Duelists Never Surrender!

"I'm not doing that anymore," Julie said, crouching down to meet Sera's eyes. "I came to you because there's something important."

"What is it?"

"Let's take down the Crimson Lotus Society together!" Julie said seriously.

"What?!" Sera's green pupils contracted. "You actually..."

"Became a traitor?!"

"That woman, Crimson Lotus, she's not someone to mess with. Be careful she doesn't do this and that to you..."

"I'm prepared," Julie interrupted.

Sera blinked slightly, the blanket sliding off her, revealing a messy pajama set, fair collarbones, and smooth shoulders. She looked at Hara Shichi, then at Yukikaze, and let out a sigh.

"You're not planning to take two first-years to fight those third-years, are you? There's no hope."

"Besides... I'm not going to help you do something like that just because we're friends." Sera waved her cute little hand. "Go back where you came from. I won't hold you responsible for breaking down my door."

"Heh," Julie scoffed. "Did you misunderstand something?"

"I recall the minimum requirement for a club is five members, right?" Julie gently pinched Sera's chin, whispering like a demon. "You not only forged member information to make it seem like the Gaming Club has a lot of people, but you've also skipped class repeatedly and haven't returned to your dorm on time for at least three months... What do you think will happen if I tell the teacher about all this?"

"Huh? What are you talking about... I don't think I understand..." Sera broke out in a cold sweat, afraid to meet Julie's gaze.

"Playing dumb, huh?" Julie said fiercely, rubbing Sera's little face. "In that case, don't blame me for being impolite. Let's go to the office!"

With that, Julie started to pull Sera out from under the covers.

"Wait! I surrender! I surrender!"

Sera wailed.

"It's just defeating the Crimson Lotus Society, right? As your best friend, of course, I'll help you!" Sera said, her eyes sharpening.

"However, since I've agreed, you have to show me some of your confidence."

Chapter 50: Still Have to Duel

"Confidence? What do you mean?" Julie asked, glancing sideways.

"Honestly, I've been fed up with the Crimson Lotus Society for a long time," Sera said, her little face puffed out indignantly. "Before, I could still use the school's funding to buy game discs, and even had money for snacks and drinks. On weekends, I could go shopping for clothes. But! Those Crimson Lotus people didn't leave me a single cent of the budget!"

"Not a single cent!"

Sera cried, hugging her blanket. "It's pathetic, I can't even afford the latest 'Brave Dragon vs. Evil Dragon 3' or 'Bird x Poetry' anymore, nor the latest anime disc 'Golden Soul'..."

"..."

"But! Even though I've been oppressed to this extent! I haven't raised the banner of rebellion!"

"..."

"Because I know that with just my words, I can't defeat that evil organization." Sera pointed at Julie. "And you, whose dueling skill is on par with mine, have even less hope."

"So, what gives you the confidence? Did you get some powerful new cards recently? Did you awaken a special ability to see your opponent's hand? Or are you just plain stupid?"

Sera questioned Julie. If it was just blind passion, what good would her help be? Wouldn't they just get annihilated?

"It seems you've been cooped up here for too long and are completely out of touch with the outside world," Julie said, standing up and pulling Hara Shichi forward by the neck. "My sincerity is... this guy!"

"Huh?!"

Sera frowned and emerged from her covers, allowing Hara Shichi to see her fully. The girl had waist-length green hair. Her petite, childlike figure, as if she were 12 or 13, was swaddled in loose pajamas. The white pajamas were printed with cute bear patterns, making her look like a doll that had accidentally put on the wrong clothes.

As Sera's delicate feet padded on the floor, Hara Shichi could even smell a hint of milk.

"Hmm..." Sera's green eyes scanned him up and down, occasionally sniffing the air. Finally, she reached a conclusion.

"A honey trap? Not bad, it has some potential. If we can make that Crimson Lotus woman fall for him, we'll have an opening!" Sera nodded.

"Eh?!" Yukikaze exclaimed. "Is that what we're going to do?"

"Of course not!" Hara Shichi twitched his lips.

"Don't worry, I've played at least a hundred dating sims. With my guidance as a love master, a woman like Crimson Lotus will be easy to win over!" Sera patted Hara Shichi's shoulder. "Leave it to me, junior!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Julie pinched Sera's cheek. "This guy is a very strong duelist."

