"Activate Chain Banishment!" Xue Lang's face was full of excitement, as if his cunning plan had succeeded. "Alright, banish all the 'Left Arm of the Forbidden One' from your field, deck, and hand out of the game!"
The Rare Card Hunter felt like his head might be a bit swollen with blood, and he was feeling a bit dizzy.
His mind went "buzz" for a moment, his vision went black, and Xue Lang's last words kept echoing in his ears.
Banish all from the game...
Out of the game...
Banish...
...Out...
The Rare Card Hunter was at a loss for tears.
In this era of DM, even cards sent to the graveyard were basically unrelated to this duel, and there were very few ways to effectively utilize graveyard resources. Banishment was even less of a concern.
Cards that were banished from the game were pretty much gone for good in this match.
Oh, this Rare Card Hunter might also be exiting the duel just like that...
Clearly, his entire deck was built around the Dark Great Mage "Exodia," completely filled with card-drawing filters, low-star high-defense wall monsters, and Magic Trap Cards to stall turns.
Apart from that, there were only fifteen Exodia components, three of each type.
So his only way to win was to gather all the Exodia components, and that's it. Trying to reduce the opponent's LP to zero by conventional means was nearly impossible.
What? You say stuffing fifteen Exodia components into the deck won't jam your hand?
The answer is... of course it will!
In the animation, this guy got himself killed in a duel against the Pharaoh with a hand full of Exodia components...
The next part was without suspense, the Rare Card Hunter didn't even put up a struggle and was easily taken down on the spot by Xue Lang.
The funniest part was that this guy confidently started the Darkness Game, only to end up suffering from his own actions. Xue Lang's two monsters attacked directly one after another, cornering the hunter. Under the real damage of the Darkness Game, the hunter screamed in agony.
Yes, he too was a Dark Duelist, but a relatively weak one who couldn't threaten the life of his opponent.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to easily snatch Jonouchi's "Red-Eyes Black Dragon." Remember, Jonouchi and his buddy Honda took on a whole team of professional bodyguards from Kaiba Company back in the day; their combat skills were top-notch in Yu-Gi-Oh! DM.
If the Rare Card Hunter didn't have the power of the Darkness Game, how could Jonouchi be utterly defenseless?
As for his later battle against Yugi...
Hmm...
...Probably he was just too weak as a Dark Duelist, pretty much no different from ordinary people in front of Yugi...
[Rare Card Hunter, LP 2800 → LP 0]
At last, it was over.
When the illusion of the two monsters dissipated, and the Rare Card Hunter slumped weakly to the ground, this was the first thought that popped into his head.
He lay on the ground, panting heavily, drenched in sweat, with an entirely spent look on his face...
Xue Lang rushed up excitedly, ready to pull the opponent's deck from the Duel Disc, intending to follow Youyu's example and pocket the whole deck, when a warning message suddenly popped up in front of him.
"Warning! According to Duel City rules, the winner may only take one Rare Card from the loser. Violating the rules will result in penalties from the tournament organizer and disqualification from the competition!"
Xue Lang: "..."
Damn! Kaiba Company even manages this?
"Tsk, can't take it all, such a bore..."
Xue Lang muttered, a bit upset, as he spread out the deck in his hand, beginning to pick through it card by card.
The Rare Card Hunter lying on the ground couldn't help but spit blood again at his mumbling.
You seriously want to take it all? That's too much...
If he could only pick one card, taking an Exodia piece was meaningless... Anyway, Xue Lang remembered that the Dark Great Mage in his hand was a fake card, so even if he took it, it couldn't be used.
Then Xue Lang saw that "Red-Eyes Black Dragon." For a moment, he thought about taking that card, but then he remembered that the Red-Eyes belonged to Jonouchi. In the animation, it was because this hunter snatched Jonouchi's Red-Eyes that Yugi later made them unable to live independently...
...So if I took this Red-Eyes, wouldn't Yugi come after me?
Xue Lang shook his head, decided to back down a bit this time, and not get involved in that trouble.
Just kidding, King of Games, or the Pharaoh! Who the heck dares to mess with that almighty being right now?
He thought for a moment and finally took a "Pot of Greed" card.
However, this card wasn't really considered a system task reward but rather a victory prize set by the Duel City tournament. So rare cards obtained by players through this channel were essentially the same as those purchased from card shops, considered task items and couldn't be used directly.
With these cards, you could either store them in the warehouse, waiting for some future task where they might be useful, or toss them into the system card pool to be dismantled for some Crystal Stones or other items.
Or rather...
...take them back to see if Youyu is interested in collecting them.
Because Youyu specifically instructed players that if they encounter any interesting cards, they could bring them back for him to see, and if he's interested, he'd buy them for a "high price."
Of course, when he said "high price," it was relative to the value of dismantling with the system...
But players felt it was quite worthwhile since selling cards they couldn't use to Youyu was much better than dismantling them with the crappy system.
This NPC was handsome, strong, and super nice!
Xue Lang took the card, pocketed the Puzzle Card, and happily skipped away.
The Rare Card Hunter rested for a moment, enduring humiliation with clenched teeth as he struggled to get back up.
Now he was in complete ruin. Not only did he lose to a bizarre stranger, but he also lost his Puzzle Card. Without it, he couldn't even continue in the Duel City tournament, and going back, Lord Marik would kill him...
In his despair, another person appeared from behind: "Found you!"
The Rare Card Hunter shivered and turned around, only to find that another Duelist had appeared behind him.
The Rare Card Hunter, full of question marks: "And who are you?"
"Me? My name is 'I'll Hang Your Mom on a Tree'... but that's not important."
The Rare Card Hunter: "???????"
Seriously, that's not important?
Are you here to mess with me?
The stranger raised his Duel Disc: "Want to duel? According to Duel City rules."
The Rare Card Hunter was annoyed by the other's taunts, but upon reconsideration, his anger quickly vanished, replaced by that familiar sly smile.
Ha! What luck, just when I was troubled over losing the Puzzle Card, someone comes knocking.
Sly as he was, the hunter wasn't about to inform the newcomer that his Puzzle Card had already been lost to someone else—otherwise, they might not duel him.
If he won this one, he could still turn the tables!
Thus, without hesitation, the hunter accepted the challenge.
"Duel!" x2
"I'll go first, draw!" The player named "I'll Hang Your Mom on a Tree" took the first turn, then laughed heartily and immediately played a Magic Card.
"Activate from my hand, Continuous Magic 'Four of Forces'! When this card is activated, if either player has more than 4 cards in hand, they must send cards to the graveyard until they have 4 cards left!"
The Rare Card Hunter spat another mouthful of blood.
You all must be here just to mess with me, aren't you?