Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

“Why not? I can use [Monster Resurrection] to revive the Winged Warrior or Wild Warrior from your graveyard and put them on my farm, then use [Swamp Demon King] to replace the other material, and then I can perform a fusion summoning, right?” Yuito said logically.

“…I’m speechless.”

Yusei was speechless. Why go through all this trouble just to summon a fusion monster that isn't even that strong?

He then added, "However, what [Divine Judgment] negates is the summoning action. Even if you can fuse and summon this card, it will be negated by [Divine Judgment] during the Special Summon."

"...Is that so?"

“That’s it.” Yusei flipped over the fourth card.

The fourth card revealed is the Fusion Monster [Elemental HERO Iron Arm Gunner] (Fusion/EARTH/Level 8/ATK 2000/DEF 2500), a monster formed by fusing [Elemental HERO Burst Lady] and [Elemental HERO Nendoroid]. Its effect is that it can attack the opponent directly while in Defense Position, but its ATK will be halved during damage calculation.

"Being able to attack from Defense Position feels a bit overpowered," Yuuto said, somewhat surprised by the card's effect. It was the first time he'd seen a monster capable of attacking from Defense Position, and it was a direct attack, ignoring all monsters on the opponent's field and dealing LP damage directly. If this card could be Fusion Summoned at a crucial moment, wouldn't it be a turning point in the duel? Perhaps the opponent would lose because of that 1000 points of damage.

"That's right, but this card usually doesn't last more than a turn..." Yusei summarized. In his previous dueling environment, there was the [Super Heavy Warrior] deck. The monsters in that deck generally had special effects that allowed them to attack in defense position, making it much more useful than [Elemental HERO Iron Arm Gunner].

"2500 defense points is quite high. Is it as fragile as you say?" Yuto expressed his doubts. After all, among the duelists he had encountered before, very few could summon a monster with an attack power of more than 2500 points in one turn.

“If it were up to me, I would have a hundred ways to take down Iron Arm Gunner in one turn,” Yusei said calmly.

“That’s true…” Yuto recalled Yusei’s previous fusion summons. Whether it was Tornado or Sunrise, both could destroy Iron Arm Gunner with 2500 defense in one turn.

The last card revealed was a trap card called "Hero Mark," whose effect is that when a monster on your field is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower "Elemental HERO" monster from your hand or Deck to the field.

"It's a Trap Card that can be Special Summoned... If used well, it should give you a significant advantage next turn. I remember that Flamebringer can retrieve [Fusion] from the Deck to your hand when it's Special Summoned, right? So we can use it in conjunction with this [Hero Mark] to activate its effect, and then perform a Fusion Summon next turn. What do you think of this idea?"

"Hmm... seems like it." If this were in his original world, where high-speed duels were commonplace, Yusei would definitely find this card's activation effect too slow, and it would be completely useless in his deck, since duels usually ended within three turns. But in this world, it seems the speed of duels can be slowed down a bit?

Yusei also began to feel that there was no need to decide a winner so quickly, but rather to try to enjoy the pleasure that duels bring. He remembered someone once saying, "Duel should be an act that brings smiles to everyone." Maybe he should try to adapt to this rhythm? Otherwise, always finishing off his opponent in one go is too boring.

017 Making a fuss over nothing

As Yusei was thinking about these things, Yuto beside him also began to unpack the cards. Instead of slowly unpacking them one by one like Yusei, he chose to take out all five cards at once.

Yuito laid the five cards flat on the table, exactly where Yusei had placed his cards. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Yuito chose to place his cards directly above Yusei's.

Yuito also opened a card pack with the "Hero" cover, so the contents can be roughly guessed. Generally speaking, there won't be any cards from other decks, except for highly versatile cards like "Monster Reborn".

Yusei looked at the cards on the table. From left to right, the five cards were: the spell card "Sudden Mutation", the monster card "Elemental HERO Necromancer", the spell card "Fusion Recycle", the monster card "Elemental HERO Golden Blade", and... the spell card "Pot of Greed".

That's right, it's that water bottle with the "facial expression" on the card, the legendary card that was banned in ancient times... However, in the anime, this card seems to be usable normally.

The first card is the Spell Card "Sudden Mutation," whose effect allows you to Tribute one monster on the field and then Special Summon one Fusion Monster from your Deck with the same Level as the Tributed Monster. If used well, it can be extremely beneficial, since not all Fusion Monsters can only be Special Summoned via "Fusion."