"Ha? A first-year duelist... Besides that Nero, is there anyone else worth noting?" Sera asked with a blank, cute expression.

"It seems you really are out of touch with the outside world," Julie said, pointing at Hara Shichi. "Let me formally introduce you. This guy... cough cough, classmate Hara Shichi, is a transfer student who just enrolled recently. His deck is Marincess, and his Ace Monster is... Tiramisu of the Tiara."

"Marincess? Isn't that a popular deck among noble young girls?" Sera said disdainfully. "As for Tiramisu of the Tiara, I haven't heard of it."

"That's an Xyz Monster, so of course you wouldn't have heard of it."

"Oh, an Xyz Monster, you mean like Xyz..." Sera's throat suddenly caught. She fell silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "What kind of monster did you just say?"

"Xyz Monster," Julie said calmly.

"Really?"

"If I'm lying, may my chest shrink to your size," Julie said dismissively.

"Although I hate to admit it, I feel your sincerity..." Sera stared intently at Hara Shichi. "So, you can perform an Xyz Summon?"

"Of course I can," Hara Shichi said righteously. What's the difference between Ai and me being able to do it?

There's no difference.

"So strong! Even though he's a junior, he's mastered a summoning method I haven't! What about Fusion and Synchro? Do you know those?" Sera asked, shocked.

"Uh... I know them, but I can't use them."

"I suddenly feel like my teeth are a little sore... If I may be so bold, are you from a prominent family, junior?" Sera covered her mouth.

"No."

"Damn it! Is he a genius?!" Sera took two steps back and collapsed onto the futon.

"Stay away from me! I hate juniors with more talent than me the most! Damn it! Crimson Lotus, and you too, why do I have to be in the same era as you guys!" Sera clutched her head and rolled on the bed.

"I think, if you didn't play games and focused on dueling, you could definitely become stronger, senpai," Yukikaze tentatively suggested, reaching out a hand.

"Impossible! If I don't play games, am I still me? Wouldn't I be like a walking corpse, an empty shell without a soul?!" Sera retorted.

"Don't mind her, Yukikaze. Sera's talent as a Duelist is no worse than anyone else's; she's just incredibly lazy," Julie said. "She's a Duelist, yet she plays games all day instead of practicing duels. I don't understand what she's thinking. Are those games more important than dueling?"

"Actually, to me, they're all the same," Sera blinked. "Isn't dueling itself a game? Since it's all games, what's the difference in importance?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Dueling is..." Sera's eyebrows shot up, about to argue, but Sera quickly interrupted her.

"Ah! I'm not arguing with you! I'm not arguing with you!" Sera indicated she didn't want to continue the topic. She raised her slender arm, and a green Duel Disk attached itself to her arm.

"Even though you can Xyz Summon, that doesn't represent your dueling skill. I think it's necessary to test it myself," Sera's lips curved slightly as she looked at Hara Shichi. "If I lose, you have to do whatever I say and go after that Crimson Lotus woman!"

The thought of playing a dating sim in real life made Sera's fair face flush with excitement.

In her opinion, so what if the other party mastered Xyz Summon? In the end, Xyz Summon was just a summoning method; it couldn't represent a Duelist's skill. Moreover, Marincess... she couldn't possibly lose to some cute-looking archetype, right!

"So, it really has to be a duel?" A silver Duel Disk appeared on Hara Shichi's arm.

It was a good opportunity to see how good this Sera-senpai was.

Thus, two voices echoed in the activity room.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

Hara Shichi: 4000 LP

vs.

Sera: 4000 LP

"Beep!"

"I'll go first." Sera looked at the illuminated Duel Disk and placed a monster from her hand onto it.

"I enter my Main Phase. Normal Summon—Traptrix Tributing!"

Chapter 51: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

"I activate Traptrix Tributing's effect. When this card is Normal Summoned, you can add 1 'Hole' Normal Trap Card or 'Hole' Normal Trap Card from your Deck to your hand."

"I choose to add the Trap Card—Bottomless Trap Hole to my hand."

Sera added the Trap Card from her Deck to her hand, looking at her hand with a sly smile. "It's not too late to surrender now, junior. My hand is surprisingly good."

"Coincidentally, my hand is also incredibly good. How about you surrender first, senpai?" Hara Shichi said calmly.

