Island on the sea, Duel Academy Headquarters.
After a busy half-day, Principal Jiaodao finally found some temporary leisure. He went to his office, leisurely brewed a cup of tea, and took advantage of this rare break to review the results of this year's entrance exams and some duels he was interested in.
It was unexpected that Professor Chronos personally took part; it was obvious he intentionally made it difficult for that new student with the jellyfish head. But this student named Yuki Judai was indeed formidable, as he managed to topple the academy's highest-ranking practical examiner, holding his own deck, during the entrance evaluation...
Principal Jiaodao took a sip of tea, very satisfied with the outstanding potential demonstrated by Judai.
He naturally looked at the top performer in this year's practical duel. It's said that apart from the subjective open-ended questions, this person scored full marks on the written exam, surpassing the second-place Mitsuzawa Earth, who also had nearly perfect scores; a very impressive performance.
Now, let's take a look at this person's practical performance and card deck construction...
...What on earth is this?
Principal Jiaodao couldn't help scratching his shiny bald head.
He thought he had been in the Dueling Realm for many years, being well-experienced. But he had never seen such a deck construction.
No, if I have to say, when he was young, he once had the privilege to witness, in a Kaiba-hosted invitational tournament, the card deck used by the legendary Duel King Muto Yuugi in his late fame, which seemed somewhat similar to this.
It's said that in his late dueling career, many of the opponents who tried to challenge the Duel King ended up frustrated, with twisted expressions akin to cosplaying Malik from the Duel City era...
...A bit like the unlucky examiner faced in this trial duel.
Yet over the years, the evolution in the dueling world has already proved that this was the Duel King's unique skill, not easily imitated by others. Over the years, mainstream deck construction gradually aligned with the direction guided by Seto Kaiba, and such esoteric skills have become rare since the Duel King retired by sealing his cards.
Unlike traditional professors like Chronos, Principal Jiaodao does not insist that students must study tactical and deck construction strictly according to curriculum standards.
It's just that most students lack the ability to innovate and independently develop. But with his many years of teaching experience, Principal Jiaodao immediately felt that this student named Yugen might just have that ability.
Could it be that this year, the academy has unexpectedly enrolled a student with such a rare talent?
Upon this thought, Principal Jiaodao couldn't help but look a bit expectant.
Looking at Yuki Judai on the roster, then at Fujiki Yugen beside him, the principal leaned back in his chair, leisurely took a sip of tea, and couldn't help but show a gratified smile.
Such a small Duel Academy, this year has unexpectedly enrolled two outstanding talents: the crouching dragon and the young phoenix.
Truly delightful and congratulatory.
...
...
The efficiency at Duel Academy is quite high. Within a few days post-exam, candidates can already check their scores and results, as well as admission information.
As expected, Yugen received his acceptance notice.
Of course, there's still a month before the school starts, so there's no rush to immediately set sail for the island. However, the new batch of freshmen at the academy has completed their registration, and those students who passed are already considered this year's preparatory freshmen.
Yugen, holding his newly acquired student ID information, logged into the Kaiba Company's card query system through the academy's channel. Sure enough, there were more options available for purchasing cards.
However, he quickly scanned through and, for now, noted down those from the existing inventory that he thought might be useful, making a list, and then analyzed each one by one.
Most were cards he thought might be useful but would likely require specific deck construction or combos. Such cards were noted down for further discussion.
The cards he decided to purchase immediately were generally versatile cards that could perform well in most decks, primarily consisting of enjoyable Red Pit cards.
For instance, there's "Cause and Effect Severance," which can discard a card from your hand to send an opponent's monster directly to the Other Dimension, and the timeless old Forbidden Card "Destruction Wheel" that wasn't toned down back then—it can destroy a monster, making both sides take damage equal to that monster's Attack Power, a tool for flipping the table when unable to win, known in the community as the Equalizer Wheel.
Aside from that, he was pleasantly surprised to find some hand traps available in the versatile in-app purchase channel.
