[Fujiyama, LP 3000 → 0]
The Duel ended as abruptly as a thunderbolt splitting the sky. The onlookers around the platform seemed to be hit with a paralysis spell, thousands of eyes locked onto the final number on the Duel Disk. Even the tremble in their fingertips stalled for half a second.
Only when Fujiyama's heavy body slammed to the ground with a dull thud did the taut silence finally shatter, exploding into a tidal wave of uproar.
"It… ended?" Someone instinctively pushed up their glasses, the shake in their voice spilling out of their throat.
"It did… no, wait! It really did!" A front-row spectator clenched their fist so hard their knuckles whitened, their voice cracking from sheer shock. "He crushed Fujiyama off a single card, start to finish, zero damage—his LP didn't even fluctuate!"
"Wait! I just turned my head to look at the Duel table next to me and it's already a comeback? Is nobody screen-recording this?!"
Shouts, sharp inhales, and scraping chairs tangled together, instantly baking the venue's temperature to a boil. Even the air seemed to tremble.
On the platform, Yusaku walked over to Fujiyama, extended a hand, and wore an effortless smile.
"You dueled well."
Fujiyama forced a bitter smile, shook his head, then gripped Yusaku's hand tightly and used the pull to push himself up.
"You won. By the rules, you'll receive the grand prize we promised: a luxury yacht over a hundred meters long."
He lifted a hand in signal. Two staff members in silver-gray uniforms immediately hurried up, carrying a gem-inlaid metal case.
Fujiyama accepted the case, carefully drew out a card that gleamed with a glassy luster, and offered it to Yusaku with both hands, his tone solemn.
"This is your entry ticket—Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The challenge is cleared, so it's returned to its owner."
Yusaku's fingertips brushed the card's cool surface. He nodded lightly and slid it back into his Deck.
"Next, these three prize vouchers!"
Fujiyama took three sheets of gold-stamped voucher paper from the case and ran a fingertip across their embossed patterns as he introduced them one by one.
"This one is the cruise ship redemption voucher. It will dock at the East District Port in three days, and with this, you become the owner."
"This one is a 1,000,000-yen cash voucher. You can redeem it instantly at any bank in the city."
"And the last one is a direct entry pass for the Duel Tournament Qualifiers."
Yusaku looked at the vouchers in his hand, one eyebrow lifting.
"So this is the one-card challenge reward too. Clear the one-card challenge and you get 1,000,000 yen and a tournament ticket. I cleared Challenge 303 without taking damage, so that challenge counts as completed as well."
After he spoke, Fujiyama looked at him, voice warming with urgency.
"Right now, the tournament is in open qualifiers. Win two matches and you advance to the main event three days from now. The main event champion earns the title of Duel King! With your strength, you're absolutely the strongest contender…"
He gestured toward the neighboring hall.
"How about it? The Qualifiers venue is next door. It's on fire right this second!"
Duel King, huh?
A trace of interest rose in Yusaku's eyes. He nodded, pinched the vouchers between his fingers, and turned to walk down from the platform.
The moment Yusaku stepped off, Fujiyama raised the microphone. His voice boomed through the speakers and swept across the entire venue.
"Everyone, listen up! The highest-difficulty challenge has been conquered—this proves miracles aren't out of reach!"
He paused deliberately, his gaze sweeping the restless crowd below.
"Anyone who wants to challenge can still come up right now! The prize is still that luxury cruise yacht! All you need is a single monster card with 2500 ATK or higher to participate—don't miss your chance, it won't come twice!"
The crowd immediately stirred.
"Since someone pulled it off, maybe I can too!"
"Don't be stupid. That guy's beyond insane—if you go up there you're just donating your LP!"
"If I don't try, how would I know? What if I'm the next legend!"
…
After leaving the platform, Yusaku scanned the crowd, looking for Labrynth and the others. He swept the area twice and still didn't find them.
He pulled out his phone. A message from Labrynth had just popped up on the screen.
She said they'd sensed the presence of other "sisters," and not just one. The auras of the Underworld Goddess, Dragonmaid, and Mikanko were all especially clear. They had split up to follow the traces, telling him not to worry. Once they found them, they'd regroup immediately.
Underworld Goddess, Dragonmaid, Mikanko…
Yusaku frowned slightly in thought.
Could it be that when I came from the Satellite Zone to the Upper District, my aura spread out, and that's why they were able to lock on and follow it?
As he weighed the idea, a wave of players surged toward him.
Kazetaro rubbed his hands together, his face burning with eagerness.
"Yusaku-senpai, do you need us to help with anything right now?"
Hearing that, a thought sparked in Yusaku's mind.
