Daichi Misawa, LP 0.

  With his Life Points reduced to zero, Daichi Misawa lay flat on his back, staring at the arena ceiling as if thinking about life for a long time. He reviewed all the preparation he had done for this Duel over the past few days and wondered whether he had missed something or taken a wrong approach. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that none of that was the real issue.

  If he had to name his biggest mistake, it was probably this: a person should not Duel with a dog.

  Daichi Misawa was not someone who feared defeat. If he lost to Judai Yuki in a Duel, he would feel frustrated, but he would still enjoy the process and quickly prepare new strategies for a rematch. He had not given up on studying harder and winning it back next time, but that was more about his pride and resilience as a Duelist. However, the moment he remembered summoning his ace in a heated clash, only to have his decisive strike land on D.D. Warrior Lady, he felt like he did not want to touch cards for days.

  If he had a choice, he would rather be kicked to death by Elemental HERO Flame Wingman.

  The practical exam continued, but the remaining Duels drew little attention. Even long after the two of them left the field, people were still talking about that match. The freshmen of Yellow Dormitory felt conflicted.

  This Duel had not only decided the absolute king of this year's Yellow Dormitory, it also marked the fall of Daichi Misawa, the last highly anticipated Shadowbane Duelist of the dorm. It was a milestone defeat and a sign that this year's Ra Yellow seemed to be heading further and further into a dark direction.

  For now, not everyone in Obelisk Blue and Osiris Red recognized Yugen. But the freshmen who witnessed the match all wore stunned expressions, even if they did not fully understand what they had seen. They could only think that the ace of Yellow Dormitory this year was terrifyingly strong.

  Yugen himself felt quite satisfied.

  In his view, this was the true legacy of The Winged Dragon of Ra. Everyone knew that back in Duel City, the wielder of The Winged Dragon of Ra had been the legendary senior Marik Ishtar. And how did that man play his cards?

  Was it not all those Lava Golem torture wheel combos from Underworld, along with all kinds of uncomfortable Joyful Funeral? As inheritors of The Winged Dragon of Ra, carrying on that tradition and bringing laughter to others through Duel was only proper.

  After watching the entire match, Principal Samejima nodded in satisfaction. He felt he had judged correctly. Given time, once Yugen graduated from Duel Academy and entered the professional Duel scene, he would surely become a major figure.

  Having just finished watching the Duel, Manjoume also sat back down with a satisfied look. Yes, this was how it should be. He could not stand Yugen Fujiki, but he also would not tolerate him losing so easily to anyone else.

  At that moment, Lackey A whispered, "Boss looks really happy. Even though he lost the exam today."

  Lackey B hushed him. "Keep it down. Don't let him hear."

  Manjoume's smile vanished, and his fists clenched without him noticing.

  "Damn Yugi Muto and Judai," he gritted his teeth. "Unforgivable."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  One was a dog from the Underworld, the other specialized in drawing like one. In his eyes, they were equally hateful. The two lackeys exchanged looks and dared not say more, but both had a feeling their boss's next three years would not be easy.

  When the stage exam ended, Yugen smoothly received a new batch of credits as rewards.

  According to the agreement with Professor Chronos de Medici, once Judai Yuki defeated Manjoume, he could be promoted to Yellow Dormitory ahead of schedule. But Judai Yuki had voluntarily given up the chance.

  "Fiery red. Passionate red. That's my color. How could I give it up?"

  That was how he put it.

  It was not surprising. In the original story, Judai Yuki had many chances to leave Osiris Red, yet he chose to stay. Judai Yuki might be the only truly devoted and eccentric student in the history of Osiris Red.

  Starting the new week, the long awaited card creation course that Genshin Yu had been thinking about finally began.

  Duel Academy was committed to training talent in all areas related to Duel, not just playing cards. In Judai Yuki's first year dorm, Hayato had repeated a year many times with poor grades and eventually gave up the path of a Duelist to become a card designer. So Duel Academy placed great importance on developing these related skills.

  The course naturally started with the basics. The first few classes focused on theory, followed by practical work beginning with copying.

  Before designing new cards, beginners always started with imitation by trying to replicate existing cards. Only after countless repetitions and familiarity with the process could they begin true innovation. Copying was not necessarily easier than creating from scratch.

  Some cards were simple to copy, especially weaker and less useful Spell and Trap Cards, which were often assigned for practice. But the stronger a card was, especially monster cards, the harder it was to replicate. That was why many famous monsters in the world existed as a single copy.

  After the course began, Yugen frequently visited Daidouji-sensei to ask questions about design. It did not take long for him to realize his guess had been right. Although Daidouji-sensei specialized in alchemy, he was also highly skilled in ordinary card design, and the connection between alchemy and card creation might be deeper than he had first revealed.

  Eventually, Daidouji-sensei opened the alchemy lab assigned to him by Duel Academy for Yugen to use. After all, he rarely used it himself. Though he usually slacked off and ignored attendance, no teacher disliked a good student.

  Gradually, he began to mention things that were not normally taught in class. When in a good mood, he would demonstrate techniques personally or stand nearby correcting mistakes while petting a cat.

  At the same time, Yugen never skipped a day of Card Draw training. The more he practiced, however, the more he envied a certain Jellyfish Hair, who had skipped almost every class after the first and never trained, yet still drew better than anyone. It only showed how terrifying Innate Card Affinity could be.

  As for practical dueling, that was another matter. But since coming to Duel Academy, he could clearly feel that in pure Card Draw ability, the students here were elites compared to most Duelist he had faced before. In class drills focused only on drawing rather than strategy, he estimated he ranked only slightly above average among his peers.

  In other words, if everyone used identical low level decks and relied purely on luck, he would probably lose to many of them. Still, it was not a problem. Genshin Yu remained calm and believed that if you were weak, you should practice more.

  He had only been training for a short time and had plenty of room to improve. Recently, Duel Department had been organizing an exchange tournament for new members, which sounded like a good opportunity.

  Since Manjoume had also joined Duel Department, there might even be a second match between them. It would be good practice and a chance to make more friends among the freshmen. There was no way he would miss it.

  "Mm, I think many of you have already heard."

  At the Duel Department, the new members were gathered together, and a tall senior girl stood at the front giving a speech. She looked confident and completely at ease.

  "Yes, every year Duel Department organizes a rookie Duel. On one hand, it helps new members adapt to the competitive environment faster. On the other, it helps everyone become teammates more quickly.

  This year's internal tournament is set for about two weeks from now, so you still have time to adjust your Deck."

  Not long after she finished speaking, Yugen felt many eyes turning toward him. None of them looked friendly.

  "Um, Senior, does everyone have to participate?" someone asked.

  "Of course. You join Duel Department but refuse to Duel? What kind of attitude is that?"