Chapter 1: The Mysterious Summon
Late at night.
In a certain building in the old city district, a young man heavily addicted to card games sat in front of his computer, moving his mouse.
Yu Miao was in the middle of a duel.
He was using Tearlaments which is iconic in Yu-Gi-Oh! 2.0.
The Tearlaments deck has a unique characteristic—it can activate during the opponent's turn. Its ability to send cards to the graveyard for Fusion Summons can create interruptions that give opponents a headache.
At the same time, the spell and trap cards that support this deck are also exceptionally powerful.
"Hmph, Branded?"
"They must be running Bystials"
"I don't believe you have any Bystials in your opening hand!"
The duel began quickly. Yu Miao's starting hand wasn't ideal, and he was going second.
As everyone knows, in the current state of Yu-Gi-Oh!, going first and going second are two entirely different games.
The Branded player, going first, summoned a Aluber the Jester of Despair and activated its effect.
"Let me special summon Tearlaments Merrli!"
The Branded player cunningly activated "Maxx 'C',"
but Yu Miao wasn't worried at all.
The chain began!
Thump~
[Tearlaments Merrli, 1000 DEF, Aqua]
Merrli was summoned. When this card is Special Summoned from the hand, send the top 3 cards of your deck to the graveyard.
Maxx "C" takes effect!
The Branded player began to draw cards.
But Yu Miao revealed a cruel smile, because Merrli had sent three cards to the graveyard: Tearlaments Scheiren, Tearlaments Sulliek, and Tearlaments Scream!
Every Tearlaments monster sent to the graveyard can trigger a Fusion Summon, and Tearlaments Scream can search for an archetype-specific trap card.
The chain began.
"Tearlaments, activate! Show me your limits."
Going second—this is the confidence Tearlaments gives me!
Ah, beautiful Tearlaments, eternal and undying.
Resist, understand, become Tearlaments.
This was Yu Miao's process of corruption. In pursuit of power, he had forgotten why he started playing in the first place.
"..."
The duel soon ended.
Yu Miao defeated the Branded player with his Tearlaments deck.
Soon after, the opponent sent a temporary friend request, opened a group chat, and started trash-talking with Yu Miao!
"Trash Tearlaments! If I had a Bystial in my opening hand, I would've banished all your mermaids!"
"Branded Despia is the best!"
With such remarks, others, of course, weren't happy.
"Sprights are the strongest! Have you seen Thunder Dragon Colossus and Gigantic Spright?"
"And what about the most complex deck, Runick Spright? Are you scared?"
"Get lost! With 'Circular' in hand, I can start my combo with just one card!!"
"Labrynth is the true queen. You guys don't understand the power of waifu cards."
"Screw you! Have any of you losers ever faced a full-power 'Nibiru, the Primal Being'?"
The Runick players remained silent, as they all knew what fate awaited them.
In response to these comments, Yu Miao's retort was equally fierce.
"Keep talking, all of you. Don't think just because cards from 'Tearlaments' and other stuff got limited, you can celebrate."
"Just wait until the Kashtira Tearlaments arrive next month. I'll use them to wipe all of you out!"
The chat grew increasingly heated, with more and people joining in, trash-talking until the world turned dark.
Yu Miao was one of them.
Soon, Yu Miao grew tired of arguing.
He opened a drawer filled with various official Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, as well as some fake TCG cards.
Yu Miao took out a fake card "Martyr - Void Archangel" to examine.
He noticed that the card sleeve was worn out, so he put the card in his pocket, planning to get a new sleeve when he had the chance.
Just then, a bright blue portal suddenly appeared on his computer screen.
Yu Miao thought he had accidentally opened some hidden webpage.
But the next moment—
Something strange happened!
An emotionless prompt sounded in Yu Miao's ears!
[Duel Pioneer, linking...]
[Yu-Gi-Oh! "First Generation" linking initiated...]
[Transmission starting.]
Yu Miao stood in a swirling azure passage, its flow extremely rapid. Countless fragments of data flickered and danced around him.
His mind raced:
"Seems like I've ended up in some incredible place."
"Is this some kind of portal? Too bad I have no idea how to navigate it."
Please pass the following Duel Puzzle test. Failure results in immediate death.
Soon, Yu Miao entered the duel.
He had to achieve victory in a single turn using only the limited resources available.
Opponent's Field:
Millennium Shield with (3000 DEF)
Marshmallon with (500 DEF)
Cloudcastle with (3000 DEF)
1 Set Spell/Trap Card
Opponent's Life Points: 5400
Yu Miao glanced at the cards in his hand: Polymerization, Miracle Fusion, E - Emergency Call, and Mask Change.
His Extra Deck contained only 3 cards!
Objective: Defeat the opponent in one turn.
"Heh, this is too easy. Back when I played HERO decks, I was a pro."
"I activate E - Emergency Call. To add one 'Elemental HERO' monster from my Deck to my hand."
The Deck only had two cards: one Elemental HERO Stratos and one Elemental HERO Ocean.
Naturally, Yu Miao searched for Stratos!
"I Normal Summon Stratos, to add Elemental HERO Ocean from my Deck to my hand.
Then I activate the Spell Card Polymerization to Fuse Ocean and Stratos to Fusion Summon Elemental HERO Great Tornado!
[Elemental HERO Great Tornado, 2800 ATK, Warrior]
When Great Tornado is Fusion Summoned, all opponent's monsters have their ATK/DEF halved.
Marshmallon, Millennium Shield, and Cloudcastle all have their DEF reduced by half.
"I'm not done yet. I activate Miracle Fusion!"
"To banish Stratos and Ocean from the Graveyard for a second Fusion Summon!"
"When two forces unite as one, from the distant, icy reaches, the strongest warrior is born!"
"Appear, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!!"
Boom~
The icy hero emerges.
[Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, 2500 ATK, Warrior]
"At this moment, I chain-activate the final card in my hand."
"Mask Change!"
Under the effect of Mask Change, the WATER-attribute Absolute Zero transforms into a "Masked HERO" monster of the same attribute!
At this point, Yu Miao's Extra Deck had only one card left.
"Come forth!"
"Masked HERO Acid."
Whoosh... Boom!
Under the effect of Mask Change, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero → Masked HERO Acid!
[Masked HERO Acid, 2600 ATK, Warrior]
"And at this moment, the synergistic powers of the two heroes take effect."
"Acid's effect activates: When this card is Special Summoned, destroy all Spell/Trap Cards on your opponent's side of the field!"
"Absolute Zero's effect activates: When this card leaves the field, destroy all monsters your opponent controls."
Chain Link 1: Acid, Chain Link 2: Absolute Zero.
Absolute Zero's effect resolves first.
Marshmallon, Millennium Shield, and Cloudcastle are all destroyed.
Acid's effect resolves, destroying the opponent's only Set Card.
The destroyed card is the Trap Card "Magic Cylinder"!
Yu Miao enters the Battle Phase.
Acid (2600) + Great Tornado (2800) = 5400 damage.
Exactly enough to wipe out the opponent's remaining Life Points!
Duel Puzzle: Cleared!
And at that moment, having passed the test, Yu Miao was sucked into a large gate that appeared before him.
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
Please support the original author: 纯爱战神l
Raw: 我在游戏王里不当人
Please also support the artist: @kanari981 on twitter/X