“I… actually lost…” Snow slumped to the ground, a look of disbelief on his face, muttering, “Why… why did my thorough and meticulous strategy lose to your unreasonable, chaotic tactics?”

“Ha! What a joke~” Feng Bujue laughed. “You think my tactics are chaotic purely because your level is low and your will is weak.”

“The duelist’s will, huh…” Snow shook his head with a bitter smile. “Heh… I still don’t know what that thing is.”

“Is that so…” Feng Bujue responded. “Then I’ll tell you a little about it.” He paused for half a second, then continued, “Just now… in that last turn, if you and I switched places, your choices would have been different, right?”

Snow thought for a moment and nodded, “If it were me, first of all, I wouldn’t have activated the effect of ‘Millennium Scales’ during the draw phase.”

“Why?” Feng Bujue asked.

“In that situation, wouldn’t it be better to draw a card?” Snow replied. “Although there’s the effect of [Curse of Resentment], judging from the previous situations with [Hand Overdraft] and [Magical Melee], you’ve drawn a lot of magic and trap cards in a row, so the probability of drawing a monster card with this draw is very high.”

“So what if I draw one?” Feng Bujue asked.

“If you draw one, you can summon it to the field during the main phase!” Snow replied as a matter of course.

“Oh.” Jue Ge replied nonchalantly, then continued, “And then?”

“And then the battle phase. If it were me… I wouldn’t have chosen Tamamo-no-Mae to attack [Nozuchi]." Snow replied, "I would have used [Sakamoto-kun], who also has 2000 attack, to perish together with [Nozuchi], and then used Tamamo-no-Mae to attack [Corpse Monster]. That way… I could have had an extra god card on the field – because Tamamo-no-Mae wouldn’t be taken away by [Drag Down into the Grave]."

“Oh.” Feng Bujue this time just replied absentmindedly.

“Then, I would use [Nameless King]'s two attacks to destroy the [Shadow Token] and reduce your LP by 5000. Finally… I would use the normal summoned monster I drew in the draw phase to make up for the last 500 points of damage.” Snow said, “That’s the normal way of thinking, right!”

“Yes, that line of thinking reflects the difference between you and a 'true duelist'." Feng Bujue replied.

“Tch… It’s clearly just good luck. You can’t deny that my strategy is more reasonable, can you?” Snow retorted.

“Of course I can.” Feng Bujue replied. “I’ll explain it to you step by step…” He paused and then said, “First of all, the most basic part of your strategy has a problem, because it’s based on an ‘assumption,’ and that assumption is that I 'will draw a normal summon monster with four stars or less'.”

“But in terms of probability…” Snow wanted to interject.

But Feng Bujue interrupted him and said, “In terms of probability, I might draw one, or I might not. I’ll just ask one question… what if I don’t draw one?”

“Hmph…” Snow replied unhappily, “If you don’t draw one, then you don’t draw one! So what if you draw a magic card and it’s discarded by the effect of [Curse of Resentment]? According to my strategy, there can be an extra god standing on the field!”

“Yes, there can be an extra god standing on the field.” Feng Bujue replied. “But what’s the cost? If that cost is a 'certain chance' that allows you 'to live until the next turn,' I don’t think it’s worth it. Because as long as you can still draw cards, it means there’s still a chance to win.”

“Absurd…” Snow said. “What if my field is full of ten cards, and you have an empty field and zero cards in your hand… At this time, it’s your turn, and there’s only one card left in your deck. Do you still think you can win?”

“Of course.” Feng Bujue replied firmly, and as he spoke, he raised his duel disk, “True duelists all have a belief – no matter how unfavorable the situation is, no matter how many 'gods' are standing on the opponent's field, or how strong those 'gods' are… as long as there’s even one card left in my deck, there’s still hope for victory.”

“That kind of belief is useless in 99% of cases!” Snow said loudly. “In fact, where are there so many last-minute comebacks? Card games are about gradually accumulating advantages and finally turning them into victory!”

“I don’t need you to tell me that!” At this moment, Feng Bujue suddenly became agitated and shouted loudly.

His shout startled Snow.

From the beginning of this duel until now, Jue Ge has shown hot-blooded, chuuni, rascal, and crazy states, but this was the first time he had shown such an expression.

