Unlike Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, where only Normal Monsters have flavor text about the creature itself while Effect Monsters and others only have usage information, the card I'm holding has its own dedicated information.
To be honest, if there's already information like this, there's no need to buy Konami's lore books. God, I hate Konami… but Yu-Gi-Oh is still good, ngl.
But since this isn't exactly Yu-Gi-Oh, but a mix of Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh with some original elements added in, the whole "Effect" category has been thrown out. Thankfully, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum are still here, though they've been renamed to Alchemist, Dimension, and Yin Yang.
Who the hell came up with these names? They sound neither creative nor cool. Why not just keep the original Yu-Gi-Oh names? We're already stepping on copyright territory anyway — might as well go all the way. Getting sued? Who cares? (As long as it's not N*ntend* suing us, we're good.)
"…Let's see, let's see…" Igor held up the card Fluffy Snowflak3 and read its information.
[Information: A creature that lives in herds. They usually hide under thick layers of snow to avoid detection and consume snow as their source of nourishment. They are the weakest type of monster and are often prey for those near the bottom of the food chain.]
The weakest monster in existence? That sounds kinda depressing…
"Igor, try summoning it," Rook said, standing right beside him.
Hearing that, Igor held the card and channeled his mana into it.
A strange sensation ran through him as his mana touched the card's core, turning it into a connecting thread. Immediately, he could feel the condition of his starting monster.
"I Normal Summon Fluffy Snowflake!" Igor shouted the classic Yu-Gi-Oh line. Right after, the card glowed brightly, and a creature was summoned.
Everyone stared wide-eyed. Even Kaiser looked like a curious child.
"Wuu~"
'…A ball of fluff with two eyes?' everyone thought.
No joke, its appearance was extremely simple, like something a child would draw. It was just a white-and-light-blue fluffball with two eyes. It floated for a moment, then landed on the desk and yawned.
It looked around, spotted Igor, or rather, the fluffy hood of his coat — and flew over to lie on it.
"…It fell asleep," the whole class blinked, watching bubbles come out of its nose.
It seemed Teacher Rook had mentioned that starting monsters represent the summoner's true nature… So does that mean Igor Snowy is the lazy type?
"…" Igor's eye twitched.
How should he put it? This thing behaved exactly like him after getting home from work, eat instant noodles, drink water, and immediately pass out.
It really was a monster that perfectly represented its owner!
"Well done. I'm quite impressed," Rook smiled as he looked at Igor's monster.
"As for the rest of you, stop staring at others and focus on your own work!"
Hearing that, everyone quickly lowered their heads and got back to work.
It seemed that after seeing Igor's monster, they had become far more determined. Some even developed a strong competitive spirit.
'My monster is definitely going to be cuter than that!'
'Don't joke around! Mine has to be cool! Super cool! Cute is worthless!'
As for Kaiser, his competitive spirit… was on another level.
'Hmph. If he can do it, there's no reason I can't. I'll let him take the lead this time, but he better hold onto it. If not, I'll steal that position and become the one at the top! You'd better watch yourself, Igor Snowy!'
'Are you sure you're not Seto Kaiba?' Igor thought seriously.
Igor looked at his Fluffy Snowflake. The name was a bit long, so he shortened it to Fluffy, then gently patted its head.
For some reason, it seemed to really enjoy being patted. Maybe because it liked the cold, and Igor was the perfect person for that?
BOOM!
This time it was Lucas. His clothes were completely charred black again.
"If you blow up three times, I won't give you any more materials. You'll have to go buy them yourself with your credits on Caesar Street."
Hearing that, Lucas panicked.
When he in kindergarten, Lucas was always at the bottom of the class. For someone who let his muscles do all the thinking while his brain took a vacation, this was pure hell.
'This is the last time! A real man like me can't fail a third time! Failure is not allowed!!' Lucas thought, his eyes burning with unyielding determination.
Not long after, Kaiser succeeded.
"White Dragon, I summon you!"
Immediately, a small white dragon — though without the blue eyes — appeared on the desk. It let out a small roar.
'Holy shit, he really is Seto Kaiba??' Igor thought.
"Well done, Kaiser. It really has the aura of a dragon," Rook praised.
Kaiser glanced at Igor and smirked.
…This guy was way too confident. If his dragon also had the Flying type, I would have to worry about his ice-type monster when they eventually faced off.
"Ahuehehehueheh— cough cough!…"
This time it was Mint. She laughed in a voice exactly like Bocchi the Rock. On her desk was a purple octopus.
