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

　But Dak searched for them deliberately and couldn't find Charles and Eliza's names.

　This World Cup allows participants to use pseudonyms.

　However, registration is divided into two categories: "nickname" and "real name." This is to account for the fact that some contestants need to conceal their true identities. But since they will be appearing on camera, what is the point of hiding their identities?

　"Don't you think so, Miss Eliza?"

　Dark looked expressionlessly at the eldest princess who was skipping and hopping out of the "Alliance Hut".

　The eldest princess, holding a support fan with a chibi-style Darkdemon face painted on it in her left hand and a "Devimon" gold-plated card in her right, momentarily froze. But she quickly straightened her expression and said, "Call her 'Sister Inessa'!"

　"If it weren't for the lack of 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon,' I wouldn't have bought 'Devimon.' It's just a cheap gold card, what's there to be so smug about!"

　"Shut up, stop swearing!"

　A couple walks out of the "Alliance Hut" with a child in their hands.

　……

Chapter 1491 Darkdemon, A Fellow Path (4k)

　"Okay, Inessa, what are you doing here?"

　Dark couldn't help but glance at the eldest princess's left arm, where she wasn't wearing the Duel Disk.

　He knew in advance that the eldest princess and prince had both registered for the World Cup. It's said that the old king had rekindled his passion for educating his children and wanted to mold them into gods.

　But the eldest princess was originally an outstanding graduate of St. Marian Academy, so it's normal that high hopes were placed on her.

　However, the eldest prince was relatively ordinary. If he had not obtained the "Emperor" destiny through the hidden trials of the Noble Academy, his achievements would have been limited.

　He himself only aimed to succeed to the throne and had no interest in becoming a god through magic, so it's unclear why he chose to participate.

　Did he also encounter a miracle?

　However, no matter how you look at it, it still doesn't explain why the eldest princess doesn't wear the Duel Disk.

　But when faced with his question, the eldest princess gave him a rather disdainful look, as if to say, "Mind your own business."

　But she still turned around to show her backpack and explained briefly, "The rulebook doesn't say that duelists have to wear their dueling disks."

　Dark frowned slightly as he recalled, and it seemed that there really wasn't such a rule.

　Duelists need a duel disk to engage in duels.

　But you can just take out the Duel Disk when you need to duel; there's really no need to wear it all the time.

　Most players always wear their Duel Disks, simply because it's more convenient, the Duel Disks aren't heavy, and they also serve as proof of their player status.

　Conversely, if you don't want to reveal your identity as a player, of course you won't wear a Duel Disk!

　The eldest princess not only wanted to hide her princess identity, but also her identity as a contestant.

　So what exactly does she want to do?

　Dark couldn't help but focus his gaze on the support fan in the eldest princess's hand and the "Little Devimon" gold-broken card.

　Hey, are you a visitor?

　"I know what you're thinking."

　Eliza walked to the bench by the shop entrance, took off her backpack, and placed it on the chair. She then put her support fan into the backpack, took out an exquisite card case, carefully placed the "Devimon" gold-fragmented card inside, clapped her hands, and took out her Duel Disk again, putting it on. The card was a "Devimon" card with a gold-fragmented, shimmering pattern printed on it. It was an extremely rare card she had finally managed to draw, so of course she wanted to keep it safe.

　Once she put on the Duel Disk, she regained her status as a player.

　She slung her backpack back on, took out her points card, pinched it between two fingers, and showed it to Dark, saying, "I've already won three matches. What about you?" This meant that she hadn't let herself become obsessed with playing games; she was just taking a short break between duels.

　Dark's expression froze, and he subconsciously changed the subject, saying, "Where is the eldest prince? I just met a duelist with the same name as him. Do you know his alias?"

　“I don’t know,” Eliza replied without hesitation.

　She and the eldest prince apparently had no communication, and neither of them knew each other's aliases.

　However, since we've already come to the same arena, we're bound to meet sooner or later.

　The political battle between the two sides has temporarily ceased. However, a duel will still take place on the dueling field.

　This battle will not only be seen by the king, but also by the people of the entire nation.

　People's opinions can be easily changed by various unexpected events.

