"To put it bluntly, Hoshino-chan, you are currently too weak." Da Vinci's expression turned serious, a departure from her usual demeanor.
"I'm too weak?" Hoshino was stunned by Da Vinci's direct and hurtful words.
"Yes, and the most critical issue is that you've never realized this problem because you've been on a winning streak." Da Vinci shook her head helplessly and continued explaining.
"But I've been winning all this time! Why do you say I'm weak?" Hoshino retorted, feeling a bit indignant. "I almost beat Seto Kaiba!"
"But you still lost." Da Vinci's sharp words pierced Hoshino's heart like a blade, leaving her speechless.
Hoshino's head drooped, and her spirits sank instantly.
"Hoshino-chan, the reason you've been winning isn't because you're strong; it's because your deck is strong for this era." Despite the pained expression that flashed across Da Vinci's face as she looked at Hoshino's dejected expression, she continued firmly. "Most of your victories are due to the inherent strength of your Heroic Spirit cards. While you sometimes pull off a nice combo, those are the basics."
"Da Vinci, that's too harsh," Hoshino muttered, her head nearly resting on her chest.
"It's not harsh; it's for your good." Da Vinci took on a motherly tone. "That's why I've been waiting since yesterday, waiting for the moment you finally lose."
"But what if, what if I had beaten Kaiba?" Hoshino clung to a shred of hope, still thinking she was just a step away from victory.
"No, there's no 'what if.' You could never have beaten Seto Kaiba." Da Vinci crushed Hoshino's last bit of hope. "Kaiba, even though he doesn't possess the so-called dark powers of this world, still gives off an extraordinarily unique aura. It's a feeling quite similar to yours, Hoshino-chan."
"A feeling similar to mine?" Hoshino was even more confused by Da Vinci's words.
"A feeling that doesn't belong to this world. This is just a guess, but it might be that your presence here has altered the world's original course. Or perhaps..." Da Vinci trailed off.
"Or perhaps..." Hoshino swallowed nervously, waiting for Da Vinci to continue.
"Well, those baseless theories aren't important. The reason I say you can't defeat Kaiba is because that duel was already the limit of your current deck." Da Vinci shifted the topic away from the mystery that interested Hoshino the most. "And Kaiba can still get stronger."
"Come on, Da Vinci, don't just give me half the story." Hoshino, who had mentally prepared herself, felt disappointed.
"But it's hard to believe Kaiba can get even stronger," Hoshino shuddered at the thought.
"Not just Kaiba; Yugi and Pegasus, too, are beyond your current abilities." Da Vinci's words sounded alarming, but Hoshino could tell she wasn't exaggerating.
"So, Da Vinci, you've been talking about how strong everyone else is. What's weak about me?" Hoshino asked urgently.
"Hmm, explaining it directly might not make sense to you. How about a duel with me?~" Da Vinci smirked, proposing the challenge.
"A duel with you, Da Vinci?" Hoshino looked incredulous. "But you're just a hologram. Can you even duel?"
"It's just a card game. Although using a hologram isn't ideal, we can manage." Da Vinci insisted, pulling out a deck from somewhere.
"Where did you get that deck, Da Vinci?" Hoshino's curiosity was piqued by the mysterious deck.
"It's just a deck I copied from some data. Nothing special." Da Vinci smiled mysteriously and placed the deck on the table. "Enough talk, let's duel!"
[Da Vinci VS Chiyuki Hoshino, Duel Start!]
"Although Chaldea doesn't have a special holographic dueling system, Duel Monsters was designed as a tabletop game, so it won't be a problem." Drawing five cards, Da Vinci smiled slyly.
... (Three chapters of dueling with Da Vinci)
"Hahaha, Da Vinci, despite all your fancy talk, you're about to lose!" Seeing her overwhelming advantage on the field, Hoshino couldn't help but laugh. "Heracles, a direct attack on Da Vinci."
[Heracles ATK:4800]
"Too naive, Hoshino. Activate trap card, [Magic Cylinder]!" Da Vinci flipped her only set card, signaling the end of the game. "Magic Cylinder reflects Heracles' attack power as damage."
