When Iwasaki Tōru left the field, no one on Donggang Middle School's side spoke for a long time.
The Rock-Type Deck they had brought cost a fortune, and Giant Rock Dragon had reached 5,600 ATK at one point, looking more imposing than anything else on the field.
Yet Fujiwara Yūki still had 2,100 LP left, while Iwasaki Tōru had emptied his own forty-card Deck first.
Before the league began, anyone hearing about this would have taken it as a joke.
But the defeat ruling was still displayed on the big screen at central arena three.
Deck count: zero.
A loss by the rules.
Beyond dispute.
The chatter in the stands shifted from its initial clamor to hushed conversations.
"One flip of Needle Worm takes five cards, and destroying that Warm Worm mills another three. Then there's the forced drawing afterward."
"He was waiting for Iwasaki Tōru to attack his face-down monsters the whole time."
"What good was Giant Rock Dragon's massive ATK? It never even touched him!"
"What kind of duel was that?!"
"The rules clearly say you lose if you draw through your Deck. How does that not count?"
Some thought it was absurd.
Some thought it was disgusting.
Others were already rummaging through their card boxes as they watched the replay.
In the earlier duels, everyone had still been studying ATK values, monster effects, and the number of back-row cards.
After Yūki's match, many people's focus changed.
What exactly was that face-down monster on the field?
How many cards did the opponent have left in their Deck?
How many cards would attacking cost them?
That Needle Worm with its 750 ATK had finally gone from an obscure card no one cared about to a time bomb in many contestants' eyes.
In City First Middle School's rest area, Tachibana Shingo leaned against the railing, rubbing his fingers over his Duel Disk's casing.
The boy beside him grimaced.
"Shingo, there really is something freaky about this guy."
"His monsters have ridiculously low ATK, but the way he wins feels worse than getting smashed in the face by a big monster."
The girl also put away the amused smile she had worn earlier.
"His Card Milling strategy revolves around Flip monsters. Bringing more destruction cards and avoiding attacking face-down monsters should keep it under control."
Tachibana Shingo watched Yūki return to Third Municipal Middle School's rest area.
"Record the information first."
"The league allows Deck changes. He probably has other things up his sleeve."
The boy froze for a moment.
"We have to study something else too?"
Tachibana Shingo looked up.
"Someone who dares reveal a new Deck in the first round will always keep a trump card in reserve."
Elsewhere, Sato Renshan stood with his arms folded, his expression stern.
But when City First Middle School's team leader passed by, he still noticed Sato puffing his chest out a little farther.
"Mr. Satō, your contestants are quite interesting this year."
"They're all right."
Sato Renshan acted perfectly composed. "The kids practice pretty diligently."
The other man glanced toward Yūki.
"That Fujiwara from your school has a very distinctive playstyle."
"Dueling is all about flexibility."
Even Sato Renshan felt a little dishonest after saying that.
Flexibility?
That brat was clearly taking a knife straight to his opponent's Deck.
But it really did feel good.
Third Municipal Middle School had competed in the league for several years under the label of "EXP fodder." Whenever they met other schools' team leaders, those people were polite on the surface, but their eyes saw nothing but easy points.
Today was different.
Donggang Middle School's team leader looked grim, City First Middle School had begun paying special attention, and teachers from several nearby schools were also casting extra glances at Third Municipal Middle School's rest area.
Sato Renshan maintained his dignified air, but inside, he was overjoyed.
That's what you get for always treating Third Municipal Middle School as a pushover.
Look at you now.
The first day's matches continued.
With his more solid control strategy, Kurosawa Kōshin weathered a fierce offensive from his opponent, then turned the game around with Mirror Force to claim a victory.
Asakawa Suzune's duel proceeded calmly.
Using a Deck of WIND monsters, she neutralized her opponent's attacks step by step, then seized an opening to destroy the monsters on their field and wipe out their remaining LP, advancing as well.
All three Third Municipal Middle School contestants won on the first day.
