https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-6-Talk-After-Winning-a-Championship/12555031/
Chapter 7: Preliminaries
Chapter 7: Preliminaries
In the vast arena, a grand dueling coliseum stood amidst the ancient city. Though the competition had not yet commenced, the spectator stands were already teeming with eager fans.
You Xuan arrived at the coliseum's entrance with his senior brother, Sato Koji, from the Dojo. As they stepped out of their vehicle, their eyes were immediately drawn to the towering sculpture of the Dark Magician that stood sentinel at the main entrance.
Even though the card's appearance in tournaments had decreased significantly since Mutou Yugi's retirement, the signature monster of the former King of Games still graced many dueling venues as an iconic symbol.
"I need to head off and make the final preparations for the tournament. The preliminaries should be starting soon," Sato informed You Xuan.
"I'll take my leave as well and get ready. Looking forward to facing you in the arena, senior brother," You Xuan replied politely.
However, upon hearing these words, Sato's expression turned peculiar, as if he wanted to say something but held back.
I really don't want to meet you there again, he thought, but ultimately kept his mouth shut.
After bidding farewell to his senior brother, You Xuan proceeded to the registration desk, where a young lady issued him his participant credentials and a badge bearing his competitor number—39.
It was a rather auspicious number for card gamers. You Xuan tucked the badge away, nodding in satisfaction.
Looks like my luck is holding today. Hopefully, it'll bring me victory in the first round, he mused.
As he stepped into the grand hall of the coliseum, snippets of excited chatter filled the air.
"Wow, this year's Moonflower Cup seems to have attracted some serious talent," remarked one spectator.
"I think I just spotted Kaji Masaki from the Psychics Dojo! He's one of the rising dueling prodigies," replied another.
"I'm not too fussed about Psychics duels, to be honest. I'm just hoping my buddy who plays a Magician Girl deck makes it through," a third voice chimed in.
"Admit it, you just want to see him summon the Dark Magician Girl!" came the playful retort, causing the first speaker to blush furiously.
The Dark Magician Girl, with her alluring mage attire reminiscent of the "Black Magician Girl" from the legendary card pack, had long been a favorite among gentleman duelists. Her innocent visage and delicate arms contrasted delightfully with certain well-endowed aspects of her physique, which seemed almost too much for her petite frame to bear.
"But she's genuinely powerful!" the flustered fan protested, earning nods of agreement from his companions.
"Can't argue with that," one of them conceded.
"Indeed," added another.
As You Xuan made his way through the coliseum, his attention was briefly caught by the excited squeal of a young girl.
"Oh my god, is that for real? Are you sure you're not mistaken?" she exclaimed.
"Absolutely! That's Dinosaur Ryuzaki, the legendary duelist! No doubt about it!" her companion asserted confidently.
You Xuan's steps faltered slightly at the mention of that name.
Dinosaur Ryuzaki? The one from Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters? he thought.
Initially portrayed as a formidable opponent, Ryuzaki had even achieved the runner-up position in a national dueling tournament, back when Mutou Yugi, Kaiba, and the later bigwigs of the DM era were absent from the scene.
"Are you sure? I thought the Moonflower Cup was a secondary, non-professional tournament. Why would a legendary duelist like him be here?" You Xuan heard someone ask, echoing his own curiosity.
"Word is, Ryuzaki has been in seclusion for several years, honing his skills. This is his comeback tournament," came the reply.
"Damn, that's rough for the other competitors this year. They've got a real demon to contend with," one spectator remarked.
"Yeah, looks like the champion is pretty much decided then," another agreed.
You Xuan's mind raced as he tried to recall more about Ryuzaki. His memory of the duelist was vague, but he distinctly remembered Ryuzaki's close companion—Insects Weevil Underwood. Both shared a despicable nature, willing to stoop to any low to win, though Ryuzaki possessed a slight edge in skill. After all, Weevil had infamously tossed the entire set of Yugi's Dark Magician cards into the ocean—an act that, ironically, had saved the hides of all the DM-era big bosses.
If Weevil hadn't done that, Yugi's godlike drawing skills in the latter stages of the story, where he could seemingly will any card to his hand, would have made a mockery of every opponent and their prized cards, from the three Legendary Gods to the Mythic Dragon and Orichalcos.
Malik Ishtar and Ryou Bakura would have bowed down and thanked Weevil for his three-knock salute.
However, since their respective losses to Yugi and Jou, the duo seemed to have faded from the competitive scene, opting for a career in entertainment instead. Their dueling styles had also taken a turn for the bizarre.
Interestingly, Jou's ace card, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, had been won from Ryuzaki. And from that point on, Ryuzaki's losing streak began, and he never tasted victory again.