"It's a pity, the Fusion Monsters in my current Hero Deck can't be Special Summoned using this card." Yusei has special memories of this card because its artwork is particularly grotesque and terrifying; as a child, seeing it often gave him nightmares...

"This card is a bit scary, but the effect seems pretty good, and there's room for further exploration," Jie Ren commented.

The second card is the monster card 【Elemental HERO Necromancer】 (Warrior/DARK/Level 5, ATK 1600, DEF 1800). Its effect is that when this card is in the Graveyard, you can Summon one Level 5 or higher 【Elemental HERO】 monster without Tributing it.

"To be honest, this card is pretty useless to me. I guess it can only be used as fusion material..." High-level monsters of Elemental HERO are generally Special Summoned using the Fusion Spell Card. This kind of Advanced Summon, which requires tributes, is too inefficient, so Yusei usually wouldn't choose to do it.

“Monsters of level 4 and below can be summoned directly to the field, while level 5 monsters require a tribute to be summoned. This card is more suitable for filling the graveyard.” Yuuto saw the value of this card at a glance.

The third card is the Spell Card [Fusion Recycle]. Its effect allows you to add one [Fusion] Spell Card from your Graveyard and one Material Monster used in a Fusion Summon to your hand. This is quite useful for Yusei's current deck, but you shouldn't include too many in your deck. After all, you can only use this card after a Fusion Summon. If you include too many and end up with this card in your hand first, it can lead to a clogged hand.

"I already have one in my deck, so I'll keep this one for now."

"This card is a good match for the hero deck. After all, your deck mainly focuses on Fusion Summoning. This card can be used to recycle materials for a second Fusion Summon, which is pretty good."

The fourth card is the monster card 【Elemental HERO Blade】 (Warrior/EARTH/Level 7, ATK 2600, DEF 1800). Its effect is that when this card attacks a Defense Position monster, it can inflict battle damage to the opponent equal to the difference between the monster's ATK and DEF.

"The armor penetration is good, but it's a high-level monster." Yusei's first reaction was that it was impractical. His thinking was still stuck in the past. In his mind, a hero deck should be a high-burst deck. Monsters like this that require tributes for Tribute Summoning have a very low cost-effectiveness when summoned.

"Hmm... the Necromancer Dark Knight in front seems to have a good synergy with this card. When the Necromancer Dark Knight is in the graveyard, based on its effect, you can summon this Golden Blade Knight directly to the field without needing to tribute it, right?" Jieren noticed this and shared his opinion with Yusei.

“Hmm… that does work, but it requires one card to be in the graveyard and the other in your hand. Such opportunities are rare, and this combination is not very stable.” Yusei thought for a while before answering Jie Ren’s question.

In his view, a stable deck progression is paramount. Such an unstable combination relies too heavily on personal luck, and only the protagonist would do that, given his "god-like draw" ability, allowing him to draw cards with a thought, getting whatever he wants as accurately as if he had a cheat code...

The fifth card is the spell card "Pot of Greed," whose effect draws two cards from the deck and adds them to the hand without any cost or requirements—simple and straightforward. In a sense, Yusei has already recouped his investment with just this one card, considering that in his original era, this card was definitely a banned card. Its effect was practically the top choice for filtering draws, a godsend for those with bad luck…

If possible, Yusei hopes to include three copies of "Pot of Greed" in his deck, so that he will never have to worry about having a bad hand again.

"How was it? Did you get the card you wanted?" Yuto asked after Yusei looked at the contents of the card pack he had opened.

"Well... since it's a loose pack, I didn't expect to get any rare cards, but there are still a few usable ones, like [Pot of Greed], which was a pleasant surprise." Yusei briefly summarized the results of unpacking the pack.

"What's so surprising about the Pot of Greed? Isn't it a very common magic card?" Yuito looked somewhat puzzled.

"...Uh, is that so?" Yusei opened his mouth, but didn't react for a moment.

