Yu-Gi-Oh!: Ultimate Duelist

In the dim cubicle, the lights flickered dimly and the atmosphere was tense and mysterious.

Lin Hao sat quietly in front of the duel stage, his eyes fixed on the huge display screen in front of him, his expression focused and full of anticipation.

Suddenly, the display screen lit up, and a cool bust of an animated character slowly emerged.

The animated character's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, and he had a majestic aura. He said, "I'll be your opponent this time. Are you ready?"

The voice was powerful and resonant, as if carrying an endless challenge, and it echoed for a long time in this silent space.

Soon, the words "Start" were clearly displayed on the monitor.

Without any hesitation, Lin Hao decisively stretched out his finger and clicked "Yes".

Immediately afterwards, a mysterious pointer appeared on the display screen and began to slowly rotate towards Lin Hao and the cartoon character's portrait.

Although the pointer turned slowly, it seemed to have an indescribable magic that tightly gripped Lin Hao's heart.

With every swing, Lin Hao's heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

Finally, the pointer pointed steadily at the animated character, and then the screen showed that the opponent would attack first.

The animated character said solemnly, "My turn, draw a card."

At the same time, the screen vividly showed the wonderful scene of the animated character drawing cards from the duel disk, and the speakers in the compartment also transmitted his voice clearly at the same time, as if the animated character was really standing in front of Lin Hao to engage in this fierce duel.

"I'm in face-down defense mode and summon a monster. This ends the turn." The animated character's voice was steady and decisive, as if everything was under his control.

Lin Hao took a deep breath, stretched out his hand and drew a card. A glint of confidence flashed in his eyes, and he said loudly: "Summon [Rocket Warrior] (ATK 1500/DEF 1300) in Attack Position, then use [Rocket Warrior] to attack the face-down Defense Position monster on the opponent's field."

Soon, the monster on the opponent's field slowly appeared, and it turned out to be [Black Scorpion - Mina of Thorns] (ATK 1000/DEF 1800).

Although the attack power of the Rocket Warrior on Lin Hao's field is 300 points lower than the opponent's defense power, due to the powerful effect of the Rocket Warrior: During his own Battle Phase, this card cannot be destroyed by battle, and the battle damage of this card to himself becomes 0. When this card attacks a monster, the attack power of the target after damage calculation is reduced by 500 points until the End Phase.

Therefore, Lin Hao did not receive any combat damage, but the attack power of the monsters on the opponent's field was reduced by 500 points.

Because it was a man-machine battle, Lin Hao didn't need to speak or operate, the system quickly and directly displayed the result.

Lin Hao frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.

A moment later, he covered a card on the field and ended his turn.

It was the opponent's turn. The opponent spoke again, "Activate the Spell Card [Reinforcement]. Its effect is: Select 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monster from your deck and add it to your hand. Then, shuffle your deck."

"The card I chose is - [Boss Zarug] (4-star Warrior-type monster)."

Then, without hesitation, the other party said, "Summon [Leader Zarug] in Attack Position (Attack 1400/Defense 1500)."

Then, the opponent continued, "Activate the Spell Card [Black Scorpion Love Tragedy]. Its effect is: You can activate this card when you have [Chief Zarug] [Black Scorpion - Thorn Mina] face-up on your field. Send a [Black Scorpion - Thorn Mina] on your field to the Graveyard, destroying all monsters on your opponent's field."

At this time, the display screen showed "Do you want to activate the card effect?" Lin Hao quickly clicked "Yes".

Lin Hao responded quickly: "Activate the Quick-Play Spell Card - [Mysterious Chinese Pot]: Liberate 1 monster on your field. Choose one of the attack power or defense power of the liberated monster, and restore basic points equal to this value." "Choose the attack power of [Rocket Warrior]."

In an instant, Lin Hao's health value increased by 1500 points from the previous state to 5500 points.

The animated character on the computer continued, "Activate the Spell Card - [Warrior Survival]. Its effect is: Target 1 Warrior-Type monster in your Graveyard. Add that Warrior-Type monster to your hand."

"The card I chose is [Black Scorpion - Mina of Thorns]."

Then, the anime character spoke again: "Activate the Spell Card - [Black Scorpion Recruitment]. This card's effect is: While you have a face-up [Boss Zarug] on the field, you can activate this card. You can Special Summon all monsters with [Black Scorpion] in their names from your hand. (You can only Special Summon one monster with the same name.)"

Then, a shocking image appeared on the screen: "Special Summon [Black Scorpion - Cliff the Trap Dismantler] in Attack Position (ATK 1200/DEF 1000).

[Black Scorpion - Zeke's Fast Escape] (Attack 1000/Defense 1000).

[Black Scorpion - Powerful Gao Ge] (Attack 1800/Defense 1500).

[Black Scorpion - Thorn Mina] (Attack 1000/Defense 1800).”

Seeing the five monster cards that instantly appeared on the opponent's field, Lin Hao couldn't help but feel a little numb, and his heart beat violently. He felt as if he was about to be eliminated in one wave, and the pressure was overwhelming him like a tide.

I couldn't help but complain in my mind, "Everyone says this challenge is easy and simple, but it's not easy at all. The opponent's deck has too much explosive power."

At this time, the animated character said: "[Black Scorpion - Powerful Gao Ge] (Attack 1800/Defense 1500) directly attacks the player."

Lin Hao's health suddenly dropped sharply to 3700 points.

“发动【黑蝎 - 强力的高戈】的效果：这张卡对对方造成战斗伤害时，可以从下列效果中选择 1 项发动：1将对方场上 1 张怪兽卡弹回对方卡组最上面。2将对方卡组最上面 1 张卡送去墓地。”

As the choices appeared on the screen, Lin Hao decisively chose 2. Then he saw the top card of his deck being ruthlessly sent to the graveyard.

The animated character on the computer continued, "[Black Scorpion - Fast-Fleeing Zeke] (Attack 1000/Defense 1000) attacks the player directly."

Lin Hao's health dropped again, to 2700 points.

The opponent immediately activates the effect of [Black Scorpion - Zeke's Rapid Escape].

"Its effect is: When this card deals damage to your opponent, look at the top card of their deck (the opponent cannot confirm this card) and choose to put it back to the top or bottom of the deck."

Lin Hao didn't hesitate at all and directly chose the top one, trying to find a glimmer of hope in this chaotic situation.