At this moment, the duel arena had fallen into an unprecedented silence.
The two sides staring each other down were in completely lopsided states: one side had the field packed to the brim, while the other not only had no monsters to summon, even his hand was completely empty.
Even worse, it was currently the turn of the one whose hand had been stripped to nothing.
Yusaku glanced at Fujiwara, who was half-kneeling on the ground, his eyes clouded with confusion.
"Planning to keep struggling?"
"Or are you going to just sit there and let the timer run out so you lose on your own turn? Not that it matters."
He paused, the corners of his lips curling into a playful smile.
"Either way, you lose."
"I just swept through all the cards you had banished. They're all cards that can't be activated at quick-play speed. On my turn, you literally can't move."
"And… ah, you even brought Lava Golem to tribute my monsters, yet in the end you don't even have the right to tribute anything."
He looked at Fujiwara, whose chest was heaving violently, thought for a moment, then twisted the knife.
"Right, this should be your third time losing to me, shouldn't it?"
"Funny thing is, this time you didn't even get to play a single card."
Those words were like the last straw crushing the camel's back, completely breaking Fujiwara.
He jerked his hand up, staring at Yusaku with ragged breath, lips trembling.
"You… you…"
The last few words never made it out. His body went limp and he collapsed face-first onto the ground with a thud.
Seeing this, Yusaku froze for a moment, then shook his head helplessly.
"How did he just pass out like that?"
"You people from Genius Academy are really fragile. If your body's that bad, you shouldn't be dueling."
Hearing that, the students from Genius Academy in the stands all had their faces go pitch-black.
You seriously don't know why he got mad enough to faint?
A lot of them were silently grumbling in their hearts.
Seeing that Fujiwara still showed no sign of waking up, Yusaku turned his gaze toward the audience.
The on-site judge snuck a look at the very top row of the stands.
Seeing that the seat there was already empty, he hurriedly wiped the cold sweat seeping out at his temples, then shouted loudly.
"The duel is over! Since Duelist Fujiwara has lost consciousness and is unable to continue the duel, according to the rules, Duelist Yusaku wins this duel!"
"Furthermore, for achieving the feat of ending the duel in a single turn, he is promoted two floors in a row and is directly advanced to the sixth floor!"
As soon as the judge's declaration fell, a system prompt sounded simultaneously in Yusaku's mind.
[Congratulations to the host. Quest progress has reached 75%. Reward: 1 Tier-2 main engine, 3 random sub-engines.]
Listening to the system prompt, Yusaku raised an eyebrow.
So the quest progress is already at seventy-five percent.
He did not check the rewards immediately. Instead, he turned and walked toward the collapsed Fujiwara.
Just as he was about to squat down, something seemed to occur to him. He pivoted sharply and strode toward the open passageway.
"I've gotten used to dueling for cards. Not being able to bet cards this time really feels a bit uncomfortable…"
Hearing this line, the corners of the Genius Academy students' eyes couldn't help but twitch.
After Yusaku's back completely disappeared into the depths of the corridor, the various dojo representatives who had been invited to watch finally clapped their hands a few times as a token gesture.
The applause was sparse and perfunctory.
Compared to them, the player crowd had far fewer scruples. They cheered wildly and celebrated, taking the time to rush over and trash-talk in Genius Academy's direction right up in their faces.
Then they scampered off toward the sixth floor entrance in a swarm.
Once the players had dispersed, the people from Genius Academy finally sent someone with a dark face to carry the unconscious Fujiwara off the square.
Inside the passageway.
After entering the passage, Yusaku didn't head straight for the sixth floor. Instead, he stopped walking.
When the duel had ended just now, the system prompt had announced that his quest progress had reached seventy-five percent, and the rewards sounded rather substantial.
He planned to first see exactly what he'd gotten, and also take advantage of this break to fine-tune his deck.
Yusaku took a deep breath, pressed his palm against his chest, and rubbed his hands together rapidly as if warming them, his eyes full of barely contained expectation.
Open!
With a thought, he brought up his system backpack.
What appeared before him was a Machine-Type monster deck, its card borders crawling with cracks.
Holy crap, Numeron!
Seeing the complete Lightning/Fire-attribute Numeron core in his backpack, Yusaku was briefly stunned.
The system's reward this time was actually a Numeron main engine.
Every Numeron monster card was present, not only including the Rank 12 Number C1000: Numerounius, but even the Rank 13 Number iC1000: Numerounius Numerounia.
However, a simple Numeron deck wouldn't be enough to get that kind of reaction out of him.
What really made his heart jolt was that the big boss of this Numeron build was using the anime effect, and came with anime-style protection.
This card cannot be destroyed by battle with monsters whose names do not include "No.", and it also cannot be destroyed by any card effects.
Of course, in the modern Yu-Gi-Oh! environment, that kind of protection isn't all that troublesome anymore. The methods to out it are basically too many to count.
"Not bad, not bad."
Yusaku muttered to himself as he slotted a dozen or so supporting cards into the Numeron main engine.
