Tenjo Hikari takes the first turn and draws a card from the Deck.
Tenjo Hikari glances down at the cards in his hand, his mind involuntarily starting to think.
Despite always chanting "Fusion! Fusion! Fusion!!", as if the only thing on his mind is fusion, those familiar with him, such as friends and teachers, actually know that Tenjo Hikari pursues fusion because he genuinely loves it. However, Tenjo Hikari is a very rational and thoughtful person.
This is actually quite normal.
Before coming to this world, when playing cards with someone, every card might have countless other cards waiting to follow, and there's actually a substantial amount to consider, so proper preparation is necessary.
He looks up at the "Eye". In Pegasus' phantom, the golden eyeball embedded in his left eye continuously emits light, seemingly peering into Tenjo Hikari's inner thoughts.
Tenjo Hikari doesn't know how much this gaze can see, but since President Pegasus says that even with his alchemy, he can't resist it, Tenjo Hikari assumes that the opponent can see all his hand cards.
Although in modern OCG, by the second turn, both players usually have a clear idea of each other's hand cards and what has been covered, it doesn't mean it's the same as "open cards".
The reason is simple: the classic "Magical Meltdown Ash or not" dilemma.
Activating Magical Meltdown allows you to search for an Aleister the Invoker, while Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring can negate the effect of adding cards from the Deck to the Hand, sending them to the Graveyard or Special Summoning them.
The classic dilemma revolving around Magical Meltdown, Aleister, and Ash Blossom is whether to discard Ash Blossom or not.
If the opponent activates Magical Meltdown and you discard Ash Blossom, preventing them from searching for Aleister, and if other hand cards are stuck, you essentially stall your opponent for one card and directly proceed to your turn.
But if the opponent activates Magical Meltdown just to bait out Ash, and actually has an Aleister in hand, summoning it and starting operations, then the Ash Blossom becomes a wasted card.
Similarly, if you didn't discard Ash Blossom and the opponent searches Aleister, then Normal Summons Aleister trying to add "Invocation" from the Deck to the hand, this is where the problem lies—it's necessary to discard Ash Blossom at this point.
If the opponent doesn't have Invocation in their hand, it's fine. But if they initially have Invocation but no Aleister, then Ash Blossom becomes an ignored Hand Pit, wasting a card for nothing. Reviewing the game afterwards and realizing that Ashing the Magical Meltdown would've won the game could lead to regret.
The hand pit interaction in modern Yu Gi Oh is this kind of "gambling", hence what Tenjo Hikari excels at is using the card's information asymmetry to gamble.
Unless the card difference is too large, such as an open Tearlaments against an informed Sky Striker, "information" is always crucial.
But now...
The opponent can see all his hand cards, while he has no idea what's in the opponent's hand, making Tenjo Hikari uncomfortable.
Moreover, even if Tenjo Hikari closes his eyes and lets Tierra operate, he finds it hard to stop thinking. Upon hearing Tierra choose cards and proceed with operations, he will quickly form associations and make judgments based on his understanding.
"It seems Tenjo Hikari is having a headache too? Up until now, he still hasn't played any cards," Para observed the scene through the glass, arms crossed and frowning.
"It's because of the mind reading ability, it's the first time Tenjo-san encountered it, he must be struggling, right?" Maeda Hayato worries for Tenjo Hikari.
"President, let me go then—even if it doesn't work, let me explore the path for Tenjo Hikari first." France offers again.
Pegasus gently shakes his head, signaling the group to watch.
Browsing his cards, Tenjo Hikari hesitates for a moment and finally decides to play and see the actual outcome.
"Activate Continuous Spell, Brilliant Fusion!"
On Tenjo Hikari's field, a pure white transparent gem slowly lights up, gently illuminating the scene within the room.
"As the effect resolution when this card is activated, using monsters from the own Deck as Fusion Material to perform a Fusion Summon with an ATK·DEF of 0 for a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster. When this card leaves the field, the monster is destroyed."
Tenjo Hikari quickly selects two cards from his Deck and sends them to the Graveyard: "I choose Gem-Knight Lapis and A-Assault Core!"
"Fusion conditions are a Gem-Knight monster and a Light Attribute monster!"
The diamond emits colors, and a green garnet drops from the sky. Then, a fluorescent green glow begins to flicker, and an elegant Gem-Knight descends from the sky.
"Fusion Summon!"
"Gem-Knight Seraphinite!"
Lapis dramatically swings the cloak to Tenjo Hikari's field, ready to speak, but sees Tenjo Hikari immediately play the next card, seeming very urgent.
Gem-Knight Seraphinite, LV 5, Earth Attribute, Fairy-Type, ATK 2300.
"Spell Card, Frightfur Patchwork."
"According to this card's effect, I add a Polymerization and an Edge Imp Chain from my Deck to my hand. I add Fusion Substitute and Edge Imp Chain to my hand."