Chapter 118 – End of the Grand Prix

The convention centre was still deafening.

Johnny's final attack had ended the Duel, but the excitement of the audience showed no sign of fading. Cheers and applause continued to echo throughout the enormous building as people celebrated the new Grand Prix Champion, and Johnny himself was no exception.

The ten-year-old was practically bouncing with excitement as he celebrated his victory, grinning from ear to ear while looking toward the scoreboard as if he still didn't fully believe he had actually done it; he had won the second edition of the Duel Monsters Grand Prix.

After a few moments, Johnny turned toward Katherine, who was still standing near the feature table.

Despite the disappointment clearly visible on her face, Katherine maintained her composure. She had come incredibly close to winning the championship, but in the end, Johnny had managed to overcome her.

Johnny walked toward her with his usual energetic grin. "That was an incredible match! Thanks, Katherine!"

Katherine looked at him for a moment before smiling, "Congratulations, Johnny. You deserved the win."

The two shook hands as the crowd continued cheering around them.

Before long, however, the judges, security personnel, and Industrial Illusions employees began taking control of the situation as the tournament was over and now it was time to prepare for the award ceremony.

Workers quickly began reorganising the feature area while others prepared the raised platform that would be used for the ceremony. At the same time, ESPN's crew began adjusting their equipment so the television audience could continue watching.

Meanwhile, Alexander turned toward Mike and said, "Well, Mike, I think that's my cue to leave."

Mike looked at him, and in an amused tone he asked, "Already? I thought you would keep us company until the end."

Alexander chuckled and replied, "Unfortunately. As the host and organiser, I'm the one who has to give the speech and present the prizes."

Mike nodded, "Of course."

As Alexander prepared to leave the commentary area, Mike turned toward the cameras. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Alexander has to leave us. After all, as the creator of Duel Monsters and the organiser of this Grand Prix, he's the one who will be presenting the awards."

Mike then smiled, "Before he goes, though, I'd like to thank him for joining us throughout this tournament. His sharp insight and deep knowledge of Duel Monsters have helped all of us understand this new and fascinating game."

Alexander smiled at the compliment. "Thank you, Mike. And thank you to everyone watching. I hope you've enjoyed the tournament as much as we have."

With that, Alexander left the commentary area, and soon he met Roland, who was overseeing the preparations.

"Everything is ready, Master Alexander," Roland quickly informed him. "We can proceed with the ceremony."

Alexander nodded. "Good."

He then walked toward the raised platform where the feature table had previously stood.

As soon as Alexander stepped onto the platform, the applause grew louder.

Whistles and cheers came from various sections of the audience, with many spectators still holding their cameras and other recording devices toward the stage.

Alexander patiently waited and, eventually, the noise began to die down, so he said, "Thank you."

He looked across the convention centre as he continued, "First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this year's Duel Monsters Grand Prix."

The audience applauded again.

"I'd also like to thank ESPN, our sponsors, our judges, workers, and of course, everyone here in the audience." Alexander paused briefly to let the moment linger a little longer before he said, "Thanks to all of you, the second edition of the Duel Monsters Grand Prix has become a truly historic and engaging event."

He smiled, "I hope everyone had fun. I hope you've made new friends, and perhaps even found a few new rivals along the way that will help push you forward in this ever-evolving game."

That earned another wave of applause.

"But without further ado, let's move on to the award ceremony." Alexander looked toward the side of the platform. "Our first awards go to the two Duelists who reached the Top 4 but were unable to advance to the final."

He smiled before he announced, "Charles Irvin Zane and Lucia Venturi, please join me on this platform."

The audience applauded as Chuck and Lucia made their way toward the platform.

Once they reached Alexander, he welcomed them, fist-bumping his friend and giving Lucia an encouraging smile, then he announced, "For reaching the Top 4, each of you will receive 3 Booster Packs from our upcoming set, along with an exclusive Grand Prix playmat."

A couple of Industrial Illusions employees carried the prizes onto the platform.

As Alexander accepted them, he couldn't help but think about how he had managed to prepare these particular prizes.

Thanks to the Duel Network Synchronisation function, he had been able to gather the 200 DP necessary to purchase the System Upgrade: Expand Card Database Series 3 from the YGO System one week before the Grand Prix.

That upgrade had allowed him to create enough prototype cards for an entirely new set of Booster Packs much earlier than he initially planned, and now, those cards had become exclusive prizes for the Grand Prix.

Alexander smiled as he handed the prizes to Chuck and Lucia.

The audience applauded.

Chuck looked at the booster packs and playmat before making a resigned face and commenting in a mock exasperated tone, "Great... Three packs and a playmat. Exactly what I always wanted."

He paused before adding, "I mean, sure, I would've preferred the giant cash prize, the glory, and the fame, but this is fine too."

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "You realise you just lost to the eventual champion, right?"

Chuck shrugged. "Details."

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he asked, "Wait. These have Dragons in them, right?"

Alexander smirked and replied, "Possibly."

Chuck's eyes widened. "Possibly?"

"It's a new set."

"Lex, I swear, if you just handed me three packs full of Warriors and Traps, we are going to have a problem..."

That immediately drew laughter from the crowd, and even Alexander couldn't help but chuckle.

After receiving their prizes, Chuck and Lucia stepped away from the platform.

Alexander then turned toward the next recipient and said, "Next, I'd like to invite our runner-up, Katherine Anne Pryde."

Katherine walked toward the platform.

She seemed a little shy as she approached, but she was still smiling brightly.

