Chapter 28: Heroes Don't Retreat From Battle
Consciousness separated from body. Accompanying terminal skill activation, Amano seemingly plunged into a tunnel constructed of infinite data.
The data tunnel's terminus led to another body's consciousness space.
Following Yu-Gi-Oh! anime descriptions of guardian spirits, calling this place the "Mind Room" seemed more appropriate.
Upon entering the Mind Room, Amano instinctively sensed something. If he wished, just one thought—his consciousness could formally take control of this body.
Except now, another problem apparently existed.
This Mind Room didn't contain only Amano.
In the room's corner, a fair-skinned girl crouched hugging her knees.
Initially, the girl's eyes were vacant, despairing, unfocused.
Afterward, seemingly noticing Amano's arrival, her expression changed drastically. Lightly lifting her smooth chin and slightly opening her small mouth precisely portrayed the girl's current shock.
The girl within the Mind Room was obviously this body's original owner—Finesse Wein.
Because she'd fallen unconscious within the Dark Game, Finesse's consciousness was also locked inside the Mind Room.
More accurately, before him should be Finesse's soul.
Speaking of which, why was Amano's first impression "fair-skinned girl"?
Because the soul... was actually completely naked?!
Now Amano completely understood the system warning.
[Using this skill may drastically reduce target's affection]
Not even giving advance notice, immediately meeting with complete nude honesty—what normal girl's affection wouldn't decrease?
However, what Amano hadn't expected was that post-shock Finesse didn't excessively care about her current state.
Instead, frowning brows gradually burst with rage as she stood rushing toward Amano.
"Why would you infiltrate my consciousness? Could it be, Amano, you're the Puppeteer?!"
"Huh?" Amano's brain momentarily couldn't process the overloaded information.
On one side, Finesse rising from crouching completely exposed even larger skin areas without care.
On the other, Finesse's seemingly reasonable suspicious questioning.
Indeed, he was currently doing exactly what Puppeteer did.
"Calm down, young miss!"
Amano grabbed Finesse's slender wrists, temporarily restraining the furious girl.
Except with arms spread, snow-white scenery filled his vision—Amano genuinely didn't know where to place his gaze.
"If I'm the Puppeteer, then who's dueling you?"
Within the Mind Room, a screen seemingly floated, allowing internal observation of external events.
The Dark Game continued forcibly despite Finesse's unconsciousness. After attacking with Dark Guardian, Lutz had already declared turn end.
Time was extremely tight.
The Dark Game continued because currently it was Lutz's turn—Finesse didn't need to perform actions.
When turns rotated to Finesse's hands, if Finesse made no moves, she'd be directly judged defeated.
Even though Amano could understand from Finesse's various behaviors her strong obsession with finding her mother's killer, now wasn't the time for slow explanations.
He needed the simplest, most brutal language to make Finesse understand the current situation.
Releasing Finesse's wrists, Amano forcefully used both palms in an idiot-sandwich method, slapping Finesse's cheeks on both sides.
"Listen, Finesse! You're about to die!"
The most soul-striking simple words proved super effective, successfully stopping Finesse's movements.
"I... I'm dying..."
Mouth forming an 'o' from cheek compression, Finesse barely squeezed out these words.
Afterward, the calmed Finesse also recalled the current situation.
Right—she was about to lose the Dark Game.
She was already dying.
Realizing this reality again, Finesse's cold eyes returned to vacant unfocused despair.
Already meaningless.
No matter how hard she worked gaining status, gathering resources and hearts, seeking truth—
When death's moment arrived, everything would lose meaning.
Even if Amano truly was Puppeteer, what could she—a dead person—do?
Her self-righteous revenge path ended here.
Releasing Finesse's elastic cheeks, Amano also knew Finesse was smart enough—this one sentence sufficed.
What came next was the key point.
"Finesse, though you're dying, one method exists to let you survive."
"Let me survive?" Finesse couldn't believe it.
"Declaring upfront, I'm not Puppeteer. But I also don't know why I apparently possess abilities similar to Puppeteer's."
"Amano, you?"
"Right now, the only method letting you survive—give me your body, I'll finish this duel for you!"
"Eh?!"
No matter how unconcerned, Finesse was still a girl.
The moment Amano's proposal emerged, Finesse wasn't just surprised—she also realized her currently completely nude state, face turning from white to red.
But Finesse wasn't an ordinary girl either.
Surprise and embarrassment emotions only intertwined in her mind for zero-point-several seconds before she decided.
She had no reason to refuse.
Facing death's final ending, any other ending seemed so much kinder.
"My body—I'll leave it to you, Amano."
"Roger!"
Actually, Amano could forcibly gain body control without Finesse's consent.
But considering future developments, even if affection would drastically decrease, gaining permission from the original body's owner should somewhat moderate the decrease magnitude.
In this moment, girl and boy souls seemingly completed synchronization within the same body.
When Amano reopened his eyes, perspective had completely changed. What reopened were Finesse's exquisitely jade-like silver eyes.
Of course, not just perspective—the entire body's sensation completely differed from his own.
So this is a girl's body?
Unexpectedly light and slender, plus an indescribable wonder Amano couldn't describe.
Moreover, as Eva said, Finesse's hero outfit could indeed absorb physical impact.
Despite directly receiving Dark Guardian's attack, the physical body experienced no excessive pain or discomfort.
Controlling Finesse's body, Amano stood again. This made Lutz across the Dark Game increasingly unable to maintain composure.
"Can still wake up? Experiencing this twice in one night—today I really hit evil luck!"
Needless to say, Lutz's first time referred to when dueling Amano—despite receiving Kazejin's attack, Amano remained completely unharmed.
But Lutz probably couldn't imagine—this second time was also me, Amano!
Rotating his arms, Amano confirmed Finesse's body had no major issues.
Rather, Finesse's body—while light—could sense a trace of strength from slender flesh.
Young miss clearly didn't neglect physical training normally.
If there were downsides, only that chest weight seemed less heavy than imagined.
Finesse: "Don't feel weird things, Amano!"
Amano's mind suddenly echoed Finesse's voice, startling him.
Right—he'd become a guardian spirit. Being able to communicate mentally with hosts counted as guardian spirit basic skills.
Amano: "Sorry, Finesse. This is also my first time. Slightly curious—forgive me?"
Finesse: "First time... okay then."
Young miss seemed particularly concerned about the phrase 'first time.'
If truly first time, perhaps that explained Amano genuinely bore no relation to Puppeteer.
If first time, she'd... forgive him...
But regardless, her life and body were completely entrusted to this man's hands.
Finesse: "So what do we do now, Amano?"
Escaping current crisis required more than simply waking from unconsciousness.
She needed to win the Dark Game, win this duel.
Facing 3800 ATK Dark Guardian - Black Guardian that couldn't be destroyed by battle plus pseudo-total resistance—
She had zero hand cards, only one draw opportunity.
At minimum, Finesse herself couldn't conceive any method using her current deck to overturn this situation.
"Leave it to me, young miss."
"Leave it to you? What will you do?"
"Just like tonight. I'll secure this duel's victory for you right here!"
Amano's confidence source was Hacker Invasion skill's additional ability beyond controlling target actions.
This additional ability gave Amano the chance to use Finesse's body within the Dark Game, challenging seemingly undefeatable opponents.
[During soul invasion, temporarily unlock target's archetype full Extra Deck.]
Belonging to invasion target's archetype.
Young Miss Finesse's archetype went without saying.
[Full Extra Deck Unlocked - "HERO"]
"Heroes don't retreat from battle!"
***
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