After Luya finished speaking, the contestants who had successfully gathered ten Metal Stars lined up before him. There were twenty-four in total.
Luya neatly arranged twenty-four bundles of fifty card packs each before the group—a total of 1,200 packs.
After receiving their fifty packs, everyone expressed their thanks to Luya.
"Thank you, shopkeeper!"
"Hahaha, thanks for the fifty card packs, shopkeeper~"
"Thanks a lot~"
In the end, those among the finalists familiar to Luya were Hu Tao, Zhongli, Xingqiu, Chongyun, Keqing, Ningguang, Xiangling, Yanfei, and Ganyu—along with fifteen others whose names Luya didn't know.
Once everyone had taken their fifty packs, Luya explained the rules.
"Next is the finals of the Lantern Rite Duel Tournament!"
"This round will use on-the-spot pack opening duels."
"Each of you, please open your fifty packs here and now. From the 250 cards you obtain, build a Deck of forty cards or more!"
"The cards you pull will be yours to keep after the tournament~"
In other words, even if you didn't make it into the top three, you still walked away with at least fifty packs as a reward.
Hearing these rules, Hu Tao panicked...
"Ah! That means...!"
"This Hall Master can't use Wangsheng Funeral Parlor anymore!"
"Still, this Hall Master's strength is intact..."
Zhongli began analyzing: "In that case, adaptability will be tested. Furthermore, luck will play a part. If someone pulls a powerful single card, their chances of victory will increase greatly!"
Everyone nodded seriously at his analysis. Even before he finished, Ningguang, Keqing, Hu Tao, and the others had already started tearing open packs.
The spectators began discussing.
"Even though they can't use their own Decks—!"
"This might be better!"
"No one can simply rely on wealth to bring a pile of strong cards!"
"Opening fifty packs and building a Deck from that isn't bad."
"At least there won't be monsters that are overwhelmingly strong..."
"Indeed, this way..."
"The contestants' actual skill becomes far more important!"
"Deck construction, card balance, synergy..."
"This tournament will showcase the duelists' true ability!"
"Most of the cards used should be ones we've seen before."
Seeing Keqing and Ningguang already opening and building, the others also began cracking packs and putting Decks together!
Some spectators began speculating:
"With fifty packs, on average, that's about one or two Legend rarity cards per person."
"And maybe three or four Epic rarity cards."
"To build a Deck, you'd want to center it around any powerful single cards you pull!"
"Mm, that makes sense..."
"That way, the duels won't be completely one-sided with instant wins."
"Most cards used will be common ones."
"Good, good! Now we'll see Hall Master Hu's real strength..."
"Hahaha, are you still salty about getting crushed by her King of the Skull Servants?"
"Listen to you being so shady toward the Hall Master, hahaha!"
"Yet in this kind of match, it's about who can read the cards best~"
"By that logic, I bet Mr. Zhongli takes it..."
"Mr. Zhongli seems well-suited for this format."
"Yes, he excels at studying knowledge and organizing it."
"He must already have a deep understanding of most cards."
"As for Lady Tianquan and Lady Yuheng, we've never seen them duel before."
"Who knows how strong they are..."
"But since they reached the finals, they must be stronger than most."
Ganyu, meanwhile, was feeling happy. Over the past two days, because of the tournament, she had made many connections with the people of Liyue Harbor. Many thanked her for her contributions to the tournament.
Originally, Ganyu felt deeply lonely in Liyue Harbor. She had thought:
The loneliness of Liyue Harbor surpasses that of Jueyun Karst. In Jueyun, watching the clouds is simply the solitude of one person watching clouds. Yet entering the crowds of Liyue as a non-human is loneliness within the mortal world.
Yet through these duels, Ganyu suddenly felt her bonds with the people of Liyue Harbor growing closer. Though she had the form of a human, she was not truly human. For thousands of years, she had worked under her contract with Rex Lapis. Yet in Liyue Harbor, she was lonely, often weighed down by melancholy.
As the secretary to the Liyue Qixing, her role demanded immense capability, and she had contributed greatly to Liyue Harbor. Nevertheless, she never felt connected to its people, and that was the source of her loneliness.
By helping Luya with the foundational work of the tournament, unlike her usual file-handling tasks, this time her work involved direct contact with humans.
Those names on documents were no longer cold entries, but living people before her. This direct contact gave Ganyu new insight. Seeing people in the shop smiling happily, hearing their thanks to her, Ganyu couldn't help but feel stirred.
Some in the crowd even cheered for her.
"Miss Ganyu~ good luck!!"
"Hahaha, the pretty lady with the little horns!"
"Go, go~~"
Seeing so many cheer her on, Ganyu blushed. She lowered her head, smiling shyly. In her heart, she silently thanked Luya for bringing Duel Monsters to Liyue, and also Keqing for inviting her to help and assist with preparations.
For Ganyu, the tournament's outcome or rank was secondary. What mattered was the bonds she now felt with the people of Liyue Harbor. To Ganyu, that was a priceless treasure!
To honor that bond, Ganyu resolved to treat dueling as her duty. To strive, strive, and strive again! This was her greatest motivation in reaching the finals.
Even if she didn't place in the top three, to win a few more matches would already make her very satisfied!
...
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