Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

By a stroke of good fortune, he gained a new partner from Yugi Muto – [Winged Kuriboh], a card that can reduce battle damage to 0.

It was precisely because of this card that Jaden Yuki was able to have a turn off during the entrance exam, allowing him to Fusion Summon Elemental HERO Flame Wingman to defeat Professor Chronos's Ancient Gear Giant and win the duel.

It's fair to say that without Winged Kuriboh, there would be no Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

"Uh...do you know me?"

Hearing Yusei's words, Jaden Yuki was somewhat surprised, but he quickly came to his senses.

"No! Now is not the time to worry about this. I'm going to be late for the Duel Academy exam. I have to get there right away!"

"Brother, could you please pick up this card for me?"

In a flurry of activity, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but make a request to Yusei.

"No problem, I'll help you!"

As a fellow card player, Yusei could very well understand Jaden Yuki's anxious feelings at this moment.

He bent down to help Judai Yuki pick up the cards scattered on the ground. His movements were quick and careful, showing that he was a skilled card player.

With Yusei's help, Jaden Yuki quickly collected all the cards.

He thanked Yusei and then hurriedly rushed towards the exam location.

"Duel Academy? Seems like a great place to show off~"

"How about... we go there next?"

Thinking of this, Yusei's lips curled up slightly, and an evil smile appeared on his face.

002 can only make a living by gambling...

Yu-Gi-Oh! cards can be broadly divided into three categories: Monster Cards, Spell Cards, and Trap Cards.

Monster cards can be further divided into Normal Monsters with yellow borders, Effect Monsters with brown borders, Ritual Monsters with blue borders, Fusion Monsters with purple borders, Synchro Monsters with white borders, Xyz Monsters with black borders, and so on.

Generally speaking, monsters have a specific star rating. The higher the star rating, the stronger the monster is, and the more demanding the summoning conditions become.

For example, the highest star rating for a regular monster is 12.

Monster cards of level 4 and below can be summoned directly. Monster cards of level 5 and 6 require one monster on the field to be Tributed before they can be summoned. Monster cards of level 7 and above require two Tributes to be Tributed.

Certain monster cards with specific conditions are not included in this range. For example, the Egyptian God Cards have special summoning conditions. Normally, you must Tribute three monsters on your field to summon them.

Spell cards have a green border and are usually activated during your turn. They can be categorized into Normal Spells, Quick-Play Spells, Field Spells, Continuous Spells, Equip Spells, etc.

Trap cards have a pink border and need to be set face-down for one turn to activate. They are usually set face-down during your turn and activated during your opponent's turn. They can also be categorized into Normal Trap, Continuous Trap, Counter Trap, etc.

In Yu-Gi-Oh!, the main deck typically consists of 40-60 cards, with a maximum of 15 cards in the sub-deck used to replace the main deck. The extra deck also has 15 cards, used to store Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Link Monsters.

In reality, apart from a few players who use "graveyard build" or "grass-cutting" decks to expand their decks to the maximum of 60 cards, most other decks will keep their decks to 40 cards. Furthermore, they will maintain a certain balance between monster cards and spell/trap cards. This is done to increase the chances of drawing key cards and to avoid the occurrence of stuck cards.

Generally speaking, modern decks often include quick-play spell cards like "Called by the Graveyard" and "Called by Annihilation".

Like trap cards, quick-play spell cards can be set face-down in the back row and activated during the opponent's turn.

On one hand, it can be used to prevent the opponent from using hand traps such as [Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring], [Ghost Rabbit], and [Gross G], thus protecting your own development from being interrupted.

On the one hand, it can also cause some interference during the opponent's turn, interrupting their development.

As for trap cards, the most common one now is probably [Infinite Impermanence], which can be activated from the hand. Most trap cards require being set to the wall for a turn before activation, making it easy to fall into a passive position.

Of course, certain decks also use trap cards as their main force, such as the [Trap Card] deck, which is full of various red traps of all sizes.

Yusei's deck is rather unconventional, although it can be considered a "hybrid hero deck"...

However, trap cards often make up more than a third of his deck...

In certain special situations, it even reaches nearly half the level, often resulting in a hand full of red-framed trap cards at the start of the game, five of which are then played face-down in the back row to end the turn, completely scaring the opponent.

Seeing Yusei's bizarre moves, his opponents' first reaction is often—"Damn! I've run into a scumbag! What the hell are you doing?!"

If he hadn't said anything, people really wouldn't have known he was playing a [Hero] deck...

However, there are also times when luck is not on your side. For example, if your opponent happens to have [Harpie's Feather Duster] in their hand, which can destroy all of your opponent's spell and trap cards, then if you encounter this situation and don't have a counter card like [Divine Judgment] in hand, then Yusei can only feel helpless and frustrated.

……

When Yusei arrived at Muto Sugoroku's card shop, it seemed that a duel match was about to be held.

Yusei glanced around the store and noticed that most of the customers were students from the neighborhood, and many of them were newbies who had just started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

He saw Muto Sugoroku at the counter in the store.

