The next morning, after waking up, the room was empty.
At his side were neatly folded clothes and organized cards.
A letter sat on the desk. Yusaku picked it up casually.
[Yesterday, when I heard you mention the fragment of the Millennium Item, I realized this thing must be important to you. Pinkie and Greenie said they sensed a new presence. I'm going to check it out. Once I've handled it, I'll come find you.]
Looking at the letter in his hand, Yusaku could not help shaking his head.
What an idiot… Forget it.
After this tournament ends, I'll go look for her properly.
He put the letter away and walked outside.
The ranking stage of the Dojo Challenge Tournament was about to begin.
This time, the venue selected happened to be their dojo.
For this, the Takeuchi Dojo Master had people work through the night to construct a raised platform for the matches, making it easier for the dojo students to watch during duels.
Because the match venue was set here, the usually quiet dojo now had people coming and going.
"This dojo really is broke. Even the main duel square is covered in cracks. I can't understand why they picked this place. Why not pick our Red Sun Dojo?"
"The last three tournaments were also held here. This year still here!"
"You guys don't get it. Legend says this place is actually the Pharaoh's Tomb. The First Pharaoh returned to the underworld along with the three Egyptian Gods right here! The Gravekeeper clan didn't want the Pharaoh to be disturbed, so they built this dojo above it!"
"You actually believe that nonsense? Besides, if this were really the Pharaoh's Tomb, the place would've been dug hollow long ago. What Egyptian God Cards would be left?"
Hearing that, Yusaku turned his head and saw two students from Red Sun Dojo.
Other than the contestants, each dojo's regular students also followed along to cheer for their dojo's duelists.
At that moment, the two who were talking also noticed Yusaku.
The instant they saw him, their pupils shrank sharply, and they immediately turned away and walked off quickly. They would never forget that their dojo only had two qualifying duelists because of this guy.
Watching them run like frightened rabbits, a mischievous smile appeared on Yusaku's lips.
"You two friends up front—since the match is starting soon, want to duel with me to warm up?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the two sped up even faster.
"Right… they were talking about Egyptian Gods, tombs, whatever.
Forget it. Not thinking about that."
Yusaku shook his head and headed toward the square— the match was about to start.
Before long, he arrived.
At this moment, Master Takeuchi was reading out the tournament rules.
The moment Yusaku stepped onto the square, many people turned toward him.
The Red Sun Dojo senior disciple Fujiwara glanced at him once, then stopped paying attention.
Sato of Asahi Dojo nodded politely.
Red Sun Dojo, having had their senior disciple eliminated by Yusaku, had naturally brought along extra students this time. One particularly strong-looking one now stood at the very front of their formation. The moment he saw Yusaku, he locked his gaze on him, battle intent boiling.
"This is strange."
Yusaku turned to Ushio beside him.
"Senior Brother, who's that guy standing in front of Red Sun? Didn't see him yesterday."
Ushio gave him a sideways look. "He's one of their substitutes. Every dojo gets two substitutes. They didn't send him out yesterday, and today they're sending all their subs in. Speaking of substitutes…"
Ushio's expression turned strange as he glanced toward not far away—where Tanaka and Yusaku were exchanging blows in sparring—Wind-in-Ashes and Fire-of-Joy were dueling nonstop.
"Junior Brother… are the two people you recommended actually reliable? Ever since they joined the dojo, they've been dueling non-stop."
Hearing that, Yusaku smiled faintly.
"Doesn't Senior Brother think they have incredible persistence?"
Ushio's expression became even stranger.
"They do have persistence… Anyone else losing that many times in a row would've broken down long ago, but they show zero signs of discouragement.
If only I had that kind of perseverance someday…"
"You don't need to belittle yourself, Senior Brother. You're very persistent too."
Yusaku patted his shoulder.
"Alright, Senior Brother. The match is starting. Let's go."
There were a total of 20 duelists in the Challenge Tournament. According to the rules, they would draw lots.
These 20 people would duel in 1-on-1 matches.
With rules like this, if your luck was bad, you might get matched against your own dojo—meaning only one of the two could advance.
There were pros and cons.
The pro: one duel guaranteed a top-10 spot.
The con: one of the two would be eliminated no matter what.
The top 10 would draw again and duel in pairs.
Among those 5 winners, the next ranking round would be determined by turn count. Whoever finished their duel in fewer turns would place higher.
If there were ties in turn count, then the duelists would be ranked by how much LP they had left at the end of the duel. More LP meant higher ranking.
The top 4 would then draw lots again, duel, and the winners would enter the finals.
The champion of the final match would crown their dojo as first place for this year. The runner-up would be second. Third and fourth place would duel again for ranking.
If both the champion and runner-up were from the same dojo, that dojo automatically received first place, and the remaining rankings between dojos would be based on total turns used and remaining LP across the whole tournament.
"Perfect. First match and I run into you!"
Just as Yusaku reached the platform, a familiar voice rang out.
Looking up, he saw Genichiro standing on the stage with arms crossed.
"A defeated opponent?"
Hearing that title, Genichiro's face instantly darkened.
"Stop talking nonsense and get up here already!"
Yusaku smirked a little, giving him a glance.
"You sure are easy to provoke."
He did not waste more words. Once on stage, he activated his Duel Disk.
As the judge tossed the coin, both of them shouted simultaneously:
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
[Yusaku — LP 8000]
[Genichiro — LP 8000]
PS: Next comes continuous duels. Not sure how everyone feels about pacing, but I personally think nonstop duels might exhaust readers, so I've mixed in some spirit-girl plotlines—since that was part of the plot from the beginning.
(End of Chapter)
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