episode_0003

I recalled the duel I had with the goblin.

LV.1 [Beginner Dual Swordsman] ATK 100 DEF 400

『If this monster destroys a monster by battle, it can attack once again. Also, this monster’s ATK increases by the ATK of that opponent monster each time it destroys a monster by this monster’s attack.』

The effect itself, gaining the destroyed monster’s ATK with an additional attack upon destruction, is a powerful effect unlike a Level 1 monster.

‘The problem is that its ATK is 100, making it extremely difficult to utilize……’

Coincidentally, the goblin’s monster, [Berserker Goblin], had high ATK but 0 DEF and became Defense Position after attacking, so I could use it very well.

To the point where I wondered if there was any other card that could counter [Berserker Goblin] so perfectly under a duel called [Legacy].

‘How did I manage to draw this card perfectly at the right place at the right time.’

It’s not a card that comes in 3 copies within a 40-card deck. This fluffy girl’s deck is a 60-card Highlander.

The probability of drawing this single card out of the remaining 55 cards is less than 2%.

‘I was lucky. Well, I’ve been so unlucky it’s like I died, so it was about time for some luck.’

I’m glad it wasn’t so bad that I died twice.

“Here, I’ll give you your deck back.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you!”

Having finished reviewing the duel, I took the deck out of the hole in the air, bundled it with the cards I used, and returned it to the fluffy girl.

“And could I ask you something?”

“Anything you want. I’ll answer anything I can!”

The fluffy girl, who had received her deck back, showed eagerness, her eyes sparkling.

“Where is this place? What kind of world is it?”

“Ah, this place is… well, actually, I was also lost… And if you ask what kind of world it is, well…”

But despite her overflowing eagerness, the answers didn’t come easily. I guess it would be hard to answer if someone suddenly asked me what kind of place this world is.

“Let’s rephrase the question a bit. I came from another world.”

“Pardon? From another world?”

“Yeah. So I don’t know anything. So I’d appreciate it if you could explain things to me calmly, one by one.”

At the words “I don’t know anything,” the fluffy girl seemed to understand the meaning of the question and nodded.

“More than anything, what ‘Duels’ mean in this world.”

*

I heard from the fluffy girl roughly what kind of world this is.

First, the place I’m in is the Opishar Republic on the continent of Arcadia.

As I roughly expected, it was a fantasy world with swords, magic, and monsters.

But above all else,

“Even if you’re good with swords and magic, it’s meaningless if you can’t win a duel.”

‘Duels’ existed as the thing that determined everything.

“Isn’t it strange that with such powerful forces, everything is decided by duels?”

“Even if you ask what’s strange… That’s just the rule.”

Even if you ask if it’s strange, it was just that kind of world.

‘So that’s why even though she could use such strong magic, she was almost assaulted by a goblin.’

Actually, it’s not an entirely unfamiliar setup. It’s a common setup seen in card game promotion manga, often called ‘Duel All-Powerful Doctrine’.

A world where it’s natural for everything to be decided under duels.

I never imagined that would coexist with such a fantasy world, though.

“I see. Thank you. Then could I ask you to introduce yourself now?”

I asked the fluffy girl to introduce herself. I can’t keep calling her “fluffy” forever.

“Ah, yes. My name is Arianna. I’m a first-year at the Duel Academy.”

That’s why her finishing move was called Arianna Fire.

“Duel Academy, is it a place where you learn about dueling?”

“Yes. The world of duels is profound. We focus on [Opishar], a more advanced duel than [Legacy], and also learn about duels from other countries.”

[Opishar].

The name seemed like a slight twist on the official name of [Duel Fantasia], which is [Duel Fantasia Official Card Game]. Like [Legacy], would the rules be similar? I’m very interested.

“Then now… Could you, Big Brother, also introduce yourself?!”

She asked with sparkling eyes, as if dying of curiosity about my identity. It was almost the first time I had been called “Big Brother” in my life, so I was a little excited.

“I’m Ryugisu. My last name is Ryu and my first name is Gisu. I came from the Republic of Korea on a planet called Earth. I want to return to my original world, but I don’t know how.”

I introduced my name and situation as concisely as possible.

