The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　When the skill levels of two people are too far apart, all so-called scheming will be in vain.

　Although Dark himself wouldn't think that way.

　But at this moment, he was indeed like an unyielding, towering mountain. Ordinary archmages could no longer even come close to him.

　He was always gentle.

　This still leaves his opponent with the hope of defeating him.

　"Ask, accept, accept."

　Dark jumped off Blue-Eyes White Dragon's back, ignoring the chattering complaints from Impmon through their spiritual bond, and gave Charles a polite post-match greeting.

Chapter 1490 I Want Little Devilmon (4k)

　"We can see that Darko achieved a clean and decisive victory in his first match."

　"It's alright, but for us longtime viewers, it's nothing to brag about."

　"I can't take it anymore, I have to go and give him some flowers."

　"Let's go together during our break. I've wanted to buy a 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' ticket for a long time."

　"That'll have to wait until the merchandise is unlocked. I remember needing 100,000 fan points to unlock it."

　"A bouquet of flowers equals 100 fan points, and 1,000 bouquets unlock merchandise. I don't think it'll take long... Wait, someone sent a 'dragon'! This is the first time someone has sent a virtual gift of a 'dragon' since the start of this qualifying round! Let's thank this viewer for their support of Dark Dimon and this World Cup!"

　On station number 13, the two commentators, one speaking and the other echoing, created a wave of excitement. At the same time, a dragon-shaped banner floated above all the projection screens.

　The banner read: "A mystery spectator's blessing to Darko Dimon: You are light, you are electricity, you are our legend!"

　To be honest, it's so good it gives you goosebumps...

　However, such a virtual gift, the "Dragon," is worth 100,000 fan points, enough to unlock related merchandise.

　At most half an hour later, viewers will be able to purchase Dark's merchandise at the "Alliance Hut".

　The merchandise for Level 1 fans includes photos, standees, posters, trinkets, and of course, the player's "duel cards."

　However, high-star, highly popular cards like "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" definitely require reaching a higher level of fan value to unlock.

　For the first tier... they should be selling "Devimon"!

　Dark had just finished his duel when he saw a dragon-shaped banner floating past the bulletin board in the "spectator stand" not far away. He couldn't help but wipe his sweat awkwardly, thinking to himself, "Thank goodness it's not 'audio playback'."

　The "mystery viewer" is anonymous, and the fan who sent the virtual gift "dragon" probably didn't want to reveal their identity.

　If he hadn't been the one receiving the tip, Dark would have suspected that this was an official operation.

　However, as the mastermind behind the All-People Duel Club, he has analyzed his own popularity, which can be seen from the sales data of the corresponding cards. He is already very popular among the general public.

　However, there probably aren't many fans who can tip an entire "dragon" at once; it's unlikely he has his own "accountant" by now.

　Keep in mind that the exchange rate between fan value and holy coins is 10:1, and a "dragon" requires 10,000 holy coins to purchase.

　Ten thousand Saint Coins is not a small amount for ordinary people. "It's also possible that he's trying to curry favor with the nobles of the Dimon family." "But that doesn't match his anonymous behavior."

　While casually pondering the situation, Dak said to Charles, "A narrow victory, a narrow victory."

　"You're kidding me!" Charles's lips twitched, cursing inwardly, but he had to force a smile on his face: "Everyone says I'm weak. If you go easy on me, brother, I can last a few more rounds."

　Dark asked in surprise, "Mr. Charles, you are clearly very capable, so why do you always say that? Is it to appear weak to your enemy?"

　Charles: You already know all this, why did you say it? How am I supposed to answer? — "Whoosh—"

　Referee Crowe walked up excitedly, holding up a warning sign to separate the two contestants.

　This is a measure to prevent conflicts between athletes after the competition.

　Crowe is professionally trained and skilled at preventing problems before they occur.

　Emmm...

　However, after the two were separated, Dark felt much more at ease; he wasn't particularly fond of socializing. If it weren't for the cameras watching, he wouldn't have bothered with all that formality.

　But as the future head of the Dimon family, he must be elegant from every angle.

　That was really tiring.

　After creating some distance, Dark took his deck from the Duel Disk, put it back in his card pack, waved to Charles to indicate that they would meet again, and continued on his way.

　After a duel, regardless of victory or defeat, there's a ten-minute "rest period," giving him ample time to reach the Fairy-type region. However, his duel with Charles had barely taken any damage. If he were to encounter another duelist, a fight wouldn't be out of the question.

　To gain enough points in the preliminary rounds, he can't always be passive. He needs to start taking the initiative.

　But after he had only taken a few steps, the spectators who had been blocked by the referee suddenly swarmed around him, and he immediately felt their enthusiasm.

　Not all of these spectators were his fans. But after watching the duel, many became fans, and both men and women wanted to stick close to him.

　He quickly spread his hands, signaling the audience to remain calm.

　The referee over there noticed the situation and started running over here.

　It is also the referee's responsibility to disperse the audience and ensure that the duelists can continue their matches as scheduled.

　Dak maintained a smile on his face, but quickened his pace.

　Standing on the stage in the stadium and receiving cheers from the audience is definitely different from interacting with them so closely like this.

　Some duelists may like and enjoy this kind of intense, face-to-face passion.

　But he decided against it.

　As soon as he reached the corner, Darke turned and quickly disappeared from the audience's sight. The audience only quieted down after his figure had vanished.

　But their excitement and exhilaration did not subside; instead, they began to discuss the brilliance of the duel they had just witnessed.

　Of course, the average viewer wouldn't understand the psychological battles hidden beneath the surface of the duel; they would only be shocked and amazed by the power of a certain magical spirit. However, some viewers, completely captivated by Dark, would continue watching, clearly wanting to see more of his duels.

