Chapter 15: The Finals

"Hello, dear viewers! You are watching the finals of the Moon Flower Cup. I am your commentator, Xiao Du."

"And I am your commentator, Sasaki."

The tournament logo flashed across the live television feed, and the two commentators, who had been warming up the crowd, immediately appeared on screen.

"After several days of intense competition, the tournament has finally reached its conclusion today. To be honest, this year's competition has truly given us quite a surprise," said commentator Xiao Du.

"Indeed," Sasaki echoed. "A former legend who had vanished for many years has returned to the arena. The legendary duelist Dinosaur Ryuzaki has reached the finals with an unstoppable, crushing momentum. I don't think anyone is surprised by that."

"But I don't think anyone expected that the person challenging this legend in the finals would not be one of the seeded players predicted before the tournament, but our No. 39, Fujiki Youxuan—a newcomer with no prior record to be found."

Xiao Du nodded and said, "And I believe everyone already knows that this player not only has zero tournament experience, but his duelist rank is only one star."

"To be honest, when I first saw the player list for the main tournament, I thought there was a mistake," commentator Sasaki added. "I was thinking, 'Huh? A one-star player? Are you kidding me?'"

"Later, I checked the system, and it was true."

"Sometimes, these situations do happen," Xiao Du said. "There have been precedents. Some players who never go to the arena or show their faces might have been training in seclusion for many years, only to shock everyone upon their debut."

"True, but it's rare. I can only say we are lucky this year to witness the rise of a dark horse. If this were a previous year, he might have even won the championship, but unfortunately..."

Sasaki, realizing he was about to slip up, hurriedly reined himself in.

Sasaki took a deep breath. That was close. Things like pre-match jinxing or maliciously manipulating the tournament with mysterious powers were not for professional commentators.

Even if what he was thinking was actually the same as most people.

Even if this dark horse was truly dark, could he really take down a legendary duelist in seconds?

Running into a legend like Dinosaur Ryuzaki in such a small tournament was an extremely low-probability event. Normally, big shots like that wouldn't come to such low-level tournaments to bully the weak. It was likely that the big shot was fighting someone for the first time after years of seclusion and wanted to start with something simple to test the waters and find his rhythm.

But for the Moon Flower Cup, the appearance of such a big shot was undoubtedly a dimensional strike.

Although this newcomer's strength was stunning, he must have prepared thoroughly before the match, hoping to accumulate strength and make a name for himself in this tournament. Unfortunately, fate was cruel, and he ran into such a god-tier player.

One can only say that besides strength, luck is sometimes very important.

"Alright, the countdown for the match has begun, and both players should be in the pre-match preparation stage," said commentator Xiao Du. "Whether the dark horse that emerged from nowhere can go all the way, or the legend can make a royal return, let's wait and see!"

You Xuan stood on the stage, face-to-face with the legendary Dinosaur Ryuzaki, shuffling his deck.

Sure enough, the person in front of him looked different from the version in his memories of the anime. In his memories, Ryuzaki and his good buddy Weevil Underwood were both a pair of stunted, short-statured guys; You Xuan estimated they would only reach his waist. Now, it seemed that in the years since the end of DM, they had supplemented their nutrition well and grown quite a bit.

Why, he could barely reach You Xuan's chin now.

But even though he had to look up to meet You Xuan's gaze, his aura was not weak at all, exuding a faint confidence characteristic of a superior powerhouse.

You Xuan was currently sizing up the changes in his opponent compared to the anime image in his memory, but Ryuzaki, noticing his gaze, must have processed it through some kind of mental gymnastics, as he smiled slightly and struck a master's pose: "No need to be nervous. Just perform as you usually do. Don't have any burden; participation is what matters. Just show your style."

You Xuan was stunned, quickly realizing that this guy probably thought he was under psychological pressure facing a "legend."

And "participation is what matters"—he said it as if You Xuan was already done for.

However, he also smiled and went along with it: "Thanks, but I'm fine. It's just that I suddenly remembered, back when I didn't know how to duel, I saw you fighting in the Duelist Kingdom arena on TV..."

Ryuzaki's eyes lit up when he heard this, feeling very honored, and his back straightened a bit unconsciously: "Haha, I didn't expect that I could be considered half of your dueling mentor."

"Yeah, yeah. I was especially impressed by your ace, 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon.' The legendary red dragon that brings possibilities left an indelible mark on my young heart," You Xuan said with a sincere face.

However, as soon as he said this, Ryuzaki's face turned black immediately.

Damn it, he had to bring up the sore spot.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon was indeed his once-proud ace, but if one had watched the Duelist Kingdom tournament back then, they would know that he lost the Red-Eyes in the very first match to the legendary gambler Joey Wheeler.

He didn't believe the other party didn't know, so bringing this up in front of him was like jumping in his face to mock him, saying, "Your wife is great, too bad she ran off with someone else."

Ryuzaki pulled a long face and snorted, saying nothing. He was probably already thinking about how to let this ignorant rookie know how cruel duels between true powerhouses could be once the match started.

"Oh, right. Later, you continued to fight in the Battle City tournament, and I followed that as well."

You Xuan's eyes were incredibly sincere, saying it so well that he almost believed it himself.

"Especially the 'Evil Knight Dragon' you summoned in the Battle City arena, it was so cool..."

Ryuzaki's face turned even blacker.

He was now certain that this guy was definitely trying to mess with his mentality on purpose. Evil Knight Dragon had indeed been his ace in Battle City, but he had also lost it in the very first match, losing to the duelist "Esper Roba," who controlled "Jinzo."

It was like a double-tap of face-slapping: "Your second wife was also great, too bad she ran off with someone else, too."

No, he had to keep his cool.

Ryuzaki took a deep breath.

The more high-level the duel, the more important the mentality. Even in professional leagues, pre-match trash talk was part of the game. He had to stay steady; he absolutely could not let this guy break his mentality before the match even started.

He would use the duel to let this guy know his power.

"Duel!" x2

【You Xuan, LP 4000】

【Ryuzaki, LP 4000】

The choice of who went first randomly fell to You Xuan. You Xuan didn't stand on ceremony and took the first turn.

"I'll go first. Draw."

You Xuan drew three cards from his hand in one breath.

"I set a monster in the front row and set two cards in the back row. Turn end!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 16 =====