Yugen began to discover the joy of dueling in this other world.
However, he soon realized that the happiness of dueling in this world seemed to be conserved.
Because as he started to enjoy himself, the interest in dueling among his fellow dojo members seemed to wane.
In just three days, no one was willing to duel with him anymore.
Yugen could only look up at the sky and let out a faint sigh.
Now, he seemed to understand a bit why Yugi said he couldn't make friends before meeting the Pharaoh. Indeed, shady people don't deserve friends.
Later, the incident even alarmed the dojo master.
The dojo's master was named Takeuchi Kageru, who was said to have been among the top 32 in a small town duel tournament in his youth.
Master Takeuchi heard that recently, one of the apprentices had made rapid progress in dueling skills, defeating his prized disciple, the senior brother, and in three days, had made the other apprentices so frustrated that no one wanted to duel anymore.
Upon hearing this, Master Takeuchi immediately felt that he had to step in.
He immediately gathered all the apprentices, first praising Yugen for his diligent study and rapid progress, then criticizing the other apprentices for their negative attitudes.
The master lectured that dueling and sparring are meant for improvement and progress; having a strong opponent is clearly a good thing. Otherwise, if you just bully the weak all day, beating up the elderly and kicking kindergarteners, what good does that do?
The apprentices were scolded into silence, not daring to speak.
"Fine."
The master waved his hand grandly and beckoned to Yugen with a smile.
"If they don't have the guts, then I'll personally test how much you've improved and give you some guidance on your deck."
Finally finding someone willing to duel with him, and since Yugen had several deck adjustments he wanted to test, he naturally accepted gladly.
Alright, so today it's a duel with the master.
The master was very gracious, directly giving the first turn to Yugen, showing his expert demeanor. So, Yugen didn't hold back and took the first turn.
Starting off by paying 1000 LP to activate the Spell Card "Confiscation." This familiar opening made the apprentices, who had suffered from it for the past three days, shudder involuntarily, almost triggering PTSD.
So, Confiscation's effect activated.
Here, let's see your hand.
Yugen glanced and immediately targeted the "Monster Reborn" in the master's hand, discarding it.
Then, he Normal Summoned "Green Gadget," activating its effect to search for a "Red Gadget" from the deck upon successful summon.
Next, he set three cards in the backrow and casually ended his turn.
Then, it was the master's turn. The master directly played "Gearfried the Iron Knight," a four-star monster with 1800 ATK, very impressive.
But it was of no use because before the Iron Knight could stabilize, it fell into Yugen's "Trap Hole" and was sent to the graveyard.
But the master was indeed the master; he could still continue playing.
Although he had used his Normal Summon for the turn, he activated the effect of "The Rock Spirit " in his hand, which could be Special Summoned by banishing an EARTH attributed monster from the graveyard.
He banished the Iron Knight from the graveyard and directly Special Summoned the Rock Spirit.
Then, Master Takeuchi waved his hand to attack Green Gadget with Titan. But Yugen snapped his fingers, and a bright red trap in his backrow flipped open.
"I directly activate 'Mirror Force'!"
Mirror Force: when the opponent declares an attack, destroy all Attack Position monsters on the opponent's field.
Master Takeuchi: "..."
Stepping into two traps in a row, the master had no choice but to pass his turn empty-handed.
Then, it was Yugen's turn again. He looked at the card he drew and directly played "Delinquent Duo." Paying 1000 LP, making the opponent discard two more cards.
Master Takeuchi looked down at his hand, which had instantly evaporated to only one card left, and fell into contemplation about life.
Yugen then summoned the "Red Gadget" he searched last turn, and upon successful summon, Red Gadget's effect allowed him to search for a "Yellow Gadget" from the deck.
In the Battle Phase, Red Gadget and Green Gadget both attacked directly, dealing a total of 2700 damage to the master's LP.
And that wasn't even the end. During the End Phase, he waved his hand grandly and flipped open another set card.
[Time Seal]
A trap card that made the opponent skip their turn.
You might not believe it, but this overpowered shady card was also used by Duel King Yugi Muto. It was printed during the Battle City arc when Yami Yugi dueled against one of the Rare Hunters who used the counterfeit "Exodia."
With his hand destroyed and his Draw Phase skipped, Master Takeuchi looked at his field, as clean as a blank sheet of paper, then at the two Gadgets on the opponent's field, raring to go, and couldn't help but seriously consider the feasibility of a physical duel.
"..."
One minute later.
With LP reduced to zero, the master stepped down from the duel field, looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath.
And began to reflect on what possessed him to duel against such a boy with a shady personality when he had nothing better to do.
The watching apprentices looked even more mournful.
Even the master had fallen!
In fact, before this duel, they all had expectations for the outcome.
Everyone, to some extent, felt that although they were powerless against this shady guy, experiencing a sense of frustration where they couldn't exert their strength or play their cards, it was mostly because they weren't skilled enough.
If he faced the master, the result would surely be different.
However, reality was that the master stood up, the master attacked, and the master also lost.
The process was almost identical to what each of them had experienced when facing Yugen over the past few days!
This was a shock to their worldview, a collapse of their understanding, leaving them endlessly bewildered and deeply worried about the dark future of the dueling world. At the same time, similar thoughts flashed through their minds—
—The invincible master lost to a socially reclusive avenger; why am I having such a dream?
In fact, the deck build Yugen was testing this time was simply a combination of early traditional trap beatdown and hand destruction.
Those who played Yu-Gi-Oh! in the early days knew that in an era when monster effects were far less powerful and deck engines were not as exaggerated as today, strong spells and traps held a very important position in mainstream decks.
The Red, Green, and Yellow Gadgets all have effects to search for each other when summoned, replenishing the hand to prevent running out of monsters.
Meanwhile, powerful traps and spells continuously depleted the opponent's resources, widening the resource gap between both sides, naturally making it impossible for the opponent to compete.
But Yugen still humbly asked for advice: "Master, what do you think of my deck? Is there anything you can point out for me?"
Master Takeuchi, hearing this, snapped out of his contemplation about life and gave him a meaningful look.
Strangely, although he was a handsome and sunny young man, now, just looking at his face made the master feel uneasy.
Guidance? Heh, what guidance could I possibly give?
You're so amazing; it should be you guiding me.
Honestly, if it weren't for his pride, he actually had this thought in his mind.
He wanted to learn dueling from Yugen.
Especially this kind of dueling that could bring such "joy" to people.
"I have nothing left to teach you."
Master Takeuchi sighed deeply, somewhat weakly.
"By the way, teacher, I remember there's something I need to ask for," Yugen said.
"What is it?"
"I want to apply for the entrance exam of the Duel Academy," Yugen said, "and I was wondering if I could apply for some subsidy from the dojo."