Chapter 8: Remember This Little Yugi, This Is When He Was Still Relatively Normal
Having successfully arranged the Duel, Yugi and Hayato immediately found an empty table in the shop and placed their Decks in the designated Deck Zones on the table. After all, Grandpa Sugoroku's toy shop's main business was now Duel Monsters, so it was only natural to provide a space for customers who pulled powerful Monsters to test their Decks.
Anzu and Honda gathered around the table with considerable interest, watching Yugi and Hayato as they got serious. Seeing this, Jonouchi couldn't help but feel a little jealous, saying, "Seriously, I play Duel Monsters with Yugi all the time, but I never see you guys this interested!"
"Yeah, we see you two play together often," Anzu also said, a little confused. "Why is that?"
Honda retorted, "You don't even need to think about it. Jonouchi is too weak. He's played with Yugi so many times and never won once. And every time, the outcome is completely one-sided. The viewing experience is just too poor."
"You Honda!"
Their bickering didn't affect the two sitting opposite each other. After shuffling their Decks and drawing five cards into their Hand, Yugi spoke, "Hayato, you can take the First Turn."
"Okay, I won't be shy then, Yugi-boy." Hayato didn't stand on ceremony and took the First Turn.
In the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the player going First Turn cannot Attack but can Summon Monsters and Set Traps. The player going Second Turn can Attack but has to face the First Turn player's Traps. Under this balance, the First Turn player has an advantage. However, in the physical card game rules Hayato played in his previous life, the First Turn player couldn't Draw a Card during the Draw Phase, while the Second Turn player could Draw a Card as compensation.
But in the world of *Yu-Gi-Oh!*, the other rules are the same, with the only difference being that the First Turn player can also Draw a Card. This clearly puts the First Turn player in an advantageous position. Considering he wasn't in a "whoever serves first loses" chef's world, Hayato naturally wouldn't pass up this handed-to-him advantage.
And so, Kobayashi Hayato's first Duel since arriving in the world of *Yu-Gi-Oh!* began.
"My turn, Draw a Card!"
[Yugi: 2000 LP, Hand 5]
[Hayato: 2000 LP, Hand 5 → 6]
Drawing a card with great momentum, Hayato then began to examine the six cards in his Hand.
Five weak Monsters with ATK/DEF below 1000, and a Spell Card he had just drawn that was completely meaningless. Hmm, perfect Hand.jpg
Drawing a card from his Hand with great momentum, Hayato excitedly slammed the card onto the Monster Zone on the table: "The Monster I'm Summoning is this one! Here I go! My pride, my soul!"
Yugi, sitting opposite Hayato, was startled by Hayato's sudden excited shout. His heart skipped a beat: 'No way, did Hayato draw some powerful Monster on his first turn? This is bad, I haven't drawn any powerful Monsters yet.'
But when he looked down, he was stunned—
"Death Stalker," a 3-star DARK Attribute Warrior Type Monster. It had 900 ATK but was in Defense Position with 800 DEF.
"Then I'll Set one card in my Spell/Trap Zone, and my turn ends." Realizing he had gotten overly excited just now, Hayato quickly Set the Spell Card he had drawn in his Spell/Trap Zone and ended his actions.
[Hayato: Hand 6 → 4]
'Not good, I got a little too excited because I was Dueling with my idol, Mutou Yugi. He's the first and strongest King of Games, after all. Anyone would be excited, right?'
However, Jonouchi and the others watching quickly helped Hayato out of his awkwardness.
"Huh? Death Stalker's ATK is higher than its DEF, so why put it in Defense Position?" Jonouchi asked, confused.
"Are you expecting someone who just started playing Duel Monsters to give you the answer?" Honda pushed Jonouchi's shoulder away, making him stand properly. "Just watch. It's Yugi's turn."
"My turn, Draw a Card."
[Yugi: Hand 5 → 6]
Compared to the high-spirited Hayato, Yugi's Draw a Card action was much calmer. Drawing a card from the top of his Deck and adding it to his Hand, Yugi looked at the Set card in Hayato's Spell/Trap Zone and hesitated slightly.
"Then, the Monster I'm Summoning is this one," drawing a card from his Hand, Yugi placed the Monster onto the field. "'King of Yamimakai'."
In a trance, Hayato heard a dragon's roar and watched as Yugi Summoned 'King of Yamimakai' with 1500 ATK and 800 DEF onto the field.
'As expected, it's this one. The first DARK Attribute Dragon Type Monster to appear in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!, although Red-Eyes definitely gets more screen time.' Hayato wasn't surprised that Yugi's Monster stats were much better than his Hand full of weaklings. After all, Grandpa Sugoroku ran a card shop, so it was natural for Yugi to have first pick of any powerful rare Monsters.
'However, this is within my calculations.'
"Why is it this card again?" Jonouchi wailed. "How can Yugi always use such a powerful card so calmly? If it were me, I'd be as excited as Hayato."
"That's why you always lose to Yugi," Honda added, twisting the knife for Jonouchi. In the many Duels Jonouchi had lost to Yugi, at least half of them were decided by this 'King of Yamimakai' that Yugi Summoned.
"So, are you going to Attack, Yugi-boy? I have a Set card in my Spell/Trap Zone, you know?" Hayato provoked, though it sounded more like bluster.
Yugi wasn't bothered by Hayato's words and nodded. "Yes, stopping because I fear Traps isn't my style."
"Then, I Attack 'Death Stalker' with 'King of Yamimakai'."
1500 ATK versus 800 DEF. It was obvious that Hayato's Monster would be Destroyed. However, because "Death Stalker" was in Defense Position, Hayato's Life Points took no damage.
"I see, so that's why Hayato used the relatively weaker Defense Position," Anzu said thoughtfully, watching the field. "Do you need to use different states for your Monsters in different situations to handle the Battle?"
After declaring the Attack, Yugi smiled and pointed at the "Death Stalker" on the field, saying to Hayato, "Hayato, 'Death Stalker' has been Destroyed. It's going to the Graveyard."
"Sore wa, dou kana?" (Is that so?)
"Nani?!" (What?!)
Shamelessly plagiarizing Mutou Yugi's classic line right in front of the original owner, Hayato flipped over the Set card in his Spell/Trap Zone and explained, "The card I Set was this one,"
"'Time Machine'"
"A Spell that can return a Monster's state to before the Battle when your or your opponent's Monster is Destroyed?" Yugi was knowledgeable about most card effects, so even before Hayato explained, he already understood what Hayato meant.
At the moment "Death Stalker" was Destroyed by "King of Yamimakai", Hayato activated "Time Machine", sending "Death Stalker" into a time rift and dodging "King of Yamimakai"'s fatal Attack.
A bright smile appeared on Yugi's face. "You're strong, Hayato. This is going to be an interesting Duel. My turn ends."
[Yugi: Hand 6 → 5]
Hearing that sentence, Hayato's expression suddenly turned a little grim. He stared intently at Yugi's Spell/Trap Zone until Yugi said "End Turn," fearing he would Set the classic five "T" shaped cards.
'I can understand the passive-aggressive talk, but if you pull out a Magic Cylinder on me, I'll just Summon my fist in Attack Position,' Hayato thought.