Of course, that was only Yugen's personal guess for now. In the field of God Draw, he had only just begun to gain some understanding, and there was still much for him to learn.
"Of course that's how it is!"
Judai Yuki was extremely confident in his own theory. He patted Daiyama Hei on the shoulder and said with a grin, "Yugen thinks so too, right?"
Yugen paused. "Does he?"
"See? He thinks so too," Judai Yuki said seriously to Daiyama Hei. Yugen stayed silent. Fine, let it be that way.
Judai Yuki, as long as you're happy.
Somewhere unknown, cold metal walls sealed away an endless darkness, swallowing every trace of light that tried to enter. Under the pale glow, the walls and ceiling looked dim, and now and then a sharp edge flashed with a chill gleam. In that darkness, three pairs of icy eyes lit up.
"The time is about right," one of the shadows said. Another shadow beside him asked in a low voice, "Was that Father's order, Alpha?" The shadow called Alpha nodded. "Two days from now. The target is Duel Academy."
"So we're finally moving," said the third shadow, a much larger figure, his voice full of irritation. "But the target is actually Duel Academy? Tch. I finally come out for a job, and the opponents are just students. Boring."
The shadow beside him asked, "Then Gamma, what kind of opponent would satisfy you?" The tall figure lifted his chin. "Of course the legendary Duel King, that hateful Yugi Muto."
The other two looked at him as if he were an idiot. But the large figure called Gamma still stood proudly with his chest out. "My reason for existing is to reach the top of all Duelists. If I do not Duel the strongest, then none of it means anything."
"That hateful Yugi Muto, who knows where he's hiding now. Sooner or later, Student Council should drag him out to face me." The other two ignored his self-indulgent speech completely. Alpha turned to the third shadow and spoke in a low voice. "Beta, this is the first mission Father has personally handed to us. It is extremely important."
"We have two targets. You know that, right?" Beta nodded. "Of course. The data has already been received." After a pause, he added with some confusion, "I understand the primary target. But the secondary one, that Duelist called 'Yugen Fujiki'... he seems to be just a first-year student at Duel Academy?"
"Do not underestimate him just because he is a student," Alpha said. "If Father values him, then he must have something special. We do not need to understand Father's motives. We only need to obey." He paused, then added seriously, "Also, if you face the secondary target, be very careful. The data shows that his Duel style is unusual. He is skilled at Ojamaing his opponent's mind and interfering with their brain, making them unable to perform normally and even act strangely during a Duel."
The large man Gamma suddenly cut in again. "Hah. Just cheap tricks. Mind Ojamaing, brain interference, that sort of thing is useless against me." The other two brightened at once and turned toward him. "Oh? Do you actually have a good counter for him?"
Gamma lifted his chin proudly. "If I do not have a brain at all, then how is he supposed to Ojama me? How is he supposed to deal with that?" The other two fell silent. For a brief moment, the room went quiet, as if Silence itself were their way of admitting that he somehow had a point.
Gamma continued with complete confidence. "A Duel only needs ninety-nine percent strength and one percent thinking. If you have enough power, then no matter what crooked trick the other side uses, you can crush straight through it." The other two chose to ignore him again.
Beta said, "I still do not understand why Father insisted on sending this defective product with us." Alpha coughed lightly. "We do not need to understand Father's intentions. Since he did it, he must have his reasons." By then, Gamma was already standing there with his arms folded, letting out a long string of booming laughter. After a beat, Alpha added, "Probably."
Cultural Festival was one of the most important events of the first half of the new school year at Duel Academy. When Yugen first heard the term, it sounded unfamiliar, and he had instinctively assumed it was probably another event tied to Duel culture. But the moment he arrived and saw it in person, he understood that this was really a grand celebration centered on food.
The air was filled with the smell of cooking, with the smoke of grilled meat mixing into the sweetness of desserts. Colorful flags fluttered overhead, and ribbons swayed in the breeze, giving the whole place a festive atmosphere. From early morning on, students in the three colored uniforms had packed the grounds until they were bursting with people.
Besides food, the surrounding stalls were filled with all kinds of goods. There were handmade Dark Magician trinkets, cute Dark Magician Girl keychains, and finely detailed Blue-Eyes White Dragon models. After wandering through the festival crowd for a while, Yugen quickly spotted a familiar face.
Daichi Misawa seemed to be lecturing someone else from Yellow Dormitory. When Yugen drew closer, he realized the other person looked familiar too. If he remembered right, that guy was called... Kagurazaka?
Right, Kagurazaka, the one from the anime who stole a copy of Yugi Muto's Deck. Daichi Misawa's opinion of him was that he was unusually gifted, skilled at copying other Duelists' tactics and even personalities, and able to use any Deck smoothly once he got his hands on it. It was a very rare kind of talent.
Yugen felt that assessment was accurate enough. Yugi Muto's pile was the kind of Deck that looked cobbled together from all sorts of messy systems, the sort of thing only a highly advanced master could handle properly. Yet after stealing that Deck, Kagurazaka had actually played it convincingly without bricking the entire time. That really was a gift.
If there was one flaw, it might be that he never seemed able to win. It was strange. Kagurazaka could pick up almost any Deck and avoid bricking, but that seemed to be the limit of his talent.
He had even lost while using a powerful Deck like Professor Chronos de Medici's Ancient Gear. Losing would have been one thing, but he had lost to Sho Marufuji, which really felt like one of the world's unsolved mysteries. "So that is what I have been saying, Kagurazaka. Even if I share my build with you, it will not mean anything," Daichi Misawa said with a pained expression.
"A Duelist's Deck is strong because they put their own effort into choosing and building it. Your ability to imitate and learn is first-rate, but when it comes to real matches, you hold yourself back at every turn. Doesn't that already prove where the problem is?" Daichi Misawa did not seem to notice Yugen nearby, and he happened to use him as an example.
"Look at Yugen, for example. His strength is obvious to everyone. I hate to admit it, but he really is far stronger than me, the top student of Yellow Dormitory." He paused, then continued, "What makes him strong is that he never walks the road others have already walked. He can always Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning his own path. Even I cannot compare."