Genshin Impact: Villain Life Sim

"It's... an interesting deck," Zhongli replied diplomatically. "However, it may run into issues in practical use—it might get stuck."

"Stuck?" Shenhe asked, confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means your cards get stuck in your hand, unable to be played," Lucas explained, immediately guessing the issue. "You didn't fill your deck with nothing but high-level Combat Cards, did you?"

Unlike the Yu-Gi-Oh! rules in the real world, Genius Invokation TCG required elemental dice to summon Combat Cards. Since the dice rolls were largely luck-based, even summoning a Level 4 Combat Card wasn't easy, let alone something higher.

"Not a bunch," Shenhe corrected, shaking her head. "All of them! Isn't the point of the game to smash the opponent with powerful Combat Cards?"

Valid. Logical. Straight to the point.

But utterly impractical.

"Forget it; explaining won't help," Lucas sighed. "Just duel me, and you'll see for yourself."

"Exactly what I wanted!" Shenhe declared confidently. "I'll defeat you completely!"

The duel begins!

First and second turns were decided by dice rolls. Each player rolled eight dice, and the one with more identical faces could choose whether to go first or second.

Lucas's roll: Geo: 3, Hydro: 3, Pyro: 1, Universal: 1.

Not bad.

Shenhe's roll: Cryo: 5, Anemo: 2, Universal: 1.

Well, this was…

Ridiculously good luck.

"I'll go first!" Shenhe, true to her nature, immediately chose to take the first turn.

Her dice results: Cryo: 5, Hydro: 1, Pyro: 1, Universal: 1.

"I'll use five Cryo dice and one Universal die to summon…" Shenhe drew a Combat Card from her deck and placed it on the table. "Cryo Armored Chieftain!"

[Cryo Armored Chieftain]Element: Cryo | Level: 6 | ATK: 2500 | DEF: 2400Skill: Enrage—ATK increases by 1000; DEF decreases by 1000.

The Combat Card displayed a vivid, lifelike 3D image of the Cryo Armored Chieftain, standing tall on the table.

In this fantasy world, they didn't even need fancy dueling devices like in Yu-Gi-Oh! The magic-infused cards naturally projected realistic holograms. Because of their magical properties, counterfeits were nearly impossible—fake cards couldn't generate the holographic effect.

"Activate skill! Enrage!" Shenhe commanded coldly. "ATK increases to 3500. I'll launch a direct attack!"

However, even after Shenhe issued the order, the Cryo Armored Chieftain simply stood there, unmoving.

"Strange…" Shenhe frowned. "Why isn't it following my command? When there are no Combat Cards on the field, shouldn't it attack directly?"

"Because as the first player, you can't attack on your opening turn," Lucas explained helplessly. "Were you even paying attention to the rules earlier?"

"Why is there such a tedious rule?" Shenhe complained, clearly annoyed. "What a hassle."

"Without it, the first player would have an overwhelming advantage with no chance for the opponent to defend," Lucas said, already expecting this reaction. "Do you want to continue?"

"No need," Shenhe crossed her arms. "I'm out of dice to summon anything else. But it doesn't matter; you'll still lose next turn."

"My turn! Dice roll!"

With the revised rules, the typical dueling catchphrase had shifted from "Draw!" to "Roll dice!"

Lucas's roll: Hydro: 1, Pyro: 1, Cryo: 1, Electro: 1, Anemo: 1, Geo: 1, Dendro: 1, Universal: 1.

Looking at the result, Lucas's expression turned awkward. "My luck is unbelievably bad…"

Statistically, rolling this result was already unlucky. For gameplay, it left him with no choice but to summon low-level Combat Cards.

"Interesting…" Zhongli stroked her chin thoughtfully. "If I recall correctly, Shenhe, you possess the "solitary star" and "disastrous evil" fate, do you not?"

"That's correct," Shenhe narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why bring it up now?"

"The Solitary Star Fate brings misfortune to those around you," Zhongli explained. "Though the red cord you wear suppresses it, it still subtly affects the luck of those nearby. Hence, Lucas's poor dice roll."

"That's the reason?" Lucas said, dumbfounded. "Wait, does that mean anyone dueling Shenhe in Genius Invokation TCG will have terrible luck?"

