Duels should be played with a smile.

"...Sigh, I'm not worthy, but that doesn't stop me...Eh? Where is everyone? Eh? What happened? I'm offline?! Hmm? Why is there knocking on the door? Is it the community doing a community service visit or the property management checking the water meter?"

……

"Oh! After thorough preparation, the final match is about to begin!"

Let's shout out both of our names together!

"Jack Atlas, the king who wields the power of the strongest dragon from the Synchro Dimension!"

"The Frost Queen, as mysterious as mist and as powerful as a storm! Ella!"

The event was grand enough, and the audience was enthusiastic enough, but none of this really excited Jack.

After countless competitions, he has long since become able to ignore these things.

Moreover, his opponent this time was a female duelist, which made him somewhat uninterested.

However, out of respect for the duel and the duelists, Jack has no intention of holding back.

Hmm... Jack's idea is to hold back his offensive a bit in the early stages, carefully observe his opponent's style, and then go all out to secure a decisive victory.

"Both players are now standing on the final stage! Let's witness together the birth of the ultimate champion!"

In the dueling arena, Ella and Jack stood on opposite sides.

Neither of them seemed inclined to engage in much conversation. After exchanging nods, they took out their duel disks and decks, ready to fight.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

[Jack: 6 o'clock]

[Ella: 1 o'clock]

Ella's lips twitched slightly, and she subconsciously rubbed her chest gently.

"I'll give you the first strike... So go ahead and put on a show, and then I'll easily crush you!" Jack said with a hint of arrogance after a moment's thought.

His original plan was to take the initiative, then create a field with True Crimson Supernova Dragon and True Crimson Star Rain, and then have Ella clear the field.

He believed that Ella wouldn't be completely helpless in a situation of this magnitude, and she certainly wouldn't be able to kill him outright. He could use the second round of combat to determine Ella's style, and then take her down in the third round.

This way, it's neither considered holding back nor making the duel boring.

However, he then thought that when he faced Leyou before, he was able to create a huge scene with just one card in his hand. If he had a perfect starting hand and the result was one after the other, he would probably be accused of throwing the game.

It's also an option to simply concede the first strike and then finish the job quickly when you have the second turn.

A duel that breaks through an opponent's blockade with overwhelming power and achieves victory in one fell swoop is also highly entertaining.

"Are you... sure?" Ella blinked, her big eyes full of doubt.

Even when Leyou plays against himself, he doesn't dare to go first. This Jack... where does he get his confidence?

"Hmph! I never lie! If I let you go first, then you go first!"

"Then... I won't stand on ceremony."

The moment Ella finished speaking, Jack felt a chill run down his spine for no apparent reason.

"My turn..."

""

"Normal Summon [Knight of the Night Stars] Gilsu, activate its effect, send [Self-Indulgent Sacred Music - Playful Demon] to the Graveyard, does it have a chain?"

Jack slowly shook his head. Perhaps he had slightly overdrawn his luck by rolling a 6 at the start, or perhaps he had used his luck where it should have been. He didn't have a single trap in his hand, but all of his five cards were expansion cards and breakthrough cards for going second.

Nothing could stop Ella's advance, but once his turn came, there was practically no field he couldn't break through!

"Since there isn't one... then Gilsu's other effect is to Special Summon two 1-star tokens on both sides of the field."

Jack frowned slightly. Giving him a free derivative product might not necessarily be a good thing.

"【Foolish Burial】, Deck Graveyard Dump【Self-Playing Sacred Music - Dream Collapse】."

"Then there's the effect of [Dark Elf Luna] in my hand: banish Dream Collapse from the graveyard and Special Summon myself."

Ella effortlessly gathered all three monsters, her movements fluid and graceful, a sight to behold.

"Next, using the tokens on my field as materials, I perform a Link Summon: Link 1, [Link Kuriboh]!"

"And continue the summoning connection."

Some strange arrows appeared on the field, and Jack felt a little uneasy.

"The summoning condition is 2 Effect Monsters. I've set Gilsu and Luna as arrows!"

The two arrows, one pointing to Ella's connecting Kuriboh and the other to Jack's field derivative, are positioned opposite each other.

"Link Summon! Link 2! [Crystal Mineral Coordinator]!"

Alarm bells were ringing in Jack's mind, but without a hand pit, he could only watch and pray.

Let's pray that Ella doesn't pull any fancy tricks like FTK next.

If he gets FTK in such a high-profile situation, he'll probably be ridiculed by his friends when he gets back.

"The effect of crystallization is to exchange control of the connected chestnut ball and its derivatives!"

