Wanna Duel? I've Got the Pharaoh's Deck! [13]

It was a grand hall—vast and boundless in scale.

Looking up, the ceiling disappeared into the shadows above, and the walls stretched hundreds of meters apart.

Surrounded on all sides by solid walls, there was no visible exit. The air was still, closed off from the outside world.

Flickering torchlight danced across the space, hundreds of flames casting brightness where darkness ought to have reigned.

And in that light, what came into view were stone slabs—lining the walls from end to end.

Warriors, mages, demons, angels, dragons… countless images were carved into the slabs.

Some lines were rough, others delicately detailed. A few bore faint traces of color, but most remained silent in dull leaden gray. And yet, each seemed to emanate a silent force, as though the beings etched within might awaken at any moment.

At the front, three enormous slabs stood out among the rest—like stars around which all others revolved.

The figures carved on these were grand, sacred, awe-inspiring. Just one look stirred an instinctive reverence.

Yet even these were not the true centerpiece of the hall.

Above them—there was a light…

...

“Wake up, Yuuhi-kun. Come on, it’s morning already.”

“Ugh…”

Yuuhi opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling—or not quite.

Golden hair swayed in front of his vision. The face was backlit and hard to make out, but the voice left no room for doubt: it belonged to someone beautiful.

He stared blankly for a long moment, gaze slowly refocusing, until consciousness finally caught up with him.

“Ah… Miss Hoshino.”

The blonde girl moved slightly to the side. Now partially sitting up, Yuuhi managed to match the face before him with the memory in his mind.

And with that, the rest of yesterday’s events came back to him.

After their long talk, he’d ended up crashing in Hoshino Mai’s living room, sleeping on a futon she’d kindly provided. Honestly, just counting everything she’d done for him yesterday alone… Yuuhi had lost track of how much he owed her.

And judging from how things looked, he’d probably be relying on her a bit longer.

This growing mountain of favors… would he ever be able to repay it all?

Yuuhi felt a small twinge of unease.

But Mai didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.

After waking him, she glanced at his complexion, placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature, and smiled, satisfied. “Great. Doesn’t look like you caught a cold. Glad all that effort last night didn’t go to waste. By the way, Yuuhi-kun—judging from the way you looked just now, do you have low blood pressure or something?”

“Sort of. Just a little. I’m usually fine after a bit of rest.”

He answered her absentmindedly, still trying to recall the lingering traces of a feeling in his mind.

Before waking up, he was sure… he’d been dreaming. It felt important—something vast and powerful. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember the details.

“Here.”

A sudden warmth on his cheek snapped him back to reality.

“What is this?”

He looked down and saw that Mai had pressed a warm cup directly against his face.

“If you’ve got low blood pressure, you need to get some sugar in you. I don’t have anything fancy, so just bear with a cup of sugar water, okay?”

Grinning from her little prank, Mai handed him the cup properly this time. As he took it, she added, “Once you’re done, wash your face and come eat breakfast. After that, we’ve got places to be.”

“‘Places to be’ makes it sound like we’re heading to the afterlife…”

Despite the teasing grumble, Yuuhi got moving quickly.

He folded up the futon, changed into the now-dry school uniform from the night before, grabbed his deck and Duel Disk, and after eating a hearty breakfast, left the house with Mai.

Unlike last night, the weather had cleared. The morning sun was warm and gentle. Under Mai’s guidance, they took the train from the nearest station—just two stops and around thirty minutes later, they arrived at their destination:

Kiyosumi Academy, Senior Division.

Or simply: Kiyosumi High.

“It’s not one of those exclusive Duelist training schools, but Kiyosumi’s still pretty respectable locally,” Mai explained as they walked. “You can start from the junior division and go all the way to high school, and the graduation rate’s great. A lot of alumni go into the entertainment industry too. If you're looking to break into showbiz, this is a solid place to start.”

Perhaps because it was the weekend, the school grounds weren’t particularly crowded. Aside from a few sports clubs sweating it out on the field, the two of them didn’t run into many students at all.

As they walked deeper into campus, Mai continued her school’s grand tour with pride, but Yuuhi had noticed something else.

“Wait, you said this isn’t a Duel school? Then why didn’t you go to one? With your skill, you’d definitely qualify.”

He hadn’t missed how people in the crowd had praised Mai’s strength yesterday, nor the fact that there was a Duel Academy in the area.

Granted, he had no idea what those places actually taught, but any serious Duelist would probably jump at the chance to train there.

“I wanted to go, but the tuition’s way too high!”

“Thirty thousand! Yuuhi-kun, it’s over thirty thousand Duel Credits per year! Where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of money!? Why don’t those vampires go rob a bank instead?!”

Apparently, Yuuhi had hit a nerve.

She launched into a passionate tirade before he could even process her outburst, venting her frustration in full force.

Yuuhi was momentarily stunned—he hadn’t expected his question to spark that much fire.

But now he understood.

From what he’d seen, Mai’s lifestyle didn’t suggest she had cash to burn. Her fashion sense was youthful and trendy, sure—but every yen was clearly budgeted.

Living alone, that was to be expected.

“Anyway, that’s how it is. Honestly, Duel Academy’s not that great. It's not like you have to graduate from there to become a pro Duelist.”

She took a drink from the water bottle Yuuhi handed her, her voice calming now that she’d vented years of pent-up resentment.

“Most schools have Duel Clubs. Sure, they’re smaller and less specialized, and a lot are just hobby groups—but that doesn’t mean they don’t have strong players. Take the person we’re about to meet, for example.”

As they crossed the scenic schoolyard and athletic field, they finally reached their destination.

It was a sizable building with a sign above the door that read: Duel Club.

Inside the wide-open front doors, multiple duel arenas were arranged in neat rows. The scale reminded Yuuhi of the dueling fields from the GX anime. At the far end of the courtyard was a large, open practice hall—something that looked more like a real-world kendo dojo than anything else.

It radiated quiet, solemn dignity—an atmosphere that naturally compelled silence and respect.

And seated at the center of this stillness was a white-haired girl, eyes closed in silent meditation.

She wore the same Kiyosumi High girls’ uniform as Mai. Her long white hair was tied into a ponytail with a thin red ribbon, exposing the elegant line of her pale neck.

Her beauty easily matched Mai’s—but what truly stood out were her eyes.

As Yuuhi and Mai approached, the girl opened them.

They were red. A deep, fiery crimson, like rubies steeped in blood and flame. Within them swirled the power of a molten volcano—eyes that, when unleashed, could burn an opponent’s soul to ash.

But the moment she blinked again, the feeling vanished.

“Good morning, Yuki~! Hope we didn’t interrupt you?” Mai greeted her cheerfully.

“Not at all.”

The girl, apparently named Yuki, shook her head gently. “I’d just finished my meditation anyway. You got here right on time. So… this is the one you mentioned?”

As she spoke, her gaze shifted to Yuuhi.

“Mhm, that’s him! Yuki, let me introduce you—this is Yuuhi-kun. I just met him a couple of days ago, but he’s a rising star!”

Mai turned to Yuuhi, gesturing toward the girl before finishing her introduction:

“And Yuuhi-kun, this is the president of our Duel Club—Izayoi Yuki.”

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This is a fan translation of 打牌吗？ 我王样卡组！by 夏日戏言 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!