"Fujiwara, you've got the championship in the bag this time, right?"
The principal of Third Municipal Middle School sat beside Sato Renshan. He had just been exchanging pleasantries with the other principals, but now he looked at Yūki very differently.
Third Municipal Middle School hadn't come close to a league championship in years.
Making the top three already counted as their best result ever.
But now, they really seemed to be only one duel away from the championship.
Yūki picked up a piece of chicken.
"We'll have to finish the match first."
"Tachibana Shingo is strong."
Kurosawa nodded.
"He really is. When I lost to him last year, he didn't even have Ultimate Tyranno."
He looked at Yūki.
"Your deck's favorable matchup played a big part in your first win."
"Right."
Yūki answered without hesitation.
Kurosawa froze for a moment.
He had expected Yūki to say something like "I got lucky."
Yūki set down his chopsticks.
"He plays an aggressive deck. The faster he fills his monster zones, the easier Lava Golem makes them to deal with. High-level Dinosaur monsters have very high attack, but once Gravity Bind locks them down, that attack becomes nothing but decoration."
"Plus, in the first match, he focused on Needle Worm and hand control to study my play. The burn strategy was a new problem for him."
"But he'll be prepared this afternoon."
After hearing that, Kurosawa looked much more serious.
"Then are you still using Lava Golem?"
"Depends on my opening hand."
Yūki smiled.
"A deck is for winning, not showing off."
Jaden bit his chopsticks, suddenly remembering something else.
"Oh, right. Where did Lava Golem actually come from?"
Everyone at the table stopped what they were doing.
Sato Renshan didn't look up. The kid was so tight-lipped that he couldn't get anything out of him.
Kurosawa pricked up his ears too.
Even Asakawa Suzune looked at Yūki.
Lava Golem was far too unusual a card.
Three thousand attack, and an utterly outrageous effect.
Yūki had already expected someone to ask.
He picked up his juice and took a sip.
"Found it."
The table fell silent for two seconds.
Kurosawa frowned.
"Found it?"
"Yeah."
Yūki nodded.
"I found it rummaging through an old cardboard box behind a card shop a while back. The card looked pretty new, so I kept it."
Sato Renshan stared at him, disbelief written all over his face.
"You found such a nasty... such a powerful Lava Golem in a cardboard box behind a card shop?"
"It's Domino City. Anything's possible."
Yūki kept a perfectly straight face.
Jaden was the first to believe him.
"I get it!"
Everyone looked at him.
Jaden clenched his fist.
"Lava Golem must have chosen Yūki!"
Yūki nearly choked on his juice.
Kurosawa's face twitched.
Sato Renshan raised a hand to his forehead.
Only Asakawa Suzune lowered her head, the corners of her mouth shifting slightly.
People in this world readily accepted Card Spirits.
When a rare card ended up out in the world, happened to fall into a duelist's hands, and then displayed astonishing power in a duel, people preferred to believe that the card itself had chosen them.
As for why Yūki could wield Lava Golem...
Though Jaden's answer was outlandish, it fit this world's logic quite well.
Yūki went along with it and nodded.
"That's more or less it."
Sato Renshan watched him for a few seconds.
"I still feel like you're pulling my leg."
"You're overthinking it, President."
"You'd better really have found it."
"I really did."
Yūki remained composed on the surface, but silently chalked up another mark against the system.
The system was his biggest secret.
Where Lava Golem came from, why his HERO cards were more complete than those of the current era, and what he might draw in the future.
No one could know any of it.
At two in the afternoon, the central main arena opened again.
The championship match.
Fujiwara Yūki versus Tachibana Shingo.
The stands were even fuller than in the morning.
Many of the eliminated contestants had stayed specifically to watch, and even some staff members stood at the sidelines to catch the action.
On one side was the Underworld Man who had suddenly emerged from Third Municipal Middle School.
Card Milling, hand disruption, burn—he rotated through all three decks.
On the other was City First Middle School's ace, a core disciple of the Dinosaur School. After being shut down in his first match, he had fought his way back through the repechage.
This duel finally had something of the atmosphere a championship match deserved.
When Tachibana Shingo took his place opposite Yūki, he had changed into another school uniform.
He looked at Yūki and spoke first.
"I lost this morning."
"Yeah."
Yūki nodded.
Tachibana Shingo paused.
Yūki added something.
"But you played well."
"I know."
Tachibana Shingo answered quickly.
"That's why I came back."
He raised his Duel Disk.
"I watched the repechage footage and thought over our match this morning again. You never relied on any single card. You turned every choice your opponent made into the outcome you wanted."
"I won't give you that chance again."
Yūki placed his deck in the slot.
"Then let's see you try."
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
[Fujiwara Yūki LP: 4000] [Tachibana Shingo LP: 4000]
The first-turn indicator flickered.
This time, Tachibana Shingo once again secured the first turn.
"My turn. Draw!"
He didn't summon a monster immediately.
Instead, he set a card first, then activated a spell.
"I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed, and draw two cards from my deck."
The projection of the green pot's face spread into a grin, and two cards slid into Tachibana Shingo's hand.
Watching that Pot of Greed, Yūki felt a little wistful.
A god-tier card that had been locked away for life in his previous world was being played as casually as drinking water here.
After drawing, Tachibana Shingo first set a monster.
Then he set two more cards in his back row.
"Turn end."
Some people in the stands froze.
An aggressive Dinosaur School player had chosen to open with a set monster and three back-row cards?
This didn't look right.
Jaden scratched his head.
"Why has Tachibana started copying Yūki?"
Kurosawa stared at the field.
"He's guarding against Lava Golem."
"There's only one monster on his field, and Lava Golem needs two tributes."
"He's also keeping destruction cards in his back row. If Yūki tries to stall with Gravity Bind again, Tachibana can deal with it immediately."
Sato Renshan nodded.
Tachibana Shingo really was a fast learner.
That morning's defeat hadn't made him timid. Instead, it had made him rein in his offensive strategy.
He had abandoned rapidly swarming the field. He would rather keep his board small than let Yūki find an opportunity to trade one Lava Golem for two monsters.
Yūki drew.
He glanced over his hand, his expression barely changing.
"My turn. Draw."
A Spell Card went into his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed."
The same green pot projection rose into view.
Two cards slid into Yūki's hand.
After looking at his newly drawn cards, Yūki's finger paused on one of them.
Tachibana Shingo had only one set monster on his field.
Three cards in his back row.
He had indeed guarded against Lava Golem.
But Lava Golem wasn't the only thing Yūki had brought this time.
Yūki pulled out a card and placed it facedown in his Spell & Trap Zone.
"I set one card."
He pulled out a second.
"And set another."
Tachibana Shingo stared at Yūki's back row, his fingers gripping the edge of his Duel Disk.
Two set cards.
Different from the three that morning.
Yūki still had several cards in his hand.
Has this guy changed strategies again?
Yūki raised his head.
"Turn end."
The arena fell quiet.
The championship match had only just begun.
But Tachibana Shingo had already realized that all the time he had spent studying Lava Golem over lunch seemed about to go to waste again.
Before you continue