Hopefully she doesn't have weird tentacle fetishes…
After that, everyone else managed to create their monsters too.
Alice got a black-and-white rabbit with a bow. Alvin got a panda wearing a headband. Lucas, thankfully, succeeded on his final attempt and created a two-handed flame creature.
"Dual type?" Rook evaluated Lucas's monster. "You're quite special, aren't you?"
"Really?!"
"Yes. The Fire and Fighting dual type can deal damage to 7 different types. Most monsters with this combination are excellent at fighting."
"Awesome!!" Lucas grinned happily.
"However, it's weak to 5 types, making it a literal glass cannon. If you're not careful, you'll be defeated instantly."
"Eh?"
Right after saying that, Rook walked away without further explanation, leaving Lucas standing there stunned.
Overall, many students succeeded, but quite a few failed.
Among them was Tryo, who failed three times. His face was pale with disbelief.
"No way…" A scholarly-looking boy stared in shock, clenching his fists as he looked at those who had succeeded.
Oi oi oi, what's with that look? Don't look at us like that. You're giving off major red flag vibes, you know?
"Hmph. So that guy succeeded too. Hard to imagine I have to share the same space with someone like him," Kaiser said with clear disgust as he watched Lucas, who was still struggling to summon his monster.
Why do I feel like these two have a Kaiba-Joey/Jonouichi dynamic? (Hopefully Lucas doesn't play like a gambling addict.)
"Whatever. He might be an idiot, but let's see what he can actually do. Don't judge a book by its cover," Igor said, trying to calm him down.
"Hmph. You don't need to defend him. I can tell at a glance he's a third-rate duelist with a fourth-rate deck. He'll probably just summon a weak, slimy monster and attack directly without any plan," Kaiser said bluntly.
Whoa. He just perfectly summarized Lucas's entire character in one sentence, and in full Kaiba fashion too.
Ding dong~
"Class is over. Today we only had 4 periods since it's the first day. Although some of you didn't seem very serious, I hope you'll be more focused next time. The academy isn't lenient enough to forgive a second offense."
Rook gave a sharp look toward Lucas, Tryo, and a few others, making them shudder.
It was 10:30 AM. The students were finally allowed to go out and rest — they could return to the dorms or do whatever they wanted, as long as they showed up for afternoon classes.
This schedule would be hell for Westerners (probably Americans), but for Asians, it was pretty normal. In fact, it was almost generous.
"Hey hey! Wanna go to Caesar Street?" Lucas asked excitedly as he walked over to Igor.
"No," Kaiser answered immediately.
"I wasn't asking you!" Lucas snapped, pointing at him.
'When did I get dragged into this?' Igor thought, raising an eyebrow but smiling anyway.
"Well… I was planning to go to Caesar Street, but I want to check out Class Arthur first."
"Huh? Why?" Lucas asked, confused. Kaiser pretended not to care, but his ears clearly twitched.
"I want to see someone… How should I put it? A potential rival?" Igor said vaguely.
Yeah, "potential rival" wasn't wrong. The person he wanted to see was the main protagonist — the character the player controls.
Honestly, he had searched hard yesterday but couldn't find any information. He knew the name, but what if it had been changed? And the protagonist's identity was extremely special — a classic shounen trope.
"Potential rival?" Lucas asked, puzzled.
"Just a feeling. You'll understand when you meet them," Igor scratched his head. After all, that person was destined to defeat everyone.
"Hmph. What nonsense. I'm not wasting my time on that."
"So, are you coming or not?"
"Of course I'm coming. We don't have much time, so let's go."
He had already turned into a tsundere. Kids really were easy to handle.
"Where are you three going?" Alvin walked over and asked.
"We're going to spy on the class next door to check out Igor's potential rival!" Lucas announced loudly.
…This kid really can't keep his voice down.
"…" Alvin raised an eyebrow at Igor, as if he thought they were all idiots.
"Ahem, let's go," Igor cleared his throat and started walking. Lucas and Kaiser followed.
The two classrooms weren't far apart, so they arrived quickly.
Igor peeked inside and immediately recognized many familiar faces.
Lucas and Kaiser also squeezed in, annoying Igor, who pushed them back.
'There's Roster and Amila — the protagonist's first friends. And many other names I'm too lazy to list…'
But the most memorable person in Class Arthur was the eternal rival character — the one who would push Kaiser aside to become the true rival the protagonist must face.