　Other viewers will turn to watch the duels of other contestants. After all, there are many famous and popular contestants in this selection process, and Darkdemon is just one of them.

　Finally, all the spectators and referees left, leaving Charles standing alone on the roadside.

　He clutched the magic card he hadn't put back yet, feeling a surge of frustration he wanted to release, but he couldn't find a way to do so.

　Just as even the surveillance golem turned its view away, he suddenly heard a voice in his ear.

　Do you want power?

　Zhuo, 8:30.

　It had been just over thirty minutes since the start of the match.

　However, the situation in the entire Duel City has changed considerably. The duelists' wins and losses are reflected in the leaderboard. The gap between the strong and the weak has begun to widen.

　The player currently in first place has a total of seventeen points. This means that he has already won seven duels in just thirty minutes.

　The average time taken is even less than five minutes.

　If it weren't for the fact that every duel of his was being projected, people might think he was just padding his score.

　The biggest difference between city duels and arena duels is that you need to "travel".

　Although there are many participants in the preliminary rounds, it's not a one-way street. Besides, the competition has just begun, and everyone is racing against time to duel. Even if you go around the city, you'll most likely encounter other fighters who are already dueling.

　His ability to secure seven victories in thirty minutes is truly remarkable. This achievement naturally propelled him to the top of the audience attention charts in an instant.

　Of course, there was no leaderboard for this match.

　However, besides the points ranking, there is another list, which is the popularity ranking.

　After his duel with Charles, Dark soon encountered a second lone duelist. However, the duelist was resting on a roadside bench, his face etched with fatigue.

　He nodded and smiled, then obediently walked past the sorrowful duelist and continued on his way.

　That was clearly a duelist who had just experienced a defeat and was not prepared for a second duel immediately.

　This made him miss Charles.

　The ability to immediately regroup after a defeat and challenge the second opponent to a duel demonstrates a duelist's strong will.

　So, who else?

　The third, fourth, and fifth place duelists appeared simultaneously.

　Unfortunately, two duelists were engaged in combat, while the other duelist, though watching, had just won a match and was resting.

　Dak had no choice but to keep walking forward.

　At that moment, he suddenly realized that he did need some skills to gain more points in this preliminary round.

　Pandora, the senior student, had clearly mastered this skill. Dark passed by a bulletin board and happened to see her name on the sliding leaderboard.

　In just a short time since they parted ways, Pandora has already won three matches and is now catching up to the top of the rankings.

　Dark didn't even need to think to guess that she must have incurred a lot of hatred from the Holy Church players!

　This kind of sophisticated technique for attracting hatred is something he really can't learn. "Don't rush it, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry."

　Thinking this, Dark arrived in front of a "League Hut". The notice board in front of the "League Hut" was displaying newly released merchandise.

　The names of the players were marked at the beginning of the list. He immediately spotted a whole column of "Darkdemon". The "Little Demon" card in particular stood out.

　I could almost hear a child shouting "I want Devimon!" coming from inside the store.

　It seems that parents brought their children to watch the game.

　However, "Devimon," which died immediately upon entering the battle, has attracted the attention of children.

　Dak paused for a moment in front of the door.

　He looked up and saw that there was another list on the bulletin board—the popularity list.

　Popularity ranking, also known as the fan value ranking.

　Viewers can also directly ask the "League Hut" for the specific ranking of the players' popularity and the number of fans.

　After someone started sending him "dragon" gifts, the star players' die-hard fans seemed to finally notice the existence of such a large gift and also started sending "dragon" gifts non-stop.

　The names on the popularity chart keep changing.

　Because he only had one duel, his ranking kept slipping down and he's now completely gone.

　The person currently ranked first is named "Louis Kennan," and both Louis and Kennan are very common first and last names.

　But the contestant who ranks first on the popularity chart is definitely not an ordinary person. After all, this world hasn't been influenced by fandom yet, and the proportion of people actively engaging with fans is relatively low.

　After thinking for a moment, Dak remembered seeing the name on a bulletin board he had passed by.

　He is also ranked first on the points leaderboard.

　But apart from that, the name doesn't seem to exist in his memory. This suggests that he is most likely neither a high-ranking nobleman residing in the capital nor a household name celebrity.

　Fighters.

　That would give us more options to speculate about his identity. He could be a reclusive sage in the mountains, or he could be a secret weapon hidden by some powerful organization.

　The fact that he was able to quickly rise to the top of the preliminary rankings as an ordinary person and then climb to the top of the popularity charts shows that the duels he won were also very exciting, which is why he was able to gather so many fans in such a short time.

　I wonder if his momentum can last. Dak glanced down.

　At the top of this popularity chart, you can easily spot many familiar names.

　These players are all ranked very high on the leaderboard. In fact, after only half an hour of the game, the players' scores haven't diverged much.

　The players ranked after Louis Kennan all had the same seventeen points, only they achieved it a little later than him.

　The competition was extremely fierce.

　Unfortunately, Dark didn't participate. But he found himself surprisingly unhurried. After all... the professors' rankings were still quite low!

　Professors Cazell and Harvey's names were completely absent from the popularity rankings!

　After all, the students of St. Mary's Academy were watching the game from inside the academy and were not at the scene, so naturally no one sent them gifts.

　Surprisingly, Professor Pavajohns ranked very high on the popularity list.

　It seems the title of "Duel Master" is well-deserved. Moreover, she is the daughter of a great noble family and has always been highly regarded in aristocratic circles.

　In addition, Professors Armstrong and Gatlin also have a place at the top of the popularity list.

　They are all masters in their respective fields, naturally attracting a large following. Similarly, figures like sages and heroes also rank highly in popularity polls.

　The popularity chart has almost become a celebrity chart.

　……