Page 335 Yu-Gi-Oh!: I use an Orichalcos deck - Spoilers and Plot Explained

Page 335

"【Craftman】: I watched the replay of your battle against 【Bloodeye】. The comeback was brilliant, and the timing of 【Super Saiyan 2】's synchronization was perfect. However, against attrition decks like 【Vampire】, your early defense was too passive. Suggestions: 1. Consider adding a 'DD Raven' to your main deck to target the graveyard. 2. 'Cosmic Cyclone' is crucial for dealing with continuous spells like 'Vampire Domain'. 3. Your Extra Deck seems to lack options to deal with graveyard-blocking cards like 'Cosmic' or 'Macrocosm'? Consider adding 'Breakthrough Dragon'."

Yu Ji perked up and immediately replied: "[S-Cell]: Thank you very much for the guidance! I'm currently worried about my points and ranking, and I'm preparing to compete in the 'Dark Moon Tournament'. [DD Raven] and [Cosmic Cyclone] have been added to my shortlist. 'Crack Dragon'... I might not have enough points right now."

A moment later, 【Craftman】 replied: "【Craftman】: Tournaments are a shortcut, but also a meat grinder. Methods to quickly gain points usually come with high risks. There is an offline points exchange market and private challenge tournaments every Friday night on the third basement floor of 'Gear Plaza' in the West City District. The entry requirements are low, but the place is full of all sorts of people, so participate with caution."

Offline market? Private challenge? Yuji's heart raced. This was undoubtedly an opportunity to quickly gain points and rare cards, but the warning from [Craftman] was also obvious—(ahfd) "A mixed bag."

To go or not to go?

Risk and opportunity swung in his mind like two ends of a scale. He thought of Kaito; that guy would definitely appear in the tournament. If he couldn't even meet the entry requirements, how could he possibly fight him? He thought of the Joker's unattainable points and those mysterious codenames that ranked so high.

Will Saiyans back down in the face of fear?

No! Absolutely not!

He took a deep breath, his gaze hardening once more. He replied to Craftman: "[S-Cell]: Understood. Thank you for the message, I will be careful."

On Friday evening, following instructions, You Ji arrived at "Gear Plaza," a well-known electronics market in the western part of the city. The shops above ground were already closed and dimly lit. He went around to the back of the building and found an inconspicuous rusty iron door marked "Equipment Room - No Unauthorized Entry." A lean man in a leather jacket, smoking, leaned against the door and glanced at him.

"Who are you looking for?" the man asked lazily, exhaling a smoke ring.

“I was introduced by [Craftman].” Yuki tried to keep his voice calm as he gave the code [Craftman] had given him: “I’m here to find some ‘gear oil’.”

The man sized him up, seemingly judging his age and rather ordinary clothes, before finally nodding and kicking open the iron door behind him. "Go down, third floor. Understand the rules? Don't cause trouble."

Behind the door was a dimly lit concrete staircase leading downwards, the air thick with the mixed smells of machine oil, dust, and some kind of overheated electronic components. Two floors down, the noise gradually increased. Pushing open a heavy fire door, the view suddenly opened up before me.

This is a huge underground warehouse converted into a space with a high ceiling and thick ventilation ducts winding overhead. The space is divided into several areas: in the center are dozens of makeshift dueling arenas, surrounded by excited crowds, with shouts, the sound of cards clattering, and the roar of virtual projections filling the air; around the perimeter are simple stalls, where vendors display various cards, card boxes, and even some unofficially certified DIY cards, while buyers haggle in hushed tones, trading points, cash, or other cards.

The lighting here mainly comes from the projection equipment on the dueling arena itself and the emergency lights on the booths, creating a chaotic and frenzied atmosphere with flickering light and shadows and many people moving about. The people here are noticeably more diverse than those on the online platform, ranging from students in school uniforms to office workers in suits but with sharp eyes, as well as many more who look intimidating, like the man at the entrance.

