The Duel Boat slowly moved across the boundless ocean, leaving the pitch-black night gradually behind.
The red sun rose over the sea, dyeing the distant horizon in a shade of orange-red. The fiery sun hung among the clouds, reflecting its crimson glow on the undulating surface of the sea, intertwining with layers of cloud.
After the intense competition of yesterday's elimination tournament, the four individuals advancing to the semi-finals were finally determined.
According to Kaiba, the elimination on the Duel Boat was just the prelude; he had prepared a much grander venue for the semi-final matches.
At the time, Kaiba intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Jonouchi and added, "Dueling is indeed about strength, not dumb luck; those who advanced to the semi-finals are the ones who deserve it…"
Implying that Jonouchi belonged to the "undeserving" category.
On the spot, Jonouchi wanted to roll up his sleeves and face Kaiba, but his good friend Honda, considering he didn't want to be thrown off the boat by Kaiba Company's guards, once again tried his best to hold him back.
In total, two people fell after the four elimination matches. Currently, Bakura is still in a coma (not sure if it's real), while Xue Lang, soon after being declared "unsuccessfully resuscitated and brain dead" by the accompanying doctor, sprang out of bed as if nothing happened.
The doctor exclaimed it as a medical miracle, while Marik displayed a face of shock and disbelief.
Logically speaking, even if he recovered, there should have been some impact.
For instance, Xue Lang should have lost memory concerning certain individuals due to the Dark Duel, yet he seemed completely unaffected now.
Which, in fact, was only natural. Because Xue Lang indeed "died" once after finishing the card game, using one resurrection chance.
After death and resurrection, any negative state is reset to zero.
"Impossible... Impossible..." At that time, Dark Marik stared at his Millennium Rod, suspecting he had left home with a fake rod.
Is this guy really a superhuman? No matter how much he plays, he can't be defeated?
At that moment, Marik secretly decided never to play cards with this lunatic again.
Dark Marik enjoys witnessing others in pain and despair when playing cards, and likes to bury any opponent using the Darkness Game.
Part of the reason he almost lost against Xue Lang was because of this. As at first, Marik didn't intend to win by normal means; he was entirely focused on figuring out ways to mentally break the opponent, almost leading to his downfall...
However, when playing cards with this lunatic, while Marik was sweating profusely, the opponent remained motionless and unresponsive, and could still act as if nothing happened afterward.
The degree of threat Xue Lang posed in Marik's mind suddenly skyrocketed.
Nevertheless, Marik was unaware that while this BOSS was amazed by the player's prowess, at that very moment, players on the forum were still dissatisfied.
"Damn, isn't this way too underhanded? The Winged Dragon's ability locked and destroyed the field, then directly hit with 0 attack to forcefully disconnect them, isn't this invincible?"
"Lang really originally won this game... Ah, it's just scripted death."
"You can't say that, in the original work Marik used such underhanded tactics anyway. If he hadn't played dirty, Kujaku Mai and Jonouchi wouldn't have lost either..."
"Crap! It's only in card games that a BOSS can be this arrogant; in other games our Fourth Calamity would have piled him to death with sheer sacrifices already."
"Hope Youyu-san beats him out in the finals."
"+1, a sea of blood requests for Youyu-san to crush Marik into ZZ."
"..."
After a day of competition, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
The night passed without words.
The morning light shone through the blinds into the room, the sunlight pleasantly draping over the bed.
Youyu groggily opened his eyes, the faint sound of the boat steadily running echoed in his ears, and amidst the haze, he seemed to smell...
... fragrance?
His brain was still sluggish from sleep as Youyu sat up lazily, yawning.
Beside him, the blonde-haired Magician Girl also lazily sat up from the bed, stretching her delicate, fair little arms.
"Good morning, Master~" Dark Magician Girl yawned, adjusting the magic hat on her little head.
"Mm, good morning...
...!?"
It was only then that Youyu realized something was amiss.
"Wait a moment," Youyu suddenly felt more awake, "... Dark Magician Girl?"
"Huh? It's Master." The girl rubbed her sleepy eyes, "Is there any command?"
"... How are you physical today?"
"?"
Dark Magician Girl sat up, duck-styled, and touched her body.
"Eh? Really." She expressed surprise, "I don't remember ever coming out."
Dark Magician Girl sheepishly added, "Maybe I accidentally did it while sleeping..."
Youyu understood.
So it's like sleepwalking?
Fortunately, seeing his own spirit on the bed upon waking still seemed a bit unsettling, there was a momentary fear he had forgotten about himself casting magic last night...
Yet, he still thought it strange: "Has this happened before?"
"... No." Dark Magician Girl shook her head, "This has never happened before. Sorry, Master, I promise it won't happen again."
Youyu instinctively wanted to dismiss it vicariously, saying it's fine even if it happens next time, but thought such words may be ambiguous, so he decided otherwise...
After this small interlude, Youyu completed his morning routine, heading to the dining area.
Upon arriving at the dining area, Jonouchi and Xue Lang, who until yesterday were complete strangers, had become familiar, hanging arm in arm like best buds who've known each other for years.
The process of their newfound familiarity seems rather simple. While having breakfast, their eyes met, and they casually exchanged a few words. Xue Lang expressed his admiration for the God of Gamblers, while Jonouchi respected Xue Lang's dueling skills and his performance in facing the Darkness Game.
With mutual admiration exchanged, their revolutionary friendship quickly blossomed.
Friendship between men is just that simple.
Seeing Youyu enter, Xue Lang jumped up enthusiastically from the dining table and greeted him warmly, "Over here!"
Jonouchi, witnessing Xue Lang's reaction, didn't find it odd but instead gained respect: "It seems he's someone who values comrades deeply. They're probably very close partners?"
Shizuka quietly added, "I think Youyu-san is quite nice, and handsome..."
Anzu agreed: "Yes, yes, and he seems very reliable."
Jonouchi nodded, "He's indeed a great guy. His dueling skills are quite high, and when he defeated me, he didn't take away my precious Rare Card..."
Even the kind-hearted Yugi expressed goodwill: "He's a Duelist who considers others."
See, this is the perk of having a charisma score of 95.
They say a handsome face solves a thousand worries, and as long as your looks are maxed, the initial favorability won't start too low.
However, for some reason, the soul within Yugi seemed slightly discontent...