Chapter 299: The Riding Duel Battlefield Where Losing Means Marriage
[Spacetime Hacker] [Available authority energy (100/100). Hack into Eva's network?]
On his way to school, riding his D-Wheel, Amano couldn't resist his curiosity and pulled up the details screen for the system's newly added skill.
This was the swelling confidence the system had developed after its upgrade.
Before, the system had always given Amano the impression it was trying its best to stay hidden, keeping itself from being noticed by the mainframe Eva.
Now, having absorbed three Millennium Puzzle fragments, the system gave Amano the impression it was ready to throw elbows with Eva at any moment.
Just to be safe, he figured he'd test it out first and see if it was actually reliable.
Waiting at a red light, Amano decisively selected [Hack into Eva's Network].
The instant the skill activated, part of what Amano was looking at seemed to be replaced by rapidly flowing lines of data.
The street was still the same street, and the pedestrians on it were still the same pedestrians.
Only now, some of the public infrastructure lining the street, streetlights, trash cans, including the traffic signal Amano was currently waiting at, had their internal data laid bare for him to read once the skill was active.
And the Eva terminals on the wrists of passersby had visibly changed into something special too.
Amano tried taking control of the signal up ahead.
"Turn green."
The signal, which had still had 32 seconds left on its countdown, actually turned green.
And the skill's displayed [Available Authority Energy (100/100)] dropped to [(90/100)].
Just changing a traffic light cost him 10 points of energy. At that rate, 100 points didn't feel like it would go very far.
Then again, messing with Eden's public infrastructure wasn't exactly something with much practical use anyway.
The real value was clearly in manipulating other people's Eva terminals, wasn't it. The guilt that came with that felt even heavier than snooping through someone's private thoughts.
By the time Amano reached the Academy and had barely finished parking his D-Wheel, he heard an energetic greeting from behind him.
Kozuka Yoka was waving at him. "Class rep, you're actually late today. What a surprise! Was it because yesterday's duel wore you out?"
Having been intercepted by a G-cup first thing that morning, Amano really had arrived at school later than usual. The Synchro Academy's morning run should already be over by this point.
"You, on the other hand, Kozuka, are as reliably late as ever. Not surprising in the slightest."
"Can't be helped. I'm a delicate, sickly beauty, after all. There's just no way I could handle a morning run!"
They say meeting is fate. Might as well make Kozuka Yoka his first test subject.
Amano activated [Spacetime Hacker] again and found that of the 10 points he'd just spent, 1 point had regenerated over the past 20 minutes, bringing it up to 91. Looked like the type that drained fast but also recharged fast.
He went straight ahead and chose to hack into Kozuka Yoka's Eva terminal.
Four options popped up in front of Amano right away.
[Decrypt Hidden Data]
[Transfer Eva Points]
[Adjust Guilt Value]
[Force-Start a Duel]
These features were pretty comprehensive.
Not only could he transfer someone else's Eva Points, he could even alter their Guilt Value.
At this point, big brother Amano's authority inside Eden was basically limitless. Get anyone thrown in, get anyone let out, whoever he wanted.
Just not sure yet how much energy exercising all this authority would actually cost.
[Kozuka Yoka - Current Guilt Value: 0]
Kozuka really was a model, law-abiding citizen.
"Oh, right, Kozuka. As the class rep, don't say I didn't warn you. Being late once or twice occasionally is fine, but if you're late too many times, your Guilt Value goes up. If it ends up on your record, it could affect your job hunting down the line."
"Ha ha ha, class rep, are you trying to trick me like I'm a kid? There's no way something as minor as being late would..."
[Kozuka Yoka - Current Guilt Value: +1]
(o_o)
Kozuka Yoka's eyes visibly went blank for a moment, and then she turned to look at Amano, trembling.
"C-class rep, I mean, I'm just saying... hypothetically, if being late really did raise someone's Guilt Value, what would they even do about it?"
"If you show up on time from now on, the Guilt Value should probably clear itself."
"G-got it." Kozuka Yoka nodded back, thoroughly resolved.