Yuji took a deep breath, pulled down his hat brim (he had deliberately worn a hat when he went out), and went inside. He first browsed the trading area and indeed saw some cards that were rare or even unavailable on the online market. The prices were relatively "affordable," but still required a considerable amount of points. He saw [Effect Veiler], [Infinite Bubble], and even a [Pot of Greed] with a dark gold sheen, priced at an astronomical figure.

His gaze was eventually drawn to a card on a stall—[Crack Dragon]. It was the very card that [Craftman] had suggested he add to his Extra Deck.

"Boss, how do I change this one?" You Ji tried to make his voice sound as experienced as possible.

The stall owner, a bald, middle-aged man, glanced at him and said, "300 points, or an equivalent rare card in exchange, cash payment is accepted."

300 points! You Ji clicked his tongue in amazement; this was almost half of all his current points.

"Can you make it cheaper? Or... would you accept the challenge?" Yuki remembered another feature here—private challenges. Usually, the stakes are agreed upon by both parties.

The stall owner raised an eyebrow, a look of interest on his face: "Oh? How do you want to bet?"

“I’ll bet 150 points on this [Dragon Breaker] card,” Yuji said. If he wins, he takes the card; if he loses, he pays 150 points.

The stall owner scoffed, "You think you can bet my [Cracked Dragon] on 150 points? Kid, do you think I'm doing charity? At least 250 points, or forget it."

Yuji frowned; the price was still very high. But he really needed this card to deal with any extreme situations that might arise.

"...Fine, 250 points it is!" You Ji gritted his teeth and agreed. High risk, high reward!

The two found an empty dueling arena, and a crowd of onlookers immediately gathered around. The bets were confirmed and locked through the arena's built-in system.

"DUEL!"

The vendor was using a "Train" deck, known for its high damage output and wide-area destruction. The opening hand didn't seem to go smoothly.

Yuki seized the opportunity, made the first move to create [Super Saiyan God Son Goku], and obtained the card draw effect from Vegeta in the graveyard, stabilizing the situation.

After several rounds of fighting, Yuki used the resistance of [Super Saiyan God] to withstand a wave of attacks from the opponent, and then summoned [Super Saiyan 2 Son Gohan] to destroy the opponent's key backline. In the end, he won the victory with Gohan's direct attack!

"Tsk, you're lucky." The stall owner reluctantly pushed the [Dragon Breaker] card out of the duel arena's trade slot. Yuuki's points were also deducted by 250, but he gained this crucial extra card.

With his first victory, Yuji's confidence increased. He wandered around the market a few more times, using his remaining points and a rare general-purpose card he had won earlier to exchange for two [Infinite Bubble] cards.

His points have run out again. He needs more duels to earn more points.

He saw a large crowd gathered around a dueling ring. On the ring, a duelist codenamed "MetalFang" was using an extremely aggressive "Dinosaur" deck. He had already defeated several challengers in a row, and the stakes were getting higher and higher.

"Who else?!" [MetalFang] shouted arrogantly, "300 points per game! Win and you take it! Lose and don't cry!"

Yuki observed several of his duels. His opponent's speed was extremely fast. Once he made the first move with [Ultimate Conduction Dinosaur], he could almost secure the victory. However, his second move was relatively weak, and he seemed to be very afraid of hand traps.

The bet is 300 points... that's almost all his assets right now. But if he wins, it will greatly alleviate his pressure to accumulate points.

Fight!

You Ji squeezed through the crowd: "I'll go!"

【MetalFang】 sized up Youji: "【S-Cell】? Never heard of that codename. Okay, here comes the points, I'll take them!"

The bet is confirmed. Rock-paper-scissors decides who goes first. 【MetalFang】wins and chooses to go first.

You Jixin's heart sank.

"Haha! My turn!" [MetalFang] laughed. "Activate [Fossil Investigation]! Normal Summon [Little Diablos]! Activate its effect! Special Summon [Soul Eater Oviraptor] from the Deck! Oviraptor's effect pulls [Little Diablos] back from the Graveyard! Then activate [Double-Cavity Dragon]'s effect!..."

