Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Shatter reality, crumble spirit, banish this world!" Malik, his head pressed against the screen, typed furiously, sending a donation to the virtual streamer on the screen. "Thinking of our encounter in a past life and of you in the future, I pour all my magic into this message and send it to you, Mitan~"

"10 yen has been paid out in the remaining balance~"

—Simultaneously withdrawing their fantasies, Isis and Hayato exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly. For a three-year-old like Malik, talking about dreams was far too early. Let him graduate from his chuunibyou and anime fantasies before mentioning the future or dreams.

"My name is Darkflame Mage, be consumed by the dark flames! Hehehehehe~" Just then, as his opponent's last life points were burned away by the flames of the [Lava Demon God], Malik's chuunibyou speech and eerie laughter were broadcast throughout the entire venue through the broadcasting system, allowing everyone to clearly hear his silly laughter.

That kid's hopeless. He's completely obsessed with anime and manga, and he actually went on stage wearing that outfit covered in ahegao characters! The live broadcast had to blur his entire body on the big screen. Hayato was somewhat relieved that he'd taken Isis's advice and specifically asked Kaiba for a seat away from Malik. Otherwise, if people found out he knew that embarrassing guy on stage, wouldn't he be in deep trouble?

In reality, Atum, who hadn't yet returned to the Underworld but instead arrived at his seat in the venue in an independent body alongside Yugi, was already covering his face with one hand, utterly embarrassed. Yugi and Jonouchi weren't much better off. After all, quite a few people had seen Malik walk onto the stage from this side, and everyone here recognized him. At this moment, the others were looking at them with awkward eyes, as if they were wary that two or three more freaks like Malik might suddenly appear among them.

If I had known it would be like this, I should have gone back to the Underworld immediately after finishing my card game with Hayato. No, I should have gone back now, before Malik returned to his seat with all the strange looks from the others!

I'm outta here...

"Everyone, it's so nice to see you all again, but it's getting late, I have to go back to the Underworld for dinner!"

"You actually tried to run away with such a lame excuse? Stay here and die with us, game!"

Chapter 998: The End is the Beginning

"The Iron Knight - Gia Fried has been eliminated by the Dimensional Rift, and the Time Magician has been destroyed as well." Pointing towards the castle, Malik said with a wicked grin, "You're next, Castle~ Inside~!"

"Ouch..." Jonouchi looked at Malik and clenched his fist. "Malik!"

"Hmph? Instead of surrendering and admitting defeat, you chose to continue fighting? Your Red-Eyes Black Dragon barely managed to block my God Slime's attack, like a student still answering questions when the exam bell rings. Instead of saving your life points and making a dignified exit, you continue to duel me?"

Looking at the arrogant Malik, Jonouchi said in a deep voice, "If we don't continue the duel, how can I let the monster beat you up?"

"Hehe, then let your monster get a little closer to me." Malik said, playing a card. "As a reward for your courage, since your monsters are too weak and powerless, I'll give you a powerful monster instead."

"Release your Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Red-Eyes Recurve Dragon to Special Summon Lava Monster to your field!"

Time flies, and a week has passed in the blink of an eye. After the top three contestants in the youth and adult groups were determined yesterday, the finals are underway today. This morning, the champion, runner-up, and third-place winners of the adult group were decided, and the third-place winner of the youth group was also determined in the previous round. Now, all that remains is for the final duel between Malik and Jonouchi to conclude, and the first GeneX tournament will come to a successful close.

It's worth mentioning that most of the champions, runners-up, and third-place winners in the adult group, as well as the third-place winners in the youth group, were people Hayato knew. There were a few who were known only to Hayato, and some who knew Hayato but didn't know that Hayato knew them.

The champion of the adult group was a former employee of the event planning department of the Kaiba Corporation named Kira Aoki. He seemed to have taken ten days of paid annual leave to participate in the GeneX competition and won the championship. When they learned that the champion who commanded the bird-beast monster to take off on stage was actually an ordinary office worker in his own company, not to mention Keihei, even Kaiba was a little surprised.

After winning the championship, this ordinary office worker gladly accepted the position of teacher at the soon-to-open Duel Academy, which was affiliated with the company. Since it was all under the Haima Group, it was just a transfer from a position he had been doing for more than ten years and was somewhat tired of to a new department and position that was still relatively new. The salary and benefits were even higher, so why would he disagree?

