Chapter 16: Classic Play Recreated
"I'm gonna beat you to death today!"
Splitting wasn't an option.
Standing beside the duel arena, the bounty hunter named Lutz looked barely human.
Over two meters tall, completely bald, with muscular bulk rippling across his body—it felt like with the slightest effort, he could demonstrate the divine technique of clothes-exploding-from-muscles.
By comparison, even though Amano had a normal physique, he looked excessively frail before this guy.
Good thing the combat method was card games. If this were physical brawling, Amano figured the odds were at best three-seven.
Three punches from the opponent would shatter him into seven Hero fragments.
Made sense—the other side was a professional bounty hunter.
Facing an unknown, obviously weak opponent like Amano, why bother negotiating to split the prize money? That'd be a losing business deal.
Besides, Amano couldn't just surrender directly.
Finesse's condition—though win or lose—required Amano to give his absolute best.
Surrendering immediately wouldn't just lose him the compensation, it'd ruin his reputation.
Wait, did he even have a reputation?
"Big guy, what's there to be cocky about?!"
Since this was the pre-battle trash talk phase, as Amano's best friend, Kikawayu naturally had to back him up.
"Fake muscles! Rei could stand there and let you punch him without breaking a sweat!"
Hey, are you really my 100-affection true brother?!
"Don't worry, Rei." Kikawayu winked at Amano, whispering: "Let him throw one punch—that'll get him imprisoned by Eva for violent behavior. Instant win without even dueling."
Right, no duel needed—because I'd be dead!
Finesse frowned slightly. "As rumored, bounty hunter Lutz's temperament has changed dramatically recently."
The bounty hunter profession only cared about winning duels and earning bounties.
The motto of this line of work was actually to avoid causing trouble.
But this big guy seemed as volatile as someone who could eat several children in one meal.
Amano couldn't help suspecting: "Did he take drugs or something? This isn't boxing—do stimulants even help with card games?"
"Hahaha! Finesse, the dog you found is truly interesting!"
Hearty laughter that didn't make Amano feel good echoed from behind.
A man bearing some resemblance to Finesse, with a meaningful smile playing at his lips, casually patted Finesse's shoulder.
Hearing the familiar voice, Finesse didn't even bother turning around.
"Second brother, of course you'd show up."
"Hahaha, this is my adorable little sister's first time competing for family corporation interests. How could I miss such entertaining fun?"
Finesse's second brother was Karl Wein—the one who looked down on her illegitimate daughter status within the family and secretly marginalized her.
"Father must really be getting old, entrusting a 26 million contract to you."
Karl shrugged. Though siblings with Finesse, his hair color wasn't her light crimson but closer to chestnut brown.
The Wein family genes were undeniably strong. Finesse's beauty spoke for itself. Even her brother's looks—Amano felt they could rival his own.
"Twenty-six million isn't much, but handing it over to the Nankiin family is basically no different. Sadly, I have important clients to entertain tonight. Can't sit in the cheap seats accompanying my adorable little sister."
Finesse bit her silver teeth angrily. "I haven't lost yet! Whose side are you even on, second brother?"
"Hahaha, I'm naturally on the side watching the show. Though the dog you found is quite interesting indeed."
Removing his palm from Finesse's shoulder, Karl's gaze fell on Amano.
"A duelist from District 32, using worthless trash monsters with zero combat power, actually trying to challenge that bounty hunter Lutz. Isn't that entertaining enough?"
These words made clear Karl had investigated Amano's background.
Yesterday's duel with Nikaido had definitely reached Wein family ears through various channels.
Naturally including Amano's name.
"Amano Rei, I have high hopes for you!"
Unlike patting Finesse's shoulder earlier, this time Karl heavily placed both hands on Amano's shoulders, pretending they were very familiar.
"I placed heavy bets on you! Bet you'd fall within six rounds—don't last too long now~"
Leaving those words behind, Karl walked away laughing without looking back, heading toward the top-floor VIP luxury box to entertain his so-called important clients.
"What an annoying bastard!" Kikawayu flipped a polite middle finger toward Karl's departing direction.
"Sorry, Amano. That's just my second brother's personality. Don't let him affect tonight's duel—looks like it's starting soon."
Finesse gestured toward the central duel arena. Bounty hunter Lutz had already taken position on one side of the field.
Sharia Corporation servants were even massaging and loosening the muscles in his arms, plus giving him mouthwash and a mouth guard.
Is this seriously boxing?!
By comparison, Amano's side only had two supporters.
"Need a massage, Rei?!"
Kikawayu flexibly wiggled his fingers, eyes shining with anticipation as he looked at Amano.
"Not necessary."
Though Kikawayu's fingers were slender and fair, they wriggled far too actively, actually looking kind of gross.
Amano rubbed his neck—already stiffening from stress before the match even started—and slowly walked toward the arena.
Massages should come from actual beautiful girls, not fake ones like you.
"Go for it, Amano!"
But the real beautiful girl Finesse only offered verbal support.
"Don't let my second brother influence you. Make sure you last past six rounds—don't let him win money!"
"..."
If possible, I'd prefer you bet on me winning the duel.
Though that was an extremely unrealistic fantasy.
Stepping into the central arena, Amano could feel overwhelmingly obvious emotions flowing from the noisy, rowdy crowd.
"Where'd this brat come from?"
"Look at that shabby appearance—can he even afford powerful cards?"
