Chapter 8: The Duelist Times

Nakamura Tsubasa ultimately exited the stage with a roar.

In the first round of the preliminary qualifiers, Yu Gen was quite satisfied with his performance. Once again, through both words and actions, he taught someone what the true essence of a Duelist King was.

He was confident that after reviewing the match, this player would gain valuable insights and, in the end, be grateful to him.

On the first day, Yu Gen fought several matches in succession, the intensity of the duels was undeniable. However, the Moonlight Cup was not a competition with a particularly high entry threshold, so the number of participants from various backgrounds was quite large. The preliminaries were held simultaneously across multiple venues, greatly saving on scheduling time.

None of this was unexpected for Yu Gen. The opponents he was matched with lacked any notable reputation, and based on the portrayal in the animation, most duelists outside the protagonist group were fairly average, with no deck constructions that particularly caught his eye.

Of course, Yu Gen would never underestimate his opponents because of this. After the first day, he casually observed other matches to get a sense of the players advancing.

Though the chance of him losing to most of them was slim, he thought it better to proceed cautiously. As the ancient art of war teaches: know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. This was doubly true in Duel Monsters.

If he could learn about his opponents’ deck configurations and tactical styles in advance, and make targeted adjustments before the official matches, his chances of winning would improve significantly.

The dojo had already allocated a portion of the prize money before the Moonlight Cup started, earmarked for strengthening and upgrading his deck.

Yu Gen accepted this funding without hesitation. With this budget, he was able to refine his original strategy, making a furious round of card acquisitions these past few days, assembling several more decks to increase his options.

Although “Hand Destruction” had been a world champion’s signature tactic in the past, it was clearly unrealistic to rely on this single move to dominate in the animated world. Once word got around that he had only one trick, opponents would easily counter it, which was the last thing he wanted.

Therefore, Yu Gen spent time before the competition gathering cards available on the market and piecing together two or three decks that felt both competitive and enjoyable to play.

He constantly switched decks and adjusted their builds according to the tactical types of his opponents, making his strategy flexible and unpredictable. This allowed him to maintain a positional advantage and made it harder for others to target him specifically.

...

Master Takeuchi brewed a cup of coffee and settled comfortably into a soft sofa bathed in the afternoon sunlight, casually flipping through the latest issue of the Duelist Times.

The Duelist Times was a publication owned by the Kaiba Corporation, reporting on all kinds of curiosities and stories from the dueling world.

He had been busy with family matters these past two days and hadn’t had time to watch his students’ matches. But he had heard that both his dojo’s students had successfully passed the first day of preliminaries, which brought him some relief.

Opening the paper, he found reports from the Moonlight Cup preliminaries.

“An incident nearly occurred on the Moonlight Cup preliminary battlefield where a player attempted to maliciously attack an opponent.”

“One contestant lost control in the middle of a duel, furiously trying to physically harm the opponent but was unsuccessful and subsequently disqualified…”

“Hmm?”

Master Takeuchi read these reports with curiosity.

Such things? The quality of duelists nowadays was truly declining. To think some would throw a tantrum and resort to violence just because they lost—a disgrace to the dignity of duelists.

The report was brief and used pseudonyms, apparently to protect the participants’ privacy. One alias was Kento, another was Tomoki.

He continued reading.

“On the third day of the Moonlight Cup, player Shota (alias) suffered a sudden hemorrhagic stroke during a duel with player Kento (alias). Fortunately, prompt medical attention saved him, and Shota has been declared out of danger…”

A brain hemorrhage caused by playing cards?

Master Takeuchi was astonished. Was this year’s Moonlight Cup really that dangerous?

Wait… A thought suddenly struck him.

The pseudonym of the opposing duelists in both incidents was Kento—surely it couldn’t be the same person both times?

If it was, one incident might be an accident, but two in a row...

Could the problem actually lie with this opponent?

Master Takeuchi immediately recalled the peculiar phenomenon he had observed a few days ago during a duel with a certain Yu Gen from the dojo—his blood pressure steadily rising in tandem with the duel’s progression...

A dreadful premonition settled in.

Surely... it couldn’t be such a coincidence.

...

Three days later.

“Already made it to the top eight?”

Qualifying for the quarterfinals had been surprisingly easy, to the point where Yu Gen felt somewhat unfulfilled.