The runner-up in the adult group was Jean-Louis Bonaparte from France. His name alone tells you that he comes from the family of the famous Emperor Napoleon. Jean-Louis Bonaparte's height, which is only two-thirds that of a normal adult, also shows that he has pure Napoleonic blood. Because of his victories and runner-up position, his admirers have begun to affectionately call him "Mr. Napoleon".

However, some people are indifferent to him because of his arrogant attitude and unappealing appearance, and they jokingly refer to his loss to the champion as "Waterloo".

In Hayato's memory, in the original timeline, Gene Louis Bonaparte did indeed join the Duel Academy, serving as an instructor whose position was second only to the chairman and principal, and was known as "Instructor Napoleon".

However, at present, the other party is still in a wait-and-see attitude towards the Duel Academy and has not yet decided whether to accept the teaching position of the Duel Academy attached to the runner-up. After all, the reason why the other party participated in this GeneX tournament was to show off by winning the championship and to demonstrate the glory of his family. Now, he is somewhat unable to accept that he is only the runner-up.

However, the third place winner in the adult group surprised Hayato, because it was Amunaeru, an alchemist employed by Kagemaru. It seemed that he had completed the alchemical modifications to the island where Diavolo had previously been located, and had enough free time to participate in the GeneX tournament, and was using the alias "Daitokuji Hugo".

Speaking of which, Hayato was involved in his name. "Daitoku-ji" was a surname he came up with himself because he really liked the anime "Ikkyu-san". He felt that if he could solve the problems of alchemy by meditating like Ikkyu, he would like to do the same. He also came to like Daitoku-ji Temple, where Ikkyu served as the abbot.

The name "Hugo" came about because Daitokuji said his favorite Duel Monster card was "Fusion" because it was very similar to alchemy. Hayato suggested that he should just call himself "Yugo" because it sounded like he was good at playing cards. However, Daitokuji thought Hayato meant "Hugo" and even filled in "Daitokuji Hugo" on the registration form.

Daitokuji readily accepted the teaching position offered by the third-place winner, as it would allow him to leverage his position as a teacher to remain on the Duel Academy's island long-term, adjusting the alchemical barrier surrounding the island and surrounding waters as needed, while receiving salaries from both Kagemaru and Kaiba. After all, alchemical experiments are very expensive.

Then came the third place in the youth group, which was quite interesting. It was Ryo Marufuji, who had met Hayato twice before. After graduating from the Electro-Flow Dojo, he was studying at school but felt lost because of the monotony of school life. After learning about the Duel Academy, which was being established by the Kaiba Group in conjunction with many other conglomerates and was about to open, he enthusiastically signed up for the GeneX tournament.

Although he is only 13 years old this year and is two years away from the entrance threshold of Duel Academy, he has learned from Hayato that if Duel Academy is well managed, other Duel Academy branches will be established in a year, along with a subordinate Duel Academy Middle School, which will be a junior high school for students aged 12-15. At that time, he will be able to transfer to it.

However, the Duel Academy's affairs are related to the champions, runners-up, and third-place winners of the adult group, and the third-place winner of the youth group, but have nothing to do with the champions and runners-up of the youth group, whose battles are still undecided on stage. The reason is simple: both Jonouchi and Malik are stuck in an in-between age range—unable to be students, yet not old enough to be teachers.

Besides, neither of them really had any interest in the Duel Academy. Jonouchi's dueling skills were taught by Muto Sugoroku. It's one thing for him to rely on his intuition to draw cards, but asking him to teach others how to draw cards? Sorry, he can't do that.

Needless to say, Malik, who is already 17 years old, doesn't need to think about going to school. Besides, he's not the type of person who can concentrate on studying. However, since he became completely obsessed with anime and manga culture, he has started reading comic books and various light novels. In one year, he has read more books than he had read in the previous ten years.

When Hayato and Isis mentioned "dreams," he said his dream was to one day pilot a giant robot and fight giant monsters, or have a daughter who becomes a magical girl, or even become a god if all else failed.

Hayato's assessment was that it was played by a turn-based card game developed by a company with a six-letter name. But this also shows just how unreliable Malik is—letting him teach people how to play cards? What if he corrupts all the students at the academy, turning them into anime fans and masters of exaggerated facial expressions?

As for why Hayato is so interested in Duel Academy, I'll leave that as a little mystery...

