

The Master lectured, saying that dueling and sparring were precisely for the sake of improvement. A strong opponent was clearly a good thing. Otherwise, if you just spent all day bullying weaker opponents – like punching the elderly at the South Mountain Retirement Home and kicking the kids at the North Sea Kindergarten – what good would that do?

The apprentices hung their heads in silence, not daring to speak.

"Enough."

The Master waved his hand grandly and beckoned to Kira with a smile.

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

Finally finding someone willing to duel him, and with several deck adjustments he wanted to test, Kira naturally accepted with delight.

Alright, so today was a duel with Master.

Master was very cool; he directly gave Kira the first turn, showing off his master-level demeanor. Kira didn't stand on ceremony and took the first turn.

Right from the start, he paid 1000 Life Points and revealed the Spell Card Seizure. This familiar opening caused the apprentices, who had suffered greatly over the past three days, to tremble all over, nearly triggering their PTSD.

So, Seizure's effect activated.

You there? Let me see your hand?

Kira glanced over and immediately took a liking to Monster Reborn in the Master's hand, discarding it directly. Then he Normal Summoned Green Gadget, activating its effect upon successful summon to search for Red Gadget from his deck. He then set three cards in his back row and passed his turn stylishly.

Now it was the Master's turn. The Master directly played a Gearfried the Iron Knight, a 4-star monster with 1800 ATK, very cool. But it was useless, because Gearfried hadn't even settled in before it hit Kira's Trap Hole and was sent to The Netherworld.

[Trap Hole: When a monster with 1000 or more ATK is Normal Summoned, destroy it immediately.]

But the Master was indeed worthy of the title; he still had plays. Although he had used his Normal Summon for the turn, he activated the effect of Spirit of Stone - Titan from his hand, which can be Special Summoned by banishing an EARTH monster from the graveyard. He banished Gearfried from the graveyard and Special Summoned Titan directly onto the field.

Following this, Master Takeuchi waved his hand and attacked Green Gadget with Titan. But Kira snapped his fingers, and a bright red Trap Card in his back row flipped open.

I activate Hanoi's Sublime Power!

[Mirror Force: When an opponent's monster declares an attack, destroy all Attack Position monsters your opponent controls.]

Master Takeuchi: "..."

Having stepped into two traps, the Master was helpless and could only pass his turn.

Then it was Kira's turn again. Kira looked at the card he drew, then directly played Twin Fairies of Mischief. Pay 1000 Life Points, and the opponent discards two cards.

Master Takeuchi looked down at his hand, which had instantly dwindled to just one card, and fell into contemplation about life.

Kira then summoned the Red Gadget he had searched last turn. Upon successful summon, Red Gadget's effect allowed him to search for Yellow Gadget from his deck. In the Battle Phase, Red Gadget and Green Gadget attacked directly, and the double direct attack took away 2700 of the Master's LP.

And that wasn't even the end. In the End Phase, he waved his hand and flipped up another set card.

[Seal of the Old Man]

[Trap/Effect: Skip your opponent's next Draw Phase.]

You might not believe it, but this ridiculously frustrating Netherworld card was also one of Duel King Yugi Mutou's cards. He printed it back in Battle City when Atem dueled the Rare Hunters' fake card seller who used Dark Sage Exodia.

His hand evaporated, and his Draw Phase was directly skipped by King Crimson. Master Takeuchi looked at his empty field, clean as a blank sheet of paper, then looked at the two Gadgets on the opponent's field, flexing their muscles, and couldn't help but start seriously considering the feasibility of a Physical Duel.

"..."

One minute later.

With his LP reduced to zero, the Master walked off the dueling stage, looked up at the sky, took a deep breath,

and began to reflect on what he was possibly thinking, why he was so bored that he decided to duel this kind of Netherworld monstrosity.

The apprentices watching were filled with grief.

Even Master had fallen!

Actually, before this duel began, they still had hope for the outcome. Each of them more or less felt that although they were utterly powerless against this annoying guy, experiencing a feeling of frustration where they had strength but couldn't use it, and cards but couldn't play them, it was mostly because their own skills were insufficient. If they went up against a master, the result would surely be different.

However, the reality was, Master started, Master attacked, and Master also called GG.

The process was almost exactly the same as the openings they had each faced against Kira over the past few days!

This was simply a shock to their worldview, a collapse of their perspective, leaving them with endless confusion and deep worry about the bleak future of the entire dueling world. At the same time, a similar thought couldn't help but flash through their minds—

—The invincible Master lost to an anti-social recluse seeking revenge on society. Why am I having such a dream?

Actually, the deck idea Kira was testing this time was very simple: it was a combination of early traditional Trap-Beatdown and Hand Destruction.

Anyone who played Yu-Gi-Oh! in the early days knows that in an era where monster effects were far less powerful and deck consistency and combo potential were nowhere near as exaggerated as they are today, powerful Spell and Trap Cards held a very important position in competitive decks.

The Gadget Trio all have effects that search for each other when summoned, which keeps the hand full and prevents running out of monsters. Meanwhile, the powerful traps and spells constantly break down the opponent's resources. As the resource gap between the two sides keeps widening, it naturally becomes impossible for them to continue dueling.

But Kira still humbly asked for guidance, "Master, what do you think of my deck? Are there any other areas you could advise me on?"

Hearing this, Master Takeuchi snapped back from his contemplation on life and gave him a meaningful look. It was strange, he was clearly a handsome and cheerful young man, but now, whenever he saw that face, Master Takeuchi felt a chill down his spine.

Guidance? Heh, what good guidance could I possibly give?

You're so amazing, you should be the one guiding me.

To be honest, if he didn't feel like he'd lose face, he actually genuinely had that thought.

He wanted to learn how to duel from Kira.

He especially wanted to learn this kind of dueling that made people smile.

"I have nothing left to teach you."

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

"Oh, by the way, Master," Kira said, "I just remembered there's something else I'd like to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"I want to go register for the Duel Academy entrance exam," Kira said. "I wanted to ask if I could apply for a subsidy from the Dojo."