The Reincarnated OP Protagonist Is Now A 3rd Grade Student (Patreon)

Chapter 19: School Rules Duel

Looking at the deck of cards Chen An was holding, Lu Li was briefly stunned, then she spoke in a strange tone, "A card battle? I'm all for it, but it seems like you only brought one deck of cards?"

"That's right."

"But isn't this a game that requires two players?"

Chen An had a smile on his face as he took the initiative to explain his idea.

He started to shuffle the deck of cards in his hand while explaining, "You're right, card battles typically require two players. But what if we add a twist? Since it's just a game, we can bend the rules a little, right?"

Lu Li looked intrigued but still a bit unsure, "What twist are you proposing?"

Chen An's smile widened as he revealed his plan, "We'll have a tag team duel with a twist. I'll control both decks, and you'll control both decks as well. Each of us will play for both sides alternately. It's like testing your strategic thinking and adaptability. If you can win against my strategy, you get to keep the remote control. If I manage to outwit you, you hand it over."

Lu Li's eyes lit up with curiosity, "So, you're saying that both of us will be controlling both sides of the duel alternately?"

"Exactly! It's like battling against yourself in a way. This way, the outcome will depend solely on your ability to predict your opponent's moves, adapt, and make the right strategic decisions."

Lu Li seemed to be pondering the idea, her eyes gleaming with interest. "And what happens if we tie?"

Chen An chuckled, "How about we consider that a draw and no one gets the remote control?"

Lu Li's smile grew wider as she agreed, "You know what, that sounds fun. I'm in!"

"Great! Let's get started then."

Chen An quickly set up the cards and positioned them for the duel. As they began the tag team duel with their unique twist, both of them found themselves immersed in the strategic battle, each move carefully planned to outwit the other.

As the duel progressed, Lu Li's strategic thinking and adaptability shone through. She was able to anticipate Chen An's moves and surprise him with her own. The tag team duel with a twist proved to be an engaging and mentally challenging

"Yes, you're right."

Chen An looked steadily at Lu Li's backpack and said, "And I can confirm that there's no need to go downstairs to buy booster packs and assemble a deck on the spot. You already have a pre-prepared deck in your backpack, am I correct?"

Lu Li's eyes lit up as she looked at Chen An, "How did you know?"

"Because..."

Chen An's thoughts became a bit complex. The words of the mysterious girl "Only you know what she wants" surfaced in his mind once again.

"You mentioned before that you wanted to play with me."

After a moment of silence, Lu Li also put down her small backpack and took out a card box from it.

As Chen An looked at the deck of cards Lu Li took out from the box, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Yu-Gi-Oh!": A series that started as various games but gradually evolved into an anime focused solely on card battles due to its popularity among children, thanks to its widespread dissemination. Chen An was well aware that this popularity would extend far into the future.

Players use cards to summon monsters to battle the opponent's monsters, aided by magic and trap cards. The goal is generally to reduce the opponent's life points to zero.

Despite its complexity and potential for strategic gameplay, very few people played it in this era, even among elementary school students.

Chen An pushed aside a table cluttered with items and emptied it onto the ground. With that, a rudimentary duel field was set up. Both players handed over their decks to each other.

"I'll go first."

After drawing five cards from his deck, Lu Li placed a monster card face down on the ground.

"I usually summon 'Nova Hero - Sky Hummingbird' and activate its monster effect. For each card in your hand, I gain 500 life points. So my life points increase from 4000 to 6500!"

The conventional 4000 starting life points for duels among kids, and 'Nova Hero - Sky Hummingbird'?

Watching Lu Li place the card with a bird-like creature on it, Chen An's eyebrows raised slightly. As expected...

This card, although considered weak in future meta due to powerful competitive decks, even weaker decks wouldn't include such a lackluster card. However, in this era, where people only had a few bucks of allowance, decks were usually collections of random cards, and complete decks were quite rare. Thus, the strength of 'Nova Hero - Sky Hummingbird' was explosively elevated in this time.

"I set three cards face down."

After setting three cards face down on the field, Lu Li whispered, "End of my turn, it's your move."

Chen An drew a card from his deck. Glancing at the six cards in his hand, he muttered to himself, "Too bad, out of these six cards, only 'Tornado' can destroy a spell or trap card. And I need to hold onto it to protect against potential attack restrictions on 'Sky Hummingbird.' So..."

"I Special Summon 'Cyber Dragon.'"

Looking at the card he placed on the ground, Lu Li's eyes widened in surprise, "A Level 5 monster with 2100 attack? I remember that summoning monsters of Level 4 or higher requires tributes."

"'Cyber Dragon' has an effect that allows it to be Special Summoned without tributes if my field is empty and the opponent's field has monsters."

Chen An waved his hand, "Now, I enter the Battle Phase. I'll use 'Cyber Dragon' to attack your 'Sky Hummingbird'!"

With an attack of 2100, 'Cyber Dragon' was about to attack 'Sky Hummingbird' with 800 ATK. Although Chen An didn't expect his attack to go through, he wanted to see what kind of trap cards Lu Li had set.

Would it be a defense shield? Attack restriction? Or a magic cylinder?

However, contrary to his expectations, the attack went through smoothly. Lu Li sent 'Sky Hummingbird' to the graveyard and took 1300 points of damage. However, Chen An didn't actually expect his attack to succeed; he simply wanted to gauge the set trap cards and their effects.

Would it be a Sacred Shield? Or an attack restriction? Or perhaps a Magic Cylinder?

To his surprise, the attack went through. Lu Li sent 'Sky Hummingbird' to the graveyard, and her life points dropped from 6500 to 5200.

With a hint of confusion, Chen An continued, "I'll set a monster face-down and two cards face down. End of my turn."

"My turn."

After drawing a card from her deck, Lu Li hesitated strangely. She stared at the card in her hand for a while, then gritted her teeth and said to Chen An, "I don't want to end this too soon, but... I don't want to treat this duel lightly either!"

Before Chen An could understand the meaning behind her words, Lu Li slammed the card onto the ground.

"I'll Summon the monster 'Demon Scientist - Frankenstein!'"

'Demon Scientist - Frankenstein'?

Chen An raised an eyebrow in surprise. Although the card's effect was terrifying—it could pay 5000 life points to Special Summon a monster from the Extra Deck—the problem was that Lu Li's life points were currently at 5200.

"I activate the effect of 'Demon Scientist - Frankenstein'! I Special Summon 'Five-Emperor Dragon!'"

Lu Li placed a powerful monster with 5000 ATK onto the field.

"But you're also paying 5000 life points, leaving you with only 200 points. Is such a high cost worth it?"

Chen An stared at Lu Li in shock, and Lu Li stared back at him, her expression serious.

This little fool seemed unaware that she had made a foolish move. The effect of 'Demon Scientist - Frankenstein' wasn't an "effect damage," but rather a life point cost. And the effect of 'Hellgate's Cold Shot' redirected effect damage, so they couldn't interact with each other in a proper duel setting.

But this wasn't a formal duel setting! They weren't playing a standard duel; they were playing by schoolyard rules, which were even more brutal than village rules—

The School Rules Duel!