I Was Summoned to the Duel Monster World

011. A Truly Perfect Hand!

The first encounter with Emperor of the Dead, Valore was very surprising.

Valore’s appearance was grotesque and indescribable, inducing fear.

The lord of the netherworld, the emperor of the undead, the walking death.

He was a monster that was authoritative and impressive enough to not be strange even with all kinds of modifiers attached.

But the point that made me gasp in surprise was not because of Balor’s appearance.

The sight of Balor suffering from a flashlight that used a 200-attack ‘Battery Man’ as a material.

Is this the Commander-in-Chief?

Of course, it was natural for the undead to hate light.

But I didn’t know how to accept the sight of a guy who looked like a final boss struggling with direct sunlight.

“How dare you make me feel such humiliation! I don’t know who you are, but I won’t let you go… Kaaahh!!”

“Your Majesty, stop the nonsense and hand over the rare card.”

“Do you have no pride as a duelist…!!”

“Didn’t I introduce myself as a realist?”

No matter how much Balor spewed out a thick killing intent, he disappeared with a scream when I shone the flashlight on him.

At first, I was dumbfounded, but it was fun to keep doing it.

“Hey, hurry up and turn off that contemptible light! Don’t you want me to give you the card!!”

“Hmm.”

As I lowered the flashlight with doubt, Balor pointed his finger at me as if it was his chance.

I wondered if he was going to curse me or something, so I tried to raise the flashlight again.

But Balor’s mouth was faster than my hand.

“I challenge you to a duel!!”

“What, I thought you were going to curse me, but you’re asking for a duel.”

“I don’t use such vile methods like curses!”

“Is that so.”

“Then you should also duel with Jim fair and square!”

“I don’t want to.”

“Uh, why not!”

“I can get a rare card for free, why do I need to duel?”

“Good! Then let’s make it double or nothing and if you beat Jim in a duel, I’ll give you two cards of your choice!”

Valore, who made a tempting offer.

I don’t know what cards he has.

But Valore, a high-ranking monster, is likely to have some decent cards.

In other words, his offer is not a deal that only makes me lose.

I just need to check the penalty that occurs when I lose before I accept.

“What happens if I lose?”

“First of all, the card you were trying to rip off from Jim is null and void.”

“Is that all?”

“No. As a punishment for humiliating Jim, I’ll make you Jim’s loyal undead…Kraaak!!”

“I’ll pass on the duel.”

Click-!

I turned on the flashlight to show that I rejected the unfair trade and shone it on Valore again.

I didn’t want to give up being human for a card.

They say that in the world of duel omnipotence, cards are more precious than life, but not me.

When you become an undead, you lose your reproductive ability. Then, what’s the point of wandering around this world?

You might as well go under the god Anubis and become a pillar man.

“Ah, fine! I’ll drop the plan to make you an undead!!”

“Good. You should have said that from the start.”

“You devilish bastard…!”

“Don’t you want to taste more of the battery man?”

“I, I didn’t say anything.”

The emperor of the dead was a sure loser, but a somewhat cowardly type.

I thought I should make the bet clear before proceeding.

Following Anubis’s advice, I used the messenger function to write down the bet.

*

Start with 4000 life points.

A short and clean one-shot match.

If Han Se-yoon wins: The emperor of the dead Valore will give Han Se-yoon two cards of his choice.

If the emperor of the dead Valore wins: Han Se-yoon cannot request any cards from the emperor of the dead Valore.

*

“How about it? Isn’t this enough?”

“Not bad. But there is one more condition I want you to add.”

“What is it?”

“If I win, you leave this forest right away.”

“What is the reason?”

“I am currently at war with the elves. But your power is a fatal variable for me. I want to exclude you from this war as much as possible.”

I could feel the sincerity from Balor’s voice, which sank into a low tone.

Indeed, if I handed over the flashlight to the elves, the war could end by an external factor, not by a duel.

Balor must want to eliminate that possibility as much as he can.

“Then let me ask you one thing. What is the justification for starting the war?”

