Chapter 112. Childhood Bootleg Orichalcos Series! The Fivefold Barrier Leaves the Old Guard Stunned!
Yugi Muto and Pharaoh Atem had both nearly guessed the last card.
It might be Diffusion Wave-Motion.
But they still could not believe that this iconic scene would appear before their eyes again.
Joey Wheeler, Mai Valentine, and Téa Gardner also stared wide-eyed, stupefied by the field before them.
A triple break in one wave.
Just like that, it ended?
The Duel—just like that—was taken?
By paying 1000 Life Points and dropping to only 250 LP left, the grim little cousin actually secured the final victory.
That was insane.
In the 5D's World.
Seeing this absurd combo of Diffusion Wave-Motion, Yusei Fudo was not okay at all.
That line of play was so flashy it made his scalp tingle.
He had thought the victory formula might be constructed through other means.
But unexpectedly, everything seemed as if it had been predestined.
Especially that Spell Card, Cup of Ace.
If the coin call had been wrong, this game—the grim little cousin would have been doomed to lose.
And yet the call was right.
Beyond that, the 2 cards drawn turned out—unsurprisingly—to be The Eye of Timaeus and Diffusion Wave-Motion.
That also explained why there was no immediate extension after drawing 2.
"His luck really is something."
"Every single card he drew was a piece of the victory puzzle."
"Once the set was complete, he naturally claimed the win."
Jack Atlas could not help but sigh.
Thinking back to his Duels with Yusei Fudo.
Wasn't Yusei exactly like that?
Every time Jack was beaten down to the brink of no return.
Yusei would top-deck the destined card and wrench victory from defeat.
Is this the unique fortune of a unique Duelist?
In the VRAINS World.
"Luck—yeah, that luck was too good."
Yusaku Fujiki also had to admit that the grim little cousin's luck was overwhelming.
Every draw was practically useful.
There wasn't a single dead card, and each one played a crucial role on the road to victory.
As for the opponent, Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Though it lost in the end, the entire process was already as valiant as it gets.
From the declared gambles.
To the follow-up after his chaos plays.
To Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder following Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
It all showed that Blue-Eyes White Dragon was absolutely a worthy opponent.
In the Main World.
The short video had completely finished.
Even though Sei Yuki had already seen this video before, once he appreciated the entire sequence again from start to finish, he couldn't help but sigh—one part possessed by Seto Kaiba, one part blessed with Yugi Muto's outrageous luck.
In the final "draw one, play one" stretches, every single rip was a high-stakes gamble.
If luck turned sour even once, it would basically spell defeat.
Very clearly.
People who play Blue-Eyes White Dragon often don't have great luck.
Starting with 3 Blue-Eyes White Dragon in hand told the whole story.
"Phew, after watching that video—"
"Next, let's go with the childhood bootleg Orichalcos lineup we didn't finish last time!"
"Perfect timing to watch those barrier cards together!"
Muttering to himself, Sei Yuki quickly settled on the next short-video target.
The title appeared.
"Childhood Bootleg Orichalcos Series! You Thought Three Barriers Was the Peak?"
Orichalcos?
Bootleg childhood cards?
As the title flashed across the various Duel Worlds, Duelists who had been discussing the previous classic—Blue-Eyes White Dragon vs. Dark Magician—swiftly focused their attention on this new headline.
Last time's bootleg series.
They could still vividly remember the effect of The Orichalcos Heavenly Sweep.
One card, activate, instant "Spell Speed 4" victory.
And here came more bootlegs.
How could that not grab their interest?
In the short video.
The Bootleg-Card Curator reappeared before the public.
Bootleg-Card Curator: "Hello, good evening, duelists!"
Bootleg-Card Curator: "The summers of the past are gone, and the bootleg cards of the past are even harder to pick up again."
Bootleg-Card Curator: "Today I'm bringing you the remaining card info from the Orichalcos bootleg series!"
"Believe me, these bootlegs are bound to awaken a lot of childhood memories."
"Let's start with a few appetizers and see whether these bootleg effects are any good!"
"Card #1! Orichalcos End-of-Days Shadow!"
[Spell Card: Orichalcos End-of-Days Shadow]
[Effect: Special Summon as many monsters with "Orichalcos" in their names from your Graveyard to your field as possible. Monsters Summoned by this effect cannot attack this turn.]
"Card #2! Orichalcos City!"
[Field Spell: Orichalcos City]
[Effect: While this card is on the field, once per turn during your turn, you can Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower "Orichalcos" monsters from your hand or Graveyard. If this card is destroyed, you can Special Summon The Great Leviathan from your hand.]
