Chapter 109: Joey Wheeler vs Ptah
"The Top 8 Qualifiers, huh." Joey Wheeler looked around at the others, a little nervous. "I wonder who I'll be up against. I'm so nervous."
"I hope I run into you soon, kid. Dealing with you would be way too easy, I probably wouldn't even need to reveal my Ace Card. In these Qualifiers, the deeper you hide your Hidden Card, the better." Bandit Keith said to Joey Wheeler.
Joey Wheeler didn't back down either: "Hmph, shouldn't I be the one saying that? To deal with a lowlife like you, I don't even need 1% of my strength. I can beat you easily."
"Oh, Joey Wheeler-boy and Mr. Keith seem quite excited about the Qualifiers."
Pegasus noticed Bandit Keith and Joey Wheeler interacting and exchanging harsh words: "Your passion for Duels, it moves me greatly. However," he paused, then made a helpless expression, spreading his hands and shaking his head, "for the sake of fairness, the ones who decide your Duel order are not yourself, nor me, but this!"
He snapped his fingers. The Old Butler, who had returned to his position, received the signal and pressed a button on a Remote Control beside him. A door suddenly split open on the wall opposite the Spectator Area of the Duel Arena, and a Big Screen pushed out from within the wall.
On the Big Screen were eight lit-up Avatar Frames, identical in style to yesterday's. The only difference was that today, the avatars within the frames were also lit up, with the faces of Hayato, Yugi, Joey Wheeler, and the others recorded inside.
The image on the Big Screen began to change. The eight avatars disappeared one by one, leaving only two blank Avatar Frames, symmetrically positioned on either side of the screen. The avatars within the frames changed continuously. After a little while, the changes slowly stopped, and the avatars that finally appeared on the screen were Joey Wheeler and Ptah Gallum.
"Yours Truly is the first one up?" Ptah glanced at Joey Wheeler beside him, then dismissed him from his mind, his gaze fixed on Samejima, who was sitting next to Yugi. "Hmph, Samejima Iemitsu, you're lucky you didn't face me. Make sure you win your Match, then wash your neck and wait for me to take you down!"
Joey Wheeler was a little angry: "You jerk, you're celebrating too early, aren't you? The one who's going to win this Duel is me. I have a reason I can't lose."
"As you all can see, the participants for the first Qualifiers Match are Joey Wheeler-boy and Ptah-boy~" Pegasus raised his hands to applaud, but no one joined him, so he stopped after two claps. He didn't seem embarrassed at all, maintaining a smile on his face. "Well then, the Match will be in ten minutes. You two should get ready~"
The group was led by the Old Butler to the Spectator Area they had been to yesterday, and they each chose suitable seats. Joey Wheeler and that Ptah Gallum, however, followed the Old Butler to the Backstage to prepare for the upcoming Duel.
"Mr. Samejima, I heard from Miss Mai that that Ptah Gallum seems to have Dueled you once," Yugi, sitting next to Hayato, asked Samejima beside him.
Samejima took off his hat, revealing a head of thick, beautiful hair, and nodded. "Yes, we met on the Island yesterday afternoon. At the time, he seemed to have won seven Duels in a row without a break, needing just one more Star Chip to enter the Castle. So, when he saw me, he challenged me."
"Although the Duel was quite dangerous, in the end, I had the slightly better technique and won the Duel. Even though we only wagered one Star Chip, it seems he really dislikes me because I ended his winning streak, hahaha."
"However, you can't underestimate him just because he lost to me once," Samejima said seriously, his expression turning grave. "If I were to Duel him again, I couldn't guarantee that I would win again."
"The Deck that guy uses seems to be made of Super Rare Cards. While it's not as terrifying as Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it seems only a handful of people worldwide use it."
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Soon, the passages on either side of the already prepared Duel Arena opened, and Joey Wheeler and Ptah each took an automatic elevator from their respective passages to the Duel Platform. After they placed their Decks on the Duel Platform, the Old Butler confirmed that both Players were ready and announced loudly:
"I announce the first Match of the Duelist Kingdom Top 8 Qualifiers, featuring Player Katsuya Joey Wheeler, against Player Ptah Gallum."
"The Match, officially begins!"
"Duel!" X2
[Ptah: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
[Joey Wheeler: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
"The First Turn is mine! Draw a Card!" Moving a beat faster than Joey Wheeler, Ptah drew five cards into his Hand first, seizing the First Turn Right. "Kid on the other side, let Yours Truly show you a magnificent Duel!"
"First, I Activate the Spell Card, Curse of Seclusion!"
Under the effect of the Virtual Projection System, an ancient wooden box appeared on Ptah's Field. The four corners of the box were sealed with sturdy screws, as if something incredible was imprisoned inside.
"Curse of Seclusion?! Could it be that Deck!" Although Ptah had only played one Card, the well-informed Yugi had already recognized the true nature of the Deck he was using. Samejima, beside him, nodded, confirming Yugi's guess: "Ah, that's the Sealed Beast Deck."
"It revolves around the Spell Card Curse of Seclusion as its core, Summoning a large Army of Sealed Beast Monsters to crush the enemy. That's Ptah Gallum's Dueling style," Samejima said with a serious expression. "Even defeating a few Sealed Beasts is useless. As long as Curse of Seclusion is on the Field, Ptah can Summon a large number of Sealed Beasts again at any time."
"When the number of Monsters reaches a certain point, even ordinary Duelists find it hard to survive a single Turn," Samejima said, looking at the Duel Field. "Although it has a weakness of being relatively weak when Curse of Seclusion isn't present, I didn't expect him to draw the Deck's core on the first Turn."
"Your Friend named Joey Wheeler is in danger. The only thing to be thankful for right now is that Ptah can't Attack because it's the First Turn."
Ptah's Operation didn't stop after playing Curse of Seclusion. Just as Samejima Iemitsu said, his Summoning was just beginning—
"Because Curse of Seclusion is on the Field, all the Sealed Beast - Inun and Sealed Beast - Nunurao in my Hand can be Special Summoned directly!"
Saying this, Ptah simultaneously played two cards from his Hand onto his Field.