Dongye Youzai, formerly the world's number one Soul Card Master.
After winning the championship last year, half his deck had been banned outright, and he had vanished from the scene.
But if you wanted to say how miserable he was, some people would be envious before they could even pity him.
The compensation for half a deck of Forbidden Cards alone had totaled three hundred million. This was because compensation for banned cards had to be multiplied by the rank of their owner. Take Shen Sui's banned thirteen-star Life Card: if its owner were a Ninth-Order Soul Card Master, the compensation would not be 150,000, but 1.35 million, on top of additional championship compensation.
Because the payouts for Forbidden Card compensation were so exorbitant, the Soul Card Association was extremely strict when reviewing banned cards. A card was not simply declared forbidden because someone reported it. Once the compensation reached a certain amount, the Soul Card Association would send specialized inspectors to duel you and determine whether the card should be added to the ban list.
Shen Sui was also surprised that his Star Super Magic Array had been banned so quickly. The Soul Card Association really was generous.
He had heard that half of Dongye Youzai's deck had been banned because he had utterly crushed the inspectors during the review. Quite a few people believed the guy had done it deliberately to earn himself a pension.
But when he made his return as king this year, those rumors faded away.
The moment Shen Sui heard that his opponent was using Dongye Youzai's deck, he became interested.
"Good! Then let's begin the duel!" At that moment, winning or losing no longer mattered to Shen Sui, nor did the 500,000 prize.
A world champion's deck?
Let me take a look!
However.
"Why can your effect still go through when I clearly activated a Spell Card that negates effects?!" the boy named Bu Pei shouted in disbelief.
"Well... this isn't an effect." Shen Sui was already starting to feel that this duel was a disaster. "It's a cost."
"What cost? Isn't this effect written right on your card? Why can you still activate it after I negated it?!" Bu Pei's eyes widened.
"Why was my follower destroyed by you?! Isn't it unable to become the target of effects?"
"My card's effect doesn't target."
"What do you mean, doesn't target? It doesn't say that on your card either!"
Forget it, forget it. No point arguing.
Shen Sui rubbed his temples and played a Spell Card from his hand.
"I activate the Spell Card Lightning Strike to destroy the— Huh? Where's your follower?" Shen Sui looked at Bu Pei's empty field and asked in confusion.
"I don't know!" Bu Pei looked around in shock. "Where are my cards? The cards I bought for a fortune?"
So they called over a referee and checked the duel record before finding Bu Pei's mysteriously vanished follower.
It turned out that the follower's effect had to activate at the start of the opponent's Main Phase, banishing itself, and its Spirit Value would double on the following turn.
"Oh, so it was in the banished zone."
Shen Sui looked at Bu Pei and asked speechlessly, "You don't even read your own Follower Card's effect?"
"I didn't." Bu Pei said it as if it were only natural. "Aren't all cards that enter the ban list invincible the moment you play them?"
"No. There are many reasons a card can enter the ban list," Shen Sui said. For instance, being personally reported by its owner. "They aren't necessarily unconditionally powerful. Some may simply serve an irreplaceable role within a deck archetype. You should at least read the effect before using them."
Shen Sui suddenly felt as though he had returned to his childhood, when everyone made up rules. Back then, they had played Yu-Gi-Oh! with pirated cards and knew nothing about the rules. Whoever won depended entirely on who shouted louder. Nobody read the effects written on the cards.
"I paid one million for each Forbidden Card. Do I still need to read the effect to use it?"
"How much?" Shen Sui was stunned.
"One million per card. That's generally the price I pay when buying Forbidden Cards." Bu Pei proudly raised his head.
"Why buy so many Forbidden Cards?"
"To show off."
Shen Sui staggered. What a damn simple and direct reason.
"Did you buy Dongye Youzai's deck at that price too?"
"Not that one." Bu Pei spoke admiringly. "A world champion is a world champion. He cherishes his Life Cards dearly. When I asked for a price, he told me that even though those cards had been banned, they were still his inseparable comrades, friends as close as his own limbs."
Why did that sales pitch sound so familiar?
"And then you paid more?"
"Yeah, doubled the price." Bu Pei said smugly. "Forty million for half a champion's deck. Not expensive."
I finally understood why dueling was so popular in this world.
There really were suckers here. There really was money to be made.
But on second thought, it was only the price of half a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
"I lost." Bu Pei accepted his defeat openly. "As expected of someone who defeated a Fifth-Order Soul Card Master while still a beginner. Even a champion's deck couldn't beat you."
If you had read the effects a few more times, I wouldn't have won so easily.
Shen Sui wanted to complain, but he could not find an opening, so he could only exchange pleasantries. "You flatter me."
With Bu Pei using that deck, it was like a baby wielding a sledgehammer. He did not even read the effects and had killed himself outright.
"I originally wanted to win a cup tournament championship before going home." Bu Pei seemed a little disappointed.
"You need this 500,000?"
"The championship! The point is the championship, okay?! I want to prove to my dad that I can become a powerful Soul Card Master too, even if I'm only an Amateur Duel King." Bu Pei waved his fist.
"I think this deck just doesn't suit your dueling style." Shen Sui's eyes shifted as he spoke.
Bu Pei considered it. "I think so too. I'll put it back in my card album when I get home and keep it as a collectible."
"Let's exchange contact information." Shen Sui bared his fangs. "I might have a few cards to phase out before long. You'd make a good buyer."
"I don't want ordinary Life Cards. They don't feel impressive enough to use."
"They're Forbidden Cards."
"Great! I'll take them!" Bu Pei readily added Shen Sui as a friend.
He did not even ask the price.
Nor did he ask about the effects.
"Then here's to a pleasant partnership." Shen Sui was delighted to have found a stable buyer for Forbidden Cards. In his plan, banned Spell Cards could all be sold, while banned Follower Cards would remain in his collection.
After all, if a Follower Card was a Waifu Card, trading it away always made him feel uncomfortable.
"I'm looking forward to seeing you on the professional stage." Once they had become familiar, Bu Pei was actually very easy to get along with—straightforward and easygoing. "Anyone who can defeat this deck will surely become a world-class Soul Card Master in the future."
No, against a duelist who did not even read his own card effects, couldn't anyone win?
Then again, Bu Pei seemed to have won nine straight matches in the qualifiers.
Fine. It seemed amateur standards generally were not very high.
After Bu Pei left, Shen Sui sat there waiting for the qualifying results.
He had achieved ten wins out of ten. According to the organizer's format, that basically guaranteed him a direct spot in the knockout stage.
Of course, there were exceptions. If more than eight Soul Card Masters achieved ten wins out of ten, additional matches would be held.
So Shen Sui still had to wait here for the results.
The results came quickly, and as expected, he advanced to the knockout stage.
"Look! Didn't I say Yuan Youxin would be here? How could the Amateur Duel King possibly miss a tournament with a 500,000 prize?"
Yuan Youxin?
Shen Sui felt like he had heard that name before.
It seemed the 500,000 prize was quite attractive after all.
Shen Sui was not worried in the slightest.
Even if his opponent was a famous duelist, he would not panic at all.
They were all here to earn prize money. Who was better than whom?
He had heard that this Amateur Duel King could actually apply to become a Third-Order Soul Card Master.
The examiners in the Duel Exam had their decks weakened, so even if they were nominally third-order, they would not be able to display the full strength of a third-order Soul Card Master.
Then let me test the strength of a true Third-Order Soul Card Master in this world.
Today and tomorrow's second update will be moved forward to eight o'clock.
Before you continue