[Jiro Kuki, Susumu Sankaido, LP 153350 → 0]
Watching the two of them struggle back up from the ground, Yusaku crossed his arms and curled his lips slightly. "The agreement from before the Duel started. I don't need to repeat it, do I?"
Susumu let out an unwilling snort, clenched his fist hard, hesitated for a moment, and still pulled the Deck out of his Duel Disk.
Jiro gritted his teeth, shot his Deck a glance, then snorted and yanked it free as well. After stuffing it into a Deck case, he flung it over.
"Thanks." Yusaku caught both Decks and casually tucked them into his coat, then turned and gave Labrynth a look.
The silver-haired girl answered with an understanding smile.
Her mind flashed back to what Yusaku had told her early that morning.
"This time, I want to Duel together with the companions who've followed me all this time. They've been with me ever since Satellite District."
With that thought, Labrynth gracefully withdrew from the core area of the Duel arena. Her skirt fluttered lightly as she walked over to Saya and Reina.
In that instant, the nearby players all received a new quest authored by Yusaku.
[Quest Name: Skill Trial]
[Quest Summary: You fought shoulder to shoulder through the ruins of Satellite District and broke into the city center together. Yusaku trusts you. Now Genius Academy and Gurus have joined forces. As a senior from the dojo, he wants to test what you've achieved.]
[Quest Requirements: Stand alongside Yusaku and crush the combined provocation of Genius Academy and Gurus. Defend the pride of Satellite District Duelists.]
[Quest Reward: 1 Random Complete Deck ×1 (includes core monsters and a dedicated Spell/Trap package)]
The moment the quest icon lit up, the crowd exploded.
"Look! Another new quest!"
"So it's telling us to team up with Yusaku!"
"Bro, exactly what you think. And the reward is a full Deck this time. Before, it was always just a rare card!"
"But it looks like there's only one slot to join. With this many of us, who's going up?"
After the initial rush of excitement, someone raised the key question, and the arena fell into a brief, tense silence.
While the players argued endlessly and refused to yield, Yusaku slowly lifted his gaze to the black mass of people across from him. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to every corner.
"So who's coming up to challenge? Go on, step out. You didn't bring this many people here just to cheer for those two, did you?"
As if they had rehearsed it, one figure stepped out from Genius Academy and one from Gurus.
Genius Academy's representative was a skinny boy. His washed-out uniform had his name embroidered in gold thread on the chest: Teppei Koike.
The Gurus member wore the usual signature outfit, wrapped head to toe in a thick black robe, leaving only his eyes visible.
As the two of them walked closer, Yusaku's eyes settled on the robed man in front. With a hint of amusement, he said, "Don't tell me you're Jiro Kuki?"
The robed man snorted, his hoarse voice grinding like sandpaper. "Ichiro Inoue."
His sharp gaze swept Yusaku's side. It lingered briefly on Labrynth and Reina, and when he saw neither intended to step up, suspicion crept into his eyes as he looked to the players behind Yusaku.
"Don't tell me you're planning to take on the two of us by yourself."
Yusaku's lips lifted in a faint smile.
"Relax. You're not the only ones with teammates. I've got help too."
Ichiro and Teppei exchanged a look, then scanned the people around Yusaku again. In the end, their eyes locked onto the chattering player crowd.
"You mean your 'help' is this mob of nobodies?" Teppei scoffed, contempt practically spilling out of his tone.
The players instantly erupted, their earlier debate turning into unified outrage.
"Who the hell are you calling nobodies!"
"If you've got guts, stop yapping from behind your people and come out for a one-on-one!"
"Enough! Now's not the time to fight each other. Pick someone and show them what we can do!"
As soon as those words fell, a figure strode out of the crowd. He raised a hand toward Yusaku and called out loudly, "Yusaku-senpai, I'll back you up!"
Everyone looked—and it was Kazetaro, the player with a strong reputation among the group. He jogged up to Yusaku, eyes filled with resolve and excitement.
With Kazetaro having seized the spot, the rest of the players groaned and complained in frustration.
"Damn it, Kaze beat us to it!"
"Kaze, don't forget. We said it already—whoever gets to fight has to share your stash after!"
