No one interrupted, waiting for him to continue.
"Likewise, for a Duelist, if we regard cards as particles, then at the start of a Duel, the Deck is in that same unclear state. Before being drawn, a card exists in a superposition of possibilities. Only at the moment it is drawn does it truly become determined."
Yugen fell silent. He vaguely remembered similar discussions from his previous life among enthusiastic players online.
"For example, I have a deck of playing cards here."
Yako Tenma produced a pack of cards, shuffled, and drew the top card, showing it to them. It was the Joker.
"See, I drew the highest card."
He placed it back, shuffled again, and drew another card from the top. It was the Joker again.
"This is an ordinary deck. There are no tricks, and I am not using any sleight of hand."
He shuffled a third time but did not draw. Instead, he looked at the three of them. "Would one of you like to draw a card and compare with me?"
After a brief silence, Asuka Tenjoin said, "I will."
She reached out and drew a card. Yako Tenma drew one as well, and they flipped them over.
He had the Jack of Spades. She had the Nine of Diamonds.
"Well, it seems I am slightly higher," Yako Tenma said with a smile. "But you did not draw badly."
"I do not understand," Asuka Tenjoin admitted.
"If I am simply entertaining myself, it is easy for me to draw the highest card. Out of ten times, I might only fail two or three."
He looked at them calmly. "But if I assume I am facing a powerful Duelist as my opponent, it does not seem so easy."
Yugen began to understand his meaning.
"This is what is called the 'power' of a Duelist," Yako Tenma said. "A strong Duelist possesses the ability to rewrite the future in subtle ways. That ability is only fully realized within a Duel.
A high level Duel is not merely a contest of Decks and tactics. It is a collision of each other's power and fate. For the very strongest, the result of a Duel might even alter the future of the world."
To Yugen, the idea that card games could change the world was already common sense. But to Daichi Misawa and Asuka Tenjoin, who had not truly encountered the extraordinary side of things, it still felt distant, and they did not know how to react.
The car came to a stop.
"Just idle talk to pass the time," Yako Tenma said with a smile as he put away the cards. "If it inspires you on your path as Duelists, that would be best. If not, treat it as nonsense.
After all, it is not a rigorously verified theory, and I doubt Duel Academy teaches such things yet."
He stepped out of the car, and the three followed. Before them stood the towering building of Industrial Illusions.
However, Yako Tenma stopped before entering.
"Actually, I have another request today." He turned to Yugen and spoke slowly. "My younger brother said he gained considerable insight from his Duel with you. I have been curious as well, and I have been hoping for such an opportunity."
He made a polite request. "Would you be willing to have a Duel with me as well?"
Yugen was taken aback.
Younger brother?
Wait.
"And you are?"
"Oh, I am Tenma Yuelin, the twin brother of Yako Tenma."
Tenma Yuelin, the twin brother of Yako Tenma. In the side story, when he first appeared, even Yugi Muto and the others mistook him for Yako Tenma, though that Student Council had actually been under Yako Tenma's mental control at the time. At the same time, he was the one Maximillion Pegasus once called the "perfect Duelist."
Daichi Misawa and Asuka Tenjoin held their breath. A Duel had suddenly begun, and the opponent was a legend. Before enrolling, they might have instinctively believed that facing such figures meant no chance of victory.
But things were different now. When they thought about it carefully, more than one or two legends had already been beaten down by Yugen. The most representative victims were the Meikyu Brothers, who probably had not wanted to touch cards for quite a while after that.
In their eyes, Yugen had somehow upgraded from a "maverick top student" to someone for whom "beating legends is nothing strange." Daichi Misawa was also very curious about where this guy's limit truly lay.
"Duel!" x2
[Tsukiyuki, LP 4000] Yugen, LP 4000]
"Then I will go first, Draw."
Tsukiyuki played two cards from his hand. "I set one monster in face down Defense Position, then set one card to the Back Row. End of turn."
"My Turn! Draw." Yugen Do.
After drawing, he immediately slapped down a card in a gesture of respect toward Professor Chronos de Medici.
"Spell Card 'Pot of Greed', Draw two cards from the Deck."
After drawing, he Normal Summoned his first monster.
"Summon 'Blade Knight'!"
Blade Knight, ATK 1600]
It might be hard for modern players to imagine, but this unassuming Blade Knight had once been a popular powerhouse when it was first released. With a base ATK of 1600, it was barely acceptable as a beater. Its first effect raised its ATK by 400 when its controller had one or fewer cards in hand.
Blade Knight thrived during the era when Hand Destruction ran wild, and it was common for a Duelist's hand resources to be wiped out. In many cases, it would hit the field with 2000 ATK, making it a high quality attacker. It also had a second effect that negated the effects of Flip monsters it destroyed by battle.
In early Yu-Gi-Oh!, Flip monsters were extremely important. Cards like Morphing Jar, Fiber Jar, and Magician of Faith were once infamous for turning games around on their own, while many others destroyed cards or bounced monsters on flip. In that environment, Blade Knight's second effect was quite practical.
Another key point was that it was a LIGHT-attribute monster. With all these advantages combined, Blade Knight easily earned a place in Light Dark themed Chaos Deck builds.
Yugen declared, "Blade Knight attacks the set monster."
Tsukiyuki's set monster flipped face up. It was a sharp eared, glasses wearing Spirit girl with a short skirt and stockings, holding a magic book in her arms.
Knowledge Fairy, DEF 1500] (ANIME EFFECT)
In the original work, Tsukiyuki used many monster that were never printed in real life. Unlike his brother Yako Tenma, whose The Three Wicked Gods and original Beast King Barbaros Level Series received physical releases early on, most of Tenma Yuelin's Deck remained anime only.
"Effect of Knowledge Fairy. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I draw one card from my Deck," Tsukiyuki said. "Since she is not a Flip monster, her effect is not negated by Blade Knight."
The short lived glasses Spirit fell under the merciless blade, and Tsukiyuki drew a card.
Yugen glanced at the fading points of light where she vanished. The effect of Knowledge Fairy did not specify that it had to be sent from the field. That actually seemed pretty decent.
He then drew four cards in one breath. "I set four cards to the field. End of turn."
"Four set cards..." Tsukiyuki frowned slightly.
"During the End Phase, I activate my set card," he said. "Trap Card 'Sixth Sense'!
Declare two numbers between 1 and 6. Your opponent rolls a die. If the result matches one of the declared numbers, draw that many cards. If not, send cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard equal to the result."
Yugen nodded. "Declare your numbers."
"Five and six," Tsukiyuki said.
The die rolled twice before stopping at 4.
"One third probability. Looks like I missed," Tsukiyuki said calmly. "Then I send the top four cards of my Deck to the Graveyard."
He sent four cards into the Graveyard of his Duel Disk. "My turn, Draw. I activate a Spell Card! 'Graceful Charity', draw three cards, then discard two."