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In the vast arena, a majestic ancient city stood within the dueling grounds. Though the competition hadn't officially begun, the spectator stands were already packed.
You Xuan arrived at the entrance of the venue with his senior, Sato Koji, from the academy. After getting out of the car, he immediately saw a Dark Magician sculpture standing prominently at the main entrance.
Although the Dark Magician, once a rare card, had seen its play rate in official matches plummet since Yugi Muto's retirement, it still served as the face of many competition venues, being the former Duel King's ace monster.
"Well then, I'm off to prepare for the match. The preliminaries should be starting soon." Sato Koji told him. "Junior brother, you should also get ready as soon as possible."
"Alright. I look forward to seeing you again in the arena, senior brother," You Xuan politely replied.
But upon hearing this, the senior's expression grew strange, as if he wanted to speak but held back. I don't want to see you again at all. He couldn't bring himself to say it.
After parting ways with his senior, You Xuan received his contestant badge and number plate from the kind young lady at the front desk. He took the number plate and saw that it was number 39.
Quite a lucky number for a duelist, You Xuan thought, putting away the number plate with a satisfied nod. Looks like my luck is good today. I should be able to start with a victory.
"This year's Gekka Cup seems to have a high caliber of contestants," he heard a spectator remark as he walked into the main hall.
"I think I just saw Kajiki Makoto from the Psychic Duel Academy. Looks like he's participating this year."
"Kajiki? The rising dueling prodigy of the Psychic style? Wow, that'll be something to watch."
Then he heard someone else say, "I don't really care about Psychic-style dueling; I just hope my Spellcaster-Type buddy can advance."
"You want to see your buddy advance? Pfft, I'm too embarrassed to call you out, but aren't you just hoping to see her summon Magical Valkyrie?"
Magical Valkyrie, with her cool mage attire similar to the legendary Dark Magician Girl from Yugi's deck—a pure face, slender arms, yet surprisingly carrying a weight in certain areas that her small frame shouldn't—was one of the fan-favorite "waifu" cards cherished by Gentleman Duelists.
The person who was called out immediately blushed. "But she's really big!"
His companions, hearing this, ceased their argument and all nodded.
"Fair point, indeed."
"It's certainly hard to refute."
"..."
You Xuan walked through the venue. After a few steps, he heard a young girl gasp.
"Oh my god, really? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"Absolutely certain!" the girl next to her affirmed with utmost certainty. "No mistake, that's Dinosaur Ryuzaki! The legendary duelist!"
You Xuan's steps faltered slightly.
Dinosaur Ryuzaki? The one from Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters?
He was initially portrayed as a skilled duelist, having been the national runner-up in the Duelist Kingdom tournament, in a scenario where Yugi, Kaiba, and other major players from later DM arcs weren't participating.
"Really? But the Gekka Cup is a non-professional, secondary competition. Why would a legendary duelist like him..."
"I heard people say that Ryuzaki had been in seclusion for several years without public appearances. Now he's emerged from his training, and this is his comeback match."
"Wow, then this year's Gekka Cup contestants are really unlucky. They've run into a demon king."
"Yeah, doesn't that pretty much make the champion decided already?"
"..."
You Xuan tried to recall. He didn't have a strong impression of Ryuzaki, but he remembered Weevil Underwood, who was always inseparable from him in the anime. Both were unscrupulous in their pursuit of victory, though Ryuzaki was slightly stronger than Weevil. After all, the latter even went so far as to throw Yugi's entire Exodia the Forbidden One deck into the ocean...
However, in a way, his action could be seen as the savior of all the later bosses in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters.
Imagine if the five pieces of Exodia hadn't been tossed by that guy. With Pharaoh Atem's "close your eyes and get whatever you want" cheat-level top-decking ability in the later stages, what Three Egyptian Gods, Legendary Dragons, Orichalcos, all would have had to step aside.
Marik Ishtar, Dartz, and Yami Bakura each bowing three times to Weevil would not be an exaggeration.
However, after losing to Pharaoh Atem and the Commoner Joey Wheeler, respectively, these two seemed to have transitioned from competitive duelists to comedic entertainers, with their dueling style evolving towards increasingly ludicrous directions.
Speaking of which, Joey's signature card, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, was actually won from Ryuzaki. Since then, Ryuzaki hasn't truly won a single match.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters ending didn't reveal his fate, and he didn't appear in the sequel, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. But now that he thought about it, the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX timeline was only eight years after the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters ending, so encountering him now wasn't strange.
This implied that while Pharaoh Atem had returned to the Underworld, characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters era like Yugi and Joey should still be around in this timeline, it's just that their whereabouts and activities weren't mentioned.
