The horrifying sight left him speechless. Breathless. When he assumed he had done a terrible thing after waking up with a dead girl in that room, now he annihilated a man before his eyes. Without a trace.

Nothing came out from his mouth to defend himself. He couldn’t win against his guilt. If the judge was here now, he would turn himself in without any retaliation.

Fear overwhelmed him, planting the seeds of despair in his bosom. A moment of tears and cries of anguish was about to take over, a creaking sound was heard. Ears guided his eyes towards the cracks in the wall, slowly a familiar voice filled the air.

“Gyaah! I lost my right hand right away! Holysheet! You are a madman, mate!” Morgan, a man who should be dead, pushed the rubbles and came out from the cracked walls.

“You … alive?” Rei’s eyes widened. What he saw almost stopped his breath.

“Hah? I’m not that weak to get killed in the beginning of the game!” Morgan frowned, anyone could see his annoyed face clearly. Also, no trace of blood either. His clothes were intact too.

“H-huh? Wait, I meant I shot you with the gun … look at the floor and walls, they are destroyed… And … and…” His voice trembled, as if a crack had been created in it, sounded almost like a wail.

In the real sense, he lost himself. He didn’t understand anything at this point including what he said just now. Nothing came to his mind to shape whatever he saw into a plausible explanation.

“Yeah, you shot me. And?”

His jaw dropped. His brain twisted even more when Morgan acted like nothing was wrong. He had been shooted. He should be angry. He should have cursed Rei!

“And … Wait. What the hell. H-how–no, how could you survive?”

Morgan was dumbfounded by that question. “Hei … don’t tell me … it is your first duel?”

“…Yes?” He nodded hesitantly.

No. He didn’t even know if he should nod or not at that statement.

However, Rei’s answer led Morgan to slap his own face. “Guh! No wonder you were brave enough to surrender in the first place,” and he sighed. “Lemme tell you something, rookie. When you play a duel, you are actually able to feel the pain, get hurt, but you can’t die for some reason. Now, pay attention to your right shoulder.”

Rei’s left hand slowly rubbed his right shoulder. But he didn’t understand what Morgan truly meant.

“You shot and the gun’s recoil dislocated your shoulder, right? Observe it. The pain on your shoulder will disappear somehow.”

A strong pain on Rei's shoulder slowly faded away, just like he said. Actually no, he didn’t feel the pain, he was just too shocked to understand that. But, he did see traces of blood on his school attire and they suddenly evaporated.

“And look at my right hand,” Morgan raised his destroyed right arm.

Rei’s eyes widened. He saw it. Morgan’s right hand was regenerating itself like a growing plant without any medical treatment. Even with modern medical treatment, it was an impossible thing to achieve.

In the face of those unexplained events, he just laughed dryly. “Where the hell are we?”

Morgan shrugged. “Hell, perhaps? I don't know. You are asking the wrong person here! But if you win the duel, you will be able to get out of this building.”

I see. So the robot didn’t lie to me about that.

“Anyway, stop mopping the floor, rookie. Let’s continue our duel.”

“I … understand,” Rei forced his trembling legs to stay on the ground. Even after he knew about it, he couldn’t easily chase the fear away from his mind. He couldn’t let his weakness stop him right now.

“Nice! You got the spirit! Continue your turn then.” Morgan already stood in his place.

“Thank you … I guess.”

“Have no need to thank me. We have all the time here.”

Rei flashed a dry smile and then looked at the hologram screen in front of him. He saw his five cards, the duel field, his Life Point, Morgan’s Life Point.

Rei LP 5000

Morgan LP 3500

Plazma Burst effect: Deal 1500 True Damage to your opponent.

When he looked carefully, Morgan’s Aegis was still intact perfectly.

I see. True Damage is able to bypass the AEGIS. I thought Aegis would be destroyed instead.

Aegis was the shield or barrier that nullifies damage at a time. That was why Rei chose Plazma Burst as his first Master Spell. Somehow, it didn’t work like he wanted, but he was glad he did it at the beginning for another reason.

He breathed a heavy sigh.

Once again looking at his floating cards on the screen. He picked one and the hologram card immediately turned into a real card in his hand. He threw it to the Combat Zone. The card disintegrated into thousands of blue lights and formed a blue-haired girl wearing a black bunny suit.

Rei was stunned, he couldn’t believe what he witnessed. From her skin, her straight long hair, her butt, even sweats which were running down her shoulders. Everything just looked like a real deal. Like a woman who just came out of nowhere to offer you a drink.

He shook his head. No! There is no way you can produce an actual human with a mere card! This should be a part of the game system or an augmented reality type of shit. But, since when have things gotten this advanced?

“Don’t forget to use your unit effect, mate!” Morgan suddenly spoke.

“I know.”

[Nighty Bunny]

[Level: 1]

[Class: Neutral]

[Type: Entertainer]

[Power: 200]

[Class Effect: - ]

[Effect (1): When this card enters the Combat zone, draw 1 card.]

Rei automatically drew 1 card from the top of his deck. Then, his eyes locked onto another card.

