Now he had only one card left. This was not the only duel he had ever lost, and the opponent in front of him was not the strongest he had ever faced. But this was absolutely the duel that made him want to punch someone the most.
From start to finish, he had not even been able to play a single card.
"I set two cards and end my turn," Yugen said.
Two more face down cards appeared in his back row. This time, when Koji looked at those abyss like sets, his earlier contempt was completely gone. His breathing almost caught in his throat.
Again? Please, no. Just let me play one card.
The duel had clearly gone far beyond what the onlookers expected. The students on both sides exchanged looks, each one just as confused as the next. The duel felt strange, deeply strange, in a way that was hard to explain.
There was no fast paced offense or clash of power, only someone deliberately wrecking another person's mental state. There were no flashy summons or massive monsters, only the quiet satisfaction of denial. One side had not played a single card, so there was no strategy to analyze at all, while every move from the other side seemed driven by one idea.
Pure spite.
It was like a silent declaration that winning did not matter, as long as the other person was not allowed to play Yu-Gi-Oh!. That was the very definition of taking revenge on the world.
"Junior, this is not the right way to duel," Koji said, forcing himself to sound like a gentle senior.
His twitching facial muscles and shaking voice betrayed him. Yugen simply smiled and politely gestured for him to continue, signaling that it was his turn to play Yu-Gi-Oh! again.
That said, everyone knew how cruel Yu-Gi-Oh! could be. As long as one side could still play, that was already enough.
Koji unwillingly raised his Duel Disk again. "Then it's my turn," he said through clenched teeth.
He had only one card left in hand, an equip spell, useless without a monster. This draw would decide everything. A true duelist would never retreat here, just like the legendary Duel King Yugi Muto said, believe in your deck and it will answer you.
He believed in the bond between himself and his deck.
Koji Sato placed his fingers on the deck, took a deep breath, and prayed silently. Please, give me a level four monster. He drew the card in a smooth arc, full of hope.
The moment he saw the card, his pupils shook and he nearly burst out laughing. It was here. Not only was it a summonable monster, it was Magma Lizard Hero, level four with 1850 attack.
Compared to the popular 1800 attack beaters on the market, those extra 50 points felt like pure mockery. It was the strongest low level monster in his deck. His deck had answered his feelings.
Just as the corner of Koji's mouth lifted and the horn of counterattack seemed ready to sound, his smile froze. One of the face down cards on the other side flipped open.
Trap Card, Drop Off, version two.
Activated during the opponent's draw phase, the drawn card is sent directly to the graveyard.
Koji Sato said nothing.
"According to the effect of Drop Off," Yugen said politely, "please discard that card as well."
Koji bit his lip until it almost bled. With a twisted expression, he sent the key comeback card, Magma Lizard Hero, to the graveyard. Looking down, he saw that the only card left in his hand was still that lonely equip spell.
"End… end my turn," Koji said in frustration.
"Then it's my turn. Draw."
Yugen glanced at the card he drew, another trap. His hand was overflowing with traps, but the opponent clearly had no cards left to be trapped. He added it to his hand and waved casually. "Don Zaloog, direct attack."
"Koji, LP 2600 to 1200."
"Don Zaloog's effect activates again. Of course, the first effect."
Yugen pointed at the last card in Koji's hand. "Throw that away too."
Watching his final card hit the graveyard, Koji suddenly realized that maybe he should have set it last turn. Even if it meant nothing, at least it would have stayed on the field. His mindset had completely collapsed, and he had forgotten something that basic.
"End my turn," Yugen said.
"Then my turn, draw."
This time Koji did not even look at the card he drew. He stared straight at Yugen's back row, as if asking whether there were still traps waiting. After a moment, Yugen smiled and gestured for him to proceed.
Barely making it past the draw phase and into standby, Koji Sato felt like crying. He had never imagined that simply drawing a card could feel like such a luxury. When he finally looked at the card in his hand, his spirits lifted again.
Vengeful Killer Doll, level four, attack 1600.
Normally it was an unremarkable monster, but right now that 1600 attack was life saving. Don Zaloog was disgusting, but its attack was only 1400. At last, he could get rid of that sword wielding grave robber that kept stripping his hand every turn.
"I summon 'Vengeful Killer Doll' in attack position," Koji Sato shouted. "Attack 'Don Zaloog'! Kill it, kill it!"
"Easy, easy, my friend," Yugen said with a smile. "Calm down. Duels are meant to be played with a smile."
"And before that, it's not the battle phase yet. I activate a trap."
He pointed to a face down card that flipped up. "Trap Card, Compulsory Evacuation Device. Return one monster on the field to its owner's hand. I return 'Vengeful Killer Doll' to your hand."
The trap took effect, and the cursed doll, axe still raised, turned into a flash of light and flew back into Koji Sato's hand. That card was now his only card. Worse still, he had already used his normal summon for the turn.
There was nothing left he could do.
What would happen next was obvious. He would end his turn, then that damned Don Zaloog would attack again and force him to discard his last card. No, it would not even get that far. With only 1200 LP left, one more hit would finish him.
In the end, however, Yugen never got the chance to reduce Koji Sato's LP to zero. Before the next turn could begin, Koji Sato attempted to physically attack his opponent during the duel. He was quickly restrained by the surrounding students and immediately disqualified, losing the duel on the spot.
Yugen gradually discovered the fun of dueling in this other world. However, he soon realized that happiness in the world really did balance itself out. As he became happier, the fellow apprentices at Duel Dojo seemed to lose interest in dueling.
In just three short days, no one was willing to schedule a match with him anymore. Yugen could only tilt his head up toward the sky and let out a quiet sigh.
He now started to understand why Yugi Muto once said that before meeting Pharaoh Atem, he could not make any friends at all. Apparently, people like this really were not meant to have friends.
Eventually, the situation even caught the attention of the hall master. The head of Duel Dojo was called Kageru Takeuchi, and it was said that in his youth he had once reached the top thirty-two of the Town Duel Tournament.