The moment the apartment door closed, Yūki tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa and sank into the cushions.
Today's trip hadn't been wasted.
Card of Demise secured.
Thunder Dragon Archetype Pack unlocked.
He had also beaten the Kaiba Corporation's second young master along the way.
Strictly speaking, that last item didn't belong on his list of gains, but it certainly felt like an achievement.
Yūki raised his hand, and a translucent system panel floated into view.
[Soul Power Duel Shop] [Soul Power level: Lv2] [Soul Power progress: 67%] [Duel Coins: 6,300] [Unlocked Archetype Packs: Elemental HERO, Thunder Dragon]
He opened the Elemental HERO Booster Pack first.
On the Booster Pack's cover, Flame Wingman spread his wings, with the silhouette of Elemental HERO Neos visible behind him.
His HERO Deck was already looking quite respectable.
Elemental HERO Stratos, Sunrise, Elemental HERO Terra Firma, Elemental HERO Neos, Miracle Fusion, and so on.
It had explosive power when he needed it and control when he wanted it. At least he wouldn't be stuck glaring helplessly at two copies of Polymerization and two copies of Miracle Fusion like he had in the league finals.
That was precisely where the problem lay.
Yūki pictured the cards [Polymerization] and [Miracle Fusion] side by side.
For the Elemental HERO archetype, only the portion Jaden could use early on was currently unlocked.
Masked HERO, Evil HERO, Destiny HERO, and even the more ridiculous support cards that came later were all missing.
It would be difficult to push a deck any further with the resources he currently had.
His HERO Deck's ceiling was capped.
"How exactly do I unlock the later series?"
The system didn't respond.
The panel was as silent as a predatory gacha game that did nothing but take his money.
Yūki stared at it for a while, then gave up.
Rather than asking the system, he might as well ask when Jaden could print a few more cards.
He opened the other Booster Pack.
A black dragon coiled amid thunderclouds, and purplish-black lightning slashed across the Booster Pack's cover.
[Archetype Pack: Thunder Dragon] [Draw cost: 300 Duel Coins] [Available draws: 21]
Yūki rubbed his hands together.
"HERO's hit a bottleneck for now. Perfect time to switch lanes."
"How could I not try a loaded deck like Thunder Dragon, with its hand discards and easy Fusion Summons?"
He immediately selected the option to draw them all.
Twenty-one black Booster Packs lined up in midair.
A moment later, every Booster Pack split open at once.
White, blue, and purple light erupted across the living room.
Yūki instinctively sat up straight.
"Give me something good."
The first card flipped over.
[Thunder Dragon].
The second.
[Thunder Dragon].
The third.
Still [Thunder Dragon].
Yūki nodded.
"That's more like it."
Three copies of the basic piece. At least the system wasn't planning to send him out to get beaten up with half a deck.
The remaining cards flipped over one after another.
[Thunder Dragondark].
[Thunder Dragonduo].
[Thunder Dragonhawk].
[Thunder Dragon Fusion].
[Thunder Dragon Colossus].
[Thunder Dragon Titan].
The more Yūki flipped through, the more energized he became.
This deck really was expensive.
Even setting aside the two bosses, archetypal engine pieces like Thunder Dragondark and Thunder Dragonroar would be rare commodities that sellers treated like treasures out in the world.
It really wasn't surprising that Mokuba Kaiba could produce a complete set.
If the Kaiba Corporation's second young master couldn't even assemble a full set of his own company's latest series, Blue-Eyes White Dragon would probably have to take the blame for the corporation's financial reports.
All the cards entered the system's storage.
Yūki immediately spread them across the table and began sorting them.
A dozen or so minutes later, his movements slowed.
After another while, he put a [Thunder Dragondark] back into the pile and stared at his draft deck list on the table, his expression darkening.
Three copies of Thunder Dragon.
Two copies of Thunder Dragon Fusion.
One Thunder Dragon Colossus and one Thunder Dragon Titan.
Those were acceptable enough.
But he only had one Thunder Dragondark and one Thunder Dragonroar.
Every key piece was a singleton.
Never mind three copies-he hadn't even managed two.
Yūki picked up Thunder Dragondark, put him down, then picked up Thunder Dragonroar.
"Twenty-one packs."
"And you only give me one of each?"
The cards naturally didn't answer.
Yūki leaned back in his chair.
When he had opened the HERO packs earlier, Elemental HERO Neos, Elemental HERO Stratos, and a whole bunch of Fusion Monsters had appeared one after another. He had thought he and the system had reached some sort of understanding.
Now it seemed he had been overthinking it.
Luck didn't disappear.
It just crouched in a corner and laughed at you when you wanted your key cards most.
"Fine."
Yūki put the cards away one by one.
"An unfinished deck is still playable."
The Thunder Dragon archetype had a strong enough foundation.
Even without the maximum number of key pieces, he could still use it to test play styles and familiarize himself with its resource lines.
Once he saved up enough Duel Coins later, he could fill in the gaps.
He put his newly assembled Thunder Dragon Deck into a deck box, then glanced at the HERO Deck beside it.
One was a deck of sunny, hot-blooded HEROs.
The other was Thunder Dragon, with hand discards, recycling, easy Fusion Summons, and search lockdowns.
Beside those were Hand Destruction, Needle Worm card milling, and Lava Golem burn.
Looking at the table, Yūki suddenly felt that his deck boxes resembled a wholesale market for shady decks.
"How am I supposed to answer when people ask what deck I main?"
"'A little of everything'?"
If he said that, people would probably take him for a rookie who couldn't afford cards and threw random ones together.
Who would imagine he really could pull out every one of those decks and beat people with them?
His phone vibrated on the table.
The screen lit up with a message from Jaden.
[Yūki! Have you left the Kaiba Corporation yet?]
[I passed Duel Academy's written exam!]
Yūki froze for a moment as he looked at the messages on his phone.
Right, today was also the day of Duel Academy's written entrance exam.
[I just saw Kaiba Land's announcement. Duel Academy's practical exam will be held there tomorrow!]
[Let's go together!]
Looking at that final exclamation mark, Yūki could picture Jaden holding his phone, practically bouncing out of his chair.
He just didn't know whether Jaden had come in last like he had in the original story.
Duel Academy's written exam selected 110 duelists this time.
And Jaden had placed exactly 110th, a bottom-ranked student in every sense.
For a professor like Cronos, who upheld elite education, it was perfectly normal to dislike a poor student like Jaden.
He also remembered that Jaden seemed to have met Little Yugi on the way to the exam.
Besides giving Jaden a Kuriboh card with a spirit attached, he had also made a phone call to pull some strings for Jaden.
After all, Jaden really did seem to have been late, and under the rules, he could indeed have been disqualified from taking the exam.
Getting in through the back door had only made Cronos dislike Jaden even more.
During the test, he had brought out his ace deck-Ancient Gear.
Looking at his phone, Yūki sent a one-word reply.
[Sure.]
The moment his message went through, Jaden's reply popped up.
[Awesome! See you tomorrow, then!]
Another message followed right after.
[Oh, right, how did collecting your prize at the Kaiba Corporation go today?]
Yūki glanced at the newly assembled Thunder Dragon Deck on the table and typed his reply.
[Not bad.]
[The Kaiba Corporation gave me a deck.]
Several seconds passed before Jaden replied.
[Huh?]
Yūki set his phone facedown on the table without explaining further.
In the living room, the Thunder Dragon Deck lay quietly beside the HERO Deck.
Tomorrow's practical exam should be very interesting.
Before you continue