Wanna Duel? I've Got the Pharaoh's Deck! [8]

“Here you go, Yuuhi-kun—this is the Atum X3000 Duel Disk. Everything inside is brand-new, complete with a full instruction manual. It comes with a three-year warranty and a one-year full replacement policy. As long as there’s no deliberate, human-caused damage, you can take it to any KaibaCorp branch for repairs if anything goes wrong.”

“Ah… thank you.”

Beneath the towering Goddess of Whim statue, on the platform where their duel had just concluded, Hoshino Mai held out a neatly packaged, square-shaped box and offered it to the black-haired boy who had just defeated her.

Yuuhi accepted it politely, his gaze dropping to the front of the box.

Illustrated on the cover was the very same Duel Disk he had just used in his match. But unlike the one used for demonstrations and challenges, this was a sealed, pristine unit—brand new.

“No need to be shy. It’s your prize—you earned it,” Mai said, smiling with sunshine-bright ease. There wasn’t a trace of resentment or frustration in her tone, only genuine admiration. “You were amazing, Yuuhi-kun. Honestly, I’d say you were the most impressive challenger of the day.”

“N-no, I only won because you went easy on me, Miss Mai. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have made it.”

Yuuhi couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

He was well aware that he’d caught some lucky breaks during the duel.

If it hadn’t been for the event’s show-match restrictions—and if Mai had gone full force from the beginning—he might never have lasted long enough for [Gold Sarcophagus] to resolve. His win had been anything but certain.

“Well, having an opportunity is one thing, but grasping it takes real skill.”

But Mai gave a slight shake of her head at his humility.

“I don’t recall leaving you any obvious opening to exploit, yet you still pulled off a brilliant comeback. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“You really think so?”

“I do,” she affirmed warmly.

Then, as if something occurred to her, she chuckled. “Still… I definitely didn’t expect to get overturned like that.”

“Yeah, uh… that really was just dumb luck. I didn’t expect it to go that smoothly either.”

“Maybe that just shows how strong your bond with your deck is. It’s got a lot of personality.”

More than just “personality,” really.

Mai had dueled many different opponents—each with their own quirks and strategies—but Yuuhi’s deck stood out as one of the strangest she’d ever seen.

[Poker Knights], [Dark Magician], [Gaia the Dragon Champion]… In just a few turns, Yuuhi had revealed multiple monsters from entirely different systems, with no apparent synergy between them.

And yet, despite all the “bricks” and legacy cards, he’d somehow gotten the deck to run smoothly, drawing out its full potential.

And from what she could tell, Yuuhi wasn’t anything other than a normal guy—which just made the feat all the more inexplicable.

Honestly, this unexpected encounter had turned out to be far more intriguing than she'd expected.

If possible, Mai would’ve liked to chat with him a bit longer.

But time and circumstance weren’t on their side anymore.

“Well then, I hope we meet again someday, Yuuhi-kun. I’d love to have a rematch like that.”

“Yeah. See you around, Miss Mai.”

Yuuhi clearly understood too.

The envy, awe, and thinly veiled impatience in the crowd's stares were all starting to press in on them.

So, the two shook hands and said their goodbyes.

Yuuhi stepped down the side of the platform, giving up the stage to the next challenger in line.

From the edge of the plaza, he lingered for a few moments to watch Mai’s next performance—then lowered his gaze.

“Okay… First things first. Time to check my spoils.”

…

Away from the crowd’s buzz and all the prying eyes, Yuuhi found an empty bench and sat down.

He wasted no time opening the box.

Inside were the Duel Disk itself, a data cable, and a charger.

No surprises there—the cable and charger were self-explanatory. The Duel Disk, thankfully, had already been fully charged. After powering it on, Yuuhi followed the manual’s instructions to register his fingerprints, voiceprint, and other biometric data into the system, binding the device solely to him.

From now on, unless it was hacked, no one else would be able to use this Duel Disk without his explicit permission.

This was by far the most valuable thing Yuuhi had gained since arriving in this world. But it wasn’t his only reward.

After folding the Duel Disk into its compact standby mode—roughly palm-sized—he tucked it away and pulled a small, brown card case from his jacket pocket.

Inside, of course, was the deck he had just fought alongside—the one that had helped him claim victory over the idol-like duelist.

Calling it a “deck” was generous—it was more like a fan-curated pile.

But now, that very deck had… changed again.

“[Arcana Knight Joker], [Royal Straight], [Lightforce Sword]…”

He pulled the full 60-card Main Deck and Extra Deck from the case and began sorting through them.

Even after removing them, a few cards remained inside.

As his eyes moved across each one, Yuuhi quickly noticed something:

These weren’t cards that had originally been in his box. They were new additions—cards that had appeared out of thin air.

And he could tell because this deck was a meticulously assembled, anime-faithful tribute to the Pharaoh and Mutou Yugi. Except for [Lightforce Sword], none of the other new cards had ever appeared in the anime.

To put it bluntly, these were the kind of cards Konami would later release as nostalgia-driven “support” for DM characters—cards designed more to evoke emotion (and cash) than actual continuity.

Beyond that, Yuuhi had also felt something odd during the duel’s conclusion—a kind of warmth, a faint shift from the card case itself. He figured these new cards must’ve appeared at that exact moment.

“Hm… if this were a webnovel, this would be where my real cheat gets revealed, huh?”

Yuuhi eyed the new cards with a muttered laugh.

From a logic standpoint, it was a pretty standard trope: win a duel, get new cards. Easy enough to follow.

Sure, the strength and theme of the cards felt a little inconsistent… but hey, new support was always a good thing.

And more importantly—while it hadn’t happened yet—he couldn’t help but entertain the possibility:

If the cards he already owned had shifted into their anime versions, maybe he could use this ability to obtain anime-only cards as well.

Things like the anime versions of [Mirror of Yata], [Card of Sanctity], or even the still-unprinted [Underworld Circle]…

If that was the case, then one of his future goals was clear: keep dueling as much as possible, collect those cards, and use them to elevate both his deck and his strength.

“…Well, I’ll think more about this ‘cheat’ thing later. For now, I’ve got bigger problems.”

With his current loot stowed away, Yuuhi let out a small sigh, a hint of unease settling over his face.

The high of transmigrating and winning his first duel had mostly worn off by now.

Which left him with a much more immediate, more sobering reality.

Namely—

Food and shelter.

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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!