He's probably excited, and so am I. One more turn, it's all I need. Just survive one more turn...
"I end my turn."
[End Phase]
"You're losing your Employee of the Month title, kiddo!"
"How!? What kind of sick monster are you even saving inside your Deck?"
"You'll have to wait to see it."
Of course, I could try to remember which monsters he has in his Deck Extra. However, I'd rather not do that. It's not because of any moral reason; I just can't. My head hurts too much already, and if I use it again, I might straight out be unable to keep playing.
[Turn 5]
[Lukas Edison's Turn]
[Draw Phase]
"Draw!"
He draws two cards again, and I can immediately tell that all the pieces for his winning formula have been gathered. It's the tiniest shift in his expression, from confidence to assurance.
However, I don't believe it. I think it is a bluff... Or well, maybe I wish it was a bluff.
[Main Phase]
"I will Normal Summon 'Moon Magician' and Special Summon 'Lightray Grepher' from my Graveyard through 'Moon Magician''s effect. Lastly, I will use my second Normal Summon to bring forth 'The Golden Swordsoul'!"
['Moon Magician', Normal Summoned in face-up Attack Position to Lukas' Second Monster Zone]
['Lightray Grepher', Special Summoned in face-up Attack Position to Lukas' Third Monster Zone]
['The Golden Swordsoul', Normal Summoned in face-up Attack Position to Lukas' Fifth Monster Zone]
['Moon Magician', Light Monster]
[Level 4/Spellcaster/Effect]
[1800 ATK, 1500 DEF]
[If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 Level 4 LIGHT monster in your GY, except "Moon Magician"; Special Summon it, but negate its effects.]
['Lightray Grepher', Light Monster]
[Level 4/Warrior/Effect]
[1700 ATK, 1600 DEF]
['The Golden Swordsoul', Light Monster]
[Level 4/Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect]
[1800 ATK, 1500 DEF]
Three Level 4 monsters, but one of them is a tuner. Is he bringing out an XYZ or a Synchro Monster? If it's an XYZ Monster, I truly am stupid. I should've left 'Batteryman Charger' alive at 0 ATK and with negated effects and Direct Attacked, since 'Comic Hand' allows the equipped monster to Direct Attack.
If I did, he wouldn't have had enough space for the XYZ Summon, and I would've won by living through this turn. Dammit, dammit, dammit!!
"I overlay 'Moon Magician', 'Lighray Grepher' and 'The Golden Swordsoul' to XYZ Summon 'Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon', behold, it's my father's ace monster!"
"Aw, man. That's so unfair. I don't have a single card I didn't get from the trash..."
"Your Deck isn't that bad... Just not good enough." Heh, how funny.
I do have 'One-Eyed Skill Gainer' and 'Solemn Judgment', but it doesn't change my point. I bet not a single one of those last four monsters was found in the trash. They don't fit his archetype at all!
['Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon', XYZ Summoned in Attack Position to the Right Extra Monster Zone]
"This isn't all, I will detach 3 cards from Number 91 to destroy all other face-up monsters in the field!"
'Kay, yup. I lost. It was so close, if only I hadn't fucked up so hard so many times... No, my Deck being inferior and at a disadvantage isn't a valid excuse. Because I could've played ten times better.
Every other monster in the field is struck by thunder, falling one after the other. The last one to be struck is 'Starliege Paladynamo'. And with its destruction, my loss is inevitable...
['Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon', Light Monster]
[Rank 4/Dragon/XYZ/Effect]
[2400 ATK, 2000 DEF]
[3 Level 4 monsters
Detach 3 Xyz Materials from this card; destroy all other face-up monsters on the field.]
"I enter my Battle Phase."
[Battle Phase]
"Well, it was a fun Duel. But all things come to an end."
"I'll gladly hand over my title; you earned it."
"Heh, thanks."
"'Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon', strike Yuta with a thunder! Direct Attack!"
"AAHHH!!"