"Yeah! And your rare collection too. Don't you dare forget!"
"…"
Kazetaro waved helplessly at the teasing behind him. "Fine, fine. Seed files, whatever you want. Once we win this Duel with Yusaku-senpai, I'll share."
Then he turned back to Yusaku, his expression snapping into seriousness. "Yusaku-senpai, how do you want me to coordinate with you? Just give the word."
Yusaku patted him on the shoulder, that calm, confident smile still in place. "No need to tense up. Just play the Deck you're best with like normal."
Kazetaro finally breathed out, reached into his bag, and pulled out a carefully maintained Deck. He slid it into his Duel Disk with practiced ease. "Got it. Then I'll go all out."
Teppei crossed his arms and let out a harsh, grating laugh. "If you were still using the same duo as last time, maybe we'd be a little wary. But this time…"
His gaze dropped on Kazetaro, disdain undisguised.
"You actually picked someone from that bunch as your partner? Those guys usually just hang around the streets of Domino City Duelling like amateurs. I've played them plenty. Their level is rotten to the core. I honestly can't understand why you'd associate with them."
Yusaku's smile vanished. His eyes turned cold as he glanced at Teppei.
"Done talking? Who I choose as a partner isn't up to you. In my eyes, they're far stronger than you self-important types. Enough noise. Come on. I hope your strength is at least half as impressive as your mouth."
Kazetaro felt heat rush up from his chest, eyes stinging.
So this was Yusaku-senpai. The idol he'd wanted to follow since the closed beta. Someone talked down on his companions, and Yusaku didn't indulge it for even a second.
Ichiro stepped forward and looked at Yusaku. "We can Duel. But we're adding an extra rule. As a trade, you can propose one rule as well."
"Oh?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow, interest flickering in his eyes. "What rule? Let's hear it."
Teppei took a step up and spoke, arms still crossed. "We share the Extra Deck. It's a two-person Duel. If everyone keeps their own Extra Deck separate, there's no real teamwork."
Yusaku's lips curled into a faintly playful smile. "So when one of you is comboing, you can freely use your teammate's Extra Deck monsters. Thirty Extra Deck cards total between you. Are you sure?"
The surrounding players all wore expressions that could only be described as "Are these guys serious?"
Yusaku was already monstrous with just fifteen Extra Deck cards. If he had access to thirty, it would be like unsealing a restriction. A truly suicidal rule.
Even Kazetaro, who was about to fight, stared at them in disbelief.
But Ichiro didn't notice anything wrong at all. He simply sneered. "We're sure. Of course, you can set your own condition too."
Yusaku waved a hand, casual. "No need. That's fine."
He drew several cards from his Deck and handed them to Kazetaro.
Kazetaro glanced down at the cards and his pupils shrank. He sucked in a sharp breath, voice trembling. "Th-This is the Xyz Four Heroes, and…"
Before he could finish, Yusaku raised a finger to his lips in a quieting gesture.
Kazetaro nodded hard, carefully slipped the precious cards into his Deck, and his fingertips trembled with excitement.
Teppei noticed Kazetaro's shock and vaguely caught the phrase "Xyz Four Heroes." His brows knitted tightly.
He searched his memory over and over, but couldn't recall any monster with that name. There was nothing he could pin down.
After a moment, he gave up on it and looked back to Yusaku.
"You ready? If you're ready, start. Don't waste time."
Yusaku lifted his eyes. "Anytime. Let's begin."
As his words fell, all four raised their arms at once. Their Duel Disks unfolded with a humming sound, projecting pale-blue energy screens as streams of data raced across the surfaces. Each side's starting Life Points appeared clearly.
"Duel!" ×4
The arena's air seemed to boil. The turn indicator spun rapidly, then clicked into place as the first-turn order finalized:
1st: Teppei, 2nd: Yusaku, 3rd: Ichiro, 4th: Kazetaro.
Seeing he had the first turn, Teppei sneered. "Last time, you got to go first. This time, it's us."
"Oh?" Yusaku raised his brows slightly, indifferent. "And?"
"And that means the advantage is firmly on our side!"
Teppei's sneer deepened.