Unlike other decks that require a huge number of parts to function, Numeron's entry cost was much lower.
All Numeron really needed was enough board-breaking cards and stall tools.
Board breakers were for going second, while stall tools were to stabilize going first.
That's just how this deck works. If you randomly get to go second, you can toss your opponent a couple of big gifts or Kaijus and then go straight for lethal.
But if you're unlucky enough to go first, then things get awkward. At best, you can only make something like Double Headed Anger Knuckle or an excavator-type monster to turtle, so you absolutely have to run multiple copies of survival tools like Kuriboh.
After tuning the Numeron deck, Yusaku stored it back in his backpack and moved on to check the three random sub-engines the system had thrown in.
"A Superheavy Samurai engine, not bad! A Centurion engine, that's good too, I can slot that into my Swordsoul deck… Huh, there's even a Horus engine. Looks like I'll have to dismantle some cards I don't really use…"
Might as well break down that Thunder Dragon deck I just got. That deck isn't all that useful to me anyway.
Once he'd thought it, he did it.
He quickly dismantled the Thunder Dragon deck into crafting pieces, used those pieces to exchange for a few key cards to add to his deck, and after he was done, Yusaku clapped his hands and walked toward the entrance to the sixth floor in high spirits.
The entrance to the sixth floor was not an open archway like the earlier floors, but three massive stone doors carved all over with intricate patterns.
The moment Yusaku's palm touched the cold stone surface, the doors let out a series of mechanical clicks and began to swing inward.
A gust of wind mixed with the smell of metal rust and power surges rushed out to meet him.
Behind the doors was a scene completely different from the floors before: the duel platform floated above a sea of clouds, pale-purple energy barriers ringed the edge of the battlefield, and on both sides hung semi-circular floating stands.
Those stands were already packed with spectators and players, all wearing duel disks.
The instant they saw Yusaku walk out, the players immediately started cheering for him at the top of their lungs.
Above the platform, enormous gear-like mechanical structures turned slowly, casting down cold white light that illuminated the battlefield and stands down to the smallest detail.
Tap.
Tap.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the deep corridor. Yusaku lifted his gaze to see two figures walking in slowly from the opposite entrance.
Both were familiar faces. One was Ichiki, who'd dueled him last time using a T.G. Insect deck, and the other was Shogo, who used a Zombie deck.
Seeing them, Yusaku raised an eyebrow, a hint of teasing in his tone.
"Your academy's talent pool is running dry? You really couldn't find anyone I haven't dueled yet?"
"And what's with two people at once? Planning to gang up on me?"
At that, Ichiki snorted.
"From the fifth floor of the Duel Tower and up, each gate is guarded by two people. You have to defeat both to advance to the next floor."
"And as gatekeepers, we have the right to choose whether to go first!"
"Damn, not only is it two-on-one, they can even decide who goes first? They've really given up on saving face."
"Brother, you're being way too polite. Since when have people from Genius Academy ever cared about face?"
"They're way past shameless. This is a new personal best."
"…"
Mizuki didn't care about the barrage of taunts at all.
He simply looked calmly at Yusaku.
"These are the rules of the Duel Tower. Otherwise, do you think Upper City residency status is that easy to get?"
"You can refuse the rules and walk out of the tower right now if you like."
Yusaku shot him a glance.
"I didn't come here for some Upper City residency qualification."
"As for the duels, it's just two consecutive matches where you don't get to choose to go second. No big deal."
"Come on then. Which of you is going first… or are you coming at me together?"
Ichiki stepped forward two paces and spoke in a low voice.
"Ever since losing to you last time…"
Before he could finish, Yusaku cut him off.
"Stop. I know exactly what you're about to say."
"Either you've been put through hellish training by some academy seniors, or the academy gave you a brand-new deck. I've heard it all before. Just get on with it."
Interrupted in front of everyone, Ichiki's expression darkened.
He snorted coldly, snapped his wrist, and unfolded his duel disk.
Yusaku stood there with arms crossed, utterly calm as he watched him.
"So?"
"You picking first turn, or what?"
"In a duel, the first turn is always the advantageous side. You think I'd ever pass that up?" Ichiki sneered.
"Choosing to go first, huh?" Yusaku's lips curled into a mysterious smile.
He raised his hand, opened his own duel disk, and slotted in a deck that glowed with a faint crimson light.
The moment Yusaku slotted the deck into his duel disk, Ichiki suddenly felt a chill run down his spine for no apparent reason.
He couldn't help looking around the arena.
Off to the side, Mizuki noticed something was off and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Ichiki shook his head and fixed his gaze back onto Yusaku, shouting in a deep voice:
"Come on!"
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
The duel disks hummed to life as pale-blue holographic screens unfolded, streams of data racing across the surface to clearly display both players' starting LP.
[Yusaku, LP 8000]
[Ichiki, LP 8000]
"According to the rules of the Duel Tower, I choose to go first!"
Ichiki's fingers slid quickly across his duel disk as he drew his five starting cards.
