Bonus Chapter
The Chess Club had become considerably louder over the past six weeks, but not because the members had suddenly developed a renewed interest in chess.
Quite the opposite, most of them were currently gathered around a nearby table watching a Duel Monsters match.
"I Tribute Summon Curse of Dragon and attack!"
"Not so fast."
Ginny immediately flipped a card face up onto the table and said, "I activate Trap Hole."
Chuck froze for a moment before he complained, "How is it possible that you always have Trap Hole set on the field? It happens at every freaking duel!"
Ginny grinned and mocked him, "Skill issue."
Alexander chuckled quietly from his seat as the scene had become familiar.
What had started as casual curiosity had slowly transformed into genuine friendship.
Chuck and Ginny had helped him organise demonstration events; they had assisted with local tournaments.
They had spent countless afternoons testing more advanced rules, discussing strategies, and helping him identify possible problems in the growing community before anyone else noticed them.
At some point along the way, they had stopped being merely schoolmates, and they had become friends, real friends.
As the duel continued, Alexander's attention drifted toward one particular card resting inside his Database of prototype cards, Dark Magician.
The familiar artwork immediately pulled his thoughts elsewhere, back to the day after he had brought the Personal Upgrade from the YGO System's Shop and improved his Ba.
Back to the moment everything had changed.
The increase had been substantial.
For weeks, Alexander had carefully accumulated DE and DP while duelling his friends and other people, and eventually he had enough to buy the upgrade that allowed his Ba to improve enough to reach a new threshold.
The creation of prototype cards of Level 7 monsters.
The moment he realised what that meant, dozens of possibilities immediately appeared in his mind.
Some tempting, some dangerous, some outright suicidal.
Naturally, he had chosen Dark Magician. In hindsight, it was probably the smartest decision he had made all year.
Dark Magician was powerful, incredibly powerful, but unlike many other Duel Spirits that inhabited the Spirit World, he possessed a reputation for wisdom, discipline, and restraint.
Alexander had no desire to discover what happened when someone accidentally contacted an ancient Duel Spirit with anger management issues.
Dark Magician seemed considerably safer, and fortunately, he had been right, mostly.
The legendary spellcaster stood calmly across from him.
Tall and imposing, the figure had stepped forward from the swirling energy with the calm confidence of an ancient sorcerer.
Dark violet armour covered his body, crafted from overlapping plates that looked less like metal and more like crystallised magic. The armour was sleek rather than bulky, accentuating a lean, athletic build. Gold trim ran along the edges of the enchanted plates, glowing faintly with arcane power. A high-collared mantle framed his neck and shoulders, while a long cape of deep indigo flowed behind him despite the absence of any wind.
His face was youthful yet carried the weight of centuries. Sharp features and piercing crimson eyes gave him an intense, almost intimidating presence. Those eyes seemed capable of seeing through lies, fears, and even the deepest corners of the soul. Long golden hair cascaded down his back, contrasting starkly against the dark hues of his armour.
In one hand, he carried a staff nearly as tall as himself. The weapon's spiralling design twisted upward into a crescent-shaped focus that pulsed with violet energy. Arcane symbols flickered along its surface before fading like distant stars.
He radiated enough spiritual pressure to make Alexander's skin crawl, but not because it felt hostile, because it felt immense.
The difference between Elemental Hero Neos and Dark Magician had become obvious almost immediately.
Neos was without any doubt powerful, but Dark Magician felt experienced.
Those were not the same thing.
The spellcaster studied him silently for several moments before finally speaking, "You are young."
Alexander resisted the urge to point out that he was fully aware of that fact and simply replied, "I've heard that before."
Dark Magician's expression remained unchanged as he declared, "You possess potential."
"...And?"
"And potential alone is insufficient."
Hearing that, Alexander almost let out a relieved sigh while thinking, 'Wonderful. He is just as I hoped... A kind and compassionate Duel Spirit with a teacher attitude.'
After further discussion, Dark Magician eventually agreed to bind himself to the prototype card.
Not because Alexander impressed him or because Alexander defeated him, but simply because the spellcaster found his goals worthy enough to support, at least partially.
Unfortunately, Dark Magician had one condition; fortunately, it wasn't something impossible, a duel.
The beating had been educational, painfully educational.
