Noah's Deck

To be fair, although Yu Ming felt he had adapted to this situation as much as possible, when that deck was truly placed before him, he was still caught off guard.

It was as if he had just been racking his brains over how to deal with this precocious little brat in front of him, how to survive what could practically be called a political and psychological battlefield—only for the genre to suddenly change.

How should he put it...

It really was Yu-Gi-Oh! Not only could any line of reasoning somehow lead straight into card games, it even had matching rhetoric for it.

"Yu Ming, did you know? There has always been a very interesting saying in the Duel Monsters community."

As Yu Ming shuffled according to the rules, Noah Kaiba spoke leisurely.

"A deck is not merely the manifestation of bonds. It is also the record and symbol of one's life."

There it was—the kind of argument unique to anime. Works centered on some sort of game always had concepts like this.

"And thus, they believe dueling is an exceptionally sacred ritual. The course of a duel can reveal a person's essence, while the construction of a deck can represent their nature."

From an anime perspective, there was nothing wrong with that statement.

After all, one only had to look at what those characters in anime played.

Seto Kaiba favored high attack and defense, while also enjoying crushing his opponent's fighting power head-on with an overbearing stance.

The Pharaoh, a guy from the underworld, played cards of the living world; Little Yugi, a guy from the living world, played cards of the underworld; and then there was Joey Wheeler, with his endless supply of dice.

In a card game series, decks were obviously used to establish character traits and deepen impressions.

But now, Yu Ming could no longer view such things from the perspective of a former audience member.

After actually living in a place like this and playing life-or-death card games for two days, he inevitably began considering one question:

"Then what about people who can't afford cards?"

"Hm?"

Perhaps he had not expected Yu Ming to ask such a question. Noah froze.

Then, his expression gradually turned strange.

"Can't afford them?"

Looking at the boy's utterly genuine confusion, Yu Ming set his freshly shuffled deck on the table.

"If I remember correctly, the cards themselves aren't cheap."

Things had been somewhat better in his previous life. There were channels for getting whatever one wanted, and if rarity was not a concern, putting together a deck was not too expensive.

But the anime world's setting was different. The extreme importance placed on "everyone playing cards" had instead made certain cards into rare cards themselves.

Yu Ming vaguely remembered GX mentioning rarity settings. Manjoume's two older brothers had collected a Dragon deck made entirely of rare cards. But for most card players and anime fans, the most unforgettable examples were Exodia, the only set in the entire world, and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, of which there were only four.

Those two had also contributed to the first immature yet pioneering duel in the eyes of anime fans.

Of course, there was also that timeless meme.

"Mean☆ing☆less..."

"What did you say?"

"I said cards are expensive."

Yu Ming smiled.

"Many cards are prohibitively expensive, which forces a lot of people to seek substitutes... In that case, I think a deck represents less of someone's essence and more of their wealth and background."

"That is certainly a very novel perspective."

Noah likewise placed his shuffled deck on the table and pushed it forward.

"Still, I do not think that saying is wrong. After all, a person's dueling style does not change much."

"Maybe."

Then, he took out a crow coin. In that instant, the lively atmosphere seemed to come to an abrupt halt.

"Heads or tails?"

"I don't mind."

"Then I'll choose heads. I rather like crows."

Clink.

With a light flick, the little coin spun through the air, its exquisite crow emblem alternating with an unfamiliar blank side.

"By the way, Keith spoke highly of your skill in his report."

During that brief interval, Yu Ming even saw Noah smiling.

"So I am very much looking forward to seeing what kind of duel you will present."

What was he looking forward to?

His dueling style?

Clink.

As the coin fell and bounced, Yu Ming could not help closing his eyes.

Speaking of so-called dueling styles...

It was probably those sorts of things, wasn't it?

Seto Kaiba's pride and power.

Yugi's friendship and bonds.

Jaden Yuki's miracles and the unknown.

Yusei Fudo's cooperation and unity.

And later, soaring into the sky in the name of hope, that damn Smile World... Well, it seemed something weird had slipped in there.

But broadly speaking, that was it.

So what would his own dueling style be?

Traditional red-trap beatdown?

Highly efficient draw power?

Extremely high attack power?

Or the explosive plays that were difficult to achieve in the DM era?

Thinking of that, Yu Ming suddenly laughed.

Smack.

He directly covered the still-bouncing coin, deciding the result before it could settle.

Then, he slowly opened his eyes.

"The result may be different from what you expect, Noah."

"Why?"

"Because I do not even know what kind of style I have."

He truly had not given a single thought to things like signature soul cards or aces.

As for tactics, he could only say that everything currently involved some degree of compromise. After all, his card pool was pitifully small.

"But... there is one thing I can be certain of."

"What is it?"

"I want to win."

Yu Ming spoke each word distinctly.

"I play games to win. That is what I have always believed."

"Is that so? Then it seems we should have quite an enjoyable battle."

The boy simply stretched lazily.

Amid a certain stillness, the atmosphere seemed to turn razor-sharp.

After a brief silence, a voice rang out.

"Duel."

Noah Kaiba LP: 4000

Yu Ming LP: 4000

As the high-tech duel mat displayed their Life Points, Yu Ming slowly lifted his hand. On the coin he had held down, the crow emblem faced upward, gazing at them.

"Heads! Heads!"

Amid the raspy voice of the Yata-Garasu spirit, Noah smiled slightly.

"It seems my luck is better. Then I shall go first."

The boy's small hand drew a card.

"My turn. Draw."

As the child's clear voice rang out, Yu Ming stared at the six cards in that little hand.

What kind of play lay behind those dark, swirling card backs?

"I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed.' It allows me to draw two cards from my deck."

"..."

Unable to stop himself from covering his face, Yu Ming took several deep breaths.

Well, how should he put it?

He was used to it. In the DM era, everyone ran Pot and Graceful Charity for draw power; this was all standard practice. But he still had not fully adjusted to such things himself.

Really, even though he knew he probably had no right to talk about Forbidden Cards, watching someone else draw cards hurt even more than losing cards himself.

"But that does not matter..."

What mattered was the composition of Noah's deck!

Although Noah used the anime-original Deck Master setting, thanks to the increasingly refined duel rules and the release of physical cards, players could still analyze his deck using ordinary card-game logic.

And Yu Ming remembered that Noah's deck had two parts. Aside from Creation of Heaven and Earth, stuffed full of various anime-original Spell Cards that had yet to be made into real cards, his monsters mainly focused on Spirit Monsters!

Which meant...

"'Yata-Garasu'?"

But Spirit Monsters did not seem suitable for a first-turn setup, did they?

"Then, I will assemble two 'Gear' monsters from my hand as materials."

"Huh?"

Under Yu Ming's astonished gaze, Noah discarded two cards from his hand to the Graveyard.

Then, he slowly placed down a monster.

"I Special Summon 'Gear Commander Blaster Spinner.'"

"Caw!"

"Caw!"

"Caw!"

For some reason, the room echoed with the raspy cries of crows.

Next time, he would never guess his opponent's deck again. Damn it.