Alexander handed her the exclusive Grand Prix playmat along with five booster packs from the upcoming set. Katherine accepted the prizes and thanked him before stepping aside.

The audience applauded once again.

Finally, Alexander turned toward the last and most important recipient. "And now, ladies and gentlemen..."

He paused for dramatic effect before he said, "The Champion of the second edition of the Duel Monsters Grand Prix. Jonathan Lowell Spencer Storm! Give him a round of applause!"

The crowd immediately became louder while Johnny practically ran toward the platform.

"Johnny! Be careful!"

But his sister's warning came too late, and Johnny stumbled while climbing onto the raised platform and nearly fell.

Fortunately, he recovered before hitting the ground. He then gave the audience a goofy grin and a thumbs-up while saying, "I'm fine! I'm fine!!"

The crowd responded with chuckles and good-natured laughter.

Alexander also smiled and said, "That's good to hear."

By then, several employees had already brought Johnny's prizes onto the platform.

One of them was a ceremonial check for 10.000 dollars, and the other was an ornate case.

Alexander first picked up the check and handed it to Johnny, who took it with a huge grin on his face.

Then Alexander turned toward the ornate case and held it in his hands for a moment.

The audience gradually became quieter as everyone wanted to know what was inside.

Alexander allowed the anticipation to build for another moment before finally opening the case.

Inside were two cards.

The crowd immediately reacted as the content was shown on the big screens all over the tournament floor.

The first card was the prize itself, Black Luster Soldier.

The exclusive Ultimate Rare card. There would only ever be one copy of it.

Beside it was the Ritual Spell necessary to summon it, Black Luster Ritual.

Johnny stared at the cards, his eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Whoa..."

He clearly loved the design.

The audience, meanwhile, exploded into cheers at the sight of the exclusive Ultimate Rare.

Alexander carefully handed the cards to Johnny and said, "Congratulations, Champion."

Johnny accepted the prize proudly.

Afterwards, he stepped away from the platform and returned to the side of his sister and aunt.

Alexander looked toward the audience once again. "Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in and supported this tournament."

He paused before giving them one final announcement, "With that, I officially declare the second edition of the Duel Monsters Grand Prix concluded."

The audience applauded.

Alexander then smiled, "And if you enjoyed this year's tournament circuit and development of the game, I'd suggest you keep watching."

The audience quieted slightly.

"Because in the coming year, Duel Monsters will evolve even further..." He allowed a brief pause as he thought about what he and the R&D team were working on before he declared with absolute confidence, "...And it will truly take the world by storm."

The audience reacted positively to the declaration, with cheers and applause filling the convention centre once again, and with that, the ceremony had officially come to an end.

~~~▽~~~

People slowly began leaving the tournament area; even so, the excitement refused to disappear.

Groups of spectators continued talking about the tournament, discussing their favourite Duels and strategies. Some people even began playing their own Duels in other parts of the convention centre, clearly inspired by everything they had witnessed.

Meanwhile, the workers had begun dismantling the tournament equipment. The ESPN crew was packing away cameras and broadcasting equipment while Industrial Illusions employees cleaned and reorganised the area.

Alexander finally stepped away from the ceremony, and once he was away from the crowd, he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

The Grand Prix was over, and somehow, everything had gone well.

Roland soon joined him and said, "Everything went smoothly, Master Alexander."

Alexander nodded, "Good."

"There's no doubt about it. This Grand Prix was significantly more successful than the previous one."

Alexander smiled, "That's good to hear."

"Although we'll have to wait a while before we know exactly how successful the broadcast was. The numbers will take some time to calculate."

Alexander nodded and said, "That's understandable..."

There are still plenty of things to measure on their part too, like the attendance, the merchandise, the interest generated by the tournament. And, perhaps most importantly, how many people had watched Duel Monsters on television.

For the moment, however, Alexander decided to leave those concerns for later.

He and Roland eventually found a quieter place away from the remaining workers and spectators.

Alexander looked around.

For the first time since the tournament had begun, there was finally enough quiet for him to do something he had deliberately avoided during the Grand Prix, to the point that he even turned off the notification, check the YGO System.

He felt a small amount of trepidation.

After all, he already had a general idea of how much Duel Energy and Duel Points were generated from his own Duels and from the tournament's events, but he hadn't actually checked, not since the Grand Prix began.

Alexander closed his eyes for a moment, then he mentally summoned the familiar interface.

[Ding!]

____________________________________

User Identified: Alexander Maximillion Jones

System Type: Duel Interface

Primary Functions:

• Resource Management

• Card Database

• Card Manifestation Authorisation

• YGO System Shop Access

• Duel Network Synchronisation (Tier 1)

Resources Identified:

1. Duel Energy (DE)

• Generated through duels involving the user.

• Output increases with emotional and cognitive intensity.

• Used for manifestation and high-output actions.

Current DE: 5117.2

2. Duel Points (DP)

• Acquired through victory in duels.

• Used for system transactions and upgrades.

Current DP: 819.7

____________________________________

Alexander's eyes widened as those numbers were far higher than he had expected.

He quickly began calculating, and then he realised something.

The Duel Monsters Grand Prix alone had earned him approximately 791 DP and DE in just two days.

Alexander stared at the numbers for a moment while thinking, 'Holy freaking shit...! Nearly 800 Duel Points. Nearly 800 Duel Energy. In only two days. It took me months to reach 850 before, and now one major tournament earned me nearly 800! And I didn't even play one single freaking Duel!!'

The realisation slowly sank in.

The Grand Prix hadn't merely been a massive success for Duel Monsters, but it had been an enormous success for his own personal progress as well.