I’m in Marvel, but I play Yu-Gi-Oh!?

Bonus Chapter

The applause following Chuck's victory lingered throughout the conference hall.

Many spectators were still discussing the dramatic third duel as Dante Venturi slowly made his way away from the feature table, accepting handshakes and congratulations from players and judges alike.

Chuck himself looked exhausted but exhilarated.

As he stepped down from the stage area, a familiar red-haired girl immediately approached him and said, "Congratulations."

Chuck grinned and replied, "Thanks."

Without hesitation, the two exchanged a high-five.

The sound echoed loudly enough for several nearby spectators to hear.

Ginny smiled, "You actually did it."

"Damn right I did."

Chuck folded his arms proudly before saying, "I'm waiting for you in the finals."

That confidence earned him an amused look, but then Ginny shook her head and said, "I'm not sure that's happening."

Chuck blinked and asked, "What?"

She glanced toward the opposite side of the hall where Victor stood quietly waiting.

From the beginning of the tournament, he had attracted attention.

Not because he was loud, or because he celebrated; quite the opposite, he simply won again and again and again.

The efficiency of it unsettled some people but also elated many others.

"I've seen a few of his matches," Ginny admitted, "He's really good."

Chuck followed her gaze and saw that Victor stood alone reviewing his deck with calm focus.

He showed no excitement or nervousness, or even any other emotion, just concentration and absolute confidence.

"...Yeah," Chuck admitted. "He's kinda weird. Unsettling even."

Ginny chuckled and said, "Heh. That's one way to describe him."

Then her expression became more determined as she added, "But I'm still going to give it everything I've got."

Chuck's grin returned immediately as he said, "That's the spirit."

A few moments later, the Head Judge stepped forward and saw that the room gradually quieted.

Then he called out, "Ladies and gentlemen."

Conversations ceased.

"The second semifinal match will now begin."

A fresh wave of anticipation swept through the audience.

"Virginia Potts and Victor Von Doom. Please approach the main table."

Applause erupted throughout the conference hall, and at the same time Ginny took a slow breath, then started walking.

As she approached the table, her eyes briefly drifted toward the organisers' area and saw Alexander standing beside Roland.

Their eyes met, and for a moment neither spoke, then Alexander smiled, a small, confident and supportive smile.

The same smile he always wore whenever one of his friends was about to do something difficult.

Ginny felt some of her tension disappear, and she smiled back, then turned toward the table.

The time for talking was over; now it was time to duel.

The two semifinalists sat opposite one another.

Victor calmly shuffled his deck, and Ginny did the same.

The contrast between them was striking.

One appeared relaxed but focused; the other looked almost completely emotionless.

The Head Judge raised his hand, "Like before, the match will follow the best-of-three format. First duel. Begin!"

The conference hall immediately quieted.

One duel away from the finals, one duel away from facing Chuck.

Ginny and Victor drew their opening hands.

Ginny won the coin toss and without hesitation she chose, "I'll go first."

She studied her opening hand carefully, and after several seconds she selected a card and placed it onto the field, "I summon Mystical Elf in Defence Position."

[Mystical Elf – 800 ATK / 2000 DEF]

The card depicting the elegant elf spellcaster appeared on the monitors.

"Then I set two cards and end my turn."

Several spectators nodded; it was a cautious and defensive opening.

Victor drew.

His eyes moved across the field, then toward his hand, before with no hesitation or wasted movement he said, "I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp in attack position."

[La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp – 1800 ATK / 1000 DEF]

Several spectators immediately murmured as this was one of the strongest commonly available monsters in the game.

After that, he continued without pause, "I activate the Equip Spell Sword of Dark Destruction and equip it to La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, boosting its ATK by 400 and reducing its DEF by 200."

[La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp – 2200 ATK / 800 DEF]

Then Victor entered Battle Phase immediately, "La Jinn attacks."

Needless to say, Mystical Elf was destroyed by La Jinn's massive ATK.

Ginny took no damage, but Victor had already established initiative.

Over the next several turns, the duel settled into a pattern.

Ginny repeatedly attempted to slow the game, but Victor repeatedly dismantled her efforts.

She activated Swords of Revealing Light and Victor calmly accepted the delay.

She summoned Gemini Elf, and Victor answered with Wall of Illusion, returning it to the hand.

She destroyed one monster, and Victor replaced it immediately.

Watching from the sidelines, Alexander narrowed his eyes while thinking, 'This is what had impressed me throughout the Top 32. Victor never seemed rushed. Most players thought turn by turn, but Victor appears to think several turns ahead like the most experienced players. Every move feels deliberate. Every exchange favorable. It's almost unsettling how much he grasped the game in such a short time. As expected from Doom.'

The duel continued.

Victor activated Graceful Charity, then later Pot of Greed.

