Solmere City, inside a certain apartment.
As a Platinum-ranked Duelist on the Ladder, Ian had retired from his club career and chosen to stream as his new livelihood.
His Dueling skills weren't bad. He often pulled off highlight-worthy plays and had an easy-going personality on camera, so he rapidly gained a sizeable fan base.
But for some reason, he had been zoning out a lot lately, causing him to miss crucial timings and break Chains during Duels.
These low-level, comical blunders might get laughs in the short term; however, repeated mistakes sparked unpleasant rumors.
Many people were saying he had fallen off.
Ian admitted that Dueling skill was partly tied to age; that said, he wasn't even thirty yet—his game sense and fundamentals were still solid.
Determined to shift public opinion, he decided to prove himself right here and now.
He would create a new smurf account for Virtual Duels and climb from Bronze to Platinum in just five days.
That way, he'd get great stream content while also proving he was still a powerhouse at the Platinum tier.
Taking a deep breath, Ian turned on his webcam and started the stream.
His streaming schedule was regular, so before long, a large number of viewers had piled into the room.
⟨Big Ian isn't late today? I thought you got flamed into hiding!⟩
⟨Is that room title for real? You're seriously gonna smurf climb?⟩
⟨Wow, Big Ian's that confident? Don't tell me you were throwing games on purpose before?⟩
⟨No way! It's because he fell off that he's going Bronze fishing!⟩
Glancing at the flood of chat messages, Ian selectively answered a few, then launched the Virtual Duel System.
He had a fire in his chest, determined to show these people his true strength.
"Guys, the new account's ready. I'm going from Bronze back to Platinum in five days, no cap!"
"You all know how hard that is. To hit Platinum that fast, I basically have to go undefeated!"
"Sounds tough, right? But let me tell you—starting now, I'm going full god mode, no deaths!"
The chat exploded with cheers.
Gifts and notification sounds poured in nonstop.
Ian laughed out loud, strapped on his Duel Disk, and hit the matchmaking button.
"Alright, boys! Let's start game one!"
Bronze rank had the most players, so matchmaking was almost instant.
Soon, Ian entered the Virtual Duel Field.
"Oh? The opponent's name is 'SunshineStriker.' Just from that name, I can tell they love Dueling as much as I do."
"With such a sunny username, their Deck must be just as bright."
Ian spoke with confidence, ignoring the chat's good-natured warnings.
⟨GG, stun match incoming!⟩
⟨Yeah, get ready for the screams.⟩
⟨Come on, even if Big Ian's washed, Bronze should be free for him.⟩
Drawing his opening five cards, Ian officially began the Duel.
On his computer screen, a coin engraved with Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared.
The coin flipped a few times—and landed tails for Ian—which meant he was going second this game.
"No big deal. Let them go first. Let's see what they're playing."
In this world, meta-archetypes were common. As long as he identified the Deck, he could adjust and counterplay accordingly. And Ian was piloting his old, reliable deck—Dragunity. The Deck he knew best.
After a short wait, the opponent started their turn.
They summoned their first Monster onto the Field.
A petite girl in a bright yellow dress, looking almost angelic.
"What an adorable Monster! Let me see... [Trickstar Candina]? Never seen this card before."
Ian was puzzled. He was fairly well-versed in the card pool, but this was his first time encountering it.
Regardless, he shrugged it off—It was just a Level 4 Monster, not widely used.
Given the vast sea of cards out there, it wasn't strange that he hadn't seen every single one.
Next, the opponent activated Candina's effect to search a Field Spell from the Deck.
Then they immediately played the searched card:
[Trickstar Light Stage]
"It's a whole archetype?"
Ian was surprised. Not many Monster themes had their own dedicated Field Spells.
Thanks to Light Stage's effect, the opponent searched out another Monster from the Deck.
Such smooth plays made Ian increasingly sure this opponent was smurfing too—Now it was just a matter of who was gonna get smurfed.
Next, the opponent activated [Trickstar Lycoris]'s effect from hand, bouncing Candina and Special Summoning herself onto the Field.
Then they played a Continuous Spell:
[Dark Room of Nightmare]
Finally, they Set two cards and ended their turn.
First turns couldn't involve attacking, so clearly they were setting up for future Chains.
Seeing the opponent end cleanly, Ian let out a breath, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes—Now... it was finally his turn to shine!
"My turn! Draw!"
Ian snapped his wrist dramatically, drawing a card. His Hand was near-perfect—he might even be able to OTK right here.
But just as he was about to start his play... he suddenly froze.
For some unknown reason, his Life Points started dropping fast!
…
TL: I know the Westernized names might not make sense in the Chinese context (and city), however, I also know that Chinese names fly over the head of so many people (including myself), so it's easier to keep track of and get immersed in the names adapted into English.
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