Wanna Duel? I've Got the Pharaoh's Deck! [3]

“Duel—!”

Just as Hoshino Mai had said.

After a few simple opening lines, there was no more small talk—the main event of the exhibition began swiftly and cleanly.

With overlapping declarations, both duel disks activated in unison.

Between Yuuhi and Mai, a 5×4 grid-style holographic field appeared, with two extra zones in the center—light-formed and flickering, the layout faded a few seconds later once the systems locked in.

A floating scoreboard appeared beside them both.

[Yuuhi LP: 4000]
[Mai LP: 4000]

“To keep things moving, we’ll be starting with halved Life Points. We’ll be using the standard New Master Rule II. And you’ll take the first turn, Yuuhi-kun. Sound good?”

Noticing how awkwardly Yuuhi had handled equipping the duel disk earlier, not to mention the basic rulings he'd asked about, Mai repeated the rules gently, a hint of doubt surfacing in her mind again.

From what she'd seen so far, Yuuhi was probably just a fresh-faced rookie—one of those fearless types who challenge pros just because they don’t know any better.

But her concern turned out to be completely unnecessary.

Yuuhi had zero experience with full-holo dueling, sure. But when it came to dueling itself? He wasn’t lacking at all.

In fact, his experience was extensive.

“All right. My turn!”

He answered clearly, fingers brushing the matte brown backs of his cards as he drew his opening hand, five cards sliding into his grip one by one.

Yuuhi scanned his hand. Familiar faces stared back at him—comforting, steady—but… there were a few differences too.

First, the quality. These cards were incredible—far better than even official Konami products. They felt durable even without sleeves, like they could survive being thrown like Kaiba Seto’s infamous “card dart” trick.

Second, the text. The "Yu-Gi-Oh!" logo and Konami’s trademark were gone. The card effects and terms had been rewritten in this world’s language and format.

This was the fan-made deck Yuuhi had carried with him for years—a tribute to Mutou Yugi, the Pharaoh. It had been his very first official deck, a birthday gift from his older brother before he vanished.

Back when his brother was still around, they’d often duel—Kaiba’s cards against Yugi’s.

Thanks to those countless games, Yuuhi didn’t claim to match the King’s skill, but he’d learned this deck inside and out.

Still, back in his original world, it had long been relegated to casual play. Soulful, but outdated. Between strict banlists and modern power creep, the deck was never viable in a serious duel.

But from Mai, he’d learned that this world’s banlist was far more lenient. There were no banned cards in the strict sense—only limited ones.

And… probably because it had transmigrated with him, the deck itself had changed. In ways that went beyond cosmetic.

That, plus the fact that he’d watched several of Mai’s earlier duels to get a feel for her playstyle, was the real reason Yuuhi had dared to step up.

All right… let’s do this.

Huh? His eyes changed.

A flicker of thought surfaced and faded in Mai’s mind.

Yuuhi inhaled gently, then exhaled. In that moment, something about him shifted. His gaze turned calm—focused. It was like he’d blocked out the crowd entirely and sunk fully into the duel.

“I set 1 monster, then set 2 cards. Next, I activate the Spell Card—[Gold Sarcophagus].”

A glowing card floated up beside him—the legendary golden chest from the artwork slowly faded into view on the field.

“In two turns, the card I choose will be added to my hand. I’ll banish one card from my deck.”

The format Mai had mentioned—New Master Rule II—wasn’t far from the New Master Rule 2020 Yuuhi remembered.

It featured all the key summoning types—Fusion, Synchro, XYZ, Link—and used the Extra Monster Zone. It had timing and chain rulings. That meant Yuuhi could adapt smoothly, without any trouble.

Also, under these rules, the player going first didn’t get to draw. So Yuuhi hadn’t drawn at the start of his turn.

Instead, he selected four cards from his hand and slotted them smoothly into the appropriate zones.

