Chapter 193: Joyful Festival Duels

A loud bell suddenly cut through the festival's buzz, slicing the air. The crowd fell silent, all eyes turning to the stage.

The performers had already left, and now, from the Duel Club, the Busty Senpai took the stage.

To Kira's embarrassment, he still didn't know her actual name...

"Surprise Duel!" she announced with a smile, holding the mic.

"We're starting the festival's duel segment! Everyone, choose a random opponent nearby within 30 seconds and duel! Each win earns a point. In the end, the highest scorer will win a special prize from the Duel Club!"

"..."

The place fell silent.

Kira instantly felt like all eyes, intentionally or not, had landed on him.

In about a second, the atmosphere changed. It was like the paused world suddenly went into fast-forward; students frantically grabbed their duel disks and rushed to the nearest opponent.

For them, the opponent didn't matter anymore.

As long as they didn't get caught by the Demon King, it was a win!

 From Yellow Dorm, Yamamoto Yuuichi dashed like a mortar shell toward a nearby Obelisk Blue girl. The girl, startled by his aggressive approach, probably thought she was about to get slammed.

Yes, this was Kira Victim Club's number one member, Yamamoto Yuuichi. To his horror, he realized he'd randomly ended up near the Demon King right as the surprise duel started.

Memories of the dorm exchange duel, and the terror of being dominated by the Yellow Demon King, flashed through his mind...

He locked onto the Blue Dorm girl. No matter what, he was determined not to repeat last time!

But just as he was about to succeed, another Yellow Dorm boy suddenly appeared, duel disk already out, blocking the girl: "Sorry, may I duel you?"

She nodded.

Yuuichi, mid-charge, tripped and face-planted.

He looked up angrily—only to see that the one who stole his target was one of his best friends. The friend glanced at him, pushed up his glasses, and said, "Sorry, Yuuichi."

But better you than me, buddy. Today, I had to be first. Take one for the team.

Yuuichi: "You son of a—"

Before he could finish, a shadow fell over him.

Then came the soft, polite voice of the devil: "Oh? Isn't this my friend, Yuuichi? Why are you on the ground? Can't find an opponent? What a coincidence, I haven't found one either. Looks like I'll have to ask for your guidance again."

Yuuichi sighed deeply, getting up and lifelessly raising his duel disk.

His face said: Fine, fine, just get it over with.

"..."

"I activate the Spell Card 'Card Destruction,' then chain the Continuous Trap 'Call of the Haunted' to Special Summon 'Protector of the Sanctuary' from the graveyard."

"Sorry, Yuuichi. You have to discard your entire hand, and thanks to 'Protector of the Sanctuary,' you can't draw. I'll draw four cards for myself from 'Card Destruction.'"

Yuuichi: "..."

"Oh? Are you ending your turn without doing anything? So polite. Well, my turn again, 'Don Zaloog' attacks directly! Looks like you've lost."

"..."

Another happy duel was over, Kira bade farewell to the shell-shocked Yuuichi and went to find his next target.

 Club rules: you can't duel the same person twice. So, he just had to find another pair in a duel, wait nearby, and as soon as their duel ended, there'd be a free student.

Like that glasses-wearing Yellow Dorm boy and the Blue Dorm girl.

During their duel, both were relieved they'd dodged the Demon King. But before long, both felt a chill down their spines.

They turned to see—the Yellow Demon King was already standing nearby, watching their duel with a smile!

What did this mean?

 It was obvious—he was waiting to pounce as soon as their duel ended!

What to do?

 Throw the match and drag it out?

No way—that would be cheating, a disgrace to duelists, and against school rules.

As the duel neared its end, the glasses boy's LP was almost zero, both participants were getting desperate.

The girl seemed to say: Seriously? I barely moved and you already lost?

The boy looked miserable, but then, in the crowd, he spotted hope.

Yuuichi, the one who'd just been beaten, was now excitedly watching.

Saved!

 The glasses boy's eyes lit up.

As soon as this duel ended, he could grab his buddy and duel him—dodging the Demon King.

The moment his LP hit zero, he withstood the virtual attack and sprinted toward Yuuichi: "Yuuichi! Let's settle our grudge today! Come on, duel me!"

"I Refuse!"

Yuuichi rolled his eyes and ignored him, heading straight for the Blue Dorm girl.

"Excuse me, would you like to duel?"

The girl nodded gratefully.

"Yuuichi! KISAMA!" the glasses boy roared.

Yuuichi just smirked back.

Heh, let my brother taste the hell I've been through.

So, the Yellow Demon King appeared before the glasses boy, smiling as he raised his duel disk: "Looks like it's just you and me. Anything you want to say before we start?"

Glasses boy: "..."

"..."

"I activate the Trap Card 'Ojama Trio,' summoning three Ojama Tokens to your field."

"Then activate the Continuous Trap 'Rivalry of Warlords.' Since you have Beast-type Ojama Tokens, you can't summon any other monsters."

"Alright, it's your turn now. Take your time."

Glasses boy: "..."

Seeing his opponent go red in the face, staring at his hand with no possible plays, Kira started to zone out.

Come to think of it, where's Jaden?

It doesn't make sense—shouldn't he be the most active at this sort of event?

Extra chapter @1000 PS