Why did the monster's projection suddenly vanish? Because...

"It's my turn. I draw!" Yugi glanced at the Pot of Greed magic card in his hand, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth as he played it with immense satisfaction:

"I activate the spell card 'Pot of Greed'! According to its effect, I draw two cards from my deck!"

At last! In his previous life, under OCG rules, "Pot of Greed" was condemned to eternal banishment, never to be played again—yet here it was, activated in his hand!

True, the system had explained that the cards weren’t created by it but were native to this world; the host could include such cards in his deck for dueling. However, only one copy of any native world card with the same name could be included in the host's deck!

Still, Yugi was deeply moved! Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Premature Burial… all of them! Each could be included in the deck, one copy each! Ah, how marvelous!

At this moment, along with gratitude, Yugi couldn’t help but recall the fan novels he’d read online before crossing over—those themed around Yu-Gi-Oh, where protagonists with "built-in systems" or "OCG card libraries" usually couldn’t use cards from the actual Yu-Gi-Oh world. By comparison, his own system was nothing less than an "angel!"

His musings complete, Yugi didn’t forget he was still mid-duel.

"I activate the spell card 'Miracle Fusion,' banishing 'Elemental HERO Clayman' and 'Elemental HERO Burstinatrix' from the graveyard to fusion summon—Elemental HERO Gaia!"

As fusion materials for Iron Wall Gunner, even as normal monsters, they had value being used again from the graveyard. Under the power of Miracle Fusion, a giant of black-grey, as tall as the laboratory ceiling, rose beside Yugi’s Iron Wall Gunner.

"Gaia requires an 'Elemental HERO' monster and an Earth-attribute monster to be fusion summoned."

"And, when Gaia is successfully fusion summoned, I can halve the attack of one monster on your field, and Gaia gains that amount!"

Only Blue-Eyes White Dragons remained on Kaiba’s field—it made no difference which one he chose. Gaia, drawing upon the power of the earth, siphoned half the attack from one of the dragons, weakening it and empowering himself.

(Elemental HERO Gaia, Level 6, ATK: 2200 → 3700)

"Battle phase! Gaia, destroy the Blue-Eyes White Dragon whose attack was halved!"

Following Yugi’s command, the hulking Gaia casually swung a massive fist, swatting the weakened Blue-Eyes as if it were a mere insect. The instant they made contact, the reduced Blue-Eyes could not withstand the blow and shattered spectacularly!

"Ugh!"

The duel disk’s virtual projection included simulated pain. Watching his beloved dragon get smashed, Kaiba gritted his teeth and suppressed a groan, enduring the shock of the illusion.

(Kaiba: 4000 LP → 1800 LP)

"Next, Iron Wall Gunner attacks directly!"

"What!?"

Upon hearing Yugi's declaration, Kaiba was stunned. He still had a Blue-Eyes on his field—Yugi was bypassing it to strike directly!?

"Iron Wall Gunner’s effect: when this card is in Defense Position, it can attack the opponent directly during the Battle Phase while still in Defense Position!"

Kaiba: !!!&$#@*&%...

Shocked by Iron Wall Gunner’s effect, Kaiba couldn’t help but curse inwardly. Damn it! Two weeks ago, at Pegasus’s place, he’d seen those Toon monsters that could bypass monsters and attack directly. Now, two weeks later, Yugi’s fusion monster could do it too!

(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

If this attack landed, his 1800 life points would instantly drop to zero! But in the next moment, Yugi’s clarification let him breathe a sigh of relief—

"Of course, that effect would be too broken, so there’s a restriction: when attacking directly in Defense Position, Iron Wall Gunner’s DEF is halved, and the damage dealt is equal to the halved amount."

That made sense. After all, Pegasus’s Toons couldn’t attack on the turn they were summoned. If Yugi’s 2500 DEF monster could attack directly without restriction, it would be truly unfair!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Under Iron Wall Gunner’s relentless barrage, Kaiba’s life points dropped to a dangerously low number.

(Kaiba: 1800 LP → 550 LP)

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

As his turn ended, Yugi couldn’t resist a jab (or perhaps raising a flag):

"Kaiba! Your life points are like a candle flickering in the wind. Perhaps we should call this test duel here? After all, it’s clear the duel disk functions properly and can be used in real-life duels."

"Hmph! End the battle? Don’t make me laugh!"

Who was he? He was Seto Kaiba! The president of KaibaCorp!

"As long as I have a single life point, as long as there are cards in my deck, I will never end the fight! Not even for a mere duel disk test!"

Deck! Respond to my call!

"Falling—!"

A flash of blue light, and Yugi seemed to hear the faint roar of a dragon.

"Hmph! The real duel starts now! From my hand, I activate the spell card 'Card of Demise!'"

Here it came—one of the three powerful draw cards, following Graceful Charity: Card of Demise.

"Draw until I have five cards in my hand! However, during my fifth Standby Phase after this card's activation, I must discard my entire hand."

After replenishing his hand to five cards, Kaiba recited the latter part of the effect in a calm tone, as if the downside didn’t concern him at all.

"I activate the spell card 'Monster Reborn!' Come! Rise again, my soul!"

"Roar—!"

By Monster Reborn’s effect, the shattered White Dragon returned from the grave.

"Next, I play the spell card 'Polymerization!' I fuse the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons on my field!"

The fusion of two Blue-Eyes—this was a brand-new card Kaiba had received from Pegasus! The moment he saw its effect, Kaiba’s eyes lit up and he couldn’t help but kiss it.

No wonder it was his beloved. The fusion of two had such a powerful effect!

"Fusion Summon—Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!"

The difference between two- and three-headed fusion was that the former had two dragon heads sharing one body, the latter three.

(Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon, Level 10, ATK: 3000)

"Then, I activate a second Ritual Spell—'Chaos Form!' I banish a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard! Ritual Summon—Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon!"

This ritual spell, introduced in the Dark Dimension movie, had been created early by Pegasus due to Yugi’s involvement.

Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon—its name differed by only a single word from the infamous "One-Turn Kill" dragon, but that one word meant vastly different effects.

Additionally, Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon’s appearance was more rounded compared to the "One-Turn Kill" dragon, lacking the layered armor of its evolved form.

(Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon, Level 8, ATK: 3000)

"And finally, I activate the spell card 'Fusion Quick-Play!' Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon! Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon! Atta—"

In one breath, Kaiba played all his cards, enabling his Twin Burst Dragon to attack this turn, immediately entering the Battle Phase.

But just as he was about to shout "attack," the virtual projections of the duel monsters on the field suddenly vanished!?

"Nii-san! It seems summoning two brand-new monsters at once overloaded the duel disk system and caused it to crash—that’s why all the projections disappeared!" Mokuba’s voice called out over their earpieces.

Yugi and Kaiba: "…"

It seemed the duel disk’s system still needed work.