“There is no such thing as justification. I just want to get rid of the elves who look disgusting in front of me.”

“Is that really the reason?”

“You seem to be unable to understand. But I can’t understand you either. In a world where only the winner can rule above, it is ridiculous to talk about justification every time.”

“So you are waging a war for the sole reason of hating the elves.”

“That’s right. If I want something, I get it by a duel. If I want to beat someone, I break them by a duel. If I have a dream, I make it come true by a duel. So I intend to destroy the elves by a duel.”

To summarize briefly, Balor hated the elves from birth, and wanted to exterminate them.

A futile reason, but I could actually understand him.

Most of the undead decks, except for the platinum undead, were beaten up by the forest keeper decks in reality.

Of course, they had to hate the elves.

Good hatred, I admit.

“I understand. I will add that clause, so I will also add a new clause.”

“What is it?”

“If I win, please stop the war with the elves and retreat.”

“So you were on the side of the elves after all……”

“No, it’s a little different.”

“What’s different?”

“I’m not on anyone’s side. I just didn’t want the place where I stayed to become a battlefield.”

“That’s a nice-sounding excuse.”

“If you have a complaint, then challenge me to a duel. You said that the winner decides everything in this world, right? Then all you have to do is beat me, right?”

Valore, who stared at me with a dumbfounded face.

He soon burst into laughter and started to agree with my words.

“Kahahahaha! That’s right, you’re right.”

With that, the negotiation with Valore was over.

Now there was only one thing left for us to do.

“Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

“”Duel!!””

That’s how the single match that decided the fate of the elves and the undead began.

***

As the duel began, a coin toss was conducted.

Today’s luck was not too bad.

I hoped for a finesse opening, but the coin turned its back on me.

“Let me take the first move! I summon ‘The Girl Who Calls the Curse of Dawn’ from my hand!”

[The Girl Who Calls the Curse of Dawn]

Level: 4 / Attribute: Dark / Race: Undead

Attack / Defense: 1700 / 100

This card name’s (2) effect can only be used once per turn.

(1): As long as this card exists in the monster zone, ‘World of the Dead’ on the field is not affected by effects and cannot be destroyed by effects.

(2): You can activate this effect by sending this card from the field to the graveyard. Choose and activate 1 ‘World of the Dead’ from your hand / deck.

“Next, I activate the girl’s effect! I take ‘World of the Dead’ from my deck and activate it as a field spell!”

[World of the Dead]

Field Spell

All face-up monsters on the field and monsters in the graveyard become Undead.

“Set two cards and end my turn.”

“Then it’s my turn. Draw!”

This is bad.

I had a bad feeling from the coin toss, and now my hand is terrible.

Except for the ‘Cobalt Special Forces’ with 2000 attack, I have no monsters.

I have three spell cards for support and two trap cards for defense.

My options are very limited.

“What’s wrong? Is your hand not good?”

“Of course not. It’s a perfect hand.”

“R-really…?”

Valore, who seemed nervous and flustered by my lie.

I’m sorry. The truth is, I f*cked up big time.

But I can’t just admit that I f*cked up, can I?

“I summon Kobold Special Forces from my hand! I’ll go straight to the battle phase!”

“A monster with 2000 attack points. That’s tricky.”

“I attack directly with Kobold Special Forces!”

“I activate the trap card I set, ‘Return of the Dead’!”

[Return of the Dead]

Normal Trap

Special summon 1 Zombie-type monster from either player’s graveyard in defense position. The summoned monster cannot activate its effects and is banished when it leaves the field.

“I special summon ‘The Girl Who Calls the Curse of Dawn’!”

“I attack the summoned monster with Kobold Special Forces!”

Dwarf rats that move stealthily in the shadows.

They appear from the shadow of the pale-skinned girl, cover her mouth with their hands, and stab a dagger into her neck.

The girl’s body turns to dust and disappears without a scream.

The Kobolds that returned to my field sat down in their places as if they were exhausted.

It was the effect of ‘Kobold Special Forces’ that they became defense position after the battle.

