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## Chapter 406: Day One Ends
Hayato, returning to the Kaiba Dome match venue from Kaiba Land, arrived just in time to see Valon's **Phoenix Swordsman - Gearfried** perform a direct attack on Mai Valentine.
After the duel ended, Valon seemed to say something to Mai Valentine, but because the microphone on the duel field automatically shut off after the duel, Hayato only saw a hint of hesitation appear on Mai Valentine's face before she resolutely refused.
"It was Valon against Mai Valentine, huh? Should I call it fate or coincidence?" Hayato somewhat guessed what Valon had said that wasn't broadcast; it was likely nothing more than telling her she could gain power by joining Doma.
"But, he's actually using a FIRE Attribute Warrior-Type Gemini Monster theme. In some ways, it really suits him."
Mokuba said, sounding a little confused, "Hayato, do you know that person?"
Hayato shook his head.
"You can't really say I know him; I've only met him a few times."
The two returned to their seats. Soon after, Mai Valentine, who had been eliminated due to her defeat, also returned to the audience seats, looking somewhat dejected.
In this situation, if Joey Wheeler were replaced by any other male, they would likely offer Mai Valentine warm words of comfort, telling her not to be sad about her defeat in the previous duel. However, Mai Valentine happened to fancy Joey Wheeler.
When this simpleton saw Mai Valentine approach, he actually started praising how strong and cool Valon's Gemini Monster was, especially **Phoenix Swordsman - Gearfried**. He had never imagined that **Gearfried** could have such a form, with blazing fire, a greatsword, and a greatshield; it perfectly matched his aesthetics.
Hayato could see that Joey Wheeler actually had good intentions, and was somewhat seemingly foolish but actually wise. He knew Mai Valentine was a proud person, and comforting her in the usual way would only sting her pride, so he thought of saying that it wasn't that Mai Valentine wasn't good enough, but that Valon was too powerful, trying to comfort Mai Valentine indirectly.
However, having the idea is one thing; being able to achieve that effect with words is another.
The result of Joey Wheeler incessantly praising how cool and powerful Valon's monster was, was Mai Valentine giving him a "Two-Finger Pinch" — grabbing the soft flesh around his waist and pinching, then performing a Crocodile "Death Roll" rotation of 180°. It hurt the thick-skinned Joey Wheeler so much that he sucked in a cold breath, hunched his waist, and shut his mouth.
But at the same time, some of Joey Wheeler's idea was realized. Mai Valentine successfully emerged from the shadow of her duel defeat. Not only was she no longer dejected, but she also successfully found an outlet for her temper, returning to her previous proud self.
Her expression had returned to normal, but whether Mai Valentine's inner thoughts had changed was something no one could know.
Among their group, the ones whose duels were scheduled for today were Joey Wheeler and Mai Valentine. After both of their duels had ended, next up tomorrow were Hayato and Yugi.
However, the end of Mai Valentine and Joey Wheeler's duels didn't mean there were no more duels on the field. One must know that the ticket price for the seats at the Kaiba Dome, where the KC Cup was being held, was not low at all. Although Hayato and the others were guests of the rich guy Kaiba, they couldn't just waste the seat money.
Because the Duelists who could enter the official match had gone through layers of screening, the Audition had already filtered out most of the ordinary duelists who were making up the numbers. The remaining duelists were not weaklings, and their clashes were truly intense battles, showcasing many high-quality duels.
Among them, Hayato also saw the duels of Rafael and Amelda. Just as Valon used a Gemini Monster Deck and Amelda used a **Meklord** Deck, the Deck Rafael used was not the **Guardian** Deck Hayato remembered, but a Fairy Type Deck.
Although Hayato wanted to see what kind of wonderful plays Rafael could perform with this Fairy Type Deck, unfortunately, his opponent's strength was not enough. He was defeated and eliminated by Rafael in just three turns.
Meanwhile, Yugi noticed that among the matches held today, there were several young kids, who looked to be less than ten years old, with the oldest one appearing to be only eleven or twelve.
"I didn't expect kids these days to be so amazing! They actually have the ability to participate in the official match of the KC Cup, and they even won," Joey Wheeler said, quite surprised. His gaze fell upon the black-haired boy on the field who had just defeated his opponent and was proudly accepting the audience's cheers. "But that guy looks really familiar."
Tristan subconsciously cracked his knuckles, making a "crack-crack" sound. "Yeah, and I don't know why, but seeing that guy makes me feel like punching someone."
The KC Cup was held in America, and English was the most common language. Although the big screen at the KC Cup displayed the black-haired boy's English name, unfortunately, academic underachievers like Tristan and Joey Wheeler had no idea who he was, only feeling like they had seen him somewhere before.
