September arrived quietly, ushering in a new semester as a luxurious cruise ship sailed through the waves, filled with young men and women longing for Duel Academy.
The freshmen landed on the island at ten in the morning, welcomed by perhaps the most grandiose banquet of the year.
Mainly funded by the Kaiba Group, the academy generously showcased its financial prowess. The academy prepared a sumptuous lunch for the students in a splendid grand hall, with an extravagantly long dining table laden with dishes from around the world, as if the academy had gathered top chefs proficient in international cuisines.
The leadership, headed by Principal Samejima, took turns giving speeches, expressing great expectations for the students. However, Principal Samejima may not have the eloquence of Kaiba; his lengthy speech left students either dozing off or focusing all their attention on the upcoming feast.
However, when Youyu stepped onto the podium, the students' enthusiasm was immediately ignited. Some students even jumped up, waving frantically, creating a scene somewhat akin to a star's concert.
After all, many came because of the reputation of having the "Duel King" at the helm, which is why this school is the undisputed No.1 academy worldwide.
Before landing on the island, freshmen had already completed most of the formalities, but there were still plenty of tasks to handle on their first day at the academy. The kids were busy all day, first receiving their Duel Discs and corresponding school uniforms, then heading to the convenience store to purchase living essentials.
The store manager was Auntie Tome, a plump, full-figured lady (let's just call it full-figured). She wore round glasses with a kind appearance, well-loved by the school's faculty and students.
However, this amicable lady gave many freshmen a psychological shadow today.
Driven by the "beautiful idea of leaving freshmen with wonderful memories," Auntie Tome dressed in her cherished "Dark Magician Girl" cosplay costume today...
Although it might sound a bit impolite to say, the impact of her Dark Magician Girl costume was indeed astonishing. Many newcomers shopping for essentials spat blood on the spot, some even felt the urge to blind themselves...
Adding to the awkwardness, as Auntie Tome was at the cash register, a certain part of the Dark Magician Girl costume suddenly burst with a "rip" sound. Auntie Tome turned her head in bewilderment, muttering, "That's strange, it fit perfectly fine last year..."
Poor Marufuji Shou, the new little brother Judai met on his way to enrollment, happened to witness this scene at the store, receiving a critical hit, leaving him in a bad state.
Marufuji Shou enrolled in the same class as Judai, stubbornly recognizing him as his big brother due to his impressive performance in the entrance exam.
Coming out of the store, Shou had a vacant expression, robotically muttering "my Dark Magician Girl" over and over, as though he had been broken.
"Shou, what's wrong?" Judai asked with concern.
Marufuji Shou looked up at the nonchalant Judai, sighed, and shook his head gently.
"Big bro, you must have never seen the real Dark Magician Girl, have you? You wouldn't understand. I just lost the biggest dream of my life."
Judai thought to himself, I've not only seen her, but I've also played with her. You might not believe it, but she once held me when I was a kid...
That was when Judai first awakened to his ability to see spirits. One day, young Judai suddenly tugged on Youyu's sleeve, saying, "Teacher, teacher, I see a bunch of ghosts around you..."
However, seeing his little brother Marufuji Shou so downcast, Judai instinctively felt that telling him might be too big of a blow. Plus, Youyu had warned him not to go around telling people he was his disciple, so Judai kept silent.
On the first day of enrollment, freshmen were busy settling in, and the day quickly passed.
It's worth mentioning that the Osiris Red Dormitory here wasn't as dilapidated as in the original work.
Thanks to Youyu—and the real Three Egyptian Gods—the Osiris, Obelisk, and Ra dormitories no longer had a hierarchy, simply representing different styles, like three different departments in a school.
Therefore, in theory, the dormitory conditions would naturally be similar.
Of course, this is only theoretically speaking.
But in fact, the conditions and facilities of the Osiris Red and Ra Yellow dorms were more or less the same, but compared to these two, the Obelisk Blue dorm was practically a VIP area.
Clearly, this was again President Kaiba's personal touch, but nobody dared to say anything, given how much he invested...
Early the next morning, a few freshmen—and some seniors—received a notice.
The academy informed them they were granted a rare qualification to participate in a "dual selection conference" to choose a special mentor.