As expected, the level of competition was just so-so. Most opponents were merely skilled amateurs. He wondered if the intensity would rise once the quarterfinals began.

Watching Yu Gen’s smooth advance with a look of mild disappointment, Koji felt an urge to punch something.

Unlike Yu Gen, who seemed to be cruising through the preliminaries as if cheating his way to the top eight, Koji Sato had been eliminated on the second day of preliminaries.

With no matches left, he had nothing to prepare for, so he came to sulk beside his junior—who had advanced—from the same dojo.

At least the good news was that he was eliminated before encountering Yu Gen, sparing him another round of public humiliation on the official stage.

And for now, he could still watch from the front row, enjoying the sight of others being crushed.

It was strange. His blood pressure would spike uncontrollably when being overshadowed by his junior, yet seeing others suffer the same fate on the battlefield brought him great joy.

Humans truly were contradictory creatures.

“By the way, junior, have you seen your match list? Who’s your opponent in the top eight?” he asked eagerly.

He was desperate to learn the identity of the first victim.

“Oh, it’s a student from the Duel Academy’s middle school division,” Yu Gen replied.

“His name is Jun Manjome.”

...

“Manjome is ridiculously strong!”

Jun Manjome, from the Duel Academy’s affiliated middle school, was reclining comfortably on a sofa, enjoying the adulation of two loyal subordinates.

Manjome was the third young master of the renowned Manjome conglomerate. Currently ranked first in the elite class of the middle school division, he had secured a special exemption from entrance exams and was set for direct admission into the Duel Academy’s high school division.

Since childhood, Manjome had been groomed by his family as a dueling prodigy. According to the family’s plan, one elder brother was destined for business leadership, the other for high political office, while Manjome himself was expected to reign as the Duel King and become the future pillar of the Manjome Group.

At first glance, the idea of “one destined to become the King of Duel Monsters” seemed somewhat amusing compared to his brothers’ paths, but anyone familiar with Seto Kaiba would understand that in this world, excelling at dueling was far more promising than business or politics.

It was easy to imagine that Manjome had participated in countless tournaments since childhood, amassing championship titles and awards by the dozen.

His participation in the Moonlight Cup was also at his family’s behest—a final trial before advancing to the Duel Academy’s high school division.

Like many previous competitions, his brothers had given clear instructions: he was there to win.

To the family, second place was equivalent to defeat. Any tournament without first place was meaningless.

But this time, even Manjome felt some pressure.

Among the contestants was Dinosaur Ryuzaki, the legendary national runner-up from years ago who had faced off against the famed Katsuya Jonouchi!

Could he truly defeat such a legend?

Manjome rubbed his fingers together, staring absently at the floor.

“By the way, I haven’t heard of your quarterfinal opponent, Yu Gen Fujiki. Is he a newcomer?” one subordinate asked.

“Hm?” Manjome snapped back to reality and checked the opponent’s information.

Duelist rank...

...one star?

He even doubted his own eyes.

A one-star? That’s a rookie among rookies—a greenhorn. Someone like that can compete? And make it to the quarterfinals??

Looking further at tournament experience and public honors... blank.

“His record is a blank slate. He looks like nothing but cannon fodder,” the first subordinate sneered. “How did a guy like that make it this far?”

“Maybe just lucky?” the second subordinate suggested.

“Even if it’s luck, you need some skill to get this far…”

Regardless, a first-time public tournament participant making the top eight would surely not remain one star after this event.

“Maybe he’s one of those dark horses who suddenly break out, a rare talent,” the second subordinate said. “But compared to Manjome, he’s still just cannon fodder.”

“True,” the first subordinate nodded approvingly, then laughed.

“But honestly, this Yu Gen guy is pretty unlucky to be matched with Manjome so early. Looks like his run ends at the quarterfinals.”

Manjome smiled faintly, saying nothing, trying to appear aloof and expert-like, but the slight upward curl of his lips and his instinctive tactical lean back betrayed his pride.

Though silent, Manjome shared his subordinate’s assessment.

Fujiki Yu Gen... never heard of him.

Even if he was a dark horse, this was his first tournament. Could he really wipe out the number one in the middle school elite class?

The top eight battle was about to begin.