League format

Yūki had spent a fulfilling Monday and Tuesday.

Classes during the day, then Kaiba Land at night to grind Duel Coins.

In theory, Kaiba Land was a great place.

Plenty of arenas, good equipment, and a steady flow of duelists.

As long as he won enough, the system paid out Duel Coins readily, too.

But the problem was that he had won too much.

And the way he won... wasn't exactly dignified.

On the first day, plenty of people had sought him out after hearing about "that Hand Control Duelist from Third Municipal Middle School," eager to see this supposed new strategy.

By the second day, things had changed.

The moment Yūki entered the Main Hall, several people who had been lining up for matches beside Arena Three exchanged glances, then turned in unison and headed the other way.

As he passed Arena Seven, a high schooler in sportswear had just picked up his Duel Disk. The boy spotted him and immediately tapped his companion.

"I just remembered. My mom wants me home for dinner."

"It's only four in the afternoon."

"Can't I eat early?"

Yūki stood there, watching the two hurry away.

Fine, then.

My reputation's taken a hit.

Even more absurdly, when he went to the Self-Service Registration Desk to find a random opponent, "Opponent canceled" popped up on the screen three times in a row.

The fourth attempt finally found a match. The boy across from him walked to the edge of the arena, looked up at his face, then back down at his terminal.

Then the boy asked a staff member very seriously, "Will canceling cost me reputation points?"

The staff member fell silent for two seconds. "A small deduction."

The boy gritted his teeth.

"Deduct them."

Yūki: "..."

That really hurt!

He figured he hadn't done anything particularly excessive.

All he did was check their hand with Confiscation, shuffle a card back with Sangan, discard two with Delinquent Duo, use Drop Off during the draw phase, and occasionally let Yata-Garasu out for a stroll.

It was a duel.

Just an exchange of resources.

Of course, the ordinary duelists at Kaiba Land clearly didn't see it that way.

In their eyes, Yūki had probably gone from "a three-star duelist with weird tactics" to "a dangerous person who makes people lose their smiles."

His coin-grinding efficiency visibly declined.

Jaden, on the other hand, remained completely unaffected.

The guy came to Kaiba Land almost every day.

He often dueled Yūki, and the two gradually became dueling buddies.

But Jaden lost every time.

On the first day, hand destruction tore his hand apart until he had only Avian left.

On the second day, Yūki tried a HERO Deck. When Jaden saw him summon Flame Wingman, his eyes nearly shone brightly enough to pierce the dome.

On the third day, Yūki switched back to hand control, and Jaden still rushed up eagerly.

"I'm definitely going to win today!"

Ten minutes later.

Jaden looked down at the Polymerization in his Graveyard and scratched his head.

"Your deck's amazing, Yūki."

Then he looked up with an even brighter smile.

"Again!"

For a moment, Yūki didn't know what to say.

Most people would start getting frustrated after being crushed by the same strategy over and over, if not questioning their entire lives.

But Jaden was different.

He seemed to treat every defeat as a new experience pack.

When he couldn't draw Polymerization, he found it interesting.

When he drew Pot of Greed only to lose it to Drop Off, he thought it was impressive.

When a monster he had finally managed to summon fell into Trap Hole, he would even lower his head and apologize to it.

Yūki could only marvel.

This must be the potential of a future King of Games.

Ordinary people played cards to win.

Jaden truly loved playing cards.

Of course, the number of times he lost to Yūki kept increasing, too.

If the system ever gave Jaden a "resistance to sadistic torment" stat, Yūki figured he would bear most of the responsibility.

Wednesday soon arrived.

The opening day of the Eight-School Campus Duel League.

Yūki arrived at Third Municipal Academy early that morning.

A minibus rented by the school was already parked outside the gates, with a temporary banner reading "Third Municipal Academy Duel Team" attached to its side.

The banner was perfectly straight.

It was clear that Sato Renshan cared a great deal about this league.

Kurosawa Kōshin stood beside the bus, looking down as he sorted out his Duel Disk and deck.

They hadn't seen each other for a few days, and he was noticeably different.

Kurosawa used to always wear a gentle yet reserved smile.

Now, much of that smile had faded, replaced by something more substantial.

Kurosawa noticed him and raised his head.

Their eyes met.

Kurosawa's lips moved, but in the end, he only nodded.

"You're here."

"Yeah."

Very brief.

But much better than a few days ago, when they had nearly come to blows for real.

At least no one was hitting anyone with a Duel Disk.

A girl also stood beside the bus door.

She wore Third Municipal Middle School's uniform. She wasn't tall, and her long black hair was tied back. A light-colored card bag hung from her shoulders.

She looked quiet and unassuming.

If she were standing in a crowd, the first impression would probably be of a well-behaved student with excellent grades.

Yūki hadn't really seen her before.

Over the past few days, he had already milked pretty much everyone at school who could play cards, so he recognized quite a few faces.

But this girl was a complete stranger.

Sato Renshan approached from the Administrative Building, carrying registration forms and competitor passes.

He was dressed even more formally than usual today, his dark blue suit immaculate and even his tie clip shinier than usual.

"Everyone here?"

Satō glanced over the three of them, his gaze lingering on Yūki for half a second.

His expression was complicated.

As though he were looking at hope.

And also as though he were looking at a bomb that might explode on the spot.

"Let me introduce you."

Satō gestured toward the girl.

"Asakawa Suzune. She's an exchange student and doesn't usually attend classes here. She came back specifically for the league."

Asakawa Suzune bowed slightly.

"I look forward to dueling with you."

Her voice was soft.

Kurosawa nodded as well.

"Asakawa competed in the District Youth Tournament last year. She did very well."

Yūki glanced at her.

So she was outside help.

Sato Renshan, that old fox. He talked about Third Municipal Middle School needing to prove itself this year, but behind the scenes, he hadn't missed a single person he ought to recruit.

Besides a sadistic player like me who showed up out of nowhere, he even specifically called an exchange student back.

And then there was Kurosawa's deck box.

The school really intended to win back all the pride it had lost over the past few years in one go.

As though he had seen through Yūki's thoughts, Satō coughed.

"Don't look at me like that."

Yūki looked perfectly innocent.

"I didn't say anything."

"It's written all over your face. Stop pretending."

Satō handed out the three competitor passes.

"The league rules are simple. Eight secondary schools, three people per school, twenty-four competitors in total."

He checked his watch as he spoke.

"The first day is a knockout round. You'll face off in pairs to decide the top twelve."

"On the second day, another draw will decide the top six."

"On the third day, we'll determine the top three. Then those three will draw lots and duel to determine their final places."

Kurosawa lowered his head to check his competitor pass, pressing the pad of his finger against the name on it.

"Single elimination?"

"Yes. Everyone only gets one chance."

Satō nodded.

"If you lose, you won't get an individual placing, but the school's overall result is based on total points. Every match you win earns Third Municipal Middle School points."

Asakawa Suzune asked softly, "Are we allowed to change decks?"

Satō looked at Yūki.

"Yes. You submit your registered deck before each round, and the records are sealed afterward. As long as it meets the basic rules, the organizers place no restrictions on strategy types."

As he spoke those last few words, he pointedly gave Yūki another look.

Strategy types.

A very civilized way of putting it.

Translated, it meant that as long as the rules allowed it, he could disgust people however he liked.

Yūki put away his competitor pass.

"Good, then."

Satō's temple twitched, but in the end, he held himself back.