[Available Authority Energy (81/100)]
10 energy to adjust someone's Guilt Value by 1 point?
The energy cost wasn't exactly small, but breaking a lazy girl's daily habit of showing up late felt like a worthwhile trade to Amano.
Beyond that, Amano also discovered another use for the skill.
He could skip adjusting or transferring anything at all and just freeload a look at someone's numbers for free.
Take right now, for instance. Amano hadn't transferred any Eva Points out of Kozuka Yoka's terminal, but he could still see exactly how much she was worth.
[Kozuka Yoka - Remaining Eva Points: 1200]
How was Kozuka this broke? She was practically catching up to how poor he'd been hauling bricks back in District 32.
Well, maybe she was just burning through her allowance too fast.
Amano arrived at the classroom.
[Nanki'in Sakuya - Remaining Eva Points: 109,810,216]
Anyone who didn't know better would think that was her ID number.
Filthy rich people!
What decent person carries a hundred million on them at all times?
Then again, on second thought, with the mainframe Eva overseeing everything, no amount of money on you could ever be stolen or lost.
People in Eden probably didn't even have a concept of needing to safely store extra money in the first place.
"What's wrong, Amano?"
Sakuya, biting down on her milk carton's straw, noticed the strange look Amano was giving her.
"Did I do something to upset you? Or is it because I wasn't there with you for yesterday's duel?"
No, it's just that you're casually flaunting your wealth and it's bothering me. Even though you're not actually flaunting anything.
Transferring Eva Points from someone as broke as Kozuka Yoka would obviously leave Amano with a guilty conscience. But with someone like Nanki'in Sakuya, he could probably siphon off a few thousand, even tens of thousands of points, and she'd never even notice.
[Eva Points: +200]
[Amano Rei - Remaining Eva Points: 35,200]
[Available Authority Energy (61/100)]
The exchange rate was 1 energy point for 10 Eva Points, so a full 100 energy could move 1000 Eva Points.
Maybe that wasn't much for the Amano of today, but back in District 32, 1000 Eva Points had been an entire month's living expenses.
If he'd had this skill back then, Amano probably would've gone from District 32's gambling god to District 32's phantom thief, swiping from everyone he ran into!
As for the other two options, [Force-Start a Duel] was easy enough to understand.
But with [Decrypt Hidden Data], the first thing that came to Amano's mind was the password set on an Eva terminal.
If this authority could crack an Eva terminal's password, did that mean the terminal password sealing away Nanki'in Yukki's Millennium Key could finally be unlocked too?
No wonder Blue-Eyes White Dragon had once told him that the Millennium Key's password was hidden inside his next Chronicle.
After going in one big circle, it turned out he'd have to use the fragment gained inside the Chronicle to upgrade the system, then use the system's authority to crack the password.
But thinking of Nanki'in Yukki, Amano suddenly realized it had been ages since he'd heard her usual scripted, hollow chatter.
Ever since Sakuya had gotten her own Deck, the Shiranui inheritance Deck had, by Sakuya's own wishes, been passed on to Nanki'in Yukki.
But accepting that inheritance wasn't a simple matter.
The Nanki'in family had its own set of rules and trials that had to be passed before anyone earned the right to claim the Shiranui Deck.
And these past little while, Yukki had been taken off by the family patriarch, Muramasa, to undergo those very inheritance trials.
Before Amano could even ask Sakuya more about Yukki after arriving in class, he was mobbed by an enthusiastic crowd asking about yesterday's duel.
Then, in the middle of class, homeroom teacher Kondo called Amano into his office for a talk. A number of professional clubs with good relations to Synchro Academy had gone through the Academy as a go-between to extend invitations his way.
Even just sitting in his usual classroom, or walking around campus, Amano now had little shadows quietly tailing and watching him, making him feel like some kind of rare animal on display.
So this was the kind of trouble Celestia had meant, coming with top-tier viral fame?
This was on a completely different scale from the minor stir he'd caused becoming known around the Academy before.
And this was just while staying inside the Academy, since outsiders couldn't get in at all.
