Chapter 14: The Duelist League
Qin Dongzhu led Li Guanqi into the league arena.
As they walked down the corridor, Li Guanqi kept staring at the duel disk on Qin Dongzhu’s hand, filled with confusion and shock.
Duel disk?
Yes, it had to be a duel disk!
The metallic texture, the glowing lights, even the background music playing—it looked just like the real thing!
An audacious thought suddenly rose in Li Guanqi’s mind.
“Have I traveled to another world?!”
It wasn’t surprising he only realized it now.
Usually, when someone crosses worlds, either the civilization changes drastically or new memories from another world appear, making it clear they’ve transmigrated.
But he was different.
After arriving in this world, aside from some unusual robots, he hadn’t encountered any demons, spaceships, or memories from another realm.
Until now—when he saw a duel disk.
Li Guanqi could say with certainty: “Earth doesn’t have duel disks like this!”
He was truly in another world.
But—
He looked around, puzzled, wondering: “Which anime did I end up in?”
Just at that moment, a cold mechanical voice echoed throughout the league arena.
“Next player for Bian Yuetang, please prepare.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Dongzhu’s face changed drastically, his pupils contracting sharply as if he heard a death knell.
He spun around and barked urgently at the robot and Li Guanqi behind him, “Hurry up, there’s no time!”
The ten-minute break was about to expire.
If no one took the field, even if the entire team forfeited, their partial score of two points would be wiped clean, resulting in a humiliating 0-5 defeat.
Such a loss would be an unprecedented disgrace for the Bian Yuetang team.
Hearing this, the two realized the urgency and quickened their pace toward the duel arena.
As they approached, the crowd inside erupted into enthusiastic cheers.
“Next player for Bian Yuetang: Mu Ningning.”
The announcement came again, calling the next competitor.
“Ningning...” Qin Dongzhu’s expression darkened as he rushed inside.
Lin Yu and Tang Xin hurried forward, their faces grim. “Time’s pressing, Ningning is going on first...”
“I know,” Qin Dongzhu suppressed his emotions, “Let’s watch the duel first.”
Though he tried to calm himself, his fingers trembled uncontrollably.
One round of the league was already lost—Jiang Yan had fallen—and if anything happened to Mu Ningning...
In the next few rounds, Bian Yuetang would have no players left.
“You must win.”
Qin Dongzhu clasped his fingers, staring at the duel platform, whispering a prayer.
Lin Yu and Tang Xin didn’t want to disturb him and took Li Guanqi to the substitutes’ bench.
The two sighed, filled with worry and shame.
“The captain must have paid out of his own pocket again.”
“One hundred fifty thousand—that could buy a rare card...”
“All my fault, I’m too weak.”
“What fault? You didn’t even play. I’m the one who didn’t score in the starting lineup.”
Li Guanqi followed behind silently, occasionally glancing back at the duel arena.
Duel arena?
A real duel?!
Li Guanqi sat on the cold bench. Feeling awkward about returning to the main seating, Tang Xin and Lin Yu sat to his right.
Suddenly, a blue figure flashed by and took the seat to his left.
It was the female student named Bai Zhi from the car, who had followed them all the way.
Seeing a familiar face, Li Guanqi was delighted and without hesitation, wrote on her palm: “What kind of duel is this?”
“From what I hear, it should be the Duelist League,” Bai Zhi smiled faintly and explained.
Biantana had no concept of countries; it was divided into fortress-sized cities scattered worldwide.
Fortresses were rated from one to six based on economy, military strength, and reputation, with six being the highest.
Every year, a world-class Duelist League was held. Before the tournament, each fortress submitted materials equivalent to 5% of its residents’ GDP as an entry fee.
Once the competition started, teams from fortresses of equal rating competed in 12 rounds of Swiss rounds, with the top 16 scoring teams advancing to the playoffs.
The top 16 were exempt from next year’s entry fee.
The alliance took 10% as costs, and the top eight divided the remaining 90% of materials.
The Duelist League World Championship was the grandest event in Biantana.
The league followed a team format with a base score of 4000, using a rotating duel platform. When the losing side sent in a new player, they could choose offense or defense first. The team to reach five points first won.
“I see,” Li Guanqi nodded, looking toward the duel platform.
“I choose to go second,” Mu Ningning said softly, gazing at the projected display.
The intelligent referee orb emitted a mechanical announcement.
“Sensory pain level this match—Level 8.”
“First attack: Blue side.”
“Duel start.”
“Letting them go first?” Commentator Hong Mi teased commentator Zicai, “What do you think?”
At the start, the two commentators each took a side; Zicai covered Bian Yuetang and received basic player information before the match.
“Mu Ningning’s past matches show she favors second attack and OTK strategies,” Zicai flipped through the data. “The ‘White Bone’ deck lacks pressure on the first attack, so I think letting them go first is fine.”
“Oh? Really?” Hong Mi raised an eyebrow and smiled at the camera. “Let’s see what Wang Gu does going first.”
Both duelists drew their initial five cards.
Wang Gu glanced at his hand, a slow smile curling on his lips as he said meaningfully, “I declare—”
“End turn.”
Hong Mi gasped sharply, “What?!”
“What’s going on? Ending already?”
His eyes widened in disbelief, his voice cracking.
The audience erupted in uproar and boos.
“What’s this nonsense...”
“Too careless!”
“Is this a fixed match?”
Amidst the doubts and complaints, the coach from Qian Gongque remained calm.
Mu Ningning frowned deeply, her gaze filled with confusion and caution.
“Pass turn?”
A card jam?
Wang Gu waved lightly, a faint smile playing on his lips. “Beautiful lady, it’s your turn.”
The red side’s fans were enraged, voices rising in excitement.
“This is mind games!”
“Such provocation!”
“Hit him!”
“How dare he pass? Let’s crush him with a 4000 punch!”
“Mu Ningning, stay calm,” commentator Zicai sounded worried, “If you exhaust your resources trying to finish, you’ll expose weaknesses.”
The clamoring and warnings were muffled beyond the barrier surrounding the duel field.
Mu Ningning took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. “My turn, draw!”
“Digitized Little Angel.”
A good draw.
She scanned her six cards, her mind swiftly calculating damage.
Then decisively slammed down a card. “Activate ritual spell—Mechanical Angel’s Ritual!”
“Release ‘Digitized Angel - Benten’ from my hand!”
“Ritual summon!”
“Digitized Angel - Vaitavana!”
A dazzling curtain of light burst at the center of the arena as the violet-red angel Vaitavana slowly appeared.
“Holographic projection...” Li Guanqi’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
The dream he had pursued for over a decade was now unfolding vividly before him.