Ryunosuke was completely unaware of the gravity of the situation. He returned his deck to his opponent and prepared to begin the match.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Masuzu clicked her tongue in feigned admiration. "Don't blame me, young man. Card games are a dirty business, and I am a dirty player." Masuzu didn't feel a shred of shame; she was truly thick-skinned.
The match began.
LP Masuzu: 4000.
LP Ryunosuke: 4000.
Both players simultaneously drew five cards, only to stare at their hands and groan in unison, "Ugh, I bricked..."
Both of their starting hands were terrible—random cards that were nearly impossible to combine. In Ryunosuke's case, it was easy to understand why, as Masuzu had intentionally shuffled his deck into a mess. For Masuzu, however, it was pure accident and bad luck; Ryunosuke had also shuffled her deck so thoroughly that no two cards connected.
Masuzu could only lament her fate. She had been so focused on memorizing the order of her opponent's cards that she had forgotten to keep track of her own.
They began to pass back and forth, neither wanting the first turn. Usually, players would fight to go first to gain an advantage, but not today; since neither had a good hand, whoever went first was doomed to be at a disadvantage. Eventually, they were forced to flip a coin to decide who would start. The result: the first turn went to Ryunosuke.
As they turned to start, Masuzu finally noticed her opponent was cosplaying as Yugi and reflexively asked, "You aren't actually using Yugi's deck, are you?" She already knew from her peek earlier, but she asked just to avoid suspicion.
Ryunosuke stopped in his tracks, looked back, and answered honestly, "Yes, that's right. I'm using the Mutou Yugi deck."
Masuzu jumped for joy. "What a coincidence! Wait for me a second."
Immediately, Masuzu ran down from the dueling arena in a hurry. Ryunosuke found it strange, but it wasn't long before the girl returned wearing a long white coat—clearly cosplaying as President Kaiba.
Masuzu said flirtatiously, "The deck I'm using just happens to belong to the President—the Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck. We're really the perfect pair, aren't we? Are you sure you don't want to enter a tag-team tournament with me?"
Faced with Masuzu's ambiguous invitation, Ryunosuke offered no reply. More importantly, he didn't dare to; his wives were watching from the audience, and he had no desire to do anything that might trigger a misunderstanding. Their conversation was broadcast via the large electronic screens to the entire audience.
In the stands, Ai's expression grew cloudy. She had heard the conversation. [That damn cousin of mine! It's bad enough she stole my cards, but now she wants to borrow my man for a tag tournament too!]
Megumi out of nowhere, produced a small knife and asked in a calm tone, "Should we take care of her?"
Of course, she was only joking; she wouldn't actually go through with it.
Ai responded by shaking her head. "Let's watch the situation first before we decide."
"Oh~" Megumi lowered her knife.
The conversation between the two girls absolutely terrified Chizuru, who was sitting beside them. [Are these two 'big sisters' really this terrifying?]
Since Chizuru was the unlucky 15th member, she had to address Ai (number 1) and Megumi (number 3) as "Big Sister." She silently added both of them to her list of "people never to offend." They were too frightening; she feared that if she accidentally crossed them one day, she might be the one getting "taken care of." As someone from an ordinary family, Chizuru did not dare pick a fight with these "crazy" rich people.
The match officially began. Ryunosuke's turn, "Draw!"
The satellites in the sky began to operate normally, projecting virtual images toward them. Ryunosuke looked at the random cards in his hand and thought of the best solution.
"I summon Big Shield Guardna in defense position!"
Ryunosuke slotted the card into his Duel Disk. Instantly, a kneeling figure holding a giant shield appeared. The virtual imagery was incredibly realistic, on par with the original anime, though it couldn't be marketed widely yet due to the exorbitant costs.
Big Shield Guardna, DEF 2600, Level 4.
"Then, I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Masuzu's turn, "Draw!"
Her white coat fluttered even though there was no wind, as if she were being possessed by the spirit of Seto Kaiba. She looked at the cards in her hand; though they were random, if she remembered correctly, her Obelisk the Tormentor card would be drawn in three turns. She looked at her spell and trap cards and already had a strategy to draw the God card quickly.
"I summon X-Head Cannon in attack position!"
X-Head Cannon, ATK 1800, Level 4.
Masuzu slotted a spell card into the Duel Disk.
"Next, I activate the spell card, Magical Sanctuary!" (Note: In this context, referring to a card-adding effect).
"This card allows both players to add one spell card from their deck to their hand."
"Magical Sanctuary?!"
Ryunosuke didn't understand what his opponent was planning, but he still took the spell card he wanted: Change of Heart.
Masuzu also added a Pot of Greed to her hand. With that, on her next turn when she activated Pot of Greed, she could pull the God card that was buried in the second position. Since she had just taken one card, the God card was now second in line; she could have drawn it now, but the timing wasn't right. She needed three tributes to summon a God, so Masuzu delayed her intention.
She set one card face-down and ended her turn. Magical Sanctuary remained on the field as a continuous spell card. This card had a special effect where both players could use spell cards during the opponent's turn. Masuzu intentionally kept quiet about it to create an information gap and catch Ryunosuke off guard.
Unfortunately, Ryunosuke knew the card's effect; he wouldn't be fooled. Masuzu didn't expect much in the way of trickery, however, because she had already planted the "seeds of victory" that could finish the opponent in a single turn in the next phase. She only needed to wait for those seeds to bloom.
Ryunosuke: "My turn, Draw!"
He stared at his cards. The opponent's X-Head Cannon had 1800 ATK, while his Big Shield Guardna had 2600 DEF. The opponent wouldn't be able to do anything to him for the time being.
Ryunosuke considered whether to perform a Tribute Summon. Sacrificing one Level 4 monster to summon a Level 5 or 6 monster to increase his offensive power. But feeling it was unnecessary, he kept Big Shield Guardna as his shield. By summoning one more monster plus his face-down trap card, as long as he could protect these two monsters, he could use them as tributes to summon a Level 7 or 8 monster next turn.
"I summon Alpha The Magnet Warrior in defense position."
Alpha The Magnet Warrior, DEF 1700, Level 4.
To protect the card, Ryunosuke set another card face-down and ended his turn.
Now it was Masuzu's turn...
Masuzu was ready to summon a God card! Can Ryunosuke withstand the assault of this fake "President" Kaiba? Want to continue to Chapter 389?