Slifer the Sky Dragon!
Who would've thought that this system, which is usually so stingy and can't even fill the gaps in its teeth with tens of thousands of Crystal Stones, finally did something human today and actually spit out a Divine Card for him!
Youyu quickly opened the system's Deck full of anticipation and felt his breath become heavy when he found the card face of the Sky Dragon shining brilliantly.
Damn, with a Sky Dragon, he's ready to take off from the ground! Clearly it's the strongest big brother in his entire Deck for now!
But at the same time, Youyu was perplexed.
If the Egyptian God Card can be obtained as a reward from the system tasks, then theoretically other players should be able to obtain it as well?
After all, the tasks he can accept from the task module should be the same as those for other players.
Then why had he never heard of any player obtaining an Egyptian God Card despite playing for so long in his previous life?
Youyu thought for a moment and decided that the reason might be that players at this time were just too inexperienced, with hardly any usable cards in their hands.
Think about the early Yu-Gi-Oh! DM, even the invincible Dark Yugi couldn't face off against Slifer the Sky Dragon head-on, instead cleverly using advanced tactics (meaning bluffing) to exhaust Marik's Deck, rendering him unable to continue the duel.
Even Yugi couldn't defeat the Sky Dragon head-on, so players of this era trying to achieve the goal of "defeating Slifer the Sky Dragon in a duel" with extremely limited beginner combinations were indeed almost impossible.
So in his previous life, this hidden condition might never have been triggered until the end of version 1.0.
Youyu initially worried that directly using an Egyptian God Card might incur Divine Wrath, but since it's a task reward, it probably doesn't matter.
All cards obtained as task rewards in this game are preset in the system's Card Pool, meaning the Card Pool originally hid the Sky Dragon; it's just that no one had unlocked it.
The cards in the system's Card Pool, of course, couldn't have usage restrictions once unlocked, otherwise the system would just be too treacherous.
Youyu clicked on the card details.
Well, now let's worship the great power possessed by the God.
Slifer the Sky Dragon, Level 10, Attribute: Divine, Divine Beast-Type. Attack Points: ? / Defense Points: ?
Effect: This card must be Normal Summoned by sacrificing three Monsters. This card's summon cannot be negated, and Magic, Trap, and Monster Effects cannot be activated upon successful summon.
If this card is Special Summoned, it must be sent to the graveyard by the end phase.
This card's Attack and Defense Points are the player's hand count x 1000 points.
When opposing Monsters are summoned in attack positions or Special Summoned, those Monsters' attack power is reduced by 2000; if it reaches 0, they are destroyed instantly.
"..."
Damn!
I knew there was something off!
This Divine Card...is way too Konami! It's actually the nerfed Physical Card effect!
I was just saying how it couldn't be that good, getting rewarded directly with an Egyptian God Card disregarding Divine Punishment, how could that be possible...
But upon calming down and thinking about it, Youyu realized he was indeed thinking too much before, and this indeed seems reasonable.
Since it's a reward for task completion, it indicates this Sky Dragon was already a preset card in the system's Card Pool. Since it's a preset card in the Card Pool, of course™ it would be the nerfed Physical Card effect.
Thinking about it now, it seemed obvious, expecting the system to gift an Animation-effect Sky Dragon still seemed too naive...
But this means Youyu now has two "Slifer the Sky Dragons." One was taken from Marik, possessing an absurdly strong animation effect but can't be used. The other has a nerfed Physical Card effect but has no usage restrictions.
It's actually still not a loss. The Physical Card Sky Dragon isn't completely useless; it still has suppressive power. Plus, since it's an Egyptian God Card, there should somewhat still be Divine Power reinforced?
Anyway, it's just that since he doesn't possess the powers of a Pharaoh, he can only unleash part of the Sky Dragon's power, while other Duelists with a Divine Card can't even use it.
Besides task rewards, Youyu was naturally unreserved and, once again assuming the identity of an "internal tournament personnel," took down the entire Deck of the puppet for inspection.
However, infuriatingly, out of the entire Deck besides the Sky Dragon being genuine, the other thirty-nine cards were all fake...
Really, Marik, you truly took counterfeit knockoffs all the way, huh?
But thinking about it, it makes sense; after having so many cards taken away by Youyu, if he still came with a full Deck of real cards for Youyu to snag, then he really would have a hole in the head.