The game unfolds with a fluid and graceful motion, as the enormous [Ultimate Conduction Dinosaur] descends with a thunderous roar (ATK 3500), and its effect destroys one card in Yuuki's hand (randomly discarding [Saiyan Doctor Senzu Bean]), while there is also a face-down card on the field.

The venue for 【MetalFang】 was almost full!

The onlookers gasped in astonishment, seemingly having already foreseen Yuki's defeat.

Yuki's hand consists of: Call of Namek, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Infinite Impermanence, Saiyan Prince Vegeta, and one G of Multiplication.

His health points remain at 4000, but he faces a Dinosaur King with 3500 attack power and overwhelming pressure, as well as an unknown face card.

His turn... draw a card!

The card he drew was—[Instant Teleportation]!

An opportunity! Though slim, it's not nonexistent!

All eyes were on him. 【MetalFang】 wore a mocking smile, as if enjoying the prey's final struggle.

Yuuki's gaze swept over his hand, his mind calculating the various possibilities at an unprecedented speed. Would the Saiyan's power of reversal descend once more?

His fingers slowly reached for a card.

Chapter 415 Ash

The golden aura of Super Saiyan 2 Gohan slowly dissipated, the virtual imaging system shut down, and the room returned to silence, save for Yuki's heavy breathing and the hum of the computer fan. He had won; another battle where victory had been forcibly torn open from the brink of defeat. He watched as the ID [Bloodeye] on the screen turned gray and disconnected, his points rose again, and his ranking jumped forward a small step.

But the excitement of this victory didn't last long. A deeper sense of fatigue washed over him, not physically, but mentally, from the strain of precisely calculating resources. Every ranking match in the underground league was like dancing on a knife's edge; there were no weak opponents, and every mistake could be magnified and lead to defeat. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his throbbing temples.

"Stability... resilience..." He pondered Craftman's advice. The battles of the past few days had given him a deeper understanding of these two words. Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan 4 were undoubtedly powerful, but they relied on specific combos and a large amount of resources. Once the combo was interrupted, or if they were constantly worn down like against Vampire, they would fall into a very passive position. Cards like 20x Kaioken and Legacy offered the possibility of a comeback, but at a high cost and unpredictable.

He needed a smoother transition, and more importantly, he needed methods to disrupt the opponent's turn. He recalled Kaito's almost flawless [Photon Priest] combo, the annoying resource cycle of [Machine Bug], and the lightning-fast deployment of [Zootopia].

“Hand traps…not enough.” He checked his sideeck. He only had two copies of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and one copy of Multiplying Golem. While they were necessary in the main deck, they sometimes clogged his hand. He needed more, more targeted options. Effect Veiler? Infinite Impermanence? These cards were quite expensive on the black market.

Points… He glanced at his remaining points. Most of what he'd won had been invested in deck building. After exchanging for [20x Kaioken] and a [Planetary Modification] card, there was hardly anything left. He needed more victories, and even more so… victories with stakes.

The thought made his heart tighten. His rookie protection period was about to end, and he had won seven out of ten ranked matches without betting—a respectable record. Next, he would face the league's true core rule—betting duels.

He opened the registration page for the Darkmoon Tournament. There were still three weeks until the registration deadline, and the minimum ranking requirement was to be within the top 8000. He was currently ranked around 11000, a significant gap. This meant he had to win a large number of duels within three weeks, and would likely need to participate in staked battles to quickly accumulate points.

The pressure increased sharply.

Just then, a notification sounded on the computer; it was a private message from the underground alliance platform. It came from 【Craftma~n】.

Offline market? Private challenge? Yuji's heart raced. This was undoubtedly an opportunity to quickly gain points and rare cards, but [Craftman]'s warning was also obvious—"a mixed bag."