https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-31-Can-Dueling-Truly-Bring-Happiness-/12556944/
Chapter 32: No Money, No Yu-Gi-Oh!
Chapter 32: No Money, No Yu-Gi-Oh!
On an island in the sea, within the headquarters of Duel Academy, Chancellor Shark lay back in his office, taking a well-deserved break after a busy day. He leisurely brewed a cup of tea and seized the opportunity to review the results of this year's entrance examination, as well as some of the duels that had piqued his interest.
He hadn't expected Professor Crowler to take the field himself, clearly intending to make things difficult for a certain jellyfish-haired newcomer. But that newcomer, Jaden Yuki, was truly formidable, defeating the highest practical authority in the academy using his own deck during the entrance examination.
Chancellor Shark took a sip of his tea, feeling pleased with Jaden's extraordinary potential.
Naturally, he also took a look at the top-ranked practical duel of the year. It was said that this person had achieved full marks in all but the subjective section of the written exam, outperforming his runner-up, Tres Saruwatari, who had also scored remarkably well, and thus, stood out impressively.
Let's see how this person fares in practical duels and deck construction... What in the world is this?
Chancellor Shark scratched his shiny head in bewilderment.
He considered himself well-versed in the dueling world, having spent many years within its sphere. Yet, he hadn't come across such a peculiar deck construction very often.
Well, to be precise, he had encountered something similar once during his youth at an invitational tournament hosted by Kaiba. It was the legendary Yugi Muto, the King of Games, and his deck during the latter part of his illustrious dueling career seemed to bear some resemblance to this.
Rumor had it that in Yugi's later dueling career, many challengers ended up frustrated, their faces contorting in rage, resembling the cosplay of Malik from the Duelist Kingdom era.
Just like the unfortunate examiner in Jaden's entrance examination duel.
However, the evolution of the dueling world over the years had proven that it was Yugi's unique skill, an art that others found difficult to emulate. The mainstream deck constructions had largely followed the path laid out by Kaiba, and after Yugi's retirement, these unconventional strategies had become rare, if not completely vanished.
Unlike the traditional professors, represented by Crowler, Chancellor Shark did not insist that students adhere strictly to the tactical deck-building standards taught in textbooks.
Most students lacked the innovation and autonomy to deviate from those standards. But with his years of teaching experience, Chancellor Shark immediately recognized that this student, Yuki Judai, might possess that rare talent.
Could it be that the academy has admitted a newcomer with such a rare talent this year? The thought brought a glint of anticipation to the chancellor's eyes.
Glancing at the roster and seeing Jaden's name, and then at Yuki Judai's beside it, Chancellor Shark leaned back in his chair and took a sip of tea, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
In this small Duel Academy, they had managed to attract two extraordinary talents in a single year—a dragon and a phoenix among the newcomers.
What a joyous occasion.
Duel Academy was quite efficient. Within a few days of the exams, the candidates could access their scores, results, and admission information.
As expected, Judai received his admission notice.
Though there was still a month before the start of the new term, there was no need to rush to the island immediately. However, the registration for the new batch of freshmen was complete, and those who had passed were already considered part of this year's reserve freshmen.
Judai obtained his new student ID and, through the academy's channel, logged into Kaiba Corporation's card query system. As expected, the option to purchase cards had expanded significantly.
He quickly browsed through the available cards, making a list of those that might be useful and were in stock. Then, he meticulously analyzed each card.
Most of them fell into the category of potentially useful cards that would require specific deck constructions or combos, so he set them aside for further discussion.
The cards he immediately decided to purchase were the versatile ones that found a place in most decks, and among those, the Red Bliss cards took precedence.
For example, "Causal Break," which could send an opponent's monster to another dimension by discarding a hand card, and the timeless banned card, "Ring of Destruction," which could destroy a monster and inflict damage to both players equal to the monster's attack strength—a ruthless equalizer for when the duel seemed out of reach. It was notoriously known as the Draw Card.
Additionally, he was delighted to find that the exclusive shopping channel also offered Hand Traps.
As the saying went, you could guard against everything but a hand trap. Unlike Trap Cards that were placed face-down on the field and could be anticipated and countered, hand traps could be activated directly from the hand, making them a pervasive feature of Yu-Gi-Oh! since their inception.
But it made sense. From what he had seen in the anime, Duelists didn't seem particularly fond of low-level monsters with weak attack power that could only block damage once. Aside from its rarity and scarcity, the Chestnut Ball's value primarily came from being the "mascot" of the first King of Games.
As he continued browsing, he discovered a column called "Theme Pre-sets" in the Academy section. These were pre-built decks with specific themes, sold as a complete package at a fixed price.
Among them, he even spotted the legendary "Elemental Heroes."
It was only natural, as in the first episode of GX, Crowler referred to Jaden's deck as "a very common Hero deck." In this era, Hero decks were considered a budget option for casual players. However, as the series progressed and Jaden acquired more exclusive cards, his deck gradually moved away from being a common choice.
Deep down, every card enthusiast harbored dreams of heroism, and since he had traveled back to the GX era, You Xuan curiously searched for the iconic cards.
But he quickly abandoned his heroic aspirations.
The deck mostly consisted of the infamous Four Junk Warriors, with only two or three Fusion Hero monsters. It was filled with useless support cards like "Lightning Rod," "Feather Shot," and "Blast Return." These were cards that Jaden had used only once or twice in the anime, serving no clear purpose.
At a glance, You Xuan realized that this was not a deck for the average player. Almost every spell and trap card required specific Elemental Hero monsters to be effective, and even if one forced them together, each combination was applicable in very limited situations. Using this deck in a real duel would likely result in hand traps and card draw issues.
The fact that Jaden could achieve countless victories with this deck in the early parts of the series was a testament to his extraordinary skill, far beyond the reach of most Duelists.
For now, the Elemental Heroes would have to wait. You Xuan continued browsing and came across the "Roids" deck used by Jaden's junior, Sho Marufuji.
His eyes lit up, and he eagerly examined the deck list.
In the current meta, the Roid deck was not considered a rare or powerful choice, having underperformed in competitive play for years. It was seen as a fringe option for casual players.
However, this deck contained a particular card that Sho Marufuji had used in the anime, a card that, nearly two decades later, still hadn't been made into an actual card by KaibaCorp.
Indeed!
You Xuan's eyes locked onto that specific card, and he immediately purchased the entire deck without hesitation.
The cards in the pre-built deck couldn't be bought individually; one had to purchase the whole deck. But that was fine; the deck itself was affordable, and even if he only wanted that one card, it was still a worthwhile purchase.
[Kite Roid
1-star, ATK 200, DEF 400
Effect:
1) You can discard this card from your hand to negate the battle damage from one attack that targets you directly.
2) While this card is in the Graveyard, you can prevent battle damage from one attack that targets you directly.] (Anime effect)
This card never received an official physical release; it only appeared in the video games Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3 for the PSP and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links. It could be used as both a hand trap and a graveyard effect, allowing players to negate damage from two attacks with a single card. In the GX era, when hand traps were scarce, it was undoubtedly a lifesaver.
You Xuan indulged in the thrill of shopping, further strengthening his card collection and gaining more freedom in deck construction. However, his newly replenished funds quickly dwindled.
You Xuan decided to hold on to some of his money and not spend it all at once. As he exited the shopping interface, he let out a soft sigh and gazed up at the sky.
Indeed, the elders were right.
Without money, you can't play Yu-Gi-Oh!
(End of Chapter)
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