Traveling in reverse through the Yu-Gi-Oh! world with the MD system

However, the result of this comparison was truly disappointing for Soreva.

Compared to Yugi Muto, Yuya Sakaki doesn't have the same fighting prowess. While Soleva was a little disappointed by this, he could still accept it. After all, it's not good for a protagonist who is constantly growing to the point of being unable to compete with a protagonist who has reached the maximum level right from the start.

What Soreva found most objectionable and unacceptable was Sakaki Yuya's mentality.

I don't expect you to be like Yugi Muto, able to calmly deal with situations when you're at a disadvantage. After all, that's the kind of composure that belongs to a max-level expert, and a newbie really can't learn that.

But how many times has this happened in just two days? Whenever things don't go as planned or he falls into a disadvantageous situation, Yuya Sakaki will put on such a terrible expression, as if all his relatives have died, and then he will become disheartened and give up on himself.

Soreva couldn't understand what kind of upbringing could have fostered such a fragile mentality in Yuya Sakaki.

Even a protagonist like Yugi Muto, who is at the peak of his power, has experienced defeats. For example, at the beginning of the Duel Kingdom arc, Yugi Muto lost to Pegasus due to time constraints. The price he paid was that Pegasus took away the soul of Yugi Muto's grandfather, Sugoroku Muto.

Has Yugi Muto ever given up on himself like Yuya Sakaki? Even the mild-mannered Yugi quickly rallied and resolutely embarked on a journey to the Duel Kingdom with Yami Yugi and his companions.

Even though Yuzu Hiiragi was there to defend Yuya Sakaki, saying things like, "[Odd-eyed Pendulum Dragon] is proof that Yuya took a step forward with courage, and it's a symbol of the pendulum summoning that Yuya created. That's why Yuya became like this when [Odd-eyed Pendulum Dragon] was destroyed," Soleva still couldn't accept it.

There are quite a few cards with this kind of symbolic meaning in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, such as Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Time Magician, and Stardust Dragon. Among them, many cards have been separated from their owners, but none of them have given up on themselves like Yuya Sakaki has now.

Therefore, in Soreva's opinion, Yuya Sakaki, who is now giving up on himself because of the destruction of [Odd-Eyed Pendulum Dragon], is really being pretentious.

Thinking back on this duel, it wasn't really a life-or-death or world-ending duel; it was just a friendly sparring match between friends, albeit with a strange wager.

In a duel like this, to give up because of a temporary disadvantage and the monster's destruction is truly unbelievable! Are you a sore loser?!

Letting out a long sigh, Soreva looked back at the dueling arena. At this moment, Shiunin Sora was already directing [Magical Toy Scissors Bear] to try and retrieve [Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon] from the pool where it had been knocked away. However, he was destined to fail and retrieve nothing.

At that moment, Yuya Sakaki burst into laughter, pushing the goggles covering his eyes up to his head.

"This guy……"

Looking at Yuya Sakaki, whose face was beaming with smiles and who seemed to have regained his spirits, Soleva clicked his tongue sharply.

"Tsk, although he's supposed to be smiling, there's absolutely no trace of happiness in his eyes or face. That smile is just too fake, isn't it?"

Rather than trying to cheer up, Soreva felt that Yuya Sakaki was forcing himself to laugh, and Soreva no longer wanted to find out why.

After all, it's difficult for normal people to understand someone who might have mental health issues, isn't it?

If Soreva truly understood, he would have to wonder if he had a mental problem.

However, Yuya Sakaki felt that he had cheered himself up because he was now doing just what his father, Yusuke Sakaki, had told him before he disappeared.

"Laugh when you feel like crying."

After Sakaki Yuya discovered that his destroyed [Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon] had not gone to the Graveyard but had gone to the Extra Deck, he became even more excited and began to explain to Shiunin Sugoro, who was curious as to why he couldn't use [Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon] as an Equip Card for Scissor Bear, in a seemingly boastful manner:

"The destroyed Odd-Eye is not in the graveyard. Odd-Eye is now in the Extra Deck!"

"In the Extra Deck?"

Although surprised that [Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon] was placed in the Extra Deck instead of the Graveyard, Shiunin Sora quickly burst out laughing.