“I know what card games are all about! I also know what kind of strategies have a high win rate!” Feng Bujue shouted hoarsely, “Those 'correct' and 'brilliant' choices, as long as you spend a little time… everyone can think of them, and everyone will get the same answer. Because the so-called 'correct' choice is nothing more than the choice that has a greater than 51% chance of leading you to victory.”

He took a breath and then said, “Then what about 'wrong'? The choice that will lose you ninety-nine times out of a hundred is naturally 'wrong' and 'unreasonable'. Yes… I understand the reasoning…” Speaking of this, he calmed down a little, “But should the strategy that only results in one victory out of those hundred times be abandoned and ignored? Should the person who makes that choice be despised and ridiculed?”

Hearing this, Snow’s expression also changed. If it had been before this duel started, he would have scoffed at such a question and answered clearly – yes.

But at this moment, Snow was also thinking…

He had been playing card games for many years, and he had indeed seen some players… who would stubbornly put a card that they particularly liked into their deck, and even use that card as the core to conceive their deck; even though… that card itself didn’t even have an effect.

White Dragon, Black Magician… In Snow’s opinion, those old cards that required double sacrifices to normal summon and yet might not be able to beat some later monsters with lower summoning costs; those cards that could barely be useful with a bunch of supporting cards; those cards that were truly not very strong except for their symbolic meaning… were not worth putting effort into developing, let alone “putting emotion” into.

Directly choosing stronger cards and forming strong, mainstream decks and routines was the way to win. Because the win rate was the thing that didn’t lie, the embodiment of strength.

And Feng Bujue… obviously didn’t think so.

As Jue Ge spoke, he glanced at the deck on his duel disk, “A card game where everyone uses 'correct strategies' and 'mature routines' is a game that truly 'relies on luck'; because everyone’s thinking is the same, and the routines are also well-known. Winning or losing depends on the matchups between decks, and secondly on card draws… just like you said, the outcome is already 70% decided before the game even starts…”

Speaking of this, he couldn’t help but snort, “Hmph… that kind of game really can’t be called a 'duel' anymore; and those who use common decks and routines, adhere to solidified thinking, have no faith, and are gloating over things like 'win rates'… don’t deserve to be called 'duelists'.”

Snow was hit by several bullets and was quite depressed. Fortunately, he had never regarded himself as a “duelist” anyway, so he wasn’t about to get angry, “Okay… I admit you have faith. Although I don’t understand your ‘duelist’ spirit, I respect your ideas… But, I still have to ask – if your so-called duelist spirit is that kind of gambling, ten-battles-nine-losses strategy, then what’s the point? Using faith as a fig leaf while failing?”

“Who said I was gambling?” Feng Bujue retorted and then said, “The duelist’s will doesn’t mean blindly fighting without thinking and calculating… On the contrary, my strategy is a 100% achievable one-turn-kill strategy.”

“Hmph…” Snow was still a little unconvinced. He still believed that his solution was better and more stable. “You won now, of course you dare to say that.”

“I haven’t finished explaining just now.” Feng Bujue continued on the previous topic and then said, “Did you think… that I activated 'Millennium Scales' because I was worried about being discarded by the effect of [Curse of Resentment], or simply wanted to replenish 1000 LP?”

“Isn’t that so?” Snow responded.

“The real reason I gave up drawing a card at that time was…” Feng Bujue directly said the answer, “If I had drawn a card at that time… there was a certain chance that I would have drawn [Terror Clown].”

When these words entered his ears, Snow felt as if he had been enlightened, his mind buzzed, and his expression changed drastically.

“It looks like you understand.” Feng Bujue said.

“You… at that time…” Snow stammered, “……already thought of……”

“No, I had already thought of all the subsequent steps when I activated [Magical Melee].” Feng Bujue interrupted, “However, before entering my turn, there were still a few unknowns… that is, your face-down cards.” He paused for a second and then said, “In case there was a card in your face-down cards that 'immediately destroyed the monster summoned by the opponent,' you could send it back to the graveyard again in the 'end phase' of your turn before [Nameless King]'s effect recovered."

“Unfortunately… you didn’t have it.

“When entering the start phase of my turn, all of [Nameless King]'s effects were restored; after seeing your cards with 'Thousand-Eyes,' I knew… you were already dead.

“Every step after that was within my calculations.