"Last time, you just got absurdly lucky and blew up all our backrow, so we couldn't start anything. But this time, I came fully prepared. The outcome is going to change."
He flicked his eyes over the five cards in his hand, then pulled out a Spell Card patterned with blood-red chains and slammed it into his Spell & Trap Zone.
"First, I activate the Spell Card: Sales Ban!"
"The effect is simple. I declare a card name. For this turn, you can't activate the effects of any cards whose original name matches what I declared!"
He snapped his gaze up at Yusaku. "Back in the Duel Tower, you kept relying on weird hand traps like Maxx 'C' to interrupt my senpais' setups again and again, forcing them to play through disruption just to extend."
"So I stuffed my Deck with counters for you. This Sales Ban was made for you."
He raised his voice sharply.
"I declare—Maxx 'C'! In this Duel, you won't be able to activate that card's effect again—"
Yusaku's lips curved into a calm, teasing smile. "Sorry. Looks like you're going to be disappointed. I didn't draw it this time, so your carefully prepared Sales Ban is doing nothing right now."
Teppei: "?"
"Hmph. It's just one card. It doesn't matter to me at all!"
He forced out a stubborn retort, then immediately slapped down another card from his hand.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Chaos Space!"
"The effect: I send 1 LIGHT or DARK monster from my hand to the GY. Then I add 1 LIGHT or DARK monster from my Deck that has the opposite Attribute, is Level 4 to 8, and can't be Normal Summoned."
He revealed a card. "I send the DARK monster Dual-Wield Pistol Dragon from my hand to the GY, then I add the Level 4 monster White Dragon Wyverburster from my Deck to my hand!"
The moment the searched card reached his hand, he briefly showed it and then slapped it onto his Duel Disk.
"White Dragon Wyverburster's effect. I can Special Summon it by banishing 1 DARK monster from my GY. I banish Dual-Wield Pistol Dragon, and Special Summon this monster!"
"Come out, White Dragon Wyverburster!"
A dazzling burst of light erupted. A silver mechanical dragon, a brilliant blue gemstone set into its chest, spread its wings with a thunderous roar as it appeared on the field, a faint halo shimmering around it.
White Dragon Wyverburster
[Level 4 / Dragon / Effect]
ATK 1700
After the monster hit the field, Teppei clapped his hands three times and shouted, "Next, I use White Dragon Wyverburster as Link Material and perform a 1-material Link Summon!"
White Dragon Wyverburster became a streak of light and shot into a blue Link Circuit that appeared in midair. The left-pointing arrow [←] flared to life inside the circuit.
A moment later, a delicately structured mechanical dragon descended from the circuit and landed firmly in the Monster Zone.
Striker Dragon
[Dragon / Link / Effect]
ATK 1000
"Striker Dragon's effect triggers! And at this moment, I chain the GY effect of White Dragon Wyverburster that I just sent to the GY!"
"And now—"
Before Teppei could finish, Yusaku's calm voice cut in. He drew a card from his hand, pinched it between his fingers, and gave it a light flick.
"I chain to your effect. I activate the Trap Card: Infinite Impermanence."
"The effect is simple. I target 1 face-up monster on your field. Its effects are negated until the end of this turn."
Teppei frowned. "A Trap from the hand during my turn? Are you sure you didn't misspeak?"
Yusaku smiled faintly. "If you control no cards, you can activate this card from your hand. I don't have a single card on my field right now, so I can activate it from my hand."
"So I target your Striker Dragon. Its effects are negated until the end of this turn!"
"Don't even think about it!" Teppei hurriedly snapped, slapping a card down. "I told you, I prepared follow-ups specifically for your weird hand traps!"
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card: Forbidden Lance!"
"I target 1 face-up monster on the field. It loses 800 ATK, and until the end of this turn, it's unaffected by the effects of other Spell/Trap Cards!"
"I target my Striker Dragon. Its ATK decreases by 800!"
Striker Dragon
ATK 1000 → 200
"Until the end of this turn, it's unaffected by other Spell/Trap effects!"
A pure, transparent barrier enveloped Striker Dragon. The red light from Infinite Impermanence slammed into it and vanished like it had sunk into a bottomless swamp.
(End of Chapter)
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