Duels should be played with a smile.

"Since Mr. Leyou has agreed, let's begin."

After saying that, Isis added the card in her hand to the deck she had just taken out and shuffled it.

cardiac arrest

Stop! Don't add that card! A duel like this can't bring smiles!

Chapter 43 The Ultimate Secret of FTK: Seizing the First Move

“Don’t worry,” Isis suddenly smiled, sensing that she could see the anxiety in Leyou’s eyes. “This is the most sacred ritual, during which all external forces will be kept out and unable to interfere.”

"So you don't need to worry about me using ancient jewelry to predict the future."

“Besides…” she paused, took off the thousand-year-old jewelry hanging around her neck, and put it in her bosom, “Besides, I can’t predict your future anyway.”

Her words were meant to reassure Leyou that he wouldn't encounter cheating in the duel, but now...

I'm not worried about your cheating methods! I'm worried about your heinous banned card!

Throughout the history of Yu-Gi-Oh!, any card that has been moved to the top of the leaderboard and had its effects modified before being released is one that cannot be described as "extremely heinous." Among this small list, "Phantom" is arguably the most famous.

Initially, it was because of the first-strike FTK that made the opponent have no gaming experience. Then, a gameplay that puts people in jail was developed to continue to torture the opponent. After that, it was directly sent to the "little black room" and was not released until the source number.

Similar treatment was given to the infamous "Big Brother Turns into Big Sister," the protagonist's ace card who was imprisoned before the anime even finished airing, and who is also the only protagonist card to be put on the banned card list, Firewall Dragon.

The legendary nature of the underworld story needs no further explanation; those who know, know.

However, the most serious problem now is that Leyou has fallen into the same predicament as when it faced Apollia.

He had a bunch of acrobatic skills, but they were useless.

Honestly, most decks struggle to deal with the current version of the Netherworld.

"What, aren't you going to show me your deck?"

"I'm thinking... never mind, maybe it really is just my fate." Le You shrugged, somewhat wistfully. "I think I've had pretty good luck today, so since the future is unpredictable, I might as well take a gamble."

'System, give me a deck! Preferably a Dump Truck deck!'

For no other reason than that if a dump truck were to encounter a ghost, it would be absolutely hilarious.

[Deck drawing in progress]

[Draw complete]

Without any special light effects or sounds, an ordinary deck appeared on Leyou's duel disk. This deck was not one that Leyou had built himself; it was most likely a deck recorded in the Duel Chronicles, as it was simply protected by a transparent card sleeve.

Leyou's own card decks are all wrapped in two layers of card sleeves, and the outer layer has a pattern. Some special card decks even have card sleeve patterns that cannot be taken out to play.

I understand everything I understand.

"I'm ready, let's begin this sacred ceremony! I..."

"My first turn, draw! I activate the Spell Card 'Angel's Charity' from my hand, draw 3 cards from my deck, and discard 2 of them."

With lightning-fast reflexes, Isis drew three cards, discarded two more, and completed a series of actions including taking the initiative, drawing cards, advancing to the main rank, and activating effects.

Leyou was completely dumbfounded.

This is how you players from the Underworld get the first move?! That's outrageous! Referee, someone needs to intervene!

When Isis already had three cards in her graveyard, Leyou hadn't even had a chance to look at her hand...

"I'm starting..."

"Wait!" Leyou interrupted, "Give me five seconds before you continue."

Leyou quickly glanced at his hand, his feelings complicated, unsure of what expression to make.

Is this world really that magical? Could it be that I, who was originally just an ordinary card player, can truly form a bond with the deck after coming to this world?

The hand isn't particularly good or bad; in fact, it's somewhat ambiguous in relation to this deck.

However, if you take the opponent into account, then this could be considered an incredible hand.

"Five seconds are up. I will continue my turn. I believe you are familiar with my deck. Now that I have the first move, you have no future in this duel."

"I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' from my hand, draw..."

"stop!"

As expected, Leyou met Isis's puzzled gaze, but this time he really had something to do, and it was the most crucial move in this duel.

He had no doubt that Isis could directly use the Darkness ability in the first round, so he had to find a way out in this almost hopeless situation.

Fortunately, the deck responded to him.

That woman, she's here.

"The effect of [Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring] in your hand: When the effect of adding a card from the deck to your hand is activated, discard this card from your hand and negate that effect."

The woman with the broad forehead cautiously peeked out from the duel disk. She looked left and right until she found that the sword and the finger were not on the opposite side of the field. Only then did she regain her original arrogant posture and begin to search for her target.

Don't be so hasty if you don't look. Once she did, she was dumbfounded. Was this an unlimited tournament? Why was there a Pot of Greed?

However, the woman with the wide forehead shows no mercy. Whenever someone wants to draw a card or someone calls for her, she will respond immediately and rush out to crush the person who wants to draw a card!

"No card drawing allowed!"

With a loud bang, the green Pot of Greed was shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. The card draw was naturally invalidated. Having not received the Grave Finger or Sword Finger, Ash Blossom Lady, having gloriously completed her mission, walked proudly into the graveyard and became a spectator.

Because the woman with the wide forehead moved so quickly, Leyou didn't notice that the word "adjustment" had reappeared on the card that carried Ash Blossom.

