He stopped and looked up, only to find the well-known passerby of the Yellow Dormitory, or rather, Daichi Misawa. "That was an impressive Duel, worthy of first place," Daichi Misawa greeted him with a smile. "The exchange battles have been going on for a week now, and it seems only the two of us are still undefeated."
"You are strong too," Yugen replied politely, then asked, "So what, are you saying we should try?"
At the same time, he was already thinking about betting a few more credits. Daichi Misawa shook his head instead. "Not yet. We are not scheduled to face each other, and I am not ready. Our match has to be with my strongest Deck, one forged with my blood and soul using Polymerization, and that Deck is not finished."
Yugen raised an eyebrow. The words reminded him that Daichi Misawa was also known for hard counters. In the original story, he had seen through Manjoume's Fire Attribute Deck and pulled out a Water-based one, using Water Dragon to reduce all Fire monsters' ATK to zero and crush him completely.
Against Judai Yuki, he studied and concluded that Elemental Hero Deck without Polymerization was toothless. He even used a sealing spell to ban Judai Yuki's Polymerization Spell Card, forbidding its use for the entire Duel. Yugen sensed something familiar, wondering if this was someone of a similar type to himself.
"Do not worry, first place. It will be soon," Daichi Misawa said with confidence. "You know the first freshman practical assessment is coming up, right?"
Yugen quickly understood. It was the event from early on, where freshmen underwent staged combat tests and were usually matched with dormmates of similar ranking. Without any interference, strong students from the same dorm would likely face each other.
"That is right. We will probably meet in the assessment," Daichi Misawa said with a slight smile. "I heard winning it gives a large amount of credits, so I will not hold back. Let me see it then, first place's Duel."
Yugen felt like he barely heard anything else. The words "a large amount of credits" were all that stuck. What he thought was just a routine assessment now sounded like something he absolutely had to win.
Yuki Kobayashi spent the entire day walking with his head lowered. He got up early to avoid the morning rush and left the dorm, and he did not dare enter the cafeteria at all. Lunch was handled with bread from the campus shop, and even in class he kept his hood up and slipped in with the largest group of students.
As soon as the bell rang, he lowered his head and ran. The reason was simple, because his next opponent in the Dorm Exchange Tournament had been matched to that man. The man who had earned the title of the Big Bad across the entire Yellow Dormitory in just one week.
Matching with anyone else usually meant losing one Duel and missing out on one or two credits. This man was different, and rumors said that after one match with him you would spend the whole night unable to sleep. Worse stories claimed he could kill your interest in Duel outright and make you think maybe cards were not for you after all.
So whenever a student checked the system and saw that name, their face fell at once. Others in the dorm would see it and understand, then shake their heads or laugh quietly and pat the poor soul on the shoulder. They would tell him to stay strong.
Yuki felt his movements all day had been careful, with no mistakes. He had perfectly avoided that terrifying Big Bad. He knew hiding for a day meant nothing, but when facing something that scary, instinct took over.
At least the day seemed to end safely. When everything was finally over, Yuki's tight nerves relaxed. He planned to return to the dorm, take a hot shower, and watch something to unwind.
Then he froze.
At the stairwell he had to pass to reach his room, the Big Bad was leaning there. He was smiling brightly and waving at him.
"Yuki, right?" Yugen said cheerfully. "Did you forget we have a Duel scheduled?"
Yuki wanted to cry. He wanted to say you have the wrong person, but the other side had already opened a Duel Disk.
"Don't worry, it won't take long," Yugen said with a smile. "Come on."
Yuki: "."
"."
"'Dimensional Prison', send your monster to another dimension!"
"Machina Submarine attacks directly!"
"Twin Bike Mech attacks directly!"
"."
Yugen had not lied, because it really ended fast. Ten minutes later, Yuki was sprawled flat on the ground, eyes unfocused and face blank. He seemed to have fallen hard, and the Deck from his Duel Disk scattered across the floor.
A passerby who did not know the situation might think he had just lost a Shadow Duel. Another person had been sent to the Underworld.JPG (Malik Limited Edition).
"Ah, one more Duel before bed feels great," Yugen said as he stretched. He politely said goodbye to his card partner.
"It was a good Duel. Good night, Yuki, and sweet dreams."
Yuki: "."
Dorm head Professor Kabayama happened to pass by and saw the scene. He hesitated for a long time, not knowing what to say. He had started this event so freshmen could interact and get along.
But looking at this trend, everyone getting beaten into one group did not seem impossible. He could not really criticize it either, because this student named Yugen was clearly taking every Duel seriously and had a perfect record. It had only been a week, and he wondered what the Yellow Dormitory would look like by the end of the year.
The second week brought a new class on the schedule, one that Yugen found very interesting. It was Alchemy Class. When he heard the name, he first thought of things like human transmutation and equivalent exchange from a famous animation, but alchemy did exist in Yu-Gi-Oh! as well.
The teacher was the dorm head of Osiris Red. Early on, he looked like the laziest and weakest teacher in all of Duel Academy, always timid and unimpressive. Later arcs revealed him as a hidden boss, and some fans even believed that if he had not held back to guide Judai Yuki, an early version of Judai Yuki could not have beaten him.
Those were only theories, but there was no doubt he was one of the hidden strongest figures. His alchemy had reached an unreal level, and the setting said he survived a fatal illness by creating a new body and moving his soul into it. Even after losing to Judai Yuki in a Shadow Duel and having his body decay, he continued on as a soul inside his cat and traveled with Judai Yuki until the end.
What Yugen cared about was alchemy itself. Other students thought this teacher was just killing time, but Yugen knew better. Alchemy was rumored to grant immortality, and in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! everything was tied to cards.
It even touched on the field of printing cards. The strongest card he made in the original story was the Philosopher's Stone given to Judai Yuki, which could pay half your Life Points to add any card from your Deck to your hand. It could be used three times in a single turn.
Unlimited searching with a one for three trade was basically a guaranteed win. Its only flaw was that it worked for just one Duel before breaking. That alone proved the value of alchemy.
So Yugen listened with full focus. Most of the classroom was half asleep, but he did not miss a single word and kept taking notes. The subject was unpopular, and it might have been the first time the teacher saw a student listen so closely.
Before the bell, the teacher glanced his way a few times. Yugen noticed and returned a warm, bright smile. The teacher paused, then smiled back in his usual simple manner.
The bell rang. The teacher narrowed his eyes, packed his materials, and left with his cat. The cat's name seemed to be Yugen Fujiki.
He remembered this student. A boy with such a sunny smile looked like a good kid.