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Chapter 309: Raising the Stakes
Chapter 309: Raising the Stakes
"Duelist Kingdom?" Marufuji Ryo asked, his eyes scanning the poster with a curious expression. "Are you entering, Master?"
"Yes," Shark Island replied. "This year's tournament is going to be different. Rumor has it that Kaiba Seto, the CEO of KaibaCorp, will be participating himself."
"Kaiba Seto?" Marufuji Ryo exclaimed, surprised. "But I thought he had retired."
"That's what the rumors say, but it seems they might just be that—rumors," Shark Island said, leaning back in his chair with a smile. "Furthermore, I've had the privilege of meeting Kaiba Seto in person, and I can tell you that there are few duelists in the world who possess such a pure and passionate dedication to dueling as he does. I always thought it unlikely that someone like him would retire from the dueling world."
"I see," Marufuji Ryo said thoughtfully. Kaiba Seto was a duelist he greatly admired, and the latter's tactics and style had influenced him significantly. After all, they were similar types of duelists. Both favored decks with three powerful monster cards, employed triple fusion strategies, and preferred aggressive domination in their duels. They even seemed to share a penchant for starting with a hand of three monsters and a single spell or trap card, and if anyone dared to question Marufuji Ryo's tendency to draw his three Cyber Dragon fusions together, Kaiba Seto would likely be the first to leap to his defense. "So, are you interested, Ryo?" Shark Island asked with a smile. "This year's Duelist Kingdom seems to have raised the bar for entry, but as the ace of Duel Academy, you'll surely have no problem securing a spot if you wish to participate."
Marufuji Ryo nodded. "Thank you, Master. I understand. I'll seize this opportunity to train and strive for further improvement during this vacation."
"Good," Shark Island said. "Oh, and by the way, I heard that this year, our school's Fujiki You Xuan will also be participating."
"The freshman with the yellow coat? The New Rookie King?" Marufuji Ryo clarified.
The reputation of a certain individual at Duel Academy had spread far and wide, and his nickname was so well-known that even Marufuji Ryo almost called him by it.
"Yes, that's the one," Shark Island laughed. "That child seems to be quite familiar with Kaiba Seto as well, so it's not surprising that he'd enter. You two might even cross paths on the tournament grounds."
Marufuji Ryo fell into thought. Dueling You Xuan... As the most intriguing newcomer of the year, You Xuan had naturally caught his attention. Marufuji Ryo had been thinking that sooner or later, they would have to face each other in a duel. The first semester had simply not presented the right opportunity. But now, with the stage set at Duelist Kingdom, a world-class tournament... Marufuji Ryo's lips curled upward as the soul of a duelist stirred within him. This was getting interesting. He was already looking forward to facing off against that guy. Perhaps, at this Duelist Kingdom, they would finally determine who the true king of Duel Academy was.
"Cyber Style?" Asuka asked, her chin propped up by her hand as she sat across from You Xuan in his laboratory, her curiosity piqued. "Isn't that Ryo's deck?"
"Yes," You Xuan replied, as he inspected and sorted a new batch of Cyber Style cards recently acquired from KaibaCorp. These would serve as the latest research materials for the Cyber Style project group.
Asuka then recalled that Marufuji Ryo had mentioned that the Cyber Style was not unique to their dojo. The treasure he had inherited as the dojo's keeper was primarily the Cyber End Dragon, and based on the information from the anime, it seemed that Marufuji Ryo possessed two copies of this card.
Even their dojo's core monster, "Cyber Dragon," though a powerful and rare card, was not as exclusive as "Blue-Eyes White Dragon," of which there were only three copies in the world.
Back then, the standard for a decent beatstick in Duel Monsters was 1600 ATK, and those with 1800 to 1900 ATK were considered high-quality.
Then, with the broadcast of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, a new monster called "Cyber Dragon" emerged. Despite being a Level 5 monster, it could be Special Summoned from the hand without any Tributes, and upon its arrival, it boasted a formidable 2100 ATK, surpassing all the standard beatsticks of that time.
The introduction of Cyber Dragon had a significant impact on the competitive landscape. During that period, it was almost mandatory to include Cyber Dragon in both competitive and casual decks due to its overwhelming power.
Because of its dominance, Cyber Dragon was on the Semi-Limited list for a long time. Then, in 2008, as the game pace accelerated, instead of being freed from the ban list, it was further restricted to Limited status due to its increasing prevalence in the meta.
For a pure beatstick, being Limited was almost the highest honor it could achieve.
"Don't underestimate Cyber Dragon. The current development of this deck barely scratches the surface of its potential. It might surpass your expectations, and even Caesar's own imagination." You Xuan said with a smile.
"Even Caesar's imagination?" Asuka's expression turned complex.
If anyone else had said this, she might have brushed it off as nonsense. But in Asuka's eyes—no, in the eyes of every student in this academy—Marufuji Ryo was synonymous with Cyber Dragon.
No one understood Cyber Dragon better than Ryo.
But You Xuan was different.
After all, You Xuan had already proven to Asuka that her self-proclaimed mastery of Cyber Angel was, in fact, shallow and incomplete. She had realized that every deck You Xuan set his sights on seemed to have something special about it.
And whenever You Xuan declared that a deck had "potential," it was as if the heavens themselves were blessing that deck, and it was only a matter of time before it took off and broke new ground.
Speaking of which, she suddenly recalled that Ryo had mentioned something about participating in this year's Duelist Kingdom tournament.
Marufuji Ryo and Asuka's brother, Tenjoin Fubuki, used to be the best of friends, and they were known as the "Caesar" and "King" of the academy respectively. That was why Asuka had always been seen by Ryo's side during the earlier parts of the story, and it was how she had learned about Ryo's intention to join the tournament.
A ridiculous thought suddenly popped into her head. What if, by some twist of fate, Ryo and You Xuan faced each other on the tournament stage? And what if You Xuan, of all people, decided to duel Ryo with a Cyber Dragon deck?
It sounded absurd, but knowing You Xuan, it wasn't something he wouldn't do.
"Alright, I have a few good ideas. I'll leave it to the Cyber-style project group to research further." You Xuan put away the cards and stood up.
"Oh, right. Before the vacation starts, I need to pay a visit to Professor Daidosuji."
"What's it regarding?" Asuka asked.
Unlike her initial impression, she now felt that Professor Daidosuji might not be as incompetent as he seemed on the surface. However, she still couldn't fathom what You Xuan hoped to learn or gain from the professor.
You Xuan glanced at her and smiled mysteriously. "I just want to increase my options a bit. I have a feeling that we'll be facing some tough duels during the winter break."
(End of Chapter)
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