This unassuming old man is none other than Yugi Muto, the grandfather of the original protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! – the Duel King.

He was slightly bent over behind the counter, short but strong, with a friendly smile on his face.

Ten years have passed, but time has not left any marks on him. Muto Sugoroku's appearance is still no different from that in the original anime.

This guy is quite an eccentric.

In his youth, Muto Sugoroku once ventured into an ancient Egyptian tomb. During that time, he was stabbed in the back by the local guide leading the group, suffering a severe injury to his waist and nearly falling into a spiked trap inside the tomb.

Just as he was about to fall into the thorn pit, Muto Sugoroku seemed to vaguely see Pharaoh Atum pulling him back.

Thus, having unexpectedly escaped death, he not only survived that perilous situation but also brought back a sealed golden cabinet containing fragments of millennia-old building blocks from the ancient tomb.

Sugoroku Muto suffered a severe back injury during that expedition, which left him with a chronic condition. He often experienced back pain in his old age, but fortunately, he survived, which led to the birth of Yugi Muto.

There are only four Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards in the world in the anime. Three of them are with Seto Kaiba, the president of the large conglomerate Kaiba Corporation, and the remaining one is in the hands of Sugoroku Muto. This card was entrusted to him by an old friend.

Although in the original anime, the fourth Blue-Eyes White Dragon was torn up by the hot-blooded young president Kaiba out of his perverse possessiveness...

Besides the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Sugoroku Muto also has five special rare cards, such as the five parts of the Dark Archmage.

As long as you collect all five cards in your hand, you will win the duel unconditionally.

Yugi Muto's other personality, Yami Yugi, born from the Millennium Puzzle, defeated Seto Kaiba, who had summoned the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, by drawing the "Dark Magician" card by chance...

However, these five rare cards were thrown into the sea by Yugi Muto's opponent, the Insect Moth, when Yugi went to Duel Kingdom...

You would never guess how many rare cards this seemingly ordinary old man actually possesses.

……

The posters in the store show that the prize money for the competition winner is 100,000 yen.

Yusei did the math in his head; if converted to RMB, 100,000 yen would be about 6,000 yuan.

Although the amount of money wasn't much, it was enough for Yusei to live on for a long time.

Thinking of this, Yusei quickly went to the counter to register for the competition with Muto Sugoroku.

The rules of the duel are simple: it's an elimination tournament where two people team up to fight.

Both sides start with 4000 LP, and the monster's attack power will reduce the LP accordingly.

The player whose LP reaches zero first loses the duel, while the winner advances to the next round.

The final winner will receive a cash prize of 100,000 yen.

During the competition, you can use the decks provided by the store or your own decks. There are not many restrictions in this regard; just do as you wish.

Before showing off, it's best to figure out the other person's capabilities first.

If you blindly act arrogantly and then get proven wrong, you'll just look like an idiot...

Out of caution, Yusei used the decks provided by the store for the first few duels.

Deck like this naturally won't be very strong.

The monsters in the deck are mostly low-level Normal Monsters, such as [Fall Guy], [Dragon Zombie], [Lion Wizard], [Seahorse], etc.

As for magic and trap cards, they are just cards that don't really matter, adding or subtracting a few hundred points of attack or defense.

These decks are almost negligible in terms of strength.

Fortunately, Yusei's opponents were all newbies. As a seasoned veteran, he won the duel without much difficulty and advanced to the semi-finals without any pressure.

As time went by, the top four teams in this competition were quickly determined.

Of the three other qualifiers besides Yusei, two were middle school students in school uniforms, and the other was a boy about the same age as him.

The boy wore a white shirt on his upper body and slim-fitting black trousers on his lower body. He wore thick black-rimmed glasses that covered almost half of his face, giving him a composed and dignified aura.

Yusei looked at this boy, who, like himself, seemed somewhat out of place among his surroundings, and his heart skipped a beat.

He had a vague premonition that he might have an entangled relationship with this composed young man in the future...

"Holy crap! What the hell... How could such a thought suddenly pop into my head..."

"We don't have any special hobbies!"

The sudden appearance of such a bizarre thought caused Yusei to break out in a cold sweat.

……

The next match is the semi-final, and the winner of this match will qualify for the final.

Since it concerns his living expenses, Yusei doesn't plan to use the store's miscellaneous card deck for this match, but instead intends to use his own [Hero Deck].

The reason I didn't use my own deck before was mainly to hide my tactics and prevent my opponents from targeting me.

In the previous duels, Yusei took the opportunity to observe the tactics of the players around him.

In his view, apart from the bespectacled, composed young man who needed to be a little careful, there was basically no threat.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will most likely be my opponent in the final.

……

After several rounds of trial duels, Yusei has gradually adapted to the dueling rhythm of this world.

He was also certain of one thing.

That means most people here are just newbies who have just started playing cards.

For a veteran player like myself, facing these newbies felt like a max-level character returning to the starting village to stomp on noobs.

"It's time to start showing off..."

Yusei muttered something under his breath, then returned the borrowed deck to Muto Sugoroku.