Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!-Chapter 36: Let Me Adjust My Deck

Seeing someone step up to challenge, the AI Kaiba immediately waved his hand with another round of his signature three-part laugh, then clenched his fist dramatically:

"As long as we duel, the winds of battle will never cease! Come on—"

"Hold on."

Kira showed no mercy, holding up his hand in a stop gesture.

"Mind if I tweak my deck a bit first?"

AI: "..."

Naturally, the AI had no objections. So Kira pulled out his deck and began making adjustments.

Remembering to bring a side deck in addition to your main deck was a basic skill for any card game veteran in his past life. In regulated tournaments, your side deck was limited to 15 cards, tailored to adapt to your opponent's deck and tactics.

But in this world, there was no such restriction, so Kira was unreserved. He carried at least 70 or 80 side deck cards with him, enough to handle any situation.

Since this was Kaiba's AI, it was centered around the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, with a few different engines mixed in, but mostly Dragon-type or LIGHT attribute monsters.

In the movie, Kaiba was called the King of Light by Anubis, resurrected from ancient Egypt, while the Yami Yugi was the King of Darkness. Their decks were deliberately designed as light vs. dark opposites.

Although Kaiba's lower-level monsters had mixed attributes, his main finishers—like the Blue-Eyes system or the VWXYZ fusion mechs—were all LIGHT attributes.

And based on the movie "The Dark Side of Dimensions," it's likely that Kaiba's real deck by now would at least include Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, and the true Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon—all powerful forms that have already made appearances. The question is how updated this AI version was.

If that's the premise, then compared to Kaiba's DM-era deck, this one should have an even higher Blue-Eyes ratio.

Kira quickly finished his adjustments based on what he knew, slotted his deck into his duel disk, and walked up to the AI.

"All done. Let's go."

[Kira, LP 4000]

[AI Kaiba, LP 4000]

AI Kaiba hyped himself up again: "As long as we duel, the winds of battle will—"

"My turn. Draw."

Kira cut him off again, blocking his catchphrase for a second time.

AI Kaiba: "..."

"I set a monster face-down," Kira played two cards from his hand, "and set two cards in my back row. Turn end."

"Then, it's my turn!"

AI Kaiba drew his card with such force his white coat flared behind him. It was over-the-top, but he did imitate the real Kaiba's mannerisms well.

He even had the original voice lines and signature dramatic poses.

AI Kaiba declared, "I summon the Lord of Dragon—'Lord of D.'!"

[Lord of D., ATK 1200]

"Then I activate the Spell Card 'The Flute of Summoning Dragon' from my hand!" AI Kaiba said, "This can only be played when 'Lord of D.' is on the field. It lets me Special Summon up to two Dragon-type monsters from my hand."

A bone flute appeared in Lord of D.'s hands, who blew a summoning melody.

"First, I summon—

—Level 6, Krystal Dragon!!"

A mysterious dragon sculpted from pure crystal appeared, sparkling with a faint blue light, like starlight from the night sky, radiating both beauty and overwhelming dragon might.

[Krystal Dragon, ATK 2500]

"And next, this card!"

AI Kaiba raised his second dragon card with even more flair.

"If darkness is endless, then let it be cleansed by the dragon of light! Descend, my soul—

—Level 8, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!"

A raging wind and thunderous lightning filled the arena. The majestic figure of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon emerged from blinding white light, its massive wings unfolding as a roar shook the entire building.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon, summoned!

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon, ATK 3000]

The crowd was instantly in awe.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon! The legendary monster!"

"Even if it's just virtual data, this trip was worth it!"

Takeuchi couldn't help but say: "As expected of a top-tier dueling AI developed by the Kaiba Corporation. Perfectly recreates Seto Kaiba's tactics. Summoning such powerful dragons in the very first turn..."

"Indeed." Saito nodded. "At this moment, it feels like the real Kaiba Seto is dueling."

Even the students who already admired Kira looked worried.

This was the legendary Seto Kaiba—how could anyone possibly win?

"Hmph, just a third-rate duelist with a fourth-rate deck. Now you'll see the difference between absolute power and yourself!"

AI Kaiba raised his arm and shouted.

"Battle Phase! Krystal Dragon attacks the face-down monster—"

"Not so fast." Kira waved, "At the moment we enter the Battle Phase, I activate my set card:

Continuous Trap—'Dragon Capture Jar!'"

A rock jar shaped like a dragon's head appeared on Kira's field, spewing out an invisible force. Even mighty dragons like Krystal Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon were bound by its magic.

[Krystal Dragon, ATK 2500→DEF 1000]

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon, ATK 3000→DEF 2500]

"While Dragon Capture Jar is on the field, all Dragon-type monsters are switched to Defense Position and cannot switch back to Attack Position."

Everyone: "!"

A devastating anti-Dragon tool, almost screaming countermeasure in its effect. With just one card, all Dragon-type attacks were permanently sealed.

Of course, this wasn't Kira's original move. Dragon Capture Jar might be the oldest anti-Dragon card in Yu-Gi-Oh! history—Pegasus used it against Kaiba way back in the Duelist Kingdom, and it infuriated Kaiba back then.

But Kira stayed calm. Just an attack lock; he didn't even think it was that oppressive.

Honestly, if he could, he'd rather use Buster Blader—the real top dragon-killer of this era. Summon "Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman" via Fusion, gain 1000 ATK for every Dragon in the opponent's field or graveyard, and as long as Buster Blader's on the field, all opposing Dragons must switch to Defense and can't activate effects.

For any pure Dragon deck without cheating, facing that is a death sentence.

Unfortunately, Buster Blader is probably also a rare card in this world, hard to come by.

But that's fine. Even without the strongest weapon, there are plenty of other counters. Compared to those, Dragon Capture Jar is just a simple attack lock—he just happened to draw it first.

Surprisingly, the AI Kaiba seemed pretty smart, muttered something under his breath, and kept going.

"Then I'll use 'Lord of D.' to attack your face-down monster!"

With both dragons forcibly benched, Lord of D. had to do the dirty work himself.

"Flip another set card." Kira revealed another backrow, "Trap Card—Dimensional Prison!

When an opponent's monster attacks, that monster is banished!"

A spatial rift opened, crackling with energy. Lord of D., startled, tried to turn back, but it was too late—the rift swallowed him whole, banishing him from the game.

"Nice counter." Takeuchi analyzed. "At first glance, that trap just eliminated the weakest monster, but it was the most troublesome."

A student asked, "Huh? Why?"

"When 'Lord of D.' is on the field, all Dragon-type monsters are immune to card effects," Kazuya nodded. "By getting rid of it first, the protection over the Dragons is gone."

The crowd started to get excited.

"To withstand such a fierce first wave, this kid isn't ordinary. I'd have been knocked out already..."

"But it's probably only temporary. Just watch—this is Kaiba's AI, after all."

But Sato Koji, listening, smiled quietly.

No, you're too naive. That's only two traps—this is just the beginning.

The real fun has just started.

As the earliest victim of Kira, he trusted his instincts.

After his attacks were foiled, AI Kaiba played his last two cards.

"I set a card face-down and end my turn."