"Interesting, very interesting, Master! So, destroyed Pendulum Monsters don't go to the Graveyard, but instead enter the Extra Deck! This is the first time I've ever seen something like this. Pendulum Monsters are amazing!"

Seeing Sora's laughter, Soleva nodded. Sure enough, he hadn't been wrong. Although Sora was also laughing very exaggeratedly, Soleva could tell that he genuinely found the Pendulum Monster, which was different from ordinary monsters, interesting, which was why he laughed out loud.

This was a smile completely different from Yuya Sakaki's smile just now; one was genuine, while the other was merely a forced smile.

With that smile, Su Liang understood her current situation and what else she could do:

"Since it's not in the graveyard, the Scissors Bear can't equip it. That's enough attacking, I'll end my turn here."

When it was Yuya Sakaki's turn, seeing the card he had drawn, Yuya knew that his chance to turn the tide had come, and he immediately used Pendulum Summoning again.

Aside from the [Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon] which was recently added to the Extra Deck and resummoned, Yuya Sakaki also summoned a brand new monster, [Entertainment Partner Cheerleader Mole].

As soon as [Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon] returned to Yuya Sakaki's field, the three little ones in the spectator area immediately burst into cheers.

With [Entertainment Partner Cheerleader Mole]'s effect of increasing attack power by 1000 points once per turn, Swordfish can directly reduce Scissors Bear's attack power by 1600 points, bringing Scissors Bear's attack power down to 1400 points.

Although Shiyunin Sora still had a previously negated [Surprise Box] in his back row, he knew that with Sakaki Yuya's [Time Reading Magician] there, his trap card could not be activated.

Therefore, when [Heterochromatic Spirit Dragon] launched its attack under the command of Yuya Sakaki and amidst the cheers of the spectators, Sora Shiunin no longer offered any resistance and accepted the attack.

As Shiyunin Sora fell into a thick ball of ice cream cream under the impact of this attack, his LP value dropped to 0, declaring Sakaki Yuya's victory.

"Great! It's Yuya's victory!"

Just as Hiiragi Yuzu was cheering for Sakaki Yuya's victory and turned to share her joy with Soleva, she suddenly realized that Soleva had already disappeared from the spectator area.

Chapter 22: Soleva and Yuya Sakaki, another duel!

"Huh? You're telling me not to shut down the physical imaging system yet? Why?"

Shuzo Hiiragi, sitting in front of the machine that manages the physical imaging system, saw Yuya Sakaki defeat Sora Shionin in a duel and was about to shut down the physical imaging system when he was stopped by Sorewa, who suddenly burst into the equipment room.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Shuzo Hiiragi. However, I want to have another duel with Yuya Sakaki, so please don’t shut down the physical image system for now.”

Faced with Soleva's request, Shuzo Hiiragi hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing:

"I understand, but please give me some time before your duel with Yuya begins."

"no problem."

........................

"Strange, why hasn't the physical imaging system been turned off yet?"

Although puzzled as to why the physical image system had not been shut down even though he had already won, Yuya Sakaki still walked up to Sora Shiunin and pulled him out of the clump of ice cream cream.

"Ah, thank you, Yuya."

Upon hearing Shiunin Sora stand up and thank him, Sakaki Yuuya was instantly startled:

"What did you just call me?"

"Yuya! We made a bet, didn't we? If you win, I can't call you master anymore. But, how about we become friends? Since we're friends, I'll just call you Yuya by your name!"

Seeing the innocent smile on Shiyunin Sora's face, the smile that was originally on Sakaki Yuya's face instantly froze. He had made that bet to keep Shiyunin Sora away from him, but now it seemed that Shiyunin Sora was closer to him instead.

Just when Yuya Sakaki was at his wit's end, he heard Shuzo Hiiragi's voice behind him:

"Oh? You two have become friends? Friends of students in the academy are also students in the academy. How about it? Would you like to join our Yusheng Academy?"

Seeing Shuzo Hiiragi eagerly put his arm around his and Sora Shionin's shoulders and extend an invitation to Sora, Yuya Sakaki instantly understood what Shuzo Hiiragi was up to, but he couldn't directly refute Shuzo Hiiragi.

After all, increasing the number of students at Yushojuku and revitalizing Yushojuku was one of Sakaki Yuya's dreams.

When Shiun-in Sora heard Hiiragi Shuzo's invitation, she readily agreed.