His eyes swept across his opening hand in a flash. After a brief moment of thought, he pulled out one card and slammed it down.
"First, I activate the Spell Card, T.G. Limiter Removal!"
"The effect of this card lets me discard 1 card from my hand and add 2 'T.G.' monsters from my Deck to my hand!"
"Hm?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow. "T.G.?"
Ichiki let out a cold chuckle.
"This is one of the latest decks our academy has built. Its power level is extremely high."
"If you've got any responses, you'd better chain them now, or you won't get the chance later."
At that, Yusaku glanced at a card in his hand and the corners of his mouth lifted.
"No response. Go ahead."
"No response, huh?"
A confident smile surfaced on Ichiki's face.
"Looks like your thought process lines up perfectly with my plan."
He barked out his declaration.
"Then according to the effect of T.G. Limiter Removal, I'll discard 1 card from my hand and add T.G. Rocket Salamander and T.G. Gear Zombie from my Deck to my hand!"
After adding the searched cards, he immediately slapped one of them onto his disk.
"I Normal Summon T.G. Rocket Salamander!"
Brilliant summoning light flared.
A crimson dragon with silver thrusters mounted on its limbs burst onto the field. When it spread its wings, a wave of scorching air roared out.
[T.G. Rocket Salamander]
[Level 1 / FIRE / Reptile / Effect]
[ATK 600]
Looking at the monster that had appeared on the field, Yusaku said mildly:
"You're insane."
Ichiki blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Yusaku gave him a mysterious smile.
"You'll find out very soon."
Hearing that, Ichiki frowned even more deeply.
He racked his brains for a while but still couldn't figure out what Yusaku was getting at, and finally snorted.
"Quit with the theatrics."
He stopped overthinking it and flipped up another card from his hand.
"I activate the effect of T.G. Gear Zombie in my hand!"
"Target 1 'T.G.' monster I control, Special Summon this card from my hand, and then that monster's ATK is reduced by 1000!"
"I target T.G. Rocket Salamander on my field, reduce its ATK by 1000, and Special Summon this card!"
With that, he slammed the card onto his disk.
A moment later, a zombie-like monster cobbled together from a pile of rusty gears appeared on the field, exuding a rancid, decayed aura that formed a sharp contrast with the red dragon.
[T.G. Gear Zombie]
[Level 1 / EARTH / Zombie / Effect]
[ATK 600]
"Effect of T.G. Rocket Salamander!"
"I can Tribute 1 'T.G.' monster I control to activate it. I Special Summon 1 'T.G.' monster with a different original name from my Deck!"
Ichiki looked over at Yusaku.
"I Tribute T.G. Rocket Salamander itself and Special Summon T.G. Tank Grub from my Deck!"
As his words landed, the crimson dragon dissolved into a streak of light.
Then a monster assembled from metallic components, shaped like a plump caterpillar, slowly crawled onto the field.
[T.G. Tank Grub]
[Level 1 / EARTH / Machine / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK 0]
The instant the monster appeared, Ichiki shouted again.
"I tune T.G. Tank Grub I just summoned with T.G. Gear Zombie!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 2 – Warrior-Type, T.G. Mighty Striker!"
Before his voice had even faded, the two monsters on the field turned into twin streams of light that intertwined and spun.
A soldier-shaped monster clad in mechanical armor and equipped with a jetpack slammed down onto the field, radiating a razor-sharp aura.
[T.G. Mighty Striker]
[Level 2 / EARTH / Warrior / Synchro / Tuner]
[ATK 1800]
"I activate the effect of T.G. Mighty Striker, and chain the effect of T.G. Tank Grub!"
"First, the effect of T.G. Tank Grub!"
Ichiki called out.
"When this card is sent to the GY as Synchro Material for a 'T.G.' Synchro Monster, I can activate its effect: I Special Summon 1 'T.G. Token' (Machine / EARTH / Level 1 / ATK 0 / DEF 0) to my field in Attack Position!"
As his declaration ended, a small mechanical grub-like token appeared on his field.
[T.G. Token]
[ATK 0]
"Next is the effect of T.G. Mighty Striker!"
"When this card is Synchro Summoned, I can add 1 'T.G.' Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand. I add the Continuous Spell T.G. All Clear from my Deck to my hand!"
Once the searched card hit his hand, Ichiki immediately slammed it into his back row.
"I activate the Continuous Spell, T.G. All Clear!"
A Continuous Spell appeared beneath his feet, and a faint golden glow spread across the ground.
"Effect of T.G. All Clear!"
"During my Main Phase, I can destroy 1 'T.G.' monster in my hand or on my field, then add 1 'T.G.' monster with a different name from my Deck or GY to my hand!"
"I choose to destroy T.G. Mighty Striker on my field and add T.G. Screw Serpent from my Deck to my hand!"
As his declaration ended, Mighty Striker exploded into fragments and vanished from the field.
After adding his search to hand, he continued coldly.
(End of Chapter)
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