Chapter 12: Advancing
Chapter 12: Advancing
"Megumi Manjoume lost?"
In the audience, Xiaodi A and Xiaodi B wore looks of disbelief.
As classmates in the middle school division of Duel Academy, they were well aware of Manjoume's strength. Exaggeration aside, even among the elite in the middle school division, Manjoume was undoubtedly the top student in their year.
And now, this formidable duelist had casually lost to a newcomer participating for the first time?
Was this newcomer a monster?
The red-haired girl beside them was equally astonished. She turned to the duo and remarked, "It looks like your senior brother lost."
The two lackeys glanced at each other, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke up.
"Oh, we mistook him for someone else. He looked similar at first glance, but upon closer inspection, he's not our senior brother," Xiaodi A explained.
"Yeah, they do look remarkably alike, haha," Xiaodi B added.
The red-haired girl narrowed her eyes skeptically. "So, are their names the same too?"
"Yes, yes," the lackeys affirmed.
They gritted their teeth, their faces taut with frustration.
"What a coincidence," they muttered.
". . ."
This unexpected outcome had taken the audience by surprise. However, perhaps no one felt more like vomiting blood than Manjoume himself, who was directly involved.
It wasn't just the loss; it was the strange feeling that his opponent hadn't even exerted himself.
Throughout the duel, Manjoume had sensed that his opponent was effortlessly in control. It was as if his opponent had casually strolled onto the field, exuding an air of "let's just play along" that suggested he wasn't taking the duel seriously at all.
His opponent hadn't even summoned a single high-level monster!
Manjoume believed he had created a tense atmosphere and exerted sufficient pressure. But his opponent had handled his moves with ease, making it seem like he was toying with him—no, more accurately, like his efforts were sinking into a cotton ball.
Throughout the duel, Manjoume felt like the tension was building and building, reaching a point where it was about to explode, yet he had nowhere to channel this energy. In short, he had never experienced such a frustrating duel.
"Wait."
As his opponent put away his Duel Disk and turned to leave the stage, Manjoume couldn't help but call out to him.
You Xuan paused and turned around.
"Who are you, really?" Manjoume asked through gritted teeth, his frustration evident.
You Xuan locked eyes with him and offered a slight smile.
"Just a passing one-star Duelist," he replied nonchalantly.
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Manjoume feeling as though he had been stabbed in the heart—again.
A one-star?
What kind of ridiculous system and evaluation mechanism would call this a level one?
Nevertheless, Manjoume's journey in this tournament ended in the quarterfinals. He could only imagine the scolding he would receive from his older brothers when he returned. And while losing to Ryoumaru would have been acceptable, losing to such a nobody was humiliating, especially given the way the duel had played out, causing his brain to hemorrhage.
It felt like he had encountered the worst luck in eight lifetimes to run into this opponent.
One thing Manjoume was sure of:
He never, ever wanted to see that damned old geezer again in his life.
You Xuan reviewed his performances in the tournament so far. Through these duels with local Duelists, he had gained valuable experience and learned from his mistakes.
While he hadn't encountered any formidable opponents yet, the tournament had made him realize a flaw in his previous thinking.
He couldn't directly apply the real-life card environment from his time to the anime environment.
While the Hand Destruction deck had been dominant in competitive play back then, and it still held a strong advantage here, relying solely on this strategy might work against average Duelists, but it could be less effective against the experts in the anime world.
"Like how Jaden Yuki started wearing colored contacts during his later appearances in the anime. It wasn't just for aesthetics. When he activated his 'Tyrant's Power', Jaden could achieve an even higher level of divine card draws, placing him among the high-tier powerhouses in the anime's superpower system."
"In his Tyrant form, even with a random deck of forty cards pulled from the card pool, Judai could potentially crush a regular duelist using a top-tier build."
"It would be nice if I had the chance to obtain some divine card-drawing skills," You Xuan sighed.
At first glance, it seemed that anyone who knew how to play cards could soar in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!. But without some kind of superpower foundation, it would be challenging to keep up in the later stages when divine beings were everywhere.
As everyone knew, the simplest and most direct way to attain a superpower level in Yu-Gi-Oh! wasn't through cultivation but by finding a way to get a spirit to possess you. However, as far as he knew, most of the spirits in the original work were already taken. Where could he find one for himself?
For now, all he could do was put that thought aside and focus on what was within his capabilities—researching the environment, optimizing his deck, and making tactical improvements.
You Xuan was still in the stage of gaining experience through actual duels while simultaneously exploring and refining his deck.
His next opponent was Kajimoto Makoto, a Level 5 Duelist. His background listed several public competition records and identified him as a true disciple of the "Psychic-style Dueling Dojo."
Psychic-style... You Xuan thought hard as this term rang a bell.
If he remembered correctly, the GX anime briefly featured this dueling style towards the later part of the series. It was a rival school to the Electronic-style Dojo inherited by Marufuji Ryo. In the anime, a master of the Psychic-style Dojo even showed up to challenge Marufuji, and he played a deck centered on the monster "Cyber Stein."
The day before the duel, You Xuan had watched recordings of Kajimoto's recent public competitions. It seemed that Kajimoto used a deck centered on "Mechanical King," which was one of the ace monster series of the "Big Five," the group of villains who had defected from KaibaCorp in the DM anime.
According to the Psychic-style Duelist who had challenged Marufuji in the anime, the ace card of their Psychic-style should be "Cyber Stein." However, it was evident that Kajimoto's deck did not include it.
But that made sense. While "Cyber End Dragon" was touted as the ace card of the Electronic-style, there was only one copy in the dojo, and it was passed down to the sole legitimate successor of the style, serving as proof of their lineage.
As a mere disciple of the Psychic-style, Kajimoto naturally wouldn't have the qualifications to inherit the style's ace card.
After analyzing his opponent's previous competition records, You Xuan had a good grasp of Kajimoto's tactics. He had also adjusted his deck accordingly to prepare for the upcoming duel.
You Xuan performed one last check of his deck before the duel, ensuring everything was in order. He stood up, inserted his deck into his Duel Disk, and fastened it securely. Then, he strode through the dimly lit passageway and emerged onto the dueling arena.
The host had already finished hyping up the crowd and introducing the duelists. You Xuan ascended the stairs to the stage and saw that his opponent had already taken his position on the opposite side of the field. Their gazes met in midair, sparks of anticipation igniting between them.
You Xuan stepped onto the stage and activated his Duel Disk.
He felt confident that this duel shouldn't pose much of a problem.
(End of Chapter)
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