This was unprecedented; senior students had never heard of a "dual selection conference." Since the school's founding, the concept of a "mentor" had never been introduced. Outside of classes and exams, students were generally self-managed, relying on personal interest and self-discipline for learning.
The freshmen were told that these mentors were experts among experts, with the sharpest insights and unique understandings in dueling. This made the selected freshmen both excited and anxious on their way.
Marufuji Shou was surprised to find that he was also among the selected students—this made him realize that the selection was probably entirely random, unrelated to grades or skills.
After all, academically or practically, he was definitely at the bottom.
He was surprised to see that the blond girl who made the biggest impression on everyone during enrollment, Tenjouin Asuka, was also in the group.
"Asuka!" Marufuji Shou greeted enthusiastically.
Asuka noticed him, "You're… Judai's little brother?"
Marufuji Shou's smile became slightly stiff.
Because clearly, Asuka remembered his big brother's name but not his.
"I'm Marufuji Shou," he introduced himself.
Asuka nodded understandingly, then asked, "Isn't Judai coming?"
Marufuji Shou: "..."
Why is every sentence about my big brother?
"Students from Obelisk Blue, students from Osiris Red, and students from Ra Yellow."
The one who suddenly spoke up was the fellow new student Mitsuzawa Daichi.
"Looks like the selection really was random."
Marufuji Shou noticed this new classmate and tried hard to recall: "Ah, you're that... four-function... four-function... calculus?"
Mitsuzawa immediately had a dark look on his face.
"My name is Mitsuzawa Daichi," he said calmly.
Damn, four-function calculation!
"Oh, oh, sorry." Shou scratched his head awkwardly, "I haven't gotten to know everyone yet, but I remember now. I definitely won't forget in the future!"
Marufuji Shou raised a big flag, as if it were flapping in the wind above his head.
The teacher leading them brought them out from the dormitory area to the open ground outside the academy, where his task ended.
The one who emerged from the forest to take over was none other than Youyu.
"Thanks for your hard work." Youyu walked out with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, nodding to the teacher, "I'll take it from here."
The teacher bowed respectfully to him, then backed away.
The group of students exploded in excitement.
"The First Duel King!"
"No way!? I heard from the senior students that he hasn't been seen since admission..."
"Are we the chosen ones!?"
Marufuji Shou's eyes were shining.
At this moment, Shou had no idea why he was chosen, nor what he was about to face.
Marufuji Shou, known as the number one pitfall teammate in GX, how could Youyu let him trouble Judai?
Youyu specially arranged a personal mentor for this kid. Even if he couldn't teach him well, at least he'd keep him too busy and tired to cause trouble.
"Is this real?"
Marufuji Shou soon thought of the big brother he'd just met, Yuki Judai.
Though not very familiar yet, he already knew Judai was a Hero Deck user and a super fan of this First Duel King.
On the first day in the dorm, Judai couldn't stop talking about Youyu, almost wanting to plaster "fanboy" on his forehead.
"If big brother finds out, he'll definitely be super envious, right?" Marufuji Shou thought.
"You... Youyu sir..." a girl in an Obelisk Blue uniform with rose-colored hair greeted shyly.
"Sakura?" Youyu also recognized her, "Whoa, you've grown so much!"
This girl was Izayoi Sakura, who had once played a confusing card game with him during the KC Cup.
As the saying goes, girls change when they grow up; over the years, the little girl had blossomed into a graceful young lady. And at only fifteen, with such impressive development, it was hard not to think of Izayoi Aki from 5DS.
Are excellent genes inherited?
The other students saw them greet each other and couldn't help but feel envious and jealous of the girl.
She actually knows the Duel King!
She must have quite a background!
Youyu led the students into the depths of the forest, and the Duel Academy was getting farther and farther behind them.
The students couldn't help but let their imagination run wild, starting to picture what those "special mentors" they were about to meet would look like.
They began to envision cool and aloof duelists, who didn't smile and were extremely meticulous. Some students even habitually imagined these mentors resembling legendary duelists like Youyu, Yugi, and Kaiba, naturally thinking these experts should look similar.
Of course, at this moment, none of them realized what they were about to encounter.
Following Youyu into the forest, the students vaguely began to hear...
...singing?