As an old timer from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters era, Ryuzaki, bearing the title of "having dueled Katsuya Jonouchi," had even become a "legendary duelist."
In this day and age, even minnows who were instantly defeated by Yugi dared to proclaim themselves legends, and some actually thrived on this gimmick.
Some might genuinely possess skill, but others were merely capitalizing on the chaos, their "dueling a Duel King" credibility probably no higher than Kakuzu's "I once fought the First Hokage" claims to anyone who'd listen.
Weevil Underwood and Ryuzaki hadn't appeared in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, so their current strength was hard to say. However, You Xuan remained cautious, thinking that if he encountered them in later matches, he'd at least show some respect and make targeted adjustments to his deck.
You Xuan bought a cup of Milk Tea, found a seat, and glanced through the list of registered contestants.
The contestants' ranks were generally higher than those at the dueling academy, so he figured he should be able to smoothly reach four stars after this competition, and then he wouldn't have to worry about the academy's admission requirements.
Scanning the list, apart from Dinosaur Ryuzaki, most were unfamiliar faces. It seemed there were no other recognizable characters...
Hmm?
You Xuan's gaze fell on a familiar-looking name.
Chazz Princeton?
That eternal second-place duelist from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, the master who went from elite to comedian in a single year, achieving a reverse climb in points?
He also checked Chazz Princeton's personal information.
Elite student of the Duel Academy's Junior High Division, expected to be promoted to the High School Division this year.
Hmm... so based on enrollment age, the main cast of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX should be the same age as me.
No big deal.
He then checked his first-round opponent's information for the preliminaries.
Nakamura Tsubasa, Duelist Level Four.
Looks like there shouldn't be much pressure.
In fact, when Nakamura Tsubasa stepped onto the preliminary dueling field and faced You Xuan, he thought the same thing.
Fujiki You Xuan, Level One, no major tournament experience, no honorary awards, a blank resume...
Nakamura reread the brief lines of personal information several times, seeing only two words between the lines:
Free Win.
Sometimes, with good luck in tournaments, you might get matched with such an opponent. These people are known in the industry as Charity Duelists. They're terribly weak but just love to play, and their main goal is to give away points.
So this match is a sure win.
But Nakamura didn't know that when You Xuan stood across from him, with five cards in his opening hand, he already felt sorry for his opponent.
Sorry, buddy, but I've hit the jackpot.
It looks like only one of us will be playing Yu-Gi-Oh! in this match.
You Xuan had the first turn. He started with the Spell Card "Confiscation," paying 1000 Life Points to look at his opponent's hand and discard one card. Then came "Forceful Sentry," to look at the hand and return one card to the deck.
This was followed by "Delinquent Duo," paying another 1000 Life Points for a third consecutive hit, randomly discarding one card from the opponent's hand, and then having the opponent discard one more card themselves, for a total of two additional discards.
The legendary "Three Hand Destruction Artifacts" delivered a combo that instantly decimated the opponent's hand.
Before it was even his opponent's turn, the opponent was still stunned, with only one card left in their hand.
And because he had seen his opponent's hand, You Xuan knew very well that the opponent's last remaining card was the Spell Card "Double Spell." This card allowed him to discard one card from his hand to activate one Spell Card from his opponent's Graveyard.
Not very useful.
The "Three Hand Destruction Artifacts" combo was executed flawlessly. Then, You Xuan didn't summon a single monster, set one card face-down, and ended his turn, looking very cool.
Finally, he elegantly gestured "Please."
I'm done, you do whatever.
Nakamura Tsubasa was completely dumbfounded.
My turn hasn't even started, and I only have one card left in my hand. What am I supposed to do?
But adhering to his principles as a duelist, he didn't give up. Nakamura Tsubasa steadied himself and drew a card from his deck...
Then, You Xuan dramatically flipped over a Trap Card: "Crush Card Virus."
The card he had just drawn hadn't even warmed up before it went straight to the Underworld...
Nakamura was in disarray.
Is this guy determined not to let me play any cards?!
He had no choice; he was holding a "Double Spell," but he had no cards to discard as a cost to activate it. He could only end his turn dejectedly.
I feel like my turn ended before it even began. Is that just my imagination?
Now it was You Xuan's turn again. You Xuan activated the Spell Card "Reinforcement of the Army," allowing him to search his deck for one Warrior-Type monster. You Xuan immediately took a "Major Mogul" and then Normal Summoned Mogul, attacking directly.
Following this, Mogul's effect triggered: when it inflicted battle damage to the opponent, he could discard one card from their hand...
Nakamura Tsubasa: "..."
Now he had no cards left.
Seriously...
What kind of sin did he commit in his previous life to be matched with this self-contained monstrosity?