For a moment, You Ming felt like things were beginning to slip out of his control.
What the hell?
Wasn't this supposed to be a turn-based, back-and-forth kind of game?
Who's supposed to cover me while I'm trying to play Axe Warrior and go swing-for-swing?
That said… so far, things were still within the realm of acceptable.
Graceful Charity—draw three, discard two—looked flashy, but in the anime setting, it didn't necessarily boost a deck's power that much.
After all, back in this era, the graveyard was still an actual graveyard—not the versatile "resource pool" it became in later generations. Very few cards could even use it properly.
The Shallow Grave could only revive Normal Monsters and couldn't attack the turn they were summoned. And Mechanicalchaser, being a vanilla monster, had no effects to speak of.
So at the end of the day, Keith's intentions were clear—he was just setting up tribute fodder to summon a higher-level monster.
That realization let You Ming breathe a little easier.
Sure, to the average local duelist, summoning a Level 5 or 6 monster on turn one might look impressive and threatening… but for him? It was nothing he hadn't seen before.
> "Tch. I hate that look in your eyes. Just like that bastard Pegasus."
Keith was glaring at him now, his expression twisted in a classic Yu-Gi-Oh! fashion—an exaggerated grimace that screamed "anime villain energy."
> "Always looking so calm, so smug, like everything's under control. Like you're better than everyone!"
And what does that have to do with me?
You Ming was about to say something, but Keith cut him off with a dramatic flourish.
> "Let this card punish your arrogance!"
…Uh-oh. I'm being used as a stand-in for his trauma.
Watching Keith get fired up over nothing, You Ming opened his mouth to protest—but closed it again.
> "Forget it."
No matter how wild things got, classic-era decks all shared one important trait: Special Summons were rare, and Normal Summons were valuable. That's why cards like Cyber Dragon became staples later on.
Even if you included all the anime-only cards, there still weren't that many that could Special Summon in early formats.
> "Spell Card—The Ties of the Brethren!"
Ah. Case in point.
> "I pay 1000 LP to Special Summon two monsters from my deck with the same Level and Type as a monster on my field!"
Just like that, Keith filled his board with three Level 4 Machine-type monsters—all without using his Normal Summon.
> "…Hmm."
Arms folded, You Ming fell silent.
Then, after a moment, he asked with total sincerity:
> "So, uh… did you actually shuffle your deck?"
> "OOOOOOOOHHHH!!"
> [Keith Howard LP: 4000 → 3000]
"…Right."
You Ming stared at Keith's over-the-top scream with dead eyes.
Why the hell was he yelling like that?
Sure, You Ming had shuffled and cut Keith's deck himself—but given Keith's history of cheating, there was no telling what kind of tricks he might've pulled.
Still, whether Keith had stacked his own deck or You Ming had handed him a god-tier opening by accident, either scenario sucked.
Squelch.
Crimson liquid poured from Keith's body, coalescing into a thick, swirling vortex. You Ming had no idea what that had to do with "brethren" or "ties," but okay—definitely a summon animation.
> "Come forth!"
This should still be manageable, right?
What Level 4 Machine monsters does Keith have again?
As You Ming squinted into the red vortex, the first thing to emerge was a sputtering, smoke-belching motor.
> "Motor Shell!"
> Motor Shell (Lv 4)
DARK / Machine
ATK: 1300 / DEF: 1800
Ah, part of the Motor series.
In the manga, this was one of Keith's cards—it leaves behind a Token when destroyed. In the original anime, that Token didn't even count as a summon.
And the second monster—
When You Ming glanced to the other side of the field, he literally forgot to breathe for half a second.
As the red vortex faded, what appeared was a humanoid machine with a violet metallic body. Its arms were short and thick like mechanical claws, its glowing red eye glared from a monitor-like face, and a black cannon protruded from its back.
Its name…
> "Cannon Soldier!"
> "Wait—that guy?!"
> Cannon Soldier (Lv 4)
DARK / Machine
ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1300
As the summoning light faded, You Ming's head was already buzzing.
Oh no. This is bad, family. This is VERY bad.
> "Hmph. Looks like you've realized how terrifying it is."
Keith, now back to his smug self, noticed the change in You Ming's expression—and grinned wide.
> "You see, while most monsters can't attack during the first turn… Cannon Soldier doesn't need to."
Click.
The heavy artillery unit reached over and yanked Motor Shell off the field, tearing it apart and stuffing the pieces into its back-mounted cannon.
> "I tribute Motor Shell—and fire!"
The cannon swiveled toward You Ming, glowing with deadly energy.
> "Time to taste a little piece of hell!"
A burst of light erupted from the barrel. You Ming immediately felt heat rush over him.
The air around him thickened with the smell of gunpowder.
This wasn't just some VR-style duel projection—without Arc-V's "Solid Vision" system, the only explanation was…
> "Is this… a Shadow Game?!"
> "Fire!"
BOOM!
The searing heat of the blast washed over him. For a moment, it felt like he was actually burning alive.
His vision blurred, but the stabbing pain kept him conscious.
And in the middle of it all, he felt something being ripped away from inside him.
> [You Ming LP: 4000 → 3500]
Through the hazy aftermath, You Ming saw Cannon Soldier begin moving again.
> "When Motor Shell is destroyed, it leaves behind a mechanical part."
> "A Token…"
> Motor Token (Lv 1)
EARTH / Machine
ATK: 200 / DEF: 200
Obviously, that statline wasn't meant for battle.
> "I tribute the part left behind by Motor Shell!"
Whether for summoning—or ammunition.
> "Cannon Soldier, fire!"
Bang!
BOOM!
> [You Ming LP: 3500 → 3000]
Another scorching blast. His nerves screamed in pain.
The world dimmed around him, the firelight casting everything into a hazy blur.
> "But I'm not done! I tribute Mechanicalchaser—and summon Motor Minion!"
> Motor Minion (Lv 6)
DARK / Machine
ATK: 2100 / DEF: 1200
You Ming remembered: the physical card version of this guy merged with a Motor-series support spell.
But both the original and official card shared the same nasty effect:
> "When this guy's destroyed, it leaves behind two Tokens."
Two more!
> "Continue firing!"
Through the chaos of fire and smoke, You Ming could barely focus on anything except the one silhouette standing so clearly at the other end of the field.
Right. This was why Keith got sent to the shadow realm in the original story.
> "Cannon Soldier…"
This guy… doesn't have a once-per-turn limit.
Bang!
BOOM!
Bang!
BOOM!
> [You Ming LP: 3000 → 2500 → 2000 → 1500]
> "Ugh…"
Each explosion, each searing shockwave, ate away at his sanity.
> [Mental distress detected. Activating emergency protection protocol.]
The darkness closed in, swallowing everything.
> "...System?"
> [Initiating Heart Room sequence...]
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