The Protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Might Be the Same Person

Soon, a hole filled with glue appeared beneath the magician on his field, sticking it in place.

[Dark Magician: ATK 2500 → 1250]

"How can this be? My strongest servant, [Dark Magician]..."

Pandora looked on in distress at his magician, controlled by a single card before him.

"Damn it, then I'll activate the Spell Card [Thousand Blades]!"

If [Dark Magician] is on your field, you can target 1 monster on your opponent's field; activate this card. Destroy that monster.

[Pandora Hand: 1 → 0]

"Disappear, [Silent Magician LV4]!"

A swarm of small knives appeared on the magician's field and shot towards Silent Magician, which then shattered.

"AIBO seems to be handling this with ease. My opponent doesn't seem as tough as I thought."

King breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Pandora, who had no cards left in hand.

"My turn ends."

With nothing else to do, Pandora immediately ended his turn.

Chapter 7: First Victory

"My turn, draw!"

[Yugi Muto Hand: 3 → 4]

"I summon [Trickster Elf Swordsman] from my hand."

The fodder swordsman was immediately projected onto Yugi's field.

[Trickster Elf Swordsman: ATK 1400]

[Yugi Muto Hand: 4 → 3]

"Battle! I attack [Dark Magician] with [Trickster Elf Swordsman]!"

The fodder swordsman sliced Dark Magician in half.

[Pandora: LP 3100 → 2950]

"Next, I attack you directly with [Silent Swordsman LV5]!"

Silent Swordsman slashed Pandora.

"Nngh--!"

Pandora cried out involuntarily.

[Pandora: LP 2950 → 650]

"Finally, I'll set one card and end my turn."

Yugi set a card and ended his turn.

[Yugi Muto Hand: 3 → 2]

"My turn, draw!"

Pandora eagerly drew a card.

[Pandora Hand: 0 → 1]

"I summon [Vengeful Killer Doll] from my hand."

A doll wielding a large axe appeared on Pandora's field.

[Vengeful Killer Doll: ATK 1600]

[Pandora Hand: 1 → 0]

"Battle! Then, I activate my Set card, the Quick-Play Spell [Arrow of Seal Magic]!"

Can be activated at the start of either player's Battle Phase. After this card is activated, neither player can activate the effects of Spell or Trap Cards until the end of the turn.

"You're not letting me activate traps?"

Yugi looked at the Set card on his field and said.

"That's right! I attack [Trickster Elf Swordsman] with [Vengeful Killer Doll]!"

The doll raised its axe and shattered the fodder swordsman.

[Yugi Muto: LP 4000 → 3800]

"With that, my turn ends."

Pandora said with a smile, crossing his arms.

"My turn, draw!"

[Yugi Muto Hand: 2 → 3]

After drawing, Yugi pointed at Silent Swordsman and shouted.

"During my Standby Phase, I activate [Silent Swordsman LV5]'s effect."

When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent by a direct attack, you can activate this effect during your next Standby Phase by sending this card on the field to the Graveyard. Special Summon 1 [Silent Swordsman LV7] from your hand or Deck.

Silent Swordsman grew taller again.

[Silent Swordsman LV7: ATK 2800]

Pandora quickly tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"Now's the time! I activate the Trap Card [Dark Magician Resurrection Coffin]!"

When your opponent successfully summons or Special Summons a monster, you can target that monster and 1 Spellcaster monster on your field to activate this card. Send both monsters to the Graveyard. After that, you can Special Summon 1 Spellcaster-Type, DARK monster from your Deck or Graveyard.

A coffin appeared on Pandora's field, and then the coffin opened, sucking in the doll and Silent Swordsman.

"Revive, [Dark Magician]!"

Dark Magician reappeared on Pandora's field.

[Dark Magician: ATK 2500]

"Not only does this eliminate your ace monster, but it also revives my [Dark Magician], hahahaha!"

Pandora laughed, covering his face.

"You intentionally aimed for the moment [Silent Swordsman LV7] was Special Summoned? Well done, but I've already won this duel."

"I reveal my Set card, Trap Card [Co-op], now active!"

During the turn this card is activated, your monsters cannot attack directly.

: Discard 1 monster from your hand, and target 1 face-up monster on the field. That monster's ATK and DEF become equal to the respective values of the monster discarded to activate this card until the end of the turn.

"I discard the monster in my hand with 0 ATK, [Dragon of Ruin Gandora], and change [Dark Magician]'s ATK to zero."

A misuse of Dragon of Ruin.

[Yugi Muto's Hand: 3 → 2]

[Dark Magician: ATK 2500 → 0]

"What!? Its ATK became zero!?"