As his commands were registered, the duel disk projected three face-down cards on the field—and one face-up green Spell Card: [Gold Sarcophagus], centered on a majestic golden chest.

An Eye of Horus was carved into the lid. As Yuuhi made his declaration, the lid slowly creaked open, sealing away the chosen card.

“—I banish this card: [Monster Reincarnation]. Then I end my turn.”

“[Monster Reincarnation]?”

Hearing the name, Mai’s expression shifted slightly in surprise.

“I remember that card… It’s not exactly powerful, is it? Yuuhi-kun, you’re really using your only search from [Gold Sarcophagus] on that?”

“Yeah. I believe it’ll come in handy when it counts. Besides, it might not be the version you’re imagining.”

“Oh? Then it must be one of those cards you mentioned.”

“More or less.”

Yuuhi’s honesty clicked something into place for Mai.

Before the duel, he’d asked what would happen if a card’s effect differed from what was officially known. She’d told him that as long as the duel disk could validate the card, it would still function normally.

After all, in this world, not every Duel Monster card was listed in the official database. New ones occasionally just… appeared. So having a few cards whose text differed from the record wasn’t that strange.

Still, this was the first time she’d encountered a situation like Yuuhi’s.

“How interesting, Yuuhi-kun. Then I’ll be looking forward to that surprise. My turn—draw.”

Mai drew, bringing her hand to six cards, and quickly played one.

Her movements were graceful—smooth and precise, almost hypnotic in their rhythm.

“Let’s start with a proper greeting—Normal Summon: [Harpie Queen].”

[Harpie Queen]
Level 4 / WIND / Winged Beast
ATK: 1900 / DEF: 1200

As the card hit the field, a poised, seductive woman appeared, her presence radiating allure.

She closely resembled the earlier [Harpie Lady], but her outfit was even more revealing—bordering on a bikini—and her charm was undeniable. Her pure white wings fanned out elegantly at her sides, exuding both beauty and nobility.

“While Harpie Queen is on the field or in the Graveyard, her name is treated as Harpie Lady. So I’ll activate the Continuous Spell—[Hysteric Sign]. When it’s activated, I can add [Elegant Egotist] from my deck to my hand, then activate it!”

[Elegant Egotist]
Normal Spell
If “Harpie Lady” is on the field: Special Summon 1 “Harpie Lady” or “Harpie Lady Sisters” from your hand or Deck.

As [Harpie Queen] arrived on the field, two Spell Cards appeared beside her.

The light refracted from the cards cast even more images—more “Harpie” shadows fluttered across the field.

“Come forth in style—my beautiful Harpies!”

Mai’s voice rose with excitement. As her hand stretched high, three silhouettes burst from the glow—three more [Harpie Ladies], each with their own distinct hairstyle and aura.

For a moment, it looked like there were four Harpies on her field.

But the last three stood together in a tight formation—an unmistakable unity.

[Harpie Lady Sisters]
Level 5 / WIND / Winged Beast
ATK: 1950 / DEF: 2100

Wait—she didn’t summon just another [Harpie Lady]? That’s [Harpie Lady Sisters]?

Watching Mai’s board, Yuuhi couldn’t help showing a flicker of confusion.

From what he remembered of OCG meta, Harpie decks typically used [Elegant Egotist] to bring out another Level 4 Harpie. Not the Sisters.

After all, [Harpie Lady Sisters] were Level 5—they couldn’t combo smoothly with [Harpie Queen]’s Level 4.

Unless—wait.

Suddenly, a card flashed in Yuuhi’s mind. The one card that could properly bridge to [Harpie Lady Sisters] in this exact situation.

And sure enough, the next card Mai revealed matched his expectation perfectly.

“Let’s follow it up with this—Spell Card, activate—!”

“[Triangle Ecstasy Spark]!”

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T/N: TELL ME AND I MEAN PLEASE TELL ME IF I GET ANY CARDS WRONG

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!