Chapter 5: I Finally Get to Play Real Yu-Gi-Oh!
The moment "duel" left his lips, the Eva Terminal on Amano's wrist seemed to sense the duelist's will.
Brilliant blue light spread from the terminal into physical space.
Accompanied by crisp, pleasant mechanical sounds, the Eva Terminal—originally watch-sized—expanded across Amano Rei's wrist into a sky-blue mechanical Duel Disk.
"A Duel Disk? You're actually a duelist?"
Initially, Nikaido didn't believe Amano could initiate a contract duel.
A District 32 kid who could barely survive—where would he get the Eva Points to assemble a complete deck?
But responding to Amano Rei's duelist will, the Duel Disk deploying on his arm proved the kid had the qualifications.
The situation suddenly exceeded Nikaido's initial expectations.
According to the rules, this duel contract was established between Amano Yuichi and the Wein Corporation. If dueling was required, the corporation should select the duelist—he couldn't decide this on his own authority.
But facing this poor kid from the lower districts, Nikaido's damned pride suddenly kicked in.
Young Miss Finesse was watching him.
He'd just confidently declared 'I'll give this 120% effort!'
Turning around now to report "I can't handle this" to the young miss?
Unacceptable!
As a Wein Family duelist, as Young Miss Finesse's most loyal dog, Nikaido Sakugi's pride wouldn't allow it.
His opponent was just a slum duelist.
Even if the kid managed to assemble a deck, Nikaido could predict it would absolutely be a collection of worthless trash.
Nikaido checked his remaining points—3,200. Even after yesterday's red-light district spending, more than enough.
He absolutely couldn't be "overkilled" by a slum brat. More accurately, he couldn't possibly lose.
"Amano Rei, since you've initiated a duel, as a Wein Corporation duelist, I naturally won't refuse!"
With Young Miss Finesse watching from behind, how could he back down from a kid's challenge?
Better yet—this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his loyalty and capability to the young miss!
"Then let's begin—contract duel!"
Nikaido's wrist Eva Terminal similarly expanded into a Duel Disk, colored differently from Amano's—deep yellow overall.
Both Duel Disks deployed, seemingly resonating with each other. A feminine yet emotionless electronic synthesized voice echoed through District 32's twilight streets.
That was mainframe Eva's voice.
[Eva: Duel Approved]
[Duelist - Amano Rei]
[Duelist - Nikaido Sakugi]
[Data Network Connected, Duel Field Generated]
[Judgment Content - Contract Duel]
[Proud duelists, let the duel's outcome weigh your souls on the scales!]
[Duel—!]
Eva's "Duel" declaration officially started the match.
Amano Rei's Duel Disk deck zone glowed first—first turn determination.
Eden Tower, besides using the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime's 4,000 Life Points rule, also applied other anime rules.
Like first turn drawing a card.
"My turn, draw!"
Drawing a card from the glowing Duel Disk.
This was Amano Rei's first duel since reincarnating into Eden Tower.
Though he'd previously watched some old professional duelist matches on TV recordings, experiencing it firsthand felt completely different.
Using the twilight slums as the battlefield, before him appeared Eva Terminal-generated zones—five monster zones and five corresponding back-row Spell/Trap zones.
No Extra Deck zone, consistent with early anime rules.
"Wait, how—how did a duel suddenly start?"
Events unfolded too suddenly. From Amano pointing out the duel contract to the contract duel officially beginning—barely half a minute passed.
By the time Kikawayu snapped back to attention, his best friend already stood in the sunset-soaked duel field like a Western cowboy.
"Rei, do you... do you even have enough points to lose?"
That was Kikawayu's primary concern.
He knew for a fact that Amano had blown through his remaining assets today buying cards.
Compared to Nikaido's remaining 3,000 points, Amano Rei's remaining Eva Points were—1 point.
Any excess damage whatsoever would leave Amano unable to pay the 'Overkill' deduction penalty.
Making him a points debtor.
"Hmm, a debtor?" Kikawayu reconsidered.
Amano Rei was already a debtor anyway.
Already owing 100,000—would he care about owing a few hundred or thousand more?
So this was his best friend's plan—simply put, a gambler going all-in because he owed too much already.