Opening thunderbolt.
A genuine opening thunderbolt.
Duelists from every world, who had been laughing and chatting moments ago, fell silent the instant these 2 cards appeared at the start of the video.
Of course it had to be bootlegs.
When you make up effects, you really don't care about balance.
Monster Reborn—a powerful card—only revives 1 monster.
Yet this "Orichalcos" in-archetype revival card revives every "Orichalcos" monster it can, all at once.
Which means—
In one go, you can fill all 5 Main Monster Zones, not even counting the Extra Monster Zone(s).
Self-proclaimed drawback: they just can't attack this turn.
And the Field Spell was even nastier.
In the Duel Monsters World.
Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba had barely escaped their previous memories.
Seeing this Field Spell, they fell right back into the swamp of recollection.
What was this supposed to be?
Every turn you get to Summon 2 monsters, no strings attached?
And if it gets destroyed, it just yanks out The Great Leviathan?
"The Great Leviathan? That monster? That's Dartz's ace."
"I think I've heard of it too—supposedly its ATK is infinite, right?"
"From the art, it looks like a serpent. Interesting."
"Shame they're bootlegs—we can only laugh."
The idle chatter of the onlookers almost made Yugi Muto burst out laughing in exasperation.
Back then, when dealing with Dartz's Great Leviathan, Yugi and the spirit within—the Pharaoh Atem—had no idea how much effort they burned through.
A Field Spell that casually pulls out The Great Leviathan really was over the top.
And the most over-the-top part—
Was still to come with the next card.
Bootleg-Card Curator: "Done with the two appetizers."
Bootleg-Card Curator: "Let's look at the next Orichalcos bootlegs."
"This one is very interesting!"
"Its name is Orichalcos Super Pot of Greed!"
[Continuous Spell: Orichalcos Super Pot of Greed]
[Effect: If there are no Spell Cards in your Graveyard, you can activate this card. Each time you draw a card, gain 1000 LP. The following effects each can be activated once per turn.]
[1) Choose: Add 1 card from your Deck, Graveyard, or banished zone to your hand.]
[2) Choose: Draw 5 cards.]
[3) Choose: Return any number of cards from your hand, Graveyard, or banished zone to your Deck.]
The moment this card appeared—
It once again broke the old guard across the worlds.
What was this even supposed to be?
The "cost" was merely that your Graveyard had no Spells.
Every time you draw, you gain 1000 LP.
The key thing!
Those 3 choose-effects each can be used once per turn.
Leaving aside the add-back and recycle lines.
The bit they couldn't stomach was—
Choice #2.
Draw 5 cards.
Plain and simple.
Absurdly strong.
A bootleg so degenerate it just says "draw 5."
Pot of Greed would go cry in the bathroom.
In the group chat, talk exploded the moment everyone saw this card.
Joey Wheeler: "Whew! Good thing Dartz didn't have this back then, or I don't even want to imagine what would've happened."
Yusei Fudo: "Uh, so what exactly was going on with this Dartz you fought? Was he as tough as our Z-ONE?"
Yuma Tsukumo: "I don't know who Dartz is, but this Orichalcos Super Pot of Greed is nuts! Five cards every turn! Isn't that just pure bliss?"
Yusaku Fujiki: "That's why it can only be a bootleg. For how fake the effects are, the activation condition is still kind of tight—just not nearly tight enough compared to the payoff."
Opinions varied on this Continuous Spell that felt like Dr. Vellian Crowler had been sealed by the Orichalcos.
Some thought the card's power was sky-high.
Naturally, some thought the activation condition was too hard to abide.
No Spells in the Graveyard, and frankly—
It gets blown off the field in a single board wipe.
Without protection, it's nothing but a pipe dream.
The only upside is that going first, you could juice up your resources.
Back to the short video—the Orichalcos bootleg series continued.
Bootleg-Card Curator: "Seeing this card takes me right back to when I played with friends."
Bootleg-Card Curator: "With a little table-talk and sleight of hand, I'd get this thing live every game and draw to my heart's content."
Bootleg-Card Curator: "But that's all in the past. What I treasured most were still the following barrier cards!"
"Card #1! Orichalcos Barrier!"
[Field Spell: Orichalcos Barrier]
[Effect: 1) Remove Attributes from your monsters and increase their ATK by 500.]
[2) Monsters you Summon can occupy Spell & Trap Zones.]
