The vast competition venue loomed ahead, its dueling arena framed by a towering ancient castle. Though the matches hadn't started, the stands were already packed with spectators.
Yugen arrived at the venue with his dojo senior, Koji Sato. Stepping out of the car, he immediately spotted a statue of "Dark Magician" at the main entrance.
Though "Dark Magician" had faded from competitive play since Yugi Muto's retirement, as the ace monster of the former Duel King, it still served as a symbolic figurehead at many tournament venues.
"I need to prep for the matches. The preliminaries should start soon," Koji said to him.
"You should get ready too, junior."
"Sure. Looking forward to meeting you again on the field, Senior," Yugen replied politely.
Koji's expression twisted oddly, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
'I absolutely don't want to face you again.'
He kept it to himself.
Parting ways with Koji, Yugen collected his contestant badge and number plate from a friendly receptionist. Glancing at it, he saw "No. 39."
A lucky number to say the least.
Pocketing it, he nodded in satisfaction.
Looks like I'll have good luck today and start with a win.
"This year's Moonlight Cup is going to be a high-quality tournament," he overheard some audience members chatting as he entered the main hall.
"I think I just saw Makoto Kajiki from the Psychic Art Dojo. Looks like he's competing this year."
"Kajiki? That up-and-coming dueling genius from Psychic Art? Man, this is gonna be good."
Then another voice: "I don't care about Psychic Art. I just hope my buddy running a Spellcaster deck makes it through."
"You want your buddy to advance? Pfft, don't kid yourself. You just want to see him summon 'Magician's Valkyria,' don't you?"
"Magician's Valkyria," with her skimpy mage outfit reminiscent of Yugi's "Dark Magician Girl," boasted a pure face and slender arms, yet bore a disproportionate "burden" that her frame shouldn't have to carry. She was a longtime favorite among gentleman duelists.
The guy flushed red. "But she's really big!"
His companions stopped arguing, nodding in unison.
"Fair point."
"Hard to argue with that."
"…"
Yugen navigated the venue, soon hearing a young girl's excited squeal.
"No way, really? You're sure you didn't mistake him?"
"Absolutely certain!" her friend insisted. "It's unmistakable—it was Rex Raptor! The legendary duelist!"
Yugen paused mid-step.
Rex Raptor? From Yu-Gi-Oh! DM?
Early in the series, Rex was portrayed as a skilled duelist, once the national runner-up in a tournament—though that was when Yugi, Kaiba, and other late-DM heavyweights weren't competing.
"Seriously? But isn't the Moonlight Cup a non-pro minor league event? Why would a legendary duelist like him…?"
"I heard he's been in seclusion, training for years without showing his face. This is his comeback tournament."
"Wow, tough luck for this year's Moonlight Cup contestants, running into a big boss like that."
"Yeah, doesn't that basically lock in the champion?"
"…"
Yugen racked his brain. His memory of Rex was fuzzy, but he recalled the guy's constant companion, Weevil Underwood.
Both were ruthless win-at-all-costs types, though Rex was slightly stronger. Weevil, after all, once chucked Yugi's "Exodia" set into the sea—an act that, in a way, saved all the late-DM bosses.
Imagine if "Exodia" hadn't been lost. With Atem's late-game "close my eyes and draw whatever I want" hax, the Three Egyptian Gods, Legendary Dragons, and Orichalcos God would've been sidelined. Marik, Doma, and Dark Bakura would owe Weevil a few kowtows.
After losing to Yugi and Joey, though, both seemed to pivot from competitive duelists to comedic relievers, their dueling style growing increasingly absurd.
DM didn't clarify Rex's fate, and he didn't appear in GX. But since GX's timeline was only eight years after DM's end, running into him now wasn't too surprising.
Though Atem had returned to the afterlife, DM characters like Yugi and Joey should still be around in this era—It was just not specified where or what they were up to.
As a DM veteran, Rex carried the title "fought Joey Wheeler," earning him "legendary duelist" status.
These days, even scrubs Yugi had crushed claimed to be legends, some parlaying the hype into success.
Some might have real skill, but others were just coasting. Their "battled the Duel King" credentials were about as legit as Kakuzu bragging he'd fought the First Hokage.
Neither Weevil nor Rex appeared in GX, so their current strength was unclear. Still, Yugen made a mental note: if he faced Rex later, he'd show basic respect and tweak his deck accordingly.
Grabbing a milk tea, Yugen found a seat and skimmed the registered contestant list.
The average rank here was higher than at the dojo. This tournament should easily get him to four stars, meeting Duel Academy's application requirement.
Scanning the list, aside from Rex Raptor, most names were unfamiliar—no recognizable characters…
Wait.
His eyes landed on a familiar name.
Chazz Princeton?
The perennial runner-up from GX, who went from elite to clown in a year?
He checked Chazz's profile:
Elite class of Duel Academy's middle school division, guaranteed admission to the high school division this year.
So, age-wise, GX's main cast should be his peers.
No big deal.
He glanced at his first-round prelim opponent:
Nakamura Tsubasa. A 4-star ranked duelist.
Shouldn't be a problem.
Indeed, when Nakamura Tsubasa stepped onto the prelim dueling field and faced his opponent, he thought the same.
Fujiki Yugen, ranked 1-star, no tournament experience, no honors, blank resume.
A few sparse lines of info.
Nakamura pored over them, seeing only two words:
Free win.
Sometimes luck paired you with opponents like this—known in the scene as "charity duelists." Terrible players who loved to compete, basically handing out points.
This one's in the bag.
But Nakamura didn't know that when Yugen faced him and saw his opening hand of five cards, he mentally apologized.
'Sorry, bro, I've really got this in the bag. Looks like only one of us gets to play Yu-Gi-Oh! this game.'
Yugen took the first turn. He started with the spell "Confiscation," paying 1000 LP to view Nakamura's hand and discard one of his cards.
Then he activated "The Forceful Sentry," checking the hand again and returning one card to the deck.
Finally, "Delinquent Duo," paying 1000 LP for a triple combo—randomly discarding one card, then forcing Nakamura to discard another, totaling two more cards gone.
The legendary hand disruption trinity, executed in one breath.
Before Nakamura's turn even began, he was down to one card, still dazed.
Having seen Nakamura's hand, Yugen knew the lone remaining card was "Double Spell", a spell whose card text read:
[Discard 1 Spell, then target 1 Spell in your opponent's GY; place that target in the appropriate Zone on your field, and as this card's effect resolution, follow its card text as if you had used it yourself.]
Useless here.
After the flawless triple play, Yugen summoned no monsters, set one card, and ended his turn with style, gesturing elegantly.
'I'm done. Your move.'
Nakamura was a wreck.
Down to one card before his turn? How was he supposed to play?
Still, as a duelist, he refused to give up. Steadying himself, he drew…
Only for Yugen to flip a trap: "Drop Off."
The freshly drawn card went straight to the graveyard before it could warm his hand.
Nakamura was a mess.
This guy's dead set on not letting me play, huh?
With just "Double Spell" and no cards to discard as cost, he glumly ended his turn.
It felt like his turn ended before it started—surely an illusion.
Back to Yugen. He activated "Reinforcement of the Army," searching a warrior monster from his deck. He grabbed "Don Zaloog" and normal summoned it for a direct attack.
Zaloog's effect triggered, discarding one of Nakamura's cards upon dealing battle damage.
Nakamura: "…"
Now he had nothing.
'What sins did I commit in my past life to get matched with this soul-crushing deck?'