When the lift platform in the Central Arena rose, the lights throughout the Arena dimmed a notch.
Quite a few people had already taken their seats in the stands.
The Eight-School League was no professional event, but with a venue provided by the Kaiba Corporation and exemptions from the Duel Academy entrance exam's written test at stake, it naturally attracted some idle duelists who came to watch.
For card game junkies, watching other people play was entertainment too.
Watching other people get crushed was even more entertaining.
Yūki sat in Third Municipal Middle School's rest area, his gaze sweeping across the other fields.
Several first-round matches had already begun.
A contestant from Beiqiu Academy played Beast-Type beatdown, bringing out two low-level monsters with 2,000 ATK over two turns and forcing his opponent to set three traps in a row.
Elsewhere, a City Second Middle School contestant opened by summoning a Level 4 monster with 1,800 ATK, then used an Equip Spell to push it up to 2,300.
In this environment, both counted as solid play.
At least they were all on Kurosawa's level.
They had deck construction, tempo, and the sense to keep cards in the back row.
Of course, they were still far from the habit of thinking eight moves ahead in a single turn that true competitive players had.
But they were much better than the randoms at Kaiba Land who "Normal Summoned big monsters and traded blows until the end of time."
Kurosawa was watching too.
His gaze fell on City First Middle School's side, where Tachibana Shingo leaned against the railing, watching the matches with a relaxed expression.
Kurosawa looked away, considering his strategy for the duel coming up.
Asakawa Suzune sat on the other side, as quiet as if she had come to attend an open lecture.
Only Yūki was thinking about one thing.
Which deck to use in the first round.
His hand-control deck had already gained something of a reputation at Kaiba Land.
These contestants were bound to know at least something about that deck of his.
The HERO Deck could take the stage, but opening the first round with something so wholesome felt like missing out on something.
Sato Renshan had called in favors to help him complete his Needle Worm mill deck. He had to let him see how it worked.
It was a new deck, after all.
He had to find some unlucky soul to break it in.
The announcement sounded.
"First round, third match."
"Third Municipal Academy, Fujiwara Yūki."
"Donggang Middle School, Iwasaki Tōru."
"Both contestants, please proceed to Central Field Three and prepare."
Yūki stood.
Asakawa Suzune looked up at him.
"Good luck."
Her voice was soft, but earnest.
Kurosawa looked over too and nodded.
"Don't let your guard down. Watch out for a crash."
Yūki snapped his deck box into his Duel Disk.
"Don't worry."
He thought for a moment, then added another line.
"This deck drives pretty slowly."
The corner of Kurosawa's eye twitched.
Somehow, that did not sound reassuring.
Donggang Middle School's contestant was already on the field.
He was a short-haired boy with a neatly buttoned uniform and little expression on his face. His Duel Disk's casing was stone gray.
Yūki glanced at his Duel Disk. It displayed forty cards.
Donggang Middle School's team leader stood below the field with folded arms, seemingly very confident in him.
The referee checked both Duel Disks' settings.
The big screen lit up.
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
[Fujiwara Yūki LP: 4000] [Iwasaki Tōru LP: 4000]
Iwasaki Tōru looked up at Yūki.
"Donggang Middle School, Iwasaki Tōru."
Yūki nodded.
"Third Municipal Middle School, Fujiwara Yūki."
The projection system activated, and rings of blue-white light lit up around the field's edges.
The referee raised a hand.
"Begin the duel!"
Yūki glanced at the first-turn indicator.
He was up.
"I'll go first!"
"My turn. I draw!"
He spread out his six-card hand.
Needle Worm, The Shallow Grave, Book of Taiyou, Book of Moon, Holy Barrier - Mirror Force, and Card Destruction.
Yūki looked down for a second.
Nice!
Time for the bug to get to work.
"I summon one monster in face-down Defense Position."
A face-down monster projection landed in his Monster Zone.
"I set four cards."
Four cards were placed face down in his back row, one after another.
A few people in the stands craned their necks.
"Five sets right out of the gate?"
"Isn't that guy from Third Municipal Middle School the one from those Kaiba Land rumors?"
"What's he planning this time?"
Yūki slapped his final card into the Spell & Trap Zone.
"I activate the Spell Card, Card Destruction."
The green Spell Card flipped face up, its projected light spreading.
"Both players discard their entire hands to the Graveyard, then draw the same number of cards they discarded."
He looked at Iwasaki Tōru.
"Go ahead. Discard five, draw five."
Iwasaki Tōru frowned.
"You don't have any cards left in your hand."
"Yep."
Yūki nodded.
"So I draw zero."
The sidelines fell silent for a beat.
Someone muttered quietly.
"He emptied his own hand just to make his opponent replace five cards?"
"What kind of dueling tactic is that?"
Iwasaki Tōru also stared at Yūki for two seconds.
He sent his five cards to the Graveyard.
Then five new cards slid into his hand.
Yūki did not draw a single card.
"Turn end."
Iwasaki Tōru looked at his new hand, then glanced at his Graveyard.
He did not understand.
But for some reason, he felt a little tense.
Something about how naturally his opponent gave away resources kept nagging at him.
"My turn. I draw!"
Iwasaki Tōru drew a card.
His Duel Disk showed twenty-nine cards remaining in his Deck.
He glanced at his hand, and his gaze stopped.
"I should thank you for helping me send my monsters to the Graveyard."
"I banish Giant Soldier of Stone from my Graveyard to Special Summon Gigantes."
A Giant Soldier of Stone in the Graveyard dissolved into points of light, and a red-skinned, one-horned brute holding a wooden club appeared on the field.
[Gigantes ATK: 1900]
"I Normal Summon Giant Rat."
An enormous gray-brown rat burst out of the ground and crouched on the field, its eyes darting about.
[Giant Rat ATK: 1400]
"I set one more card."
Iwasaki Tōru raised a hand and glanced at the unknown face-down monster on Yūki's field.
"Battle!"
He looked at Yūki's face-down monster.
"Giant Rat, attack that face-down Defense Position monster."
Giant Rat lunged forward and flipped the face-down card open with one claw.
The card turned face up.
A gray-green worm curled up within the projection, its body covered in spikes.
[Needle Worm DEF: 600]
"Needle Worm flips. When it's successfully Flip Summoned, the top five cards of my opponent's Deck are sent to the Graveyard."
Yūki smiled calmly as he spoke.
Iwasaki Tōru narrowed his eyes.
"Deck milling? A useless trick!"
The top five cards of his Deck ejected one after another, turning into points of light that fell into the Graveyard.
Giant Rat smashed Needle Worm, sending it to the Graveyard.
Iwasaki Tōru looked at the five cards in his Graveyard, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"You think you can grind down my Deck with a little worm like that? Dream on!"
He raised his hand again.
"Gigantes, attack directly."
The red-skinned, one-horned brute swung its club down.
Yūki's four face-down back-row cards lay quietly in place.
One of them was, of course, Mirror Force.
But he did not act.
The thick wooden club smashed down in front of Yūki, and impact effects exploded.
[Fujiwara Yūki LP: 4000 → 2100]
Kurosawa frowned in the rest area.
"What's going on? He should be better than this."
Asakawa Suzune also looked toward Yūki's back row.
Yūki stood where the impact effects had faded, his expression unchanged.
Once Iwasaki Tōru confirmed that his attack had gone through, some of his unease subsided.
"Turn end."
He looked at Yūki and sneered.
"I'll finish you next turn!"
"Sure. I look forward to the show."
Yūki smiled and gave him a long, searching look.
Before you continue