Yugi and Hayato exchanged glances and smiled helplessly, clearly seeing that Joey Wheeler and Tristan didn't recognize the English name. And Téa directly remarked, "And here you are, Joey Wheeler, still holding the Duel Disk that guy's older brother lost in a duel."
Saying that, Téa pointed to the victor's name displayed on the big screen. "That kid's name is **Chazz Princeton**."
"Manjoume Jun?!"
Joey Wheeler looked surprised. "Who's that?"
"Idiot, that's Manjoume Shouji's younger brother!"
Tristan slapped Joey Wheeler's back, clearly having been reminded by Téa where he had seen Manjoume Jun before.
"Before Duel City started, didn't Hayato win your Duel Disk from Manjoume Shouji?"
"Oh, I remember now." Joey Wheeler thumped his hand, but was still a little confused. "Manjoume Shouji's younger brother can actually advance into the Top 64 of the KC Cup? His older brother wasn't that strong."
Hayato sat beside them and smiled without speaking. In fact, **Chazz Princeton**'s participation was something he had facilitated.
Because of a phone call from Kaiba that day, he learned that both Manjome and Jaden Yuki wanted to participate in the KC Cup. Since neither of their families were ordinary, they both came to America to participate, accompanied by their parents.
Jaden Yuki seemed quite compatible with **Elemental HERO** Cards. Although his Deck was full of Commoners, he could always conveniently draw their Support Cards, such as **Elemental HERO Avian** and **Bubble Blaster**, and **Elemental HERO Sparkman** and **Spark Blaster**. During the Audition, he steadily rose to 30th place.
Manjome's luck was relatively worse. Although he wasn't weak, he always encountered some tricky opponents. He ran into Samejima and Marik, these two Stall Duelists, no less than three times, struggling through endless torment and getting stuck at 64th place to enter the official match.
It's worth mentioning that Manjome's last duel in the Audition was his third duel against Marik. Although Manjome had the Panda Dragon, **Light and Darkness Dragon**, which could negate any effect, Marik, being Marik, just played Five Set Backrow. After the Panda Dragon negated the activation of one of them, he immediately chained a **Divine Wrath**, disgustingly dragging the duel for nearly thirty turns.
In the end, the satisfied Marik chose to forfeit, keeping his 65th place ranking, allowing Manjome to advance. However, according to Marik, although he was the victor, that kid **Chazz Princeton**'s expression at the time was awful, both annoyed and frustrated.
Thinking about it, it made sense. No matter how he tried to make his plays, it would be interrupted by the opponent. No matter how he attacked, he couldn't touch the opponent at all. After finally summoning a second powerful monster, the opponent gave him a nasty surprise in the form of a monster tied down by **Torture Wheel**, and in the end, the opponent even voluntarily surrendered, so he couldn't even get revenge.
That feeling was really... Suddenly, Hayato remembered that he seemed to be the only one who gave others this feeling, and he himself had never encountered this situation. Then it's fine.
Besides Jaden Yuki and Manjome, Hayato also saw Amon Garlem, whom he had encountered during the Audition earlier. His **Cloudian**, which cannot be destroyed by battle, was quite tricky even for professional duelists. After a bitter battle, he was reluctantly defeated, becoming another duelist defeated by a kid.
Honestly, many of them came for the champion's prize money and glory, but in reality, most people also knew it wasn't their turn to win. It was enough to gain fame and receive investment in the official match. Even if they were defeated in the first round, it didn't matter, as long as they could show their strength.
But the problem was, no matter how powerful the strength shown was, when your opponent is a kid who isn't even an adult, the more serious you are, the more embarrassing it is, let alone losing.
Although the KC Cup, being a tournament Kaiba planned to use to promote Duel Monsters, didn't have a "registration fee" for participants, so there was no concept of profit or loss regardless of winning or losing, the duelists who lost to kids like Jaden Yuki, Manjome, and Amon could only be said to have lost badly.
They did gain fame, but it was the fame of a "professional duelist who can't even beat a kid." In this way, let alone attracting new investors, it was questionable whether they could keep their current investors.
Meanwhile, someone's mood was quite good.
Manjoume Shouji, sitting in front of the television, watched **Chazz Princeton**, who had just defeated a professional duelist on television. The gloom from his whole family going to America and leaving only him behind was swept away. He quite proudly bragged and showed off excessively in the chat room on the network.
Maybe some girls would be interested in this, he thought.
Obviously, this guy's goal was not simple at all, but on the network, who knows who's really on the other side?
