Chapter 304: Professional Duelist

So, a minute later, in accordance with the crowd's wishes, Fujiki You Xuan, as the hope of the whole village, put on his Duel Disk and stepped onto the arena, opposite the professional player Sommelier Baka.

Of course, if it were just about not wanting to lose face for the academy, Fujiki You Xuan might not have been the students' only option. At least Marufuji Ryo, known as the Kaiser of the academy, also possessed a significant fan base.

Although Fujiki You Xuan was basically acknowledged as the academy's newcomer king this year, some fans still insisted that the Kaiser was the academy's number one, representing the ceiling of Duel Academy's level.

And while Fujiki You Xuan was strong, he was after all just a first-year freshman; at least until they had directly traded blows, not everyone believed he could be stronger than the Kaiser.

But if one didn't consider it solely from the perspective of strength, then there was basically nothing to hesitate about; over eighty percent of the students felt Fujiki You Xuan was the popular choice.

No other reason—because it was interesting.

Just as Judai often said, dueling should be happy. And everyone acknowledged that Fujiki You Xuan's dueling was the happiest; not letting a professional player share in everyone's happiness on such a rare occasion would be inexcusable.

If Fujiki You Xuan performed normally and let the professional share in the happiness everyone usually felt, then everyone would naturally be happy. And if the big shot claiming to be the eighth-ranked professional performed superbly and suppressed Fujiki You Xuan, that would be a feat of successfully resisting the "Underworld," which would also be worth celebrating.

No matter how you looked at it, he was the most worth watching.

And so, things evolved into this, with Fujiki You Xuan standing opposite this professional player.

"Since everyone has unanimously recommended you, you must have some extraordinary qualities," the professional Sommelier said, having already drawn his starting five cards with a smile. "Of course, you are still young after all."

"No matter how high-quality the raw material, it cannot increase its price without the settling of time. So you don't need to be nervous or have any psychological burden; just play at your normal level."

"We are mainly here to demonstrate and teach everyone today; victory or defeat is not important."

"Understood, senior," Fujiki You Xuan deployed his Duel Disk and drew his starting hand. "Then please, teach me."

"Duel!" x2

【Fujiki You Xuan, LP4000】

【Sommelier, LP4000】

"I'll go first. Draw."

Sommelier drew a card and then elegantly pinched a card from his hand with two fingers.

"I summon 'Wine God - Bacchus' in attack position!" (Original card)

An old man with an ancient Greek style appeared, his thick beard looking like a fluffy flame. In one hand, he held a simple yet elegant pure gold wine goblet, and in the other, a bunch of grapes.

【Wine God - Bacchus, ATK 1600】

"Set one card in the back row, turn end," Sommelier smiled. "Come on, student. Let me see your dueling."

As he spoke, he swirled a glass of red wine he'd pulled from nowhere, his posture calm and composed.

Every movement exuded "elegance."

"Understood, senior. Then it's my turn. Draw."

Fujiki You Xuan drew a card, added it to his hand, and first selected a card from his hand.

"First, set one card on the field."

The image of a back-row card appeared, and a Set card emerged with a golden glow.

He then revealed a Spell card from his hand.

"Activate Spell card 'Hand Destruction.' Both players discard their entire hands, then draw the same number of cards."

"Ho, changing hands right from the start?" Sommelier smiled and pointed out. "Because you didn't draw the right cards? That's a deck-building problem; you can't rely on hand-swapping to solve problems..."

"Senior is right."

Fujiki You Xuan smiled and didn't refute, simply sending his four cards to the Graveyard one by one, then drawing four new ones.

"And 'Hand Destruction' sent 'Scholar Spirit' to the Graveyard; this card allows me to draw another card from the deck when sent to the Graveyard." (Original card)

He scanned the newly drawn card, looking thoughtful, and only selected one after a while.

"Set one monster on the field in face-down defense position."

The face-down monster appeared on the field. He then drew three more cards from his hand.

"Then set three more cards. Turn end."

One set in the front row, four set in the back row. Many students in the audience familiar with this scene were already showing anticipation.

It appeared, Fujiki You Xuan's unique T-shaped deployment!

It's coming, it's coming!

"Hmm, only defense?"

Sommelier swirled his wine glass again, still looking calm and composed, and said elegantly.

"Well, there are indeed duelists like that. Focusing more on defense than offense... in short, you are still young. The professional world is very cruel; if you cannot actively attack and seize the initiative in a duel, the Goddess of Victory will not favor you."

Sommelier put down his wine glass—that thing seemed more like a prop for him to act cool than a drink.

"Then let me, as a professional, demonstrate for you. My turn, draw!" Sommelier said. "At this moment, the effect of Wine God - Bacchus activates."

"This card gains 300 ATK during each of my Standby Phases."

【Wine God - Bacchus, ATK 1600 -> ATK 1900】

"Next, activate Spell card 'Graceful Charity' from my hand," Sommelier said. "Draw three cards from the deck, then discard two cards from my hand."

"Then at this moment, activate my Set card," Fujiki You Xuan snapped his fingers. "Continuous Trap - Necro-Temptation."

The image of a demon appeared on his field, like a ghostly phantom, as gloomy as the Grim Reaper.

"Necro-Temptation: every time a card is sent to the Graveyard, the owner of each card takes 300 points of damage."

"Hmm?" Sommelier frowned.

This was a card once used by the legendary Duelist of the Duel City era, Mr. Malik.

Mr. Malik was truly the ancestor of the "Underworld." Many Underworld cards and tactics were pioneered by him, later developed and explored by physical card players, evolving into various mature deck-building paths.

When it came to the Underworld, calling Malik "Grandmaster Ma" was truly not an exaggeration.

"Tch, so I have to take damage just by sending cards to the Graveyard? But it's only a mere 300 points..."

At this moment, Sommelier didn't take it to heart and continued to draw three cards from his deck.

"According to the effect of 'Graceful Charity,' discard two cards from my hand to the Graveyard."

"Then, the effect of 'Necro-Temptation.' Two cards plus 'Graceful Charity' itself, a total of three cards, equals 900 points of damage."

【Sommelier, LP4000 -> LP3100】

"Heh, it's only 900 points of damage..."

Sommelier frowned.

Although he said that, he already had a slightly ominous premonition in his heart.

Especially seeing the gloomy, Reaper-like demon phantom projected on the opponent's field, and the remaining pitch-black Set cards under the black aura radiating from the demon, everything made him feel increasingly uncomfortable.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 305 =====