I woke up on the hotel bed with yesterday’s duel weighing heavily on my body and mind. My muscles ached, and my head was still foggy. I couldn’t remember how I made it back to the room last night, but for some reason, Gishki’s threat echoed in my memory—retribution would come for defeating him.

There’s no time to dwell on revenge now; I need to prepare for today’s duel against Prince. Honestly, if not for Gishki’s warning, I wouldn’t have guessed who my opponent would be. Opponents’ identities aren’t revealed until the start of each match here.

After a hot shower to rinse off dried blood from my skin and hair, I dressed in clean clothes and grabbed my duel gear and deck. I decided against using the elevator, not wanting hotel guests to see my disheveled state. It wasn’t shame that motivated me; rather, it was courtesy—I didn’t want their experience spoiled.

On the ground floor, I ordered some French toast from the kitchen—Xiao Long Bao would have been nice for breakfast but nitpicking wasn’t an option today. While waiting, I engaged in a chat with the Large Language Model (LLM) on the terminal at the corner.

“Would you like some Potent Honey as well?” asked the waiter, handing me my order.

“P-potent honey?” My face flushed with embarrassment.

I’ve never had a girlfriend—why would I need that?

“No, thanks. Strawberry jam will do,” I replied, and headed out.

---

The breeze felt comforting as I walked. I couldn’t help but think about yesterday’s duel—a duel it was hardly called. Gishki, or the Ouroboros enforcer he claimed to be, had built an almost impenetrable board, unlike anything taught at Duel Academy.

Then there was that mind-clouding gas—phosphine, I guessed—but it didn’t fit: phosphine, according to the LLM, is colorless and heavier than air. Why did I feel dizzy after climbing onto the roof? Could it have been natural gas instead? Economically, it made sense to use existing pipelines rather than setting up a new one. Plus, natural gas is lighter than air.

But even this idea has problems. Natural gas is still colorless, usually mixed with a sulfur-like odorant for leak detection. Yesterday, I didn’t smell any awful odor. If anything, there might be a sweet scent at some locations. Third, can natural gas cause the syndrome I experienced?

Lost in thought, I was blocked by a motorcycle—a sleek white D-Runner with a large vertical closed ring in the center surrounding the rider, who dressed in white and helmeted.

Could he be another Ouroboros enforcer? Vengeance from Gishki?

“Take these!”

Objects flew from his glove. Shuriken?

Instinctively, I caught them—two Yu-Gi-Oh cards, one framed in white matching the bike and rider’s outfit.

“They’ll help you against today’s opponent,” he said before speeding off.

He talked about my opponent today. Could he also already know who my opponent today would be?

I examined these two cards. The white one was a Synchro monster and could be put in the Extra Deck, so I didn’t need to worry about it being a dead draw. The other one was called Tesla Resonator (Level 3, ATK: 1200, DEF: 600), which, once per turn, cannot be destroyed by battle or effect.

It was not a bad card. It didn’t look like that this motorcyclist wanted to do me any harm.

---

Contrary to national tournaments, where duelists are usually required to submit their main deck and side deck before the whole event, in international tournaments, duelists do not need to submit anything in advance and can alter their decks freely along the course.

The reason is not that hard to understand. National tournaments are frequent, whereas international tournaments are rare. The frequent national matches help the formation of a stable meta in each country. Duelist can expect what they are to encounter and can thus prepare the side deck accordingly before the tournament.

Yet, each country’s meta can be largely different due to the fragmentation of the world. A usual duelist does not have much way to learn about other country’s meta. You can understand it better through my awkward ordering milk yesterday in the bar, but I digress. Anyway, it is reasonable to allow duelists to alter their deck during an international tournament with their progressively better understanding of the other duelists along the way.

That said, two measures are imposed to prevent the abuse of this right. The first is the forbidden list. Pot of Greed, the card Gishki used yesterday, is an obvious guest on the list. Besides that, some not-so-obvious cards, such as System Down (against Machine) and Cipher Soldier (against Warrior), are also on the list because they are effective only against specific decks.

To further prevent the duelists from making a new deck for each duel, the second measure is that the identity of the opponent is hidden until the beginning of the duel. If it were not for Gishki, I wouldn’t have known that my opponent today would be Prince. Prince, being a child of the tournament sponsor, on the other hand, would of course have known that his opponent today would be me. Nonetheless, he could not side Cipher Soldier against me without being called out by the audience. As for the audience, the hiding of the identities is not an issue, for they buy day tickets rather than on a per-duel basis.

The Clock Tower’s toll snapped me back to reality—I needed to hurry. I added both cards to my deck and extra deck, respectively, and set off to face Prince.

---

The tournament takes place in a massive stadium, where I clinched victory in my first duel yesterday. Just like then, the stadium is packed with an enthusiastic crowd—fans of what’s arguably the most popular sport of the 31st century.