He remembered that players could participate in this tournament too. But without a ticket, they'd have to apply to the organizers for a special Duel Disk, then grind points in designated zones to earn qualification.
After a brief moment of consideration, he typed up a mission and sent it out.
In the next instant, everyone near him received the task.
Mission Name: Obtain Qualification for the Duel Tournament
Mission Description: The Upper District is holding the once-every-five-years Duel Tournament. As duelists from the Satellite Zone, Yusaku hopes you can shine on the stage and prove that Satellite Zone duelists are in no way inferior to those from the Upper District!
Mission Rewards: Rewards will be issued based on tournament placement. The higher your rank, the richer the rewards (including rare cards, massive quantities of Crystals, and more).
Right after that, Yusaku enabled the private shop function beneath the mission, marking its open period as lasting until the end of the tournament.
The moment the shop icon lit up, the players exploded.
"Look! The mission rewards include Pot of Greed! If you make Top 128, you have a chance to get it—the higher you place, the higher the odds!"
"Not just Pot of Greed! Nibiru, the Primal Being, Called by the Grave, Maxx 'C'—all the meta staples are on the list! Forget everything else, I'm locking in Top 128!"
"Don't get cocky. I heard Gurus rare card hunters are competing this time. Don't get your Deck stolen."
"Gurus wants to act up in front of us? I'll grind them into the floor!"
…
Yusaku didn't linger inside the venue. After watching his Crystal count jump to 7600, he turned and headed for the adjacent tournament hall.
According to Fujiyama, this was the Qualifiers venue: ticket holders could enter directly, and two consecutive wins would advance them to the main event three days later. If you lost, you'd have to qualify through the points route.
The Qualifiers hall looked similar to the one next door, but far more imposing.
Its outer walls were pieced together from countless diamond-shaped mirrored glass panels, layered like a dragon's scales. When morning light washed over them, they refracted into prismatic halos. Even from a distance, the visual impact was overwhelming.
Outside the hall, the crowd was already roaring. Discussion, gasps, and cheering wove into a single noisy tapestry—festive, yet edged with tension. Every face carried a mix of anticipation and unease.
At the entrance, a girl in a pink uniform sat behind the registration desk, idly scrolling on her phone. When she saw Yusaku approach, she immediately put it away, stood, and smiled.
"Welcome, duelist. Are you here to watch, or to compete? If you're competing, please show your Qualifiers ticket so I can register you and assign your opponent."
"Qualifiers ticket?" Yusaku took out the gold-stamped voucher and handed it over. "This one?"
"That's the one!" She accepted it and looked up. "How should we address you? You can register under a codename or your real name."
"Register me as Yusaku."
The pen in her hand snapped from her fingers and clattered onto the desk. She jerked her head up, eyes wide.
"Pardon—what did you say?"
Yusaku smiled faintly.
"Is there a problem?"
She shook her head so fast her cheeks flushed.
"N-no! It's just… that name has been insanely popular in the Upper District lately. Today alone, three people already tried to register as 'Yusaku'…"
Yusaku raised a brow.
"Do I look like one of them?"
At that, she rummaged through a drawer, pulled out black-rimmed glasses, and put them on. She leaned in and studied him for a full three seconds—then both hands flew to cover her mouth, her eyes bursting with delighted light.
"You're really Yusaku! I'm your super fan! I've been following you since you started clearing the first floor of the Duel Tower! Those guys at Genius Academy rely on their resources and bully duelists from other dojos all day—I couldn't stand them! I never imagined they'd get crushed by you…"
She rattled off a torrent of words, too excited to breathe. Halfway through, she suddenly covered her mouth again, her face turning bright red.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's my first time meeting you in person—I got carried away!"
Yusaku's smile stayed gentle.
"It's fine."
"Um… could you sign for me?" She carefully pulled out a delicate notebook and a fountain pen from the drawer, her gaze full of hope.
"Of course."
Yusaku took the pen and wrote his name cleanly across the notebook's first page.
She hugged the notebook to her chest, grinning from ear to ear.
"Thank you so much! I thought a duelist as strong as you would be really cold, but you're so kind!"
Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
"Your info is in the system. It should take about five minutes to match you with an opponent. You can enter through the competitors' passage and rest first!"
Yusaku nodded in thanks and turned toward the competitors' passage.
As his back disappeared into the corridor, the girl blinked mischievously, a sly smile tugging at her lips.
"I wonder if you'll get scared when you hear the introduction I wrote for you."
Yusaku followed the signs into the competitors' lounge.
He'd barely sat down and finished half a cup of water when a staff member hurried over.
"Competitor Yusaku, correct? Your opponent has been matched. Please proceed to the entrance and prepare to enter."