"Ding!"
New Module: Duelist Level Module Unlocked!
Introduction: The strongest in the Linked World are those who can most skillfully wield Duel Monsters; the Duelist Level directly reflects the rank of strength. In the character panel, the Duelist Level module can view the player's Duelist level and more detailed explanations."
Youyu raised an eyebrow.
Duelist Level?
Isn't it the same thing as gaining experience, leveling up, and gaining Crystal Stones for character level?
Upon checking the panel, Youyu indeed found a new module he had never seen before.
This is surprising. In his previous life playing through so many versions of the Linked World, he had never heard of such a module.
Like most online games, after unlocking a new module, the interface shows some simple text and arrow explanations upon first click.
Youyu browsed through it, and the main idea seemed to be that Duelists and Duel Monsters could similarly be divided into 1 to 12 star levels, with higher star levels indicating stronger Duelist abilities.
However, the description of "ability" here was very vague, without a clear definition.
What does it mean by a Duelist's ability? Deck strength?
The transparent Dark Magician Girl floated by him concernedly, "Master, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
After the duel, Youyu remained still, which naturally worried her.
"...Oh, nothing, just thinking about some things." Youyu casually replied, "Speaking of which, have you ever heard about how a Duelist's strength is divided?"
"Ah?" Dark Magician Girl was taken aback for a moment, "Master, do you mean the Duelist's 'power'?"
Youyu: "?"
What is that?
"It's the common term among us spirits, Master, you might not have heard of it." Dark Magician Girl shook her little head, "Master, you might not have noticed, but being a Duelist, you all somewhat possess extraordinary strength beyond reality.
This strength is the key to connecting us spirits with Duelists, if strong enough, it can even influence reality or souls, or grant us spirits the ability to materialize in your world."
Youyu suddenly recalled it; he indeed heard about this before.
He remembered regarding the concept of "power" being mentioned by the final boss of the Yu-Gi-Oh GX manga. It was a demon sealed by an Egyptian Priest thousands of years ago, and he mentioned that Yuki Judai and Manjome Jun both possessed exceptional 'powers' as Duelists in the manga.
In the manga's final showdown, fragments of the Great Priest Mate from three thousand years ago lent his own Duelist "power" to Judai.
There Judai demonstrated what true cheat-level seven consecutive draws were. He declared the top seven cards of his Deck all at once, and the seven cards he consecutively drew happened to be what he declared—seven cards perfectly suited to resolve the field and handle the opponent flawlessly.
Reflecting on this, in the conclusion of Yu-Gi-Oh! DM where Dark Yugi regained his true name, he awakened the Pharaoh's authority, possessing the ability to "draw any card he desired."
Thus, perhaps this is the same concept as the "power" mentioned in the GX manga.
From Youyu's perspective, he feels this likely refers to what players commonly refer to as card fortune.
It's no wonder characters across Yu-Gi-Oh! animations pursued supernatural dark powers, and after obtaining dark powers, even with the same Deck, their dueling became formidable.
Thinking about it this way, those characters were pursuing powerful dark forces? No, they were actually after a miraculous card fortune...
Youyu had mostly figured it out. This Duelist Level module should also be similar to what Dark Magician Girl mentioned as "power."
He suddenly got an idea: "Wait, you mentioned Duelist 'power' can materialize spirits...so when you materialized, was it with my power?"
Youyu felt this seemed off.
In the GX Animation, Yuki Judai, after merging with his Spirit Yubel, gained significant 'power' which then allowed him to materialize spirits at will within reality.
Youyu was aware that he definitely shouldn't possess such capability, he still had a clear understanding of his capabilities.
"Well…..no, when I materialized I used my own 'power.'"
Dark Magician Girl seemed somewhat proud while mentioning this, adjusting her little magic hat atop her golden head and puffing out her chest, which looked rather...impressive.
"Despite my appearance, I'm still quite a formidable spirit among the Duel Monsters!"
Youyu wasn't stingy with admiration: "That's amazing!"
"Master, you're amazing too!" Dark Magician Girl stuck out her tongue, "Duelists like you must have the top tier of 'power'!"
Is that really the case?
Youyu took a glance at his character panel.
Character: Youyu.
Duelist Level is...3 stars.
Youyu then fell into a long silence...