Hayato, returning to the Kaiba Dome match venue from Kaiba Land, arrived just in time to see Valon's **Phoenix Swordsman - Gearfried** perform a direct attack on Mai Valentine.
After the duel ended, Valon seemed to say something to Mai Valentine, but because the microphone on the duel field automatically shut off after the duel, Hayato only saw a hint of hesitation appear on Mai Valentine's face before she resolutely refused.
"It was Valon against Mai Valentine, huh? Should I call it fate or coincidence?" Hayato somewhat guessed what Valon had said that wasn't broadcast; it was likely nothing more than telling her she could gain power by joining Doma.
"But, he's actually using a FIRE Attribute Warrior-Type Gemini Monster theme. In some ways, it really suits him."
Mokuba said, sounding a little confused, "Hayato, do you know that person?"
Hayato shook his head.
"You can't really say I know him; I've only met him a few times."
The two returned to their seats. Soon after, Mai Valentine, who had been eliminated due to her defeat, also returned to the audience seats, looking somewhat dejected.
In this situation, if Joey Wheeler were replaced by any other male, they would likely offer Mai Valentine warm words of comfort, telling her not to be sad about her defeat in the previous duel. However, Mai Valentine happened to fancy Joey Wheeler.
When this simpleton saw Mai Valentine approach, he actually started praising how strong and cool Valon's Gemini Monster was, especially **Phoenix Swordsman - Gearfried**. He had never imagined that **Gearfried** could have such a form, with blazing fire, a greatsword, and a greatshield; it perfectly matched his aesthetics.
Hayato could see that Joey Wheeler actually had good intentions, and was somewhat seemingly foolish but actually wise. He knew Mai Valentine was a proud person, and comforting her in the usual way would only sting her pride, so he thought of saying that it wasn't that Mai Valentine wasn't good enough, but that Valon was too powerful, trying to comfort Mai Valentine indirectly.
However, having the idea is one thing; being able to achieve that effect with words is another.
The result of Joey Wheeler incessantly praising how cool and powerful Valon's monster was, was Mai Valentine giving him a "Two-Finger Pinch" — grabbing the soft flesh around his waist and pinching, then performing a Crocodile "Death Roll" rotation of 180°. It hurt the thick-skinned Joey Wheeler so much that he sucked in a cold breath, hunched his waist, and shut his mouth.
But at the same time, some of Joey Wheeler's idea was realized. Mai Valentine successfully emerged from the shadow of her duel defeat. Not only was she no longer dejected, but she also successfully found an outlet for her temper, returning to her previous proud self.
Her expression had returned to normal, but whether Mai Valentine's inner thoughts had changed was something no one could know.
Among their group, the ones whose duels were scheduled for today were Joey Wheeler and Mai Valentine. After both of their duels had ended, next up tomorrow were Hayato and Yugi.
However, the end of Mai Valentine and Joey Wheeler's duels didn't mean there were no more duels on the field. One must know that the ticket price for the seats at the Kaiba Dome, where the KC Cup was being held, was not low at all. Although Hayato and the others were guests of the rich guy Kaiba, they couldn't just waste the seat money.
Because the Duelists who could enter the official match had gone through layers of screening, the Audition had already filtered out most of the ordinary duelists who were making up the numbers. The remaining duelists were not weaklings, and their clashes were truly intense battles, showcasing many high-quality duels.
Among them, Hayato also saw the duels of Rafael and Amelda. Just as Valon used a Gemini Monster Deck and Amelda used a **Meklord** Deck, the Deck Rafael used was not the **Guardian** Deck Hayato remembered, but a Fairy Type Deck.
Although Hayato wanted to see what kind of wonderful plays Rafael could perform with this Fairy Type Deck, unfortunately, his opponent's strength was not enough. He was defeated and eliminated by Rafael in just three turns.
Meanwhile, Yugi noticed that among the matches held today, there were several young kids, who looked to be less than ten years old, with the oldest one appearing to be only eleven or twelve.
"I didn't expect kids these days to be so amazing! They actually have the ability to participate in the official match of the KC Cup, and they even won," Joey Wheeler said, quite surprised. His gaze fell upon the black-haired boy on the field who had just defeated his opponent and was proudly accepting the audience's cheers. "But that guy looks really familiar."
Tristan subconsciously cracked his knuckles, making a "crack-crack" sound. "Yeah, and I don't know why, but seeing that guy makes me feel like punching someone."
The KC Cup was held in America, and English was the most common language. Although the big screen at the KC Cup displayed the black-haired boy's English name, unfortunately, academic underachievers like Tristan and Joey Wheeler had no idea who he was, only feeling like they had seen him somewhere before.