Violet Geus Vampeder.
If the protagonist was female, they would be female. If male, they would be male.
Their deck would always be designed to counter the protagonist's deck.
They had a special background, a cold personality, and an extreme thirst for power. Even if you tried your hardest to befriend them, their attitude would basically be: "I don't care about you, but I will defeat you and become the strongest. That will never change."
'And that person is… There they are. That appearance is really… Wait, for real?'
Long purple hair tied in a ponytail, an aura that said "don't come near me," yet stunningly beautiful.
'She's a girl. That means…'
Igor scanned the classroom and smiled when he saw the person holding their starting monster card.
Long white hair reaching the shoulders, golden eyes, wearing a black and gold-accented coat over the uniform.
'She's a girl too. So she really is Aelith — the protagonist of Sage of Bacillus.'
Alright, protagonist confirmed. Time to leave… Hm?
Both Lucas and Kaiser were staring at Aelith. Not with lovestruck eyes, but with a different kind of passion.
The kind of passion you have when you see a worthy opponent you want to defeat.
"She… really is exactly like you described. A potential rival!" Lucas said excitedly.
"…" Kaiser stayed silent, but his eyes burned with intense determination.
These guys…
"Alright, let's go. We've seen what we needed to see," Igor pulled both of them away.
"Wait, Igor! I want to challenge her right now!"
"You haven't even properly summoned your monster yet and you want to challenge her? Are you trying to embarrass our entire Class Charlemagne?" Kaiser sneered.
"What did you say?! Fine! Before I challenge her, I'll challenge you first!!"
"You think you're worthy? Come back in 100 years."
"100 years?! One second is enough!!"
Watching the two argue, Igor could only sigh.
Well, at least having these two as friends would make his future easier. They were both extremely protective of their friends, even if they were a bit extreme about it.
***
Caesar Street.
This was the place where you could buy anything you needed, as long as it was legal and approved by the academy teachers.
Merchants came from all races. Background and social status didn't matter. As long as you had money and they had goods, both sides benefited.
The academy itself didn't have a fixed location. It was like a flying island that stayed in a secret position no one knew about. To reach it, you had to receive an invitation letter certified by the Principal.
Don't worry about how to get one — the Bacillus Academy didn't want bad relations with any country, so they had registration offices in every nation and representatives who could speak directly with the monarchs.
The countries also didn't want trouble, because the strongest mage in humanity was here — someone who could blow an entire country off the map if he wanted.
Thus, Caesar Street, which used to be a marketplace for heroes from all nations, had become even more diverse, just as its creator had hoped.
"Whoa, this place is so lively!" Lucas said excitedly as he looked around.
"Childish," Kaiser said without interest, writing something in his notebook.
"I didn't even say anything to you! Why are you insulting me?!" Lucas snapped.
"I don't know. Looking at you just irritates my eyes from the moment we met."
"You—!!"
"Alright, alright…" Igor stepped in and pushed them apart.
Why can't these two stop for even a second?
The street really was lively. The roads were clean, and the shops ranged from wooden stalls to elegant modern buildings selling uniforms.
He had seen it in the game before, but seeing it with his own eyes in this world was far more impressive.
"Huh?" Lucas, who had been cheerful, noticed many students crowding around something. Most were the same age as them.
"Those are the students who failed to create their starting monsters. Pathetic," Kaiser said.
Igor and Lucas looked at him.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
"What if one of them beats you in the future?"
"Is that a challenge?"
"Uhh… Never mind. I'm going to the bookstore to buy some things to read. See you guys back in class."
"Yeah! See you later!" Lucas said cheerfully. Kaiser didn't reply and just walked into a store.
After splitting up, Igor headed toward an old-looking bookstore covered in moss.
"Phew…"
In the game, this place was just somewhere you could read lore.
But for Igor, who had played through the game multiple times, this place was very special.
Not because it had hidden items or secret spots — it was just an ordinary old bookstore.
Useless in the game, but extremely important now that he was in this world.
He needed knowledge, and this place had the knowledge he needed most.
Using an Ice-type deck was very, very difficult. He knew that well after using it several times.
That's why knowledge was crucial. It could give him the key to success.
"Ugh, back to exam-prep mode again…" Igor rubbed his forehead and became serious.
There were two things he had accidentally read about here while playing the game. Now, those two things were what he wanted to experiment with the most.
The intelligence of monsters and the reason for their intelligence limit.
And… the Theory of Evolution.
*****
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