Duels should be played with a smile.

Fortunately, this time it was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. The first card that Mingde found this time was a monster, which did not help Leyou fill the graveyard with more magic cards.

"Here it comes again! Another Tuner monster has appeared on the field, a new storm is about to begin!"

"I will synchronize my LV2 Phantom Beast Machine with my LV2 Hoogi!"

"Descend! Summoner of Celestial Green Corridor Beast! Caller of Mega Thunder Dragon! Synchro Summon! LV4! [Softball Cupid]!"

[Light · 4★ · Angel · Defense 600]

"The effect of Cupid activates when a Synchro Summon is successful, adjusting the level of the monster in the Synchro Material by either increasing or decreasing its Level. I choose to increase its Level by 2."

"Launch the chain reaction of curator effect, draw 1."

Although it's called Star Guardian Green Corridor Beast, this deck doesn't actually include any "play-it-or-die" decks, and there's no such thing as searching for Star Guardian and then Special Summoning Super Thunder Dragon.

"Since my Extra Monster Zone is empty again, I'm activating [Monument of Destruction] again to Special Summon a second Hoogi from my Extra Deck!"

Because of the limitation of one card per turn, after summoning so many times in a row, there are not many Divine Steles left that can be used.

"Cupid is both a Synchro Monster and a Tuner Monster! I Synchro Summon a Level 6 Cupid and a Level 2 Hoogi!"

A refreshing breeze suddenly swept through the tranquil virtual world.

"Gathered prayers will open up new paths! The great winds will become guiding wings! Fly! Resound! At high speed, step into a wider realm!"

"Born! Level 8! [Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon]!"

Crimson light guided the winds of stardust, and in the virtual world, stardust transformed into a giant dragon.

In the Synchro Dimension, Yusei, who was about to mount his D-Wheel for a tense and exciting high-speed duel with Izayoi Aki, stopped his actions as a call came from his deck.

He took out his trump card monster, only to find that the already agile Stardust Dragon had transformed into a completely new form.

"What's wrong, Yusei?" Akiya stopped the D-Wheel and turned to ask Yusei.

Yusei shook his head, put Stardust Dragon back into the deck, gazed at the sky, and said calmly, "It's nothing, just a gust of wind blew by just now."

Accelerating the arrival of Stardust Dragon is not just a passing breeze; a simple Synchro Summon can trigger a series of changes.

"The effect of Cupid in the Graveyard: If this card is Synchro Summoned and sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material, it can be activated to inflict damage to your opponent equal to 100 times the Level of the Synchro Summoned monster, and you can search your Deck for 1 Level 8 or lower monster with 600 DEF."

"Chain Cupid, C2 activates the curator's effect to draw 1."

"Chain Curator, activate the effect of Accelerated Synchro Stardust Dragon with C3. This effect can only be activated if this card is Synchro Summoned. Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Tuner monster from your Graveyard!"

With two guaranteed effects and one optional effect, the effect of Accelerating Synchro Stardust Dragon is forced to be placed in C3. If the opponent has Yashiki-warashi, attacking at this time can be very troublesome.

The Faceless One did not have a Yashiki-doji, but he had other methods.

"Chain-Summon Stardust Dragon, activate the effect of the third card in your hand, [Effect Veiler], using C4! Target your Stardust Dragon and negate it!"

When Joy summoned Cupid, Faceless One had already drawn his third Effect Cover. However, he knew very well that most Synchro Tuner Monsters were used as stepping stones, so he had waited for this move.

"This time, I've been waiting for this!"

"What a coincidence!"

Tan Ji, standing next to Le You, made another sound that sent blood pressure soaring.

"I've been waiting for this too! Chain to your effect, activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Called by the Grave] in my hand with C5! Banish and negate your effect!"

The effects were processed continuously, and the most crucial link was saved by the tomb's protection. Cerberus in the tomb was revived, and Leyou's resources were replenished.

"Activate the [Divine Stele of Curse Removal] again! But this time, use its original effect."

