The trainees laughed on the sidelines while the two duelists took their positions on opposite sides of the field. Sato was relaxed, feeling a lofty confidence as he looked at his junior. It was less about improving through sparring and more about showing off in front of everyone, even if the latter was the bigger reason.
After all, a three star veteran against a one star junior, how could that possibly go wrong?
Both Duel Disk activated, and each drew five cards. "Duel!" x2
Yugen, LP 4000 Sato, LP 4000
"I'll go first. Draw."
Yugen drew a card from his deck. This was still the era where the first player could draw, unlike many years later in his previous life. Turn order was randomly decided by the Duel Disk, and the player who went first could even choose to pass if they wanted.
After scanning his six card opening hand, he gave a slight nod. It was not perfect, but it was decent enough. "First, this card."
He pulled out a card and slotted it into the Duel Disk. "I pay 1000 life points to activate the spell card, Delinquent Duo!"
Yugen, LP 4000 to 3000
As the card activated, a green spell projection appeared in front of him, and two small demons, one red and one blue, flew out with the numbers "1" and "2" above their heads. "This card's effect makes my opponent randomly discard one card, then choose one more card to discard."
A brutally efficient hand destruction card from early tournaments, trading one for two. In his previous life, this kind of card had been banned alongside Pot of Greed, so this was the first time he had ever actually played it himself.
The demons flew forward and snatched a card from Sato's hand without hesitation. Sato frowned, then chose another card and sent it to the graveyard. After that, Yugen made no further moves and smoothly set three cards face down.
"I end my turn."
He gestured politely. Now it was your turn to play Yu-Gi-Oh!. Any real card player facing three unknown back row cards would already be sweating, but in this bright and naive era, Sato showed no sense of danger at all.
He even maintained a friendly senior's smile and spoke in a lecturing tone. "Didn't draw any monsters on the first turn? You should balance monsters and spells when building your deck. Anyway, my turn. Draw!"
"Wait," Yugen said, cutting him off and waving his hand. "The moment you draw, my trap activates. I flip Trap Card, Drop Off. During your draw phase, the card you draw is sent straight to the graveyard."
Sato froze. After a brief hesitation, he sent the freshly drawn card to the Duel Disk's graveyard. When he looked down at his hand again, he finally sensed something was wrong.
Neither side had summoned a single monster yet, and it felt like the duel had barely begun, but Sato's six card opening hand was already cut in half. Worse, he realized an even more painful problem. He had no monsters left in hand.
One of the discarded cards from Delinquent Duo had been a low level monster, and the card just sent away was another. Of the three cards left in his hand, none could be summoned. Still, there was a way out.
"Tch, in that case, I activate a spell card from my hand."
He slammed down one of his remaining cards. Monster Reborn. From DM to GX, it was a highly valued comeback card in both reality and animation.
"I use Monster Reborn to revive Zera the Mant from my graveyard in attack position!"
A warrior in green armor holding a greatsword appeared at the center of the field, standing tall as the first monster of the duel. Zera the Mant, ATK 1600
If he had a choice, Sato would not want to waste such a precious card on a weak monster, but he had no other plays. Hesitation in a duel meant defeat, and he had to seize the chance to build momentum.
"I flip a face down card," Yugen said calmly. "Trap Card, Bottomless Trap Hole. When you summon a monster with 1500 or more attack, that monster is destroyed and banished."
Zera the Mant had barely steadied his footing when a dark pit opened beneath him. He fell straight in, followed by a loud explosion, and vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Sato stared in silence.
With only two cards left in hand and an empty field, it might have been his imagination, but Ken Sato felt his blood pressure starting to rise.
Koji Sato closed his eyes and kept taking deep breaths, repeating the rule to himself again and again. A real duelist should stay calm even if a mountain collapsed in front of him, never letting impulse take over his judgment. Right now, remembering that rule while facing the brat in front of him was extremely hard. After all, hitting people was a foul.
With only two cards left in hand and nothing he could do, Koji Sato ground his teeth and announced the end of his turn. The turn passed to Yugen, and the happy time started again. The shift in momentum was so obvious that it almost hurt to watch.
"Draw," Yugen said, pulling a card from his deck.
At this point, Koji Sato's field was completely empty, front row and back row spotless. In this era, before Yu-Gi-Oh! was flooded with hand traps, an empty field was basically the same as standing naked in the street. It was the kind of situation where attacking felt natural and guilt free.
Yugen did not waste words and slapped the monster card he had just drawn onto the field.
"I summon 'Don Zaloog' in attack position!"
A weathered one eyed warrior appeared on Yugen's field, an eyepatch covering one eye.
"Don Zaloog, attack 1400."
"Enter battle," Yugen ordered. "Don Zaloog, direct attack."
The warrior obeyed, pulling out two revolvers and firing wildly like Soo Tsubame. A string of projected bullets passed straight through Koji's body, and the invisible impact made him stagger back half a step.
In the latest duel systems developed by Kaiba Corporation, monsters summoned through the Duel Disk were not just holograms. They were paired with sensory impact devices that simulated force and pain. While they caused no real injury, they were more than enough to make a duel feel real.
"Koji, LP 4000 to 2600."
Taking the hit head on, he took a deep breath. It was only a trash monster with 1400 attack, something he could still endure. At least, that was what he thought.
Yugen smiled. "The effect of 'Don Zaloog' activates. When this card inflicts battle damage, I can choose one of two effects. Either you discard one random card from your hand, or you send the top two cards of your deck to the graveyard."
Koji's eyelid twitched hard.
"Wait, you are not saying that you want to… you want to…"
His face twisted as fear crept in, and his body stepped back on instinct. It was clear which choice terrified him more.
"That's right," Yugen said calmly. "I choose the first effect. Another card from your hand is erased."
The sound of a gunshot rang out as Don Zaloog raised its revolver. A projected hole appeared in one of the two remaining cards in Koji's hand. Gritting his teeth, he sent another card to the graveyard, his eyes bloodshot with anger.