In a game like Genius Invokation TCG, heavily reliant on randomness, if others' luck worsened, Shenhe's relative luck would improve.

With that in mind, wasn't Shenhe, this naïve beginner, effectively blessed with the strongest passive buff in the game—"Fortunate Misfortune"?

What kind of Joey Wheeler nonsense was this?

"Though I don't fully understand what you're saying," Shenhe pondered, "it seems like a good thing for me, right?"

"Exactly," Lucas nodded, sighing. "An enviable ability indeed."

"But looking at your dice roll..." Shenhe smirked. "At most, you can summon a Level 2 Combat Card. Looks like your defeat is inevitable."

To her surprise, Lucas showed no sign of panic. Instead, he smiled faintly. "I've anticipated this situation. The game has only just begun."

"First, I activate the Effect Card 'This Doesn't Count This Time'," Lucas said, drawing a card from his hand. "Its effect allows me to reroll any number of dice."

The card's illustration depicted Venti holding a dice cup, wearing a pleading expression that was both pitiful and adorable.

Lucas picked up four of his dice and rolled again, resulting in: Pyro: 1, Hydro: 1, Anemo: 1, Electro: 1.

Sure enough, with his luck being affected, it was nearly impossible to roll matching dice.

"Even so, you can still only summon a Level 3 Combat Card at most," Shenhe said with a sneer. "That's far from enough."

"I'm not done yet," Lucas countered. "I activate the Effect Card 'Element Conversion' to change one Hydro die into a Pyro die."

[Element Conversion]Effect CardEffect: Change the result of one die to a specified element.

"Now I have three Pyro dice and one Universal die," Lucas grinned. "I summon the Combat Card 'Xiangling'!"

[Xiangling]Element: Pyro | Level: 4 | ATK: 1500 | DEF: 1500Skill: Culinary Smash—After defeating a Combat Card, increases ATK and DEF by X points (X = defeated card's Level × 10).

"All set and ready to cook!"

With a lively voice, a cheerful blue-haired girl appeared on the card's surface.

"Wait a second," Shenhe said in surprise. "Isn't that the girl from Wanmin Restaurant? Why is she a Combat Card too?"

Shenhe had assumed Combat Cards only included monsters or creatures.

"Genius Invokation TCG revolves around 'elements,'" Zhongli explained. "Any being associated with elements can appear as a Combat Card, including humans with Vision powers."

"Whatever," Shenhe waved dismissively. "Xiangling only has 1500 ATK, which is 2000 points lower than my Combat Card. She's not a threat."

This was simple math Shenhe could easily handle.

"It's not over yet," Lucas said as he played another card. "I activate the Effect Card 'Shield in One Hand, Sword in the Other'!"

[Shield in One Hand, Sword in the Other]Effect CardEffect: Swaps the base ATK and DEF of all face-up monsters on the field until the end of the turn.

"Another Effect Card..." Shenhe frowned. "Wait, that means—"

"Exactly," Lucas said with a nod. "Your Cryo Armored Chieftain now has 1400 ATK. Xiangling, attack!"

"Let's heat things up!"

Xiangling charged at the Cryo Armored Chieftain and, with a precise strike, defeated the once-intimidating monster in an instant.

"Activate her skill—let's turn the defeated Cryo Armored Chieftain into a dish!" Lucas declared.

Xiangling summoned a giant cooking pot out of thin air, tossed the Cryo Armored Chieftain inside, and after a bubbling sound, emerged holding a plate of delicious-looking meat, happily enjoying the meal.

This was Xiangling's skill. Though one couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she defeated a human Combat Card—an unsettling thought indeed.

Because the Cryo Armored Chieftain was a Level 6 Combat Card, Xiangling's ATK and DEF each increased by 600 points, raising her stats to 2100.

"She... she ate it?" Shenhe bit her lip in disbelief. "Defeated by a mere Level 4 Combat Card..."

"These are the rules of the game," Lucas said smugly. "If you're unhappy, take me down in your next turn."

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Author's Note: Really guys? Not even 200 Powerstones? The goal for the next extra chapter is now 400 Powerstones, if we do not reach it, then forget the extra chapters from tomorrow.

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