"That's so like you."
"Go get him, brother! Crush him!"
Unlike Kikawayu's worry, Amano Shio brimmed with confidence in her brother.
Because she knew one thing better than anyone: whenever her brother touched anything involving "cards," you could describe it as "supernatural luck."
Standing before you now—District 32's ten-time consecutive New Year's Poker Tournament champion.
Describing it as mere luck was already abnormal. Perhaps this "supernatural luck" was Amano Rei's real transmigrator cheat.
Kikawayu naturally knew this too. He just saw more clearly—dueling wasn't purely a luck game.
Beginning his turn, Amano drew a monster from his hand, placing it sideways on the Duel Disk, attempting the anime's face-up Defense Position summon.
"I Normal Summon in Defense Position—[Heart Key Fairy]!"
[Heart Key Fairy] [1-Star WATER]
[Angel] [ATK: 400] [DEF: 300]
"As expected, so weak!" Kikawayu's expression showed helplessness.
Amano Rei's monsters were all scavenged from the waste recovery zone—he hadn't held any expectations.
This was the fundamental difference between Duel Monsters cards and poker.
With poker, you could win through pure luck.
But with Duel Monsters cards, if your deck strength was too low, even the best luck couldn't win.
Kikawayu sighed: "Summoning such a weak monster—what's there to get excited about, you idiot!"
Why was Amano excited?
Because responding to his monster card placement, in the duel field ahead, an adorable little fairy actually materialized, floating in the duel zone.
After all, it was the year 5026. Inside Eden Tower, dueling technology had perfectly recreated the anime's ability to summon real monsters.
No—if Amano had to evaluate it, this was more realistic than the anime.
As if truly living Duel Monsters were being summoned from cards to fight for him.
Even after 18 years post-reincarnation, this was hard not to make former card game nerd Amano Rei's duelist soul tremble.
How could he not be excited?
I finally get to play real Yu-Gi-Oh!
"Hahaha! Trash! Is this your monster, Amano Rei?" Nikaido didn't spare his mockery.
"Less talk, I end my turn!" Amano lowered his Duel Disk.
"Just as I thought—a slum brat couldn't possibly have real skill. Now let me show you how a true duelist fights!"
Turn passing to Nikaido's turn.
"My turn, draw! Then I activate the Spell Card—[Cost Down]!"
[Cost Down] [Effect: Discard 1 card from your hand to activate. During this turn, the Levels of all monsters in your hand are reduced by 2.]
An effect that reduces hand monster Levels.
Rules established since the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Battle City arc: monsters above 4 stars require Tributing one field monster for Tribute Summon.
Through Spell Card effects reducing hand monster Levels, this restriction could be bypassed.
"This way, I can directly summon what was originally a Level 5 monster, now Level 3. Come forth—[Barbarian No. 2]!"
With a grand gesture, Nikaido's summon looked far more commanding than Amano's, directly slamming a Level 5 monster onto the field.
[Barbarian No. 2] [3-Star (Originally 5) EARTH]
[Warrior/Effect] [ATK: 1800] [DEF: 1500]
"ROAAR—!"
Under the crimson sunset, a roar filled with primal savagery echoed through the entire district.
"A duel?" This caught the attention of Finesse, who'd been waiting in the car.
Self-absorbed Nikaido had assumed the young miss was silently watching him the whole time. In reality, Finesse had been contemplating her own future since earlier, not caring about a routine debt collection job.
Until that wild roar attracted Finesse's attention, making her lower the car window again.
Then she witnessed the hulking Barbarian No. 2 hammer Heart Key Fairy into the sky with one swing.
[Heart Key Fairy] destroyed
Pure numerical domination.
"The gap really is too huge." Kikawayu sighed. "His first turn already summoned an 1800 ATK monster. There's no way to win."
1800 attack points—among monsters available to bottom-level slum duelists, that was already premium quality.
This was why Nikaido could manage the entire District 32's debt collection for the Wein Corporation.
Looking across Amano's entire garbage deck, you couldn't find a single monster capable of competing with it.
"Amano kid, now that you understand the power gap, you better pray you lose fewer points. Turn end!"
