Judai Yuki smiled brightly and nodded hard.
"Then let's have the best Duel in history!"
"Nani?!?"
At the top-floor Student Council meeting room of Duel Academy, Professor Chronos de Medici slammed a hand onto the table and shot to his feet. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at everyone else.
"Why do we have to change the candidate, no-ne? For the friendly exchange Duel between Duel Academy and North Academy, would it not be fine to do the same as last year and have Ryo Marufuji represent us again?" As he spoke, he pointed at Ryo Marufuji, who was standing off to the side as an observer. "I strongly demand that Ryo Marufuji go again this year and preserve our main campus winning streak!"
The bald Principal Samejima leaned back in his chair. "But North Academy has already made it clear that this year they are sending a first-year student. If we still send an upperclassman, it will look a little like the older students are bullying the younger ones."
"A first-year student!?" Professor Chronos de Medici cried out in shock.
"Yes," Principal Samejima said with a nod. "For that reason, it would be more appropriate for us to send a first-year student as well this year." As he spoke, he turned to Ryo Marufuji. "What do you think, Marufuji?"
"I do not mind," Ryo Marufuji replied calmly.
Principal Samejima nodded and continued, "Then the question becomes who should be the new representative. Does anyone have any suggestions, or someone they would recommend?"
The teachers looked at each other, and for a moment no one spoke. Then Ryo Marufuji was the first to break the silence. "Judai Yuki."
"Eh!?" Professor Chronos de Medici were the first to react badly.
An underachiever from Osiris Red as the representative? Even Principal Samejima looked surprised, as though he had not expected Ryo Marufuji to take the initiative and recommend Judai Yuki.
Daidouji-sensei leaned back in his chair with his usual smile, gently stroking his beloved cat Pharaoh Atem. "This looks like it is turning into something troublesome." The other teachers also wore strange expressions and began whispering among themselves.
"Judai Yuki? Seriously?" "That does not seem appropriate." Everyone had seen how strong Judai Yuki was, and no teacher doubted his ability in an actual Duel.
But no matter how capable he was, he was still a student from Osiris Red, and in all of history there had never been a case of someone from Osiris Red representing Duel Academy. On top of that, even within Osiris Red, Judai Yuki was famous for being lazy. He failed nearly every class, slept through lessons, never turned in assignments, and skipped school whenever he felt like it, so every teacher saw him as a problem student.
So when his name came up as a candidate, every teacher's first reaction was that something about it felt wrong. "I have dueled him before," Ryo Marufuji said. "I believe he can show us a very interesting Duel."
Do not joke around. Professor Chronos de Medici, who had always supported elite education, looked so furious that his face seemed twisted.
Letting a failing student from Osiris Red represent Duel Academy in a match would be a slap in the face to their elite school. A proposal this absurd should obviously have been rejected on the spot.
"Hm, that is a good idea," Principal Samejima said with a smile and a nod. "Everyone has seen his strength, so having him represent us really is a good choice."
"Nani?!?" Professor Chronos de Medici was stunned.
Principal, please wake up. How is that a good idea? How could a bad student possibly become the representative?
"Then, if there are no other candidates..." Principal Samejima began.
Only then did Professor Chronos de Medici snap back to himself. That was right, the decision had not been finalized yet. As long as there was someone who could contend with that Judai Yuki...
"Then I nominate Yugen Fujiki!" Professor Chronos de Medici said hurriedly.
"Oh? This time it is a student from Yellow Dormitory?" Principal Samejima showed an approving expression. "He is certainly a very special and very strong student as well."
Still, it was unexpected that the two most promising new stars among this year's freshmen were from Osiris Red and Yellow Dormitory. In previous years, the strongest rookie had always come from the top students of Obelisk Blue.
"Exactly. Let the two of them Duel, and whoever wins can represent Duel Academy. What do you think, Principal?" Professor Chronos de Medici said excitedly.
"Hm? Ah, I..." Principal Samejima turned his head to look at Ryo Marufuji. "What do you think, Ryo?"
Even the principal asked for a student's opinion before making the decision, yet none of the teachers present found that strange. That was not only because Ryo Marufuji was Duel Academy's Kaiser Ryo, the publicly acknowledged strongest student representative, but also because everyone there knew he had another hidden identity. He was Principal Samejima's final disciple.
Before coming to Duel Academy, Principal Samejima had once been an instructor at the Cyber Style Duel Dojo. The one who had ultimately inherited his teachings, and the disciple he was proudest of, was Ryo Marufuji.
"Of course, I have no objection either," Ryo Marufuji said with a smile.
And just like that, the matter was settled. During Alchemy Class, Daidouji-sensei announced the school's decision for the first time. Yugen and Judai Yuki would Duel to decide who would earn the spot in the representative match, and the time was set for this weekend.
Both people involved had already heard about it in advance, so neither of them was surprised. Even so, Judai Yuki was extremely excited, and it seemed he had been looking forward to this Duel ever since enrolling.
Yugen, on the other hand, remained calm and went about his usual routine during the week. The scale of his Alchemy Laboratory had continued to expand, with many new hands joining and even teachers from the research institute moving in.
The department had also been divided into modules, and several teams were developing projects based on the directions he had proposed. There had also been some new results recently.
The main focus was on the two cards he had acquired earlier from Kaiba Corporation. One of them was the card the president had often used in the past, Crush Card Virus.
To be honest, Yugen was not very comfortable using the anime-original version of Crush Card Virus. It looked impressive to blow up every monster with 1500 or more ATK in the opponent's Deck, but it required a battle Destroy to trigger and also carried the risk of helping the opponent fill their graveyard.
By comparison, he still preferred the older real-card version of Crush Card Virus after it had been printed. Trap Card, Crush Card Virus.
Effect: Tribute a DARK Monster with 1000 or less ATK on your field, then Destroy all monsters with 1500 or more ATK in your opponent's hand, on their field, and in the cards they draw over the next three turns. (real-card effect) This version had also remained a permanently banned card for many years back then, and it was only released after 2015 when its effect text was weakened and revised.
But even before that, Crush Card Virus had a specialized higher-tier Deck built around it, and for a time it had left a noticeable mark on the environment. Yugen had already started building around it.
The other card he had gotten from Seto Kaiba was even more interesting. Its original version was the card Seto Kaiba had used in the famous sky arena Duel against Yami Yugi.