Chiyuki Hoshino LP 4000 → 0
"That's so unfair, Da Vinci! What kind of card is that?" Hoshino, despite her huge advantage, lost to one card and complained bitterly.
"Hoshino-chan, this is one of your critical weaknesses: you never consider the opponent's set cards.~" Da Vinci collected the cards and adjusted her glasses. "Your aggressive style is impressive, but you can't be reckless. Set cards can be fatal."
"I'm not satisfied, Da Vinci! One more duel!" Hoshino pounded the table like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Alright, one more round." Da Vinci, anticipating Hoshino's reaction, placed the deck back on the table.
... (Two chapters of dueling.)
"Sorry, Hoshino-chan, but I'm going to win again~" Da Vinci smugly played the spell card [Monster Reborn]. "Revive Heracles from your graveyard and then activate [Spinning Lance of the Blue Berserker]! Sacrifice Cu Chulainn on your field and destroy all your monsters." Adjusting her glasses again, Da Vinci announced her victory. "Then, Heracles, direct attack!"
Chiyuki Hoshino LP 2500 → 0
"This makes no sense! Why would your card sacrifice my Cu Chulainn?" Hoshino, in disbelief, shouted.
"Hehe, sometimes the opponent's monsters can be used as resources too." Da Vinci laughed, thoroughly enjoying her victory. "So, do you admit you're weak now?"
"No, it's just that you're too strong, Da Vinci!" Hoshino sighed, putting her cards down and slumping over the table.
"I'm just using what I learned recently." Da Vinci shook her head, her expression serious again. "Duelists like Pegasus and Yugi are much stronger than I am. Do you think you can beat them as you are now?"
"So what do I do? Help me, Da Vinci!" Like Nobita pleading with Doraemon, Hoshino could only rely on the universal genius Da Vinci now. "Coach, teach me how to play!"
"I'd love to teach you, but there's no time. True dueling skills, unless you're a genius like me..." Da Vinci's expression turned smug, "are honed over hundreds or even thousands of duels."
"So you're saying I have no chance to beat Pegasus?" Hoshino, knowing she didn't have the time to accumulate that much experience before the tournament, felt desperate. "Am I just supposed to give up on the Duelist Kingdom prize money? How will I survive here?"
"No, you can't give up. You must win." Da Vinci's eyes were grave as she explained to Hoshino, "Your presence has already started to alter the course of this world. The darkness originally unrelated to you has now entangled you, the catalyst for these changes. And you can't avoid it."
"To fight against this world's darkness, you must grow stronger quickly!" Even Hoshino could sense the seriousness of the situation, knowing Da Vinci must have a solution.
"The most effective way to quickly increase your combat power is to enhance the strength and synergy of your Heroic Spirit deck." Da Vinci adjusted her glasses and explained to the eager Hoshino, "To put it in terms you can understand, you need to max out the potential of your cards."
"Max out my cards? Hmm..." For some reason, hearing Da Vinci's suggestion made Hoshino's liver ache slightly.
"Do you mean I have to grind for materials like in FGO?" Hoshino recalled the days she spent tirelessly grinding for materials for her Servants. Though she had enjoyed it back then, the thought of doing it now filled her with exhaustion.
"Hehe, it won't take much time. If you had that much time, it would be better spent dueling more to gain experience." Da Vinci laughed, comforting Hoshino, who was clutching her side. "What I'm talking about is a much simpler and more direct way to instantly increase your cards' strength."
"In the world you came from, there's also a gacha system, right?" Da Vinci adjusted her glasses, her expression turning into that of a shrewd merchant.
"Are you telling me that spending money will make me stronger? I know that already, but I don't have the means to spend money here." Hoshino, having seen Da Vinci's merchant-like expression many times when recharging in the game, couldn't help but associate it with spending money.
"That gacha system was something I added..."
"I knew it! You scammer! You're still trying to make me spend money even in this world!" Hoshino, realizing the truth, slapped her cards on the table and reached for Da Vinci, only to remember she was just a hologram. "You're just messing with me! Why are you bullying me like this?"
"Calm down, Hoshino-chan." Unfazed, Da Vinci continued, "I'm doing my best to help you."
