After meeting the mentors and students, Youyu gave them a week to consider things in detail.
Based on Youyu's memory of the original plot and his impression of Linked World 2.0 from his past life, the first real major disaster in the GX chapter should have been the riots of the Three Phantasm.
Besides Kaiba, another major sponsor of Duel Academy is the elderly President Kagemaru, who is now a decrepit old man reliant on mechanical devices to sustain life.
He is determined to obtain the power of the Three Phantasms to reclaim his youth and extend his life, using their energy to rejuvenate his body.
To achieve this, he bribed seven Dark Duelists from various fields with money and dark powers, known as the "Seven Stars," to challenge the academy's teachers and students. This was the first real threat faced by the youths in GX.
But that should occur in the latter half of the semester. Meanwhile, during the entire first semester, Yuki Judai and his friends mostly enjoyed some cheerful daily activities. Occasionally, they might inadvertently get involved in a minor Dark Duel, but it was just child's play.
Indeed, these first few days since the start of the term have followed this pattern.
During this time, Youyu specially invited Judai to his office for a chat, expressing concern about the students' living conditions and mental state—even though the latter was likely unnecessary.
Judai was filled with anticipation for his new academy life and enthusiastic about the next three years. He chattered to Youyu about his experiences and encounters as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube, excitedly remarking, "Youyu sensei, you really should've been there to see it."
Youyu learned that in just a few days, Judai had already engaged in "friendly" exchanges through card battles with many students from the academy. Remarkably, Judai hadn't lost a single match so far.
Although Professor Chronos knew this jellyfish-headed underachiever was Youyu's student and didn't deliberately make things difficult for him like in the original, Judai found a chance this week to duel with Tenjouin Asuka...
...and left a deep impression on her.
Youyu asked meaningfully, "By the way, Judai, what do you think of that student named Asuka... How is she?"
Judai blinked his innocent eyes and earnestly said, "She's great! Her dueling is better than other students'!"
"Hmm... that's it?"
"That's... that's it." Judai scratched his jellyfish head.
"Oh right! Sensei, you should've seen the look on her face when my 'Karma Cut' excluded her ace monster from the game, haha, you were right, dueling is so much fun..."
Youyu: "..."
I damn well taught you to put 'Karma Cut' in your card deck just for you to use it like that?
Karma Cut, a Trap Card. Discard a card from your hand, and remove one face-up monster on your opponent's field from the game.
Seeing his disciple adapt well to his new semester life, Youyu didn't ask further, simply issuing the usual instructions not to run around after lights-out, avoid being late for class, and go to bed early, then let him go.
Of course, he didn't expect Judai to listen. After all, this guy is likely to think with his intestines and things he hears go in one ear and out the other.
If a human brain was likened to a hard disk, then Judai's hard disk might need to be formatted every night...
Youyu originally had a complete plan for this first semester's buffer period. He listed the progress to be made at each stage of every month, setting some educational goals, assessment projects, etc.
He hoped the teachers and students would be prepared before any issues truly descended on the academy.
However, what Youyu overlooked—or rather, couldn't have predicted—was that the Linked World 2.0 version had deviated significantly from its original course due to his sudden rise as the Duel King.
The enemy arrived far faster than he anticipated.
...
On the first day after entering the campus, the academy organized training for the new students.
The new student counselors handed out a thick "Duel Academy Student Rules" book to each of them, repeatedly emphasizing the importance of complying with campus regulations on the island.
Each dormitory manager ensured the students understood some taboos on the island, such as the designated lights-out time, the prohibition against going out after lights-out, and the banned equipment in dorms.
Besides all these matters, the most important point was the prohibition against venturing into the school's forbidden area, no matter what.
Like many schools, which have traditions of circulating "campus bizarre incidents," Duel Academy has similar legends. In the dense forest on the island lies an abandoned school building.
The place, dilapidated for years, has become a gathering area for crows. However, rumors say it was once a base for a student organization, but was abandoned after a student went missing there.
Due to successful message control, to this day, many teachers and students on the island consider it mere folklore. They don't believe anything horrifying ever occurred on the island.
But it was true.
Tenjouin Asuka stood in front of the abandoned school building, wearing fingerless blue gloves over her pale hands, gently laying down a flower before the structure.
It was already after lights-out; lush foliage blocked the stars and moonlight, leaving the forest in almost complete darkness.
The abandoned school building was eerily silent, with the occasional black crow flapping by, landing near a cracked bulb outside the building, emitting dry and ominous cries.
Risking expulsion if discovered, entering the forbidden area shouldn't have been something a model student like Asuka would do.
But it was one of her purposes for applying to this academy.
Among those who went missing at this abandoned school was her brother, Tenjouin Fubuki.
She stood still for a long time until a voice sounded beside her ear.
"Who's there?!" The girl alertly turned around... instinctively raising her Duel Disc.
It's the demeanour a true Duelist should have—activating the Duel Disc when facing danger, which is surely more useful than a gun.
She was certain the sound she heard wasn't some bird or animal but someone moving through the woods, brushing their clothes against bushes.
She soon saw the culprit.
It looked like a man, quite a large man. He had broad shoulders, a square chin, and half of his face was hidden by a white metal mask.
He had a Duel Disc slung across his chest—similar to the one used by Professor Chronos. He was dressed in a wide black robe, his entire body seemingly shrouded in black mist.
Asuka bit her lip: "Who are you? Are you related to the students' disappearance here?"
The corner of the man's mouth slightly curled up.
"Not willing to speak, huh? Then let's duel." Asuka shouted, "If I win, you must... must..."
She realized her vision had somehow become blurry.
A strong feeling of dizziness assaulted her brain, as if draining her mind entirely. She felt the world spinning and momentarily thought she was back in her dormitory, back on her warm bed, her vision darkening, and she fell softly, losing all awareness.
The man looked at the fainted Asuka before him, smirked contemptuously: "Foolish little girl, who wants to duel with you? Heck, appearing in such a place in the middle of the night, nearly ruined my plan..."
Striding purposefully forward to deal with the fainted Asuka, he suddenly heard a lazy voice from behind.
"Taking someone down without even dueling, that's pretty low-grade."
Completely unaware that someone had appeared behind him, the man was startled, quickly and warily turning around.
But when he saw who it was, his apprehension intensified, and he exclaimed in horror.
"You... Duel King!?"
"Hey." Youyu sat atop a broad boulder, waving at him, "Meeting a fan is always delightful."