The second he set foot outside the Academy, he got mobbed by enthusiastic crowds demanding autographs and photos.
Had he actually gone viral for real?
"Super viral, bro Amano!"
Mizuki pulled Amano over to a computer screen. His account interface on PeeliPeeli showed follower and fan counts had already crossed two million.
In just a few days, he'd already overtaken Lilith Alpha, the platform's biggest streamer.
"Tch, that's basically cheating."
Suzune Ruri, who'd become a regular fixture at the club by now, and who was in fact Lilith Alpha herself, clicked her tongue in annoyance from behind them.
"Hacker-level tech to force a broadcast to all of Eden? Who'd even bother being a streamer if they had skills like that? Amano Rei, how did you even pull that off? Can you hook me up with one too?"
That particular question was the one thing Amano genuinely had no idea about.
Just who exactly had gone to such extreme lengths to push things along, all just to shove him into the eye of Eden's viral storm?
Kuroshio Nagi flopped listlessly onto the table. "Having your own hidden-gem streamer suddenly known by everyone gives you complicated feelings, you know. My favorite, even if you blow up, I'm still your number one fan."
"Yeah, yeah, sure. If I ever get big enough to hold a handshake event, you'll definitely be the first one I shake hands with, Kuroshio."
"J-just a handshake? Can't we hold something else too?"
"Tell you what, let's strike while the iron's hot and put out a collab video. It's guaranteed to blow up!" Suzune Ruri might as well have had "I want to ride your coattails" written across her forehead.
"No. I don't want to get any more viral than I already am."
Honestly, suddenly blowing up to this degree had already brought Amano no small amount of inconvenience.
These past few days, outside of class, Amano had basically been holed up in the club building for shelter, barely even able to make it home.
The club building was at least Academy property, so without Academy approval or an invitation from a club member, no one could just wander in.
But the residential district where Amano's villa was, that was a different story. The current situation was already more absurd than that morning's club-recruiter siege. Now that his viral fame had fully spread, the villa had been mobbed nonstop by an enthusiastic crowd for days.
Still, in an internet age of viral trends like this, hot topics changed daily. If he just kept giving everyone the cold shoulder, the attention should die down eventually.
"I'm heading over to the History Appreciation Society first."
These past few days, Amano's usual route had basically become: Synchro Academy, then the Streaming Club, then the History Appreciation Society, sleeping at the club building too, giving him the distinct feeling of having a home he could barely return to.
"Oh!" Kuroshio Nagi's drooping golden cowlick shot up in excitement.
But she suddenly remembered that Nanami Misaki had also been spending a lot of time at the History Appreciation Society lately, meaning nothing like what she'd been hoping for was actually going to happen, and her cowlick drooped back down in disappointment.
Amano made his way from the second floor up to the fourth.
Nanami Misaki: "Welcome, Mr. Amano, so kind of you to grace us with your presence. What can I get you today? Soda, chips and snacks, or were you planning on all of the above?"
"Senior Nanami, honestly, I liked your old, defiant attitude a lot better."
"No, no, no, that won't do. My father specifically instructed me to look after your mood and feelings very carefully these days. He wants to guarantee you make it to the New Riding Duel Invitational on time."
According to Rin Seiya, Nanami Misaki's father was one of the major shareholders of the Riding Duel Arena itself.
To roll out this brand-new set of Riding Duel rules and further expand the sport's audience, they really had sunk a hefty amount of real money into it.
Managing to bring in both the Emperor and Celestia, two famous professional duelists from the Chosen of the Gods Alliance, made it easy to see just how much weight the organizers were putting behind this tournament.
Of course, it was also possible that these two duelists' fame was so expensive to book that there wasn't enough budget left to invite any more big-name professionals, which was why the rest of the lineup looked so unremarkable by comparison.
That was exactly how Amano and Rin Seiya ended up slipped into the lineup through the back door, thanks to Nanami Misaki being the organizer's own daughter.