"Must be some sacrificial pawn the Wein family found."
"Lutz, finish him instantly!"
Absolutely nobody believed Amano could win this duel.
Including Amano himself. His initial goal was just to give his best to survive and safely collect his compensation.
But after stepping onto the real battlefield. After the enclosed arena's iron cage rose, completely locking both of them inside—
I want to win!
Want to slap all these people's faces hard!
Even after transmigrating to another world, fundamentally he was still the same as his previous life—a card player who fiercely pursued victory.
At the same time, amid the almost entirely jeering crowd, a dramatically different style of cheering reached Amano's ears.
"Crush him, Rei!"
Not everyone thought he'd lose.
He still had his 100-affection true brother anticipating his battle.
"Let's go, baldy!"
The Eva Terminal on Amano's wrist flashed deep blue light.
Duel mode activated. The watch-style Eva Terminal accompanied by crisp mechanical collision sounds expanded into a blue Duel Disk, deck loaded.
"You'll regret standing here!" Bounty hunter Lutz's bald head showed bulging veins of rage as he similarly deployed his Duel Disk.
Wait—why does this guy's Duel Disk have steel spikes around the outer ring? Looks like a weapon.
Amano really wanted to ask: Have you killed people with your Duel Disk before?
Since underground duels circumvented Eva system rule restrictions, the duel start announcement was read by the underground arena itself.
[Duelist - Amano Rei]
[Duelist - Lutz]
[Data Network Hacked, Duel Field Generated]
[Special Additional Option - Death Match]
[Duelists who stake everything, let the duel's outcome weigh your lives on the scales!]
[Duel—!]
This time, first turn didn't go to Amano.
Lutz's dangerous-looking Duel Disk lit up with the first-turn glow.
"Draw!"
The brutally violent card draw from those thick arms—even separated by an arena cage, Amano could feel the momentum wind kicked up by the motion.
After scanning his hand, Lutz glared with displeasure. "Fighting a shabby opponent like you, I can't even get valuable cards."
Underground duels had an additional rule: the victor could humiliate the loser—wait, no, the victor could take any one card from the loser's deck.
Since this was outside Eva system jurisdiction, taking opponent cards was purely treated as gambling stakes.
No matter how valuable that card was, you'd have to hand it over obediently.
Compared to the somewhat famous bounty hunter Lutz, Amano genuinely had no good cards.
Pulling three cards directly from his hand—even identical cards looked unusually tiny held between Lutz's massive fingers.
"I activate the Spell Card—Polymerization!"
"Right from the start—Fusion?!" Amano's eyebrow twitched.
As a professional bounty hunter earning millions per duel, even the 30,000 Eva Point Polymerization Spell would be easily affordable at his level.
"I fuse Cyber Tech Wolf and Cannon Soldier from my hand. Fusion Summon—charge into the iron cage! Labyrinth Tank!"
[Labyrinth Tank] [Level 7 DARK]
[Machine/Fusion] [ATK: 2400] [DEF: 2400]
[Cyber Tech Wolf + Cannon Soldier]
Fusion Summon—as the name implied—used two different monsters as materials to fuse and create an entirely new monster.
Summoning a 2400 ATK Labyrinth Tank on the opening turn—bounty hunter Lutz's dueling skill clearly exceeded thug-level Nikaido's.
Accompanied by high-speed drill rotation and roaring engine sounds, the Labyrinth Tank's materialized steel body charged into the arena cage.
This thing looked way more terrifying than a truck.
Getting hit by it with high physical feedback intensity definitely wouldn't be a joke.
Fortunately, first turn couldn't conduct battle.
"Not done yet!" Having Fusion Summoned his monster, Lutz didn't plan to stop operating.
"Quick-Play Spell—De-Fusion! After de-fusing Labyrinth Tank, I Special Summon the Fusion Materials Cyber Tech Wolf and Cannon Soldier to the field!"
The fusion just completed split apart the next instant.
Cyber Tech Wolf had 1200 ATK, Cannon Soldier had 1400. Obviously de-fusing these two monsters wasn't a wise move.
Yet Lutz's play triggered enthusiastic cheering from the Sharia Corporation side.
"It's coming!"
"He's doing THAT move!"
"One of bounty hunter Lutz's ace monsters—summoning it first turn! That kid's dead!"
Lutz raised high a card surrounded by crackling thunder effects.
"This turn, I haven't performed my Normal Summon yet! I Tribute both monsters on my field—Tribute Summon!"
In Yu-Gi-Oh! Normal Summon rules, Level 5-6 monsters required one Tribute, while Level 7+ monsters required two Tributes.
"Descend, demon god sleeping in the labyrinth depths—bring down thundering judgment upon intruders! Tribute Summon—Sanga of the Thunder!"
[Sanga of the Thunder] [Level 7 LIGHT]
[Thunder/Effect] [ATK: 2600] [DEF: 2200]
The massive demon god descending into the cage duel arena seemed to channel electricity through the iron railings the instant it appeared.
This was what those Sharia Corporation people got excited about—the monster summon, Lutz's "performance."
But watching this play, Amano found it increasingly familiar.
Isn't this the classic Yu-Gi-Oh! GX protagonist Jaden Yuki's five-for-one combo?!
Using five cards' worth of resources to bring out one high-level monster.
Lutz, you bastard!
So you've got a Hero's soul too?!