Five minutes before the Card Flipping Competition (Pogs), in the meeting room—
Lucy expressed some concern. "I've never played card flipping before."
Lisanna said with a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, it's very simple. Just slap the card in your hand down hard, and if the one on the ground flips over, you succeed."
Most members of Fairy Tail had played this game before, and Raizel quite enjoyed it, often organizing small games in the guild hall.
However, this was the first time it was held on such a large scale with so many spectators.
The card flipping competition had the intensity of the Grand Magic Games.
"No need to worry. Stay calm and composed. Striking first is very important."
On Freed's side, he was guiding Juvia and Gajeel, two newcomers who had never played before, giving them some strategic pointers.
"Pay attention to accuracy. Strength is important, but hitting the center is even more crucial."
"Wow! That's amazing, Reedus!" Raizel's jaw dropped.
Reedus, practicing in the meeting room, managed three consecutive flips, all successful.
"One, two, three, let's go!"
On Ultear's side, instead of giving instructions, they gathered together, stacked their hands, and shouted a cheer to boost morale.
"Natsu, stop, stop! If you keep this up, you'll be exhausted before the match even starts."
Loke tightly held onto Natsu, preventing him from flipping any more practice cards.
Natsu had been frantically slapping the cards with full force but couldn't get any to flip over, and now he was getting visibly frustrated.
..
"Ohhhhhhhhhh!!!"
The spectator stands were packed, and the atmosphere grew increasingly lively as the audience clapped and cheered wildly.
While various martial arts competitions were common, such a large-scale card flipping event was a first for everyone in Magnolia.
A temporary hexagonal stage had been set up in the center of the competition area, illuminated by various spotlights.
"Everyone! The first 'Fairy Tail' Card Flipping Competition of the year X784 begins now!"
"COOL! Let's welcome the contestants with a round of enthusiastic applause!"
"Team A!"
"Ultear! Ultear!"
Ultear's fans raised their support signs and cheered wildly.
"Team B!"
"Team C!"
"Kagura!!!"
...
"And the final team, Team H!"
"Natsu! Loke!"
Accompanied by the enthusiastic cheers of Natsu and Loke's fans, Jason continued hosting.
"All contestants have now entered the arena!"
"Everyone, I never imagined that card flipping would one day reach such a scale. I hope you all enjoy watching the matches!"
"Let's give a warm round of applause as we invite the town Mayor to draw lots and determine the match order."
"Everyone, the first competing team has been drawn—Team H, featuring Natsu and Loke!"
"Who will be Team H's opponent? Let's find out!"
"COOL, it's Team B! Team B, with Juvia and Freed, will face Team H!"
"Third is Team F, with Wendy and Mirajane! Fourth is Team C, with Kagura!"
"The fifth team is Team D, led by Raizel, who is known to particularly enjoy card flipping!"
"Let's see who their opponent will be!"
"Team G! It's Team G!"
"NANIIIIIIII?! How are we supposed to win against that?!" Cana and Lucy let out a collective groan.
"The final matchup is Team A with Ultear and Levy versus Team E led by Erza!"
"The draw has been completed. Thank you to our town Mayor!"
"Now we're about to begin the first round of our quarterfinals—Team H versus Team B!"
"In this team matchup, each player has one card. A card counts as defeated when flipped over. Defeating four opponents advances you to the semifinals, and players may choose to continue fighting consecutively if they win."
Lucy asked Cana beside her, "So it's possible for one person to defeat the entire opposing team?"
Cana nodded and said, "Yes, Raizel is quite good at this game. He often won when we played at the Guild before, and when he's in good form, he frequently clears the entire team by himself."
Hearing that Raizel was skilled, Lucy became even more distressed. "Huh? Then how can we possibly win?"
"But Raizel has his off days too, don't worry."
As they spoke, all four members from both teams (Team H: Max, Natsu, Laki, Loke vs. Team B: Nab, Juvia, Freed, Warren) ascended the hexagonal platform for the match.
"For fairness in the competition, we need to inspect everyone's cards!"
The cards were all uniformly provided, but without inspection, there was no way to know if anyone had inserted anything inside them to manipulate the weight.
"Both sides' cards have been inspected. Please apply the Fairy Tail Guild Mark stickers."
"The order for the matchup draw has also been determined."
"First up—Loke versus Warren!"
"Go Loke! Go!"
The scene showed a completely one-sided situation, with Loke's female fans overwhelmingly outnumbering Warren's supporters.
"First, we'll use Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who attacks first."
"Oh? Loke played Rock, while Warren played Paper! Warren attacks first!"
Freed cheered Warren on from the sidelines. "Warren, focus, concentrate! You can do it!"
Amid the cheers from the audience, Warren slapped down hard.
SMACK!
"Ah~ didn't succeed!"
"Hiss~" Loke couldn't even maintain his composure, every moment filled with tension.
"Loke! Loke! Loke!"
Loke exhaled deeply and gently kissed his card for luck.
"Hit!"
"But it didn't flip over!" The card on the ground lifted at one corner but failed to turn over completely.
"It's okay! It's okay!"
"Oh?!"
"It flipped over! Contestant Warren succeeds!"
Warren eliminated Loke.
After Max entered the match for Team H, he successfully turned the tide.
"Contestant Max scores another victory! Two consecutive wins with unstoppable momentum!"
When Nab entered for Team B, he didn't even manage to hit the card properly.
After losing at Rock-Paper-Scissors, he was instantly defeated by Max.
"Ah~ what a pity, Contestant Max didn't succeed this time."
Max used too much force against the next opponent, and his own card ended up bouncing away instead of flipping the target.
"It flipped over! Contestant Juvia with a great success! Successfully turns the match around!"
"The competition returns to equal footing once again!"
"This round, Contestant Juvia attacks first again!"
"Ah, but this time she didn't succeed! Slightly off target!"
"It's fine, it's fine, good attempt," Freed clapped his hands encouragingly.
"It flipped over! This time it's Laki!"
"Scissors! Contestant Freed attacks first!"
Freed continuously adjusted his breathing, exhaled once, then slapped down hard...
FLIP!
"Nice!" Freed clenched his fist and pumped his arm in triumph!
"Now only Contestant Natsu remains for Team H!"
"This round, Natsu attacks first!"
"Ah! That was way off!" Natsu put all his strength into the slap.
As expected, he missed the shot completely, not even grazing the edge of Freed's card due to his reckless force...
"Two consecutive wins! Contestant Freed's spectacular performance!"
"Contestant Freed succeeds again! Congratulations to Team B for advancing to the semifinals!!!"
This time Freed adjusted perfectly and succeeded instantly at lightning speed.
Natsu lost before he could even react.
Natsu was utterly dumbfounded—he felt completely disconnected from the game.
He had just swiped at empty air, and it was over.
HISS—
Steam hissed from the vents around the six-sided platform's perimeter, signaling the end of the match.