Yes, I was still thinking about duels with outdated ideas, forgetting that the world before me was vastly different from the world before. I could easily use forbidden cards to build an incredibly powerful deck and crush all the duelists in this world…

"Sigh~ This seems like it would be a lot of work, having to go around collecting cards... It's too much trouble, I'll just forget about it. My current deck is already good enough to crush noobs, there's no need to spend time researching new decks. Besides, I'm a hopeless hero card addict, whether a card is strong or not is a matter of a version, but whether it's cool or not is a matter for life. Apart from hero decks, no matter how strong other decks are, I don't plan to use them, that's how stubborn I am~" Yusei thought to himself.

He could never have imagined that in the near future, his firm beliefs would be shaken by certain events, and his current cynical attitude would also change...

018 The Troubles of the Rich

Yusei and Yuto sat "intimately" together, discussing things related to Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Unconsciously, the two were very close to each other.

To others, the scene looked like two teenagers flirting in broad daylight in public...

Even the onlookers eating here couldn't help but wonder who was 0 and who was 1.

游一*零|{①*⑦~④}五=酒}~④<%⑨~%⑧星给人的第一印象就是自信，他的眼神给人N<$J带来的感觉，带着一些把一切都不放在眼里的傲慢。似乎在他五&&一/#七*加@+1-@0#1<~７*+4*5>+9@#4@&9%8八@八&~零|七{+六~一看来，这个世界上没有什么人能对他有着实质上的威胁。

Yuto's first impression is one of calmness and composure, as if nothing could significantly impact him. Even when Yusei mistakenly believed he had unusual fetishes and was being watched by onlookers, he didn't loudly refute Yusei, but calmly and composedly cleared up the misunderstanding.

Yusei is seventeen years old this year. From his appearance, he looks like an ordinary high school student. He also checked his height during the school's physical examination, which is about 1.7 meters, the average height for a student. Compared to Yusei, Yuto looks rather petite. The two are about the same age, but their development seems to be quite different.

Judging from appearances, it's obvious that Yusei is the one taking the initiative; but considering that Yusei was able to grab him with one hand when he tried to run away, it seems that this judgment is a bit too hasty... The onlookers were thinking about these things at the moment.

"Ahem! Ahem!" The waiter walked over to Yusei and Yuto and reminded them.

"Um... gentlemen, could you please refrain from such intimate behavior in public? It might disturb other diners..." the waiter said with a polite smile, making the request to the couple.

"Holy crap! No way!" Yusei snapped back to reality and distanced himself from Yuto. He glanced around at the people and realized that their actions would indeed be misinterpreted as that kind of relationship by outsiders.

"..." Yuito also turned his head to look out the window, avoiding the direction of the crowd. His face was slightly flushed, indicating that he was not unconcerned about the misunderstanding earlier. After all, he was still an underage boy, and he was just pretending to be calm.

After opening the card pack, Yusei planned to leave the family restaurant with Yuto to complete the enrollment procedures for the Duel Academy. However, just as they were about to leave, a waiter mistook him for someone with unusual fetishes. His intuition had told him that getting involved with Yuto could never end well, and sure enough, karma struck immediately…

This restaurant operates on a pre-order, pre-payment basis, with food served afterward. So Yusei didn't need to pay the bill anymore. He decisively grabbed Yuto's hand and they fled the place at lightning speed.

-------------------------------

After lunch and all that fuss, it was already afternoon.

"Next, we need to complete the formalities, right?" Yusei put his hands on his lap, bent over and panted as he spoke to Yuto. They had run for a while and were finally away from the restaurant area. Now the two of them were resting by the roadside.

"Yes, next I'm going to my usual workplace." Jie Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead. Despite running such a long distance, he didn't seem very tired, only slightly sweaty. No wonder he's trained.

"Hey, Yuto, aren't you a rich kid? Why are you walking out?" Yusei asked. He had expected a super luxurious sports car to be parked outside the restaurant, but there wasn't one. So he grabbed Yuto and ran in a random direction until they were far away from the restaurant area.

“In Japan, you can only get a driver’s license at eighteen. I’m seventeen this year, so even if I have a car, I can’t drive on the road,” Yuto explained.

"Hey... I always see rich kids on TV driving around in sports cars, showing off and picking up girls, right? How come your story is so different?" Yu Xing asked.

"You know it's on TV, right? Who in real life would do something so brainless? Are you afraid people won't know how rich you are?" Teacher Jieren answered his question.

“What’s wrong with letting others know that my family is rich? I feel that doing so makes it easier to gain an advantageous position in interpersonal relationships!” Yu Xing said again.

