Winning the Championship

"I lost?"

Ryuzaki knelt in a posture like a suspect caught red-handed in a detective anime, hands on the ground, his face still holding a hint of bewilderment.

As if it weren't real.

He had spent years honing his skills, secluded himself to train, and finally decided this was the time for a grand comeback, a king's return.

And he lost in the tutorial level?

He couldn't accept it!

The applause echoing around the venue, delayed by several seconds, tore through his fantasy and dragged him back to the cruel reality. At first, it was sparse, seemingly just recovering from the shock of the Duel they had just witnessed. Then, led by someone unknown, it erupted into an overwhelming wave of cheers, mixed with shouts of the players' names.

Yes, clearly, they weren't shouting his name, Ryuzaki, but the name of the newcomer who had completely dominated him.

The Legendary Duelist Ryuzaki's attempted comeback had failed, and he had instead become a stepping stone for a rising star.

"Congratulations to Fujiki Kira, who has successfully defeated Dinosaur Ryuzaki and claimed the championship of our Moonflower Cup!" Commentator Xiao Du shouted excitedly.

"What an incredible Duel this was! A newcomer making his first appearance wins against Ryuzaki, who returned from seclusion, and even maintained a steady advantage throughout the entire Duel.

No, not only that, but even until the very end, his Life Points remained completely untouched at four thousand! You could truly say it was a literal no-damage run!"

Ryuzaki: Stop rubbing it in, stop rubbing it in.

"Yes. And based on my years of commentary experience, I dare say this might not even be this Duelist's limit," Commentator Sasaki added. "'Card Blaster' has another Effect. When it is destroyed, the Duelist who controls it can draw one card from their Deck.

A Machine-Type Monster that receives the Effect of 'Limiter Removal' will self-destruct afterwards, meaning Kira can draw three more cards in one go because Card Blaster destroyed itself.

Looking at Ryuzaki's side, both his front and Back Rows are empty, and because he activated 'Reckless Greed' last turn, he must skip two Draw Phases. So..."

He didn't continue speaking, but the meaning was clear.

In other words, even if Ryuzaki had another trick up his sleeve to defend against Card Blaster's total attack this turn, his chances of winning were minuscule.

Not to mention Kira still had two Machina Fortresses in his Graveyard, ready to resurrect and jump back as long as he had Machine-Type resources in hand.

At this point, the gap between the two sides was simply too large.

Ryuzaki: "..."

"Truly, the younger generation is formidable," Commentator Xiao Du couldn't help but grow more impressed with the newcomer as he listened. "But no matter what, let's first congratulate Kira on winning the championship..."

He had a premonition.

This likely wouldn't be the last time he saw this player on the competitive stage. No.

Or perhaps, for Kira, this might just be the beginning.

He actually won...

Koji Sato, the senior disciple from the Dojo, who was already seated in the audience, stared at the unfolding scene, blinking in disbelief. Then he pinched himself hard.

Hiss~ That really hurt.

It wasn't a dream.

His junior disciple had actually defeated the Legendary Duelist...

Suddenly, the rage and frustration he felt from being absolutely dominated by his junior disciple earlier, from having cards but being unable to play them, completely vanished. In their place was a sense of pride.

My junior disciple is so amazing, and I was even beaten by him!

He couldn't help but straighten his back a little.

As Kira won the championship, the Duel Dojo back home instantly burst into celebration. The thought that this would undoubtedly be the headline in the Duelist Times tomorrow made all the apprentices feel incredibly proud. From now on, they would feel a huge sense of pride whenever they mentioned their Dojo's name outside.

And if you were to ask who was the most excited, it was definitely the Master.

The moment the champion was announced, Takeuchi Master's eyes rolled back, and he leaned backward, almost fainting.

But as his apprentices scrambled to help him up, he immediately waved his hands, indicating he was fine, just a little too excited.

Afterward, while the excited apprentices weren't paying attention, Takeuchi Master got up and went into the depths of the Dojo. He reached out and gently tapped a seemingly ordinary section of the wall with his palm.

It looked like a casual action, but his fingertips followed a specific pattern. Moments later, the wall seemed to come alive, vibrating slightly, then slowly splitting open down the center, revealing a hidden door.

Apart from him, no one else in the entire Dojo knew about the existence of this door.

He stepped into the tunnel, and the hidden door automatically closed behind him. At the end of the tunnel, the only light was concentrated on a single point in the center.

A transparent display case, holding a single card.

The Master murmured to himself.

"The person who can inherit it... Is finally about to appear?"

"He's really the champion! You even took care of a big demon king like Ryuzaki, Junior Disciple, you're seriously amazing!"

Leaving the venue, Senior Disciple Koji Sato had completely transformed, eagerly offering to carry Kira's luggage.

"Hey, Junior Disciple, why are you still carrying it yourself? Let me do it..."

Kira tried to politely refuse, but couldn't resist his senior disciple's overwhelming enthusiasm.

"Oh right, I heard someone say that learning has no seniority. How about starting today, you become the senior disciple, and I'll be the junior disciple..."

Kira: "."

"Speaking of which, your composure is really something. You just won the championship, but you don't seem to react at all," Koji Sato couldn't help but say. "If it were me, I'd definitely be floating on cloud nine right now."

Actually, Kira wasn't unhappy, of course. It was just that he had anticipated this result from the beginning, so it wasn't much of a surprise.

More than that, what he actually cared about was when the prize money for the tournament would arrive.

The deeper he understood this world, the more he felt that money wasn't everything in the World of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but you absolutely couldn't get by without it.

Not to mention cash-wielding warriors like Kaiba and Manjoume, even the first-generation protagonist, Yugi, came from a family that ran a card shop, and the second-generation protagonist, Judai Yuki, also seemed to be a rich second-generation.

The third-generation Crab Bro was born in the slums, yet he was a heavyweight big shot who could build perpetual motion machines by scavenging trash. Not only did he scavenge enough scraps to build a top-tier Deck of his era, but he also had the Red Dragon Card Printer effect, allowing him to print his own cards.

Even the anime protagonists' Decks would be constantly modified and new cards added as the plot progressed.

So, playing cards truly was a bottomless pit. Aside from certain big shots with a talent for Card Creation, ordinary people could only spend money like water.

This also highlighted once again what a great place Duel Academy was, with Kaiba's strong sponsorship.

"."

The two of them left the venue one after the other.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, a figure in a black robe stood in a corner, watching Kira's receding back from a distance.

Under the black hood, a corner of their mouth twitched, forming a dangerous arc.

Immediately after, a green light flashed under the hood. The eyes in the darkness briefly flickered with a trace of green light, burning like will-o'-the-wisps in their pupils.