“Ryu, Gisu… That sounds like names from the East. I’m very curious about what kind of place that Earth is, but now is not the time, so I’ll hold back! Please tell me about it later!”

“Okay. But Arianna, why were you in such a dangerous place?”

“Ah, about that… I misunderstood the location of a class and wandered off and ended up here.”

At my question, Arianna mumbled, trailing off her words.

“Well, I’m from the countryside, and I’m a poor student at dueling. It’s kind of like I’m floating around…”

I can roughly guess from the part where she trails off with a sad expression.

“Yeah. I roughly understand.”

She was probably subtly bullied because she was a poor student and was told the wrong place for a class, which led to this.

‘Even so, to make her go to such a dangerous place, that’s too much.’

What would have happened to Arianna if I hadn’t shown up? I don’t want to imagine it.

“First, shall we go back to the Academy? If we go there, I might find a way to return to my original world too.”

“Right. I don’t really know the way back… but I think if we just keep going the opposite way from how we came, we’ll manage!”

And so, Arianna and I decided to first return to the Duel Academy.

“Wait, Arianna.”

But before that,

“Yes?”

“Could I fix your deck a bit before we move?”

I had to first turn Arianna’s 60-card Highlander bundle of paper into a proper deck.

“As it is now, if you meet a goblin again, you have a high chance of losing. I want to optimize it a bit.”

“Ah, um, well, is… that so?”

Honestly, I don’t really like meddling with other people’s deck construction. Even if a card isn’t strong, there must be a reason for wanting to include it.

But in this world where she might get assaulted by a goblin if she’s not careful, I don’t have the luxury of being that kind. Since I don’t have a deck, Arianna’s deck is my deck.

“B-But… It’s such a humble deck…”

“That’s why I need to look at it. I’ll help you. Don’t worry, I’ll listen to your opinions thoroughly.”

Arianna seemed reluctant, but this was a matter of life and death. There’s no guarantee she can draw that 2% card again next time. It must be fixed.

“…P-Please do…”

After deep consideration, Arianna seemed to make up her mind and held out her deck to me.

At that time, I didn’t know yet.

What meaning the act of looking at someone else’s deck held in this world.

“Since we might meet a goblin again, I’ll first adjust it to a 20-card [Legacy] deck.”

I spread out the cards in Arianna’s deck and selected usable cards, setting them aside. Then, considering the ratio of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 monsters and their roles, I reclassified the cards I had set aside.

“The duel they do at the Duel Academy… Is [Opishar] 40 cards?”

“Ah, yes. It’s 40 to 60 cards.”

As expected, it’s [Duel Fantasia]. No need to confirm further.

“Arianna, do you think a thicker deck is stronger?”

After roughly finishing classifying the usable cards, I asked Arianna.

“Um, that… well… I guess… maybe…?”

Arianna replied in an unsure voice.

It’s natural. If she had been using a 60-card deck of papers that looked like they were picked up from a trash can, you couldn’t say it was strong even as a formality.

“It’s not.”

“I thought so too, right?”

At my negation, Arianna rather nodded with relief.

“But I couldn’t take them out. The cards in my deck… are cards my hometown people gave me when I went to the Duel Academy.”

“…Hmm.”

It was really fortunate I didn’t say what I was thinking. I almost turned into trash in an instant.

“To me, who was the only one in the village with magic talent, the villagers gave me precious cards they used as their deck’s ace. Thinking of their feelings, I just couldn’t bring myself to remove them…”

“I see. Hmm.”

I put aside my prejudice and carefully examined the cards in the deck again.

There was almost no synergy between them, but their individual performance wasn’t that bad. There were even some cards that had reigned in their time.

“…Would the villagers be happy if you lost because you forced yourself to put all those cards in?”

But even so, they were definitely not cards to put all of them in.

“That… but… still…”

“Not including them in your deck doesn’t mean your feelings of cherishing the cards disappear.”

It’s common for cards you like and cherish to become unusable because they fall out of the meta.

“I think it’s enough if you keep them carefully without throwing them away and remember them.”

So even if they are removed from the deck, the memories associated with the cards remain. If you can recall the memories when you see them in a binder, they are still precious cards.

“…Yes. That’s right. Thank you. I feel a little better.”