"It seems I'm not destined to die," Leyou chuckled softly. "See? From the very beginning, my hope has been in my own hands."

At this moment, Isis's gaze became somewhat subtle. She was well aware of the advantages of her deck, and naturally also knew its disadvantages. When a first-strike FTK deck cannot achieve FTK, its destructive power will naturally decrease significantly.

“You already have hope, but it is still very faint and not enough to illuminate the future.” Isis shook her head slightly. “Continue this sacred ritual. I have a premonition that after the duel ends, a brand new future will appear in the Millennium Jewelry.”

"Activate the Spell Card [Gold Goblin]..."

"I activate the Spell Card [Bitter Choice], I select 5 cards from my deck, you choose one, the chosen card is added to my hand, and the rest are sent to the graveyard."

It's truly bitter, after all, it's a card that's banned forever.

Just look at Leyou's expression to know how bitter he was.

Of the five cards Isis chose, two were the same monster and three were Monster Reborn. In other words, no matter what Leyu chose, Isis could summon that monster to the field once the Netherworld was activated.

The monster she chose is called "Modora," and its effect is that this card gains 200 ATK for each Fairy-Type monster in her Graveyard. Once activated, this ATK is so high that it could easily wipe out Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"It's really...bitter."

Chapter 44: A Huge Helper 2.0

"【Mining of the Magic Stones】: Discard 2 cards from your hand and add Angel's Charity from the Graveyard to your hand."

"Activate [Angel's Charity] again, draw three cards, and discard two cards."

At this point, Isis had only 3 cards left in her hand, and she stopped playing.

It wasn't because she had a bad hand, but because she already had 15 cards in her graveyard, which met the activation conditions for her "Current Strike".

Next up is the fake card combo.

"When I activate the effect of the monster 'Executioner - Demon Slayer' in my Graveyard, the turn this card is sent to the Graveyard, the owner of this card can activate Trap Cards from their hand!"

"I activate [Reversal of the Realm and the Underworld] from my hand!"

"When you have 15 or more cards in your graveyard, you pay 1000 points to activate this effect. You and your opponent exchange cards from your graveyards and decks. At this time, the cards in your graveyards are shuffled and then exchanged to your deck zone!"

Isis LP: 4000 → 3000

A large red and blue gate appeared on the field, and Isis, Leyou's deck, and graveyard all floated up into the air and flew towards the gate.

Passing through the gate, the world of the living and the world of the dead have been reversed; at this moment, life is death, and death is life.

All the cards in the Leyou deck were placed in the graveyard, and the only Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring in the graveyard became the last hope to keep Leyou from losing due to card draw.

Furthermore, the effect of "Currently in the Graveyard" is to exchange cards between the Deck and Graveyard Zones, not to send the Deck to the Graveyard. All effects triggered by sending cards to the Graveyard cannot be triggered, and Leyou cannot gain additional support by relying on those cards activated by sending cards to the Graveyard.

The cards in hand are the last hope—perhaps along with the Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring that I'll draw next turn?

Moreover, Isis had not yet ended her turn after activating the Netherworld ability.

"Attack indicates that [Modora] is normally summoned."

A man wearing a golden mask of a tomb keeper and wielding a long sword appeared on the battlefield.

[Earth, 4-Star, Angel Race, Attack 1500, Defense 1800]

"Because I have 14 Angel-type monsters in my graveyard, his attack power increases by 2800 points."

Attack power increased from 1500 to 4300.

A holy light flashed across the graveyard, landing on Mudora's blade. The blade seemed to have been enhanced by +13 and amplified by +10, instantly increasing its power by several levels.

It's just a hair's breadth away from becoming the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon that Kaiba is so proud of.

"Set one card face down, end the turn."

Isis's hand: 0

"The future is shrouded in mist, and only a passionate soul can pierce through the mist and see that enchanting future."

Faced with Isis's words, Leyou simply smiled and said, "Whether the future is good or bad, no one can say for sure. And if the future could really be predicted, then where would there be any hope left?"

"A foreseeable, unchangeable future is nothing but stagnant water, only inspiring despair. Only an unpredictable destiny can reveal more possibilities."

"There was once a poet who, after reading the omniscient and omnipotent book, learned that everything he did was just like the actions of a puppet on strings. He fell into despair and even wanted to destroy the world. So, being able to know the future is not necessarily a good thing."

"What happened to that poet later?" Isis asked curiously.

"Who knows? I'm just a card player."

"If the deck represents hope, then the graveyard can also unearth buried despair. As the saying goes, yin gives rise to yang, and things reach their extremes and then reverse. Hope can be born even in despair!"

"My turn, draw a card!"

Without even glancing at the Gray Flowing Beauty card that had been drawn, Leyou turned her gaze to the cemetery, calling forth hope within it.

"The effect of the Ritual Spell 【Relic Ritual Mirror】 in the Graveyard allows you to return this card from the Graveyard to the Deck and then return 1 Ritual Monster with the name 【Relic】 from your Graveyard to your hand."

"This effect isn't available only once per turn, so I'll activate two in a row! I'll add 'Evil Legacy Mind Ogre' and 'Evil Legacy Soul Ogre' from my Graveyard to my hand."