"The Graveyard Playful Demon's effect: banish yourself, Special Summon another Dream Collapse from your Deck, then Link Summon Dream Collapse and the Crystal on the field, Link 2, [Self-Symphony Galatea], and send Galatea to the Graveyard, activate [Self-Symphony's Tone], draw 2 cards."

Ella's lips curled up slightly. It felt so good to be able to move around freely without the interference of her hands.

She glanced at Jack, who looked like he was facing a formidable enemy, and kindly reassured him, "Don't worry, I'll be done soon."

"Now..."

"This effect can only be activated if the monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck is on your opponent's field."

Ella raised one hand high, and countless starlight appeared in her palm, slowly transforming into four cards.

"Magic Card [Numbered System Awakening]!"

“我从额外卡组将阶级1的【No.1源数之门-壹】，阶级2的【No.29招财猫人偶】，阶级3的【No.17海恶龙】，以及阶级4的【No.39希望皇霍普】一共4只怪兽作为超量素材！”

"Awaken! Numbered beings! Descend! Shine upon the Holy Lance of the End!"

"【No. 86 Hero Champion Eliminates Gun King】!"

At this moment, the ultimate weapon of war descends.

"Finally... the Spell Card [Forbidden Execution]! I declare: [No. 86 Hero Champion Defeats Gun King]!"

"My turn is over, it's your turn."

A few minutes later, Jack walked off the stage, seemingly incoherent.

At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

Chapter 111 It's about time

Because one guy, after finding some fun, completely forgot that he still had a match (domestic violence) to fight, the tour, which should have returned to normal and proceeded smoothly, was thrown into turmoil once again.

Fortunately, Jack, who calls himself "King" and is known as "King of Car Crashes," is quite talented in comedy.

Even though he is usually indifferent and often appears somewhat "cold," Jack still often encounters situations where "heaven feeds him."

After being knocked unconscious by Ella's banned gun, Jack, who had just regained his chance to compete for the championship, immediately squandered it.

"Congratulations to Ella for winning the championship of this tournament with her unparalleled strength!!!"

The atmosphere in the arena reached its peak the moment the champion was crowned. Perhaps it was because the champion was a female contestant, and her signature icy beauty made the audience even more delighted.

Of course, it wasn't just the audience who were overjoyed; the event staff were also very happy. After many ups and downs, the competition had finally come to an end, and any problems that arose afterward were no longer their concern.

The reporters were also very happy. Whether it was the outstanding performance of the contestants, the exhibition match before the finals, or the female contestant's victory, all of these were excellent reporting materials for reporters who were quicker than anyone else to run for big news.

Team 5DS and the others were equally happy. Jack lost? That didn't matter. It was all good. Anyway, it wasn't the first time he had lost—losing twice on his birthday, under the spotlight, was definitely a topic worth discussing!

The world where only Jack is injured has been achieved.

After all the competitions and awards were given out, it was time for the final closing ceremony, but Jack had no interest in watching the performances at all.

He arrived at another place.

Arriving at the path leading to Ella's players' lounge, I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, and waited.

A short while

"What is it?" Ella asked curiously, looking at the guy she had just arranged so perfectly.

Ella was originally going to log off and go find Leyou, but then she thought that Leyou might be waiting for her in her lounge, so she came back instead, only to run into Jack there.

Following the sound, Jack slowly opened his eyes and asked, "You...you should know where Leyou is, right?"

"Oh? You think I have a relationship with him? Do you have any proof?"

“Intuition,” Jack replied calmly. “You weren’t surprised at all that the guy didn’t come to the competition, as if you had expected it all along… and your duel and his duel felt very similar to me.”

Although the duel with Ella only lasted three rounds, and his round was practically wasted, he still sensed something unusual in this short duel.

However, when Ella heard Jack's explanation, she felt a little uneasy... This was probably a lucky accident.

She wasn't surprised because she was used to Leyou's various unreliable actions. It was just that he skipped a competition, which was nothing compared to his usual incredible actions.

"Take this to him."

The data materialized in his hand, and Jack casually tossed the card to Ella.

Without even checking if Ella caught it, he turned and left, as if he hadn't come looking for her on purpose.

"This is?"

"An invitation, or rather, an admission ticket... I'll just say it's from me, and he can come or not, it's up to him."

After leaving his last words, Jack logged off. He needed to think about how to argue... no, how to explain himself once he returned to the Synchro Dimension.

“…That’s interesting. I’ll accept it on his behalf.”

After accepting the card, Ella pushed open the door to her lounge, but Leyou was not there.

"I wonder where it went... I was going to give you the information I gathered about that thing that looks like the Faceless King... Oh well, I'll send it to Philvo first. He doesn't even come to the matches, so even if I give him the information, he'll probably just leave it aside and look at it when he remembers it..."