Yugi and Hayato exchanged glances and smiled helplessly, clearly seeing that Joey Wheeler and Tristan didn't recognize the English name. And Téa directly remarked, "And here you are, Joey Wheeler, still holding the Duel Disk that guy's older brother lost in a duel."
Saying that, Téa pointed to the victor's name displayed on the big screen. "That kid's name is **Chazz Princeton**."
"Manjoume Jun?!"
Joey Wheeler looked surprised. "Who's that?"
"Idiot, that's Manjoume Shouji's younger brother!"
Tristan slapped Joey Wheeler's back, clearly having been reminded by Téa where he had seen Manjoume Jun before.
"Before Duel City started, didn't Hayato win your Duel Disk from Manjoume Shouji?"
"Oh, I remember now." Joey Wheeler thumped his hand, but was still a little confused. "Manjoume Shouji's younger brother can actually advance into the Top 64 of the KC Cup? His older brother wasn't that strong."
Hayato sat beside them and smiled without speaking. In fact, **Chazz Princeton**'s participation was something he had facilitated.
Because of a phone call from Kaiba that day, he learned that both Manjome and Jaden Yuki wanted to participate in the KC Cup. Since neither of their families were ordinary, they both came to America to participate, accompanied by their parents.
Jaden Yuki seemed quite compatible with **Elemental HERO** Cards. Although his Deck was full of Commoners, he could always conveniently draw their Support Cards, such as **Elemental HERO Avian** and **Bubble Blaster**, and **Elemental HERO Sparkman** and **Spark Blaster**. During the Audition, he steadily rose to 30th place.
Manjome's luck was relatively worse. Although he wasn't weak, he always encountered some tricky opponents. He ran into Samejima and Marik, these two Stall Duelists, no less than three times, struggling through endless torment and getting stuck at 64th place to enter the official match.
It's worth mentioning that Manjome's last duel in the Audition was his third duel against Marik. Although Manjome had the Panda Dragon, **Light and Darkness Dragon**, which could negate any effect, Marik, being Marik, just played Five Set Backrow. After the Panda Dragon negated the activation of one of them, he immediately chained a **Divine Wrath**, disgustingly dragging the duel for nearly thirty turns.
In the end, the satisfied Marik chose to forfeit, keeping his 65th place ranking, allowing Manjome to advance. However, according to Marik, although he was the victor, that kid **Chazz Princeton**'s expression at the time was awful, both annoyed and frustrated.
Thinking about it, it made sense. No matter how he tried to make his plays, it would be interrupted by the opponent. No matter how he attacked, he couldn't touch the opponent at all. After finally summoning a second powerful monster, the opponent gave him a nasty surprise in the form of a monster tied down by **Torture Wheel**, and in the end, the opponent even voluntarily surrendered, so he couldn't even get revenge.
That feeling was really... Suddenly, Hayato remembered that he seemed to be the only one who gave others this feeling, and he himself had never encountered this situation. Then it's fine.
Besides Jaden Yuki and Manjome, Hayato also saw Amon Garlem, whom he had encountered during the Audition earlier. His **Cloudian**, which cannot be destroyed by battle, was quite tricky even for professional duelists. After a bitter battle, he was reluctantly defeated, becoming another duelist defeated by a kid.
Honestly, many of them came for the champion's prize money and glory, but in reality, most people also knew it wasn't their turn to win. It was enough to gain fame and receive investment in the official match. Even if they were defeated in the first round, it didn't matter, as long as they could show their strength.
But the problem was, no matter how powerful the strength shown was, when your opponent is a kid who isn't even an adult, the more serious you are, the more embarrassing it is, let alone losing.
Although the KC Cup, being a tournament Kaiba planned to use to promote Duel Monsters, didn't have a "registration fee" for participants, so there was no concept of profit or loss regardless of winning or losing, the duelists who lost to kids like Jaden Yuki, Manjome, and Amon could only be said to have lost badly.
They did gain fame, but it was the fame of a "professional duelist who can't even beat a kid." In this way, let alone attracting new investors, it was questionable whether they could keep their current investors.
Meanwhile, someone's mood was quite good.
Manjoume Shouji, sitting in front of the television, watched **Chazz Princeton**, who had just defeated a professional duelist on television. The gloom from his whole family going to America and leaving only him behind was swept away. He quite proudly bragged and showed off excessively in the chat room on the network.
Maybe some girls would be interested in this, he thought.
Obviously, this guy's goal was not simple at all, but on the network, who knows who's really on the other side?