"If that's the case, I'll let you witness the horror of heavy traps," Sera said, inserting four cards from her hand into her Duel Disk. "I'll set four cards and end my turn!"

"Four set cards?!" Yukikaze exclaimed. "Could they all be Trap Cards?"

"While I'd like to think she's bluffing, as far as I know, almost half of her Deck consists of Trap Cards," Julie said calmly. "This is also why I said she has good talent."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Yukikaze asked, confused. "Does setting a lot of Trap Cards mean you have good talent?"

"Just wait, you'll know soon enough," Julie clicked her tongue. From beginning to end, the only one without talent was herself.

"My turn. Draw."

"Hmm, this is a bit tricky," Ai said, looking at Hara Shichi's hand. "If all four of her set cards are traps, this situation will be hard to handle."

Hearing Ai's voice, Hara Shichi realized Ai was floating beside him again at some point.

"You're here." Hara Shichi said softly.

"I've been here all along, just not showing myself," Ai said, hands on her hips. "After all, you were too close to those two behind you. If I spoke, they would think you were talking to yourself for no reason."

"That makes sense."

"But even if you don't speak, I still want to see Ai," Hara Shichi said, looking at Ai's silver hair and sky-blue eyes.

"I'm not going to disappear... Well, whatever you want. But it's a duel right now, is it okay for you to chat with me like this?" Ai said, looking at Sera. "That little girl, in a sense, really counters you."

That's right, archetypes like Marincess, which can perform multiple plays with one card, are actually very vulnerable to traps.

"It's okay, I have a way to deal with it in my hand," Hara Shichi said, inserting a card from his hand into his Duel Disk. "I enter my Main Phase. Activate Spell Card—Terraforming, add Marincess Castle to my hand."

"Next, I activate Marincess Castle!"

A giant castle appeared on the dueling field. However, due to the room's ceiling height, the castle made of sweets was a bit small.

"That dessert castle is actually edible, you know," Yukikaze whispered to Julie.

Julie gave a ghost-struck expression.

"The effect of Madolche Castle is to increase the ATK and DEF of all Madolche monsters on the field by 500," Hara Shichi suddenly explained.

"Don't just casually give your opponent that kind of information!" Yukikaze exclaimed in surprise.

"Next, I'll Normal Summon Madolche Madeleine," Hara Shichi once again drew Madeleine.

And so, the overworked witch lady reappeared on the field with a forced smile.

"When Madolche Madeleine is summoned, I can add one Madolche monster from my Deck to my hand. By the way, Madolche Madeleine's ATK is 1400, which becomes 1900 due to Madolche Castle's effect."

Hara Shichi kindly explained again.

"I see, a straightforward, open strategy," Sera's hand moved towards one of her Set Cards. The opponent's intention was clear: to trade one of her Trap Cards for a monster whose effect had already been used.

If she didn't make this resource exchange, the Traptrix on her field would be attacked directly by the opponent.

Although she also had an offensive Trap Card face-down, using it just for one monster...

"As you wish. When your Normal Summon is successful, I activate the Trap Card Bottomless Trap Hole, and change your Madolche Madeleine monster to face-down Defense Position. Monsters changed to face-down Defense Position by this effect cannot change their battle position."

Sera revealed the Trap Card that Traptrix had just searched for.

"I Chain the effect of Madolche Madeleine, adding Madolche Puddingcess from my Deck to my hand."

The Chain resolved. Puddingcess was added to her hand, and then Madeleine, who had long known she would step on a trap, sighed silently and flipped to face-down Defense Position.

"Next, I'll set three cards and end my turn." With that, Hara Shichi ended his turn.

"She's not bad at all... but... too naive! During your End Phase, I Chain the Trap Card — Dust Tornado! I cannot enter the Battle Phase the turn this card is activated, and I can destroy up to two Spell/Trap Cards on the field!" Sera suddenly revealed her face-down card, pointing at Hara Shichi's Madolche Castle. "I choose to destroy Madolche Castle on your field and the face-down card in the middle!"

"Tch, I didn't expect her to have that kind of card," Ai frowned slightly.

"It's not a big problem, the card that was destroyed isn't that important." Hara Shichi sent Madolche Castle on his Duel Disk to the Graveyard. The Madolche Castle that had stood tall on the field instantly collapsed and vanished.