Next Day...
I woke up with a pleasant feeling and felt light in my steps. The room I was given was truly a luxurious one with a large soft bed, walls with lavish designs, a comfortable sofa, and my own private bathroom. I like to think of this as the apology gift from Pegasus so I will accept it with a sense of bittersweet.
As a habit every morning, I opened my system and checked my status:
[Name: Yuna Sano
Title: The One who Defeated the Champion
Credits: 2600
Task
Inventory
Store]
I navigated towards the task option and read the brand new objective I received.
[Task (3)
Earn 10-star chips and safely advance to the next stage of the tournament!
Time Limit: 48 hours
Reward: 1000 credits per duelist defeated]
Hmmm, there's a timer for this task. It most likely corresponds to the time limit we were given to reach the Duelist Castle. The rewards for this task seemed pretty good, one thousand credits for every win? With some calculation, look like I will earn a minimum of four thousand credits!
I changed my clothes and opened the door. Instantly, I was confronted by a huge gust of wind and was reminded that we were still at sea. I brushed my hair to the side and stepped out of my room while tightly clutching the handrails.
I stared into the distance, where lay a large island. The land was covered by a forest with an enormous flat hill at the centre. Above the hill was a medieval castle and the entrance was connected to a long staircase going all the way to the bottom.
Knowing our destination was near, I returned to my room and organized my belongings. By the time I finished, we had already arrived, and I walked toward the boarding area. Countless duelists were already waiting but they immediately cleared their path when I appear.
Geez... I even prepared myself nicely this morning. Was it still not enough?
I sighed, causing people beside me to flinch. Hey, I'm not dangerous, you know?
The only people that would talk with me were Yugi and his friends. I noticed Tea and Tristan were amongst the group as I remembered that they must have snuck onto the ship last night. As we left the boat, the staff informed us that we would be climbing the long sets of stairs to reach the castle.
The top...
I stared at the staircase with a complicated feeling. I never knew that becoming a duelist needed this much physical prowess! Alright, here goes nothing, I thought and begrudgingly took my first step.
One hour later...
Finally...
I survived.
I stiffly raised my foot and stepped on the final set of stairs: "Geez Sano, how aren't you tired yet?" I heard Joey complaining from behind.
Um excuse me, what do you mean? My legs were killing me you know?
"Yeah look at her, she's not even breaking a sweat!" Tristan exclaimed.
But I am! Just because I'm not expressing anything that doesn't mean I'm not tired! Didn't you guys see me drinking a lot of water on our way here?
I groaned, it's much more time-consuming to solve the misunderstanding so lets them believe what they want to believe.
I stopped paying attention to their chattering and focused on the top of the castle. A security guard emerged from the balcony and announced in a gruff tone: "Attention, your benevolent host will now be greeting you all!"
We heard the sound of footsteps approaching from within the castle. A man with white hair and dressed cleanly in a red suit appeared with a smile.
"Welcome to my Duelist Kingdom!" Pegasus spread his arms and declared, "I have invited each and one of you due to your outstanding skills in the game of Dueling Monsters."
"However, once this tournament ends, only one can be crowned as the Duel King." He said while crossing his arms.
"In this competition, new rules will be implemented that would challenge your skill as a duelist like never before." Pegasus seemed to be staring at me with amusement while saying that particular part of the speech.
"To track your progress in the tournament, you've been each given a dueling glove and two precious star chips. You will need to wager your star chips for each duel and one that earned ten-star chips then you will gain permission to enter my castle!"
"Now set forth duelists! You got one hour to prepare yourselves and good luck!"
This was it, I clenched my fists. Those three million dollars will be mine!
A few hours later...
Huh, where am I...
I checked my surroundings but the only things I could see were trees and nothing else. After the one-hour preparation have ended, I decided to travel to the forest on the north side of the island but somehow got myself lost.
Yugi and his friends have asked for me to follow but that's not a very good idea. There were already two duelists among the group and they have to find a lot of people to duel just so everyone can make it to the castle.
So it's best if I just go alone, well only if I'm not lost though...
Wait what's that smell?
I raised my head and sniffed the air. It smelled like someone was cooking something in the distance. Hope relit in my heart and I excitedly followed the scent. If there's food then there will be people!
I marched with purpose and after passing the nth tree, I emerged from one of the bushes. To my surprise, I seemed to have left the forest and found myself at the border of the island. I stared at the ocean filled with crystal-clear water and gasped.
It was beautiful, on the ship, I haven't paid attention to the sea as the trip was at the night, and in the morning I was more focused on preparing for the event. However, when everything was slowed down, I felt that I couldn't take my eyes off it.
I reluctantly glanced away and spotted a campfire still burning on the rocky shores. Strangely, I felt a sense of deja vu but couldn't recall why...
I cautiously approached the campfire as the smell of cooking become more evident. There doesn't seem to be anyone while I knelt beside the fire and observed it. It was very recent as the fire was still burning and there were fish on sticks by the side.
"Who cooked this?" I muttered to myself.
PHEW!
Suddenly, I noticed something burst out of the water, generating a whistling sound in the air. I frowned and squinted at the object traveling towards me. When I finally gained a clear view, my eyes widened and I stepped backward.
THUNK
A long harpoon embedded into the ground close to my feet. A man climbed up from the cliff and pointed at me: "Stop! My name is Mako Tsunami and you have taken my bait!"
Ah... That's why it felt so familiar...
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I hope you enjoy!