The next day, Gloria withdrew from the Resurrection Race duel.
This meant that Tenjouin Asuka, who was supposed to duel her, won by default and proceeded to the next round.
At first glance, this was quite a fortunate event and aligned with Asuka's usual streak of good luck.
But to Fubuki, who was racing around in a wheelchair in the hospital ward, it seemed like the worst option.
Remaining contestants, as long as they weren't outlandish professional duelists like Ed, were basically all students. The duelists competing were generally only a few years older than Asuka. These duelists had their unique insights, whether it was belief or perseverance. Competing against such excellent duelists, every duel was an experience, a gain, and now she lost a duel without any effort.
Even worse, as Fubuki looked at the match schedule, he felt that Asuka's chances of winning were slim.
Because her next opponent was Jim.
Asuka's strategy had always relied on resurrecting Cyber Angels from the graveyard and using them to control the opponent's monsters, but unfortunately, Jim's dueling strategy targeted the opponent's graveyard.
Whether it was Fossil Fusion or that Tyrant Neptune card he used in the previous duel against Tenjo Hikari, it was all based on this approach.
This was very disadvantageous for Asuka, who had progressed so far purely relying on powerful cards — and as expected, in just two turns, she was on the back foot, and by the next turn, it was effectively garbage time.
Fubuki sighed.
He didn't have much choice. Could he harshly teach his adorable sister a lesson?
As her brother, he had been missing for over a year, worrying his sister for so long. How could he be so hard on her — he wasn't like that nerve-wracking Marufuji Ryo beside him, and the methods used on a dear friend couldn't be applied to his sister.
If he wore a Darkness mask and Asuka lost even a little Life Points, he would feel compelled to surrender.
How could he bear it?
"Ugh—what a bother." He stopped watching the Resurrection Race duels.
Anyway, the Resurrection Race contestants would eventually face Hikari. He could watch it then, and even if there were any exciting duels this time, he could always find videos to watch later.
It might not be as fun as a live broadcast, but after all, some insights could still be gained.
He flipped through his phone, checking if there was anything interesting on White Dragon X, and suddenly, his eyes paused as he found a curious piece of news.
In a certain amusement park in Domino City, an older man dressed like a magician was performing unusual duels.
Unusual duels?
He opened the link and watched the duel. On the screen was a dashing middle-aged man wearing a tall hat and magician's attire, using a Duel Disk he had never seen before, greeting the surrounding audience.
The duel content didn't really have much change or surprises — it was about summoning higher-level monsters and clashing with opponents — but during the duel, the Entertainment Duelist manipulated the holograms so they seemed almost physical, mingling with the surrounding children, who could even touch the holograms.
He instinctively sat upright.
A Dark Duelist?!
No—
Didn't seem like it.
He continued to watch and found that this duelist wasn't up to any mischief. Besides interacting harmoniously with the kids using the physical images, he also performed swing acts, fire hoops, horse racing, and other circus acts during the duels.
Accompanied by fireworks and music, it elicited exclamations and laughter from the children.
"Combining dueling with a circus directly?" Fubuki's eyes lit up.
Genius—
Kids going to an amusement park originally just wanted to see a circus, but parents often prohibited touching things, fearing both the risk of paying damages and injury.
Yet now, a socially 'high-status' duelist not only took on the role of the circus in front of the audience and children, but could even create tangible holograms, allowing the kids to partake, even touching those strange little animals…
This joy was pure and simple.
Kids didn't care that much; seeing such a splendid performance would naturally excite them.
It was like gamers seeing a fully immersive game, perfectly normal. He couldn't help but feel joy when capturing stunning or magnificent photos.
"Oh—this is a promising direction." Fubuki's eyes brightened, as if clouds were forming overhead.
Asuka in a clown outfit, Asuka in an idol costume, Asuka in a sailor uniform, Asuka in a Dark Magician Girl outfit, each one adorable, each astonishingly impactful…
"Wow—how interesting!"
His eyes shone with excitement.
He wanted to learn!
Entertainment duels, weren't they fascinating?
As the Resurrection Race dragged on for several days, the victor was essentially decided.
As expected, it was still Jim.
This was normal, as anyone watching the Resurrection Race could clearly feel the significant gap between the Resurrection Race contestants and the quarter-finalists, and without Fubuki, Jim was evidently the most likely answer.
If it were Tenjouin Fubuki, the audience might have expected a duel between Fubuki and Jim, but now they had already predicted the outcome.
And so, the "Quarter-Finals" officially began.
The quarter-finals were divided into Group "A" and Group "B."
Group A consisted of Manjome Jun, Mitsuzawa Daichi, John Anderson, and a Gravekeeper Race duelist.
Group B consisted of Marufuji Ryo, Professional Duelist Secret Poisonous Venom, Tenjo Hikari, and Jim.
The groups alternated, one match per group, giving each duelist the chance to observe other opponents.
Notably, perhaps to verify or restart.
Or maybe to prove the current quarter-finals' quality, the first match was between Tenjo Hikari and Jim — that is, the last group dueled first.
This duel was not an easy task for Tenjo Hikari, but it ended without any major surprises. Last time, Jim's use of The Tyrant Neptune indeed caught Hikari off guard. However, without the convenient and quick 'Sacrifice' like Independent Nightingale, there were few monsters in Jim's deck suitable for The Tyrant Neptune to devour.
Moreover, Tenjo Hikari didn't use the Ancient Gear Howitzer this time. Given that Jim hadn't had much time to swap new cards in the recent days filled with duels, despite giving his all, he lost to Tenjo Hikari —
Consequently, Tenjo Hikari also acquired a new Fossil Fusion monster, "Fossil Warrior Skull Knight."
With this, both Fossil Series' graveyard effect fossil monsters were collected by Tenjo Hikari.
"Wow, didn't expect to lose again." Jim chuckled, scratching his head, but wasn't discouraged.
Next semester, these two chiefs would come to study at the main school; there would be plenty of opportunities then.
Besides, frankly, having lost once, even climbing back from the Resurrection Race, Jim didn't think he could certainly defeat Tenjo Hikari in the short term.
It wasn't about lacking determination; it was about limited time.
During the quarter-finals, Kaiba Company did not divide any rest lounges, allowing the quarter-finalists to watch from the nearest, best spots until the finals, which is why Jim joined Tenjo Hikari after losing, to watch the next duel together —
Manjome VS Mitsuzawa Daichi!