Chapter 4

Throughout all the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, dueling has always involved some degree of superstition.

The most common manifestation is divine draw.

And now, You Tian finally understood the truth behind divine draw.

That is—the Duelist's will to win!

"Damn! Damn!! Damn!!!"

YuE's current state was like a volcano about to erupt.

He repeated "damn" three times, his eyes filled with ferocity.

"You, too, and Game, and Jonouchi—all of you look down on me! All of you die!"

YuE's desperate will to win in the Duel directly manifested as a tangible wave of energy.

This sight made You Tian frown deeply.

The next moment, YuE placed his hand on his deck.

At that instant, You Tian felt on YuE the same aura he had sensed when he drew 【SpiritualExtracorporealBody】 earlier.

But now, the aura on YuE was far stronger than what he had felt before.

"My turn, draw!"

As YuE violently drew that card, You Tian even saw a faint golden arc.

"I banish 【Dragonfly】 and 【FlyingMantis】 from my Graveyard to Special Summon this card! Come forth! 【DemonBulldozer】!"

With a rumble like an earthquake, a giant centipede burst forth from the center of the field.

【Attack Power: 2800】

The surrounding crowd was stunned by YuE's aura; only when 【DemonBulldozer】 fully materialized did they cry out in shock.

"My god! Another monster with Attack Power rivaling Blue-Eyes White Dragon—and summoned without a Tribute!"

At this moment, YuE had lost his earlier arrogance. He now only wanted to tear apart the man before him.

"Next, I'll Summon 【CockroachBall】 in Attack Position."

【Attack Power: 1200】

"Go, 【DemonBulldozer】, shred his monster!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the giant centipede, like a real bulldozer, crushed straight over 【WindSpiritLaiYin】.

"【CockroachBall】, attack the other one!"

Boom! 【IllusoryGreatFlower】 shattered.

Thus, all of You Tian's monsters were destroyed.

You Tian fell silent.

In that instant, he felt a fleeting illusion that he was about to lose.

Having shattered You Tian's field, YuE seemed to instantly regain his confidence.

"Hmph! Next turn, my 【BigMoth】 will emerge from its cocoon—your defeat is imminent!"

The crowd erupted into applause.

"The champion is truly the champion! He turned the tide in an instant!"

You Tian clicked his tongue twice.

He drew a card with a blank expression, then Normal Summoned 【SubstituteGiantStatue】, then Tributed the Giant to activate 【SpiritualExtracorporealBody】's effect.

【YuE: LP100→LP0】

【Winner: You Tian】

The scene fell utterly silent.

"Wait, I've got this huge Continuous Spell right here—why are you all freaking out?"

The crowd remained silent.

It wasn't their fault. Mainly because since the Duel began, You Tian had never used his own monsters to deal damage to YuE.

Suddenly Tributing his own monster left them momentarily stunned.

Bystander: "Where's the promised crying when you Tribute your own monster?"

You Tian casually scratched his ear.

Now came the main event.

In essence, Yu-Gi-Oh! is a gacha game.

Players must continuously build bonds with their cards; those with Card Spirits must interact, communicate, and nurture feelings with them.

Most importantly, the defeat CGs in Yu-Gi-Oh! are extremely cruel.

"Hand over your Raya card and chip!"

YuE slumped to the ground, defeated. He couldn't believe he, Japan's champion, had lost to an unknown nobody.

Watching YuE reluctantly hand over 【BigMoth】 and the chip, You Tian frowned.

"Anything else? Swap it for another!"

YuE blinked in confusion.

What? This guy actually dislikes a 【BigMoth】 with 3500 Attack Power?

You Tian mentally scoffed: This piece of trash is only prized in the anime. I wouldn't take it even if it were free.

YuE silently handed over 【InsectQueen】; You Tian frowned again.

True enough, YuE's deck had no good cards.

You Tian sighed and picked up YuE's deck, carefully flipping through it.

Suddenly, his gaze caught sight of one card.

"I'll take this one—keep your Raya card for yourself!"

YuE blinked, then burst into ecstatic joy.

He never expected this guy would reject the Raya card and instead choose a completely ordinary one.