Anchorman: And now we’re ready to kick off today’s second duel! Let’s welcome our first duelist—the top graduate from this year’s Duel Academy of Far East!

I stride onto the field, looking a bit tired from yesterday’s battles.

Crowd: Shame~ shame~

Anchorwoman: The second duelist is Prince, the only son of TAGA Group’s founder.

TAGA Group isn’t just Apollonis’s largest corporation; it ranks as the third-largest worldwide and has been sponsoring this annual championship for a decade now.

With his attire gleaming like Gold Saints from the “Saint Seiya, Knights of the Zodiac” franchise, Prince makes his entrance, waving and occasionally blowing kisses to the adoring fans.

Crowd: Hear~ hear~

Girl A and Girl B: (Clutching hands, with pink hearts in their eyes.) He’s so handsome!

Girl C: (Flashing her big boobs, with “I :heart: Prince” written on them.) Prince, I love you!

Anchorman: TTo earn his spot in the championship, Prince defeated 40 top-tier duelists across Apollonis, currently topping the leaderboard among young competitors!

Anchorwoman: Most impressively, he didn’t take a single life point damage during those 40 duels!

The crowd erupts with cheers and screams.

“So, you are Prince?” I say through my portable microphone, clipped to my collar. These mics help us communicate while dashing around the field for Action Cards—they have three channels:

• Direct: Speak directly to your opponent—only they can hear.
• Staff: Contact tournament staff in emergencies.
• Public: Anyone listening can hear, making it a staple of the “dueltainment” style.

Prince to me: I am Ouroboros’s Enforcer No. 5: Prince. Prepare to be crushed and witness the new champion!

Gishki tried to suggest I lose deliberately against Prince, but that’s not happening.

Staff to us: Ready?

Prince and me: Ready.

Staff to Anchors: The duelists are set. The duel can start.

There is no handshaking before the duel because the two duelists spawn at opposite ends of the stadium. The post-duel handshaking, on the other hand, is optional.

Anchorman: Both duelists are ready!

Anchorwoman: Solid vision, activate. Action field: Pride of Apollonis.

The stadium’s terrain begins to transform dramatically.

Anchors: Let’s roll.

---

Me vs. Prince

Both duelists drew 5 cards. What I drew are:

• Elemental HERO Heat
• Elemental HERO Sparkman
• Destiny HERO Dark Angel
• Phantom Magician
• A Hero Emerges

Turn 1

	Me	Prince
LP	4000	4000
Hand	5	5
Field	—	—
Graveyard	—	—

Prince to all: I summon Terror Feminist (ATK: 1500) in attack position and equip it with the equip spell Women-Are-Always-Right Wand. I end my turn.

Anchorwoman: Yes! We are always right!

Girls: How adorable!

Turn 2

	Me	Prince
LP	4000	4000
Hand	5	3
Field	—	Feminist (Wand)
Graveyard	—	—

Me to Prince: (Slowly raise my wounded left arm.) It’s my turn. I draw. (The card is Elemental HERO Wildheart.) I summon Elemental HERO Heat (ATK: 1800) in attack position. Attack!

Prince to all: The effect of the equipped card, Women-Are-Always-Right Wand, activates. Once per turn, it prevents the equipped monster from being destroyed by battle. Additionally, due to Terror Feminist’s effect, you take all the battle damage I would have taken from battles involving this card.

(My LP: 4000->3700)

Anchorman: Thanks to that equip card, Prince’s monster remains unscathed. A perfect defense—Prince has a great start!

Me to Prince: So that’s how you managed to win 40 duels without taking any damage? I set a card face-down and I end my turn.

Turn 3

	Me	Prince
LP	3700	4000
Hand	4	3
Field	Heat, Emerges	Feminist (Wand)
Graveyard	—	—

Prince to all: It’s my turn. I draw. I summon Nepotism Prince (ATK: 1200) in attack position. When Nepotism Prince is summoned, I can add a “Nepotism” spell/trap card from my deck. I’ll add the trap card Nepotism Gang Bullying.

(A solid vision of Nepotism Prince appears, looking quite similar to Prince himself.)

Anchorwoman: Here we go. Prince has summoned his signature monster.

Crowd: Prince! Prince!

Prince to all: Terror Feminist, attack!

Me: (Terror Feminist’s ATK is 300 points lower than Elemental HERO Heat’s, so it can’t destroy my monster. The best he can do is make me lose another 300 life points. Next turn, I’ll summon Elemental HERO Sparkman and have both monsters attack Terror Feminist together since Women-Are-Always-Right Wand’s effect is once per turn.)

(My LP: 3700->3400)

Prince to all: The effect of Women-Are-Always-Right Wand activates.

(Elemental HERO Heat is destroyed.)

Me: (What?)

Anchorwoman: “We”-Are-Always-Right Wand has a second effect. After damage calculation, if the equipped monster attacked a monster: destroy the attacked monster. That’s what you straight men get when you mess with us women!

