"I pay 1000 Life Points and banish the top 10 cards of my Deck face-down to activate [Chaos Dream]!"
Since they were all Blank Cards anyway, Jiang You wasn't worried about banishing his key cards. In an instant, the still water surface was replaced by a chaotic, disordered universe, filled with countless stars as vast as a sea of smoke.
Jiang You's LP: 4000 → 3000
"Tch, why did the tutorial mode reset the damage ratio?"
Jiang You felt as if a piece of his soul had been torn away—just a feeling, of course. He didn't think a game could actually do that. But the fact that he could experience such a sensation showed the programmers had clearly put a lot of effort into it.
"I didn't do anything. You're the one thinking that way. Don't treat me like a real character, okay?"
Bubble refused to take the blame, insisting she had done nothing.
"So you're really not being controlled by customer service? You were just about to ask me to meet up offline."
While it fit Bubble's character, breaking the fourth wall so casually somewhat ruined the game's immersion. Jiang You couldn't shake the feeling that Bubble wasn't trying to talk to the character occupying Azathoth's Spirit Origin, but to Jiang You himself, the person in the real world.
"It's all your fault for constantly saying things that go beyond the game, making me develop unnecessary feelings."
"You need to separate the persona from the real person, at least for now."
A faint smile played on Bubble's lips. "Don't mistake this appearance for my true form."
"You say that as if we won't have to separate them later. How many VTubers have shattered their fans' dreams after revealing their real faces? It's obviously impossible, just think about it."
Besides mentioning time, Bubble had repeatedly emphasized "at least for now." Jiang You couldn't understand what would be different in the future. "I won't harbor any fantasies about your current persona."
"Really?"
Bubble's lips curved into a mischievous arc. She stood up, spun around, and fully imprinted her image into Jiang You's eyes.
"You really haven't had any... ideas about this body?"
The thought that a customer service rep of unknown gender was behind the screen, teasing him, made Jiang You feel uncomfortable all over. Anime-style female characters were always designed to cater to the audience's tastes, making them naturally more appealing to men than real-life women. If he told the truth, he'd probably die of social embarrassment on the spot. Jiang You could only stubbornly deny it. "Of course not."
"Is that so?"
Bubble had already gotten the answer she wanted, so the topic could end there. She made a "please proceed" gesture, allowing the slightly flustered Jiang You to continue his turn.
"Then I end my turn. At this moment, I activate the effect of [Chaos Dream]: Banish five cards from your Graveyard and skip your turn."
Jiang You activated his card. For an instant, time seemed to freeze. Then, at his command, the world began to move again. Countless stars started rotating at high speed around the two of them. "Dimensional Transcendence!"
"Why are you shouting the name of a different card? Honestly, 'Space-Time Distortion' would be more fitting right now."
Bubble casually plucked a streaking star from the air. The celestial body, which should have been light-years away, now rested in her palm like a glass marble. She quickly lost interest and tossed it back to its original position.
"Close enough."
While players often shouted card names during real-life duels, they usually only did so with friends. With strangers, they tended to be more reserved (unless they confirmed they were fellow enthusiasts, in which case it was a way to break the ice). Bubble's direct, unwavering stare made Jiang You feel a bit self-conscious.
"Anyway, my turn—"
With two cards in hand, Jiang You felt more relaxed. Combined with Bubble's own effect, he only needed to inflict 2000 direct damage to win the duel.
"Before that, I have a question. Will the cards I create now be saved?"
"Of course. They're your own creations, after all."
Even though Jiang You had closed his mind-reading channel, Bubble could still deduce his thoughts.
"If you want to use this opportunity to print a few more cards, that's perfectly fine. As long as you have Blank Cards, you can keep printing."
"You're really not going to limit my card printing?"
Isn't this tutorial a bit too generous? Jiang You thought. Logically, for the game to function properly, there should be some limits on player growth, right?
"For you, this is a test phase, so there aren't many restrictions. Besides, all these cards will be sent to your mailbox after this ends. Whether you use them now or later makes no difference."
Game balance wasn't Bubble's concern. Besides, this wasn't a game in the traditional sense.
"In that case, there's no rush. I'll use them when I need them."
Jiang You now understood how to use Blank Cards. Besides printing his own cards one by one, he could also give them to story characters whose scenarios he had already cleared. The system would then generate a corresponding deck for them based on the altered storyline. This was perfect—Illya had been a bit unhappy that Fairy Tristan had her own cards, so he could use these extra Blank Cards to create a deck for her to play with.
"Alright, I won't torment you any longer. I activate the Spell Card [Ceaseless Concert Beyond Time's End]! By paying half your Life Points, I can Special Summon one [Invisible Piper] from my Deck, Graveyard, or Banished Zone!"
Jiang You had created this deck based on the lore of Azathoth, who slumbers eternally to the songs and music of the Outer Gods.
"Next, I activate the effect of [Chaos Dream]! You pay 1000 Life Points!"
Yog-Sothoth's LP: 4000 → 3000 → 1500
For the first time, Bubble felt her soul tremble. Since her birth, she had never known pain. This novel experience thrilled her, and Jiang You could see a faint flush creeping across her face.
Is she a masochist? Jiang You wondered silently. But considering the staff member behind her, he decided to spare her some dignity.
"The monster I'm Special Summoning is [Tru'nembra]!"
This was Azathoth's Piper, an Outer God who eternally resides in Azathoth's Palace. It exists as pure sound. Its sound waves can penetrate any barrier; when facing it, blocking one's ears is useless, and even the deaf are not spared.
A melodious song drifted from the depths of the starry sky. Jiang You could faintly make out a female voice, and it sounded strangely familiar.
So even the Outer Gods are gender-bent here? Jiang You marveled. Truly worthy of the Type-Moon World! He had completely forgotten that Bubble had appeared in her normal form.
[Tru'nembra] materialized in the Battle Zone. When Jiang You saw its appearance, his pupils contracted in shock.
"Umu!" Tru'nembra declared.