"Is tricking me into spending money your best effort?" Hoshino glared at Da Vinci with a deadpan expression.
"When you got caught up in the transfer system, you were supposed to arrive in this world with nothing." Da Vinci suddenly turned serious. "Luckily, when you were pulled into the system, your connection to Chaldea was active."
"My connection to Chaldea was active?" Hoshino tried to recall what she was doing before she got transferred. "I think I was playing FGO on my phone."
"Exactly. That was the stroke of luck in your misfortune. Although I had very little time to react, I managed to hack into that mysterious system as quickly as possible." Da Vinci's proud expression implied that no one else could have hacked the system so quickly. "Based on this world's rules, I recreated Chaldea's power to the fullest extent possible, which includes your current cards and the gacha system."
Hoshino gasped. According to Da Vinci, her transfer was essentially an accident, unrelated to Chaldea. Without Chaldea's help, she would have arrived in this world with nothing. Surviving without her deck would have been nearly impossible.
"I'm sorry, Da Vinci. I misunderstood you." Realizing her mistake, Hoshino bowed her head to her savior.
"No need to be so formal, Hoshino-chan. We're like family." Da Vinci reached out with her virtual hand, pretending to pat Hoshino's head. "Anyway, back to the topic—gacha system!"
"You've drawn many cards, and besides Heroic Spirit cards, you've gotten other types of cards too, right?" Da Vinci's meaningful smile seemed to mock Hoshino's bad luck. "Most of what you've drawn aren't Heroic Spirit cards, correct?"
"Uh!!" Hoshino felt a pang in her heart as she looked at Da Vinci's smile. She obediently answered, "Aside from Servant cards, most of what I draw are spell and trap cards that go with the Heroic Spirit decks, and occasionally cards that already exist in this world."
Nodding, Da Vinci wore an 'I knew it's expression. "And among those spell and trap cards, there must be quite a few duplicates."
"Yes, there are some duplicates, but I don't know where they are. I've checked my deck many times, and each card is unique." Hoshino confirmed confidently.
"Exactly. This is the fatal flaw of the Heroic Spirit deck: each card is unique. Not just Heroic Spirits, but even their accompanying spell and trap cards are unique." Da Vinci pushed up her glasses, analyzing seriously. "And this is a flaw that seems impossible to overcome."
"That can be considered a flaw?"
"Yes, it is a flaw! Even if a card is powerful, you can only have one in your deck." Da Vinci nodded emphatically.
"But if you can only have one, just use another powerful Heroic Spirit. There are so many strong Heroic Spirits, and the deck can only hold so many cards anyway." Hoshino didn't understand how this was a serious flaw.
"No! If you can only have one of each Servant, the probability of drawing any specific Servant is very low. You can't specialize your deck around any single Heroic Spirit." Seeing Hoshino's confusion, Da Vinci thought for a moment. "Let me give you an example."
"Do you think Kaiba is strong because of Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" Da Vinci asked, preparing her example.
"Of course! Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon not only has high attack power but also seems indestructible. It's an all-around powerhouse, a super rare card with only three copies in the world." Recalling her terrifying encounters with Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Hoshino shivered.
"No! Blue-Eyes White Dragon itself is excellent but not extremely strong." Da Vinci raised three fingers. "Kaiba's deck has three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, making it highly likely for him to draw one. The true strength of Blue-Eyes White Dragon comes from Kaiba's deck being heavily built to support it."
Hoshino's eyes widened as she finally grasped Da Vinci's point. "So what should I do, Da Vinci? You must have a solution!"
"Hehe, I told you before, the most effective way to enhance your deck's strength is to increase the cards' power and synergy." Da Vinci pointed to Hoshino's deck. "Take out [Limited/Zero Over] and have a look."
Hoshino's face showed a complicated expression.
"Is this the card?" Hoshino pushed [Limited/Zero Over] onto the table, recalling her recent defeat to Kaiba.
"Hold this card and open the system," Da Vinci instructed.
Confused but compliant, Hoshino did as Da Vinci said.
"
"?!?"
(*****)
If you'd like to read 20 chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/ANeet. Your support means a lot. Thank you!