Prince to all: To all women, I am your protector!

Women: How adorable~

Girls: You are our god~

Me: (This situation isn’t good for me. I can’t destroy his monster, but his monster can destroy any of my monsters. Plus, I take all the battle damage. That’s not fair. Also unfair is the one-sided audience. Overwhelming and unbearable.)

Prince to all: Now, Nepotism Prince, attack directly. When Nepotism Prince attacks, I can special summon a “Nepotism” monster from my hand in defense position. Here comes Nepotism DEI Hire (DEF: 1300).

Me to all: At this moment, I activate the trap card A Hero Emerges. You choose a random card from my hand, if it’s a monster that can be special summoned, do so. Otherwise, send it to the graveyard.

Prince to all: I’ll pick the rightmost card in your hand.

Me to all: I special summon Phantom Magician (DEF: 700) in defense position.

Prince to all: Nepotism Prince, attack Phantom Magician!

(Phantom Magician is destroyed.)

Me to all: Phantom Magician’s effect activates. When it’s destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon a “HERO” monster with 1000 or less ATK from my deck in defense position. I summon Elemental HERO Clayman (ATK: 800, DEF: 2000).

Anchorwoman: Why are all of your monsters male? Are women not allowed to be heroes?

Crowd: Hear~ Hear~

Me: (Facepalm. Come on. Clayman is silicon; it doesn’t have a gender to begin with.)

Prince to all: I set a card face-down and end my turn.

Anchorman: Another flawless turn. Prince has the upper hand.

Turn 4

	Me	Prince
LP	3400	4000
Hand	3	2
Field	Clayman	Feminist (Wand), Prince, DEI, backrow (unknown)
Graveyard	Heat, Emerges, Phantom	—

Me: (Okay, I need two monsters with over 1500 ATK this turn to take down Terror Feminist, but I will still take all the battle damage. Or… there might be an easier way.)

Me to all: It’s my turn. I draw. (The card is Vision HERO Vyon.) I summon Vision HERO Vyon (ATK: 1000) in attack position. When it is summoned, I can send a “HERO” from my deck to the graveyard. I send Destiny HERO Celestial. Now, for Vision HERO Vyon’s second effect…

Crowd: Cheater!

Me: (Come on. Not long ago, Women-Are-Always-Right Wand had its second effect activated.)

Me to all: Once per turn, I can banish a “HERO” monster from my graveyard and add a Polymerization from my deck to my hand. I banish Elemental HERO Heat.

Me to all: I activate Polymerization and fusion summon Elemental HERO Thunder Giant (ATK: 2400).

(Elemental HERO Sparkman in my hand and Elemental HERO Clayman on my field go to the graveyard. Elemental HERO Thunder Giant i appears from my extra deck.)

Me to all: I activate Elemental HERO Thunder Giant’s effect. I discard Destiny HERO Dark Angel and destroy Terror Feminist.

(_Terror Feminist and Women-Are-Always-Right Wand are sent to the graveyard.)

Crowd: Shame! shame!

Anchorwoman: How dare you? Men from a barbaric nation can’t even treat women right.

Me: (Come on. How am I supposed to win, otherwise?)

Me to all: Thunder Giant, attack Nepotism Prince.

Prince to all: Hold on! When Nepotism DEI Hire is on the field, you can’t target my other “Nepotism” monsters for attack.

Me to all: Thunder Giant, take out Nepotism DEI Hire, instead.

Prince to all: At this moment, I activate the continuous trap card Nepotism Gang Bullying. After damage calculation, if my “Nepotism” monster battled an opponent’s monster, I can banish that opponent’s monster.

(Elemental HERO Thunder Giant is banished, and Nepotism DEI Hire is destroyed and sent to the graveyard.)

Me: (Damn it.)

Anchorman: Another perfect defense! Well done, Prince!

Anchorwoman: This is what happens when you disrespect women. You get canceled.

Me: I end my turn.

Turn 5

	Me	Prince
LP	3400	4000
Hand	1	2
Field	Vyon	Prince, Bullying
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Sparkman, Clayman, Angel, Celestial	Feminist, Wand, DEI
Banished	Heat, Thunder	—

Prince to all: It’s my turn. I draw a card. I summon another Nepotism DEI Hire (ATK: 1500) in attack position. Battle phase. Nepotism DEI Hire, attack Vision HERO Vyon.

(Vision HERO Vyon is banished due to Nepotism Gang Bullying’s effect.)

Me: (Damn it. If all my monsters keep getting banished like this, I won’t be able to use Fifth Hope’s effect later on.)

Anchorwoman: Another straight man gets canceled.

Me to Prince: Nepotism DEI Hire’s ATK is 500 point more than Vision HERO Vyon, but why didn’t I take any battle damage?

Prince to me: Neither player takes any battle damage involving Nepotism DEI Hire.

Me: (So it is a pretty useless card if it were not for Nepotism Gang Bullying.)

