Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

'If a third-rate duelist like Jonouchi, with a second-rate deck, appears in the KC Cup halfway through, the already hyped-up KC Cup will definitely be dragged down by that mediocre player. Leaving him until the end would only lead to a bad ending. Let him be the first to appear.'

Although he didn't hear Kaiba say those words himself, Jonouchi firmly believed that Kaiba definitely thought that way.

However, Jōnei, with his extraordinary composure and thick skin, easily convinced himself with a different perspective.

"Being the first to appear clearly shows that I'm very strong and most suitable for the opening." Standing on his own field with his hands on his hips, Jonouchi grinned foolishly. "Besides, no matter how well the other duelists perform afterward, none of them can leave as deep an impression as I, Jonouchi-sama."

Not bad at all, the first one to appear is not bad at all, hehehehe~

As Jonouchi was laughing, he suddenly realized that a black-haired girl wearing glasses was now standing opposite him, looking at him with fear and resistance.

"Ahem, well, you're my opponent, right?" Jonouchi coughed twice, trying to ease the slightly awkward atmosphere on the dueling platform, and took the initiative to speak, "Um, your name is..."

As he spoke, Jonouchi looked up at the screen next to the dueling platform. Although he had seen his opponent's name before going on stage, it was common knowledge that Jonouchi's memory only lasted 3 seconds. With just "1, 2, bang!", Jonouchi could completely forget certain memories and write new ones, just like a Pokémon.

“Northwood Reiko? Kitamori Reiko, huh?” Jonouchi first read out the girl’s name displayed on the screen in broken English, then translated it into Japanese and repeated it.

Jonouchi felt he was quite lucky. Since the KC Cup, most of his opponents have spoken Japanese. He even met an American who spoke Japanese better than English, much like Pegasus, which meant Jonouchi didn't have to force himself to communicate with people using his heavily accented English.

In the last round, he encountered Ryuzaki, and this time the girl named "Kitamori Reiko" also seems to be Japanese. He's really lucky.

Looking at the castle, Kitamori Reiko nodded timidly, her mouth slightly open as if she wanted to say something. She hesitated two or three times but couldn't say anything. Finally, she made up her mind and said softly, "Um, um, hello, I'm Kitamori Reiko."

After speaking haltingly, Kitamori Reiko seemed to have finally mustered the courage to say fluently, "Anyway, I will do my best in the duel."

Although he was saying things that sounded like he was trying to encourage himself, no matter how Jonouchi looked at her, he couldn't see any fighting spirit in Kitamori Reiko.

'Is this girl really a duelist?' Jonouchi looked Kitamori Reiko up and down. She was wearing a white cashmere long-sleeved top, with a black sleeveless shirt over it, and a light gray pleated skirt that reached her knees, paired with not-too-long white knee-high socks, giving her a girl-next-door feel.

Jonouchi even felt that Kitamori Reiko was just an ordinary high school girl that you could see anywhere in Japan, and a well-behaved girl with excellent grades at that.

'They have absolutely no fighting spirit; their will to fight is practically zero.'

Jonouchi made this assessment in his mind.

Although Jonouchi's heart is quite pure, he is genuinely judging Kitamori Reiko's personality and has no intention of coveting her beauty. After all, Jonouchi is a steadfast person. If he says he likes blonde hair with big waves, then he likes blonde hair with big waves, whether he is 18, 38 or 58.

However, his gaze as he scrutinized Kitamori Reiko's attire was caught by the image on the big screen, which was also seen by the audience member, Peacock Mai.

"That pervert in the castle, instead of starting the duel properly, what are you looking at?!" Mai clenched her fists tightly, and flames seemed to ignite behind her with a shout of "Fiery Blade Draws!"

The referee, at Kaiba's signal, announced the start of the duel before the inexplicably angry Peacock Mai had to wait long.

Upon hearing the referee's words, Jonouchi inserted his deck into the Duel Disk, declaring with high spirits, "Just so you know, I'm very strong, so don't get burned by my sword!"

"Duel!"

"Eek!" Startled by Jonouchi's loud voice, Kitamori Reiko's hard-won courage receded. "I... I'll fight seriously too, Duel..."

[Kitamori Reiko: 4000LP]

[Within the city: 4000LP]

"Yosh, I'll take the first turn! My turn, draw a card!" Jonouchi excitedly seized the right to go first and drew a card from his deck.

Reiko Kitamori quickly bowed slightly: "Oh, no need to be so polite, please take good care of me."

Jonouchi scratched his cheek, slightly embarrassed. He was experienced in dealing with rude opponents, but this was the first time he had encountered an opponent as polite as Kitamori Reiko, and he was somewhat unaccustomed to it.

"Seriously, don't make the atmosphere so awkward."

"I'm so sorry!"

“I already said no… no, never mind, anyway, I’ll start my turn.” Jonouchi gave up on the idea of ​​telling Kitamori Reiko not to be so polite and to get her to be a little more serious.

Honestly, with an opponent like that, I don't feel like I'd get any satisfaction even if I won.