"Because my special recruitment triggered your increased G-level card draw, the conditions for the curse-breaking steles were met!"

"If your opponent adds a card from their deck to their hand outside of their draw phase, you can activate this effect. Banish one random card from their hand! Then banish the top two cards from your deck!"

The quick-play spell card from the Divine Monument has finally returned to its old ways, randomly banishing a card that turns out to be Graveyard Finger.

"Because the Divine Stele that dispelled the curse was activated, the Deception of the Divine Stele was also activated. Banish one more card from the top of your deck!"

The white-robed, masked man had been waiting beside the Faceless One for a long time, and his dagger stabbed mercilessly into the thin deck.

"Now, it's time for the true ace of my deck to be revealed!"

The Faceless One was immediately drawn to the card and couldn't help but ask, "What ace? What ace is it that's worth all this trouble, reducing your deck to just 10 cards and using up most of your extra deck?"

"Well, you'll see soon enough, and isn't it very obvious?"

The wind picked up again, and the Stardust Dragon's wings stirred up gusts of breeze.

Cerbera rose with the wind, transforming into two star rings, and the Stardust Dragon spread its wings and soared, shuttling between the star rings.

"Watch closely, this is my final Synchro Summon!"

"I used the LV2 Tuner monster Ceratops to tune the LV8 Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon!"

"In the daytime, one sees only shadows, not light; in the night, one sees only squares, not shapes! Dragons divide their shadows, and wild geese fall, forgetting to return!"

"Summon in unison! Illuminate the heavens! LV10! [Grand Duke of Xiangjian - Chengying]!"

A mottled sword shadow flashed in the rainbow light, and the crimson sword left a faint mark in an instant. At the junction of heaven and earth, the body of a phantom dragon flew out from the sword and transformed into an old man wearing armor and holding a sword.

The old man held a huge golden sword in his hand, but the sword, though enormous, paled in comparison to the robust old man.

However, only by getting closer and examining it closely can one see the shape of the sword.

The golden sword is merely the hilt; the true form of the sword, with its golden core and clear, translucent crimson blade, gradually emerges and disappears.

[Water · 10★ · Phantom Dragon · Defense 3000 → 3700]

"The Continuous Effect of Shadow: This card gains ATK and DEF, and loses ATK and DEF of monsters your opponent controls equal to 100 times the number of cards banished."

“In addition to that, he has two other powerful effects.”

"The other two effects?" The Faceless One stared intently at the Sword of Shadows, his brows furrowed. "A Level 10 Synchro Monster with three effects might really be worth all this trouble... But don't forget, this is only the first round of this duel."

"Even if your attack power on the field has already exceeded 8000, you still can't hit me."

"I really can't do any harm to you... I always remember that this is the first round of attack, but you seem to have forgotten something very important."

Leyou had already dimmed the light of the Divine Monument, placed one hand on his wrist, and was about to put away the Duel Disk and enjoy his victory—the appearance of an Ace Monster often meant victory in the duel, and this was the best example of that.

"What is it?!"

"You forgot you were supposed to draw a card," Leyou kindly reminded him.

"Gacha?"

The Faceless One reacted instantly and skillfully reached for the deck.

This move was truly practiced; after all, he had drawn many times in this round.

"It's just a gacha pull... I haven't forgotten the effects of the G-rank enhancement..."

Then, he missed.

"Huh?!" The Faceless One's body froze instantly.

"Hey~" Leyou waved his hand, dispelling his disguise and revealing a smiling face beneath.

He laughed very happily, even a little unrestrainedly.

At this point, you have 7 Faceless Ones in the banished zone, 16 in the graveyard, 15 in your hand, and 2 on the field, for a total of 40 cards.

The deck is completely empty.

"I haven't even used my full strength yet, and you've already fallen. If you had a few more cards in your deck, I could have let you experience the true power of the Divine Stele a little longer. It's a pity, you can only stop here."

"Oh, right, just one more reminder, it's still the first round of the attack, in other words, I've FTKed you."

