Side Story Chapter 169 - Satellite World, Zexal (7)

“What...?”

The Duel King frowned, but not because he didn’t know what heatstroke was. Entrion were weak to the sun so they lived underground. They knew very well the dangers of heatstroke. What he couldn’t understand was why it was being mentioned out of nowhere during a Duel.

“Heatstroke is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than forty degrees Celsius, along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion,” Oh Kang-Woo explained.

“Why are you bringing this up all of a—”

“ADDITIONALLY—!!”

Kang-Woo stomped on the ground and spread out his arms wide. The sand particles around him dispersed in a fan shape.

“The temperature in a desert can rise to fifty degrees!!! Even seventy in the hottest of deserts in the world!!!” he explained passionately.

“So what does that have to do with a Duel—”

“IN OTHER WORDS!!! Your monsters cannot move because they have gotten heatstroke by [Desert]’s effect!!”

“What? What in the world are you talking about?” The Duel King frowned and glared at Kang-Woo. The logic didn’t make sense at all. “The Desert] card has no such effects!!!”

“Is that so?” Kang-Woo smiled and pointed at the Duel King’s collapsed monsters. “Then how do you explain that?”

“Th-That’s...!”

The Duel King’s lips quivered, lost for words. His collapsed monsters were panting heavily as if they would die at any moment.

“Th-This cannot be!!!” The Duel King examined his Duel Disk in disbelief. “Kurgh!! Shit!!!”

The Disk was functioning as it should.

“Right, why don’t you end your turn if you have nothing else to play?” Kang-Woo suggested.

“Why...? H-How could this have...”

The Duel King continued to fiddle with his Disk but the situation on the field did not change.

“You don’t have much time~”

“Kurgh... I-I set one card face down and end my turn!” shouted the Duel King begrudgingly.

“Bwehehehe!!”

Kang-Woo couldn’t help but laugh at the Duel King ending his turn in rage.

‘Yeah, this is the flaw I found in this card game.’

The Entrion engaged in Duels with extraordinary immersion. The monsters that were nothing but holograms felt real because of their reactions. Hence, the flaw of the Duels which gave rise to these holographic monsters and effects was rather simple.

‘They’re buried in the fantasy created by the Disks instead of reality.’

The holograms created by the Disks were not holograms to the Entrion.

‘And that’s exactly why...’

They could be manipulated and fabricated. It was exactly because the illusions they created did not exist but they believed it nonetheless, their eyes could be fooled all too easily using Kang-Woo’s Deific Essence of

Lies

.

‘It’s not perfect, though.’

This strategy could only work if they were focused completely on the Duel. No matter how perfect the fabricated illusion was, their immersion in the Duel would be broken if it ever got too far-fetched. For example, Kang-Woo could make it so that the effect of the Field Spell Card [Desert] gave the enemy’s monsters heatstroke but it would be impossible to petrify them.

‘But that’s more than enough.’

Making believable lies was Kang-Woo’s specialty.

“My turn! I draw!” Kang-Woo pulled out a card from his deck and placed it on his Disk right away. “I summon [Cunning Gargoyle] in attack position.”

Rumble—!

A gargoyle holding a sharp trident arose from a sandhill.

“[Rock Giant] and [Cunning Gargoyle]! Attack [Goddess of the Sandstorm] and [Warrior of the Wasteland]!”

“W-Wait!” the Duel King shouted in a hurry. “Why aren’t your monsters getting heatstroke?”

“Hm?” Kang-Woo chuckled as if he had heard nonsense. “Do you think monsters made of rock would get heatstroke?”

Both [Rock Giant] and [Cunning Gargoyle] were made of rock.

“Th-That’s...” The Duel King’s lips quivered in frustration but gave up on refuting and gritted his teeth.

“Nothing to say, huh?” Kang-Woo cackled and stretched his arm forward. “Attack!”

[Rock Giant] raised its sword and [Cunning Gargoyle] stabbed with his trident as Kang-Woo ordered.

Kyaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!

Gaaaaaaaahhh!

[Goddess of the Sandstorm] and [Warrior of the Wasteland] shattered into pieces and disappeared from the field. They wouldn’t have been destroyed under normal circumstances because their Attack Points were higher than Kang-Woo’s cards but their Attack Points disappeared due to heatstroke. Hence, they were easily destroyed even with the low Attack Points of Kang-Woo’s cards.

[Life Points: 5200]

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

The Duel King lost 2800 Life Points as his two cards were destroyed. He clenched his chest and fell to one knee. Blood flowed from his bitten lip and his seven eyes were bloodshot.

‘Jesus Christ.’

Kang-Woo cringed at the screaming Duel King. He couldn’t get used to their overreactions no matter how many times he saw them.

“Kurgh. To think you’d deal damage to my Life Points...” The Duel King glared fiercely at Kang-Woo. “I will have you pay for the sin of threatening the king’s life!”

“Go ahead and try.” Kang-Woo shrugged. “Well then, I'll end my turn.”

“My turn. I draw!” The Duel King energetically pulled out a card. He smiled as he checked which one it was. “Heh... You’ve made a grave mistake.”

“A mistake...?”

“That’s right.” He raised the card high and shouted, “The mistake of not wiping out my field in that one turn!!!”

“What do you—” Kang-Woo feigned surprise.

The Duel King burst into laughter. “I have gathered three sacrifices—”

Rumble—!!!

A menacing sound echoed from the Disk with a blinding light.

“FOR THE GOD TO DESCEND BEFORE US!!!”

Splash!!!

A large wave engulfed half of the sandhill, turning half of the field into the [Sea].

“I sacrifice three [Followers of the Wasteland] to summon [Sea Dragon God Neo-Leviathar]!!!”

