"This is atrocious! Absolutely atrocious!"
Professor Chronos slammed a hand on the conference table.
This was the conference room at the Academy headquarters.
Last night, several students broke into the school's restricted area, the old dormitory where a student disappearance incident had once occurred. This was a major event within the school, and the news quickly caught the high attention of the teachers and leaders.
Early in the morning, the deans of each department and the school leaders were gathered together for an urgent meeting to discuss the issue.
Professor Chronos was the first and most emotional teacher to express his views.
"We have emphasized repeatedly during admission that entry into the school's restricted areas is prohibited! Yet these students turned a deaf ear! It's outrageous!"
He shouted angrily, looking more like the Pot of Greed.
"Expulsion! They must be expelled!"
He was quick to call for expulsion, targeting underperformers of the Red Dormitory at every turn, making him appear somewhat like an antagonist early in the series.
However, Youyu did not dislike this teacher after getting to know him.
The world of duelists is survival of the fittest. Even professional leagues, which do not involve extraordinary powers, are harsh on untalented duelists. Even rising stars like "Caesar" Ryo Marufuji have faced significant setbacks in professional leagues.
Not to mention, if one encounters a Dark Duel, a duelist with insufficient strength or psychological resilience might lose their life.
Therefore, Chronos constantly thinking of expelling underperformers, regardless of his motivations, might not necessarily be bad for them.
"Don't say that, the students have already reflected. Young people are bound to make mistakes sometimes," Principal Samejima said with a smile as usual, "Who hasn't had their youthful days? If it were twenty years ago, I might have done the same."
Chronos protested, "But, Principal..."
"Of course, I'm not saying to just let it go," Samejima waved his hand, "But isn't this the Duel Academy? Solving problems through duels is our academy's tradition and something the founder wanted to see."
Duel Academy does indeed have this tradition. Even during faculty and leadership meetings, they occasionally resort to card decks and Duel Discs to resolve disputes.
Some have voiced concerns that this mode is detrimental to making the right decisions for the academy.
The argument might hold some truth, but the one overseeing Duel Academy happens to be none other than the unparalleled card enthusiast Kaiba Seto.
So it can be anticipated that upon hearing this, Kaiba not only didn't discourage such practices but with a sweep of the hand, had "the one who wins the duel gets to make decisions" directly written into the school rules...
Now it was set. From this point on, as long as Duel King Youyu spoke, hardly anyone would voice opposition...
It's just that since the academy's founding, Youyu rarely appeared on the island, usually only listened in on meetings, and seldom interfered in major decisions.
Principal Samejima thought that perhaps Kaiba felt confident in setting such a seemingly absurd rule because his own Duel King was overseeing the academy. If anyone really proposed an absurd decision, they wouldn't pass Youyu's scrutiny.
"Alright." Since the principal had spoken, Professor Chronos had to relent, "Then I will arrange for duelists to duel these students.
However, Principal, I wish to invite duelists from outside to conduct this test, is that acceptable?"
Principal Samejima glanced at Youyu, who remained silent, seemingly without objections, and nodded, "Agreed."
Chronos felt secretly pleased.
Heh, if we can invite outside duelists, then it's settled. At most, spend a significant amount of money to bring back those legendary duelists to face the students, no worry about getting rid of these troublesome, disobedient underperformers...
To be sure, he confirmed once more: "Then, if the duel is lost, the underperformers must be expelled from school, is that okay?"
Principal Samejima paused, pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke, "Well... Professor Chronos. I heard that the student who proposed this idea was Yuki Judai."
"Yuki... Judai?"
Chronos looked sharply at Youyu and exclaimed, "Mama mia! I didn't know..."
"Despite maybe not having the highest academic performance, Judai's dueling talent is evident; I don't consider him an underperformer," Principal Samejima smiled, "Even Professor Chronos lost to him, didn't you?"
"...That's true, Norne," the professor reluctantly conceded.
"As for Tenjouin Asuka, she's an exemplary student in both conduct and academics, and her appearance in the restricted area was due to personal special reasons," Principal Samejima said.
"Understood. Then apart from Judai and Asuka, the underperformers will take the test..."
Upon hearing this, Youyu couldn't help but think—
—Oh good, you kicked both Judai and Asuka away, clearly leaving Xiang and Kurogawa to fend for themselves?
Without them, the real underperformers would be sitting ducks, wouldn't they?
It's a bit pitiful. These roommates were clearly incited by Judai to break the rules, and now Judai is unscathed, while they face expulsion...
Does having a solid background mean doing whatever you like?
In that case, wouldn't that make him, Youyu, a backdoor black force?
Just as Youyu was about to voice his objection, a familiar and cold voice abruptly resonated.
"I have said that Duel Academy's matters should be decided by strength, meaning everyone must be treated equally."
The voice came from the large screen at the end of the conference room. All turned to look and saw President Kaiba appearing on the screen, face stern, expression cold.
The audience gasped collectively.
The Legendary Duelist, one of the behind-the-scenes founders of the academy, Kaiba Seto!
His sudden appearance was clearly ignoring everyone else in the conference room, his gaze fixing intently on Youyu, the message conveyed crystal clear—
—Yes, today I'm specifically targeting you, You↗yu↓!
"Yuki Judai, huh?" Kaiba said icily, "I heard he performed exceptionally well in the entrance exam? Interesting. This student must take the test, and it must be against the strongest opponent.
If he cannot pass, there's no need for him to stay at the academy."
As he spoke, his eyes never left Youyu.
Youyu was speechless.
President, how long have you been lurking in the monitoring room listening to us? Are you that free?
You never showed such concern for Judai's academic life in the original series. How did our Judai deserve such personal attention from the President?
The conference room fell into an eerie silence. All the leaders, professors, even Principal Samejima didn't dare breathe loudly.
It's a joke; when these two deities clash, everyone would rather hide than speak up. Who dares to voice anything at such a critical juncture?
Collateral damage from gods clashing would be inevitable, offending either one of them could make future survival at the academy—or maybe even in the entire Duel World—impossible.
The tension in the air thickened, seemingly about to unleash a divine battle...
"Sure thing." Youyu slowly broke the silence, "I have no objections."
Even if Kaiba hadn't popped up, he had originally planned for Judai to participate in the assessment.
"Hmph."
Seeing Youyu not arguing with him seemed to bore Kaiba, who snorted and disconnected the video link, vanishing from the screen.
The leaders in the conference room finally breathed a sigh of relief. Chronos even pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat beads off his forehead.
"That was close, I thought I was about to get fried, Norne..."