Yu-Gi-Oh!: Starting with a Hellish Deck to Depress the World

It either destroyed every monster on the opponent's field or every monster on its user's field.

It was the ultimate gambler's deck...

Someone with supernatural Duel Spirit powers or the like, who could greatly influence the outcome of a coin toss, might just barely be able to handle it.

But in anyone else's hands, it was obviously nothing more than a pure gambler's deck.

Jiang He didn't think he could handle a deck that was so "hellish" to its own user...

He now had the Duel Spirit Sight Ability and the Crimson Dragon's protective power from the Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark, which kept him from being harmed by Shadow Duels.

But neither of those was obviously any use at all when it came to coin tosses!

So Jiang He immediately eliminated the Arcana Force deck from his exchange options.

The deck was so "hellish" that it stood out from the rest...

As for the two remaining, genuinely hellish decks,

As far as Jiang He knew,

The Morphing Jar deck was a hellish mill deck that required considerable maneuvering to meet various chain conditions and endlessly send cards from the opponent's deck to the graveyard.

The other hellish burn deck, the Stealth Bird deck, was obviously much easier to pick up and use!

After all, there had to be a reason it cost more exchange points.

But Jiang He was a man with dueling ambitions, determined to heal the world and spread laughter and love.

How could he possibly be the kind of unambitious player who liked to lie back and win without effort?

Therefore, after solemn and careful deliberation,

Jiang He decisively chose the Stealth Bird deck, which was easy to use and had even more hellish effects.

Well, this is great.jpg

If he could lie back and win even more easily, wouldn't he be an idiot not to?

Especially since this burn deck did have its weaknesses, and if an opponent specifically countered it, they might not be easy to deal with.

But as long as they didn't know he was using this hellish deck,

Jiang He was sure the deck would do a splendid job of depressing them!

He just wondered who the first unlucky soul to come knocking would be, letting him test the power of his new deck.

"Jiang He, so you really are here."

Just as Jiang He continued to lounge in the sun, drinking his juice,

He suddenly heard footsteps and a familiar, somewhat resentful voice approaching from the direction of the stairs to the rooftop.

Jiang He raised an eyebrow and looked up to see Jaden Yuki and his two underlings, Syrus Truesdale and Chumley, had come looking for him.

They had just reached the rooftop from the stairs, their faces full of resentment.

"Wah! You're living the life...! I'm so jealous!" Syrus Truesdale saw Jiang He's sunbathing setup of a beach chair and juice, and tears streamed down his face with envy.

Once again, he treated Jiang He to the sight of two streams of tears snaking down his face like noodles.

Chumley nodded in full agreement.

Compared with the half day of noise they'd endured back at the dorm, Jiang He really was enjoying himself in paradise!

"Ahem... What brings you three here?" Jiang He coughed to cover his embarrassment, then asked Jaden Yuki and the others without batting an eye.

"We just heard some shocking news on our way to find you, so we came to tell you!"

At his question, Jaden Yuki immediately put his resentment and envy out of his mind.

He quickly collected himself and spoke to Jiang He.

"Something big happened! It looks like Chazz Princeton voluntarily dropped out and left Duel Academy!"

As Jaden Yuki spoke, Syrus Truesdale and Chumley both looked quite solemn.

After all, Chazz was the former top student of Obelisk Blue, who had just dueled Jiang He and then Jaden Yuki in the past few days.

It really was big news at Duel Academy.

"So that's the big news you wanted to tell me... I already knew about it last night."

Jiang He yawned speechlessly and lay back down on his beach chair, bored out of his mind, as he answered.

He had thought something else big had happened.

That goofball Chazz Princeton would come back on his own before long. There was no need to worry about him.

"You already knew last night?" Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, and Chumley were all a little embarrassed.

The three of them looked up at the midday sky and fell silent.

It seemed their news was "just a billion" steps behind...

"If there's nothing else, I'll get back to sunbathing. See you at the dorm later." Jiang He raised a hand slightly, then closed his eyes again and resumed enjoying the comfortable sunshine.

"Wait, there's something even more important."

Seeing that, Jaden Yuki hurriedly spoke up.

"We heard that news on our way here. What we're about to tell you is the main reason we came looking for you!"

Chapter 49: As Expected of a Professional!

"Jiang He, let's go on an adventure to that abandoned dorm deep in Duel Academy tonight! It's bound to be fun!" Jaden Yuki said excitedly.

"The abandoned dorm deep in Duel Academy?" Jiang He couldn't help raising an eyebrow. He opened his eyes again and looked over in puzzlement.

