In the forested heart of Duel Island, Judai charged forward, full of excitement.
"I've got to win! Wait for me, Senpai Kyoko!"
"Hey, hey! You there! Kid in a hurry!"A middle-aged man finally managed to stop the wildly running Judai."Jeez, what kind of brainless student runs around like this?"
Judai skidded to a stop and asked, "Uncle, do you need something? Are you lost?"
"Hah? Lost? No! A duel! A duel!"The man was dumbfounded. "You think I'm lost?! You think we came here for sightseeing? We're here to duel, obviously! Alright kid, you're up!"
Judai wiped the sweat from his forehead, smiled, and said,"Alright, guess you're my first opponent, Uncle! Let's go!"
They raised their duel disks—"DUEL!"
Meanwhile, across the island, duels erupted left and right. Explosions and screams echoed through the trees. The dueling was intense.
At the harbor, Fubuki casually summoned his Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon and blasted his opponent's LP to zero.
"With the three entry tickets I won on the cruise, and this one… that's five in total. Looks like I'll be the first to reach the castle."He smiled radiantly and walked onto the stone path leading to the castle.
Back with Judai—
"I activate my second Spell Card: Fusion!"He held up two cards. "I fuse Avian and Bubbleman to summon Elemental HERO Mariner! Then, I attack directly along with Elemental HERO Blaster!"
"Wha—what the heck is this?! My unbeatable wall got pierced just like that?!"The middle-aged man's LP dropped to zero after two explosive hits.
"Sorry, Uncle! This was a new tactic I came up with on the cruise while chatting with Fubuki-senpai," Judai grinned."No matter how strong your monsters are, I can bypass them and go straight for the LP—heh!"
He made his classic victory pose."Victory! That was a fun duel!"
Elsewhere, Wutong faced off against three duelists in all-white uniforms.
"Pretty bold of you to take on all three of us at once," sneered one of the white-clad duelists.
"We may not be top-tier fighters, but three-on-one is more than enough," said another.
"Let's show him the true might of the Society of Light!" The third couldn't wait to draw.
Wutong scoffed."Hmph. If the system hadn't assigned me this crappy investigation mission, I wouldn't have bothered coming to trash like you..."
He reached for another card box on his belt, pulled out a new deck, and slotted it into his duel disk.
Ten minutes later—
"I chain the Quick-Play Spell Deal with the Devil! Summon your worst nightmare—Frenzied Death Dragon!"The massive dragon (ATK 3500) appeared and launched six fiery blasts, obliterating every enemy monster.
All three opponents' LPs dropped to zero.
"No way! The Society of Light… defeated?!"
"Damn it! If we can't complete our mission, what's the point of us?!"
The three white-clad duelists collapsed to their knees, weeping like broken devotees.
At that moment, a blonde girl emerged from the woods and entered the duel site.
"Hmph. Figures we'd run into each other here…" she said coldly as she looked at Wutong.
"Nice to see you're doing well, Reiji," Wutong said calmly, turning to leave.
"Stop right there, you thief!"Reiji stormed over and grabbed his arm. "You dared swap out my Planet Card behind my back! Unforgivable!!"
"Hey, hey, Reiji, that card isn't something you can just—"But before he could finish, he noticed the earrings she wore—two pendants, one glowing with a shimmering azure hue.
"I don't need your permission to use it," Reiji snapped, eyes full of resolve, defiance, and irritation.
"At the very least, I gave you that card so you could be free. And if you want true freedom, we'd better team up and deal with Tragoedia together."
Reiji released her grip.
He continued, "Your goal is the championship prize card, right? Then let's work together—divvy up who duels when…"
"Hmph. I didn't expect students from Duel Academy to be this scheming."
"Scheming is survival. If I don't play smart, your demon-possessed father's going to get me killed."
"Then maybe I'll kill you first!" she snapped.
"Whoa, hey! I'm on your side, remember?"Wutong grinned as they bickered, walking toward their meeting point.
Meanwhile, at Crescent Moon Beach, Shoko and Asuka were lounging in the sand, chatting.
"Asuka, between Wutong and Judai, who do you think is better?" Shoko asked.
"Neither," Asuka replied flatly. "Judai's an airhead, and Wutong's just plain annoying. He's all mysterious and keeps getting tangled with every girl he meets…"
"Pfft. Guess I'll just stick to being a maid, then. Men—they're born adventurers," Shoko sighed, sipping her fruity soda.
"Asuka, do you think Reiji actually likes Wutong? Or is she just pretending for the sake of that Planet Card?"
"Who knows? Like you said, Wutong's dripping in mystery. He's strong, blunt, and maybe that's just her type…"
The two academy beauties chatted away. Before they knew it, night had fallen, and a crescent moon rose into the sky.
Boom! Boom!Two fireworks exploded overhead.
A floating airship displayed the current duel rankings:
No.1: Fubuki – 7 cardsNo.2: Wutong – 6 cardsNo.3: Rebecca – 5 cardsNo.3: Reiji – 5 cardsNo.5: Ren – 3 cards
"Huh? Judai's not on the list?" Asuka stood up in alarm.
"He is—two cards, but the rank's too low to appear at the top," Shoko said, spotting the full list on the other side.
Reiji scoffed when she saw the names."The top 8's basically decided."
Wutong chuckled, "Nothing funny?"
"Nothing's funny!!" Reiji snapped.
"I just find it amusing. Publishing this ranking is basically saying, 'Come and find us—beat us and steal our entry tickets!' I bet tonight, we'll have visitors."
And he was right.
On this island, duel rules placed no limit on how many tickets could be wagered per match.
If someone challenged a player with an equal number of tickets and won once or twice, they could easily secure the 8 required to enter the finals.
"What do we do then?" Reiji asked, suddenly realizing she was completely alone—with no supplies or backup.
Wutong pointed. "See over there? Asuka and Shoko brought two big suitcases, clearly ready for camping."
"But we only brought three tents—three guys, three girls. So, who do you plan to spend the night with?"He laughed and walked off toward the beach.
"You're such a jerk! Even worse than Fubuki!"But strangely, Reiji wasn't blushing—just grinning with a hint of mischief.