As it's often said, "No matter how many you guard against, you can't guard against the hand traps." Unlike trap cards set on the field which are easily anticipated and cleared, hand trap cards, which can be discarded from the hand to activate effects, have been mainstream in Yu-Gi-Oh! since their inception and continue to this day.
Of course, early hand traps weren't as formidable as those in modern times, generally used mainly for defensive purposes to block attacks. The origin naturally traces back to the DM era's mascot, that Chestnut Ball from Yuugi's hand that can nullify battle damage by discarding it.
So when he discovered a Chestnut Ball in the Rare Card column, Yugen bought it immediately without hesitation. He was somewhat surprised that such a rare item hadn't been snatched up.
Then again, it makes sense. Watching the animations, it seemed that duelists were not particularly enthusiastic about these low-starred monsters with weak attack power that could only block an attack once. Even the Chestnut Ball itself derived most of its added value from being the "mascot of the First Generation Duel King," aside from its rarity.
Then he further discovered a section called "Theme Pre-Constructed" in the academy, which featured pre-made decks with specific themes, available for a fixed price as complete sets.
Among them, he even spotted the legendary "Elemental Heroes."
But upon reflection, it seemed natural. In the first episode of GX, Chronos referred to Judai's deck as a "very common Hero Deck," indicating that in that era, Hero Decks were quite common. However, as more new cards for Judai were printed later, Hero Decks gradually moved away from being common...
Every card enthusiast harbors a bit of a hero dream deep down. Since Yugen found himself in the GX era, he curiously queried.
He then swiftly gave up his hero dream.
Monsters included only the infamous Four Deadly Heroes, and the current inventory of Fusion Heroes had just two or three cards, with multiple exclusive accessories for various Deadly Heroes like the Lightning Gun, Feather Scatter, Blast Return, etc...
Each card type was like those Judai only used once in the animation before disappearing, and their meaning seemed questionable.
Glancing through, he found that it was not a deck that an ordinary person could handle. Almost every Magic Trap requires coordination with a specific Mortal Bone hero to use, and even if they were forced together, the suitable scenarios for each combination were too limited, leading to hand-draw accidents that could make one question their life during actual duels.
Thus, Judai's ability to wield these and triumph through most of the Duel Academy in the early stages had already set him leagues ahead of 99% of duelists...
Elemental Heroes were temporarily dismissed. Yugen continued flipping through the list.
Then he discovered that Shou Marufuji's little brother's machine-themed card deck "Kite Robot" series was also included.
His eyes lit up, and he quickly checked the card list in the construction.
Shou Marufuji's Kite Robot deck likewise wasn't a rare deck in the current environment, performing averagely in the physical card environment for years, always lacking competitive capability, deemed as a more marginalized entertainment deck.
But within this deck, there was a card that Shou Marufuji used in the animation, yet even after all these years, Consortium K has never made a physical card for: the Kite Robot.
Yugen's gaze immediately locked onto the particular card in the deck and he didn't hesitate to buy this setup.
The deck's cards cannot be sold separately, they must be purchased as a whole. But no matter, the deck itself wasn't expensive, and in the current environment, even if you had to buy the entire set to get it, the investment was worth it just for that specific card.
The specific card in the deck captivated his attention immediately, causing him to buy this entire structure without hesitation.
Within this current environment, the packaging itself isn't expensive, and in this environment, the package isn't very valuable. However, in the present environment, the investment wasn't wasted.
This card has not been produced as a Physical Card in reality, but appears twice in the animation: it can turn combat damage from a direct attack to zero once if present in the graveyard.
This card has never been physically produced, but historically in the card-playing world, it featured regularly.
Yugen indulged in the thrill of buying, further enhancing his collection. The inventory of cards grew richer, and the variety of card decks became increasingly diverse, although his wallet, only recently filled, was rapidly depleting.
Yugen, immersed in the thrill of buying, boosted his collection with another round. His card inventory became increasingly abundant, offering greater flexibility in deck configurations, but his wallet, which had just filled up, was also rapidly draining.