Alexander had entered the duel with confidence; after all, he had spent months refining his personal deck, he had Neos by his side that had helped him many times before, and he understood the game better than anyone alive in his world.
Then the duel started and reality promptly punched him in the face.
Dark Magician never rushed, never overextended, never wasted resources.
Every card served a purpose, every move prepared another, every decision seemed to have been planned three turns earlier.
Alexander still remembered the moment he realised just how large the gap between them actually was.
At one point during the duel, he had managed to establish what seemed like an overwhelming advantage.
Three monsters, multiple spell cards ready to be used, more cards in hand. Everything appeared to favour him.
Dark Magician's side of the field contained only a single monster and two face-down cards.
Alexander had attacked confidently, then one trap activated, a second effect followed, and a card that had entered the Graveyard three turns earlier suddenly became relevant.
Within seconds, his carefully constructed field had collapsed like a house of cards.
It was a complete defeat.
The worst part was that Dark Magician had calmly explained each interaction afterwards simply because he expected Alexander to learn from the mistake.
That was his very first loss using his personal deck, and the experience had been surprisingly humbling because for the first time since figuring out that he lived in the Marvel Universe, Alexander had been forced to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth.
He was becoming overconfident, and Dark Magician naturally had noticed it too.
The ancient spellcaster had probably seen hundreds of duelists throughout his existence, maybe thousands and Alexander wasn't special, not yet.
That realisation stung, but it also helped.
The duel itself had ended several minutes earlier, but one particular comment remained painfully fresh in his memory.
Dark Magician had looked down at the ruined field and said calmly, "You possess talent."
Alexander had initially felt proud hearing that, then the spellcaster continued, "Talent allows a duelist to learn quickly."
The sorcerer lightly tapped his staff against the ground, "Discipline allows a duelist to continue learning after everyone else has stopped."
Alexander remembered frowning at that.
Dark Magician's indigo eyes had remained fixed on him as he added, "The moment you believe yourself superior is the moment improvement becomes impossible."
At the time, the words had irritated him considerably, but in hindsight, they had also been completely correct.
Afterwards, he returned to refining his deck with renewed determination.
Improving, experimenting, learning, and eventually creating new prototype cards and contacted other Level 7 Duel Spirits.
At that thought, Alexander physically shuddered because not every Duel Spirit possessed Dark Magician's patience and kindness.
Several encounters had been considerably more dangerous, and a few had nearly gone very badly.
One Duel Spirit had challenged him to a deadly duel before even introducing itself.
Another had spent nearly twenty minutes criticising everything from his looks to his deck construction with the enthusiasm of a professional reviewer.
A third had apparently considered launching magical attacks in his general direction an acceptable method of determining whether he possessed sufficient courage.
He quickly learned that some Duel Spirits preferred unconventional and theatrical introductions.
Alexander personally felt that "attempted spiritual assault" should not qualify as a greeting, but unfortunately nobody had asked for his opinion.
Fortunately, he had learned from each experience and survived all of them; in some cases, thanks to the YGO System having a failsafe feature that brought him back to the Real World in case the situation turned from dangerous to absolutely deadly.
"Polymerization!"
Chuck's triumphant declaration snapped Alexander back to reality, and soon the duel table immediately regained his full attention.
"I combine Baby Dragon and Time Wizard!"
Ginny groaned, "Oh no..."
Chuck slammed the card onto the table while grinning widely and said, "Yes."
A moment later, Chuck's hand left the card, and the image of a familiar monster appeared, Thousand Dragon.
The aged dragon towered over the field with its impressive 2400 ATK, especially compared to Ginny's Celtic Guardian with his more meagre 1400 ATK.
Its following attack connected, destroying Celtic Guardian, and with him, Ginny's remaining Life Points also disappeared, and the duel ended.
Chuck immediately pumped his fist, "Yes!"
Ginny rolled her eyes and commented, "You've been waiting all week to pull that off."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Through blind luck."
"It still counts."
Alexander laughed at their antics, and Chuck turned toward him with obvious excitement and said, "Seriously though, Thousand Dragon is awesome."
He picked up the Fusion Monster carefully, "This card is incredible."
Alexander raised an eyebrow and simply muttered, "Oh?"
"Come on." Chuck pointed dramatically at the artwork while saying, "It's literally a giant ancient dragon."
"Compelling argument."