[Yuta's LP: 1300 --> 0]
[1100 Overload Damage]
[Winner: Lukas Edison]
[Duel End]
I sigh and sit down, leaning back to watch the starry sky. There's so much room for improvement, it feels almost infinite. Countless. Like the stars themselves.
I lower my head, and I notice Lukas is approaching me. He extends his hand to me, and I grab it. He pulls me up without a trouble, and turns it into a handshake once I stand up. His expression is painted with a wide smile.
"I wanna tell you, kid. I mean it when I say I enjoyed our Duel. Would be cool if we could have a rematch someday. Once your Deck is finished."
"Don't you worry, Lukas. I ain't gonna sit back and accept it so easily. Get ready, next time I won't make as many mistakes!"
"Mistakes? Right, could you show me your card 'Comic Hand'?"
Show him my card? That is interesting. Maybe he wants to check something about its description? I nod and search it on my Deck. I only have two copies of it. I hand one over to him, and I can see him carefully reading the text on the card.
"Right, kid. You can use 'Comic Hand' more than once per turn."
"Wait, no way- Really!?"
"Yeah, look." He shows me the card, and it is true that it doesn't have the typical 'you can only use this effect once per turn'.
"No way, man... I thought it was only once per turn, like most cards. Dammit!"
He laughs, maybe proud of having discovered that mistake I made?
"Don't worry, kid, I know you'll become a great Duelist. Plus, what other mistakes did you even make?"
"I- None... I could've played better, but it's not like... I could know your cards hahah."
Yes, most of the mistakes I made were assuming I knew what his Deck exactly had. So half of the stuff I did wrong during the Duel was because I didn't use my unique power. Which I guess would give me an unfair advantage.
Should I even use this power?
"Ho-ho. Don't sweat about it, it's impossible to predict what cards your opponent has!"
"Yeah. I guess I'm just judging myself too harshly."
I hear a beep outta nowhere. I look down at my terminal, and I realise a message has popped up.
[Lukas Edison has transferred 1100 Duel Points]
"Why did you-?"
"We only dueled to see if I snitched on you. Those Duel Points are for you, so you can work towards finishing your Deck. I look forward to it, Yuta!"
He smiles and turns around, leaving. The direction he's leaving tells me he probably actually lives in the richest zone of the slums. The city is divided into three Districts, District X, Y, and Z. X is the richest, and Z is the poorest. Yet, even the slums exist outside of the Districts.
Funnily enough, even the slums have their own internal separation. Not every poor person is equally poor, I guess.
"Thank you, Lukas!" I call to him, having to shout. Not cool having to do that late at night. Wait, right, the hour. I check my terminal, as always. The hour doesn't surprise me, 11:03 pm. My brother is waiting for me at home, but he's probably already asleep.
Despite how awful today was, having almost died, it was also not that bad. Look, I got a cool power that might be morally questionable. I got to Duel against a person with a lot of experience and a strong Deck. And I even got out with some Duel Points.
Those Duel Points are exclusively the shopping Duel Points, since the normal Duel Points make you rank up in the city's rank, but still. Duel Points allow you to shop for cards, food, and other necessary basic stuff.
If I remember correctly, a pack of cards for a chosen archetype is 15k Duel Points. Strong cards such as 'Infinite Impermanence' go for about 100k Duel Points. Food, on the contrary, is significantly cheaper... You can get a full meal for 500 Duel Points.
The optimal way is to climb the ranks; if you climb the ranks, you get additional Duel Points for shopping.
'Kay, I've decided what my next objective will be. I need to climb the ranks. And the easiest way to do that is by enrolling in Duel Academy in District Y. For that, though, I need to pay the tax for entering District X, and then the one for entering District Y.
After that, the only thing stopping me from entering Duel Academy will be the exam price, which sits at 25k Duel Points.
Well, now that I have just settled that, I start making my way back home. Tomorrow starts my grind for Duel Points. Dueling equals money, and money equals power.