When the top twelve were announced, quite a crowd gathered in front of Third Municipal Middle School's banner.
What had once been the most out-of-the-way sign now seemed to mark the liveliest spot in the venue.
Yūki sat in a chair and took a sip from his water bottle.
Kurosawa glanced at the Deck box he had placed on the table.
"Are you using this Deck again tomorrow?"
"Depends on my opponent."
Yūki snapped the box shut.
"If someone really wants to throw a forty-card Deck at Needle Worm, they're more than welcome."
Asakawa Suzune looked up.
"After today, I doubt many people will do that."
Yūki nodded.
"Then I'll switch Decks."
The corner of Kurosawa's mouth twitched.
He suddenly felt a little sorry for whoever drew Yūki tomorrow.
Early the next morning, the top twelve contestants gathered again in the venue's main hall.
As soon as the matchups appeared on the big screen, Yūki noticed a very interesting detail.
His opponent was Morita Ken from Beiqiu Academy.
On the Duel Disk registration page, the Deck size field was perfectly clear.
Sixty cards.
He looked around.
Several contestants who had watched his duel yesterday had also registered sixty cards.
League rules set the minimum Deck size at forty cards and the maximum at sixty.
Normally, forty cards was the standard.
The fewer cards there were, the easier it was to draw key cards, and the more consistent the build became.
Only certain specialized strategies tended to use sixty-card Decks. Forcing twenty extra cards into an ordinary Deck could easily cause problems with opening hands.
But now, everyone would rather accept a higher chance of bricking than keep their Decks thin.
Their goal was straightforward.
Needle Worm milled five cards at a time?
Then let it mill.
When Morita Ken stepped onto the field, he even made a point of patting his Deck slot.
"Fujiwara, that Deck yesterday was impressive."
"I studied it all night, and I finally found your weakness."
Yūki glanced at the noticeably thicker stack of cards.
"Thanks for the effort."
Morita Ken frowned.
That reaction was rather far from what he had expected.
He had thought Yūki's expression would at least change a little when he saw sixty cards.
Yūki did make a change.
He put his Needle Worm Deck back in its box and switched to another Deck.
Looking at the new card backs, Morita Ken suddenly felt a little stifled.
"You're switching Decks?"
"Yeah."
Yūki fastened his Duel Disk.
"You switched to sixty cards. I have to make a change too."
The duel began.
Morita Ken's sixty-card build was packed with high-ATK monsters, cards with monster-destruction effects, and Spells and Traps specifically meant to deal with face-down Defense Position monsters.
He really had put considerable effort into countering Needle Worm.
The problem was that what he faced right from the start was not Needle Worm at all.
"I activate the Spell Card, Confiscation."
Yūki paid 1,000 LP.
Projections of Morita Ken's hand spread out over the field.
High-Level monsters, Tribute monsters, Equip Spells, and several removal cards he had specifically prepared.
Yūki scanned them and picked out a key combo starter.
"This one goes to the Graveyard."
Morita Ken's hand stopped in midair.
"I activate The Forceful Sentry."
Another 1,000 LP.
Yūki shuffled another Spell that could replenish Morita Ken's hand back into his Deck.
By the time the third Spell flipped face up, someone at the sidelines was already holding their forehead.
"Mischievous Twins."
Morita Ken lost another two cards from his hand.
At that moment, the drawbacks of a sixty-card Deck became painfully apparent.
A thicker Deck already meant a lower chance of drawing key cards.
Among the few cards in his opening hand were high-Level monsters and response cards with overlapping functions.
He had already lacked the resources to make an immediate play. Now that Yūki had precisely stripped away his core cards, all he had left were scattered pieces.
Morita Ken looked down at his hand.
Sixty cards.
He had intended to use those twenty extra cards to hold on for a few more turns.
Instead, Yūki had come at him from another direction and stripped away every usable card in his opening hand.
This guy had never intended to challenge the size of his Deck at all.
"My turn! Draw!"