Chuck nodded confidently and said, "I know. It's my favourite card."
Ginny snorted, "Last week your favourite card was Curse of Dragon."
"People are allowed to grow."
"That happened four days ago."
The table once again erupted into laughter.
~~~▽~~~
Later that afternoon, the three of them left the school together, and conversation naturally drifted toward Alexander's newest project, the tournament, but not another local event or another hobby store gathering.
Something much larger, something official.
Chuck immediately looked interested as he asked, "So have you decided what you're calling it?"
Alexander shrugged and replied, "I'm still considering the options... But I've cut down the choices between Duel Monsters Open, Duel Monsters Grand Championship, and Duel Monsters Grand Prix"
"Hmm, those are fine choices; the tournament needs an impressive name."
Ginny nodded in agreement, "It absolutely does."
Chuck then added, "If it sounds boring, nobody will care."
"I hate how right that is."
They continued walking until Chuck glanced toward him and asked, "What about posters and all the other promotional materials?"
In response, Alexander casually replied, "Already being designed."
"Seriously?"
Alexander looked almost offended as he declared, "I own a company."
"Technically."
"I still own it."
Ginny laughed a bit before she asked, "So what's the planned entry fee for this tournament?"
Alexander answered immediately, "Nothing too significant, the cost of three booster packs."
Chuck blinked and commented, "That's actually pretty reasonable."
Alexander nodded and added, "Participants will also receive sealed booster packs when they register."
Ginny tilted her head and asked, "So they're basically getting product back?"
"Exactly." Alexander confirmed while thinking, 'The idea isn't simply to collect the entry fees. I want the players to feel like they are receiving value regardless of their performance in the tournament. Happy players become returning players. Returning players build communities. Communities build games.'
"Have you found a venue yet?" Ginny asked.
Alexander shook his head and said, "Not yet. I've already contacted several locations like community halls, hotel conference rooms, and a few larger event spaces. But nothing has been finalised as there are still some unknown variables."
"Like what?"
"Expected attendance."
"Reasonable."
"Rental costs."
"Also reasonable."
"And how likely I am to accidentally underestimate the number of players that will participate."
That earned immediate laughter as it was a surprisingly real concern, as the game had been growing faster than anyone expected, including him.
Chuck looked thoughtful for a moment, then he asked the question Alexander had been expecting, "So..."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously before he asked, "...What's the prize?"
Alexander smiled, and Chuck immediately pointed out, "That smile means it's something ridiculous."
Ginny folded her arms and agreed, "It might be."
"Well?"
Alexander enjoyed the suspense for another few seconds, then he answered, "There will be a very rare card, an Ultra Rare in fact."
Both of them immediately leaned forward while Chuck asked, "What card?"
Alexander's grin grew mischievous as he said, "It's a surprise."
"That's evil."
"I know."
Chuck groaned dramatically while Alexander's smile widened and he added, "But that's not all."
That got their attention again.
"There will also be a cash prize."
Ginny and Chuck both blinked in perfect sync before Alexander calmly continued, "One thousand dollars."
Silence, complete and utter silence.
Then—
""WHAT?!""
Several nearby students turned to stare, but neither of them cared.
"A thousand dollars?" Chuck repeated.
"For a card game?"
Alexander nodded and confirmed, "For winning a tournament."
Ginny looked genuinely shocked as she commented, "That's... a lot of money."
Alexander simply shrugged and said, "The prize isn't just a reward."
Both of them looked toward him as he added, "It sends a message."
He continued walking while explaining, "If I want people to take Duel Monsters seriously, then the tournaments need to be serious too."
At the same time, he thought, 'One thousand dollars sounds excessive, and it is excessive for the current state of the game, but that is precisely the point. People talk about unusual things. Students will talk about it. Parents will talk about it. Store owners will talk about it. Local newspapers might even mention it if I am lucky. Every conversation will spread awareness of Duel Monsters a little further. Advertising is useful. Advertising that people willingly performed for free is even better.'
For several seconds, neither of them spoke, then Chuck finally muttered, "You know..."
Alexander glanced toward him.
"You are absolutely insane."
Ginny nodded immediately and agreed, "Completely insane."
Alexander smiled and said nothing while thinking, 'Maybe... But judging by the growing excitement already spreading through the community... It was probably going to work.'
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