Chapter 20: Yu Yi vs. Hippocampus! Intertwining Destinies
As everyone stared in astonishment, Yugi began to share his impressions of the duel disk crafted by the president.
“Before I talk about its flaws, let me first mention its advantage... Well, there’s only one, but it’s worth pointing out.”
Seto Kaiba: “...”
“President, the duel disk you made has a single merit, and that is ‘portability.’ Unlike the dueling arenas on this island, which are fixed in place and force duelists to travel to whatever location the arena is set up, your invention—this duel disk, shaped like a flying saucer or a yo-yo—solves that problem. As long as both duelists have one in hand, they can duel anywhere, anytime, as long as there’s enough space!”
Though the first-generation duel disk Kaiba created has many flaws, it undeniably marks the evolution of Duel Monsters—a game that can now be played whenever and wherever you wish!
“Mhm, mhm!” The others nodded in agreement after hearing Yugi’s review. With the duel disk, duels could be held anytime, anywhere! This would surely accelerate the spread and development of Duel Monsters.
“Now, let’s move on to the drawbacks. Here are the issues I’ve found so far.”
“First, while the duel disk is indeed portable, don’t you think it’s tiring and inconvenient that every time you place a card on the disk, you have to throw it out and then retrieve it?”
Jounouchi, who’d served as the test subject, felt this particularly keenly. After a single duel, his right arm was sore beyond belief!
“Second—and this is the biggest flaw—the placement zones for monster cards on the disk are overly simplified and incomplete!”
“To begin with, the monster zone is just that rectangular panel at the top, meaning you can only summon one monster at a time. If you want to summon a new one, you have to recall the disk and replace the card. All the five monster zones I’m used to have been compressed into one! And only one monster can be on the field at any time!”
Seto Kaiba: “...”
With just a single monster zone, no matter how many monsters you have in hand, you can only play one.
“Next is the spell and trap zone. There are three slots, which is one fewer than the standard five. It’s a flaw, but not as significant as the first. The way spells and traps are played isn’t much different from the usual arena—you set them face-down on the disk, and when you activate one, you either flip it up yourself or just call out its name to activate it, without having to pull back the disk and struggle to flip the card over. The only real difference is that there’s one less spell/trap slot, but since both players have four, it’s not too big a problem.”
“Third, where’s the graveyard for used cards? Where is it? I don’t see it anywhere!”
Seto Kaiba: “...”
Why did his tone sound so sarcastic?
“Normally, used cards are sent to the graveyard by hand, but on your duel disk, you have to eject the card and go pick it up yourself! That’s so much work! Damn!”
Everyone: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ
Did Yugi just swear?!
“In summary: plenty of flaws, with portability as the only merit.”
“So, President, do you understand now why I insisted on using a dueling arena instead?”
For once, Seto Kaiba looked a bit flustered at Yugi’s questioning, but he quickly regained his usual cool composure, quietly put away his duel disk, took his brother Mokuba by the hand, and walked toward the nearest dueling arena.
Watching the silent Kaiba brothers leave, Yugi’s lips curled into a grin. He turned to the others and gave a thumbs-up.
(•̀ω•́)✧
...
“Duel rules: No star chips at stake; otherwise, the same as the Kingdom rules. The field on your side, President, will be ‘Mountain’—advantageous for Dragon monsters. On my side, it’s ‘Grassland’—suitable for Warrior monsters. Any objections?”
“None,” Kaiba replied.
Both brought out their decks, exchanged them for a quick shuffle and cut, then returned them and headed to their respective duel platforms.
“Duel!”
Seto Kaiba: 2000 LP
Yugi: 2000 LP
“I’ll take the first turn!” With that, Kaiba drew five cards from the top of his deck.
─━_─━✧
Upon seeing his opening hand, Kaiba’s expression was exactly as above.
Yugi: ?
Why did the President look like he’d just drawn all five pieces of Exodia?
...Wait!
Yugi suddenly remembered a joke among fans from his previous life: “Kaiba the Shameless, President of the Unshuffled Deck—three Blue-Eyes and a Fusion in the opening hand!”
“I summon ‘Lord of Dragons’ in defense position!”
Clad in armor made of dragon bones, its body shrouded in purple and a deep violet cloak trailing behind, the Lord of Dragons shields all Dragon monsters from card effects—a true dragon sovereign!
“Lord of Dragons is the ‘sovereign’ among the Dragon monsters. It doesn’t get the full 30% Mountain boost, but as a dragon lord, it does receive a 10% bonus.”
Well-versed in the Duelist Kingdom rules, Kaiba immediately gave “Lord of Dragons” an enthusiastic power-up.
(Lord of Dragons, 4 stars, defense: 1100 → 1210)
“Next, I activate the spell card ‘Flute of Summoning Dragon’!”
On the field, a golden flute appeared in the Lord’s hands. As he played, two resounding dragon roars echoed from the sky.
“What’s this...?”
Under everyone’s gaze, two orbs of white light appeared in the heavens. Growing larger by the second, they crashed to earth like shooting stars, transforming into two massive silver-white dragons.
Two Blue-Eyes White Dragons!
(Blue-Eyes White Dragon, 8 stars, attack: 3000 → 3900)
“Whoa! Truly worthy of being called legendary!”
“With the Duelist Kingdom rules, their attack power has increased by nearly one third!”
Staring at the two Blue-Eyes on Kaiba’s field, each now boasting 3900 attack points—just shy of 4000—everyone was stunned.
The legendary White Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon—the single most powerful monster card, and the mightiest of the rare Dragon tribe. Just a single field boost and their strength reached such a terrifying level!
How could anyone hope to win against that?
“My turn ends.”
He still had one card left, but it was useless for now.
Handing over the turn, Kaiba looked at Yugi with anticipation, his tone taunting:
“So, Yugi! Faced with my two Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and the Lord of Dragons who shields them from card effects—how will you deal with them?”