At center stage, the announcer was already holding a microphone and warming up the audience. His voice rolled through the surround sound and reached every corner.
"Good morning, everyone! I'm your commentator, Sasaki! Now, let me announce the competitors for this match!"
"First up—Hiroshi! He comes from the Thunder Dojo, ranked 32nd among the Hundred Dojos. His career win rate is an impressive 70%! He's achieved the remarkable record of taking on three challengers in a row with zero LP loss, and in his last Duel he ended things in just two turns…"
The commentator paused, then suddenly raised his voice.
"He's given himself the nickname 'Dark Horse'—and judging by his current performance, he's absolutely earned it! Now, let's welcome Hiroshi with a roaring round of applause!"
As the words fell, a tall boy with windswept blond hair strode out from the competitors' tunnel, chin high, wearing a confident smile.
The stands exploded in cheers. Plenty of spectators sprang to their feet, screaming themselves hoarse.
"Go, Hiroshi! We believe in you!"
"Crush your opponent! Keep the undefeated streak alive!"
"Dark Horse, charge! Bring back a championship!"
Hearing the hype, the players in the audience rolled their eyes.
"Undefeated streak? He wins one match and he's already floating."
"Seventy percent and he's bragging like it's one hundred."
"Where's Yusaku? Isn't he competing? If he were here, would this guy still dare to run his mouth?"
"Yeah! When is Yusaku coming on? I came to watch him!"
…
Hiroshi stepped onto the platform and waved to the crowd. Sasaki's voice rang out again.
"Next, please welcome our second competitor—his name is… Yusaku…"
The moment that name left his mouth, Sasaki suddenly froze. The cue card in his hand nearly slipped out, and the cheers in the hall abruptly thinned.
The audience exchanged looks, then broke into laughter.
"Another one named Yusaku? That's the fourth fake already! The last one's hands shook just summoning a monster—got 0–3000'd on the spot!"
"Clout-chasing has limits, you know."
"If he was really that strong, he'd have been famous ages ago!"
…
Sasaki cleared his throat, then suddenly gripped the microphone with unprecedented gravity.
"Everyone, please calm down! Before I introduce this duelist, I'm asking for your permission to take three minutes… to read his record out loud."
The entire hall fell quiet.
People stared at the commentator in confusion, not understanding why he'd turned so serious all of a sudden.
Then, in the next second, Sasaki's voice detonated like thunder across the venue.
"Stepping onto this stage is— the Savior of the Satellite Zone… the strongest duelist of the Satellite Zone… the only complete conqueror of the Duel Tower… the man who ended Genius Academy's undefeated myth… the white moonlight every dojo in the Upper District can't obtain… a duelist who has never known defeat since his debut… the creator of a perfect 100% win rate—YUSAKU!!!"
The moment the final word landed, crisp footsteps echoed from deep within the competitors' tunnel.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Heavy, steady, and impossibly piercing, they carried through the hall like a drumbeat.
Yusaku walked out in a black trench coat. Beneath the glass dome overhead, sunlight seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, tracking him like a spotlight. The shadow behind him stretched long across the floor, and even the guidance lights along his path seemed to glow faintly white.
The instant the players in the stands saw his face, they erupted like a powder keg.
"No way— it's the real Yusaku!"
"Ahhh! I didn't imagine I'd see senpai in person!"
"Hahaha, there goes that 70% win rate!"
On the platform, Hiroshi's face turned paper-white. The confident smile he'd worn earlier stiffened into something brittle.
How could he not know the name Yusaku? The man who flipped Genius Academy with his own hands, the duelist rumored to have never lost a single match.
Inside, Hiroshi was practically screaming at the universe.
What kind of matchmaking is this?!
Is the organizer insane? With this kind of strength, he should be seeded straight into Top 64. Why is he in the Qualifiers?!
After stepping onto the platform, Yusaku's expression turned a little strange.
He clearly remembered registering only a single name. Where did all these titles come from?
Hiroshi stared at him, throat tight.
"If—if I beat him…"
"If I beat him, I'll be famous!"
With that thought, he looked straight at Yusaku.
"You're Yusaku, right? You're strong, but that doesn't mean you can't be beaten!"
He snapped his Duel Disk open.
"Come on! Let me see if your strength really matches the rumors!"
Yusaku didn't waste any extra words. He opened his Duel Disk, then calmly slid a deck—its entire casing shimmering with a faint crimson sheen—into the slot.
"Duel."
"Duel!"
The Duel Disks hummed as pale blue holographic screens unfolded. Data streams raced across the panels, and both starting Life Points displayed clearly.
[Yusaku, LP 8000]
[Hiroshi, LP 8000]
The turn order was revealed at once.
[First: Yusaku]
(End of Chapter)
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