The whole gimmick of this new Riding Duel tournament had originally just been the three Egyptian Gods versus the Sun God. Everyone else had only been invited to pad out the numbers, so slipping in two of the organizer's daughter's friends didn't matter, as long as their dueling was decent enough.
But once Amano blew up overnight into the biggest name in all of Eden, Nanami Misaki's father was completely floored: just how far ahead had his own daughter's eye for talent actually seen?
Thanks to Amano's involvement, the tournament's online buzz had multiplied several times over.
And that was exactly why Nanami Misaki had suddenly turned so obsequious toward Amano these past few days.
Turned out even a member of 5D's own Team Future had to bow to money to make a decent living in Eden.
Even with that same cool, detached expression on her face the whole time, Nanami Misaki's hands never stopped moving, bringing over tea and drinks, kneading shoulders, pounding out leg cramps.
Rin Seiya lay sprawled on the sofa, poking her small white head up. "Hey, underclassman, the participant profiles you had Misaki collect are in today. Want to take a look now?"
"Yes! Of course I want to look!"
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never lose a hundred battles.
Collecting profiles on all the participants had really just been Amano's cover story. What he actually cared about most, of course, was the duel with Celestia.
Amano still hadn't found the right moment to tell Rin Seiya about the marriage contract his hopelessly unreliable father had set up between him and Celestia.
Either way, as long as he won the duel, he could just pretend the whole thing never happened.
He just hoped it wouldn't turn into some Riding Duel battlefield of jealousy between Senior Little Thunder and Big Thunder by the time it was over.
The Chosen of the Gods Alliance's Celestia.
Nanami Misaki had gathered three duel recordings featuring Celestia in total.
But one of the defining traits of a professional duelist was keeping their Deck's makeup varied enough that no opponent could ever prepare a counter-strategy in advance.
So aside from a few signature, representative cards, a pro's core Deck was usually in constant flux.
Even Celestia, known for her Sun God, didn't actually run it in every single duel.
But her Winged Dragon of Ra, running the anime's own version of the effect, was the genuine article. Its ATK on Advance Summon being equal to the combined ATK of the three Tributed monsters matched exactly what Amano remembered.
The trouble was, in all three recordings, the gap in skill between Celestia and her opponents was simply too vast. Every single one lost the instant the god descended, giving no chance to get a clear look at any of the Sun God's other effects.
After watching all three duels, Rin Seiya couldn't hold back her review. "So big!"
Comparing it against her own chest, then glancing back at the Winged Dragon of Ra on screen, Rin Seiya's star-shaped pupils flickered with shock.
Though she wasn't quite as flat as Finesse, Rin Seiya was still just average-sized. And even average looked hopelessly tiny standing next to a G-cup.
"Underclassman, you cannot let Big Thunder blind you."
How did she know he'd nearly died by chest just a few days ago? If Big Thunder really did cover both his eyes, he genuinely wouldn't be able to see a thing, and there'd be nothing but darkness ahead.
The weekend. The New Riding Duel Tournament.
The Riding Duel Arena had never seen a crowd like this. Packed shoulder to shoulder, the entire venue was filled to capacity, every seat taken, a rare sight indeed.
"So this is the terrifying reach viral fame can have?"
Backstage, watching the scene unfold, Nanami Misaki felt like all her recent groveling toward Amano had finally paid off.
Spreading the influence of Riding Duels while raking in extra event funding on the side, that was what really mattered.
Just like the Fortune Cup from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, the show opened with the Emperor, saved for the grand finale, taking a high-speed lap around the arena, followed by every invited duelist riding out on their own D-Wheels, whipping the crowd's energy up even further.
"Big brother, it's really big brother riding, so cool!" From the front row of the audience, Shio's screams were the loudest of all, all but waving a banner for Amano herself.
Of course, even with most of the invitees being professional Riding Duelists, given how much buzz Amano currently had going in Eden, his popularity was at least a match for, if not higher than, the pros'.
Once everyone had made their stylish entrance, the big screen at the center of the arena lit up with the tournament's duel order.
Officially, it was billed as a randomly generated order, but anyone with eyes could see through that.
