Chapter 21
Construction on the luxury cabin was already underway.
But for Rowan, the more pressing matter was, naturally, continuing to farm Emotion Points -- ahem -- doing good deeds and spreading warmth and joy to those around him.
Then he could redeem something new from the System. A fresh cursed deck.
As luck would have it, he glanced across the tatami floor and spotted Syrus sitting with Jaden, piecing together a deck.
Something clicked in the back of Rowan's mind.
"Hey, Syrus."
Rowan turned toward him with a grin that had absolutely no ulterior motives whatsoever.
"Since you've got nothing going on, how about a duel?"
"I'll even let you throw in a few cards specifically designed to counter me. Against this deck of mine, you'd actually have a pretty solid shot."
"Think of it as an experience. Knowing that you beat the guy who one-turn-killed Chazz -- the top-ranked Obelisk Blue student -- that kind of confidence-building is exactly what you need most right now. I'm doing this for you, Syrus."
Rowan almost convinced himself.
Sacrificing my own dignity to absorb the sting of defeat, just so someone else can win a duel and build their self-esteem.
"Rowan..." Both Syrus and Jaden looked genuinely moved. What an incredible friend.
About one minute later, an explosion of light and smoke filled the room with a sharp bang.
Syrus knelt on the floor, face completely blank, staring at nothing. He had been one-turn-killed before he could blink.
[Ding! Syrus's Emotion Points +200.]
"Rough luck this time," Rowan said, shaking his head with the practiced sympathy of a man who felt nothing.
"You drew first, but not a single one of those counter cards showed up in your opening hand. That's just how it goes sometimes."
He paused, then continued his encouragement.
Jaden nodded along earnestly in the background.
Syrus straightened up almost immediately, a spark reigniting in his eyes. Rowan was right. That had to be it.
"Rowan-san! Please, duel me again!"
"That's the spirit." Rowan nodded with a warm, encouraging smile, even raising a fist in a small pump of solidarity.
"Right!" Syrus gave a solemn nod, resolving not to waste Rowan's generosity.
...
One minute later, another bang rattled through the room.
Syrus knelt on the floor again, this time with the expression of a man questioning every choice he had ever made.
[Ding! Syrus's Emotion Points +400.]
He had been one-turn-killed. Again.
He had actually drawn something useful this turn -- a Trap Card that could destroy one of the opponent's monsters.
And with Rowan letting him go first, he had successfully destroyed the first Royal Magical Library that hit the field.
Then, the very next second, Rowan played Double Summon, dropped a second Royal Magical Library, and launched into a full minute of theatrical storytelling that ended with Syrus's life points at zero.
"Rowan, I think maybe I should--"
"Syrus." Rowan cut him off before the words could form, launching into a full serving of motivational wisdom.
"Haven't you noticed how much progress you've already made? Next time, if you could open with something like Lightforce Sword -- that Trap that banishes one of your opponent's hand cards for four turns -- you'd be recreating the exact method Yugi Muto used to defeat an Exodia deck in his early days."
Jaden nodded vigorously from across the room. Drawing the single most effective counter to an Exodia deck on the very first turn was, in his view, not so unreasonable.
If Syrus kept improving, it was definitely possible.
"The same method Yugi used to beat an Exodia deck...!"
Syrus's eyes lit up. The fire was back.
"Duel me again! Please!"
"Ganbatte!"
Rowan smiled, raised his fist one more time, and gave an encouraging nod.
...
One minute later.
Bang.
Syrus knelt on the floor. His face held the expression of someone who had simply stopped caring about the world.
[Ding! Syrus's Emotion Points +100.]
He was numb. Completely, thoroughly numb.
From the moment his first draw phase ended -- yielding only a single Monster-destruction Trap -- and Rowan once again used Double Summon to place a second Royal Magical Library on the field, Syrus had simply sat there with dead eyes and watched Rowan narrate an entire ghost story called "The Con Artist."
He had actually thought Rowan was a good person.
Syrus felt like crying.
Liar. They were all liars.
...
The Emotion Points actually went down... Rowan noted internally, listening to the System's chime.
Looks like I can't farm from Jaden's sidekick again for a while.
He had expected the third duel to yield even more.
Instead, Syrus had hit a wall of total emotional exhaustion, and the returns had diminished sharply.
"Tch. Shame."
If Syrus had known Rowan was thinking that, he probably would have stood up and swung on him.
Even if he had absolutely no chance of winning.
Still, tallying it up, Rowan had walked away with 700 Emotion Points from Syrus across three duels.
Combined with the 800 from before, he was sitting at 1,500 total.
Enough to redeem a new cursed deck from the System.
And as a bonus, he had gotten to test something he had only just unlocked yesterday -- a secondary application of his Spirit Vision.
None of the cards in his Dark Magician OTK deck had awakened Spirits attached to them.
But when he dueled with it again, the ability to sense Spirits let him perceive subtle fluctuations of energy rippling through the deck -- something almost like an emotional signal, a resonance.
It felt, in a vague but real way, as though he could call out to the cards in his mind.
Nudge the draw order. Pull toward what he needed.
Not at Jaden's level, of course -- that boy's bond with his deck Spirits was complete, the kind that produced miraculous topdecks round after round.
Rowan wasn't there yet. But it was enough to tilt things meaningfully in his favor, enough to get a decent opening hand with reasonable consistency.
The near-disaster from the Chazz duel -- both Dark Magicians sinking almost to the bottom of the deck -- wouldn't happen again.
Against someone genuinely skilled, like Alexis, it was harder to say.
If they were prepared for him and came in with counters, Rowan couldn't guarantee a win.
But against Syrus -- still too weak to see any Spirits at all, even knowing the deck's exact weaknesses and siding accordingly -- Rowan wasn't worried in the slightest.
Knowing your opponent's weak points meant nothing if you couldn't draw the answers.
And now, with Spirit Vision and the still-water clarity of his Unshakeable Mind granting him at least one guaranteed perfect draw per game, Rowan could open with two Royal Magical Libraries essentially every single time.
Syrus simply didn't stand a chance.