Prince to all: Now, Nepotism Prince, attack directly!

Normally, I’d have started to run at the end phase of last turn and searched for an Action Card, but I am too injured to move. I decided to save my energy for a direr situation.

Prince to all: At this moment, I activate Nepotism Prince’s effect and special summon Nepotism Queen (ATK: 1800, DEF: 2400) in defense position from my hand.

(My LP: 3400->2200)

Anchorman: Prince has significantly cut down the opponent’s life points. The opponent has no monsters left on the field, while Prince has three! Prince’s got a huge advantage.

Crowd: Prince~ Prince~

Girl C: Marry me!

Prince to me: I activate the field spell Urban Havana, whose effect you are all too familiar with. (Smirks.) I end my turn.

(Urban Havana’s effect activates. My LP: 2200->1800)

What? Is the opponent going to release toxic gas in the stadium?

I look around but see no trace of violet smoke.

No matter how much Ouroboros wants to kill me, they are not going to do it in front of so many witnesses. I try to console myself.

Turn 6

	Me	Prince
LP	1800	4000
Hand	1	0
Field	—	Prince, DEI, Queen, Bullying, Havana
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Sparkman, Clayman, Angel, Celestial	Feminist, Wand, DEI
Banished	Heat, Thunder, Vyon	—

Me to all: It’s my turn. I draw. (The card is H - Heated Heart.) I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart (ATK: 1500) in attack position, and I activate the spell card H - Heated Heart to increase Wildheart’s ATK by 500.

(Elemental HERO Wildheart’s ATK: 1500->2000)

Suddenly, I feel a bit dizzy. My head starts pounding.

I scan the area again but still see no sign of violet gas.

Is it my hallucination? Yesterday’s duel must have left me with PTSD. Am I becoming like Pavlov’s dog?

Me to all: Since now I have no cards in my hand, I can banish Destiny HERO Celestial and Destiny HERO Dark Angel in my graveyard and draw two cards.

Me to all: Battle phase. Wildheart, attack Nepotism DEI Hire. Elemental HERO Wildheart isn’t affected by trap cards and thus can’t be banished by Nepotism Gang Bullying.

(Yet Nepotism DEI Hire isn’t destroyed.)

Prince to all: When Nepotism Queen is on the field in defense position, “Nepotism” monsters can’t be destroyed by battle.

Anchorman: Another flawless defense. The opponent’s lost more than half his life points while Prince hasn’t lost any yet.

Me: (This isn’t fair. I can’t destroy his monsters by battle or deal him battle damage. My monsters get banished on attacks, and eventually, I’ll run out of cards. This is a world where only I get hurt.)

Me to all: I set a card face-down and end my turn.

(Elemental HERO Wildheart’s ATK returns to normal: 2000->1500.)

(Urban Havana’s effect activates. My LP: 1800->1400)

Me: (I need to get rid of Nepotism Queen.)

My head is throbbing. The solid vision of Elemental HERO Wildheart seems a bit hazy. I rub my eyes.

Turn 7

	Me	Prince
LP	1400	4000
Hand	1	0
Field	Wildheart, backrow (set)	Prince, DEI, Queen, Bullying, Havana
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Sparkman, Clayman, Heart	Feminist, Wand, DEI
Banished	Heat, Thunder, Vyon, Angel, Celestial	—

Prince to me: (Teasingly) How does Urban Havana feel?

Me: (What? Is he implying Urban Havana’s real-world effect? There’s no violet smoke here, but my head still throbs. How come? Wait, could it be… that the violet smoke is merely the solid vision’s animation? And what if the toxic gas itself is actually colorless?)

Me: (No way. Ouroboros wouldn’t risk releasing toxic gas in front of so many people. Plus, Prince isn’t wearing a mask himself. It seems he’s just trying to intimidate me.)

Prince to all: It’s my turn. I draw. I activate the spell card Graisser La Main. Both players draw two cards.

Prince to all: Nepotism DEI Hire, attack Elemental HERO Wildheart!

Though Wildheart isn’tt affected by traps, it will be destroyed by Nepotism DEI Hire since both have equal ATK.

Me to all: I activate the trap card Hero Barrier to negate this attack.

Prince to all: I set a card face-down and end my turn.

(Urban Havana’s effect kicks in. My LP: 1400->1000)

Anchorman: It seems that the opponent managed to survive this turn, but now he has only 1000 LP and at most three turns to save himself, due to Urban Havana’s effect.

Me: (My head’s pounding. Am I the only one affected by Urban Havana? Now’s not the time to worry about the toxic gas. My life points are burned down fast. I need a quick move to break my opponent’s board.)

Me: (Wait. Why didn’t Prince switch Nepotism Queen to attack position and go for me? If I hadn’t had Hero Barrier, Nepotism Prince’s attack could have finished me off. But I can grab an Action Card, such as Evasion, to dodge the attack, in which case, an attacking Nepotism Queen can guarantee my demise.)