A dragon arose from the water.

“O Devourer of the Abyss, capable of even devouring nightmares!! Manifest in my domain!!”

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

A sea dragon easily twenty meters tall roared. Although it was called a dragon, it was closer to a giant crocodile. Kang-Woo could feel intense bloodlust from the [Sea Dragon God], whose head was only slightly out of the water, ready to devour its prey at any second.

“A-A god?” Kang-Woo stepped backward in fear as he trembled uncontrollably.

He needed to play along to an extent to keep his opponent immersed in the game.

“[Sea Dragon God Neo-Leviathar] banishes two Water monster cards in my Graveyard to destroy all non-Water monsters on the field!!!”

Its effect was overpowered like the other cards in the Duel King’s deck.

“But you don’t have any Water monster cards in your Graveyard!” Kang-Woo answered.

“Huhu! I activate the Spell Card [Ruthless Water Burial]! It changes the attribute of all monsters in my Graveyard to Water!”

“I-Impossible...!”

“Receive the judgment of water!!!” shouted the Duel King as he spread his arms wide.

Rumble—!!!

A tsunami rose from the sea and engulfed Kang-Woo’s monsters. Kang-Woo stepped backward in pallor.

“Heh...” However, he smiled coldly. “You’ve activated my Trap Card, [Devilish Moon]!!!”

“Wh-What?”

The Duel King’s eyes widened. [Devilish Moon] was a card that raised the Attack Points of Beast monsters on one’s field. There was no point using it in this situation. Most of all...

“That’s a Spell Card, not a Trap C—”

“[DEVILISH MOON] RISES IN THE SKY, ACTIVATING ITS SPECIAL EFFECT,

GRAVITATION

!!!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“THE TSUNAMI CREATED BY THE [SEA DRAGON GOD] IS NEGATED BY THE MOON’S GRAVITATIONAL PULL!!!”

“What the fuck?”

The tsunami engulfing the field disappeared without a trace before the Duel King could even make any complaints.

“A-Arghh!!!” The Duel King trembled as he gritted his teeth.

“Alright, is that it?” Kang-Woo stared at the Duel King mockingly. “Looks like that monster was nothing much.”

“...” The Duel King lowered his head in silence. “...od.”

“What?”

“IT IS NOT A MONSTER!!! IT IS A GOD!!!” He stomped fiercely on the ground and stretched out his right arm. “I BANISH TWO MORE WATER MONSTER CARDS FROM THE GRAVEYARD TO GIVE RISE TO ANOTHER TSUNAMI!!!”

“Kurgh!!!”

The tsunami engulfed the field again, shattering the [Rock Giant] and [Cunning Gargoyle] on Kang-Woo’s field.

“Hahahaha!!! If once isn’t enough, I simply have to do it twice! You cannot stop the [Sea Dragon God]!!!” shouted the Duel King as he burst into laughter.

“I wonder about that?”

Kang-Woo who had been frowning until just now smiled leisurely as if the event never happened.

“Son of a bitch... What are you planning this time?”

The Duel King anxiously stared at Kang-Woo. His gaze shifted to the card on the field which Kang-Woo had set face down.

“I’m not gonna do anything,” Kang-Woo replied.

“You’re... not going to do anything?”

Kang-Woo nodded with a smile .”You did what I was going to do for me, after all.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kang-Woo paid no mind to the Duel King and crouched down to grab and fistful of sand.

“Do you want to know something?” he mentioned.

“What, you bastard?”

“Even in a desolate desert where it doesn’t seem like any life can survive... can become a rich forest after it rains.”

“Wh-What are you trying to say?”

“A tsunami hit the desert, adding moisture to the arid land.”

There was only one thing that could arise from such an event.

“THE [DESERT] FIELD ABSORBS ALL OF THE SEAWATER AND TRANSFORMS INTO A [FOREST] FIELD!!!”

“N-NANI—?!!”

Rumble—!!

Thousands of trees penetrated the sandhills from below and sprouted tall. Their roots dug deep into the ground, searching for more moisture.

“THE TREES OF THE [FOREST] GO THROUGH EXPLOSIVE GROWTH BY ABSORBING ALL THE SEAWATER!!! THERE IS NO MORE SEA FOR THE [SEA DRAGON GOD] TO RESIDE!!!”

“How the fuck does that even make sense?!!”

“WHATEVER I SAY IS THE FUCKING RULES, MOTHERFUCKER!!!”

Not many trees could grow in saltwater and even if they did, it was impossible to absorb an entire sea’s worth of saltwater. However, there was no need to nitpick over logic and reasoning. As long as it was believable enough for the immersion to stay intact, the Duel would continue the way Kang-Woo wanted.

‘This is what you call... a true [Shadow Game].’

Victory came down to who could bullshit the best.

‘No one can beat me in bullshitting.’

Not even Akart could handle Kang-Woo’s bullshitting.

“Now that the [Sea Dragon God] no longer has a sea where it can breathe in, the [Sea Dragon God] dies of suffocation and is destroyed!”

“Wh-What?!”

Shatter!!

The [Sea Dragon God] turned into light particles and scattered.

‘NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” the Duel King screamed desperately.

Kang-Woo smiled and pulled out a card from his deck.

“My turn! I draw!”

“Wait...” The Duel King raised his head, having realized something.

“What?”

“[Sea Dragon God Neo-Leviathar] is the god of the sea but has the body of a crocodile!! It can still breathe even without water!!!” he shouted as his seven eyes shone, having found a flaw in Kang-Woo’s logic.

“Really?”

‘So what?’

“You should’ve said so, then.”

‘It’s already my turn, dumbass.’