"Well, most of you have probably heard about it."
In the Duel Club, all the new members were gathered together, and that very senior upperclassman was standing at the front giving a speech.
"Yes, the Duel Club holds newcomer duels every year. On one hand, it's to help new members adapt to the dueling environment faster, and on the other hand, it makes it easier for everyone to quickly become comrades.
The club's competition this year is roughly scheduled for two weeks later, so everyone still has time to adjust their deck builds."
Before long, Yugen felt quite a few gazes gathering on him from around.
And they weren't exactly friendly gazes.
"Um... Senior, does everyone really have to participate?" someone asked.
"Of course, what's the point of joining the Duel Club if you're not willing to duel?"
"Ah~"
Some students let out wails, especially the students from the Yellow dorm, whose expressions were as if their parents had died.
Impossible? Another newcomer exchange meeting?
We already freaking exchanged, couldn't we not exchange anymore?
Just thinking about the possibility of being matched up again with that legendary "Person" in the Yellow dorm made them instantly feel a chill down their spines.
Speaking of which, they would have to be confined together with that person in this school for the next three years, during which time they would inevitably have to duel him countless times.
They immediately felt like their future was a dark and gloomy expanse.
"Then that's all for today, you can all disperse." The senior upperclassman said with a smile, "However, the Duel Club encourages everyone to duel at any time. Members here today can also have a simple round of sparring to get to know each other."
"Senior! I suddenly remembered that I left the kettle heating when I left, I have to go back quickly!"
"Me too!"
"..."
In a moment, more than half the people had run off.
"This year's newcomers are really uninteresting."
The senior upperclassman crossed her arms and pouted.
Then she saw Yugen walk up to her, smiling as he said, "Senior, you see there aren't many people left now, sparring doesn't look like it's going to happen. How about it? Let's have a friendly match, one duel?"
The senior upperclassman took a deep breath.
"Ah, sorry, junior, I also suddenly remembered that I haven't taken in the blankets I hung out to dry, I have to go first today, you guys take your time, hahaha."
Saying that, she turned and ran off as if the soles of her feet were greased.
Unable to find anyone to duel, Yugen shrugged, not really caring.
It was fine, in fact, quite a few people had come to the Duel Club to duel him these past two days. It's just that most opponents were one-time deals; anyone who dueled him didn't seem happy enough to come for a second time.
For some reason, he vaguely felt that it was somewhat similar to the situation when he first arrived at the Taoist temple...
But the gains were considerable. This week he earned quite a few DP points and also found some interesting cards from the Duel Club's inventory.
For example, one of the relatively outstanding ones was this card.
[Abyss Soldier, Level 4, ATK 1800
Effect: Once per turn, discard 1 WATER monster from your hand to target 1 card on the field; return that target to the hand.]
Although considered a rare card, it wasn't very valuable because the WATER attribute was a relatively neglected attribute and didn't have much market among most duelists.
Regardless, the functionality of this card was definitely worth its price, and after considering it, Yugen temporarily added three copies.
At the same time, a relatively fun initial deck build structure emerged in his mind.
After the evening meal and the short club gathering, Yugen returned to the dorm early. Since arriving on the island, his work and rest schedule had been very regular, consistently going to bed early and waking up early every day. The academy teachers said that duelists also need to maintain a good mental state, and a bad mental state could even affect their performance.
But not long after returning to the dorm tonight, Yugen noticed something.
He vaguely felt something, so he got up and went to the window to check. He immediately saw the Black Luster Soldier spirit had flown out at some unknown time and was hovering outside the window, gazing into the distance at some unknown place with a dazed expression.
This kind of reaction from a spirit was still very rare. Yugen opened the window and asked, "What's wrong?"
"..."
Black Luster Soldier pondered for a moment, then said with some hesitation, "Not sure, but... there's a spirit reaction."
"A spirit, on the island?" Yugen pondered for a moment, "Can you sense the direction?"
Black Luster Soldier nodded.