"Great! This place feels much more interesting than LDS and stuff like that!"

Upon hearing that Shiun-in Sora had agreed, Hiiragi Shuzo immediately became excited:

"Great! I'll go get the application form right away!"

Just as Shuzo Hiiragi was about to run away, Yuya Sakaki reached out and grabbed Shuzo Hiiragi's sleeve, pointing at the still-unrestored candy world and questioning him:

"Wait, you haven't recovered here yet!"

Seeing that Yuya Sakaki was talking about the world projected by the physical image system, Shuzo Hiiragi seemed to suddenly understand, gave a thumbs up, pointed to the small door he had just entered through, and said:

"You mean this? It's because Mr. Soreva said he wanted to duel you, so he told me not to shut down the physical image system yet."

"Eh???"

Turning his head to look in the direction Shuzo Hiiragi was pointing, and watching Soleva walk step by step towards him, Yuya Sakaki finally released Shuzo Hiiragi's sleeve and turned to Soleva to ask,

"Mr. Soreva, why do you suddenly want to duel me?"

"Huh? Yuya Sakaki, have you forgotten that you skipped my class today?"

Upon hearing Soleva's words, Yuya Sakaki's face instantly showed an embarrassed expression:

"Uh... well... Mr. Soreva, please listen to me, it's also because of..."

"No need for further explanation, Yuya Sakaki. In short, since you skipped my class today, let's have a duel as a way of making up for it."

Before Yuya Sakaki could finish speaking, Soleva interrupted him.

Yuya Sakaki sensed the determination in Soleva's words and understood that if he didn't have a duel with Soleva today, he probably wouldn't be able to leave. He could only sigh and agree.

“I understand, Mr. Soreva.”

"Hey, why does Yuya look so grim? Don't you want him to duel?"

Shiyunin Sora noticed the obvious change in Sakaki Yuya's expression and immediately started teasing him with a smile, which made Sakaki Yuya shake his head frantically:

"No, no, no, that's not it at all. Mr. Soleva is a very strong duelist, and I really hope to duel with him. I think I can learn a lot from him that way. It's just..."

After a pause, Yuya Sakaki sighed and continued,

"But Mr. Soleva is too strong. In front of him, I feel like I can't do anything. The thought of dueling with Mr. Soleva fills me with a sense of despair and powerlessness."

"No way..."

Shiyunin Sora was startled by Sakaki Yuya's words. He hadn't expected Sakaki Yuya to give such an evaluation of Soleva, which instantly made him curious about Soleva's strength.

"Do not worry."

As if he had overheard Sakaki Yuya and Shiunin Sora talking about him behind his back, Soreva, who had already turned his back to Sakaki Yuya, said without turning his head,

"I'll let you go first this time, Yuya Sakaki, and I'll be using a fun deck with some weaker cards."

"entertainment?"

Upon hearing Soleva utter that word, Yuya Sakaki immediately became interested and curiously asked Soleva,

"Mr. Soleva, you also know about recreational duels?"

Upon hearing Yuya Sakaki's words, Soleva knew that he had misunderstood, but he didn't want to explain the misunderstanding. He simply said, "You'll see when the time comes," and walked to the center of the dueling arena.

Seeing that Soleva was ready for the duel, Yuya Sakaki told Sora Shiunin to go to the spectator area to watch first, while he himself walked to the center of the dueling arena and stood opposite Soleva.

So, Yuya Sakaki VS Soleva, the duel begins.

"My turn! I normally summon [Entertainment Partner Search Hippo]. End of turn!"

Seeing that Yuya Sakaki was still using the same old routine—summoning the Hippo Hunt and riding it to find action cards—Soreva couldn't help but sigh and shouted loudly:

"Sakaki Yuya-kun! If you're going to get through this round so easily, then I can tell you very clearly that you won't have a next round! Draw a card!"

Seeing the card he had drawn, Soleva was certain that fate was decreing that he should teach Sakaki Yuya a lesson. He immediately drew a card from his hand and placed it on his duel disk:

"I activate the effect of [Starlight Kuriboh] from my hand! Reveal one [Number] Xyz Monster from your Extra Deck to your opponent, and Special Summon this card from your hand. This card's Level becomes the same as the revealed monster's Rank. I choose..."