Time returns to the present.
Ryunosuke emerged from that void, and his mental state had shifted. A faint smile suddenly graced his lips. Meanwhile, his younger self stood behind him like a transparent ghost watching over him.
"We are two parts of a single whole. Don't lose, adult version of me."
Ryunosuke slowly raised his dueling device.
"Don't worry, I won't lose again..."
The two figures slowly overlapped and merged into one. A blinding golden light exploded from Ryunosuke's body. The replica Millennium Puzzle, which was supposed to be a fake, suddenly floated in the air as if it had become the real thing, emitting an incredibly bright radiance.
Ryunosuke slowly placed his hand over the deck. At this moment, the aura of Yugi seemed to descend upon his body. He drew a card calmly; a golden glow enveloped the card, and as the light faded, a magnificent new card appeared.
It was a card that was not supposed to be in Ryunosuke's deck. Without even looking at it once, he immediately slammed it onto the dueling device to summon it.
An ancient Egyptian priest appeared slowly, kneeling on one knee before him, as if Ryunosuke were a Pharaoh. Calmly, he pointed toward the opponent's Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition. The meaning was clear: deal with that dragon for me.
Receiving the command, the priest stood up and aimed his weapon toward Gandora-X. He leaped high and, in an impossible manner, opened a magic circle that instantly finished off Gandora-X in a flash.
Masuzu remained in a daze even after her life points (LP) reached zero.
"What happened?"
"How could I lose?"
"Dammit!"
Masuzu's face turned red with emotion. She pointed at Ryunosuke while shouting loudly.
"Is no one going to oversee this?!!!"
"For heaven's sake, what kind of card is that exactly?!"
"How could he just finish off my Gandora-X like that!!!"
Masuzu truly could not accept it! Her opponent hadn't even explained the monster's effect, and she had just lost like that. At the very least, let her die with a clear explanation, right?
After the match ended, Ryunosuke finally explained the monster's effect.
"The name of this card is Palladium Oracle Mahad."
"Its effect activates when this card is drawn; I only need to show it to you to special summon it from my hand."
"This card's ATK is 2500, but when facing an opponent's Dark attribute monster, its offensive power doubles to 5000 points."
"Your Gandora-X happens to be Dark attribute, so the doubling condition was met."
"And due to Gandora-X's effect in the previous round, your remaining LP was burned by half, dropping from 1000 to 500."
"My attack just now dealt massive damage, which is why you lost instantly."
Masuzu caught one important point.
"Wait! You said that card had to be shown to me to activate, did you show it earlier?!!!"
She stomped her foot in frustration.
Ryunosuke ignored the topic and chose to act as if he had a headache.
"Didn't you see it when I summoned it just now?"
"Those are two different things!!! Are you playing with me?!!!" Masuzu couldn't take it anymore; she stepped forward and grabbed the hem of Ryunosuke's shirt, shaking it. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment as she pleaded.
"Aaaah! Please~ one more time, let's duel one more time!"
"The last round doesn't count, let's do it over!"
Masuzu chose to pout and act unreasonably. Ryunosuke took this opportunity to flick the girl's forehead. The flick made Masuzu retreat a few steps while clutching her reddened forehead.
Ryunosuke's voice sounded calm. "Some other time. No matter how many rounds you want to play, I will join you, but not this time."
Masuzu's cheeks flushed; she clearly felt flattered. As Ryunosuke walked past Masuzu, he didn't forget to add one thing.
"Oh, that's right. Next time don't cheat again, I know you were playing dirty..."
Ryunosuke only realized that after the match had ended. Masuzu immediately denied it loudly.
"I didn't cheat! Don't just say things!"
Masuzu remained stubborn and refused to admit it. Ryunosuke said nothing more and continued walking away.
Staring at that retreating back, Masuzu's cheeks grew even hotter. She recalled Ryunosuke's words promising to play cards with her another time...
Masuzu's lips curled into a smile. With her hands behind her back, she walked while performing small, happy hops.
"That's right." Masuzu lifted her face slightly, placing a finger on her lower lip cutely. "I'd better enter High School Advanced Nurturing. That way, I can take this man from my cousin."
Masuzu had made up her mind; she would compete with her cousin.
"A man this great, how could I let my cousin have him all to herself? Besides, she won't be able to handle him, it's better if I step up~"
The wind blew through Masuzu's white hair. She tucked a distracting strand of hair behind her ear while smiling expectantly.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
On the other side.
After leaving the arena, Ryunosuke entered the match entrance area in a dark corner out of sight. He leaned one hand against the wall and covered his face with the other.
(I already know what changes have occurred in my chuunibyou mode. It seems like in the future I shouldn't use it carelessly....)
Meanwhile, Dark Magician Girl was now floating in the air, appearing right behind him. Ryunosuke turned to look at the mage girl.
(It seems only I can see her... Is this what they call a Card Spirit?)
Ryunosuke didn't know how to treat this "child." Dark Magician Girl looked like a newborn baby, staring around with immense curiosity.
Ryunosuke: (Forget it.... I'll just go with the flow for now...)
He planned to take this figure with him. Later, he would ask Ai for the original Dark Magician Girl card. Ryunosuke then intended to head to the champion's stage to receive his prize. This match was being broadcast globally to the entire world.
After all, Ai's father's company was the main investor. They were using this Yu-Gi-Oh tournament to boost their popularity. The virtual projection technology was their company's product. They planned to release a new game in the second half of this year, a virtual Full Dive game called Aincrad. This tournament was considered an early promotion.
As Ryunosuke stepped onto the stage to receive his award, the sight was seen by Shiina Mahiru, who was watching television.
CRASH!
The bowl in her hand fell and shattered.
Gintoki, who was mooching a meal at Mahiru's house, shouted in shock, trying to save the spilled food, but it was too late. Even so, Gintoki didn't want to waste the food; he immediately squatted down, trying to utilize the "3-second rule" to keep eating...
But Mahiru no longer cared about that. She took off her apron and immediately ran outside without even having time to close the door. Kagura, who was also mooching a meal there, still biting half a biscuit in her mouth, felt confused.
"Where is that Big Sister going?"
Mahiru, who had already run outside, had tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
"Finally.... I've finally found you..."
Mahiru ran toward the location of the Yu-Gi-Oh match, hoping she could make it in time...