So Yugen casually put on a coat. "Let's go, let's go take a look."
Leaving the dorm, they walked along the beach towards the dense forest area. The forest seemed to be enveloped in a layer of heavy darkness, weak moonlight filtering through the treetops and scattering on the damp ground, the air filled with the scent of mud and decaying leaves.
The academy island was a magical place. In the original work, it had been mentioned more than once that there were portals leading to the Spirit World—and each time it was still a different dimension. There would also often be spirits suddenly popping out from who knows where as guests, including even the card spirit community's "wife," Dark Magician Girl.
It had been mentioned in the anime that Duel Academy's chosen location itself was one of the places with the closest connection between this dimension and the Spirit World, which to a certain extent explained why there were so many strange encounters within the small academy in just three years. So it wasn't surprising that they might encounter some spirit here.
Fallen leaves rustled underfoot, clear in the silent night, like whispers from the depths of the forest. The dark silhouettes of trees twisted and turned, appearing and disappearing in the shadows, as if every corner of the darkness might at any moment stretch out tentacles to drag passersby into the abyss.
Yugen proceeded along the path and soon reached an old, dilapidated building.
The dim light revealed that it seemed to be a long-abandoned old dorm. The exterior walls were mottled and peeling, revealing the dark brick inside, telling the tale of years gone by. The glass in the windows had long since shattered, leaving only empty frames filled with cobwebs, fluttering in the wind and making a piercing sound.
"This is the abandoned dorm?"
Yugen was taken aback. Rumor had it that many students had disappeared here in the past, including even the one known as "King Fubuki," Tenjoin Fubuki, Asuka's older brother, who was once called one of Duel Academy's two aces alongside Kaiser.
Of course, judging from Fubuki's anime performance, he belonged to the literal meaning of "undefeated myth"—he didn't lack dueling scenes, but he genuinely didn't win a single one, so this reputation of being famous alongside Kaiser was still up for debate.
Close behind him, he heard a rustling sound coming from the direction of the abandoned dorm.
It sounded like someone was nearby.
Marufuji Sho: "Big brother, it's so dark here, it's really scary. How about we still go back?"
"What are you talking about!" Judai was full of energy, "If you retreat at this level, how will you ever scout out any dangers!"
Koala-senpai Hayato: "Well, in the first place, it was Judai who forcibly wanted to drag us along to explore..."
As he was talking, there was a crisp sound of a twig being snapped behind them.
Sho and Hayato hugged each other and screamed, "Mama Mia! It appeared, a ghost!!! "
The flashlight beam quickly shone over. Yugen raised his arm to block it in front of him and calmly said, "Don't be afraid, it's me."
The two of them then calmed down.
Judai: "Oh? It's you."
"Hmm? It's that one from the Yellow dorm recently."
Hayato-senpai had obviously watched a few of Yugen's duels and heard some of the circulating bad rumors, so saying this immediately brought a complicated look to his eyes.
"Ah, if it's student Yugen, then there's nothing to be afraid of." Hayato's back of his head was sweating, he scratched his head and said with a forced laugh, "After all, with student Yugen here, even ghosts will be scared away."
Yugen twitched his lips: "You're exaggerating."
He originally thought that Koala-senpai was a good-natured person, but he didn't expect that he would also join in slandering him.
Although some people would lose their smiles after dueling him, from an overall perspective, Yugen felt that the number of people who gained smiles through his duels was actually greater. Even those who had been defeated by him later seemed extraordinarily happy when they became onlookers.
So, in summary, his duels created more happiness. Some malicious rumors circulating in the academy were purely rumors.
"But what are you guys doing here...?" Yugen sized them up.
"Exploring!" Judai put his hands on his hips and said proudly, "Professor Daitokuji told us about this place, it sounded really interesting!"
Yugen understood.
So that's it, today just happened to be the night in the storyline where Judai and the others encountered that fake "Dark Duelist" Titan.
It was also in the GX story that the first true "Dark Duel" appeared.