Students on the island had priority access to newly released packs and channels to purchase rare cards that were completely unavailable elsewhere, all at heavily discounted prices. Even without considering the facilities and teaching staff, the rare cards and discounts alone were enough to make anyone jealous.
Top performing students could even exchange grades and credits directly for cards, which saved an enormous amount of deck building cost in a world where a single card could be worth a fortune. Graduates from Duel Academy also carried the most respected credentials in the dueling world, gaining priority recommendations whether they aimed for professional play, Kaiba Corporation, or positions at Industrial Illusions.
Scrolling further, Yugen even caught sight of Chaos Sorcerer.
Chaos Sorcerer was a Level 6 monster with 2300 attack that could be Special Summoned by banishing one LIGHT and one DARK monster from the Graveyard. Once per turn, it could also banish one face-up monster on the opponent's field, though it could not attack during the turn that effect was activated.
Because it shared similar summoning conditions and effects with the more famous Chaos Emperor style card, it became a lower tier replacement after that card was banned and earned the nickname "Little Envoy." In the current environment, it was considered top tier power.
In this world, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning was an ultra rare card, with only one known copy owned by Muto Yugi, and another exhibition copy in a replica deck shown in GX. Beyond that, none had ever been seen.
Getting the real one was almost impossible, but being able to buy a Chaos Sorcerer would already be excellent. There were also several other rare cards listed, all hard to find on the open market and priced far below their usual value.
Seeing all this, Yugen took a deep breath.
Decision made.
He would take the entrance exam for Duel Academy first.
If he failed, he would try again.
**
The Starter Deck that came with his transmigration was finally complete. After checking it and confirming there were no issues, Yugen naturally began to feel an itch in his hands. There was no way any card player could finish a deck and not want to test how it performed.
For him, the first choice was obvious. He went straight to the small duel hall that his previous self belonged to, planning to casually find a fellow trainee and enjoy a duel. It was the fastest way to see what this deck could really do.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a crowd of students gathered together, making a lot of noise. "No wonder it's Ken Sato, he actually made it through the promotion!"
Yugen raised an eyebrow and looked over with interest. In the center of the group was a blond guy with a hairstyle that looked like it belonged to someone who played cards well. He sounded modest, but the pride on his face was hard to hide. "Not really, not really, I just got lucky and reached three stars, nothing special, haha."
"Three stars!" "Ken Sato should be the first three star in our hall, right?" "That's insane."
Yugen frowned and searched through his predecessor's memories before he understood what they were talking about. Duelist Star Rating System was an evaluation system created by Kaiba Corporation, which adjusted a duelist's rating in real time based on their recorded results in the company's system. It was the same system that had appeared in the Duel Monsters era of Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Normally, duelist ratings ranged from one star to eight stars, for a total of eight tiers. During the Battle City era, Duel King Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba were both rated at eight stars. Even so, it was clear the system was not completely objective and sometimes carried personal bias.
For example, Katsuya Jonouchi, the man Kaiba mocked as a "third-rate duelist." He was called the third best duelist in the world by Maximillion Pegasus, right after Yugi and Kaiba, yet in Kaiba Corporation's system he had once been rated only two stars, basically an amateur. It was hard to say there was no personal grudge involved.
That was all in the Battle City era, though. Now Katsuya Jonouchi had long since been adjusted to eight stars, the highest tier among ordinary duelists, and was known as a true Legendary Duelist. As for President Seto Kaiba, he very shamelessly adjusted his own rating to ten stars.
Only two ten star duelists existed in the world. One was Seto Kaiba himself, and the other was Yugi Muto, who had already sealed his cards and retired. On one hand, this setting reflected Kaiba's belief that he stood above all active duelists. On the other, it showed that Yugi Muto was the only person he acknowledged as even qualified to stand against him.
Even that was an exaggeration. Everyone knew that President Kaiba had challenged Duel King Yugi Muto countless times, yet had never won once.
As for Yugen's predecessor, his system rating was one star. The bottom of the bottom.
Yugen: (｀ヘ´)
It was obviously because his previous self was both bad and addicted to playing, constantly queuing for matches in arenas under Kaiba Corporation and losing far more than he won. Over time, his rating naturally plunged straight to the lowest point. Normally, if someone wanted to raise their rating, they had to play ranked matches in the arena, but that method seemed to cap out at four stars, after which public tournaments were required.
Only then did he remember that when he had searched the enrollment requirements for Duel Academy, it stated that a duelist had to be at least three stars certified by Kaiba Corporation. In this system, seven and eight stars were either Legendary Duelist or top tier professionals, while most pro duelists sat at six stars, with a few lower tier ones at five. Amateur duelists were mostly clustered at two stars, one star was below average, and three stars already counted as skilled.
So requiring three stars for enrollment was actually a high bar. That was only natural, since dueling education in this world was still in its early stages and there were not many schools. The academy founded by Kaiba stood at the very top, with its quality and massive investment obvious to all. In the GX era, the headmaster even mentioned in his opening speech that admissions were strict, and that every student present was an elite.
"So if I want to get into the academy, I still need to grind rating first," Yugen muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching.
The trainee everyone was crowding around was named Ken Sato, the big brother of this small duel hall. It seemed he had gotten lucky this week and reached three stars, and everyone was congratulating him. Yugen happened to be looking for someone to duel, and after a bit of thought, he decided he might as well challenge the big brother himself.
Although background characters in the anime always looked weak, Yugen knew that real understanding came from actual practice. Without testing it himself, he could not rely on old impressions to judge. It was the perfect chance to see how strong duelists in this world really were.
The duel hall encouraged trainees to challenge each other, and Sato, having just gained rating, was in a great mood. With a challenge presented, there was no reason for him to refuse. Once the others heard there was a duel to watch, they quickly gathered around the dueling area to spectate.
"Seriously? That Yugen is challenging Ken Sato?" "Isn't he only one star? That's just asking to get crushed."