“With one cost of material, I deploy the Nighty Bodyguard into the Combat Zone.” Rei sent 1 card from his hand to the Grave Zone.

As the rules said, any unit with level 3 or higher, players needed a cost to be able to play them into the duel field.

Level 3-4, you need 1 cost of material.

Level 5-7, you need 2 costs of materials.

The cost must be a unit card. You couldn’t use it other than that. However, you could choose the material either from your hand or your field.

The card Rei threw shattered into thousands of blue lights, then it transformed into a handsome man with a thick mustache and bulging muscles. The tuxedo he wore couldn’t hide his tremendous flesh.

[Nighty Bodyguards]

[Level: 3]

[Class: Guardian]

[Type: Entertainer]

[Power: 200]

[Class Effect: No damage received or dealt involving this card during battle phase]

[Effect (1) : When this card enters the combat zone, gain 1 Aegis.]

With Nighty Bodyguard effects, now Rei had 3 AEGIS. That meant, Rei was able to nullify damage three times. With a Guardian Class unit on the field, he actually had 4 damage negations.

He looked at the card he had and after a small sigh, he ended his turn.

[Rei LP 5000 / 3 AEGIS / 2 units on the field / 3 cards in hand]

[Morgan LP 3500 / 2 AEGIS / 0 unit on the field / 5 cards in hand]

“Wait, you didn't use your last Deploy Limit?” Morgan interrupted. “You can at least control 3 units in your field.”

Rei understood that. But, he couldn’t waste his unit as a dead meat or additional shield at the first turn while reducing the card on his hand. It was a harsh choice, yet he beamed.

“Whatever, it is my turn now!” Morgan drew a card like a maniac with a passion. “Lemme show you how to play this game full of heat, mate!”

Yeah, whatever, mate.

[2nd Turn,

Morgan Deploy Limit 5/5]

Morgan beamed and activated his Master Spell, “Plazma Burst!”

Rei’s eyes widened again. “Wait, how–” Before he finished his sentences, a tremendous force pushed his body backwards and burned him alive. The superheated plasma immediately disintegrated his skin, limb, and engulfed him in a burning abyss.

He couldn’t speak a single word. He had lost his entire speaking system. However, the unspeakable suffering he got gradually went away as his body was restored at high speed. His flesh and bone moving on their own, fixing themselves without screws, iron, or stitches. Everything occurred just like what happened to Morgan’s hand earlier.

That disgusting experience made him sick. Almost threw himself up. Yet, he was relieved to be able to breathe again.

He checked his entire body and everything was fine. Still, he was surprised that his school attire was also restored completely.

Wait … this is weird. If every wound you receive can be regenerated, then why did that girl die and rot? Even if she loses in a duel, she should be fine, right?

That question begged another question in his head, but he had no time for it. Not now.

He got up and pushed the rubbles around him and walked straight to the duel field.

“Now … you understand more of what I said before, right?”

Rei chuckled a bit. “Yeah, it was quite amazing.”

Sweat dropped on Morgan's forehead. “You are the first person to find it funny.”

“Hold on. You got me wrong there. It was a crazy experience, you hear? It just, you know … everything is so confusing to me. I couldn’t turn these experiences into a better logical explanation. So … yeah, I just laughed at it,” He shrugged and let out an awkward laugh.

“Oh! I thought you were a crazy person or something! Then, let me continue my turn.”

Morgan threw two cards to the Combat Zone. Both cards transformed into two goblins wearing flashy clothes while carrying large red bombs.

“I activate my both Bombast Planters effect! I will inflict 2 Explosives Counter to you.”

After he declared his card effect, a new icon showed up suddenly on Rei's screen. A red bomb icon. When Rei touched it, it showed nothing.

Is this debuff or something?

A new card information showed on his screen.

[Bombast Planter]

[Level : 1]

[Type : Warrior]

[Class : Neutral]

[Power : 300]

[Class Effect: - ]

[Effect(1): —]

Shortly after, the blank area in the card was revealed.

[Effect(1): When this card enter the Combat Zone, inflict 1 Explosive Counter to your opponent]

The effect description showed right after Morgan explained his cards' effects. Rei took time to understand it, because it was different from any card game rules he had. Each player should be able to read the opponent's cards when they appear on the field or grave zone. However, not in this game.

“My turn isn’t over,” Morgan continued, “I activate a Spell Card, Failure Bomb! I destroy my two Bombast units on the field to draw 2 cards and dump 1 card from my hand.”

Another card information popped up on Rei's face.

[Failure Bomb]

[Type: Normal Spell]

[Attribute: - ]

[Effect: Destroy up to 2 units you control, draw 2 cards and send 1 card from your hand.]

Destroying his units to gain more cards … It’s a good strategy.

And he still has 3 Deploy Limits to use, but I don't think he is able to inflict any damage to me right now.

After Morgan drew his cards and sent one to the Grave Zone, he smiled. “My hands are perfect, mate.”

“You shouldn't say that to your opponent, don’t you?”