Nikaido lowered his Duel Disk. The turn passed back to Amano.
"My turn, draw!"
"Hey, why is Amano dueling?"
At this moment, Yui's pink-haired head emerged from the crowd, struggling to squeeze beside Kikawayu and Amano Shio.
Because of the earlier roar when Barbarian was summoned, more and more people on the street noticed the commotion at the Amano household. A large crowd of onlookers had gathered.
Even shopkeeper Yui, after hearing passersby discussing a street duel, couldn't resist leaving her card shop to check it out.
Expecting entertainment, Yui discovered the duelist was actually her old friend Amano Rei.
"The situation's complicated, Yui." Kikawayu explained. "Simply put, if he loses this duel, Rei and little Shio become homeless."
"That serious!" Yui gasped, covering her mouth. "Can Amano win?"
"I think..." Kikawayu hesitated.
"He can!" Amano Shio declared firmly. "Brother will absolutely win. When he gets serious, brother is unbeatable!"
Kikawayu helplessly patted wheelchair-bound Amano Shio's head. He took it as a young girl's innocence and a sister's unlimited faith in her brother.
After all, no matter how hard a duelist tried, it wouldn't increase the printed stats on Duel Monster cards.
The base stat gap between their monsters was simply too massive—insurmountable.
"I set one monster in face-down Defense Position. Turn end!"
Second turn, Amano's play remained simple.
Initially, Amano just wanted to test if face-up Defense Position summoning worked.
This turn, Amano honestly 'hid' his monster face-down in Defense Position.
Face-down hidden monsters wouldn't reveal information—might make the opponent hesitate.
Nikaido: "My turn, draw! Then I Normal Summon [Flame Swordsman] in Attack Position, attacking your Defense Position monster!"
[Flame Swordsman] [4-Star FIRE]
[Pyro] [ATK: 1700] [DEF: 1100]
Hesitation? Impossible.
1700 ATK Flame Swordsman's fire-wreathed dual blades directly flipped Amano's face-down hidden monster, exposing its true name.
[Yuyu] [1-Star LIGHT]
[Angel] [ATK: 300] [DEF: 100]
The hidden tofu block appeared innocently before everyone.
-_-?
Yui: "(･ㅂ･)و̑̑ So cute!"
Even gave Yui the matching emoticon expression.
Dual blades slashed simultaneously, cutting the 100 DEF Yuyu from one block into four pieces.
Yui: "( ̄ー ̄) So weak!"
The fire-wreathed blades even roasted Yuyu's surface, making the tofu block look crispy outside, tender inside.
Yui: "(¯﹃¯) Smells good!"
Wheelchair-bound Amano Shio narrowed her eyes to slits, glancing at Yui. "Yui-nee, what exactly are you here for?"
Yui wiped her drool: "I—I'm here to cheer for Amano, obviously."
Battle continuing, now field-empty Amano faced the Barbarian No. 2, several times his size.
Nikaido continued his attack declaration: "Barbarian No. 2, direct attack! Take this, Amano!"
A massive wooden club larger than an adult man's torso swung down toward Amano Rei.
Amano Rei LP: 4000 - 1800 → 2200
During duels, though duelists wouldn't truly be injured by monster attacks, their bodies still received considerable combat feedback.
Even the anime's setting where duelists grimaced in pain or rolled on the ground from attacks was perfectly recreated.
Taking the direct attack, Amano was mercilessly launched through the air, landing perfectly between the three people behind him.
Kikawayu on his left, Yui on his right, and Amano Shio in her wheelchair behind—all three reached out together, barely catching Amano's impact force.
"Are you okay, brother?"
"What do we do, Rei? He's so strong."
"Can you keep going, Amano?"
Despite being knocked flying, the scene looked like Amano lay in the embrace of three beautiful girls.
Well, one of them wasn't actually a beautiful 'girl.'
But right now, Amano had no time to enjoy this premium treatment.
Cradled by the three, he looked down at the cards currently drawn into his hand, his gaze growing determined.
Can he keep going?
Amano Rei: "Hell yes!"
Sure, Amano kept getting beaten. But his supernatural luck had delivered a hand where the victory puzzle was just one piece away from completion.