After thinking it over for a moment, Morgan still couldn't figure out what that look in her eyes had meant, so she simply tossed it to the back of her mind.
After all, she'd been a somewhat rough-around-the-edges guy in her previous life, completely clueless about a girl's heart.
Huh? Asking if she ever had a girlfriend?
Sorry, but she refuses to answer such a pointed question!
Besides, real card players don't date!
If you have time for romance, why not enjoy a high-stakes, adrenaline-pumping Duel instead?
While Morgan was lost in these random thoughts, Jade had already finished venting and now stood with her hands on her hips, looking fierce.
"Once you're back at school and recovered, you've gotta teach that cold-hearted bitch a lesson!"
Then she rolled up her sleeves, pulled out a Deck from her schoolbag, and stared intensely into Morgan's eyes.
"So! To prepare for your revenge... we're starting special training now!"
"...Special training?"
Morgan blinked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Of course! Isla may act like that, but she's still one of the top students in our year! If you wanna beat her in a Duel, you'll have to train hard! Besides, Morgan, you love Dueling the most, don't you?"
Hearing Jade's words, Morgan suddenly remembered: this overly developed girl in front of her was also a straight-A student.
Seeing Jade's serious expression and recalling she needed to maintain the original owner's personality to avoid blowing her cover, Morgan reluctantly grabbed a Deck from beside her pillow and agreed to the special training.
"Fine... but don't start crying, alright?"
"Hmph! Big talk! You've never beaten me even once, let alone made me cry!"
...
"Boo hoo... what... what even is this Deck..."
The Duel had barely started, and Jade was already staring helplessly at her Hand, her eyes brimming with tears.
Just before the Duel, she had resolved to teach Morgan the harsh reality of Dueling—that random, reckless plays wouldn't work.
However, she quickly realized something was wrong.
Morgan had taken the first turn. Jade had expected her to summon some cute, low-attack Monsters like always.
But instead, Morgan hadn't summoned anything. She just Set five cards and ended her turn.
Jade had never seen such a formation before—Five face-downs... their ominous presence was suffocating.
Still, she held onto hope, thinking Morgan was still just messing around.
Yet, that hope didn't last long.
The moment Jade drew a card on her turn, Morgan flipped a Set Trap.
"I activate the Set card: Secret Barrel!"
"I'll inflict 200 damage for each card you control, and hold in Hand."
In an instant, Jade lost 1200 Life Points.
She still could endure that, but as soon as she summoned a Monster, Morgan flipped two more Trap Cards.
"I activate the Trap: Ojama Trio!"
In the blink of an eye, three ugly Tokens appeared on Jade's Field.
And then came the next Trap.
"Next, I activate my second Trap: Just Desserts!"
"For each Monster control, 500 damage is inflicted!"
With the three Tokens plus the one she had just summoned, Jade now had four Monsters on the Field—which meant 2000 burn damage.
She hadn't even done anything... and her Life Points had already dropped by 3200!
Who could endure this?!
Tears welled up in Jade's eyes as she stared pitifully at Morgan, too scared to make another move.
She was terrified Morgan would flip the remaining face-downs and finish her off in one go.
"Hey, didn't we agree? No crying during Duels."
Morgan sighed helplessly.
"You've got some nerve saying that! What kind of cursed Deck even is this?! You were never this toxic before! Keep this up and you'll end up with no friends!"
Jade glared at Morgan, choking back tears.
Where had her bright, sunny Morgan gone? Had she hit her head too hard falling off that Duel Skateboard?
Even so, Morgan really had no choice. Right now, her only functional Deck was Trickstars—though she wasn't ready to reveal it in the real world.
The original owner's Deck was pure garbage.
So she had scraped together some cheap cards from the system shop and built this slightly toxic stall-burn Deck.
At least now she had a working Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck.
And judging by how even a top student like Jade couldn't handle it, this setup should work for most situations.
Smiling, Morgan tried to console her:
"Don't overreact. You gotta play both wholesome and toxic Decks—that's called balance."
Jade stared at Morgan, utterly speechless, like she couldn't believe her ears.
She never imagined that Morgan would spout something only a sweaty middle-aged gym rat would say.
Her childhood friend... really had changed a lot.
"What are you zoning out for? It's still your turn."
"Oh... right... I attack you directly with Harpie Lady!"
Jade stammered.
"Perfect! I flip my Set card: Dimension Wall!"
"You'll take the Battle Damage I would have taken!"
"Morgan!!!"
Jade's frustrated shout echoed through the hospital room.
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[Patreon.com/RedZTL]