You're the one who should be trying harder!
Holding three crimson cards in hand, Dark Bug's smile twisted colder by the second. He drew for a turn.
The moment his fingers touched the top card of his deck, a feverish gleam flickered in his eyes. His rasping voice carried a cruel thrill:
"Not that there's any point asking—your hand traps are useless under your own Eye of Ruptured Space, and my Chaos Hunter locks down your Runick Quick-Plays. You couldn't act even if you wanted to."
You Ye only smiled. He wasn't angry. He didn't deny it either—because right now, indeed, he couldn't activate anything.
But whether that was "crippling himself" wasn't for Dark Bug to decide.
"I'll set three cards and end my turn. Your struggle begins now."
Dark Bug sneered, setting three backrow before ending.
Turn 2 – You Ye
He drew for a turn—then immediately drew two more by the effect of Eye of Ruptured Space.
When he saw the card among them, Infinite Impermanence, he almost sighed.
With that and Flashing Fire already in hand, the duel had lost some excitement.
I added Effect Veiler and Ash Blossom to this build to make plays with Knight Flower and Verte, he thought. And instead, I pull Impermanence. How boring.
Just then, Dark Bug's hoarse voice interrupted gleefully—
"At your Draw Phase, I activate my set card—Built-in Machine Gun!
You take damage equal to 200 times the total number of cards in your hand and on your field!
You have six, so that's 1200 damage!"
You Ye LP: 8000 → 6800
A rain of phantom bullets shredded the air, tearing into You Ye's body.
Or rather—they should have.
Before any pain could reach him, faint specters shimmered within the surrounding black mist, intercepting the shots in silence.
He felt nothing.
No one—not even Mu Ning—noticed the eerie guardians shielding him.
Dark Bug watched, hungry for the sight of panic, pain, or fear on You Ye's face.
But the boy's calm never wavered.
His expression simply asked:
Are you done burning yet? If not, hurry up. My turn's waiting.
Dark Bug grunted, irritated.
"Hmph. Your LPs are still high—you can act tough for now. Let's see that face when the pain really starts!"
"Then I'll activate Runick Fountain, set one card, and end my turn," You Ye said mildly.
He looked almost puzzled—he hadn't even meant to hold back—but did not explain.
Dark Bug blinked.
"Wait—did you just draw Impermanence on your second turn?"
He understood immediately:
Set Fountain, one back row—of course, that was Infinite Impermanence.
And with Flashing Fire in hand, next turn, You Ye could blow up Chaos Hunter and freely resume his Runick plays.
"Yeah," You Ye said with a light shrug. "I actually wanted to show you something more interesting. But the heavens weren't in the mood."
"Something… more interesting?"
Dark Bug frowned, uneasy.
A bad feeling crept up his spine.
Somehow, it felt like You Ye wasn't the one stuck—he was.
His Burn Deck, which could only play one card at a time, had bricked itself instead.
The Cloaked Man, still observing from the side, fell silent.
He sensed it too: You Ye wasn't bluffing.
He had more in reserve.
But then he saw Dark Bug's lips twitch upward ever so slightly—and realized what was coming.
That smile…
He was preparing his true trap.
So that's it. Chaos Hunter wasn't his only weapon… his entire archetype counters Runick.
"Got what I needed," You Ye said casually. "No point hiding it. You'll see soon enough."
His confidence made Dark Bug's temples bulge, his teeth grinding audibly.
The last time he'd been looked down on like this was by a Heaven-Rank duelist.
And now this kid—a freshly certified Yellow-Rank duelist, riding on some fancy Master Duel credentials—was staring him down like an amateur?
"My turn! Draw!"
He looked at his new card—and at You Ye.
"I activate my set card—Infinite Impermanence—targeting your Chaos Hunter!"
"..."
Dark Bug didn't chain anything. He simply let it resolve.
You Ye raised an eyebrow.
Three face-downs, and none chained? Curious.
"Then you know what comes next.
From my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Runick Flashing Fire!
I target and destroy your Chaos Hunter—then banish the top two cards of your deck."
Chaos Hunter was obliterated in a flash of blue flame.
"And now, Runick Fountain's effect: I'll recycle Runick Dispelling and Flashing Fire, return them to the deck, then draw two cards."
He glanced at his hand.
"Your move."
"Tch."
Dark Bug scowled, setting another card before ending his turn.
A burn-stall deck like his had no other plays.
Still, he smirked inwardly.
Go on. Keep feeling smug. Next turn, you'll be the one who can't smile.
The trap had been laid.
Turn 3 – You Ye
"My turn—draw two!"
Eye of Ruptured Space's effect triggered again.
This time, one of the draws was Effect Veiler.
"No response?" he asked.
Dark Bug stayed silent.
"Then Main Phase One. I Normal Summon Effect Veiler."
The corner of Dark Bug's mouth curled upward again.
He didn't care why Veiler was summoned—only that another monster hit the field.
"I activate the Trap Just Desserts! For each monster you control, you take 500 damage!
You have two—so that's 1000 damage!"
"Chain 2—another Just Desserts!"
Resolution:
Chain 2 resolves (500 × 2) = 1000 damage.
Chain 1 resolves (500 × 2) = 1000 damage.
You Ye LP: 6800 → 4800!
"Hah! Your LPs are barely half left! Getting scared yet?!"
Dark Bug's laughter turned shrill with excitement.
You Ye stared blankly.
"...That's it? Just 2000 LP? What's there to be proud of?"
Six turns, 3200 burn total.
If this were back before his "crossing," anyone posting that stat in a duelist group chat would be roasted alive.
How bad do you have to be to burn only 3200 after six turns?
"Heh. I know you're some top-tier player in Master Duel," Dark Bug rasped. "You probably know more about deck building, combos, and rulings than I ever will. In a normal duel, I'd lose to you."
He paused, grin spreading.
"But you don't understand, Burn.
You don't realize how fast this is—how perfect this damage curve is in this setup!"
You Ye blinked, deadpan.
"...Sure. Whatever makes you happy."
He wasn't wasting breath on this delusion.
Time to clean up the back row and end it.
"I use Effect Veiler and Hugin as Link Material!
Link Summon—S:P Little Knight!
Because Hugin was a Fusion Monster, Little Knight's first effect activates—targeting one of your set cards to banish it!
I enter an attack restriction for the turn as a cost."
"Oh? A new card?"
Both Dark Bug and the Cloaked Man tensed.
They hadn't heard of this monster yet—its existence wasn't even in their intel.
But instead of panic, identical grins crept across their faces.
Good. That trigger will bring out the real ace.
"The card you banished," Dark Bug said, eyes gleaming,
"was my true trump card—Disturbing the Snake's Nest!
When this Set card leaves the field by an opponent's effect—whether sent to the GY or banished—I can activate it to Special Summon one monster from my Deck or Extra Deck!"
He slammed his hand down.
I'll summon the strongest terminal of my Natural Field archetype!