Unbeknownst to many, the two duelists on stage had turned the tide of the battle several times, ultimately settling on this particular situation—

[Within the city: 500LP, 0 cards in hand]

【True Red-Eyed Black Dragon】(Torture Wheel) 【ATK2400】

【Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed】【ATK2700】

【GaiKa】

"Heh, [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed], is this your last trump card, Jonouchi? You fused [Magic Knight - Giltia Soul Spear] and [Red-Eyes Iron Knight - Giltia Freed], which I controlled on the field, to summon a monster with an attack power of only 2700 points?"

Malik, hands on his hips, arrogantly declared, "Too slow! Too slow! If you had summoned that monster a turn earlier, you would still have a chance to win, but now that weak monster simply cannot defeat my invincible [God Slime] on the field!"

Malik: 800LP, 1 cards in hand

[Arm Restraint] [ATK500]

【God Slime】【ATK3000】

[Torture Wheel] [Demon Chain] [Gaikka] x2

"If you cannot defeat me this round, in your next round, [Torture Wheel] will deal 500 points of effect damage and wipe out your last remaining basic points!"

He's getting cocky! Malik's already seen his future as the champion! Although he has no interest in becoming a professional duelist or in the all-in-one agent package and promotion service provided by Illusion International and the Kaiba Group, nor does he want to work for the Kaiba Group or Illusion International, Malik is quite interested in the one-time card customization offered by Illusion International that the champion can receive.

He had it all planned out. He would design custom cards based on his recently promoted solo idol group, "Evil☆Twins," and he even tipped them 100,000 yen to obtain the license.

Although I don't remember what the effect of [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed] was, a mere monster with 2700 attack power? Not worth worrying about!

"Is that so? Then come on in and get a good beating, Malik!" Jonouchi waved his hand and said, "Enter battle phase, use [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed] to attack your [God Slime] on the field!"

It wasn't that Jonouchi didn't want to attack; it was the "Binding Arm" attack signal. The problem was that the "God Slime" monster prevented the opponent from targeting other monsters on their field with its attack or effect, forcing Jonouchi to attack only that "God Slime."

"At that moment, I activate the effect of [Demon Pestle] in my hand. It can only be activated during the Battle Step. I Special Summon it from my hand, and my Life Points are restored by 1000." Malik said smugly as he played the card from his hand.

【Demon-shaped Pestle】【ATK1700】

Malik: 800→1800

Although a new monster appeared, due to the effect of [God Slime], [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed] still attacked [God Slime], but a new situation arose once again.

Suddenly, a six-pointed star magic circle appeared beneath the feet of [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed], locking onto the magic knight's body as if to control him. Malik's triumphant voice followed: "In addition, open my backrow face-down card, activate the Continuous Trap Card [Six-Pointed Star Curse], target [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed] on your field, preventing him from attacking or changing his battle position."

"What a pity, despite your efforts, you still couldn't defeat me, Jonouchi. It seems this time it's my victory."

"So, what's wrong with you?" To everyone's surprise, Jonouchi laughed as he saw the card Malik was using. "Unfortunately, [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed] isn't bound by you. Once per turn, when the effect of a Spell/Trap/Monster that targets it is activated, you can negate that effect and destroy one card on the field!"

"【Six-Pointed Star Curse】is ineffective against him, and I can also choose to destroy your 【God Slime】!"

"What?!" Malik was taken aback by the unexpected effect of [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed]. He paused for a moment, then said, "In that case, I'll chain your [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed] effect and activate my second face-down card, the Trap Card [Attack Invincibility]. This card can only be activated during the Battle Phase. Target one monster on my field, and prevent it from being destroyed by battle or card effects during this Battle Phase!"

The Hexagram's Curse was shattered by Giltia Freed, the Steel Magic Knight. The flying shards struck God Slime, producing an invincible "ding" sound. Malik's two face-down cards were both consumed, and as a result, the Steel Magic Knight Giltia Freed continued to attack God Slime.

Jonouchi then said, "Very good, that's it. I'm going to activate the other effect of [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed]! Once per turn, during damage calculation for battles between this monster and an opponent's monster, banish one Spell Card from my Graveyard—this [Fusion] is activated, and its ATK increases by half its DEF until the end of this turn, which is 800 points!"

"2700 + 800 points equals 3500 points. Now, [Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed] is even higher than [God Slime]!"

"Furthermore, because all the materials he uses are monsters on the field, he can make two attacks in the same battle phase!"