…

“You're right, but today is different.” He activated another spell card, Weakling Privilege. Due to its effect, Morgan was able to Call a unit directly from the main deck to the Combat Zone.

[Weakling Privilege]

[Type: Normal Spell]

[Attribute: - ]

[Effect: Call level 1 unit from the main deck to the combat zone.]

A new unit appeared on Morgan’s field. Another goblin came out from the cave … not this time, perhaps. What stood there was a modern goblin. He wore a blue suit, sat on the chair, then opened his suitcase. He stretched out something from the inside–a piece of paper that read "Open Recruitment".

[Bombast Recruiter]

[Level : 1]

[Type : Warrior]

[Class : Neutral]

[Power : 300]

[Class Effect: - ]

[Effect(1): Search 1 level 3-4 “Bombast” Unit from the Main Deck to your hand.]

[Restriction: Once per turn.]

“I added Bombast Ignitor to my hand,” Morgan smirked. “And with 1 material cost, I deploy Bombast Ignitor!”

He threw the Bombast Ignitor card to the Combat Zone.

The tossed card shattered into a thousand blue lights and formed a new goblin on the surface. The goblin was wearing a military uniform and had a detonator in his hand. A “Quack!” sound rang out continuously accompanied by a terrifying smirk on his face.

[Bombast Ignitor]

[Level : 3]

[Type : Warrior]

[Class : Neutral]

[Power : 1000]

[Class Effect: - ]

[Effect : — ]

“When this unit deployed to the field, I could ignite all Explosive counters!” Morgan snapped his finger and the military goblin immediately pressed the detonator.

The icon “Explosive Counter” suddenly took a real shape as a bomb and stuck into Rei’s hand.

“Don’t tell me–” Before he could react, the explosive counter exploded, creating a cloud of smoke. Somehow, he felt nothing. No burning sensation or hellish experience like he felt before.

Rei hesitantly opened his eyes and found an invisible barrier surrounding his body like a membrane. In the next second, the barrier cracked into million pieces and was destroyed. Nothing remained except white lights that slowly faded into the thin air.

[1 AEGIS destroyed]

I see. Effect damage can’t pass through the AEGIS. So only True Damage like “Plazma Burst '' can bypass this protection.

“When an Explosive Counter ignites, the opponent player will receive 500 damage per counter they have. So, your Aegis protects you against 1000 damage,” He explained it while wearing a smug face.

…

“Ah… It seemed you made a mistake, somehow?”

Morgan was flustered, “I-it’s not like that! Anyway, ready for battle!”

The phase was changed from Main Phase into Battle Phase. In this phase, players were able to use their unit to attack an opponent unit or do a direct attack if the opponent didn’t have a unit on the field.

Morgan pointed to the Nighty Bodyguard. “Bombast Ignitor, attack him!”

By his commander's decree, the military goblin threw a bomb from his sleeve and blew it up. The Nighty Bodyguard was destroyed and nothing remained except a gray fog.

However, by the Guardian class effect, Rei didn’t suffer any damage.

“Next! Attack his Bunny Girl!” Morgan's second unit, Nighty Recruiter threw his suitcase and destroyed Rei’s Bunny Girl on the spot.

Due to different power levels between their units (300 - 200) , Rei would receive a small amount of damage. Yet, it got covered by AEGIS again.

[Rei LP 3500 / 1 AEGIS / 0 unit on the field]

[Morgan LP 3500 / 2 AEGIS / 2 units on the field]

Morgan looked at his cards, nodded a few times for no reason, and ended his turn.

“Now show me your best combo, mate.”

He didn’t respond to Morgan’s, but suddenly, he remembered the question he wanted to ask before.

“Morgan,” he said, “do you know a continent called Africa?”

There was a pause and his opponent scratched his head while leaking a ‘hmmm’ sound and finally gave a long sigh.

“I don’t want to answer it, but your face told me that I cannot run away from it forever.” He giggled for a second and then put a serious tone on his face. “I never knew a continent with that name. Are you satisfied now?”

"Maybe … you forgot it? Your amnesia, I mean."

"I didn't forget anything other than the people I knew: Mom, Dad, even my girlfriend. I lost their faces from my memories." Morgan had a dejected look suddenly. "Aside from me, that's probably all of it. Heck, from elementary school to high school, this is the first time I've heard that, and the worst is it's coming from you. A stranger.”

"America? Asia?" Rei continued his question list. "What about Australia?"

He shook his head to each Rei’s question. "You sure you don't have a problem with your head, mate?"

“Huh? Me?”

Weird! He couldn't believe that Morgan had forgotten such basic geography knowledge, let alone the confident look on his face, as if the young black boy had never heard of them before.

Or perhaps....

“Stop lying, Morgan. Lying brings you nothing.”

Morgan raised his eyebrows and glaring at Rei, “I-I never told you a lie before and I will do the same ‘til the rest of my life, mate!”

He could see the annoyance on Morgan's face. He didn’t mean to hurt him or something like that. Deep inside, he just hoped that Morgan lied at some point and that was fine. But, his reaction showed otherwise.

If what Morgan’s said was the truth, then his nightmare was far from over.