Chapter 6 – A Duel Against Ritsuo, The Head Rookie Hunter
Junto lays on the floor for a few minutes continuing to have a panic attack. By this point, Hiroki has long gone. After recovering, Junto heads back home but can’t seem to shake off the events that happened last night.
‘Hiroki is a Killjoy player. He knew about everything all along. I need to ask him about it at school.’
At school the next day, Junto attended school and looked everywhere but could not find Hiroki anywhere. Once school had finished, he headed to the Killjoy den to meet up with Genki. Once Junto enters, Genki prepares his cards.
“Are you ready to train?”
Junto looks disturbed by something. Genki looks at Junto and wonders what is going through his head. Junto finally speaks his mind.
“I need to know about a card called Death Simulacrum.”
Genki is surprised that Junto knows the official name of a level 2 card.
“I don’t have the card but I have faced against it a few times. It makes you hear the voices of people you know, talking to you as if you have already died. Why is it that you want to know about this particular card?”
Junto decides not to speak in depth about the situation but shares some details with Genki.
“I have a feeling that Ritsuo is going to use that as his trump card. I got the information from a reliable source.”
Genki smiles.
“I’m not going to ask how you found that out but that tells us a lot about his play style. If he is relying on cards like that, then it’s safe to assume that he’ll try to beat you with a psychological submission and not a physical submission.”
Genki begins to get excited.
“Now, we know what area we need to focus your training. With two days left to train, the pressure is on.”
Two days later, the day of the big game comes. Junto, Genki and Kimiko head into the arena. Surprisingly, lots of rookie players and even a small number of veteran players have gathered to watch Junto battle Ritsuo. People begin to whisper.
“That’s the guy.”
“Rituso is going to wipe the floor with him.”
“That’s the guy who took on the rookie hunters. Maybe we’ll finally get rid of those annoying pieces of trash.”
The atmosphere is tense as Junto heads over to the front desk.
“I’m here for my scheduled Killjoy match.”
The receptionist nods her head and types something on the computer.
“Please head downstairs, your game is ready to begin.”
They all head to the ground floor. Junto begins to get incredibly nervous as Genki tries to comfort him.
“You can do this, Junto. Just remember our training.”
Kimiko interjects as the tensions run high.
“If you fail, then I’ll defeat all of them myself. But that’s not going to happen. I know that you can do this.”
Ritsuo is already sitting at the Killjoy table. He lifts his head up and looks at Junto and smiles sinisterly. It is almost as if he can smell Junto’s fear.
Junto steps into the battle area and begins to walk over to the table. Junto looks around to see people from all floors watching the game.
“For a minute, I was afraid that you’d chickened out.”
Junto ignores this comment and sits at the table. They begin to shuffle their cards. They then put their decks down as the giant television flips a virtual coin. After landing, it makes an announcement.
‘Ritsuo goes first.’
They each draw their cards. Ritsuo decides to taunt Junto before taking a turn.
“I don’t know what you think you know about Killjoy, but you’re not getting out of this game alive.”
Ritsuo plays a card with the number 1 on it. However, before he could play it, he noticed Junto flinch a little. Ritsuo begins to laugh and finds this amusing.
“Hahahaha. You’re so pathetic.”
Junto’s hand begins to shake as he picks a card. He plays the card with the effect ‘For the rest of the game, your opponent can’t feel their legs’.
Ritsuo does not react to this.
“That’s the best you got? I guess I was worrying over nothing.”
Ritsuo proceeds to play a card with the effect ‘Your opponent begins to see his flesh rotting from his skin’.
Junto begins to think to himself.
‘I have a plan. I know what I need to do. But there’s a card that I need to draw.’
Junto plays his next card. It reads ‘A foul stench plugs your opponent’s nose for the remainder of the game’.
Ritsuo finds this amusing.
“You really think that you can do anything with that. I’ll just breathe out of my nose.”
Ritsuo has a smug expression on his face as he plays his next card. It reads ‘A deceased loved one sits beside the opponent for the rest of the game’.
Junto looks to his right to see his grandpa this time around.
“Gramps?”
Junto plays his next card. It reads ‘Every 20 seconds, your opponent feels 5 needles pierce their legs’.
This again seems to have little effect on Ritsuo. Junto slowly begins to lose hope. Junto suddenly notices that the last card he drew was the one he was looking for.
‘Copycat.’
Ritsuo seems to be overly confident.
“You’ve already lost, Junto.”
Ritsuo waits for a moment and then plays his next card. It reads ‘Your opponent feels a gripping sensation on their chest’.
Junto begins to panic a little but then thinks about the card’s that Ritsuo has played so far and their familiarity. Junto looks around the arena and notices Hiroki watching from the top floor. Hiroki holds up five fingers with one hand and points to them with the other.
‘I understand now, Hiroki. You were using a replica of Ritsuo’s deck. That’s why you wanted me to last five turns. But there’s more to it, I’m sure.’
Genki watches nervously from the side-lines. He begins to reminisce a conversation that he had with Junto. After Junto told Genki about Ritsuo trying to win psychologically, Genki told Junto some important information regarding a card he might not have seen previously.
“There’s a card out there that we refer to as ‘Copycat’. It’s the ideal card when going up against people with higher tier cards, but you have to use it carefully. This is why…”
Back in the present day, Junto prepares to play the copycat card. It reads ‘The most recent card to affect you, also affects the opponent’.
Ritsuo begins to grab his chest.
“Aghh. You little bastard. In two turns, you’re dead.”
Ritsuo plays his next card. It reads ‘Your opponent can no longer hear for the rest of the game’.
Despite Junto struggling, he knows that he has to beat Ritsuo psychologically and fakes a smile as Junto plays his next card. It reads ‘Your opponent faces a surge of anxiety’.
Ritsuo begins to breathe heavily and sweat and he constantly rubs his chest.
“You think that’s got me? I can just use breathing exercises. C’mon Ritsuo, you trained for this.”
Ritsuo begins to box breathe as he prepares his next card, death simulacrum.
Ritsuo plays the card, it reads ‘You hear the voices of family talking to you as if you are dead’.
Everything begins to go black for Junto as he tries his best not to pass out. The chest pain is bothering him immensely and now he can hear nothing but family members in his ear.
“We need to get him to a doctor, now.”
“Junto, wake up!”
“I don’t want to lose you. Please, Junto.”
Junto begins to grab his ears as he tries to stop it.
‘The fuck is this card. It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real.’
Junto suddenly remembers Hiroki’s words.
‘If you want to beat Ritsuo, you need to look death in the eyes and laugh.’
‘I understand now. I can't fight this feeling, so I need to accept it. If I die then I die. I have you now, Ritsuo.’
Junto grabs his next card as he see’s Ritsuo trying to calm himself with box breathing.
The card that Junto plays reads ‘Your opponent can’t breathe until they end their next turn’.
Ritsuo grabs the side of the table, unable to breathe as he still clenches his chest. Junto looks down on Ritsuo.
“You’re so used to terrorising weaker players, you can’t even defend yourself against a single tier two card. You’re pathetic.”
Ritsuo’s cards fall from his hand as he falls off of the chair and passes out. Junto wins.