Looking at the card he had just drawn, Jonouchi activated it immediately: "I activate the Spell Card, [Ruby's Treasure Card]. The effect of this card is that I can discard one Level 7 Red-Eyes monster from my hand, and then draw two cards from my Deck. After that, I can send another Level 7 Red-Eyes monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."

After drawing two cards, Jonouchi sent one of the cards he had retrieved from his deck, "Red-Eyes Black Dragon," to his graveyard.

"Then, I activate the Ritual Spell Card 'Descent of the Black Dragon' and use the Level 4 Red-Eyes Wyvern as a Tribute for its Ritual Summon from my hand. The Level requirement is 4. I Ritual Summon this monster from my hand!"

Jonouchi unusually used a Ritual Spell Card, sending a monster he had just drawn from his hand via the effect of "Ruby Treasure Card" to the Graveyard, and placing another drawn card on his Duel Field.

"Seize the light, the black sword ruthlessly dominates the dark dragon!" Jonouchi excitedly pumped his fist. "Ritual Summoning! [Black Dragon Paladin]!"

On the field within the castle, the phantom of [Red-Eyes Wyvern], which had just been sacrificed as a Ritual Spell Card, appeared. Under the effect of [Descent of the Black Dragon], its form distorted, and in its place appeared a warrior standing on the back of a black dragon, wielding a sharp sword.

[Black Dragon Paladin] [4☆/Dark]

[Dragon Clan/Ritual/Effect]

[1900/1200]

The Black Dragon Paladin's 1900 ATK is second only to the Black Panther Warrior among the lower-tier monsters used by Jonouchi, which requires a Tribute monster to attack. After all, Ritual Monsters require at least three cards to summon: Tribute, Ritual, and Ritual Monster. In addition to its decent stats, it also has a fairly good effect.

"The relationship between the [Black Dragon Paladin] and the Black Dragon is not that of master and mount; he is the guide of the Black Dragon, capable of summoning its appearance with his own power," Jonouchi said, then commanded, "The [Black Dragon Paladin] may sacrifice himself to Special Summon a [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] from my Deck and hand!"

The knight riding the black dragon had no chance to participate in the battle. After receiving orders from Jonouchi, he turned into a vortex and disappeared. From that dark vortex, Jonouchi's most trusted ace monster—the Red-Eyes Black Dragon—made its grand entrance!

【True Red-Eyes Black Dragon】【ATK2400】

"Roar!!!"

"Whoa!" With the roar of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Kitamori Reiko, who was facing the black dragon, instinctively wanted to crouch down and cover her head in defense. However, she still remembered that she was in a duel. Although she screamed in fright, she managed to stay upright, although her legs trembled slightly.

Jonouchi naturally noticed this as well, and looked at Kitamori Reiko with utter speechlessness. He hadn't even launched an attack yet, so why was this girl so terrified?

"I'm sorry, I was just scared because I felt that Duel Monsters were a bit scary, and so were the Duelists, so I didn't realize it..." Kitamori Reiko apologized again, sounding quite weak.

"You really are something else," Jonouchi said, somewhat exasperated. "【Red-Eyes Black Dragon】cannot attack during the turn it was summoned by 【Black Dragon Paladin】, but since it's the first turn, it doesn't matter."

"Then I activated the Continuous Spell Card [Dangerous Machine Type 6]."

As Jonouchi inserted a card into the Duel Disk, a mechanical sphere adorned with six luminous devices slowly rose from the ground next to his Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"The effect of [Dangerous Machine Type 6] is that I roll a die every time I'm in my preparation phase, and then force its effect to be activated based on the number rolled. However, since it's not time to activate it yet, we can ignore it for now." Jonouchi said, glancing somewhat embarrassedly towards the audience.

Although he had told Honda, Hayato and the others more than once that he would rather lose a Duel Monster, starve to death, die outside, or jump off a building than use gambling cards.

In short, it's really good.

"After that, I'll set two cards face down, and my turn ends." Jonouchi drew two cards and inserted them into his Spell & Trap Zone, then snapped his fingers with his free hand and gave a smug smile. "Then, during my End Phase, the Red-Eyes Dragon in my Graveyard can activate its effect."

"Huh? A monster effect activated from the Graveyard during the End Phase?" Reiko Kitamori said with some surprise. "Monster effects can activate automatically?"

"Did you think monster effects only had to be activated manually?"

Upon hearing Jonouchi's words, Kitamori Reiko became very nervous and quickly said, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry! I don't have much experience with Duel Monsters, and I haven't fully understood the rules regarding monster effects."

"Huh?" Jonouchi was genuinely puzzled, because in his opinion, his knowledge of Duel Monsters was already quite lacking. If it weren't for Sugoroku's grueling tutoring, he probably wouldn't even recognize many of the cards. However, even without formal training, he at least knew that the effects of Duel Monsters differed.

Even Honda and Kyoko, who don't play Duel Monsters often, know about things like active activation, passive triggering, and constant activation. How come this girl named Kitamori Reiko doesn't even know this? How did she even advance to her current level?