Me: (Even though I did have Hero Barrier, he could still use Nepotism Queen to destroy Elemental HERO Wildheart and use Nepotism Prince to finish me off. I would have lost the duel unless I obtained an Action Card.)

Me: (This suggests that Prince’s moves might not be flawless.)

Turn 8

	Me	Prince
LP	1000	4000
Hand	3	1
Field	Wildheart	Prince, DEI, Queen, Bullying, Havana, backrow (unknown)
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Sparkman, Clayman, Heart, Barrier	Feminist, Wand, DEI
Banished	Heat, Thunder, Vyon, Angel, Celestial	—

Me to all: It’s my turn. I draw a card. (Glancing at my hand)

(If my opponent’s not keen on switching Nepotism Queen to attack position, let me help him out.)

Me to all: I activate the spell card O - Oversoul to revive Elemental HERO Sparkman from my graveyard.

Me to all: Then, I equip it with the equip spell Spark Blaster. When Elemental HERO Sparkman is equipped with Spark Blaster, I can target a monster and switch its battle position. I target Nepotism Queen.

Anchorman: Uh-oh. If Nepotism Queen is switched to attack position, she lose her protection over herself and other “Nepotism” monsters from being destroyed by battle. Nepotism DEI Hire and Nepotism Prince would be wiped out one after the other by Elemental HERO Sparkman and Elemental HERO Wildheart.

Prince to all: At this moment, I activate the continuous trap card Drama Queen’s Rescue and its effect. When a “Nepotism” monster is targeted, by discarding one card, I can return it to hand and then special summon a “Nepotism” monster from my hand. The summoned monster can’t be targeted for the rest of this turn. I discard Small-Boat Refugee. I return Nepotism Queen to the hand and then resummon her.

Me: (Eureka! Prince doesn’t want to risk switching Nepotism Queen to attack position because he is afraid of taking battle damage. That is, if I managed to destroy Nepotism DEI Hire, whose battle does not yield any battle damage, I could start dealing battle damage when attacking other monsters, and then his “flawless” record would be broken. Seems we have different definitions of flawlessness.)

Me to all: (If that is the case,) I summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat (ATK: 1300) in attack position. I set a card face-down and end my turn.

Prince to all: At the end phase, Small-Boat Refugee’s effect activates. At the end phase: if it is sent from the hand to the graveyard this turn, it returns to the hand.

Me to all: At the end phase, Elemental HERO Lady Heat’s effect activates: inflict 200 damage to my opponent for every “Elemental HERO” monster I control.

(Prince LP: 4000->3400)

(Urban Havana’s effect activates: My LP: 1000->600)

Prince to me: How dare you?! You tarnished my perfect track record!

Prince is apparently mad.

Me to Prince: You could’ve KO’d me if last turn you’d switched Nepotism Queen to attack position and used her to attack me. Because you didn’t want to take any risk, you have lost your chance to win this duel flawlessly.

Anchorwoman: This bitch (pointing at Elemental HERO Lady Heat) is such a disgrace—a real traitor to all women.

Crowd: Shame~

Me: (Facepalm. A while ago, you were complaining about the lack of female heroes.)

Though I succeeded in dealing damage to Prince, I have no clue how to win this duel. Looks like defeat is inevitable.

Turn 9

	Me	Prince
LP	600	3400
Hand	0	Refugee
Field	Wildheart (1500), Lady Heat (1300), Sparkman (Blaster, 1600), backrow (set)	Prince (1200), DEI (1500), Queen (defense), Bullying, Havana, Rescue
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Clayman, Heart, Barrier, Oversoul	Feminist, Wand, DEI
Banished	Heat, Thunder, Vyon, Angel, Celestial	—

Prince to me: You’ll regret this!

Me: (My head is pounding even harder now. The solid vision of my monsters is also getting fuzzier. Wait—could it be radiation, instead?)

Prince to all: I draw. (It is another copy of Graisser La Main). I activate Graisser La Main. Both duelists draw two cards. I activate the continuous spell card Nepotism Gang Stalking: If a “Nepotism” monster attacks one with higher ATK, it gains 1000 ATK during the damage calculation only and deals 500 effect damage to the opponent if it destroys that monster.

Prince: (Yes, no need to panic. Now, I can use Nepotism Prince to attack any of the opponent monsters, and Nepotism Prince will have 1200+1000=2200 ATK and can deal lethal damage to the opponent. I don’t need to take risk by taking Nepotism Queen out of her comfort zone. I should stick to the playbook and not fall for the cunning opponent’s provocation.)

Prince to all: (Reaches into his duel disk and pulls out a vial of pink liquid.) If you haven’t figured it out from yesterday’s duel, I’m Prince, TAGA Group’s only heir. With everything at my disposal, I’m destined to win this tournament. Let’s celebrate with Lass!

Prince holds up the vial for everyone to see before drinking it.