"That's true, but it also makes you an easy target for people with ill intentions. Being too flamboyant also increases the risk of being kidnapped or attacked. I don't want to be followed by a large group of bodyguards in black wherever I go, okay?" Teacher Jie rolled her eyes slightly, pointing out the crux of the problem.

Yusei was just an ordinary student who grew up in the countryside and came from a modest family, so he couldn't think from the perspective of rich people. After talking with Yuto, he quickly realized how naive his previous thoughts had been.

It cannot be ruled out that there are some people who like to be high-profile. They don't care about what others say; they just like to show off and be extravagant. In their eyes, they are born with a silver spoon in their mouths and the world should revolve around them...

It's rare to find someone like Yuto, who grew up in such a privileged environment, who can maintain his true self, remain humble and composed, think critically, and be independent. It's precisely because of these qualities that Yusei chose to befriend him.

If Yuuto were like those arrogant rich kids, haughty and disdainful from the start, then in their very first duel, Yusei would have chosen the most brutal method to utterly crush him, leaving him no chance to retaliate. Their paths would never cross again; Yusei might find his own way into the Duel Academy, while Yuuto would become a passerby in his life, soon to be forgotten.

Of course, this is just one possibility that doesn't exist.

At least for now, the two are best buddies.

As a transmigrator, Yusei was completely clueless about the local routes. Fortunately, with Jie Ren leading the way, after changing vehicles several times, the two finally arrived at the place to complete the formalities, in front of a luxurious building near the city center.

"My goodness..." Yusei's country bumpkin nature couldn't help but be exposed. After all, before he transmigrated, he was just an ordinary high school student whose only skill was playing cards.

Only when playing cards can he feel his own strength and gain strong self-confidence. When his opponents are tricked by his back hand, he can find a sense of accomplishment in the bewildered look on their faces.

This power and confidence only exist in duels. In reality, he is still just an ordinary, unremarkable student.

In some high-end occasions, such as attending weddings of relatives and friends at large hotels with family members, he would instinctively feel restrained and unable to relax, even if he did not want to feel that way.

(I don't want the protagonist to become a dueling maniac, spending all his time looking for opponents and not paying attention to anything else; that would be too boring. So, the focus in the early stages is on daily life, mainly showing off and picking up girls; duels are mostly just bullying weaker opponents.)

(Speaking of which, there are really few girls in Yu-Gi-Oh!... The only ones I can remember are Asuka Tenjouin and her two followers, Saiou's sister Misuchi, the vampire Camilla from the Seven Stars, and Rei Saotome from Love... Yubel seems to be a boy, and his appearance is too much for most people to handle...)

019 A Gift for the Beginner

"This is the company I currently manage, and also where I live now," Yuto said to Yusei, who was stunned and speechless at the sight before him.

"Oh...oh..." Yusei came to his senses, looking somewhat restrained.

"What's wrong? You seem a little nervous," Jieren asked, puzzled.

"It's my first time in such a high-class place, and I do feel a little nervous..." Yu Xing said frankly. He felt that he should express his true feelings directly and there was no need to pretend for the sake of saving face.

"Uh..." Yuto then realized that Yusei was not born into a wealthy family like himself. According to Yusei, he was currently alone in a foreign country, worrying about survival... while he had acted as if it were a matter of course and failed to consider the feelings of the boy in front of him.

"I'm sorry... I didn't consider your feelings." Yuto turned around and lowered his head slightly as he spoke to Yusei.

"It's alright, it's alright. It was my own ignorance. You didn't have to do this!" Yusei quickly helped Yuto up. In his opinion, it was just a small matter, but Yuto made a special apology, which made him feel flattered.

Yuuto's attitude did indeed offer some comfort to Yusei; he could feel Yuuto's sincerity and respect for him.

For Yuto, Yusei is a powerful duelist, a talent worth investing in. Yusei, alone in this world, does indeed need Yuto's help. The two were strangers before, but now, their shared interests have brought them together.

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Yusei followed Yuto into the building. Along the way, people greeted Yuto, and Yuto nodded slightly in return.

At this moment, Yuito seemed to have switched to work mode, and he gave people an extremely calm and indifferent feeling, whether he was dealing with things or communicating with people. He was completely different from the approachable and enthusiastic person he was when talking to Yusei.

"As expected of you." Yusei couldn't help but sigh as he looked at Yuto.