Hall Master Takeuchi fell silent. He pondered for several seconds, then put his hands on his hips and lifted his chin. "That just means I happened to think the same as student Yugen. Strong Duelist naturally make similar card choices. That's perfectly normal."
The students said nothing.
Yugen got up very early the next day.
He took the already packed Luggage, several models of Duel Disk, multiple completed Deck, and a backup side Deck that had expanded to over a hundred cards. After checking everything one last time, he headed out with a calm pace. There was nothing left to prepare.
He boarded the freshman-only plane specially sent by Duel Academy and flew toward the legendary destination for new students, the island where Duel Academy was located.
It had to be said that the Duel Academy funded by Seto Kaiba was truly extravagant. The island was enormous, so large that in the second year of the anime, when Judai Yuki returned with the Neos Deck, he got lost on Duel Academy Island for several days without finding the school. Looking across the entire series, the island also hid ancient Ruins, secret research facilities, and many other structures.
Even though it was called a school, it clearly covered an area at least the size of a small town.
As the plane approached, Yugen looked through the window at the isolated island below. From above, he took in the shape of the island, the dense green forest, and the massive volcanic crater at the rear, all of which felt strangely familiar. It was as if he had seen this view somewhere else before.
A spark of realization flashed through Yugen's mind.
Wait a second, this aerial view looked a bit like Fire King Island.
Fire King Island was a core Field Spell from a Fire King Deck, but it should not have existed in the GX anime. He had never noticed it before, and only now, personally arriving above Duel Academy, did he realize how similar the island was to the card artwork. The resemblance was almost complete.
It was probably just a coincidence, right?
At nine in the morning, the freshmen gathered in the auditorium to attend the opening ceremony and listen to Principal Samejima's speech.
"Welcome, all you elite Duel duelists."
Principal Samejima stood at the podium, smiling into the microphone.
"You have all opened a very narrow door through your own strength to arrive here."
"Hrnnng… hrnnng…"
Snoring from the front rows drew a wave of sideways glances from nearby students.
Without even looking, Yugen could guess it was Judai Yuki. By the time the principal finished his second sentence, that student was already asleep. To be fair, Yugen genuinely admired this talent.
All freshmen were standing in front of the stage, and Judai Yuki was even positioned close to the front. Ignoring the pressure of facing school leadership and the loud speakers was one thing, but falling asleep while standing was truly a unique skill.
Thump.
This time Judai Yuki seemed to mess up and tilted sideways, falling to the floor with a loud noise. The commotion caught everyone's attention.
Professor Chronos de Medici behind him could not stand it anymore. "The principal is speaking, you know. Are you calcium deficient or something, you failing student?"
"Oh, sorry, sorry." Judai Yuki sat up, grinning as he scratched his head. "Just a tiny mistake."
Professor Chronos de Medici's old face flushed red, going from Pot of Greed straight into something even angrier. Sleeping during the principal's speech was bad enough, but calling it a mistake instead of apologizing properly was even worse.
Just as he was about to explode, Principal Samejima spoke again with a smile. "Well, it is the first day. Don't be angry, Professor Chronos de Medici-sensei. The students have traveled a long way, so some fatigue is understandable."
With that, Professor Chronos de Medici had no choice but to swallow his anger for now.
After standing back up, Judai Yuki actually started nodding off again. For the rest of the speech, Professor Chronos de Medici's gaze never left him.
Yugen suddenly understood a bit why the professor disliked Judai Yuki so much in the early days. A privileged student who skipped lectures, ignored assignments, yet fought extremely well was bound to become a bad example. Even if the methods were harsh, the motivation was not hard to grasp.
After the opening ceremony, the freshmen followed guidance from Duel Academy to receive their uniforms, student IDs, and other items. Upperclassmen volunteers led them through a series of LV Series procedures and then brought them to their respective dorms.
As expected, Yugen received the yellow uniform and student card.
Before arriving on the island, he had briefly wondered if Seto Kaiba would be petty enough to send him to the red dorm just because he beat an AI with Blue-Eyes White Dragon. After all, the chairman was famously narrow-minded, and even now still mocked others over that incident in Battle City involving Blue-Eyes White Dragon. In the end, it seemed the chairman was not quite that bored.
Entering as the absolute top-ranked student, Yugen was naturally assigned to the yellow dorm and marked as an elite candidate with a chance to advance to Obelisk Blue quickly.
If dorm rank were only a title, he would not have cared even if he ranked last. However, higher dorms meant priority card purchases, better cafeterias with better chefs, and top-grade single rooms with superior facilities. Living conditions were simply far more comfortable.
By comparison, the red dorm was small and old, and its cafeteria was disliked by almost everyone except the strangely resilient Judai Yuki. Staying there would have been a real pain.
The yellow dorm, while not as luxurious as Obelisk Blue, still offered single rooms with solid facilities. After seeing his own room, Yugen was quite satisfied.
He moved all the Luggage inside, and the first day quickly passed with simple cleaning and organizing.
Dinner on the first night was also the freshman meet-and-greet for each dorm, and the time to meet their dorm head teacher.
Yugen recalled that in the original story, the head of the Slifer Red was Professor Daitokuji, who seemed unreliable on the surface but was actually a hidden member of the Shadow Duelists and one of Duel Academy's strongest forces. The head of Obelisk Blue was, well, not Greed, but Professor Chronos de Medici, whose presence was always strong.
But who was the head of the yellow dorm?
"."
"Wahaha!"
At the freshman banquet, all students stared in shock at a man wearing a paper bag over his head, with the character for curry written on his chest, striking a heroic pose and laughing loudly.
"I am the Curry Man, your dorm head!"
"Submit to the power of curry!"
The freshmen exchanged confused looks.
This was their dorm head?
For a moment, they could only see confusion in each other's eyes, along with deep concern for their future in this dorm.
Yugen stayed silent.
Now he remembered.
The head of the yellow dorm was Professor Kabayama, a fanatic of curry. Even the Deck he used was a curry Deck, an anime-only set that never received real card versions.