The vast arena was enormous, with a majestic ancient castle standing tall as the dueling venue. Even though the matches hadn't started yet, the stands were already packed with people.
Kira arrived outside the venue with Sato Koji. Getting out of the car and looking up, he immediately saw the Dark Magician statue towering over the main entrance.
Although the appearance rate of the rare card Dark Magician in official matches had plummeted since Yugi Muto retired, as the ace monster of the former King of Games, it still served as a symbol at many venues.
"Well, I'm going to do my pre-match prep. The preliminaries should start soon," Sato Koji told him.
"Kouhai, you should get ready too."
"Okay. Looking forward to seeing you on the field, Senpai," Kira replied politely.
But Sato Koji's expression turned odd at these words, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
I don't want to see you again,
But in the end, he didn't say it out loud.
After parting with him, Kira went to the registration desk and collected his participant badge and number from the receptionist. Looking down, he saw his number: 39.
To a card player, that was quite a lucky number. Satisfied, Kira pocketed it and nodded.
Looks like my luck is good today. I should be able to start off strong.
"This year's Moonlight Cup seems to have a high level of competition."
He'd just entered the venue lobby when he overheard some audience members chatting.
"I think I just saw Kaimaki Makoto from the Psychic Flow Dojo. Looks like he's entering too!"
"Kaimaki? That new dueling genius from Psychic Flow? Oh man, this is going to be interesting."
Then someone else chimed in, "I don't care about Psychic Flow dueling. I just hope my buddy who plays Spellcasters makes it through."
"Is that really what you want? Pfft, I'm embarrassed to call you out, but you just want to see him summon Magician's Valkyria, don't you?"
Magician's Valkyria, with her outfit similar to the legendary Dark Magician from Yugi's deck—pure face, slender arms, but unexpectedly carrying more weight in certain places than her petite frame should bear—has long been a favorite among gentleman duelists.
Exposed, the guy blushed. "But she is huge!"
His friends nodded in agreement.
"No lies there, honestly."
"Hard to argue with that."
As Kira walked through the venue, he soon heard an excited exclamation from a girl.
"Oh my god, really? Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
"Absolutely!" her friend replied firmly. "No mistake, that's Rex Raptor! The legendary duelist!"
Kira paused in his tracks.
Rex Raptor? The one from Yu-Gi-Oh! DM?
He was once depicted as a top-tier duelist, runner-up in the national tournament, back before Yugi, Kaiba, and the other big names showed up in late DM.
"Is that for real? Isn't the Moonlight Cup a non-professional, secondary tournament? Why would a legend like him show up?"
"I heard this is his comeback match."
"Damn, tough luck for the other contestants—he's like the final boss."
"Yeah, looks like the champion is already decided."
Kira tried to recall. He didn't remember Rex Raptor too well but did recall his inseparable buddy from the anime, Weevil Underwood. Both were notorious for their unscrupulous tactics, though Rex Raptor was a tad stronger. After all, Weevil once threw Yugi's Exodia deck into the ocean.
But in a way, that move made him the savior of all later DM bosses. If Exodia hadn't been dumped, with Pharaoh Atem's late-game "just draw what I need" powers, even the Egyptian Gods and Legendary Dragons wouldn't have stood a chance.
Marik and Dark Bakura should bow to Weevil three times each, no question.
But after their respective losses to Yugi and Joey Wheeler, both transitioned from competitors to comic relief, with their dueling becoming ever more outlandish.
Speaking of Joey, his soul card [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was won from Rex Raptor. After that, Rex Raptor never won another match.
The DM series never explained what happened to him, and he didn't show up in the GX sequel either. But thinking about it, GX takes place only eight years after DM's ending, so it's not strange for them to meet now.
So, even though the Pharaoh has returned to the afterlife, DM-era characters like Yugi and Joey should still be around; it's just unclear what they're up to.
As an old hand from the DM era, Rex Raptor now bears the title "faced Joey Wheeler," and is even called a "legendary duelist."
These days, even the minor duelists Yugi defeated in seconds claim to be legends, and some make a living off that reputation.
Some might really be strong, but others are just riding the hype—having "faced the King of Games" is about as valuable as the ninja in Naruto who bragged about fighting the First Hokage once.
Neither Rex nor Weevil showed up in GX, so it's hard to judge their current strength. Still, Kira made a mental note to show at least basic respect if he faced them, and to tweak his deck accordingly.
Kira bought bubble tea and found a seat, browsing through the registered player list.
The entrants were generally higher level than those at the dojo, so he figured a good run here would easily get him to Level 4, meeting the academy's entrance requirements.
Scanning the list, aside from Rex Raptor, most names were unfamiliar—no other recognizable characters.
His eyes fell on a familiar name.
The perennial runner-up from GX, who went from elite to comic relief all in one year?
He checked Chazz Princeton's profile.
A student at the Duel Academy's affiliated middle school, expected to be promoted to the high school division this year.
So, by age, the GX main cast should be his contemporaries.
He then checked his first-round preliminary matchup.
Nakamura Tsubasa, Duelist Level 4.
There shouldn't be much pressure.
When Nakamura Tsubasa stepped onto the preliminary field to face Kira, he felt the same way.
[Fujiki Kira, Level 1, no tournament experience, no awards, a blank slate.]
Just a few lines of info, but Nakamura stared at them for a long time and saw only two words:
Sometimes, you get lucky and draw an opponent ; they're called charity duelists in the community. They're weak but love to play, basically here to hand out points.
But Nakamura didn't know that as soon as Kira drew his opening hand of five cards, he silently apologized to his opponent.
Sorry man, but I've got the nuts.
Looks like only one of us gets to play Yu-Gi-Oh! this round.
Kira took the first turn. He played the Spell Card [Confiscation], paying 1000 Life Points to look at his opponent's hand and discard a card. Then [The Forceful Sentry], sends another card from his opponent's hand back to the deck. Then [Delinquent Duo], paying another 1000 LP to randomly discard one card from his opponent's hand and forcing him to discard another—two more gone.
The legendary trio of hand destruction all in one go.
His opponent hadn't even had a turn, was still in shock, and only had one card left in hand.
Because he'd seen Nakamura's hand, Kira knew exactly what the last card was: the Spell Card [Double Spell]. By discarding a card, you can use a Spell from your opponent's graveyard.
Hand destruction combo completed, Kira didn't summon a single monster. He set one card face-down and ended his turn, looking cool as ever.
Finally, he made a graceful "please" gesture.
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Nakamura Tsubasa was stunned.
It wasn't even his turn yet, and he already had only one card left. How was he supposed to play?
But staying true to his duelist spirit, Nakamura didn't give up. He steadied himself and drew a card from his deck.
Immediately, KIra flipped a trap card—"Drop Off."
The card Nakamura just drew was immediately sent to the graveyard.
Nakamura was in shambles.
This guy is set on not letting me play at all, huh?
With only [Double Spell] left in his hand and nothing to discard as a cost, he could only end his turn, frustrated.
It felt like his turn had ended before it even began. Was it just his imagination?
Now it was Kira's turn again. He played the Spell Card [Reinforcement of the Army], searching his deck for a Warrior-type monster. He picked [Don Zaloog], then summoned it and attacked directly.
[Don Zaloog's effect triggered: when he inflicts battle damage, he discards a card from the opponent's hand.]
Nakamura Tsubasa: "..."
Now he was left with zero cards.
What kind of terrible karma did he accrue in his past life to get matched with someone this toxic?