Wasn't that the dorm where Alexis Rhodes's brother had disappeared, the one closely connected to Shadow Duels?

These three really weren't afraid of dying...

"Professor Banner told us there was a dorm like that."

Seeing Jiang He's expression, Syrus Truesdale thought he didn't know what dorm they meant and immediately explained how it had come up.

"Because of all the noise from the construction crew building your house today, Chumley, Jaden, and I all hid in the dining hall at the Slifer Red dorm.

We played a game to pass the time, drawing Duel Monsters and telling a scary story at a level corresponding to the number of stars on the monster we drew."

"Professor Banner happened to come by too, and he drew a level twelve monster. Then he told us this scary rumor."

"Apparently, there's an abandoned dorm deep in Duel Academy, and there's a terrifying legend about it involving Shadow Duels. It's a dorm that eats people!"

Watching Syrus Truesdale's legs tremble as he spoke,

Jiang He fell silent.

Was this the legendary case of someone who was bad at it but loved doing it anyway...?

"So Jaden and we are planning to go there tonight and see if it's true that the dorm has something to do with the legendary Shadow Duels," Chumley added.

"Jiang He, come exploring with us! There's bound to be something interesting inside that dorm!" Jaden Yuki eagerly proposed to Jiang He again.

"Besides, Shadow Duels and all that are probably just ancient legends."

"Even according to the rumors, to start a Shadow Duel, you'd need something like the Millennium Items that Mr. Yugi Muto, the King of Games, once had."

"Even if the rumors are true, nobody could possibly still have one now."

"You actually learned to think seriously about something other than dueling..." Jiang He looked at Jaden Yuki, too drained to even make a proper retort.

Unfortunately, his analysis was completely wrong!

Because as far as Jiang He knew, even without a powerful item like the Millennium Items,

Certain other special dark items or the power of Duel Spirits could also easily start a Shadow Duel...

"Since you've all put it that way, I guess I can't really refuse." Jiang He spread his hands and agreed.

He was a little interested in the abandoned dorm himself, anyway.

Especially since,

If a Shadow Duel really did turn up, Jiang He couldn't ask for anything better!

It would be the perfect chance to test the Crimson Dragon's protective power from the Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark, which he had just exchanged for through the system last night!

He could experience what a Shadow Duel was really like.

"Kuri, kuri."

Just then, the brown Sphere Kuriboh on his shoulder suddenly gave a soft cry and pointed a stubby little hand toward the distant stairwell, alerting him.

It was as if he had noticed something.

"That blond mushroom-head from before... Does he mean Professor Crowler?" Jiang He glanced toward the stairwell and immediately guessed who the little fellow meant, musing to himself.

"Huh? Is someone over there?" Jaden Yuki had also seen Sphere Kuriboh point toward the stairwell, apparently saying something to Jiang He.

A little puzzled, he looked over as well.

But when Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, and Chumley, the latter two completely unaware of what was happening, went over to look down the stairwell, there was no sign of anyone at all.

Elsewhere, in a dimly lit mountain forest on Duel Academy grounds,

A blond, mushroom-headed figure was happily talking to himself, apparently waiting to meet someone.

"Poor-student boy and Jaden Yuki are planning to go to the abandoned dorm tonight. What wonderful news, ooh-hoo-hoo."

Crowler gave a sly laugh, a "comical" expression on his face.

"Now I know where poor-student boy and his friends will be going. I might even be able to get Jaden Yuki defeated while we're at it. All that's left is to wait for that rumored duelist to meet me."

"Tap."

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from the woods to the side.

Crowler quickly turned to look.

Before long, he saw a tall, burly man shrouded in a loose black trench coat, wearing a black half-mask shaped like a bat and a black hat.

He carried a black briefcase.

"Oh, so you're the one who calls himself a Shadow Duelist."

"That's right. I am the legendary Shadow Duelist, Titan, the duelist hunter," the burly man in the black trench coat said with a cold nod.

"Let's talk price. My fee isn't cheap. Whatever happens to the client in the meantime has nothing to do with me. I will carry out the job coldly, exactly as hired."

As he spoke, a mysterious white mist suddenly began to spread around him.

In the blink of an eye, thick fog covered the ground of the dim forest clearing.

"Are you really sure there won't be a problem? You must make sure the camera and photographs poor-student boy has are destroyed."

Crowler glanced at the thick fog spreading from the other man's side to surround him and suddenly spoke with inexplicable doubt.

He didn't know why, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the fog looked rather like what dry ice produced as it evaporated...

"Of course. I am a professional, a duelist hunter. I never expose my back to anyone," Titan said, still coldly.