Though his fate was left unknown in DM, he never made an appearance in the sequel, GX, which was set eight years after the conclusion of DM. So, it wasn't entirely surprising to encounter him now, within this timeframe.
Speaking of which, while Yugi had returned to the afterlife, characters like Jou and other DM-era regulars should still be around in this era, though their whereabouts and activities remained a mystery.
Some of them might have had the skills to back it up, but others were simply riding the coattails of that hype, and the value of their title of "Duel King" was probably no better than someone claiming they "fought the First Hokage back in the day."
Ryuzaki and Weevil hadn't made any appearances in GX, so their current strengths were unknown. However, You Xuan kept this in mind and decided that if he were to encounter them later in the tournament, he would show them a basic level of respect and make some targeted adjustments to his deck.
You Xuan bought a cup of milk tea, found a place to sit down, and casually browsed through the list of registered participants.
The competitors' levels were generally higher than those at the Dueling Dojo, so he expected to smoothly reach the four-star rank with this tournament, which would make meeting the college entrance requirements a breeze.
Scanning through the list, aside from Dinosaur Ryuzaki, most of the names were unfamiliar, and he didn't recognize any notable characters.
Hmm?
You Xuan's gaze landed on a somewhat familiar name.
Manjome Jun?
That perennial runner-up from GX, who achieved the remarkable feat of a reverse sweep from elite to comedic relief within a year?
He checked Manjome's personal information out of curiosity.
Elite class of the Duel Academy's affiliated junior high school, expected to be promoted to the Duel Academy's high school division this year.
Hmm, so in terms of school grade, GX's main cast should be the same age as me.
No problem there.
He then glanced at the information for his first opponent in the preliminaries.
Nakamura Tsubasa, Duelist Level 4.
Seems like it'll be a breeze.
In fact, when Nakamura Tsubasa stepped onto the preliminary dueling arena and stood across from You Xuan, he thought the same.
Fengki You Xuan, Level 1, no major tournament experience, no honors or awards, a blank resume.
A brief glance at the few lines of personal information only conveyed one message to Nakamura:
Free win.
Sometimes, you get lucky in tournaments and draw an opponent like this, who are affectionately known as charitable duelists in the community. They're incredibly inexperienced yet insist on participating, specializing in donating their points to others.
This should be an easy win.
But Nakamura didn't know that when You Xuan stood across from him and drew his initial five cards, he felt a momentary pang of apology for his opponent.
Sorry, buddy, but I've got this in the bag.
Looks like only one of us will be playing Yu-Gi-Oh! this round.
You Xuan began his turn. He first played the Spell Card "Confiscation," paying 1000 Life Points to look at his opponent's hand and discard one card. He followed up with "Forced Requisition," looking at his opponent's hand and returning one card to the deck. Then, he played "Trick Demon," paying 1000 Life Points to discard one of his opponent's random cards and letting his opponent discard another, resulting in a total of three discarded cards for his opponent.
The legendary hand destruction trifecta, executed flawlessly. And before his opponent's turn even began, they were left with only one card in their hand.
Since You Xuan had seen his opponent's hand, he knew exactly what the remaining card was – the Spell Card "Double Magic," which allowed the user to discard one card from their hand to activate a Spell Card from their graveyard.
Not very useful in this situation.
You Xuan smoothly executed the hand destruction combo, and without even summoning a single monster, he ended his turn with style by setting one card face-down.
He elegantly gestured, "Your move."
Nakamura Tsubasa was flustered.
His turn hadn't even started, and he was already down to his last card. How was he supposed to fight back?
However, adhering to the principles of a duelist, he didn't give up. Nakamura Tsubasa steadied his composure, drew a card...
Only to watch his newly drawn card get sent straight to the graveyard by his opponent's Trap Card, "Drop Off."
Nakamura was bewildered.
Are you freaking kidding me? You've made up your mind to not let me play, haven't you?
With no other options, he could only end his turn, holding onto the "Double Magic" with no suitable cards to discard for its cost.
It felt like his turn hadn't even started before it ended, or maybe that was just his imagination.
You Xuan's turn again. He activated the Spell Card "Reinforcements," allowing him to search for a Warrior-Type monster from his deck. He added "Zalugas, the Headhunter" to his hand and Normal Summoned it, then used it to attack directly.
This triggered Zalugas' effect, discarding one of his opponent's cards when it inflicted battle damage.
Nakamura Tsubasa: "..."
Now, he had no cards left.
Unbelievable.
What kind of karma did I accumulate in my past life to be matched up with this freak?
(End of Chapter)
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