Anchorwoman: Prince is already claiming victory!

Anchorman: (Whispering.) But isn’t that a bit premature?

Crowd: Prince~ Lass~ Prince~ Lass~

The crowd’s cheers drown out the anchorman’s muttering.

Me: (Idiot. Spinach should be saved for when you’re behind to show its power. No point using it now when you are about to win.)

Me: (Why am I thinking in the shoes of Prince? If I don’t come up with a counter-strategy fast, I’m going down!)

Prince to all: Battle phase! Which target should Nepotism Prince attack? Elemental HERO Sparkman, Elemental HERO Wildheart, or…

Anchorwoman: Hit that bitch!

The anchorwoman is acting as Prince’s wingman, nay, wingwoman.

Prince to all: Elemental HEROINE Lady Hot!

Nepotism Prince prepares to take down Elemental HERO Lady Heat.

Girls: Yes, slap that bitch!

Me to all: At this moment, I activate the trap card Elemental Recharge. I gain 1000 Life Points for each face-up “Elemental HERO” monster I control.

(My LP: 600 -> 3600)

(Elemental HERO Lady Heat is destroyed and banished. My LP: 3600 -> 2200)

Prince to me: (Yelling.) Why wouldn’t you just play your role in the script. You should’ve lost by now since I have taken lass.

Me to Prince: What script are you talking about?

Prince to me: Everyone in Apollonis has a role, usually one from LGBTQIA+. Mine’s as Prince.

Me to Prince: Nonsense! I am not a citizen of Apollonis. Why should I play a role in your silly farce?

Prince to me: You uncivilized outsider don’t understand fine art!

Me to Prince: I have no intention of understanding what you call fine art. My goal is to be the world’s No. 1 duelist!

Prince to me: That doesn’t exist as a role!

Me to Prince: Why can you people accept LGBTQIA+ but not tolerate my ambition to be the top duelist? I hereby declare my ‘gender’ is being the world’s No. 1 duelist!

Prince to me: Are you out of your mind?

Indeed, my head’s pounding, and while my brain doesn’t know how to win this duel, my heart remembers my vow from a year ago. Declaring my ‘gender’ as the world’s No. 1 duelist feels right and natural at this moment.

Prince to all: Nepotism DEI Hire, attack Elemental HERO Sparkman.

(Nepotism DEI Hire’s ATK: 1500 -> 2500)

(Elemental HERO Sparkman is destroyed and banished, but I don’t take any battle damage, for Nepotism DEI Hire does not deal any battle damage. That said, I still take effect damage from Nepotism Gang Stalking. My LP: 2200 -> 1700)

Prince to all: I set a card face-down and end my turn.

(At the end phase, Urban Havana’s effect kicks in. My LP: 1700 -> 1300)

Prince to me: I have built an invincible board. You can’t beat it. Surrender already.

Turn 10

	Me	Prince
LP	1300	3400
Hand	2	Refugee
Field	Wildheart	Prince, DEI, Queen (defense), Bullying, Havana, Rescue, Stalking, backrow (unknown)
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Clayman, Heart, Barrier, Oversoul, Recharge, Blaster	Feminist, Wand, DEI
Banished	Heat, Thunder, Vyon, Angel, Celestial, Lady Heat, Sparkman	—

I manage to survive another turn. Finally, I get a moment to ponder over my radiation theory. There are two main types of radiation: non-ionizing and ionizing. Non-ionizing radiation includes things like radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, and ultraviolet rays. Ionizing radiation involves X-rays, gamma rays, as well as particles such as alpha, beta, and neutrons.

It can’t be visible light—obviously. It also can’t be radio waves; they’re of low frequency and thus cannot be precisely directed to me without hurting nearby Prince at the same time. If it is indeed radiation, then it must be able to be directed at me specifically.

To test this, I push through the pain in my body and make a sudden dash toward Prince!

Prince turns around in shock and starts running in the opposite direction.

Prince to me: Go away!

Crowd: What’s going on?

The scene now is almost comical, reminiscent of Tom chasing Jerry. After a few steps, one of his shoulder armor pieces falls off. It looks like my theory was right: Prince is avoiding being in the path of this supposed radiation.

However, I didn’t expect him to run that fast. I assumed those armor-like clothes were made entirely of gold. How silly! They’re actually leather with a gold coating—reminds me of some fancy brand products that aren’t durable and definitely not meant for washing.

I decide to stop the chase. On one hand, I don’t want to exploit his flimsy outfit. On the other hand, it would look strange if two duelists ended up so close in such a large stadium from the audience’s perspective. Duelists usually start at opposite ends of the arena for good reason; they only come close when competing for the same Action Card, which isn’t our situation right now. Plus, I’ve already confirmed my hypothesis.

But why would I think in the shoes of the audience when my very existence is in danger? Not long ago, I was even thinking from Prince’s perspective. This radiation has made me feel disconnected from my own desires.