　Regardless of their previous assessments, a one-on-one duel like this in the arena could very well overturn all those previous evaluations.

　This is crucial for Elizabeth and Charles. Before that, they both need to accumulate as many points as possible to improve their ranking.

　Eliza then looked at Dark and said, "Since we've run into each other, how about we have a good, satisfying duel?"

　Dark rolled his eyes. He knew perfectly well that Eliza had no intention of dueling him, but she still had to ask that question.

　If it were someone with malicious intentions, they might have agreed immediately. Dark said, "Are you sure you want to duel me? Once the duel begins, your identity will be impossible to hide."

　“Just kidding,” Eliza said without changing her expression. “Your sister Inessa has to go find more duels, so goodbye. It was nice to see you.”

　As soon as she finished speaking, she waved and jogged away towards the Fairy-type competition area. Dark shook his head and simply walked into the "Alliance Hut".

　He suddenly felt that he should also think of some solutions.

　A few minutes later.

　Dark emerged from the "Alliance Hut".

　However, his St. Marian Academy uniform had been replaced with merchandise. He wore a white long-sleeved T-shirt with a "Sylveon" pattern on his upper body, dark flared pants embroidered with the words "Starchild" on his lower body, and a black jacket with a "Devimon" logo on it.

　She also wore a red and white hat with a "dragon egg" pattern on her head, which hid her full head of blond hair.

　In addition, he put the Duel Disk into the itabag he had just bought... In short, it had everything: bracelets, belts, necklaces, and other small accessories. It was all about being trendy.

　"Dressed like this, I shouldn't be easily recognized anymore," Dark thought, looking at his reflection on the screen with satisfaction. He didn't want it to be like this, but good people like the adventurer Charles were just too rare.

　To accumulate points quickly, you need to hide

　Conceal your identity. At least in the early stages, don't make yourself the center of attention. Otherwise, people will run away as soon as they see you, and then what's the point of a duel? He didn't know how those high-scoring players did it, but he had to have his own methods.

　As the saying goes, feigning weakness to the enemy is also an art.

　To avoid inhaling Elizabeth's exhaust fumes, Dark deliberately chose an alternate route after changing clothes.

　He soon arrived at a crossroads.

　That place happened to be the border between the Light-type and Fairy-type competition areas. And on this street, there was a surprisingly large group of at least a dozen contestants gathered.

　Among these contestants, some were dueling, some were watching, and some were resting.

　The duelists all had sharp eyes.

　They believed they could tell a fighter's strength or weakness by observing his performance in a duel.

　If they find an opponent they feel they can defeat, they will follow behind and make their move first after the ten-minute break ends.

　This is the simplest and most reliable way to find opponents. Its advantage is a high win rate.

　The downside is that the interval is too long, and there's a risk of being outmaneuvered. Dakla lowered the brim of his hat and walked into the crowd.

　Along the streets where so many contestants gathered, there were naturally many spectators watching the competition with great excitement.

　He squeezed into the crowd and found that nobody was paying attention to him.

　His current attire might be a bit eye-catching in everyday life, but in the current environment, it doesn't stand out as much.

　While viewers may not necessarily buy as many merchandise items as he does and wear them, they will all buy some at least some.

　He successfully infiltrated the group and began to scrutinize the contestants, preparing to find an opponent to duel with.

　But as he was searching intently, a girl suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and asked excitedly, "Are you also a fan of 'Children of the Stars'?"

　Even though he had been wearing this title for a long time, Dark still couldn't help but get goosebumps when he suddenly heard someone call him that.

　He turned to look at the girl beside him, who had flaxen hair, wispy bangs, and was wearing the same "dragon egg" hat.

　The girl looked somewhat innocent and naive, and seemed quite young. It was unclear why her parents were not around.

　"You too," Dark asked back.

　"Of course!" The girl's eyes lit up, and she excitedly pulled a stack of cards from her small bag. "Look, these are some peripheral cards I just bought from the 'League Shop,' and I even got a Silver Card of 'Devimon'!"

　碎银

　A card whose rarity is only one level lower than that of Gold Shard. "You like Little Demon Beast?" Dark asked curiously.

