The Duel City Tournament is in full swing. President Haima's declaration has just ended, and duelists are already engaging in battles all over the city.
Scenes like the following are happening all across town.
"My turn, draw! I summon 'Blue-Winged Crown'!"
[Blue-Winged Crown, Attack Power 1600]
"Hahaha, how do you like that? Your monster can't defeat my Blue-Winged Crown's attack power!"
"Ha, don't get cocky! I summon 'High Tide Gyojin'!"
[High Tide Gyojin, Attack Power 1650]
"What!? A monster with 1650 attack power!?"
"Didn't expect that, did you? This is the power of a Rare Card! Go, High Tide Gyojin, destroy the Blue-Winged Crown! I win, hahaha!!!"
"..."
And, scenes like this.
"I normally summon from my hand... 'Leo Wizard'!!!"
[Leo Wizard, Attack Power 1350]
To everyone's surprise, as soon as this street-side duelist summoned this monster, a group of clueless insane players suddenly appeared nearby.
"Wow, the legendary Divine Card!"
"Seeing it for the first time in my life!"
"I'll trade these cards with you, please swap this card with me!" Some insane players even begin to mimic President Haima's iconic scenes.
The NPC passerby summoning the 'Leo Wizard' was so shocked by the sudden swarm of insane players that he glanced at his monster on the field and then at the ridiculously insane group in front of him, utterly bewildered.
What the heck? Is my monster actually a Rare Card? How come I never heard about this?
Of course, the NPC won't comprehend, because this is an ancient legend only circulated among players of the physical Yu-Gi-Oh card game.
Rumor has it that long ago, the tribute summoning system in the physical Yu-Gi-Oh card game differed somewhat from the present. Back then, monsters above level 4 required tribute for summoning, and monsters with attack power above 1400 also needed tribute summoning.
Thus, one can imagine how terrifying a Divine Card like Leo Wizard, with an attack power of 1350 that can be summoned directly, must be...
The attack power is incredibly high at 1350! Even exceeding 1300 points by a terrifying 50 points, what a powerful field presence!
Back then, Leo Wizard was still a four-star monster that could be summoned directly, but it was later adjusted to five stars.
Though the "attack power above 1400 requires tribute" rule quickly vanished, the great Leo Wizard lives forever as a meme in the hearts of millions of Yu-Gi-Oh players.
What? You say spending big bucks buying this thing is useless?
Ha, do insane players lack useless money-squandering purchases?
...
While most duelists are feverishly engaged in dueling, some chose to stay inactive, sitting in a corner, both loafing and observing the situation.
It's the hunter responsible for gathering intelligence and rare cards while stationed in the Domino District for the Ghouls Group, the henchman who stole the Red-Eyes Black Dragon from Jonouchi Katsuya but never got a name throughout the anime.
Yes, Marik, considering he might still be of use, ultimately spared his life.
Currently, this rare card hunter is among a crowd of ordinary people, seated at an outdoor café table, casting a sneaky glance at every duelist passing by in the street, looking to find his next prey.
He chuckles slyly, licking his lips with his tongue.
...Right, who should be the next lucky duelist to go for?
"Hmm?"
The rare card hunter noticed something, briefly pausing.
He saw someone wearing a Duel Disc on their hand—it seemed they should be a duelist, though he wasn't too certain—was hopping around the corner from afar, seemingly as if the ground beneath him was burning hot.
What kind of new performance art is this?
The rare card hunter looks bewilderingly at the guy... seems like they are hopping in his direction?
Then the person actually leaps straight over and stops right in front of the rare card hunter.
"Ha! Finally found you!" The guy opens his Duel Disc and calls out loudly, "According to the rules of Duel City, I challenge you!"
The rare card hunter wrinkles his brow: "Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Xue Lang... but that's not important!"
"Never heard of it."
The rare card hunter thinks carefully, realizing he still doesn't have any impression and seems never to have heard this name in any national dueling events.
In that case, he must be a noob, right?
