Alice-chan, with her messy hair, blinked blankly, pushed aside the stray strands on her forehead in confusion, snuck a glance at Kira, and then looked at the man in the long trench coat before her.
Is this guy really that strong?
Kira said she wasn't his match, and Alice felt a bit unconvinced, puffing her cheeks in protest.
I'm pretty strong too, you know…
"Masumi Momono, right?" Kira scrutinized the man in front of him. "Once known as the 'Store Breakers.' Now you've started taking on mercenary jobs, huh?"
"Oh?" The man in the long coat chuckled softly. "Surprised someone still remembers that name from back in the day? Interesting."
Masumi Momono appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! side story "Yu-Gi-Oh! R." Or maybe it's more accurate to call it a side story of a side story, since his tale is unrelated to the main plot of R and only appears in a short story at the end.
To attract more customers, Yugi's grandfather, Solomon Muto, publicly displayed the three Egyptian God cards in his shop, drawing duelists to come and admire them. He also hosted a store tournament, inviting duelists from everywhere to compete for a chance to duel the Duel King himself.
That tournament attracted the infamous "Store Breakers" of the dueling world at the time—Masumi Momono.
He would plunder decks by dueling, extort protection fees from shop owners—a bit like a card-game gangster.
Although he was a street tough, his strength was real. It's said he was undefeated until he met Yugi, taking countless decks from others. Even Joey lost to one of Momono's underlings in the store tournament.
These store breakers excelled at gathering intel on strong opponents in advance and picking the optimal deck to counter them. They built a hundred decks from the stolen cards, calling it the "100 themed Decks," with each deck targeting a different type of opponent.
Choosing the right deck for the right opponent was their biggest advantage. Joey fell victim to this.
Hmm… Kind of like a Stand user similar to Kira.
Of course, in the end, he was still defeated by the invincible King. And although this side story is a bit obscure, the card "Gorz the Emissary of Darkness," which later became a powerful, splashable hand trap in the real-life game, was used by Yugi in this duel.
"Tch, I was hoping to keep a low profile this time, but I run right into the Duel King."
Masumi Momono rubbed his nose bridge.
"So it's true when they say Duel Academy is the King's territory—no exaggeration at all. In that case—"
He lifted his head, letting out a cold laugh.
"If there's no avoiding it, then bring it on!"
"Let's Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Momono, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw!" Momono took the first move.
He hesitated a bit when selecting his deck.
He was best at gathering intel to counter his enemies, but this opponent was exceptional.
As Duel King, Kira was a public figure—countless people in the dueling world have studied his every public duel.
But the more Momono studied, the more he realized how hard it was to target this guy. Whether deliberately or not, Kira almost never used the same deck twice in public matches.
No consistent archetype, attribute, or monster type. If you tried to combine all his decks, he was like a Transformer—no way to effectively counter him.
If there's anything distinctive about his tactics, it's probably just how annoying he is.
If you tried to counter him with "100 themed Decks" but picked the wrong deck, you'd end up at a total disadvantage.
So, after consideration, Momono decided to play it safe and use the deck he usually relied on when facing unknown opponents.
"I set a monster face-down," Momono said, "and set a face-down spell/trap. Turn end."
"My turn. Draw."
Kira glanced at his drawn card and immediately revealed it.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards from my deck."
"And then, I summon this card."
Kira smiled mysteriously, slapping down a rather unimpressive monster card.
"I summon 'Hand-Holding Genie' in attack mode."
A little demon with black wings appeared, ugly but with a pair of giant hands far too big for its tiny body.
[Hand-Holding Genie, ATK 1000]
"Hand-Holding Genie?" Momono muttered. "Starting off defensively—so this is the so-called King's dueling style?"
Kira just smiled and said nothing.
"Next, I activate the Spell 'Ties of the Brethren'," Kira said. "Pay 1000 LP, select a Level 4 or lower monster I control, and Special Summon two monsters with the same type and level from my deck. But those monsters can't attack or be tributed!" (Anime effect)
[Kira, LP 4000 → 3000]
(In the real-life card, the cost is 2000 LP, you can't Special Summon other monsters that turn, and can't summon monsters with the same name, but in the manga, there's no such restriction.)
He pointed to the Hand-Holding Genie on his field.
"Special Summon two more 'Hand-Holding Genie' from the deck in defense position."
[Hand-Holding Genie, DEF 1600]x2
"Now, battle." Kira said, "First 'Hand-Holding Genie' attacks your face-down monster."
The Genie slapped at the hidden monster, flipping it face-up. It was a kneeling angel with a halo, its huge wings crossed in front of it like a shield.
[Shining Angel, DEF 800]
The Genie smashed the angel's defense, and the angel burst into golden light and vanished.
"Shining Angel's effect: when destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a LIGHT monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck."
Momono searched his deck for a monster and played it.
"Special Summon 'Watapon'!"
A burst of dazzling white light gathered on the field, forming a cute, fluffy white ball with an adorable face.
[Watapon, DEF 300]
"Watapon, huh," Kira said.
This is a monster Yugi used before; its effect is to be Special Summoned if you add a card from your deck to your hand by a card effect. But why fetch this?
"I set two cards face-down, turn end." Kira said.
If there's anything special about Watapon…
Kira quickly realized—it's a Level 1 Fairy-type.
In other words, the opponent likely has that card in his hand...
"My turn, draw!"
As expected, Momono swept his hand with a flourish.
"Activate face-down card, Continuous Spell—
—Court of Justice!"
Kira was not surprised.
Just as expected.