Chapter 20: Winning the Championship

"L-Lost?"

Ryuzaki collapsed to his knees in the pose of a criminal suspect whose conspiracy had just been exposed in a certain elementary school detective story, hands braced on the ground, his face still bearing a hint of bewilderment.

As if he felt this wasn't real.

He had spent years raising his army, secluding himself in deep cultivation, and this time he had finally made up his mind to hold back for one massive surge, making a triumphant return as a king.

And the result was kneeling during the tutorial stage?

He could not accept it!

The applause that echoed around the arena after a delay of several seconds tore through his illusions, dragging him back to cruel reality. At first, it was a sparse scattering of sounds, as if the crowd was only just recovering from the shock of the duel they had witnessed. Then, led by who knows whom, it evolved into a tidal wave of cheers, mixed with shouts of the competitors' names.

Yes, clearly, they were not shouting his name, Ryuzaki, but rather that newcomer who had pinned him to the ground and rubbed his face in it.

The legendary duelist Ryuzaki had failed in his kingly return, instead becoming the stepping stone for the rise of a new star.

"Congratulations to contestant Fujiki You Xuan for successfully defeating Dinosaur Ryuzaki and winning the championship of this year's Moonlight Cup!"

Commentator Watanabe shouted excitedly.

"What an incredible duel this was! A newcomer making his first appearance defeats contestant Ryuzaki, who returned after years of seclusion, in his very first match, and even maintained the upper hand throughout the entire duel."

"No, not only that, but until the very end, his Life Points remained completely untouched at four thousand! It can truly be called a flawless clear in the literal sense!"

Ryuzaki: Stop scolding me, stop scolding me.

"Yes. And based on my years of experience as a commentator, I dare say this might not even be this contestant's limit," commentator Sasaki added. "'Card Trooper' has another effect. When it is destroyed, the duelist who owns it can draw one card from their Deck."

"After accepting the effect of 'Release Restraint,' the Machine-Type monsters will self-destruct. This means that due to Card Trooper's self-destruction, contestant You Xuan can draw three more cards in one breath."

"In contrast, looking at Ryuzaki's side, both his front and back fields are empty, and because of the 'Reckless Greed' he activated last turn, he must skip his next two Draw Phases. So..."

He didn't continue speaking, but the meaning was obvious.

In other words, even if Ryuzaki could somehow produce one more move to defend against Card Trooper's total assault this turn, his chances of winning were microscopic.

Not to mention that You Xuan still had two Fortress Mechs in his Graveyard; as long as he had Machine-Type resources in hand, he could revive them from the dead at any moment.

By this point, the gap between the two sides was already too vast.

Ryuzaki: "..."

"The younger generation is truly formidable." Listening to this, commentator Watanabe couldn't help but feel even more admiration for this newcomer. "But regardless, let us first congratulate contestant You Xuan on taking the championship..."

He had a premonition.

This would likely not be the last time he saw this contestant on the competition stage. No.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that for You Xuan, this might only be the beginning.

"He actually won..."

Sato Koji, a senior apprentice from the duel dojo who had long since taken his seat in the spectator stands, watched these developments and blinked twice in a daze. Then he pinched himself hard.

Hiss~ It really hurt.

It wasn't a dream.

His junior apprentice had actually defeated the legendary duelist...

Suddenly, all the fury and depression he had felt when brutally crushed by his junior earlier—having cards but being unable to play them—were swept away, replaced unexpectedly by a sense of pride.

Such an awesome junior apprentice, and I actually got beaten by him!

His spine straightened involuntarily by a few degrees.

With You Xuan winning the championship, the duel dojo instantly erupted in universal celebration. Thinking that this matter would undoubtedly make the headlines of the "Duelist Times" tomorrow, all the apprentices suddenly felt immensely honored, feeling that mentioning their dojo's name when going out in the future would bring them great face.

And if one were to ask who was most excited, it was undoubtedly the Dojo Master.

The moment the champion was announced, Dojo Master Takeuchi's eyes rolled back, his whole body leaned backward, and he nearly fainted.

But when his disciples hurriedly rushed to support him in a flurry of activity, he immediately waved his hands, indicating he was fine and just a bit too excited.

Later, while none of the excited apprentices were paying attention, Dojo Master Takeuchi got up and went to the depths of the dojo. He extended his hand and lightly tapped on a section of wall that appeared utterly ordinary.

It seemed like a casual motion, but his fingertips concealed a special pattern. Moments later, the wall seemed to come alive, vibrating slightly before slowly splitting open from the center, revealing a hidden door.

No one in the entire dojo besides him knew of the existence of this door.

He walked into the tunnel, and the hidden door closed automatically behind him. At the end of the tunnel, the only light was concentrated on a single point in the center.

A transparent display case, inside which a single card was stored.

The Dojo Master murmured to himself.

"The one capable of inheriting it... is finally about to appear?"

"You really are the champion! You even took care of a great demon king like Ryuzaki, Junior Apprentice, you are too awesome!"

As they left the arena, Senior Apprentice Sato Koji had completely changed into a different person, enthusiastically rushing up to carry his luggage for him.

"Hey, Junior Apprentice, why are you still carrying it yourself? Let Senior Brother do it—"

You Xuan tried to decline, but he couldn't withstand his senior brother's overwhelming enthusiasm.

"By the way, I heard someone say that seniority isn't determined by order of learning. How about from today onwards, you become the Senior Apprentice, and I'll be the junior..."

You Xuan: "..."

"Speaking of which, your mentality is truly strong. How come you show no reaction at all despite winning the championship?" Sato Koji couldn't help but say. "If it were me, I'd be floating on cloud nine right now."

Actually, You Xuan was certainly not unhappy; it was just that this result was something he had foreseen from the start, so he wasn't overly surprised.

More than this, what he actually cared about more was when the tournament prize money would arrive in his account.

The deeper his understanding of this world became, the more he felt that in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, money might not be able to do everything, but without money, one truly could do nothing.

Not to mention money-power warriors like Kaiba or Manjoume; even the first-generation protagonist Yugi's family ran a card-selling business, and the second-generation protagonist Judai Yuki seemed to be a rich second-generation heir as well.

The third-generation protagonist Crow was born in the slums, but he was a heavyweight big shot who picked up trash and hand-crafted a perpetual motion machine. Not only did he pick up trash to assemble a top-tier meta deck of the current era, but he also came with the Crimson Dragon acting as a card printing press—he could print his own cards.

Even for the anime protagonists, as the plot progressed, their decks would undergo continuous modification and constant supplementation with new cards.

Therefore, playing cards is truly a bottomless pit; except for certain big shots possessing the talent to print cards, ordinary people can only spend money and burn cash.

This once again highlighted what a wonderful place the Duel Academy, with Kaiba's heavy sponsorship, truly was.

"..."

The two left the arena, one following the other.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, a figure clad in black robes stood in that corner, watching You Xuan's departing figure from afar.

Beneath the black hood, the corner of their mouth twitched, curling into a dangerous arc.

Immediately after, a green glow flashed beneath the hood; those eyes in the darkness actually seemed to briefly flicker with a trace of green light, burning in the pupils like ghost fire.

(End of Chapter)