[Yuna Pov]
I watched as Pegasus surrendered with a hopeless smile and felt a sense of euphoria.
HA, HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT!!!
Honestly, I got insanely lucky with that duel. Not that I relied everything on luck, but only just a little bit! I promise!
I planned my deck based on stalling the game as long as possible. It would only work since Pegasus has set a timer on the game. Otherwise, I would've died. My entire deck only consisted of spells and traps while only adding a couple of monsters, just in case. I couldn't describe the panic when I used a risky move and discarded my hand using Cards Of Destruction while holding most of my monsters...
It truly felt like a Heart of the Cards moment when I drew the Sword of Revealing Light and trapped Pegasus entirely, crushing his will to continue. Otherwise, I felt that I would be defeated on the following turns.
SO TAKE THAT, HA!
I resumed my celebration while keeping a composed face. However, my shoulders shook at my all-out effort to control my laughter. Pegasus sensed what my feeling as he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Noticing his disturbed mood, I stopped.
Wait, I shouldn't be laughing, right? Pegasus still controls the Shadow Realm. He won't change his mind and take my soul, right? RIGHT?
I averted my gaze and nervously fiddled my thumbs. Pegasus glanced at me, and I instinctively flinched. It was a cold glare devoid of emotions, and I thought my life was over.
But the intense feeling disappeared as he laughed: "To think there's a strategy like that!" He wiped the tear from his eye: "Seems like you really beat Kaiba-boy with your skills."
"Unfortunately, another boy I recently duelled didn't meet my expectation...." He muttered.
"Yugi?" I asked to confirm my thoughts.
"Yes, him..." Pegasus repeated: "But I hope to see his growth in the future."
So Pegasus duelled with Yugi anyway?
How does that work?
But now, thinking about it more properly, I don't think it's impossible. With how frequently I visited Grandpa Muto's store, Pegasus will naturally know about him and eventually discover the Millenium Puzzle in his possession.
I glimpsed at Pegasus, who was observing me keenly. When I returned my attention to him, he smirked: "This time, it was my loss, but I hope you will still come to my tournament. It would be an honour to have you participate."
"Kay..." I nodded. Despite him being the antagonist, he sure has some humility...
Even if I wasn't invited, I still planned to attend somehow. From the anime, the first-place prize was like three million dollars! Who in the right might pass a golden opportunity like this?
"Finally, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you," Pegasus said and held out a paper.
The paper passed through my tv screen, which weirded me out, and I hesitantly took it: "T....this?"
"It's the rules for my Duelist Kingdom Tournament: "I want to have someone of your calibre review it for me."
EH me?
Hold on, did our duel bring you enlightenment or something? Why were you putting so much pressure on me? You treated me like a nobody a few minutes ago!
"Don't get me wrong." Pegasus interrupted my thinking and said sternly, "I only show respect towards people that deserves it."
Hearing being respected by Pegasus himself felt pretty good, and I obediently read through the content.
1. Each player begins the Duel with 2000 Life Points.
2. Direct attacking the opponent is not allowed.
3. Only one monster is allowed to declare an attack per turn.
4. Players can summon monsters regardless of their levels
5. If a player fails to summon any monsters during their turn when they didn't control one, they will automatically lose the duel.
6. When a card effect destroys a monster, the card's owner takes damage equal to half of that monster's ATK.
What were these stupid rules...
I looked at Pegasus with disbelief, but he seemed proud of his creativity: "How is it? It's pretty good if I say so myself."
However, I shook my head, and his expression immediately turned sour. All these rules sounded so annoying, and I still couldn't accept them as the card game I know and love. There was one that extremely infuriated me that I couldn't accept, no matter what.
I pointed at rule number four: "Bad...."
"Is that so? Care to elaborate?" Pegasus said with a frown.
To the best of my ability, I tried to explain that it's useless for monsters to have levels if they can be summoned normally. What will be the point if everything comes down to who got luckier on their drawing?
"But that's the original rule of Duel Monsters? Are you suggesting that we should change it entirely?"
Um, what...
So you're saying that has always been a thing. I stared at Pegasus with a dead-panned expression and slumped my shoulders: "No... strategy..."
Pegasus grasped his chin deep in thought: "Then I assume you have something in mind?"
I nodded and began to explain the concept of tributing. I knew this rule was eventually implemented later on during the Battle City Arc but it's best to have these rules early.
It wasn't giving me an advantage since almost everyone has decks filled with normal monsters.
Definitely not!
Yep...
"That's an interesting idea," Pegasus muttered and smiled: "You're truly an intriguing person. Very well, let's try it, as you said, it would be more fun."
Phew...
I wiped the imaginary set from my forehead. At least I could convince him, I still wanted to change all the other rules but as long as I'm careful, I should be fine.
Why did I feel like I just set a flag on myself?
"Anyway, it's unfortunate, that our conversation has to end here. It will be goodbye for now." Pegasus waved as he disappeared and my surroundings returned to normal.
I collapsed on the floor tiredly and sighed: "Thank goodness I survived..." I mumbled.
However, I immediately sat up: "Wait didn't I win? Shouldn't I get something?!"
I glared at the tv where Pegasus have already left and screamed"I GOT SCAMMED AGAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"