"What a pity. If it weren't for Cupid's guaranteed hit effect that deducted some of your LP, I would have achieved a perfect no-damage FTK."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Faceless One was defeated because he had no cards left to draw.

Black mist rose out of nowhere, enveloping the Faceless One. When the black mist dissipated, only a blank card remained, with specks of golden light shimmering on it.

Philvo quietly appeared next to the card, took it in his hand and rubbed it: "Interesting. Whether in the real world or the virtual world, this strange existence retains some of the same characteristics."

"Then I'll leave this to you to study?"

"Row."

After a short rest, the two set off for their next destination. Meanwhile, the girl, who seemed to have stepped out of a Kantai Collection anime, encountered a boy who was very good at playing cards.

Chapter Fifty-Six: Leyou Abandons Thinking

"So annoying! So annoying! So annoying! Why are there these monstrosities everywhere?! I came here to find powerful duelists to prove myself, not to play house with these weak AI opponents!"

The gray-haired girl was extremely agitated because she hadn't encountered a single normal duelist all day. Instead, she had been subjected to a series of pointless duels by seven or eight expressionless NPCs.

In the face of the invincible Satellite Shining, those NPCs using old and outdated decks are just cannon fodder. No matter what kind of field the NPCs set up, Satellite Shining's bunch of hand traps can stop them and kill them in the second turn. If Satellite Shining goes first, the opponent will not have much chance to play.

After clearing away the NPCs that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere but appeared to be coming in an endless stream, the gray-haired girl complained as she concealed her whereabouts.

She found it easy to deal with the NPCs, but she also noticed that every time she defeated one NPC, the next one that took her place would be a few times stronger.

The decks used by those NPCs also seem to follow the development history of duels, from the initial card stacks to gradually forming a system. The last one she defeated used a deck that was used as an example in the Duel Academy of Xyz Dimension a couple of years ago.

As she defeated these NPCs, she also sensed something unusual about the pattern.

"Before coming to the competition, Senior Kamishiro told me to be careful. Could she be referring to this? But even if these NPCs' decks are getting stronger, they still can't possibly beat my invincible Satellite Shining, right?"

Looking back on some things before the competition, the gray-haired girl didn't seem to care much. After sealing away her train deck and replacing it with the invincible Satellite Shining that she had obtained by chance, she almost never lost a duel.

Moreover, as her understanding of the Satellite Shining deck deepened, she became increasingly convinced that she was invincible when using this deck!

Aside from that one time when she accidentally wandered into a maze of unknown location and unintentionally encountered the guardians there, she was taught a lesson by those guardians because her bond with her deck wasn't strong enough. Otherwise, she has never lost a duel.

"Speaking of which, what exactly were those dozen or so guardians in that maze guarding? Seriously... they didn't give us a chance at all, we were blasted out before we even saw anything... But one of the leaders was really handsome."

Seemingly because she had left the area where the NPCs gathered, the girl named Tarlin searched for a while but did not find any other NPCs. As a result, she no longer walked as cautiously as before, and even became somewhat high-profile.

She disliked the lifeless NPCs, but she longed to duel with the other contestants.

In the previous few days of the competition, she challenged all the opponents she encountered in a very flamboyant manner. It can be said that she contributed a lot to the fact that the first half of the competition ended so quickly.

In fact, she didn't need to do this, or even participate in this competition. With her consistently good luck and ability, she usually doesn't need to work hard to achieve what many people struggle to do.

For example, while others painstakingly gain the approval of the spirits and fight against various powerful opponents to strengthen their decks and improve their strength, she easily obtained a very powerful satellite Shining deck, and her dueling talent allowed her to quickly master this powerful force.

Her life had been smooth sailing, and apart from fulfilling some basic responsibilities, she didn't have much to worry about. However, a while ago, a memory from who-knows-where surfaced in her mind, causing her to toss and turn and have trouble falling asleep at night.

In that memory, she was using the Train deck that she had sealed away, and without even making a move, she was defeated by a guy wearing a masked armor who was obviously a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) patient who used the detestable Mischievous Fairy Star deck.