【Steel Magic Knight - Giltia Freed】【ATK 2700→3500】

“If it weren’t for the Demon Pike, wouldn’t I be doomed?” Malik gasped, but then sneered. “Yeah, right. It’s because I had the Demon Pike there that you were destined to lose, Jonouchi.”

"Release [Demon Pestle] to activate its effect: Target one face-up monster I control, and increase its ATK by 1000 until the end of the next turn. This effect can also be activated during your opponent's turn." Malik removed the [Demon Pestle] card from the field and sent it to the Graveyard. "[God Slime] will reach 4000 ATK with the blessing of [Demon Pestle], equivalent to [Obelisk]!"

"You don't have time to withdraw your attack. The 500-point difference in attack power is just enough to wipe out your remaining basic points!"

The situation reversed again. Jonouchi's attack, which he originally intended to reduce Malik's life points, would instead lead to his own defeat. In this critical moment, Jonouchi hesitated for a moment, but still activated the face-down card and said, "Although I don't really want to use this card, it's the last minute. Since I have no cards in hand, the activation conditions for this card are met. Activate the face-down card!"

"【Flame Dart】! This can only be activated when I have 0 cards in my hand. Roll 3 dice and inflict damage to your opponent equal to their total Life Points multiplied by 100!"

Seeing that Jonouchi's last face-down card was this kind of card, Malik said disdainfully, "Ha, you haven't even cleared that kind of gambling card from your deck yet? Roll however you want, as long as I have any Life Points left, the battle will continue, and I'll clear your remaining Life Points—"

The first die lands, showing a 6.

"Hmm?" Malik raised an eyebrow. "It's just six points, a mere 600 points of damage."

The second die landed, showing a 6.

Malik's expression suddenly changed, because he remembered that Jonouchi on the other side seemed to have a special hidden ability. "Wait a minute, you're not going to flip a six again in the end, are you?!"

The third die landed...

Points, 6!

"Hey, looks like my luck is still much better than yours, Malik." Jonouchi whistled, making a funny face. "Seeing Kaiba actually conjure up a Blue-Eyes White Dragon that I've never seen before in public, even I'm a little envious. I don't want to give you the chance to customize a card."

"The final score is 18 points, which is 1800 points of damage. It will wipe out all your base points!" Jonouchi clenched his fist. "Go, Jonouchi Flame!"

"Don't come near me!!!"

Malik: 1800LP → 0

"My goodness, Jonouchi was incredibly lucky! He just managed to throw 18 points, wiping out all the life points of the player who claimed to be Malik, Nam, and securing the victory after several reversals in the game!"

"Let's congratulate Jonouchi on winning the GeneX Competition Youth Division Championship, and let's also congratulate the successful conclusion of this GeneX Competition!"

"Celebrate!"

Chapter 999 If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll become a VTuber when you grow up.

"High-paying positions offered by Kaima Entertainment Group, a star professional duelist training program jointly created by Illusion International and Kaima Entertainment Group, and card customization provided by Illusion International. My goodness, do champions really get so many rewards?"

Seeing the surprised look on Jonouchi's face, Honda retorted, "So, before you and Malik went to register, neither of you did any research on the GeneX competition, right?"

“Don’t be so harsh on him. Didn’t Malik do some research?” Kyoko said, then paused and laughed. “And because he thought he was sure to win the championship, he approached two VTubers in advance and spent 100,000 yen to get the rights to modify their images.”

"Now we haven't won the championship, we've lost 100,000 yen, and we've even lost to Jonouchi."

Hearing Kyoko's words, Yugi asked somewhat strangely, "Them? Weren't there two girls in the live stream that Malik was watching?"

"Where are there so many cute girls online? Those two streamers in anime costumes are definitely middle-aged men in their forties or fifties. There's a saying, 'If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll become a VTuber when you grow up.' Just thinking about two uncles who are two decades older than me acting cute makes me feel disgusted." Xingzi rubbed her arms, as if she had goosebumps.

“That’s how it is. Who in their right mind watches VTubers? You just don’t have enough experience in this area, Yugi…” After glancing at Yugi, Jonouchi stroked his chin, which had grown short stubble. “Speaking of which, about a year ago, Yugi, you seemed to have easily believed what others said. They just said that a female celebrity was coming to the school, and then you actually went to meet her.”

"Even Malik, at least he liked the cute suit." Honda's finishing touch made the game blush.

"Seriously, even I've grown a lot in all this time, I won't fall for that kind of trick again." Game said, looking to his side, "You definitely believe my other self, right?"

Atum smiled and nodded: "Of course."