Thinking of this, Jonouchi suddenly realized—oh right, this guy isn't just an ordinary person on the street. This is the KC Cup, and it's already in the second round. Kitamori Reiko is one of the top 32, just like him. There's no way she wouldn't know anything about Duel Monsters.

This woman is definitely using the tactic of "pretending to know nothing about Duel Monsters to make others take it easy." Her mind is dirty when she plays tricks. She's such a vicious woman!

I completely understand!

Startled by Jonouchi's suddenly sharp gaze, Kitamori Reiko stammered, "Ah, I... I've been exposed to Duel Monsters for exactly one month..."

"A month? Hmph, Mr. Jonouchi is very clever, don't think you can fool me. "Is that so? That's really impressive, to advance to the top 32 of the KC Cup in just one month."

"However, the effect of [Red-Eyes Wyvern] in my graveyard continues to activate." Jonouchi declared, firmly believing in his reasoning. "Although I Special Summoned [Black Dragon Paladin] and [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] one after the other, I did not perform a Normal Summon."

"During the End Phase of a turn in which I did not perform a Normal Summon, I can banish a Red-Eyes Dragon from my Graveyard and target a Red-Eyes monster in my Graveyard to Special Summon that monster!"

"Come out, the second [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]!"

Chapter 426 Deck Destruction and Self-Isolation Tactics

[Within the city: 4000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【True Red-Eyes Black Dragon】【ATK2400】

【True Red-Eyes Black Dragon】【ATK2400】

[Dangerous Machine Type 6] [Gaika] X2

Compared to the Duel City era, where it took five cards to summon a single Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Jonouchi can now easily summon two Red-Eyes Dragons while simultaneously setting cards face-down on the back row.

Although Kaiba has always said that Jonouchi is just a second-rate duelist, the "second-rate" level that Kaiba refers to is not something that just anyone can reach. At least so far, only Jonouchi has achieved that level.

Two Red-Eyes Black Dragons with an attack power of 2400 appeared on Jonouchi's field, staring menacingly at the timid girl Kitamori Reiko standing opposite Jonouchi, which made her even more nervous.

"My turn, draw a card!"

Having finally mustered the courage to draw a card, Kitamori Reiko adjusted her slightly slipped glasses and examined the card carefully. "Is this the effect of this card...?"

'Checking the effects of your own cards during a duel?!'

Jonouchi truly didn't expect Kitamori Reiko to make such an outrageous move, and her appearance didn't show any signs of pretense. As she carefully observed the card effects, she would occasionally nod with an expression of sudden realization.

After noticing the strange look in Jonouchi's eyes, Kitamori Reiko even gave an apologetic smile after being startled.

'Could it be that Grandpa Jonouchi's reasoning was wrong, and this girl is actually just a genuine newbie?' Jonouchi thought with some doubt, then his gaze hardened again. 'No, it's also possible that she's only been able to win all this time because she has a very strong deck?'

'Ugh, how annoying! If I'd known, I would have studied the other duelists more yesterday. It's all Kaiba's fault! There were so many opponents, how could anyone possibly study them all!'

Just as Jonouchi was trying to shift the blame onto Kaiba, Kitamori Reiko finally decided on the card she would use.

"I summon [Puppet Soldier] in Defense Position on my field..."

After Kitamori Reiko placed the card horizontally on her duel disk, a faceless monster dressed as a soldier with a body covered in black and white squares and holding a sword and shield appeared on her field. It raised its shield high to protect its vitals, adopting a cautious stance.

【Puppet Soldier】【3☆/Location】

[Warrior/Normal]

[800/1200]

Jonouchi clearly heard Kitamori Reiko exhale a sigh of relief after summoning the [Puppet Soldier], as if relieved, as if she was relieved that there was finally a monster in front of her and she no longer had to face the intimidating [Red-Eyes Black Dragon].

Jonouchi was unimpressed by the appearance of the [Puppet Soldier], because the [Rock Giant], a 3-star Normal Monster, which was frequently used in the game, had a powerful defense of 2000 points and an attack of 1300 points. By any measure, it was much stronger than the [Puppet Soldier] summoned by Kitamori Reiko.

Anyone who makes it to the second round of the KC Cup is no weakling, but such a move could never be the opponent's full strength.

And indeed, that was the case. Reiko Kitamori played another card: "Then, targeting the [Puppet Soldier] on my field, I activate the Spell Card in my hand, [Soldier Upgrade]."

The card that Reiko Kitamori showed depicted a hand holding a white chess piece and placing it on the very edge of the chessboard.

Even Jonouchi, though not very good at chess, at least recognized that the white piece picked up in the card was a "pawn" in chess because he had a friend named Yugi who knew a little bit about all kinds of games. He also knew that in chess, a "pawn" that has moved to the edge of the opponent's side of the board has the ability called "promotion".

"【Soldier Upgrade】Can only be activated by targeting 1 【Puppet Soldier】on my field." Reiko Kitamori explained as she sent the targeted 【Puppet Soldier】to the Graveyard. "After sending the 【Puppet Soldier】to the Graveyard, Special Summon one of the following monsters from my Deck to my field in the same form: 【Puppet Queen】, 【Puppet Castle】, or 【Puppet Knight】."