After the fierce life-or-death duel gambling on Earth, the Academy Hero Yuki Judai suddenly fainted and was immediately sent to the school hospital for treatment.
Luckily, after Chinai personally checked him, she found nothing serious, at least physically, he was very healthy.
If there had to be a problem, then it was damage to his spirit.
No wonder. Even though Judai was a reincarnation of the Supreme King with extraordinary talent and a robust physique, he was still just a child in the end.
The top-tier intensity of life-risking card duels was indeed a bit early for him. Although he won, the mental exhaustion was inevitable.
But at least they won the duel, which generally meant there wouldn't be much trouble.
That's how Dark Duels work—if you win, a few days of rest will recover the mental damage, only the losers will fall into an abyss of despair.
After confirming Judai was okay, Chinai immediately turned to Youyu, who was keeping vigil by Judai's bedside: "You must be quite injured too after the duel just now, should I also check you?"
Youyu shook his head, indicating it wasn't necessary. Unlike Judai, who had just started and hadn't played many life-risking cards, Youyu was battle-hardened; though the duel was exhausting, he wasn't injured.
But Chinai didn't listen, holding his arm in her embrace insisting on checking.
Let me heal you just a bit, just a bit!
She decided to study medicine, considering moments like these.
She knew, given Youyu's skill and status, he often faced very dangerous duels, possibly needing him to defeat very powerful enemies.
Card dueling is a high-risk profession where you really need a healer at your back.
Over the years she studied tirelessly and after graduating, she joined Duel Academy as a health teacher, all for what? For that crucial moment she could heal him a bit!
However, Youyu kept refusing, saying there were many follow-up matters to handle, so Chinai temporarily gave up.
Yet she was still muttering, saying things like if not now, she'd check him at home later...
Youyu: "..."
Two days after the alien invasion, all investigations and cleanup work were almost completed, and the GX Tournament was resumed after being unexpectedly halted.
Only after this round of alien catastrophe, the atmosphere of the tournament slightly changed.
Those originally enthusiastic professional players who aimed for the championship had their spirits somewhat dampened after the alien battle.
After witnessing the epic battle between Youyu, Judai, and that Interstellar Fleet commander, many people realized they were just frogs in a well before, thinking they had seen the whole world just under that small piece of blue sky...
If they were in such a level of duel, they probably wouldn't last more than two turns before being shredded, right?
The strength of the alien powerhouse was evident to all, and Duel King Youyu was long famous, but the remaining student named Yuki Judai left many professional veterans unable to let go.
A little Duel Academy harboring unnoticed dragons and tigers had such a monstrous talent!
Based on this performance, that guy was at least a world champion...no, at least a Legendary Level, right?
And genuinely Legendary Level! Unlike some who mixed into this category by claiming, "I've been hammered by Muto Yugi," they were indeed worlds apart!
Interestingly though, the supernova who saved the world and was the focus of all attention directly missed and forfeited at the last climax of the GX Tournament.
Because Judai suffered significant injuries when battling the Light of Destruction, his body was too weak and needed bed rest.
Though he felt extremely desperate when told "no dueling for a whole week," often trying to sneak out of bed to duel, Teacher Chinai from the health room was almost always by his bedside, giving him no chance to escape...
The news spread, immediately causing direct changes to the GX Tournament landscape.
The first to hear was Ed Phoenix—during Judai's bedridden days, he often ran to the health room with seemingly inexplicable reasons to "pass by."
With Judai forfeiting and not participating, Ed also found the tournament tasteless, losing his drive.
The secretary miss beside Ed was very understanding, timely stepping up to write and erase on the schedule while suggesting: "The next few days might be tightly scheduled.
Sir, if we can't fit it in, should we just put the GX Cup on hold?"
"Hmm, let's do that." Ed didn't even think before agreeing, "I am already the world champion in the professional circle, a mere school cup game was just for fun anyway."
"Yes, sir."
Being a competent secretary, she didn't ask foolish questions like "but you said differently before participating," instead she decisively erased the tournament from the schedule.
Actually, originally Youyu hosted the tournament hoping the students—especially his own pupils—could get some experience, rankings weren't really important anyway.
And now, after an interstellar duel, Judai not only received honors surpassing "GX Champion," but also endured the greatest test in his life thus far, naturally making this competition redundant, skipping wouldn't be a big deal.
Ed joined the fun mainly aiming to duel Judai, now without a reason to continue.
He's not here, why should I bother with the tournament?
A world champion's time is valuable! (Just ask on visiting the health room thrice a day)
Next comes the convergence of world lines.
After these series of changes, the plot super drifted from the original, but the GX Tournament dust settled, and the historical lines re-merged.
The GX champion throne, like in the original, fell to Manjome Jun after the major players successively forfeited.
However, instead of beating only a bunch of passersby easily for the championship like the original, this time Manjome actually won on the battlefield against Marik, claiming victory.
This indeed surprised Youyu a bit.
Though Mr. Marik is known for an undefeated myth, despite being a weak player himself and carrying a "curse whoever" Debuff...he's still supposed to be a Legendary Level, right?
Plus, before the match, Youyu personally tested Mr. Marik's abilities, determined he was worthy of the "Legendary Level" title.
Youyu was quite certain that in the original, Manjome Jun at this time couldn't possibly have beaten Marik. So, perhaps his transformation and progress should be credited to President Haima's guidance.
However, even after winning the championship, Manjome himself seemed unsatisfied.
He was even clenching his fists, gritting his teeth after claiming victory.
"Yuki↑Ju↓dai↑!"
Dared to flee from our fateful duel!
Unforgivable ahhh!!!