"But then again…"

You Tian changed his tone again.

"I won't take your Raya card, but as compensation, you owe me something, right?"

As he spoke, You Tian extended his hand, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together repeatedly.

…

The sun shone bright, the stream murmured gently—perfect day for dueling.

You Tian walked with a light heart along the riverside path of Jounouchi.

The breeze drifting from the riverbank carried the unique scent of grass, brushing against the boy's clean, handsome face and instantly drawing the attention of many girls.

"Big win! Big win!"

This time, he not only won a chip from YuE, but also got a rough sense of this world's Duelists' strength—and proved the existence of dueling superstition along the way.

Truly, one stone, three birds.

"Judging from the results of my 'Candle in the Wind' experiment on YuE, dueling in this world does carry superstitious elements."

"If my guess is right, winning requires not just deck quality and Duelist skill, but also the Duelist's own will to win, aura, and mindset."

"And the 'Candle in the Wind' act specifically stirs intense will to win in the disadvantaged side, causing the deck to respond to its owner and deliver a divine draw."

You Tian fell into quiet thought.

No wonder in the anime, the Pharaoh could crush the entire dueling world with a deck of trash.

In terms of will to win and dueling aura, only the CEO when he's hooked on cards could match him.

Thinking of this, You Tian raised his seriousness to the utmost for the upcoming battle against the Pharaoh and Seto for the ThreePhantomGods.

Back on Blue Star, You Tian had once fantasized, like many card fans, that if he crossed over into Yu-Gi-Oh!, he could use "Tears of the Mourning Pearl" to crush all the bluffing kings.

But after what happened with YuE, he now realized how naive he'd been.

"If I'd gone into a duel with that kind of arrogant attitude, I'd probably start with a 'perfect hand trap'—or get instantly banished by five meaningless cards."

You Tian nodded and pulled out the 20,000 yen he'd just won from YuE.

"Didn't expect this guy was so rich."

Come to think of it, the anime never mentioned YuE's background.

But from all previous clues, he was likely a rebellious rich kid.

Moreover, judging by his hair color, Insect YuE was probably the ancestor of Ryu and Ruka from 5Ds. (Joke.)

You Tian shook his head.

"Stop thinking nonsense! Right now, figuring out why I crossed over is the top priority!"

He crossed his arms and carefully examined his current situation again.

The only clue to my mysterious cross-over is the information in my mind.

The owner of that information—I'll call him "boss" for now.

Who is the boss? Why is my memory incomplete?

Most importantly—is the boss an enemy or an ally? And is his promise to send me back to my original world even real?

But these questions, You Tian could not answer for now.

All he could do was follow the message's instruction: compete with the Pharaoh for the ThreePhantomGods.

Thinking of this, You Tian nodded.

"Next, I need to go buy some cards."

"After all, the deck the boss gave me isn't much better than a trash deck."

"If I really face the Pharaoh, how am I supposed to steal Sky Dragon with my head?"

Suddenly, while muttering to himself, You Tian realized something.

Wait—that's not right! At this point in time, the Pharaoh doesn't have 【Obelisk the Tormentor】 yet! That card is in Malik's puppet's hands!

"And according to the Original Plot, that puppet is probably playing statue right now in the park—exactly the park I was just in!"

"Damn!"

Fighting Malik's idiot puppet for the ThreePhantomGods is definitely easier than fighting the bluffing king!

Instantly, You Tian sprinted off.

Meanwhile, Jonouchi and his group, tricked by YuE's actors into coming to the park to find YuE, were asking passersby.

"What? YuE's already been defeated?" Jonouchi exclaimed.

The passerby nodded.

"Who was it?" Honda asked.

Passerby: "Don't know him—he's a Duelist I've never seen before."

"What did he look like?" Makoto also asked.

The passerby thought for a moment.

"Black hair, black eyes, tall and handsome, looked pretty cheerful… but his deck was kinda weird…"

Just then, You Tian, returning, dashed past Jonouchi and the others in a hurry.

"Hey! That's the guy from just now!"

"What?!"

By the time Jonouchi reacted, You Tian was already far away—leaving only his back view behind.