The audience applauded as those were strong and popular cards, yet Alexander found himself paying attention to something else.

Whenever Victor used one, he didn't seem excited; he simply used them.

As though drawing extra cards was merely another step in a larger calculation.

Meanwhile, Ginny continued fighting for every advantage, then she found one.

Victor declared an attack, and Ginny immediately flipped her facedown monster, "I activate the effect of Penguin Soldier!"

[Penguin Soldier – 750 ATK / 500 DEF]

Excited murmurs spread through the crowd.

The red-haired girl pointed toward Victor's field and said, "I return your La Jinn and Wall of Illusion to your hand!"

The spectators cheered for such a clever and strong play.

For the first time, Victor paused but only briefly; then he nodded and commented, "Well played."

Ginny blinked while muttering, "That almost sounded like a compliment... almost."

The crowd laughed softly, then the duel continued.

A few turns later, Ginny activated Change of Heart.

The audience immediately reacted as one of Victor's monsters switched sides.

She attacked and destroyed another monster, then tributed the stolen monster before it could return.

The crowd erupted.

"That's huge!"

"What a play!"

"She's catching up!"

For the first time, all duel momentum seemed to belong to her, and even Alexander leaned forward slightly.

Then Victor drew, and he activated Monster Reborn.

A few moments later, the field looked almost unchanged.

The excitement gradually faded, and several spectators frowned.

The realisation was uncomfortable.

Ginny had made a great play, but Victor had simply recovered.

The duel continued, and slowly the same pattern emerged.

Ginny would gain ground, but Victor would reclaim it almost immediately.

Ginny would solve a problem, and Victor would present another.

A Witch of the Black Forest searched for a replacement, a Sangan replaced itself, a Graceful Charity improved his hand.

Nothing felt overwhelming, yet somehow Victor always seemed to have more options than anyone else.

Eventually Alexander understood what was bothering him, 'Every trade looks even, but somehow Victor always ended up ahead. It's almost like he is playing modern Yu-Gi-Oh! but with old cards...'

A similar realisation gradually spread through the audience as well.

Turn after turn. Card after card. Until it became impossible to ignore.

Ginny wasn't losing because she was making mistakes.

She was losing because Victor extracted more value from every exchange; still, she refused to surrender.

A Trap Hole destroyed one of Victor's monsters. A Mirror Force punished an attack. A timely Waboku prevented significant damage.

Each defensive card earned applause. Each successful play bought her another turn.

Across the table, Victor remained completely calm, showing no frustration, excitement or any other visible reaction at all, only concentration.

As though every card on the field was part of a puzzle only he could see.

Eventually the duel reached its final stages.

Life Points had fallen for both sides, resources were running low, yet somehow Victor still had cards available.

He still had monsters, still had answers.

Ginny drew, studied her hand, then the field.

Several spectators held their breath.

Everyone wanted to see her find a way back.

After a few moments she smiled and made her play.

The crowd applauded.

It was clever, it was correct, and it wasn't enough as Victor answered immediately.

The field shifted once more, and the opening disappeared.

Alexander slowly exhaled while thinking, 'There it is. The difference. Not in intelligence or in creativity. Ginny had demonstrated both throughout the tournament. The difference is consistency in both deck building and plays. Victor simply made fewer mistakes. When an opportunity appeared, he saw it. When a weakness appeared, he exploited it. Relentlessly.'

A few turns later, he entered Battle Phase and declared, "La Jinn attacks directly."

The attack connected.

[Ginny – 0 LP]

Silence briefly filled the conference hall, then applause erupted from every direction.

The Head Judge stepped forward and announced, "Winner of the first Duel."

He raised a hand and shouted, "Victor Von Doom."

The crowd applauded once more.

Victor merely nodded as though the result had been expected.

Across the table, Ginny gathered her cards, showing no frustration, complaints, or visible disappointment; instead, she quietly reviewed the duel in her mind.

Alexander noticed immediately, and a small smile touched his face while he thought, 'As expected from Ginny, she is learning from her loss... and that makes her more dangerous. The next duel is going to be even more intense.'

Across the table Victor watched her for a moment, then returned his attention to his own deck.

The first duel belonged to him; the match, however, was not over.

Before long, the second duel began, and this time the difference became apparent immediately.

Ginny had learned.

Early on, she established a far stronger defensive position with Mystical Elf, Trap cards, and careful resource management.

Instead of reacting to Victor's plays, she started forcing him to respond to hers.

Several spectators noticed, and so did Roland, who commented, "She's adapting."

Alexander nodded and agreed, "Yeah."

Unlike the first duel, Ginny wasn't allowing Victor to dictate the pace.

Every card had a clear purpose, and every exchange was planned.

A few turns later, she flipped up and activated Magician of Faith.

