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Several days later.
"Excuse me, has anyone seen student Tetsuya?"
Yuugen began searching for his opponent for the next round of the exchange battles.
Currently, his record in the exchange matches was undefeated, and he had gained immense joy from every duel in each round. Being able to have fun while cultivating – Yuugen felt his current learning state was quite ideal.
However, he now encountered a small problem: he couldn't seem to find his next opponent.
After asking around for quite some time, a kind passerby finally said, "Ah, you mean Tetsuya? I think I saw him go up to the rooftop earlier..."
Yuugen thanked them and immediately rushed to the rooftop.
Sure enough, he found student Tetsuya hidden quite cleverly in a small corner of the rooftop.
"Student Tetsuya, finally found you," Yuugen chuckled. "I'm Yuugen. We're opponents this round, right? You didn't forget, did you?"
The moment student Tetsuya on the rooftop saw him, his whole body jolted. For a moment, he just wanted to burst into tears. Remember, remember, of course I remember! he thought. Why the hell else do you think I'm hiding in a place like this...?
"Then let's have a fun duel together," Yuugen chuckled, activating his Duel Disk.
Tetsuya sullenly nodded and reluctantly activated his Duel Disk as well.
"Duel!" x2
"..."
"Activate 'Confiscation', look at the opponent's hand and choose one card to return to the Deck!"
"..."
"Trap Card 'Trap Dustshoot'! If the opponent has 4 or more cards in their hand, look at their hand and choose 1 Monster Card to return to the Deck!"
"..."
"Trap Card 'Drop Off'! During the opponent's Standby Phase... skip their next Draw Phase!" (Note: The original text mentions (Time Seal), but the effect described matches "Drop Off" more closely in TCG/OCG context, especially skipping the next draw phase. Assuming "Drop Off" or a similar effect is intended.)
"Equip 'Magical Marionette' with 'Guardian's Power', then attack the opponent directly with Magical Marionette! And at this moment, Guardian's Power increases Magical Marionette's ATK..."
"..."
A few minutes later.
Student Tetsuya gazed blankly at the sky, beginning to contemplate why humans live, and why, when full and bored, one must duel with a dog.
He also began to ponder whether the path of dueling was unsuitable for him, whether he should consider dropping out and finding a regular job...
Meanwhile, Yuugen, having finished his business, deactivated his Duel Disk, reaped his daily dose of happiness, and left the rooftop feeling satisfied.
On the same day, another student from the Yellow Dorm, after completing their own round of the freshman exchange duel, opened their student terminal to check their opponent for the next round.
When the name "Fujiki Yuugen" appeared on the screen, this person's facial muscles instantly twitched. They blankly looked up at the companions beside them.
"...I'm paired against 'Him'."
The several people beside him, who had been chatting and laughing, couldn't help but pause upon hearing this. The atmosphere froze for a few seconds. Immediately after, they put away their smiles, adopted mournful expressions, patted his shoulder, and shook their heads regretfully.
Their reaction was as if saying, Such a young lad, what a pity...
"..."
Having been enrolled for only a few days, yet already earning quite a few extra credits and enjoying the fun of dueling, Yuugen was in high spirits. He felt his performance in the exchange matches should be considered quite successful; after the first day, everyone in the entire Yellow Dorm probably recognized him.
Becoming the most famous person in the entire dorm in just one day – could anyone else achieve that?
However, recently, some strange phenomena had gradually started appearing among the Yellow Dorm students.
It was said that some people began to develop an inexplicable aversion to bicycles. Some students even let out incomprehensible screams when suddenly encountering a bicycle around a corner at night, shouting things like "Don't come near me!"...
"..."
Today was also the first official day of classes at the Academy.
Yuugen had little interest in the other classes offered so far. During class, he basically fiddled with and researched his existing card inventory, contemplating how else to optimize and adjust it. He was still learning and adapting to the deck-building methods of the anime world; many habits cultivated over years were hard to change in a short time.
The class he paid most attention to on the first day was the afternoon's Draw Practice class.
In the original work, the most representative character who honed their Destiny Draw through training was the Obelisk Blue student, Damon. This person spent a year in seclusion in the mountains living like a hermit, claiming to have realized that the true essence of drawing cards was hidden within the laws of nature.
After a year of training, his Destiny Draw reached a fantastical level. He even specifically built a Draw Deck entirely reliant on draw tactics, making people think for a time that he had reached the level of the King – "calling whatever card he needed." He could even tell exactly what card his opponent drew.
However, it was later discovered that he couldn't completely control what he drew; he could only foresee the next card he was about to draw. After his battle with Jaden, it was proven that acquired training ultimately couldn't surpass innate 'Destiny Draw dogs'; his level was still a step below Jaden's.
But he at least proved that practicing drawing cards was indeed effective.
"..."
"Every draw a duelist makes is sacred."
The teacher responsible for practical instruction stood with hands clasped behind his back, pacing back and forth on the training ground.
"Every draw is a deep communication with one's own Deck. Every draw is opening up the future."
"The most important thing is to stabilize your own 'momentum'."
"Powerful duelists use their 'momentum' to overwhelm their opponents. And what a true duelist must achieve is to maintain their own 'momentum' no matter how immense the pressure they face during a duel."
"If you can't even maintain your own rhythm and pace, the Deck will not respond to you. In that case, before the duel even begins, it's equivalent to already having lost."
"..."
The teacher said quite a lot, but ultimately, it all boiled down to one word: practice.
No amount of experience or technique can replace practice.
To this end, the teacher recommended some specific deck builds summarized by the Academy, most suitable for practice. Students were required to draw specific combinations from these decks within the fewest possible draws. The builds were categorized by difficulty into Beginner, Intermediate, and Elite stages.
"This is just the first stage," the teacher said.
"Our goal for the first semester is only to complete the 'Beginner' trial. Those who progress faster or have higher aptitude might be able to challenge the 'Elite' build in the second semester."
"The 'Elite' build requires consistently drawing the specified combination from a forty-card deck to be considered passed."
"And this is just practice against the wall; it's still different from actual combat. In the next semester's stage, we will begin strengthening training to perform normally even under the suppression of an opponent's 'momentum'..."
"Success!"
While the teacher was still speaking, a student with jellyfish-like hair in the back row excitedly jumped up.
"'Elite' challenge isn't that hard either, teacher!" The jellyfish-haired student chuckled happily, revealing the five cards he had drawn in one go. "I succeeded on the first try!"
Teacher: "???"
The teacher adjusted the glasses that had nearly slipped off his nose, looking incredulously at the smug jellyfish-head who was flashing a V-sign at the surrounding students.
Completed the Elite challenge directly in the first class? And on the first try?
What is this? Innate Card Body or something?
Ah, this...
How about you teach this class, Teacher, and I'll listen?