Seeing me stop chasing, Prince also halts his escape.

Me to Prince: So, you are using radiation to mess with my mind!

Prince to me: Hahaha~ You finally caught on. Toxic gases aren’t our only weapon in Ouroboros. With our technology and resources, little ant, you stand no chance against us.

Though my head still aches, I feel slightly more at ease having uncovered the cause of it all.

Me to all: It’s my turn. I draw. (It’s Tesla Resonator, one of the two cards given to me by that mysterious motorcyclist earlier.)

Me: (Not a bad card on its own, but useless in this duel since Nepotism Gang Bullying can just banish it.)

Me: (Wait, what’s that Synchro monster’s effect?)

Me: (I see.)

Me to all: I activate the spell card R - Righteous Justice: Destroy Spell/Trap cards equal to the number of “Elemental HERO” cards I control. Since I only have Elemental HERO Wildheart, I can destroy one.

Me: (Even though it’s just one, R - Righteous Justice doesn’t target! That means my opponent won’t know which card I’ll choose and might hesitate to chain against it.)

Me: (I could destroy Nepotism Gang Stalking to nullify its ATK boost effect, or I could destroy Nepotism Gang Bullying to eliminate the banishing effect, or I could destroy Drama Queen’s Rescue if I want to go on the offensive, or…)

Prince to all: Not so fast! I activate the continuous trap card Corrupted Bureaucracy by discarding one card. I discard Small-Boat Refugee. When Corrupted Bureaucracy is face-up on the field, my face-up Spell/Trap cards cannot be destroyed.

Me to all: Nani? (My plan was ruined.)

Prince to me: I’ve told you, my setup is unbeatable.

Me to all: (Now I can only go on the defensive.) I summon the tuner monster Tesla Resonator. Level 3 Tesla Resonator tunes with Level 4 Elemental HERO Wildheart. 3+4=7. I Synchro summon Level 7 Electron Musketeer (ATK: 2900).

(Tesla Resonator and Elemantal HERO Wildheart are sent to the graveyard. Electron Musketeer is Synchro summoned to the field from the Extra Deck.)

Anchorman: What a surprise! The opponent brings out a Synchro monster in the purely Fusion-based HERO archetype!

Prince: (What? This isn’t recorded in our Intelligence. After this duel, I’ll need to do some ass kicking to those lazy, incompetent DEI hires.)

Me to all: I set a card face-down and end my turn.

At the end phase, Small-Boat Refugee’s effect activates. At the end phase: if it is sent from the hand to the graveyard this turn, it returns to the hand.

Urban Havana’s effect kicks in. My LP: 1300 -> 900

Indeed, Prince’s setup is meticulously crafted. It resembles Gishki’s unbreakable 3-card board but uses 8 cards instead and hinges on the “Nepotism” keyword instead of monster attributes:

1. Nepotism Prince holds the central position.

2. Nepotism DEI Hire serves as a scapegoat to shield Prince from attacks.

3. Nepotism Queen protects DEI Hire from battle destruction.

4. Nepotism Gang Bullying turns the otherwise useless DEI Hire into a banishing beatstick.

5. Nepotism Gang Stalking provides an extra attack boost, effectively enhancing the low-attack Prince.

6. Drama Queen’s Rescue grants Queen target immunity since she only offers battle immunity and is vulnerable to targeted destruction.

7. Corrupted Bureaucracy protects all face-up backrows, including Bullying, Stalking, and Rescue.

8. Small-Boat Refugee is used as a cost for Rescue and Bureaucracy, and it can recycle itself to ensure Prince never runs out of resources.

It seems Ouroboros’s enforcers are all master strategists adept at crafting these seemingly invincible setups, something I’ve never encountered before.

My head is pounding.

Turn 11

	Me	Prince
LP	900	3400
Hand	0	Refugee
Field	Musketeer (2900), backrow (set)	Prince, DEI, Queen (defense), Bullying, Havana, Rescue, Stalking, Bureau
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Clayman, Heart, Barrier, Oversoul, Recharge, Blaster, Righteous, Wildheart, Tesla	Feminist, Wand, DEI
Banished	Heat, Thunder, Vyon, Angel, Celestial, Lady Heat, Sparkman	—

Prince to all: It’s my turn. I draw. In each Standby Phase, to sustain Corrupted Bureaucracy’s cost, I need to discard a card. I discard Small-Boat Refugee.

Prince to all: Now, I activate the spell card Fraudulent Accounting. I gain $x$ LP, and my opponent loses ($1000-x$) LP. The variable $x$ can be any value from 0 to 1000. Let’s go with 600.

(Prince’s LP: 3400 -> 4000)

(My LP: 900 -> 500)

Me to prince: (Confused) Why not just pick $x$ as 0 or 100? That way, you are already winning this duel!

Anchorwoman: Prince regained the life points he lost earlier.