After smiling at Arianna, who nodded as if she understood, I concentrated on building the [Legacy] deck in earnest.

‘Although it’s a bit all over the place, the individual cards aren’t that bad. If that’s the case…’

Below the classification I had done, I again classified cards that were strong on their own even without synergy.

‘Let’s go with Good Stuff.’

Good Stuff.

It’s a deck most fitting for the name [Legacy], using the best cards available in an era where there wasn’t really a card group classification.

‘This is kind of fun.’

Building a deck with only the cards you have.

I became happy with the nostalgic feeling I hadn’t felt when only playing tier decks.

“I’m done building it. With this composition, you’ll definitely not lose against a goblin of that level just now. If you’re curious about the reasons I included them or how to operate it, ask me anything.”

“T-Thank you…”

I handed the 20-card [Legacy] deck I built back to Arianna. Arianna carefully examined the received deck, then stared at me intently.

“What is it?”

“Oh, no. It’s just, well, I was thinking, Gisu-nim is very kind.”

“Is that so?”

Looking back, I feel a little embarrassed, thinking I was a bit too nosy. But newbies are precious. It’s natural to be kind with the hope that she continues playing.

“Yes. You’re kind. Until now, there hasn’t been a single person who taught me about dueling so kindly.”

“What about the teachers at the Duel Academy?”

“I try to keep up, but when I raise my hand to ask, the atmosphere gets bad…”

“That’s too much.”

They don’t appreciate how precious newbies are. Is it because it’s a world where newbies aren’t precious?

“Anyway, try dueling well with this. You should be able to defeat goblins easily.”

“What?! M-Me, doing the dueling?!”

“Of course. This is your deck, isn’t it? I’ll give you advice when it’s dangerous.”

It’s rewarding to watch someone else use the deck I painstakingly built. It will also be good for Arianna in the long run.

“Then let’s leave now. It’s getting dark.”

“Okay! I’ll do my best!”

Arianna and I set off towards the Academy.

And after walking for about an hour,

“Uh… This should be the right way… Why am I here again…”

No matter how much we walked, we couldn’t get out of the forest.

“…It’s certainly strange.”

We clearly went straight without turning, yet we were circling the same spot. We passed by the forest Arianna burned and the corpses of the goblins she defeated several times.

As if the forest didn’t want to let us go.

“Arianna.”

“Yes, yes…”

To Arianna, who was trembling, afraid of this mysterious phenomenon,

“Let’s just go in. Towards the inside.”

I suggested going inside the forest.

“It, it might be dangerous! A stronger goblin might appear…”

“You won against all the goblins we met while wandering, right? It’s okay. You can do it.”

“That’s… That’s true, but…”

Wandering this far, we had met several more goblins.

Arianna was very scared, but she still dueled the goblins, and after winning easily despite being scared, she finished them off with ‘Arianna Fire’.

Her deck building skills were disastrous, but Arianna’s dueling skills weren’t as bad as I thought.

“The cause of us circling the forest might be inside. Let’s go remove the cause.”

“…Okay. Let’s do that. Let’s go!”

Perhaps because she had gained confidence from the duels, Arianna clenched her fists and shouted.

We went in the opposite direction we were going, heading towards the inside of the forest, and,

“Whoa…”

“Looks like a place where something would be, just by looking at it.”

Soon, a large cave appeared.

It was a place that clearly looked like a goblin stronghold, decorated with lots of skulls at the entrance.

Mustering our resolve and going inside,

“You’ve arrived.”

A goblin, thin and tall for a goblin, wearing a crude crown and holding a large bloodstained spear, was waiting for us.

“I felt my kin dying. I will absolutely not forgive you…!!”

The intensity was completely different from the goblins we had faced until now.

“I, the Goblin King, will be your opponent. Don’t even think about going back alive!!”

The goblin, who revealed himself as the Goblin King,

Clack clack clack clack clack!

Took a deck from his waist and shouted while shuffling it.

It’s really fortunate that big spear is just a decoration.

“Arianna. Finish it.”

“What?! M-Me?!”

“You can do it. Just do as you’ve been doing.”

“I’m not confident… But, I’ll try!! If I seem to be doing something strange, give me advice!!”

The final duel against a goblin began.