[3) If you control 2 or more face-up Attack Position monsters, your opponent cannot choose the monster you control with the lowest ATK as an attack target.]
[4) This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.]
"When I used this card back then—"
"I would Normal Summon monsters straight into the Spell/Trap Zones!"
"Then we'd complete the second barrier!"
"Orichalcos Qi!"
[Field Spell: Orichalcos Qi]
[Effect: 1) Can only be activated while Orichalcos Barrier is on the field. After activation, this card and Orichalcos Barrier jointly occupy the Field Spell Zone.]
[2) When your opponent would deal battle damage to you, you can Tribute 1 monster you control; negate that attack and destroy the attacking monster.]
[3) During each of your Standby Phases, gain LP equal to the number of monsters on the field × 500.]
[4) This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.]
"Of course, with those 2 barriers—"
"Naturally there's a third!"
"When I went first and assembled all three, it was beyond satisfying!"
"Because in these bootleg effects, the barrier effects stack!"
"The third barrier is also the strongest—Orichalcos Torritos!"
[Field Spell: Orichalcos Torritos]
[Effect: Can only be activated while Orichalcos Qi is on the field. After activation, Orichalcos Barrier, Orichalcos Qi, and this card jointly occupy the Field Spell Zone, and gain the following effects.]
[1) Your monsters are unaffected by your opponent's Spell/Trap effects.]
[2) Your opponent cannot activate Spell Cards.]
[3) This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.]
What the—?
Three Orichalcos Barriers?
Wow.
Fake—ridiculously fake.
Duelists across all worlds stared, dumbstruck, as the info for these 3 barrier cards popped up in the short.
At first, seeing the ordinary Orichalcos Barrier was still okay.
But the second barrier made them realize something was off.
And the moment the third barrier appeared—they collapsed.
Put together—especially that third one—
Wasn't this a little too much?
Monsters on your field would gain godlike protection.
And your opponent would be locked out of activating Spells.
That is to say, to break these cards, you'd have to rely on monster effects or Traps to answer them without destruction.
In the Duel Monsters World.
Seeing these cards, Yugi Muto's memories snapped fully into place.
When facing Dartz back then, it was exactly these barriers that made him so miserable.
He never expected that, to this day, he would see them again.
Beyond nostalgia, there was puzzlement.
In the higher worlds, do they really have every card imaginable?
In the GX World.
After watching the barriers, Jaden Yuki's mouth twitched.
If it were him facing an opponent with those barriers—
Jaden truly wasn't sure he could beat an enemy who had all three.
That is, the Dartz Yugi spoke of.
"Mamma mia! Cards this outrageous?"
"Truly, the world is full of wonders!"
Dr. Vellian Crowler exhaled slowly.
He had long heard of how terrifying those barriers were when Yugi fought Dartz.
Now, seeing these bootlegs reappear in the higher worlds, he still couldn't help being shocked.
Against such bootlegs—
How did the King of Games, Yugi Muto, keep going without surrendering?
Bootleg-Card Curator: "After finishing the three barriers above—"
Bootleg-Card Curator: "You thought that was all?"
"No, no, actually there are still bootleg barriers."
"The fourth and the fifth layers!"
"The fourth barrier, as long as the first three are on the field, lets you treat monsters in either player's Deck, hand, or on the field as Tributes."
"Or set your own Life Points to 1, and then you can Summon Orichalcos monsters from anywhere, ignoring conditions."
"If you don't have them? No problem—Orichalcos Fourth Layer Barrier – God-Control Formation can search those cards as long as it's in your hand."
"And the fifth barrier can search the fourth to assist its activation."
"Its effect is relatively ordinary: you can Tribute your or your opponent's monsters to recover Life Points based on ATK, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to that ATK."
"And that's all the info on the Fivefold Orichalcos Barrier."
"I wonder how you duelists feel after watching?"
Feelings?
Duelists in every world could only twitch their faces.
If those five barriers actually resolved—
They could only surrender at Spell Speed 5.
How are you supposed to play?
The three-barrier setup was already disgusting enough.
The fourth and fifth—
Were an even more absurd escalation on top of the first three.
If those truly resolved—
Then they simply couldn't play.
Though if it were a higher-world Deck, maybe there would still be a fight.
Like Tearlaments, for example.
Meanwhile, Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba almost cried in the bathroom upon hearing there were more barriers.
If Dartz knew his three Orichalcos barriers weren't even the limit—
That there was still a fourth and fifth—who knows what he would think?
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