Chapter 66 Playing the Mental Game

The surrounding students also began to see through Yuxuan’s strategy at this point.

The invincible Submariner possessed the ability to deliver a direct slap to the opponent, while "Megaroid City" could swap the Submariner's attack and defense the moment it attacked, boosting the face-slapping damage from a mere 800 up to 1800.

Following that, after the Submariner completed its attack, it had the effect of automatically changing its battle position, and its rear was surprisingly sturdy with 1800 defense, combining both offensive and defensive capabilities.

Understanding this logic, the expressions of quite a few students turned somewhat peculiar.

For a moment, none of them thought this unconventional tactic of evading direct monster clashes was particularly powerful, but it sure was utterly cheap...

However, despite successfully disgusting Yuichi with a slap—and a rather stinging slap at that—everyone still felt the advantage lay with Yuichi. Even Yuichi himself thought the exact same thing.

"Tch, playing these little clever tactics," Yuichi sneered, "but such cheap tricks stop right here.
My turn, draw card!"

Yamamoto Yuichi had entered Duel Academia with soaring ambitions. Ever since he learned how to play cards, he had been regarded as an elite by those around him, and his first half of life up until passing the entrance exam to Duel Academia had been smooth sailing. Although his written exam scores were slightly subpar, he was confident that his practical skills in the academy would not lose to anyone.

He had set a small goal for himself: to promote into the Obelisk Blue dormitory within the first semester, and to claim the championship title of the top freshman before the end of the term!

Those included the top elites who promoted directly from the middle school division. If he couldn't even take down the number one of a mere Slifer Red dormitory, what else was there to talk about?

Therefore, in his eyes, the Yuxuan before him was nothing more than a periodic minor goal, a stepping stone for him to rise to higher heights.

Today's duel would be his stepping stone to establish his prestige within Slifer Red!

"Activate the Quick-Play Spell from my hand—Mystical Space Typhoon! Destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field.
Destroy the set card on the left side of your backrow!"

A pitch-black whirlwind whipped up, sweeping one of Yuxuan's set cards in the backrow into mid-air, where it was shattered by a lightning strike. The covered card was a "Trap Hole".

"Ha! It actually was a Trap Hole, that was close. If I had rashly summoned a monster with 1,900 attack or higher, I would have fallen right into the trap."

Yuichi felt proud of his precision strike on the backrow.

"Then I will subsequently Normal Summon 'Goblin Attack Force'!"

[Goblin Attack Force, ATK: 1900]

Goblin Attack Force possessed a respectable 1,900 attack points as a Level 4 monster, and as long as it destroyed a monster by battle, its attack would increase by another 300, easily clearing the 2,000 threshold. It was a powerful low-level beatstick that he heavily favored.

Yuxuan remained expressionless: "Open the set card, Trap Card 'Trap Hole'. When a monster with 1,000 or more attack is summoned, it is directly destroyed."

A pitch-black abyss opened up, and before Goblin Attack Force could even steady its footing, it plummeted into the bottomless depths, exploding into fragments with a loud bang.

Yuichi: "..."

What the hell, you actually had a backup one of these too?!

Fine.

Yuichi reluctantly accepted this setup and continued: "Then I activate the Spell Card 'Monster Reborn', Special Summoning one monster destroyed during this turn in Attack Position." (Anime effect)

The monster card that had just entered the Graveyard popped back out.

"Special Summon 'Goblin Attack Force' once again!"

[Goblin Attack Force, ATK: 1900]

"Now I'll let you know that unorthodox duels are meaningless!" Yuichi barked, "Go, Goblin Attack Force, attack Submariner!"

"Flip the set card." Yuxuan calmly flipped open another backrow card. "Trap Card 'Dimensional Prison'. When an opponent's monster declares an attack, remove from play that attacking monster."

Yuichi: "!!!"

The ill-fated ape ultimately failed to reach the invincible submarine. Just as its massive palm seemed only a hair's breadth away from the Submariner, space suddenly tore open, and a massive gravitational force sucked it in, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

"My Goblin Attack Force..."

Yuichi's eyes turned red.

Never did he expect that his Goblin Attack Force, having been fished out of the netherworld for less than a second, was sent off to another dimension at lightspeed like catching a transfer bus, purely for sightseeing...

"Damn it... But in that case, your set cards are all used up. Then next is the attack of 'Hell Dragon'!" Yuichi ordered, "Attack 'Submariner'!"

This time, there were finally no obstacles, and Hell Dragon's sharp claws successfully breached the defense lines of the little submarine in Defense Position. The latter was slashed through by the claws and exploded into spare parts on the spot.

At the very least, this would prevent it from slapping him with the Submariner next turn.

"Heh, you must think you've successfully defended against this turn's attacks, right?" Yuichi sneered, "It's not over yet! Activate set card!

Trap Card—Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord!"

The trap activated, a cluster of black energy brewed and quickly transformed into a monster with a long snake head, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, arriving on the field.

"This trap card can be Special Summoned to my side of the field as a monster card after activation!"

[Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord, ATK: 1600]

"The Battle Phase is still ongoing!" Yuichi declared, "Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord, direct attack!"

The trap monster leaped forward, directly bypassing Yuxuan's empty front row, and swung its blade to slash.

Yuichi's eyes widened, holding his breath in anticipation of the moment that sharp blade would cleave down upon that cheap bastard on the opposite side.

However, just a split second before the blade arrived, the edge struck a layer of transparent barrier with a sharp clank.

Kiteroid!

"The effect of 'Kiteroid' in the Graveyard," Yuxuan stated. "When this card is in the Graveyard, you can make the battle damage 0 once."

Watching the guaranteed strike abruptly blocked at this juncture, Yuichi's mood at that moment felt as agonizing as watching the progress circle spin because of a lagging internet connection while trying to reward himself.

"Kiteroid...? When did..."

His pupils constricted as he suddenly remembered.

"When Submariner attacked, the card was sent from the deck through the effect of the Field Spell 'Megaroid City'..."

The surrounding students immediately realized this as well.

"I see," the model student representative Misawa Daichi analyzed. "Not only can 'Megaroid City' swap attack and defense when the submarine directly attacks, but Kiteroid, which is sent directly from the deck to the graveyard at the same time, also serves as a defensive measure...

Furthermore, the submarine's ability to change its battle position after attacking is also a defensive tactic. What superficially looks like a opportunistic tactic relying solely on direct attack effects to chip away damage is actually a powerful combination of both offense and defense."

Hearing this analysis, the surrounding students nodded in agreement: "Indeed."

Of course, while acknowledging its strength, most of the onlookers watched Yuichi's face grow redder and redder with schadenfreude while simultaneously thinking to themselves—

—I will definitely never be that unlucky bastard.

Whoever gets matched against this guy across from them must have accumulated bad karma in their past life.

Playing cards against this thing, whether you can win is uncertain, but your mindset is definitely going to collapse...