Yugi and Hayato, having successfully arranged their Duel, immediately found an empty table in the store and sat down, placing their decks in the designated deck zones on the table.

After all, Sugoroku's toy store now primarily dealt with duel monsters, so it was only right to provide customers who had pulled powerful monsters with a place to test their decks.

Anzu and Honda were both quite interested, gathering around the table and watching the serious Yugi and Hayato.

Jonouchi, seeing this, couldn't help but feel a little jealous and said, "Seriously, I play duel monsters with Yugi all the time, and I never see you guys this interested!"

"Yeah, you two play together all the time," Anzu said, also puzzled, "Why is it like this?"

Honda retorted, "You don't even need to think about it. Jonouchi is too weak. He's played with Yugi so many times and never won once, and every time the outcome is completely one-sided. The viewing experience is terrible!"

"Honda, you!"

Their bickering didn't affect the two people sitting opposite each other. After shuffling their decks and drawing five cards, Yugi said, "Hayato, you go first."

"Okay, I won't be polite then, Yugi boy," Hayato said, not being modest and taking the first turn.

In the rules of Game King, the player who goes first cannot attack but can set Trap Cards and summon monsters, while the player who goes second can attack but must face the first player's Trap Cards. Overall, the first player has an advantage.

However, in the real card rules Hayato played in his previous life, the first player couldn't draw a card in the Draw Phase, while the second player could draw one card, which was considered compensation.

But in the world of Game King, the other rules are the same, the only difference being that the first player can also draw one card.

This clearly puts the first player in an advantageous position.

Considering that he wasn't in a chef's world where "serving first always loses," Hayato naturally wouldn't pass up this handed-to-him advantage.

And so, Hayato Kobayashi's first Duel after coming to the world of Game King began.

"My turn, draw!"

【Yugi: 2000LP, Hand 5】

【Hayato: 2000LP, Hand 5 → 6】

Drawing a card with great momentum, Hayato then began to examine the six cards in his hand.

Five low-level monsters with 1000 ATK/DEF or less, and a Magical Cylinder he had just drawn whose meaning was completely unclear. Hmm, perfect hand.jpg

Drawing a card from his hand with great momentum, Hayato excitedly slammed the card onto the Monster Zone on the table: "The monster I'm summoning is this one, here we go, my glory, my tamashi!"

Yugi, sitting opposite Hayato, was startled by Hayato's sudden excited shout, his heart sinking: No way, did Hayato draw some powerful monster on his first turn? Oh no, I haven't drawn any powerful monsters yet.

But he looked down and froze—

"Death Stalker," a Dark Attribute, 3-star Warrior, with 900 ATK, but in Defense Position with 800 DEF.

"Then I'll set one card in the back row, and my turn ends." Hayato, realizing he had been overly excited, quickly set the Magical Cylinder he had drawn in the back row and ended his turn.

【Hayato: Hand 6 → 4】

Oh no, I got a little too excited because I'm Dueling with my idol, Yugi Mutou.

After all, he's the first and strongest Duel King, anyone would be excited, right?

However, Jonouchi and the others watching quickly helped Hayato out of his awkwardness.

"Huh? Death Stalker's ATK is higher than its DEF, so why is it in Defense Position?" Jonouchi asked, puzzled.

"Are you expecting someone who just started playing duel monsters to give you an answer?" Honda pushed Jonouchi's arm off his shoulder, making him stand properly. "Just watch, it's Yugi's turn."

"My turn, draw."

【Yugi: Hand 5 → 6】

Compared to the high-spirited Hayato, Yugi's card drawing action was much calmer.

Drawing a card from the top of his deck into his hand, Yugi looked at the Trap Card in Hayato's back row and hesitated slightly.

"Then, the monster I'm summoning is this one," Yugi drew a card from his hand and placed the monster on the field, "'Dark Dragon King.'"

Hayato vaguely heard a dragon's roar as he watched Yugi summon the 'Dark Dragon King' with 1500 ATK / 800 DEF to the field.

'As expected, it's this card. The first Dark Attribute Dragon-Type monster to appear in all of Game King, though Red-Eyes certainly has more screentime.' Hayato wasn't surprised that Yugi's monster's stats were much better than his own deck of weaklings, after all, Sugoroku was a card shop owner, so Yugi naturally had first dibs on any powerful rare monsters.

'However, this is all part of my plan.'

"Why is it this card again?" Jonouchi wailed, watching. "How can Yugi always use such a powerful card so calmly? If it were me, I'd be as excited as Hayato."

"That's why you always lose to Yugi," Honda jabbed at Jonouchi.

In the many Duels Jonouchi had lost to Yugi, at least half of them, Jonouchi was defeated by this 'Dark Dragon King' summoned by Yugi.

"So, are you going to attack, Yugi boy? I have a Trap Card in my back row, you know?" Hayato egged him on, though it gave off a feeling of bluffing.

Yugi was not disturbed by Hayato's words, but nodded: "Hmm, it's not my style to hesitate out of fear of traps."

"Then, I'll attack 'Death Stalker' with 'Dark Dragon King.'"

1500 ATK versus 800 DEF, it was clear that Hayato's monster would be defeated.

However, because "Death Stalker" was in Defense Position, Hayato's Life Points suffered no damage.

"I see, that's why Hayato used the relatively weaker Defense Position." Anzu, watching the field, mused, "So, in different situations, you need to use different monster states to adapt to the battle?"

After declaring the attack, Yugi smiled and pointed at the "Death Stalker" on the field, saying to Hayato, "Hayato, 'Death Stalker' has been destroyed and will be sent to the Grave."

"So, what's next?"

"nani!??"

Shamelessly plagiarizing Yugi Mutou's classic line in front of its original owner, Hayato flipped over the Trap Card in his back row and explained, "The card I set is this one,"

"Time Machine."

"A Trap Card that can restore a monster's state to before the battle when your or your opponent's monster is destroyed?" Yugi understood most card Effects, so even before Hayato explained, he already understood Hayato's intention.

The moment "Death Stalker" was destroyed by "Dark Dragon King," Hayato activated "Time Machine," sending Death Stalker into a time warp and dodging "Dark Dragon King's" fatal attack.

Yugi's face broke into a bright smile: "You're strong, Hayato. This will definitely be an interesting Duel. My turn ends."

【Yugi: Hand 6 → 5】

Upon hearing this, Hayato's expression suddenly turned a bit sour, and he stared intently at Yugi's back row until Yugi said "turn ends," fearing he would set the classic "T"-shaped five Trap Cards.

I can understand your sarcastic tone, but if you pull out a Magic Cylinder on me, I'll directly summon my fist in Attack Position, Hayato thought.