　The girl immediately shook her head, then pointed to his chest and said, "The Ibu family is my true love!"

　"Oh, haha, what a coincidence, me too." Dark felt "Devimon" baring its teeth, while "Eevee" and "Sylveon" were smiling.

　It was quite a novel experience to chat with one's fans like this. But Dark had a duel to attend to and couldn't afford to spend time chatting with her. So after exchanging a few more pleasantries, he walked off in another direction, having already set his sights on his next duel.

　But the girl quickly followed, asking, "Wait, where are you going? Do you know where 'The Star Children' is? Let's go find him together! I really want his autographed photo."

　Dak quickened his pace and walked out of the crowd. The girl chased after him.

　Dark stopped helplessly, turned around and whispered, "Let me tell you a secret, I actually have another identity."

　The girl blinked, then asked curiously, "What's your identity? Are you a die-hard fan of the 'Silver Dragon Girl'? Actually, I am too."

　Dark: "..."

　After a long silence, Dark had no choice but to say, "Alright, enough pretending. Actually, I'm still a player. I'm going to find someone to duel. See you next time."

　The girl was taken aback for a moment, but quickly replied, "Then what's your name? My name is Sophia."

　Dark: "Just call me Doron."

　After saying that, he strode forward, walked to a young player who was watching the game intently, and said "Hey."

　The young contestant turned his head and asked in confusion, "Is there something you need? If you want an autograph, you can wait until I finish watching this duel."

　“No, not at all.” Dark smiled mysteriously, pulled a card from his pocket, and handed it to the young contestant, looking like a movie ticket seller. The young contestant glanced at it, paused for a moment, then smiled wryly: “Do I look like a pushover when you challenge me to a duel?”

　“No, I’m more like it than you,” Dark muttered to himself, then provoked, “Are you scared?”

　The young contestant raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't understand what you're talking about. Where are we dueling?"

　Dark pointed to the open space in front of him and said, "This will do." "Okay." The young player extended his hand and said, "My name is Milne, nice to meet you."

　Dark shook hands with him and nodded, saying, "Call me Doron, nice to meet you." The two agreed to a duel, and a monitoring golem immediately flew over. Then, an idle referee stepped out from the crowd and began to preside over the duel.

　This area, the border between the Light and Fairy factions, has become a popular venue, attracting a large number of referees.

　Dak walked to the other side of the open space, and when he turned around, he saw Sophia clenching her fist at him and shouting encouragement.

　Dark touched his nose, raised his hand in response, and then began a duel with Milne.

　First, take out the Duel Disk. Then, summon the Duel Field. Next, activate the "Life Card".

　Finally, you build your deck, put it into the Duel Disk, and it will automatically shuffle.

　After this process is completed, they confirm with each other and then proceed directly to "Preparation Phase 2".

　Milne, the opponent Dark spent two minutes carefully selecting, has a total score of 12 and has gone through four duels, winning three and losing one.

　He was very decisive and not afraid of failure, so when he saw that Dark was a competitor of similar age to him, he immediately agreed.

　[Preparation Phase 2]

　Both players draw cards simultaneously.

　Dark still retains the habit of drawing cards manually.

　Milne, on the other hand, completely delegated this process to the Duel Disk's automation, and he himself would directly view the hand projection after drawing cards.

　The audience over there didn't seem to be very interested in the duel on this side; only a few people gathered around.

　But Sofia was excited; she already considered Dak a "like-minded person."

　However, this duel, which received little attention at the event, was still broadcast on screen and is currently being shown on stage number thirty-three. That's just the treatment "star contestants" get.

　St. Marian Academy, Open-air Duel Arena.

　When Darkdemon's duel finally returned to the screen, Duel Club immediately began broadcasting it.

　St. Mary's College pays special attention to duels between its students and professors, broadcasting almost every one of them.

　Those like Dak were considered top-priority targets and were directly featured on the largest projection screen.

　His newly changed outfit immediately sparked discussion among the audience.

　Judy, who was doing part-time commentary today, chuckled and, along with another commentator, started pointing at his clothes, as if they were watching a fashion video.