“Giving up drawing a card in the draw phase ensures that [Terror Clown] remains in my deck. This allows me to activate the chained effects of 'Millennium Key' and 'Millennium Necklace' in the main phase and draw it, using it to cooperate with Tamamo-no-Mae’s death effect to deal 1000 LP damage to you.

“The reason why I made Tamamo-no-Mae perish together with [Nozuchi] in the battle phase was to obtain her death effect. If I attacked [Nozuchi] with [Sakamoto-kun] and attacked [Corpse Monster] with Tamamo-no-Mae as you said, yes… at the end of my turn, there would indeed be an extra god standing on my field; however, the death effect of this god would not be triggered, and in the end… I would be short 500 LP damage, allowing you to live until the next turn.

“As for your strategy… I said before, in the final analysis, it’s based on the 'assumption' that 'I can draw a normal summon monster with four stars or less'… So, it’s still that question… what if I don’t draw one?”

Another silence descended. This time, Snow had nothing to say.

After a long while, this “organizer” stood up again, sighed and said, “Haa… I really lost to you.” He shook his head and spread his hands, “Is this a 'true duelist'… it seems… pretty cool.”

“No.” Unexpectedly, after being praised by the other party, Feng Bujue denied it, “If you lose, all that’s left is chuuni and shame; you have to know… my posture, lines, spirit, and technique have all been tempered, it is advised that non-professionals do not imitate them easily, lest they bring shame upon themselves.”

“Hehe…” Snow smiled, “Don’t worry, I’ll take it slowly.” From what he said, it seemed that he was really planning to embark on the path of a duelist, “You can come to [Crazy Thinking] to play a few rounds when you have time in the future, I feel that this game is quite interesting. But… next time we 'duel' again, don’t gamble anymore, let’s just have fun.”

“Hey~ hey… are you misunderstanding something?” Feng Bujue said, “I don’t have any plans to get along with someone like you, and besides… I don’t have as much free time as someone with so much property like you, I have a real job.”

His words were a bit of nonsense. In 2055, when neural-link games were already popular… as long as you had time to sleep, you had time to play games.

“Haha… don’t be so distant, Mr. Crow.” Snow smiled and changed his address to him, “We still have a lot in common…” Speaking of this, he seemed to have suddenly remembered something and changed the topic, “Oh, right, I’m also a member of ‘Gambling Emperor Zhai’.” (Zhai = Manor/House)

“What Zhai or whatever, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Feng Bujue had an ominous premonition in his heart the moment he heard the word ‘also,’ and when he heard the three words ‘Gambling Emperor Zhai,’ he put on a poker face and started to pretend to be stupid.

“Okay, stop pretending.” Snow smiled when he saw this, “When we were on the Yage ship, because of the short time, my subordinates only found the surface information about ‘Jiang Daode,’ so they couldn’t figure out the situation; but later… I used some connections in the ‘underworld,’ and the ins and outs of the matter were almost all cleared up.”

“Tch… I knew that you probably also had membership qualifications.” Feng Bujue admitted it when he saw that he couldn’t hide it, “However… the members of Gambling Emperor Zhai have never been the kind of relationship that can be friends, right?”

“Hey~ There’s no rule that says you can’t have private relationships, right?” Snow replied, “Brother Feng…” While speaking, his address to Jue Ge changed again, “Even if you don’t become my consultant, it’s okay to occasionally guest star as a ‘partner,’ right? Let me tell you… a while ago, a fat man surnamed Jin said he wanted to bet a batch of advanced military equipment with me for tens of thousands of labor force. I thought… after all, there are several million troops under his command, and I was afraid that Gambling Emperor Zhai couldn’t handle it, so I didn’t dare to go at the time… but if you are willing to go with me, with the strength of the two of us…”

“Stop! Thank you!” Feng Bujue didn’t let the other party finish speaking, mainly because the part that Snow said was already very outrageous, “I’m not going to stop you, are you going to finish it? If you really want to find that so-and-so, you can go by yourself, or you can send a message within the Gambling Emperor Zhai – ‘Open Black, North Korea map spring water before the assembly directly gang,’ anyway, I won’t go.” He quickly brought the topic back on track, “Enough idle talk, I have already won now, ‘that thing’… when are you going to give it to me, and in what form?”