The crowd immediately cheered as the small spellcaster flipped face-up and she announced, "Magician of Faith's effect lets me recover Raigeki!"

Several spectators applauded because it was a strong play, a very strong play.

Victor watched without comment, then, several turns later, the recovered spell finally appeared.

"I activate Raigeki!"

The powerful Spell Card immediately cleared Victor's whole field as every monster was destroyed.

The conference hall erupted because, for the first time in the match, Victor's side of the field was completely empty.

Whispers immediately spread through the audience.

"She did it."

"She's actually pushing him."

"Could she force a third duel?"

Alexander remained focused on Victor as the young Latverian studied the field for several seconds, much longer than usual.

The silence did not go unnoticed.

Ginny saw it, the crowd saw it, and Alexander also saw it. Then Victor nodded once and muttered, "Interesting."

The simple word caused Alexander's eyes to narrow as he realised, 'Heh... Victor Von Doom is impressed, not by much, but enough to acknowledge it. Good job, Ginny.'

Across the table, Ginny looked surprised, but then she immediately refocused as the duel continued.

Back and forth.

Advantage changed hands repeatedly, far more than during the first game.

Ginny's adjustments were working as Victor was no longer controlling every exchange.

He was being challenged, yet even then the same pattern slowly began reappearing.

A Witch of the Black Forest replaced itself. Sangan generated value. Graceful Charity improved his hand.

Every card seemed connected to another, every move built toward something larger.

The audience slowly realised something uncomfortable.

Ginny had improved, but Victor was still advancing, and then the turning point arrived.

Victor drew.

For a moment his eyes moved toward the Graveyard, then toward his hand, then toward the field.

A small motion, almost imperceptible, yet Alexander immediately understood.

Victor had found something.

The young Latverian placed a card onto the field and announced, "I activate Monster Reborn."

A murmur spread throughout the hall.

The spell resolved, and a familiar monster card was pulled from the Graveyard.

La Jinn.

Several spectators blinked as it was a solid and powerful play but not what they had expected.

Victor looked toward the monster, then selected another card from his hand and said, "I tribute La Jinn."

For a moment there was silence, then realisation spread through the audience.

The card hit the table as he announced, "I Tribute Summon Summoned Skull in attack position."

[Summoned Skull – 2500 ATK / 1200 DEF]

The conference hall exploded.

Several spectators rose from their seats even some of the judges couldn't hide their reactions.

The card depicting the fearsome fiend appeared on the monitors, its imposing design seemingly towering over the battlefield.

For the first time in the match, Victor had revealed his strongest monster.

Alexander glanced toward Ginny as her shoulders had tensed slightly because she understood that she had forced Victor to use it and that alone said something.

Unfortunately, it also said something else: that there was still a gap between them.

The duel continued.

Ginny fought, and she searched for answers, looked for openings, and refused to give up.

The crowd applauded every successful defence.

Every clever play, every extra turn she managed to earn, but this time there were no answers left.

Victor had stabilised, had recovered and now Summoned Skull stood between Ginny and victory.

Several turns later, Victor entered Battle Phase and declared, "Summoned Skull attacks directly."

The attack connected.

[Ginny – 0 LP]

For a brief moment, silence filled the conference hall, then applause erupted from every direction.

The Head Judge stepped forward and raised his hand, "Winner of the second duel..."

The crowd immediately quieted.

"...And winner of the semifinal match and last Finalist. Victor Von Doom!"

Thunderous applause followed.

Ginny slowly stood from her chair; she was disappointed but not crushed, as she had lost fairly to a better player.

Victor also stood, and for a moment neither spoke, then Victor looked at her.

His expression remained calm as always as he said, "You adapted well."

Ginny blinked, baffled.

That was it, just four words, yet somehow they felt significant.

Victor continued, "Most players wouldn't have."

Then he offered a short nod, nothing more, nothing less.

Ginny found herself smiling despite the loss, "Thanks."

Victor returned to organising his deck as the conversation was apparently over.

Chuck, watching from nearby, burst out laughing and commented out loud, "That's probably the nicest thing he's said all day."

Ginny rolled her eyes and shot back, "You're not helping."

The spectators laughed as the tension eased.

The second finalist had been decided.

Meanwhile, the Head Judge stepped forward once more; his voice echoed throughout the conference hall as he announced, "Ladies and gentlemen. The finals of the Duel Monsters Grand Prix are now officially decided."

The room immediately quieted, but the excitement was palpable.

"Charles Irvin Zane."

Cheers erupted.

"Victor Von Doom."

More applause followed.

Across the hall, the two finalists looked toward one another.

Chuck grinned while Victor remained expressionless.

The Dragon specialist against the genius strategist.

Only one match remained, and somewhere in the audience, Alexander couldn't help feeling that the final duel of his first major tournament was going to be one that nobody present would ever forget.

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