Seeing Dark Magician suddenly deflate, Pandora was stunned.

Another Set card on Yugi's field was revealed.

"Next, I activate the Continuous Trap [Limited Revival]!"

Select 1 monster in your Graveyard with an ATK of 1000 or less and Special Summon it in Attack Position. If that monster is changed to Defense Position, destroy that monster and this card. When this card leaves the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is destroyed, destroy this card.

"I Special Summon [Silent Magician LV4] from my Graveyard."

The little magician reappeared on Yugi's field.

[Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1000]

"Impossible! My noble [Dark Magician] lost to such a weakling!"

Pandora cried out, clutching his head.

"Go, [Silent Magician LV4]! Attack [Dark Magician]!"

The little magician summoned a small orb of light with its staff, which struck Dark Magician, causing it to shatter.

[Pandora: LP 650 → 0]

Yugi finally secured his first victory since the start of Duel City.

Chapter 8: Second Opponent

After the duel, Pandora suddenly rolled his eyes back, his posture becoming unnatural, as if he were being controlled.

"Marik again?"

Yugi stared warily at his opponent.

"Yugi, though you are merely a vessel for the Pharaoh, your strength is indeed troublesome."

Marik's voice came from the other side, though Yugi didn't quite understand.

"A vessel for the Pharaoh? What does that mean? Who are you?"

Although Yugi didn't understand, his intuition told him that Marik's words were related to another Yugi.

"This is revenge. The Gravekeeper Clan, who lived in darkness for three thousand years, this is the revenge of their descendant!"

Marik continued to speak in a way that was hard to grasp, but Yugi could tell that his opponent harbored dissatisfaction towards the other Yugi.

"Revenge... Gravekeeper Clan... Gravekeeper..."

Yugi did have an impression of Gravekeeper. In his memory, Gravekeeper was also a series of Decks, and the most famous card in the Gravekeeper Deck was the Field Spell [King's Valley of Slumber].

"On the borderlands of the Egyptian desert, there lives a clan who, in order to protect the lost secrets of the Pharaoh, have had their freedom to interact with the outside world stripped away. Our existence is like shadows. Since ancient times, our clan has lived only to protect the King's Valley and the Millennium Items, and our ancestors have all died fulfilling this destiny. Only by entrusting our memories to the soul of the Pharaoh, who will one day be resurrected, can this end!"

Marik continued to explain the background of the Gravekeeper Clan.

"Memories... does this have anything to do with the seven Millennium Items on the stone tablets of the Pharaoh's memories?"

Yugi seemed to have an idea.

"That's right, I possess one of them. Until I present it to the Pharaoh, I must protect it even at the cost of my life. I was taught this from a young age. The problem is, where is the Pharaoh's soul? And the only way to find out is to collect all three God Cards. Whoever obtains the three God Cards will be crowned the new Pharaoh and, by offering the seven Millennium Items, will recover their lost memories!"

Marik spoke the crucial words.

"Three God Cards... lost memories..."

Yugi's eyes widened.

"My clan sacrificed greatly to protect the Millennium Items, as did I, and my father. The way to put an end to this cursed fate is to take revenge on the Pharaoh's soul and make him disappear once more. And since the God Cards reveal the Pharaoh's whereabouts, if I collect all three, I will become the new Pharaoh!"

As he said this, Marik's tone grew excited.

"A new Pharaoh..."

Yugi felt that the other's logic was somewhat strange. In his past life, Marik would have seemed possessed.

"To find the three God Cards, I formed Gryus and have already obtained two of them. The last one is in this city, in Duel City. And lurking in this city is a Rare Hunter who possesses the God Card [Slifer the Sky Dragon]. He will appear before you soon, so be on your guard. See you next time, Yugi."

After speaking, Marik's voice ceased.

"[Slifer the Sky Dragon]?! That's a tough one..."

Yugi remembered this card being called Sky Terror Dragon in his past life, but he wouldn't underestimate it, especially its anime effect. Its oppressive power was truly ridiculously strong in the current environment.

"However, in the current environment, it's not easy to summon it quickly."

Thinking this, Yugi breathed a sigh of relief.

He then walked over to the fallen Pandora and crouched down. On the Duel Disk, he found a Puzzle Card.

As for Pandora's rare cards, Yugi didn't take them. This was because he and the King discovered that the edges of the three [Dark Magician] cards had been cut by Pandora. Neither he nor the King wanted to use such cards. The others were not practical, so in the end, he didn't take any.

Afterward, Yugi notified Kaiba Mokuba, President Kaiba's younger brother, to come and deal with Pandora.