Winning the Championship

"L-Lost?"

Ryuzaki dropped to his knees in the pose of a criminal suspect whose scheme had just been exposed in a detective anime, hands braced against the ground, his face still somewhat dazed.

As if he found it unreal.

He had spent years building up his deck and devoted himself to secluded training. This time, he had finally made up his mind to pull off something big and return as a king.

And yet he had fallen in the tutorial stage?

He couldn't accept this!

Several seconds later, applause erupted around the venue, shattering his fantasy and dragging him back into cruel reality. At first, there were only a few scattered claps, as though the audience had only just recovered from the shock of that duel. Then, under someone's lead, they swelled into thunderous cheers, mixed with shouts of the competitors' names.

Well, obviously, they weren't chanting Ryuzaki's name, but that rookie who had ground him into the dirt.

The Legendary Duelist Ryuzaki had failed in his kingly return and instead become a stepping stone for a rising new star.

"Congratulations to contestant Fujiki Kira for defeating Dinosaur Ryuzaki and claiming the championship of this year's Moonflower Cup!"

Commentator Xiao Du shouted excitedly.

"What an unbelievable duel! A rookie making his first appearance defeated contestant Ryuzaki, who had returned from seclusion, in his very first competition—and he remained completely dominant throughout the entire duel.

No, not only that, but even at the very end, his LP had remained at a full four thousand! You could truly call it a literal flawless clear!"

Ryuzaki: Stop roasting me. Stop roasting me.

"Yes. And based on my many years of commentary experience, I'd even say this may not have been this contestant's limit yet," Commentator Sasaki added. "Card Blaster has another effect. When it is destroyed, its Duelist can draw one card from their deck.

The Machine-Type Monsters affected by Limiter Removal will self-destruct, which means contestant Kira could draw three more cards at once from Card Blaster's self-destruct.

Meanwhile, Ryuzaki's Monster Zone and back row were completely empty, and because of the Reckless Greed he activated last turn, he had to skip two Draw Phases. So..."

He did not continue, but the meaning was obvious.

In other words, even if Ryuzaki had somehow had one more play and managed to defend against Card Blaster's all-out attack this turn, his chances of winning would still have been minuscule.

Not to mention that Kira still had two Machina Fortresses in his graveyard. As long as he had Machine Type resources in hand, they could come back at any time.

By this point, the gap between the two sides was already far too great.

Ryuzaki: "..."

"What a formidable young man," Commentator Xiao Du said, growing increasingly impressed by the rookie. "But no matter what, let us first congratulate contestant Kira on winning the championship."

He had a feeling.

This would not be the last time he saw this contestant on the stage.

Or perhaps, for Kira, this was only the beginning.

"He really won..."

Koji Sato, the Duel Dojo's Senior Disciple, had long since taken a seat among the audience. Watching this unfold, he blinked dumbly a couple of times before pinching himself hard.

Hiss... That really hurt.

So this wasn't a dream.

Junior Disciple really beat a Legendary Duelist.

All at once, the fury and frustration he had felt when his junior disciple had mercilessly crushed him, leaving him with cards he could not play, vanished completely. In their place came an unexpected sense of pride.

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

His back straightened a little without him even realizing it.

With Kira taking the championship, the Duel Dojo immediately erupted in celebration. The thought that this would undoubtedly make the Duelist Times headlines tomorrow filled all the apprentices with pride. From now on, they would feel proud whenever they mentioned their own dojo outside.

And if anyone was the most excited, it had to be the Master.

The instant the champion was announced, Takeuchi Master rolled his eyes back and tilted backward, nearly passing out.

But as his disciples hurriedly helped him up, he immediately waved his hand and said he was fine—just a little too excited.

Later, while the excited apprentices were not paying attention, Takeuchi Master rose to his feet and headed deep into the dojo. He reached out and pressed his palm against an ordinary-looking wall.

The movement seemed casual, but his fingertips followed a particular pattern. A moment later, the wall trembled faintly as if it had come alive, then slowly split open down the middle, revealing a hidden door.

No one else in the entire dojo knew this door existed.

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

A transparent display case stood there, holding a card.

The Master muttered to himself.

"Will the one who can inherit it... finally appear?"

"You really are the champion! Even a Great Demon King like Ryuzaki got taken care of by you. Junior Disciple, you're seriously incredible!"

As they left the venue, Koji Sato seemed like a completely different person. He enthusiastically rushed over to carry Kira's luggage for him.

"Hey, Junior Disciple, why are you carrying it yourself? Let Senior Disciple do it—"

Kira tried to decline, but Senior Disciple was simply too enthusiastic.

"Oh, right. I heard someone say that learning has no seniority. How about starting today, you become Senior Disciple and I become junior disciple?"

Kira: "..."

"By the way, your mentality really is strong. You won the championship, but you don't look excited at all," Koji Sato said. "If it were me, I'd definitely be floating on air by now..."

Of course, Kira was not unhappy. It was simply that he had anticipated this result from the start, so it was not much of a surprise.

Compared to that, what he really cared about was when the prize money would arrive.

The more he learned about this world, the more he felt that in the World of Yu-Gi-Oh!, money was not everything—but being without money was absolutely impossible.

Leaving aside Money Power warriors like Kaiba and Manjoume, even Yugi, the first-generation protagonist, came from a family that sold cards. Judai Yuki, the second-generation protagonist, also seemed to be a rich second-generation heir.

Crab Bro, the third-generation protagonist, had been born in the slums, but he was a heavyweight who could build a Perpetual Motion Machine by hand from junk. Not only could he pick up trash and assemble a top-tier competitive deck, but he even had a Crimson Dragon card-printing machine built into him—he could print cards himself.

Even the anime protagonists' decks would constantly evolve as the plot progressed, endlessly receiving new cards.

So playing cards really was a Bottomless Trap Hole. Aside from certain big shots with a talent for printing cards, ordinary people could only spend money.

Which only further highlighted what a great place Duel Academy was, with Kaiba's generous support.

"..."

The two left the venue one after the other.

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

Beneath the black hood, the figure's lips curled into a dangerous smile.

Then green light flashed beneath the hood. In the darkness, those eyes briefly glimmered green, like ghostly flames burning within the pupils.