"The duel is over. The winner is Yugi Muto!"
"Yes!" Jounouchi jumped three feet high in excitement. It was no wonder he was so thrilled; finally avenging the grudge and punishing that despicable Weevil was truly satisfying.
"Yugi won!" Although the other three weren't as visibly excited as Jounouchi, witnessing Yugi's victory filled them with immense joy.
"So this is the duel of Yugi Muto, the one who defeated Seto Kaiba," Mai Valentine, who had been swiftly humbled by Yugi, murmured while biting her thumb.
"How could this happen..." Weevil, nearly crawling off the platform, was utterly broken, collapsing on the grass.
"I never expected it. The first to be eliminated from Duelist Kingdom is the regional champion of Japan," Yugi said, looking down at Weevil with disdain as he took the three stars from Weevil's hand. "This is what they call karma."
"Hand over the glove too, you scum," Jounouchi said, kicking Weevil when he was down and taking his glove to wear himself.
With that, the regional champion Weevil Underwood was eliminated.
"Hoshino, this is for you," Yugi said, holding the stars in his hand out to Hoshino.
"Okay," Hoshino replied, reaching out. The saying "what goes around, comes around" held true. She never doubted Yugi's strength, even though Weevil was the Regional champion. She knew he was no match for Yugi.
"Huh? What are you doing, Yugi?" Hoshino asked, puzzled, as Yugi placed two stars in her hand when she had only lent him one.
"This is a thank-you gift for believing in me, Hoshino," Yugi said, turning his head to avoid showing his blushing face. "With your help, I was able to completely defeat Weevil."
Hoshino smiled, accepting Yugi's kind gesture. She carefully placed the stars in her pocket, then looked enviously at Jounouchi showing off his glove to Honda. "I want a duelist glove too. It would look so cool." However, the thought of it being Weevil's glove made her reconsider.
"If only a cute girl would lose her glove to me," Hoshino secretly hoped.
"Hoshino, you already have four stars. I'm so jealous," Mai said, appearing behind Hoshino and placing her hands on her shoulders seductively. "How about a duel with me?"
The sudden touch made Hoshino shiver, almost collapsing.
"Mai, I won't allow you to bully Hoshino," Jounouchi declared righteously. "If you want to bully someone, come at me!"
Nice move, Jounouchi. Clearly, he had his own agenda.
"Oh? Would you like to duel me instead of Hoshino?" Mai let go of Hoshino and put her hands on her hips, addressing Jounouchi. "If you duel me first, you might lose your only star. Do you want to be the second person eliminated after Weevil?"
"Uh..." Jounouchi hesitated. Finding a weaker opponent to win stars from would be the best strategy, but his pride as a man wouldn't let him back down.
"I'm not afraid of you...uh..."
Jounouchi was cut off by Hoshino.
"I'll handle this, Jounouchi. She challenged me first," Hoshino said firmly, determined not to let Mai toy with her any longer.
"Are you sure, Hoshino? Isn't this too tiring with so many duels?" Jounouchi asked, worried.
"It's fine, Jounouchi," Hoshino replied with a teasing smile. "You should worry about yourself, rookie. Yugi and I already have plenty of stars."
"Even Hoshino is bullying me now!"
Ignoring the crestfallen Jounouchi, Hoshino turned to Mai. "Mai, I accept your challenge, but I need some time to organize my deck."
"Of course, take your time," Mai said, waving her hand generously. "Prepare well and let's have a great duel."
Thanks to the system's reminder, Hoshino knew her deck hadn't been properly organized. Using an auto-generated deck against Mai would likely result in a loss. Plus, she still had 30 Saint Quartz left. As someone who never let such resources go to waste, Hoshino wouldn't miss this opportunity to draw cards.
"You're quite an oddity. Being invited to Duelist Kingdom, not knowing the regional champion, and having an unprepared deck," Mai mused, stroking her chin. "It's surprising you beat Yuta Kajiki."
Hoshino awkwardly laughed, not engaging further, and opened the system's card shop.
[Saint Quartz Summon (Limited Time Banner) Fuyuki Select Hero Recommended Summon]
[Summon x1 costs 3 Saint Quartz][Summon x10 costs 30 Saint Quartz]
The familiar interface appeared. To avoid wasting too much time and raising suspicion, she skipped the single draws and went straight for the ten-time summon.
"Select, ten-time summon," Hoshino decided, pressing the [Summon x10] button.
Since this was the Fuyuki Select banner, most of the draws should be Fuyuki Servant. While not top-tier, they were decent and suitable for a beginner like Hoshino. And if she pull Gilgamesh, it would be a huge win. Completely forgetting her bad luck, Hoshino fantasized.
As her deck glowed, one card after another unlocked. To Hoshino's surprise, not only heroes but also matching spell and trap cards appeared. Most were spell and trap cards, with only Cú Chulainn as a silver hero in the first seven draws.
"Am I destined to play a trap-heavy game even after transmigrating?" Hoshino's heart ached as she saw one silver card after another. "Please, give me a gold card. I'll go without food for a day for a gold card."
The system seemed to hear her plea. The eighth draw shone with gold light, signaling a rare card.
Hoshino was ecstatic, gripping the cards tightly. "Who is it? Artoria? Gilgamesh? Whoever it is, come to me, my king!"
As the golden light faded, the card revealed itself.
"Sorry for pulling me. Siegfried, responding to the summon."
Why would Siegfried appear in the Fuyuki banner!? This must be a trick! Furious, Hoshino almost threw the card down.
But on second thought, Siegfried might be powerful in this world. After all, the legendary dragon-slaying hero had formidable strength.
"Huh?!" Just as she was about to read Siegfried's effect, her attention was drawn to the final card of the ten-summon.
"Another gold card!"