The GX Tournament is in full swing, and both the students and professionals have had some first-round confrontations.
And so far, the results have been quite surprising for both sides.
Professional Duelists are shocked to discover that the students at the academy are not as easy to deal with as they imagined. Originally, they came to the tournament with a carefree attitude, thinking they were going to crush weaker opponents, but unexpectedly they found themselves completely absorbed in the competition, with newbies potentially outpacing them if they're not careful...
Some of the students have tactics that seem wildly imaginative to them, featuring a bunch of sneaky strategies they haven't seen in years of experience in the professional league—and surprisingly effective ones at that.
From the students' perspective, they're equally surprised to find that these professional Duelists, who they once thought were overwhelmingly powerful and out of their league...
...don't appear to be as formidable as they imagined?
This semester's new batch of eccentric mentors have had a significant impact.
When Youyu recruited these new mentors, he made it clear that their main mission for the semester was the "GX Tournament." The mentors needed to help their students achieve qualitative improvements in the shortest time possible, and the GX Tournament was their quality assessment.
In the original animation, regular Duel Academy students were utterly helpless against the incursion of professional Duelists. Youyu's demand was to change this scenario.
Every student may not be comparable to prominent story characters, but against cameo professional Duelists, who only appeared for a few seconds in the original, they should at least have the strength to fight, right?
If they can't even touch the average professional level, then they're not welcome to stay in the academy.
Of course, Youyu hasn't forgotten to open exclusive discount offers in his shop during the tournament. The card decks related to the students guided by the mentors were available at rock-bottom prices, with discounts as outrageous as 70% OFF, even 80% OFF.
Players have little resistance to such words. Suddenly, they were either spending money heavily or working hard, and all the students were urged to work overtime alongside the mentors, rapidly increasing their strength.
As for the protagonist group, representing the top combat strength of the academy, they naturally go without saying.
Throughout the day, Judai was on a rampage, defeating anyone who stood in his way without any surprise, achieving an undefeated record on the first day...
...while severely demoralizing a group of professional duelists, including the mathematics doctor Matt Motika.
This doctor, ranked tenth in the professional league, was surprisingly eliminated on the first day. It is said that when he lost the eligibility and boarded the ship leaving the island, he looked completely defeated sitting on the deck, his face full of despair, muttering like a broken record: "This is too much, it's too much, this isn't a real duel..."
Then there was Sommeria Parker, ranked eighth in the professional league, a bartender duelist, who was unlucky enough to face Tenjouin Asuka in the first battle.
Asuka spoke for three minutes in one turn, stacking the graveyard, drawing cards, and searching. The Cyber Angels popped out of her card deck one after another as if they were free, dazzling everyone.
Within one turn, the thickness of Asuka's card deck visibly decreased, and her resources in hand and graveyard were abundant. On the field were the "Cyber Angel Dakini" with 3700 attack power and "Cyber Angel Izana" with 3500 attack power.
In contrast, the bartender's field was cleaned up, looking as bare as a little boy with nothing to wear, cornered by the curvy Cyber Angels, pitiful and helpless...
Sommeria was dumbfounded.
He underestimated his opponent—he thought she was just a schoolgirl and didn't take her seriously. He even thought of letting her lose gracefully as a gentlemanly act, considering her beauty and outstanding figure.
Who would've thought that as the eighth-ranked league member, he would be defeated in a single turn!?
Sommeria wanted to say—whoa, with skills like this, why bother with schoolbooks?!
Why not join the professional league and aim for a world championship, wouldn't that be better?
But there was an even more unfortunate guy, said to be ranked twenty-fourth, a "Doctor Duelist," wearing a lab coat and mask, even wearing surgical gloves to duel, muttering something about "the patient's fate" before the duel—very confusing...
However, the unfortunate doctor chose Xiang—perhaps thinking that this short person appeared easy to bully, believing he'd have a solid grip on picking the soft persimmon.
Then...
...then he was slapped into depression by an invincible submarine.
On the ship leaving the island, the doctor sat next to math doctor Matt Motika with his knees hugged, similarly lacking any brightness in his eyes, muttering: "This is too much, it's too much, this isn't a real duel..."
The two of them exchanged glances, finding consolation in shared misery...
Equally successful on the first day was Ed—being the world champion, he had already proven he had the strength to sweep through the professional league, so naturally, there were no surprises. He too annihilated anyone who stood in his way, his points soaring like a rocket to the top tier among all participants.
But unexpectedly, when meeting up that night, Ed was surprised to find that despite his rapid progress, his points were still slightly behind Judai.
Ed was immediately displeased.
But Judai chuckled and scratched his head: "Just luck. It's all because Ed, you're too strong; a world champion, so naturally everyone avoids you.
I'm different, just an unknown figure, so I have more duels, and my points are slightly higher; it doesn't say much..."
Ed thought about it and found, hey, that seemed reasonable.
So, because I'm strong, my points are lower?
His displeasure vanished instantly, and Ed folded his arms and snorted: "Humph, as long as you know. Actually, I never really cared about the points..."
"Of course." Judai chuckled, "Ed being the world champion, such academy competition points don't matter to you."
Ed pretended to be unfazed by success and fame, but couldn't help a broad grin.
I am so cool. JPG.
Also joining the ranks of those who won all day was Manjome.
However, after a day of victories, Manjome confidently logged onto the GX Tournament website to check the rankings that night, only to find—
—that damn Judai had somehow climbed on top of him again!
That was bad enough, but when he took a closer look, he nearly passed out from anger.
Ed Phoenix—ranked right behind Judai—was also above him!
These two teamed up to keep him below them!
Why!? I won all day without losing a single game!?
Manjome was so furious, grinding his teeth, muttering through clenched teeth, "Judai! Just you wait!"
His little underlings exchanged looks but kept quiet.
They noticed that recently, their boss seemed to erupt more frequently and for longer periods.
It used to be every few days; since Ed came, it's been daily... now it's happening three to five times a day.
They wanted to remind their boss to calm down and take care of his health—getting angry might damage his liver—but seeing him in such a rage, there was no one who dared to speak up, fearing they might provoke him and end up dueling as a form of catharsis...
We don't dare speak or ask. JPG.