“Battle phase end. I set 2 cards and end my turn.”

“Jim’s turn, draw!”

I pray fervently in my heart.

Please let the card he drew be useless.

“Jim will summon ‘Twin Zombies’ from his hand.”

[Twin Zombies]

Level: 3 / Attribute: Dark / Type: Undead

Attack / Defense: 500 / 0

The effects ⑴ and ⑵ of this card name can only be used once per turn each.

⑴: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field and activate this effect. Send 1 card from your hand to the graveyard and change the attribute of the targeted monster to another attribute until the end of the turn.

⑵: You can target 1 face-up Undead monster on the field and activate this effect. Send 1 Undead monster from your deck to the graveyard and increase the attack of the targeted monster by 300. After this effect is activated, until the end of the turn, monsters other than Undead cannot be special summoned.

Damn it!

He drew a cheat card!

“Activate the first effect of ‘Twin Zombies’. Jim will discard ‘Cursed Unicorn’ from his hand. Then activate the second effect as well. Jim will send ‘King of the Dead Balor’ from his deck to the graveyard.”

“Are you okay with throwing yourself away like that?”

“Death is a blessing for Jim. Only by dying and resurrecting can he be truly Undead. Activate the effect of ‘Cursed Unicorn’ in the graveyard!”

[Cursed Unicorn]

Level: 4 / Attribute: Dark / Type: Undead

Attack / Defense: 1500 / 600

⑴: During your main phase, you can banish this card from your graveyard and target 1 banished Undead monster. Special summon that Undead monster.

“By banishing the Unicorn from the graveyard, Jim will bring back ‘Dawnbringer of the Curse’ to the field!”

A monster card that not only activates the field spell ‘World of the Dead’ but also grants immunity to magic cards.

With this, he made it impossible to destroy the field spell that was the top priority for destruction.

He hadn’t even seen the opponent’s ace card yet, but he was already in a crisis.

“Battle! Attack ‘Cobalt Special Forces’ with ‘Twin Zombies’!”

Two zombies that pounce on the rats that are lying down and resting.

The cobalts are late to get into battle stance, but it’s already too late.

Many of their comrades have been bitten and killed by the zombies, and the remaining two cobalts have been captured by the zombies as well.

Their fate was sealed as they were careless, and I closed my eyes for a moment.

And when I opened my eyes again, my monster card zone was already empty.

“Next, direct attack with ‘Dawn’s Curse Girl’!”

“Trap card, ‘Taunting Iron Scarecrow’ activate!”

[Taunting Iron Scarecrow]

Normal Trap

When an opponent’s monster declares an attack, you can target that attack monster and activate this card. That attack is negated.

If this card is in the graveyard, you can set it on the field during your standby phase.

“I’ll block the girl’s attack.”

“You’re barely hanging on for now. Fine, I’ll end my turn.”

“Huff…!”

I calm my mind and put my hand on the deck.

I’m struggling to defend, but there’s no future with this hand.

But like in Artea, I trust my deck.

If I believe in the cards, hope will come.

Now, it would be nice if I draw one good card, right?

Isn’t that right? My small and precious deck?

“Draw!!”

A card that emits a brilliant light as soon as I pull it out.

This is it, this card will definitely bring about a reversal.

With a pounding heart, I flipped the card over and checked the contents.

“…Sakurane?”

Reversal my ass.

The effect was decent, but it was not a card that I could use right away.

“Standby phase, huh. Then I will activate the effect of ‘Emperor of the Dead, Balor’ in my graveyard! I will resurrect from the graveyard and come to the field!”

“Evanthe.”

A giant undead giant that walked out on its own feet like in Arthea.

As soon as Balor appeared, hundreds of zombie arms pierced through the ground and reached out on his field.

It was grotesque, but also majestic, his field.

On the other hand, my field was very barren and desolate.

A sigh came out involuntarily from the overwhelming field difference. It made me want to declare a quick surrender.

‘Why am I the only one with bad luck!!’