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Chapter 3: The First Battle
Chapter 3: The First Battle
With his newly acquired starter deck from the distant world, You Xuan proceeded to scrutinize and familiarize himself with the cards, naturally growing eager to test them out.
There's hardly a Duelist who wouldn't want to try out a freshly crafted deck.
And so, his first choice of opponent led him directly to the Gym he belonged to in his previous life, intending to randomly challenge a fellow Gym member for a duel.
Upon arriving at the Gym, he found a group of students gathered noisily around someone.
"As expected of Sato, he actually succeeded in crossing the Tribulation!"
You Xuan raised an eyebrow, curious as to what the fuss was about.
In the center of the group was a young man with blond hair styled in a way that made him look like a decent Duelist. He was trying to sound modest, but couldn't hide his pride. "It's nothing much, just a stroke of luck that got me to three stars. It's not that big of a deal, haha."
"Level three, wow! I think Sato is the first one in our Gym to reach that level!"
"He's so strong!"
You Xuan frowned and searched through his past life's memories, finally understanding what they were talking about.
The Duelist Star Rating System was implemented by the Kaiba Corporation, a real-time assessment of a Duelist's strength based on their registered win-loss record in the corporation's system. It was the same system featured in the 'Yu-Gi-Oh! DM' anime.
Typically, the Duelist Star Ratings ranged from Level 1 to Level 8, encompassing eight tiers. In the DM anime's Duelist Kingdom arc, both the King of Games, Yugi Muto, and Kaiba himself were rated as Level 8 Duelists.
However, it was also evident that the system wasn't entirely infallible and could be influenced by personal factors. For instance, there was Jonouchi Katsuya, the man whom Kaiba disdainfully referred to as a "bonepile."
Jonouchi, referred to by Pegasus as the "world's third-best Duelist, after Yugi and Kaiba," was only rated as a Level 2 Duelist by the Kaiba Corporation's system, placing him in the amateur category.
It would be difficult to argue that this rating didn't reflect the personal grudge Kaiba held against the "bonepile." But that was during the time of the Duelist Kingdom arc. Jonouchi had long since been adjusted to Level 8, the highest level among regular Duelists, earning him the title of "legendary Duelist" in the eyes of the world.
As for Kaiba, he arrogantly placed himself at Level 10.
There were only two Level 10 Duelists in the world—Kaiba and the now-retired King of Games, Yugi Muto.
This setting was partly due to Kaiba's belief that he surpassed all other existing Duelists, and it also represented that Yugi was the only opponent he acknowledged as worthy of facing in this world.
Well, to say they were equals was a bit of an exaggeration. As everyone knew, Kaiba had challenged Yugi countless times throughout his life, yet he had never won a single duel against the King of Games.
In this system, You Xuan's predecessor had been rated...
A single star.
The cream of the crop among noobs.
You Xuan: (ヘ` ;)
It was apparent that his predecessor had been a weak player who loved to duel, frequently visiting the arenas owned by the Kaiba Corporation, only to lose more often than he won. As a result, his star rating had plummeted to the abyss of the rankings.
Usually, Duelists would have to duel in these arenas to increase their star rating, but it seemed that matching up only allowed one to reach a maximum of four stars. To go beyond that, one would have to participate in public tournaments.
He then recalled that when he had searched for the enrollment requirements for the Duel Academy, there had been a stipulation that applicants must be rated at least Level 3 by the Kaiba Corporation.
In this system, Level 7 and Level 8 Duelists were either legendary or top-tier professionals. Most professional players were rated Level 6, with a minority of lower-tier professionals at Level 5.
Amateur Duelists were mostly clustered at Level 2. Level 1 was for below-average newcomers, while Level 3 was considered quite skilled.
Therefore, the requirement of three stars and above for enrollment in the Duel Academy was indeed relatively high.
However, this was only to be expected. At this stage, the world of Duel Monsters was still in its infancy, and the options for Duelist education were limited. The Duel Academy founded by Kaiba was the pinnacle of these institutions, and its quality and massive investment of resources were evident to all.
In the opening of the GX anime, the principal had also mentioned the strict enrollment criteria during his speech to the entire school, emphasizing that the students present were all elites. Even the "failing" students of the Osiris Red Dormitory in the anime were, in theory, more skilled than most Duelists outside the academy.
"So, to get into the academy, I need to raise my rating first," You Xuan muttered, a slight smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
The apprentice at the center of everyone's attention was Sato Koji, the big brother of this small Gym. He seemed to have had a lucky streak this week, reaching three stars, and everyone was congratulating him.
You Xuan, being in the mood for a duel, decided that this was a good opportunity to test his skills against the big brother of the Gym.
Although the extras who appeared in the anime seemed to be rather weak, You Xuan was well aware that one could only truly gauge a Duelist's strength through firsthand experience. He couldn't rely solely on preconceived notions.
This would be a good chance to see how strong Duelists were in this world.