Prince to me: So now I’m sitting on 4000 LP. Another flawless win for me!

Me to Prince: You do know that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve lost LP at some point in this duel, do you? For reference, in Yu-Gi-Oh video games, you won’t get the no-damage bonus.

Prince to me: The media here in Apollonis is all run by TAGA Group. We can have journalists spin it as “Prince again won a duel with 4000 LP.” Viewers, especially women, usually only glance at each news piece and take things at face value without digging into the details, so they’ll assume it’s another flawless win.

Me: …

Prince to me: Before you worry about me, why don’t you focus on your own situation!

Prince to me: (Smirking) You know what’s great about radiation? Besides messing with duelists’ minds, it can also cause erectile dysfunction. We’ve secretly installed low-energy radiation devices all over Apollonis. Soon, all the girls here will be my bitches! Hahahaha~

Now I remember not having morning wood today. I thought it was due to my injuries and didn’t pay attention.

Me to Prince: Meanwhile, TAGA Group can make a profit by selling potent honey to those unsuspecting guys!

Prince to me: I certainly didn’t expect you’d dig this deep.

Me to Prince: I won’t let you do that. I want to marry lots of girls!

Prince to me: LOL. Are you like those filthy, perverted Muslim males in history, who supposedly married four women?

Me to Prince: No, I actually want to marry six!

Prince to me: What!?

Me to Prince: One for each day of the week.

Prince to me: There are seven days per week, genius. You don’t even know basic math!

Me to Prince: On Sunday, it’s just me time.

Prince to me: …

Me to Prince: I want to shoulder the responsibility of helping my wives through their confusion and pain as they grow older, sharing both their sadness and joys. We’ll grow together, hand in hand, building a connection no one can match. And then, our love will overflow, making the world a better place…

Prince to me: You do know polygamy is illegal in our world, right?

Me to Prince: How’s the monogamy you billionaires practice any different from polygamy? I would call it sequential polygamy—you marry someone new at each stage of your life, always replacing the old one with a younger girl, leaving those deprived, deserted, wretched, resentful old women wandering lonely in the world, who either die alone or propagate the hatred to the entire world.

Me to Prince: It’s like eating only the cherry on top of the cake or killing animals for their prized parts—like ivory or fins. It’s similar to how nomadic pastoralists practice rotational grazing or droit du seigneur in medieval times…

Prince to me: Enough! Stop with your abusive comments. I don’t want to hear any more from you!

Me to Prince: Come to think of it. I just realize that polygamy is not only natural but also suitable for billionaires. Multiple wives mean multiple children, dividing the fortune into smaller portions. The more kids a rich man has, the smaller each share becomes. This rebalances wealth distribution, which is key for democracy.

Me to Prince: When most of the fortune goes to the eldest son, he must prove his ability to manage it, or else the other siblings will dethrone him. It ensures meritocracy. You oppose polygamy because you don’t want your father having more sons who would otherwise claim part of the fortune. You want all that wealth for yourself.

Prince to me: You bastard! I’ll kill you!

Prince to all: Battle phase. Nepotism DEI Hire, attack Electron Musketeer and banish it, clearing the way for Nepotism Prince!

Me to all: If Electron Musketeer battles an opponent’s monster, my opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. Although the continuous effects of Nepotism Gang Stalking, Nepotism Queen and Nepotism DEI Hire still apply, Nepotism Gang Bullying’s trigger effect can’t activate.

(Nepotism DEI Hire’s ATK: 1500 -> 2500)

(Electron Musketeer is not banished.)

(Nepotism DEI Hire is not destroyed.)

(Neither side takes any damage.)

Prince to me: Well, I’ll just use Urban Havana’s effect to finish you off. I end my turn.

At the end phase, Urban Havana’s effect activates. My LP: 500 -> 100

Me: (My origin plan was indeed to destroy Urban Havana with R - Righteous Justice and stall with Electron Musketeer until I draw enough resources to turn things around. But that seems far-fetched now. Looks like I’ll lose next turn. Is this the end for me?)

At the end phase, Small-Boat Refugee’s effect activates. At the end phase: if it is sent from the hand to the graveyard this turn, it returns to the hand.

Just when I am about to give up, the blue LED of my duel disk starts blinking—indicating there’s a card I can activate.

Although my mind is struggling and unable to devise new strategies due to its pain, my innate duelist instincts persistently refuse to surrender…

(To be continued.)

	Me	Prince
LP	100	4000
Hand	0	0
Field	Musketeer, backrow (set)	Prince, DEI, Queen (defense), Bullying, Havana, Rescue, Stalking, Bureau
Graveyard	Emerges, Phantom, Poly, Clayman, Heart, Barrier, Oversoul, Recharge, Blaster, Righteous, Wildheart, Tesla	Feminist, Wand, DEI, Accounting, Refugee
Banished	Heat, Thunder, Vyon, Angel, Celestial, Lady Heat, Sparkman	—