That's right!
The K language is just that magical!
So magical that even the rules weave in its wonders!
The rules only specified that a Blue-Eyes White Dragon destroyed by battle would revive immediately.
But if destroyed by effect, banished, or removed by any non-battle means, it wouldn't come back!
The rest of the class, realizing this, couldn't help but marvel.
This was a Duel Alliance test, alright—playing tricks with the rules themselves.
Anyone fixated on battle destruction would fall into the test's trap and score poorly.
Some students, who weren't first to duel, felt secretly relieved. Thanks to Kito Saku going first and finding the solution to the five Blue-Eyes White Dragon monsters, they now had a strategy.
Those testing later could just pick Dark Hole or Raigeki to wipe out the dragons.
Otherwise, they'd have no clue how to handle endlessly reviving Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards.
With the obstacle cleared, the next step was to maximize ATK or attack frequency to deal massive damage.
That said, some students, now aware of the strategy, wore cold expressions.
If everyone knew the trick, decks with weaker ATK would be at a disadvantage, and the test rankings would become unpredictable. Who knew if the next duelist might be a dark horse, surging to the top?
"We owe Kito Saku a big thank you! I'm chill now."
"Yeah, the test got easier. No wonder Teacher Akai said it's simple."
"But, hold up—didn't you notice Akai-sensei's keeping score? Battle damage might not be the only factor!"
"Whatever, I know how to pass the test now! Who cares about first place? As long as I'm not last!"
The classroom buzzed with faction-like discussions—some strategizing for high burst damage, others debating if damage was the sole scoring metric.
Meanwhile, Kito Saku, still dueling, ended up equipping Dark Magician with Megamorph, boosting its ATK to 5000.
With the teacher-student combo attack, he dealt 7000 damage.
Not quite 8000, but the close number made the student who'd vowed to "call anyone dealing 8000 daddy" break out in a cold sweat.
If 8000 seemed impossible before, it sure didn't now.
"Next! Sui Tantan."
Reiji Akai didn't comment, instead calling the next student to the dueling room.
Sui Tantan used a WATER deck, but her tactic mirrored others' predictions: Dark Hole to clear the Blue-Eyes White Dragon monsters, followed by a barrage of attacks.
Her battle damage barely hit 6000.
"Next! Kuristo!"
"Next! Shiraki Akino!"
"Next! Nagatashi!"
"Next…"
For the rest of the session, students called for testing followed a formula to handle the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards, only differing in the monsters used to deal damage.
This made Reiji Akai's expression darken, a detail some sharp-eyed students noticed. But it was the easiest, most direct solution, so they stuck with it, knowingly or not.
Asuka rubbed her temples, her hopes for the test now resting on the remaining students.
Her gaze drifted to Ryo Nakamuta, lounging carelessly by the window in the back row.
Could he find a different way to break through?
"Next, Ryo Nakamuta."
It was time!
Asuka jolted when she heard Ryo's name.
The entire class turned their eyes to him in unison.
"My turn already?"
"Alright, let's get this over with quick."
Ryo Nakamuta stretched lazily and walked to the dueling room under everyone's stares, ready for his test.
Reiji Akai, having reviewed Ryo's dueling profile, perked up with interest.
Top freshman, using Red-Eyes and Cyber Dragon decks?
Skilled at combo plays, even pulling off an infinite loop?
"Good, begin your test."
"Yes, Akai-sensei."
Ryo Nakamuta activated his duel disk, inserting a thick deck that looked absurdly large—one glance showed it was maxed out at 60 cards!
Reiji Akai frowned, puzzled by Ryo's deck construction.
What kind of skilled duelist runs a 60-card deck?
What was this guy up to?
A trust-fund kid, maybe?
"My turn starts! I activate this spell card! Graceful Charity!"
"With its effect, when my deck has more cards than my opponent's, I can activate it!"
"I send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard until my deck size matches my opponent's."
"Since the robot's deck has 0 cards…"
"So…"
"I mill my entire deck!"
"All of it! To the graveyard!!!"
Thud!
Numb!
Completely numb!
The entire class, even Reiji Akai, nearly fell off their chairs!
They stared, dumbfounded, as Ryo Nakamuta sent his entire deck straight to the graveyard in one go.
What?! What was this?!
What was Ryo Nakamuta trying to pull?
He milled his deck?
Was he insane, or were they?
Milling the deck sent all his resources to the graveyard!
What about searching? Wasn't that useless now?
"He's lost it! He's crazy! Sending all his deck resources to the graveyard—I've never seen anyone play like this!"
"So what's the class prez's strategy?
Graveyard tactics?"
"Wait, it might actually work! Maybe he's stacking graveyard resources for multi-attack combos?"
"Uh, but I saw his milled deck—it's all monster cards! Not a single spell or trap!"
"…"
Amid the chatter, sharp-eyed students pointed out the strangest part of Ryo's move.
The cards sent to the graveyard flashed by one after another, but not one was a spell or trap.
Red-Eyes monsters, Cyber Dragon monsters, all in the graveyard.
Just no spells or traps.
The 55-card graveyard alone screamed how many deck-building taboos he'd broken!
No spell cards, no trap cards!
Was this even a deck?
And Ryo Nakamuta was using this for the duel test?
This was what baffled Reiji Akai most!
Milling the deck was one thing—maybe he planned to use graveyard resources.
But milling 55 cards, all monsters, what was that about?
What was Ryo Nakamuta trying to do?
Could it be…
The key spell or trap cards…
Were all in his five-card hand?!