Among the eight invited duelists, setting aside the Riding Emperor who'd face the eventual champion at the very end, the two with the highest popularity were, naturally, Amano Rei and Celestia.
To keep both of them on stage for as long as possible, the organizers scheduled Amano for the very first Riding Duel, and put Celestia in the fourth slot.
That way, even if both of them kept winning straight through, the two of them could only meet in the finals, milking the audience's anticipation for everything it was worth.
For the tournament's opening match, Amano's opponent was a middle-aged professional duelist named Asakura Hiken.
Amano recalled from the profile Senior Nanami had put together that this uncle ran a Mecha-type Deck.
In the world of professional duelists, plenty of them stuck around well into middle age, even old age.
After all, dueling wasn't like sports or esports, games that lived and died on reflexes. It was closer to a mental sport like Go or chess, so age had relatively little impact on skill level.
But while age barely touched skill level, it hit popularity hard.
Most popular duelists tended to be young, promising up-and-comers. Older professionals rarely got invited to events like this anymore, and it was only because the organizers were short on budget this time that they'd brought a few of them in to pad the roster.
Just as Asakura Hiken was resigning himself to an honest first-round exit and clocking out happily with his paycheck, before he could even get out onto the track, he found himself shoved aside by a lavishly decorated golden D-Wheel.
"Move. I'm taking this match."
"Huh?" Before Asakura Hiken could even process it, his slot had already been taken over by Celestia. "This isn't exactly by the rules, is it, Miss Celestia?"
"What's not by the rules about it? I'll play it however I want. Can't you tell this matchup order was never actually random to begin with? It's all deliberate, just to string the audience along."
Celestia twisted the throttle and rode up alongside Amano, then switched on the built-in speaker in her D-Wheel helmet and addressed the entire arena.
"Let me ask everyone here, isn't the duel you all really want to see the one between me and Amano Rei?!"
The next second, a tidal wave of roaring cheers from the crowd confirmed Celestia's words on the spot.
"Now that's more like it!"
Celestia's mouth curved into a bold, confident smirk. Standing up to the organizers head-on like this was something only a professional of her caliber would dare do, without worrying about the money men getting even later.
In Eden, dueling strength strong enough to tower over everyone else really was the ultimate backing and trump card there was.
"And one more thing, while I'm at it. My duel with Amano coming up isn't an exhibition match. It's a Contract Duel!"
Murmurs rippled through the surrounding stands. Everyone could understand jumping straight to the duel they'd all been waiting for, but what exactly was this Contract Duel business about?
"To fulfill a marriage contract from thirteen years ago, this Contract Duel: if I win, Amano Rei belongs to yours truly from here on out!"
...
The entire arena fell silent for a few seconds, then erupted into cheers even more furious than before.
Rubbernecking is human nature at its core. Getting a Riding Duel and the freshest gossip all in one go, the bloodthirsty audience naturally figured they'd gotten more than their money's worth, even if they dropped dead right there.
Amano genuinely hadn't expected Celestia to throw a bombshell like this right out of the gate, unilaterally changing the match order and publicly announcing a marriage-contract duel to the whole arena.
Every bit as wild as she looked.
"A marriage contract, what in the world is going on?"
In the staging area, Rin Seiya, convinced she must have misheard, pulled off her helmet in disbelief.
A marriage contract from thirteen years ago. Had these two known each other this whole time?
And here she'd warned Amano not to let Big Thunder blind him. What a joke she must have looked like.
But why hadn't Amano told her about any of this?
Win a Riding Duel and get married, could someone bring her in on a deal like that too?
"Come on then, Amano boy~ I've already stoked the mood for this duel hotter than the sun itself, all for you!"
Celestia really was a true professional. Word had it that whipping up crowd energy like this was a required skill for any pro.
Along the Riding Duel track, the countdown lights began flickering steadily, a sign the organizers had thrown up their hands and accepted the change in match order.
"Now, let me get a good look at this sun of yours!"
[New Speed World 2] activated!
"Riding duel! Acceleration!!"
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