Yu-Gi-Oh!: Starting as a Rabbit-Eared Demon King

As soon as I got to the second floor, I heard a loud shout. A blond-haired boy pulled a card from the deck in a very childish way.

"Jōnei, still not imposing enough!" Mutō Sōroku shouted, producing a paper folding fan from who-knows-where. It seemed that if Li Youming weren't there, he would have smashed the boy's head with it.

“I’ve tried my best, old man.” Jonouchi muttered to himself as he turned around, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

"Bakura, you're here too. Are you here to play Duel Monsters?" Jonouchi grinned and put his arm around Li Youming, his expression already showing that he was about to crush the weaklings.

"As expected, it's that carefree, reliable Jonouchi who's always so dependable in crucial moments." Li Youming chuckled to himself, then turned to look at the harmless-looking little cutie with her gravity-defying starfish hairstyle.

"Is this Yugi Muto? He really looks so gentle right now. If I didn't know his cunning nature, I could easily have fallen for his tricks." Li Youming looked at Yugi Muto and replied to Jonouchi, "Indeed, I'm also interested in Duel Monsters, which is why I came here to buy some cards. It's so great to run into you guys."

"Yoshi, Bakura-chan, come here quickly! I recently received training from Sugoroku-sama, and I'm incredibly strong now!" Jonouchi quickly pulled Li Youming to sit down opposite him, and then eagerly sat down opposite Li Youming himself.

"Jounouchi! You haven't finished your training yet, what kind of nonsense is this, bullying a newbie here!" Muto Soroku's eyes were practically spitting fire, after all, Bakura's innocent expression naturally evoked people's protective instincts.

"It's alright, Grandpa Sugoroku. Jonouchi has been training quite hard, so it's good for me to keep him company and help him relax." Li Youming maintained his guise as Bakura, trying his best to appear innocent.

"See? Bakura-chan is the kindest." Jonouchi looked at Mutou Sugoroku with a smug expression, as if his scheme had succeeded. Mutou Sugoroku, hearing Li Youming's words, said nothing more and sat down next to him.

"Duel!" "Duel!"

"My turn, draw!" Jonouchi drew a card first, then excitedly slammed it onto the field. "I summon Flame Swordsman (1800/1600) in attack position! End of turn!"

"Does Jonouchi-kun really like the Flame Swordsman?" Li Youming stared blankly at the Flame Swordsman, who had represented Jonouchi's soul in the early stages. If Jonouchi hadn't later obtained the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, would he have gained even stronger warrior power?

"Stop daydreaming, Bakura-chan. If you like it, you can take a good look after we're done. Let's continue for now." Jonouchi was getting impatient seeing Li Youming's absent-minded look. After all, summoning his ace monster right away was indeed very exciting.

"Then it's my turn, draw a card." Li Youming calmly drew a card. At this time, Jonouchi had not yet become a qualified duelist, and his reckless dueling method was no match for Li Youming.

"I set one monster, then set two more cards, and end my turn." Li Youming drew another card, Shallow Graveyard and Self-Saving, and set them directly to the field. Li Youming noticed that ever since he used Self-Saving to beat Zorc, this card seemed to stick to his hand and he frequently drew it, even though he only had one Self-Saving.

"Is this my duelist power? This feeling of having everything I want is amazing." Li Youming gradually became excited as he thought about this.

"Hmph, you're too scared to face me head-on? Then I'll attack! My turn, draw! I'll use Flame Swordsman to attack Bakura's face-down monster, Flame Sword!"

"There's no virtual imaging system, yet you're already shouting about attack moves. How childish." Li Youming shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I opened the face-down card. My monster is a 'Potter Jar' (700/600). The monster was destroyed, but the 'Potter Jar's' flip effect was activated. Both players discarded all cards from their hands and drew five cards from their hands."

Following Li Youming's action, Jonouchi discarded his cards and drew five, grinning sheepishly. "Although I discarded some cards, I drew new ones. Now I have more cards than before, so I have to thank you. You're out of monsters, so hurry up and counterattack. My turn is over."

"You won't thank me later." Li Youming drew a card, shook his head as he looked at it, and said, "I activate two 'Shallow Graveyards' in my hand and one on the field. We both Special Summon three monsters from our Graveyards in face-down Defense Position to the field. Then I activate my Trap Card, 'Self-Dealing,' and you take 500 damage for each monster you control. Three face-down monsters plus Flame Swordsman make a total of four. You'll take 2000 damage, and I win."

With Li Youming's "storytelling" over, the game ended abruptly. Seeing his defeat, Jonouchi rubbed his head and exclaimed, "Bakura-chan, weren't you a newbie? How come you're so strong?"

Jonouchi didn't react, but Sugoroku Muto and Yugi Muto immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of Li Youming's strategy. While everyone was still figuring out how to use monsters to compare sizes and summon powerful monsters, Bakura had managed to find a different approach, using the rules to bypass the battles between monsters and directly target the duelist. This effect was no less than Sugoroku Muto's Exodia and Yugi Muto's Heavy Trap.

"Bakura-chan, let's have a duel too!" Yugi Muto seemed to have been inspired to fight and wanted to compete with Yuming Li.

"At this point, Yugi Muto isn't very strong yet. He and the Nameless Pharaoh need time to grow together. Maybe I can give him a little push." ​​Thinking this, Li Youming flashed his signature "Bakura smile." Jonouchi was substituted and became a spectator, while Yugi Muto sat opposite Li Youming. The two gentle men suddenly became tense.

"Is this the true aura of a duelist? As expected, true aura doesn't need shouting. Old man Sugoroku, I believe you now." Jonouchi looked at the two who were about to clash, and his heart suddenly became firm. This caused the duelists who were supposed to be hot-blooded to gradually move towards the direction of comedians.

"Duel!" "Duel!"

With two cries of "Duel!" ringing out, the two began their duel as if drawing their swords. The duel lasted from afternoon until dusk.

Yugi Muto's traps kept coming, and Li Youming couldn't help but sigh that even with the power of duelists, it really came down to who could spend more. Fortunately, Li Youming had replenished his resources by drawing card packs, which allowed him to fight Yugi Muto to a standstill.

Yugi Muto had previously tried every means to counter Li Youming's "Self-Satisfaction," which ultimately forced Li Youming to use "Self-Satisfaction" to reduce Yugi Muto's life points by 1000. However, Yugi Muto felt extremely frustrated afterward because Li Youming himself didn't have any other strategies and was instead relentlessly destroying the cards on his own field, preventing him from executing many of his own strategies.

In the end, Yugi Muto was preparing to end the game with his signature monster, Dark Magician (2500/2100), but Li Youming used Bakura's own "Heart Change" card to control Dark Magician and attack Yugi Muto's Red Gear (1300/1500) on the field, ending the game.

Although Yugi Muto and Yuming Li were exchanging blows, Yugi Muto always felt that something was missing, so he hesitated and looked at Yuming Li.