Then there's nothing to be afraid of.
The rare card hunter calmly sips his coffee, pulls back his chair to stand up, acting like he's getting ready to exercise.
He coldly chuckles: "Since you're so eager to die, I'll gladly take your rare card."
Xue Lang brightens up when he sees him agree to duel.
Got it!
The reason Xue Lang found himself here was because he received a task from Youyu at the store yesterday before the competition began.
"Find and defeat the Rare Card Hunters!
Task description: The Rare Card Hunters from the Ghouls Group are planning to make a big move at the Duel City Tournament. Stop their ambition!"
Recently, Youyu even thoughtfully added a "limited-time event" section in the "private store," where players could exchange a few Crystal Stones for specific strategy cards.
As Youyu's number one toady... Ah, no, I mean, as the president of his fan club, Xue Lang got the privilege of receiving strategy cards directly for free!
This is a killer move!
"Duel!" x2
[Xue Lang, LP 4000]
[Rare Card Hunter, LP 4000]
"I'll go first, draw a card!"
After drawing a card, Xue Lang took a glance and didn't get what he wanted. But that's okay!
"I summon 'Marauding Captain' in attack position! Then I activate the special effect of 'Marauding Captain' to special summon another 'Marauding Captain' from my hand! End turn!"
[Marauding Captain, ATK 1200] x2
"Oh?" The Rare Card Hunter sneered, "Using the effect that forces two monsters as attack targets to block attacks? Indeed an advanced tactic. But... hehe."
He didn't finish the latter part, but he was thinking—before my Dark Great Mage Exodia, all of this is in vain!
"My turn!"
After drawing a card, the Rare Card Hunter didn't say much and directly played a Forbidden Card.
"Pot of Greed! Draw two cards from the deck!"
Then he glanced at his hand and without thinking, inserted the next card into the Duel Disc, for a set of Forbidden Card combos.
"Graceful Charity! Draw three cards from the deck, then discard two cards from your hand to the graveyard."
Xue Lang: "..."
Kuso! Even though I was mentally prepared, wasn't this NPC too darned unfair?
Referee, aren't you going to do something? Look how many cards he just drew at once?
Yet it wasn't over; after the Forbidden Cards, came the Limit Cards for more combos.
"...Magic Card 'Card Destruction'! Both players discard their entire hand, then draw the same number of cards from their decks!"
"..."
Xue Lang felt like there was a crow cawing above his head, flapping its wings and lazily flying past...
He couldn't take it anymore: "...What the hell, you're cheating!"
Rare Card Hunter: "?"
What's this person's deal?
I only drew about... hmm... ten or so cards?
How's that cheating?
What a weirdo.
He looked down at his hand... assured! He already had three different Exodia parts on hand, victory was in sight!
"I summon in defense position... Giant Soldier of Stone."
[Giant Soldier of Stone, DEF 2000]
"And set one card face-down, ending my turn." The Rare Card Hunter began to chuckle maniacally, "Hehe, you've already fallen into my death trap, kid. You'll never guess what you're up against..."
"Exodia." Xue Lang said calmly, expressionless.
Rare Card Hunter: "..."
"!?"
Nani!? How did this kid know I was going to use Exodia!?
The Rare Card Hunter was shocked.
Could he know me?
No, wait, calm down, there's nothing to panic about.
Even if he knows I'm using Exodia, it's already too late. I have three parts in hand, even if he guesses, he can't stop my strategy!
"My turn, draw!"
After drawing a card, Xue Lang chuckled.
Thanks to that "Card Destruction" earlier, he also drew the card he needed.
Exodia, right? Let me give you a counter card right now!
"Activate Continuous Magic - Power of Four!" Xue Lang inserted the Magic Card into the Duel Disc, "When this card is activated, if either player has more than 4 cards in hand, that player must send cards to the graveyard until only 4 cards remain!"
Rare Card Hunter: "......"
"!!??"
I've been totally screwed over! Who the heck would carry such a meaningless thing in their deck??