The Gym encouraged its students to duel frequently, and with Sato having just achieved a significant rating increase, he was in a pleasant mood. Naturally, he had no reason to refuse a duel.
When the students scattered throughout the Gym heard that a duel was about to take place, they quickly gathered around the dueling arena to spectate.
"Is it true? That Yugen is dueling Sato?"
"I thought he was only a one-star Duelist? Isn't he just asking to be crushed?"
The students chatted excitedly among themselves, while the dueling opponents took their places on opposite sides of the arena.
Well, the latter motive might have been slightly more prominent.
After all, how could a three-star veteran like him possibly lose to a one-star rookie?
The two duelists took their positions, and their Duel Disks unfolded, each drawing five cards.
"Duel!" they exclaimed in unison.
[You Xuan, LP: 4000]
[Koji, LP: 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw!" You Xuan declared as he drew a card from his deck.
Back then in the anime, the player who went first was allowed to draw an extra card. But in You Xuan's previous life, that rule had been changed many years ago, disallowing the first player from drawing an extra card.
Usually, the order of turns was randomly decided by the Duel Disks, but the player who won the right to go first could choose to relinquish it to their opponent if they wished.
You Xuan scanned his opening hand of six cards and nodded in satisfaction. While it wasn't a "perfect hand," it would certainly do.
"First, I'll play this card," he said, placing the first card into his Duel Disk.
"I pay 1000 Life Points to activate the Spell Card, 'Trick Demon Twins!' from my hand!"
[You Xuan, LP: 4000 -> LP: 3000]
As the card was played, a holographic projection of a green Spell Card appeared before You Xuan, and a pair of demons, one red and the other blue, flew out, each with a number—"1" and "2"—floating above their heads.
"This card's effect allows me to force my opponent to randomly discard a card from their hand and then choose another card to discard." You Xuan explained.
A brutal card that directly reduces the opponent's hand size by two—a simple yet violent strategy often seen in early tournaments. It was no wonder that this card, like the 'Pot of Greed,' had been banned since You Xuan started playing. So, despite his years of experience, this was his first time using it.
Without further ado, one of the demons grabbed a card from Koji's hand, and the other waited for Koji to choose another card to discard.
Koji furrowed his brows but quickly complied, selecting another card and sending it to the Graveyard.
You Xuan made no further moves and instead casually drew three more cards, setting them face-down on the field.
"Your move," he said, gesturing for Koji to continue.
Any experienced player witnessing the three face-down cards on You Xuan's field would feel a chill run down their spine, sensing the impending doom. However, Koji, dueling in the sunny world of the anime, remained oblivious to the gravity of the situation.
He even maintained his friendly senior-brother smile, offering advice in a mentoring tone: "Couldn't draw a Monster Card on your first turn? Remember, it's important to balance your deck with the right mix of monsters and spell-traps.
Now, my turn! Draw!"
"Wait!" You Xuan interrupted, waving his hand.
"The moment you drew, my Trap was triggered. Revealing my face-down card, I activate the Trap Card, 'Drop Off!'
When your opponent draws a card, this card activates, sending the drawn card directly to the Graveyard."
Koji: "!"
He hesitated for a moment before sending the freshly drawn card, still warm from his hand, to the Graveyard. Lowering his gaze to his remaining hand, he finally began to sense that something was amiss.
At this point, neither duelist had summoned a single monster. Yet, Koji had already lost half of his starting hand, left with only three cards in hand, and faced a more troublesome issue.
He didn't have a single Monster Card in his hand!
The Twin Demons had taken one Monster Card, and the 'Drop Off' Trap had taken another. Now, with only three cards in hand, he had no monsters to summon.
But that was alright.
"Hmph, in that case, I activate a Spell Card from my hand!"
Koji confidently played one of his remaining three cards.
"I activate 'Monster Reborn!'
A resurrection spell that could bring back a monster from the Graveyard, 'Monster Reborn' was a revered reversal card in both the real world and the anime, from the DM era to GX.
"I use 'Monster Reborn' to revive 'Jellar Warrior' in attack position!" Koji announced.
A warrior clad in green armor and wielding a large sword appeared, standing proudly in the center of the field, becoming the first monster to be summoned in this duel.
[Jellar Warrior, ATK: 1600]
Koji would have preferred to use 'Monster Reborn' on a stronger monster, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Hesitation had no place in a duel, and he had to seize the opportunity to establish his offensive rhythm.
"I activate my face-down, 'Bottomless Trap Hole!'" You Xuan calmly flipped over one of his face-down cards. "'Bottomless Trap Hole' activates when your opponent summons a monster with 1500 or more ATK, destroying and removing that monster from play."
And just like that, the 'Jellar Warrior,' who had just made his grand entrance, found himself stepping into an unseen hole that had opened up beneath his feet, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and leaving no trace.
Koji: "."
With only two cards left in hand and an empty field, Koji's situation was dire.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Sato Koji felt his blood pressure rising.
(End of Chapter)
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