Chapter 257: Psychic Style Teaching
As the burly man intervened with his underlings, the crowd surrounding Hayato, eager to duel him, was forcibly dispersed.
"Hey, what are you guys doing? Trying to hog the King of Duelists all to yourselves?" "Everyone should get a turn! I think I could do it too!" "Let me try dueling the King of Duelists first!"
Faced with these overconfident fools, the burly man's underlings merely issued a slight threat and displayed their exaggerated chest and biceps. Many immediately backed off and rapidly left the scene.
After all, Battle City had already begun. Staying here without securing a chance to duel the King of Duelists would be a complete waste of time. It was better to quickly find someone to duel, collect Puzzle Cards and Rare Cards, and aim to reach the Top 8. Then, they would still have a chance to become the new King of Duelists.
Rex and Mai Valentine, who had been watching from the crowd, were also forced to leave.
"I never thought that kid would come up with such a simple yet effective method to cheat in a duel," Mai Valentine, who was skilled in using perfume tactics, seemed to still be bothered by the fact that she had foolishly believed Espa Roba when he claimed to be a psychic.
Meanwhile, Rex, who was nearby, was somewhat surprised: "What?! Isn't that guy a psychic? But what about the two people he petrified earlier?"
"You, are you an idiot?"
The onlookers had mostly been driven away by the burly man's underlings. He then approached Hayato, accompanied by Espa Roba and his brothers, just as Hayato finished explaining the feud between the "Psychic Style" and the "Cyber Style."
"Hmph, so the King of Duelists knows so much about the past of our two dojos?"
Hayato glanced at the burly man, casually saying, while adjusting the composition of the deck stored in his system storage, "Because I'm quite interested in the Cyber Style, I specifically looked into its past, and coincidentally learned about its dispute with the Psychic Style."
"Hmph, just the Cyber Style." Hearing that Hayato seemed to prefer the Cyber Style more, the burly man's expression was disdainful. "I thought the King of Duelists would have higher standards, to not even realize that our Psychic Style is the strongest. It seems you're not all that impressive, after all."
"Alright then, first, an introduction." The burly man spread his legs, pulling the hem of his shirt with his left hand and opening the front of his shirt with his right, revealing his robust chest muscles, which surpassed even those of his underlings. He struck a dramatic, almost cinematic gang boss pose, as if accompanied by piano music.
"My name is Zhuzhao Zhi, Grandmaster of the Psychic Style, and I hereby challenge you!"
"Pig's Claw..." Although Hayato knew it was a rather ordinary name, he couldn't help but want to laugh. Especially since there was a snack shop selling charcoal-grilled pig's trotters just around the corner.
Having been professionally trained, Hayato suppressed his laughter and asked somewhat strangely, "I've heard people say that as long as duelists make eye contact, there's a reason to battle. But I thought you'd duel Mr. Sheppard first."
"Hmph, those Cyber Style guys? I don't even take them seriously." Zhuzhao Zhi glanced disdainfully at Sheppard. "I heard the Cyber Style guys were defeated by you during the Duelist Kingdom, weren't they?"
"In other words, if I can defeat you, that'll be enough to prove that the Psychic Style is stronger than the Cyber Style. And at the same time, the Psychic Style will also have defeated the King of Duelists." Saying this, Zhuzhao Zhi put on the Duel Disk handed to him by his underlings and inserted his deck into the card slot. "Two birds with one stone."
"That's quite an optimistic thought. But if you lose to me, everything will come to naught." Hayato also finished preparing his deck, pretending to draw it from a card case at his waist.
He remembered that both the Psychic Style and the Cyber Style primarily used Machine-Type monsters. However, the Cyber Style focused on the LIGHT Attribute 5-Star monster, [Cyber Dragon], famous for its aggressive [Cyber Dragon] plays, while the Psychic Style focused on the DARK Attribute 6-Star monster, [Jinzo].
It was the same card Espa Roba had just used. It was no wonder Zhuzhao Zhi wanted to take Espa Roba as his disciple; after all, Espa Roba already had a solid dueling foundation that wouldn't require additional training, and he was already accustomed to using [Jinzo], so he wouldn't need extra time to adapt.
However, compared to Espa Roba, who dueled with Psychic-Type monsters in conjunction with [Jinzo], Zhuzhao Zhi's Psychic Style deck would likely favor Machine-Type monsters more. Therefore, Hayato added [System Down], a card he had specifically collected long ago to deal with Bandit Keith, to his deck.
Both their Duel Disks unfolded, and the battle was about to begin.
"Duel!"
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
[Zhuzhao: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
"First turn is mine!" Zhuzhao Zhi seized the first turn, drew a card from his deck, then activated a card from his hand. "I activate the Spell Card, [Cost Down]! By discarding one card, I can reduce the Level of one monster in my hand by two."
"A Level 6 monster will then become Normal Summonable without Tributing!" Proudly drawing a card, Zhuzhao Zhi flipped it over and showed it to Hayato. "I Normal Summon the symbol of the Psychic Style, [Jinzo], in Attack Position!"
"Then, I activate the Equip Spell Card, [Amplifier], and equip it to [Jinzo] on my field!"
In his first turn, Zhuzhao Zhi successfully summoned the powerful [Jinzo], and even equipped it with [Amplifier], restoring his ability to use Trap Cards.
However, as a cost for quickly summoning his ace monster, Zhuzhao Zhi also expended a large number of cards from his hand.
"I set two cards. My turn ends." Zhuzhao Zhi set his only two remaining cards, ending his turn with a smug expression. He then turned to Espa Roba, his newly accepted disciple, and said, "Watch closely and learn well. This is how Psychic Style duelists battle."
[Zhuzhao: 4000 LP, Hand 0]
[Jinzo (Amplifier) ATK 2400]
[Set Cards] x2
Hayato: "Alright then, my turn."
Drawing a card, Hayato looked at Zhuzhao Zhi's [Jinzo] on the field and casually remarked, "While it possesses a powerful Trap Card negation effect, [Jinzo]'s biggest weakness lies in its Attack Points."
"Hm?" Zhuzhao Zhi didn't understand what Hayato meant. In his opinion, even though [Jinzo] was a Level 6 monster, 2400 Attack Points were already quite impressive.
But what Hayato meant was that 2400 Attack Points were completely outclassed by the 2500 Attack Points of various protagonists' ace monsters, which was considered the standard. And coincidentally, Hayato happened to have a monster with 2500 Attack Points in his hand as well.
(end of chapter)