Necro Gardna, Level 3, ATK 600, DEF 1300. Effect: during the opponent's turn, banish this card from your Graveyard. For that turn, one opponent monster attack can be negated.
This was a famous survival tool of the GX era and needed little explanation. In the later parts of the animation, it saved Judai Yuki so many times it was hard to count, and in the real game it was once restricted due to excessive use.
Electromagnetic Turtle, Level 4, ATK 0, DEF 1800. Effect: during the opponent's Battle Phase, banish this card from your Graveyard. That Battle Phase immediately ends.
This card was even older, a classic survival card from the DM era and once a favorite of Yami Yugi. Its effect was clearly stronger than Necro Gardna, and the only reason it avoided restriction back then was because its physical release came later.
Because he was afraid of getting hurt, he packed his deck full of hand traps and graveyard defenses. In this world, running into life or death cards could happen at any time, so there was no such thing as too many safety tools.
Spending all the credits he had just earned in the first week made Yugen realize how fast credits disappeared once you had them. He immediately set his sights on the next victim, no, the next card friend he planned to get to know.
He treated most other classes casually that week, but he took the Card Draw lessons seriously. After a week, he felt he had gained some understanding, and that confidence made him eager to test it in a real duel.
Then another problem appeared. After the next round of matchups was decided, he wandered around after class at noon and could not find his assigned opponent. He could not tell if it was his imagination, but Yugen felt that every opponent matched against him lacked enthusiasm.
It made no sense. This was Duel Academy, where everyone was supposed to be obsessed with cards, so how could they refuse a duel. Unable to find anyone for the moment, he decided to give up for now, since sooner or later the opponent would have to return to the dorm.
Just after leaving the cafeteria, he bumped into a student who looked very anxious. The other party asked if he was Yugen, then immediately complained that only five freshmen had not voted yet. Yugen froze and asked what vote they were talking about.
The student hurriedly explained it was the annual Academy Lady vote at the start of the school year. Before Yugen could fully react, he was dragged straight to the auditorium.
The hall was already packed with students in red, yellow, and blue uniforms. Several tall and attractive girls stood under the lights on the stage, and the crowd's cheers made Yugen briefly think he had walked into some kind of fan event.
After some explanation from the student council member, he finally understood what was happening. While he had been buried in studying, everyone else had been swept up in the craze of voting for the Academy Lady. He vaguely remembered that this plot existed in the GX manga.
For the past two years, the popular senior Kohinata Seika had won consecutively, but this year her votes were tied with the newly enrolled Asuka Tenjoin. Investigation revealed that there were still students who had not voted, which turned the whole event into a mess centered on a few remaining votes.
At this moment, the atmosphere between Kohinata Seika and Asuka Tenjoin was stiff. The event naturally favored upperclassmen, since freshmen were usually unknown at the start of the year. No one expected a first year student who had only been here a week to catch up so quickly.
What made it worse was that Asuka Tenjoin had not even planned to attend and had been dragged here by her roommates. She suddenly waved her hand and said she would withdraw, explaining that she never wanted to participate and that her name had been submitted without her consent.
Normally, that would have guaranteed Kohinata Seika the win, but her expression immediately changed. Winning like that would make her three consecutive victories look like charity from a freshman.
She immediately refused and accused Asuka Tenjoin of playing tricks. Before Asuka Tenjoin could reply, Yugen cheerfully cut in and commented that it sounded like the senior thought Asuka Tenjoin was very pretty.
The crowd reacted with teasing noises, and Kohinata Seika flushed and hurriedly denied it. Seeing the situation drifting off track, she quickly changed targets and brought up rumors from Middle Division about Asuka Tenjoin.
Asuka Tenjoin replied calmly that they were fabricated stories. She stated clearly that she was a Duelist and only a Duelist, and that she came here for Duel, not for any Academy Lady title.
When Kohinata Seika tried to speak again, Yugen interrupted once more, joking that she must have been paying attention to Asuka Tenjoin for a long time. The crowd reacted again, and Kohinata Seika turned red with anger and shifted her focus to him.
She demanded to know who he was and whether he was Asuka Tenjoin's companion. Asuka Tenjoin replied that they probably did not know each other. The student council member quickly explained that Yugen was one of the five freshmen who had not voted yet.
Kohinata Seika immediately realized how important his vote was. From how he had spoken earlier, she guessed his vote would likely go to the other side.
In truth, Yugen did not care who won. He was just enjoying himself and hoping someone might challenge him to a duel.
Kohinata Seika proposed that Yugen use his vote as a stake and duel her. If she won, the vote would go to her, and if she lost, it would go to Asuka Tenjoin.
Before Yugen could respond, Asuka Tenjoin sharply objected. She said she could not accept having matters related to her decided entirely by someone else.
The student council member nervously suggested that the two girls duel directly, with the winner gaining an extra vote. Kohinata Seika glared at him, clearly unwilling to duel Asuka Tenjoin, whose reputation from Middle Division was well known.
As Kohinata Seika hesitated, Asuka Tenjoin calmly proposed a different solution. She said she wanted to duel Yugen instead, with conditions that favored both outcomes.
Kohinata Seika was stunned, realizing that no matter the result, she would benefit. Just as she was about to agree, Yugen interrupted and said the arrangement was unfair.
He proposed dueling both of them separately, with the vote going to whoever beat him. If he won both duels, he would decide the vote himself, and if he lost both, Asuka Tenjoin would withdraw.
He added that both Duel should also count for credits, with the winner taking five credits from the loser. With duels on the table, Yugen made it clear he wanted to play both matches.
Today was the card game with Seika Kohinata.
Originally, Yugen had planned to test a VWXYZ Deck according to his preset order. After adding the anime-only support cards, he realized that this Deck was actually quite strong. But since there would be two duels in a row, he decided to save that chance for the next Duel with Asuka Tenjoin, which was clearly going to be more valuable.
So the first match would be left to the cheerful machine deck. This time, it was Senior Seika's turn to go first. She seemed to be playing a Warrior setup, and as usual she opened with Pot of Greed to show respect, then normal summoned Warrior Lady of the Wasteland in defense position under anime-only rules, the kind players jokingly call leaving your back to the opponent.
"Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, DEF 1200."
She then activated the Continuous Spell United We Stand, which increased the ATK of all her Warriors by 200 times the number of Warrior and Spellcaster Type monsters she controlled. (ANIME EFFECT) After that, she set one card and ended her turn.