Morita Ken drew a Level 6 monster.
He also had a Level 7 monster in his hand.
His field was empty. He could not even scrape together a Tribute.
His mouth opened, but in the end, he only set one card.
"Turn end."
Someone outside the field could not help muttering.
"He brought sixty cards to counter Card Milling and ended up bricking."
"Fujiwara Yūki used Needle Worm yesterday, and today he's tearing apart hands?"
"How many Decks did he prepare?"
Yūki drew.
Don Zaloog landed in the Monster Zone, followed by two face-down cards in the back row.
Morita Ken wanted to find an opening through his draws.
Yūki flipped Drop Off during the Draw Phase.
The monster he had just drawn went straight to the Graveyard before he could even warm it in his hand.
Several turns later, Morita Ken still had only a scattering of monsters on his field.
Yūki's ATK was nothing extraordinary, but he kept seizing the tempo.
Don Zaloog's attacks came through, whittling down Morita Ken's LP.
Worse still, he could not draw any cards at all. He had at most one card in hand, and then had to discard it immediately.
On the final turn, Morita Ken finally drew Monster Reborn and tried to summon his ace monster to turn things around.
Yūki flipped his face-down card.
Bottomless Trap Hole.
The moment the monster landed, a black hole opened in the ground.
Morita Ken stared at his empty Monster Zone and moved his hand away from his Duel Disk.
The next second, Don Zaloog attacked directly.
[Morita Ken LP: 0]
He went very peacefully.
The winner's name lit up on the big screen.
Fujiwara Yūki.
He had advanced to the final six.
Morita Ken stood where he was, looking at his deck, which still had more than half its cards left, then at Yūki.
Morita Ken's lips moved a few times.
He really wanted to say something.
But with the words on the tip of his tongue, he simply couldn't get them out.
On the third day, once the draw for the round of six was announced, the atmosphere in the venue was already completely different from opening day.
The moment Fujiwara Yūki's name lit up, the expressions of the contestants around him began to change.
Some said he was a Card Milling player.
Some said he specialized in dismantling hands.
Others gave him a simple yet fitting nickname.
Underworld Man.
"Slander! They're slandering me!"
When Yūki heard it, he looked utterly speechless.
"I think it fits pretty well."
Kurosawa stood beside him with a peculiar expression.
In the round of six, Kurosawa and Asakawa Suzune were eliminated one after the other.
Kurosawa happened to face an opponent who excelled at clearing back-row cards, and several copies of Mystical Space Typhoon and Dust Tornado tore his control game to shreds.
Asakawa Suzune, meanwhile, ran into a high-speed Beast-Type beatdown deck. Her WIND monsters held it off for a long time, but her opponent still seized an opening and broke through.
Both were feeling a little down as they returned to the rest area.
Sato Renshan, however, didn't blame them.
He looked at Fujiwara Yūki, whose name was already on the top-three list, then at Kurosawa and Asakawa Suzune, unable to hide the smile on his face.
Of Third Municipal Middle School's three contestants, two had made the final six, and one had fought his way into the top three.
In previous years, results like these would have had Sato Renshan waking up laughing even in his dreams.
He had originally figured that Yūki making the final six would be enough of a pleasant surprise.
With Kurosawa and Asakawa Suzune also making the final six, Third Municipal Middle School could hold its head high this year.
Who could have imagined that Yūki would trample over contestants from school after school all the way into the top three?
As Sato Renshan watched the boy sitting in a chair sorting his deck, his assessment was finally overturned.
Legendary Duelist.
Back then, those words had partly been meant to coax a kid into entering the tournament.
Looking at him now, perhaps there really was some chance of it.
The red light on the PA speaker came on.
"Contestant Fujiwara Yūki, please proceed to the central main arena."
"The top-three ranking duels are about to begin."
Yūki closed his deck box, stood up, and headed toward the main arena.
The lights overhead in the venue came on one by one.
Everyone's eyes settled on him as well.
Before you continue