More than half the rest was solid red, and even looking at it through a screen made people uneasy. The examiner beside him was stunned and muttered, "This, this, this, what is this supposed to be?" Emi Ayukawa, who had handled registration at the entrance, leaned over out of curiosity and jumped when she saw the build.
She recalled the polite, well-mannered boy who had looked bright and cheerful when he checked in. Was this really his Deck? It was not that she had any bias against the build itself.
But anyone's first reaction on seeing this Deck would be that the player was not here just to win, but seemed to have a personal grudge against the opponent. Professor Chronos de Medici also fell silent for a moment. According to standard dueling theory, this was clearly a build that did not meet textbook standards.
If a student of Duel Academy submitted something like this as coursework, he would probably fail it without hesitation. Yet when he looked again at Sunglasses Examiner, who had returned to the examiner's seat looking battered, with veins still visible on his forehead, one question mattered more. Did he win or not.
Professor Chronos de Medici thought it over. The examiner had been using an exam-issued Deck, not his own, so it was harder to handle and limited in power. This student clearly had ideas, and his unconventional creativity showed a rather unique kind of talent.
To teachers used to a complete and established dueling system, this still looked like a side path rather than the main road. It was not useless, but compared to orthodox play it was crooked, with limited long-term potential and trouble against truly strong opponents. Even so, as a new entrant, Professor Chronos de Medici was very satisfied with Yugen.
He decided to add Yugen to this year's list of key students to cultivate. After enrollment, he would apply for a spot in the advanced training plan, which meant extra quarterly support to upgrade Deck and higher priority when Rare Card opportunities appeared. He was confident he could use Duel Academy's proper and positive teaching methods to guide this misguided genius back onto the right path.
Next, he watched the exam of this year's second place, the student named Daichi Misawa. After finishing, Professor Chronos de Medici nodded with satisfaction. Daichi Misawa had shown solid strength in the duel and clearly favored calculation and setup to gain advantages.
That was much more normal. Professor Chronos de Medici felt that another promising talent had appeared this year, and his mood improved greatly. At that moment, a staff member hurried over, bent down, and whispered something into his ear.
Professor Chronos de Medici raised an eyebrow. "Hm? Late for the exam? Train delay? What is that candidate's exam number?" "110," the staff member replied. Over a hundred, that was near the bottom.
Professor Chronos de Medici immediately lost interest and waved his hand. "Being late for such an important exam shows he never took it seriously. Our school does not need poor students anyway." A white-haired examiner adjusted his reading glasses and said, "Is that really appropriate, Professor? The exam is not over yet. Shouldn't we still give him a chance?"
"No, no, NO, absolutely not," Professor Chronos de Medici said, waving him off. He already disliked students with numbers over a hundred, and now one had even been late. There was no reason to let it slide.
Just then, his phone rang. Professor Chronos de Medici answered, "Yes? Chancellor, please go ahead." He listened in silence for a while, his expression growing darker.
"Yes, yes, that did happen, a candidate was late. But… mm… all right, yes, Chancellor." He hung up, his face grim. Not only was the student near the bottom in the written test and late for the exam, he was also someone with connections.
He had no idea what background that student had, to make the Chancellor call personally. Authority was authority, and as the head examiner he could not refuse. The Chancellor only said to give the student a chance to take the exam, not that he had to pass.
With that in mind, Professor Chronos de Medici suddenly stood up and snorted. "Fine then. What is that student's name?" "Judai Yuki," an examiner replied. "Good. I will examine this student personally," Professor Chronos de Medici said, flicking his coat with confidence.
The examiners were all shocked. The chief examiner stepping in personally was rare. Someone hurriedly handed him the exam deck case and said, "Please wait, then please select an exam-use Deck."
"I do not need that." Professor Chronos de Medici replied coldly and walked away without looking back. This time, he would use his own Deck, the ultra-rare and famous deck he took pride in, the LV Series Ancient Gear. He would teach this ignorant underachiever how harsh the world could be.
Sunglasses Examiner sat back down at his seat. More than ten minutes had passed, but thinking back on the duel still made him angry. Especially when he recalled how the student had asked before the duel whether an examiner getting angry would affect the grade, the polite face now felt like mockery.
Lost in his frustration, Sunglasses Examiner looked up and saw Professor Chronos de Medici dueling a jellyfish-haired underachiever on the field below. "With the effect of Skyscraper, my Elemental HERO Flame Wingman gains 1000 attack points when facing a monster with higher attack, which lets it surpass your Ancient Gear Golem, Professor!"
"And when Flame Wingman destroys a monster by battle, it deals damage equal to that monster's attack! Go, Flame Shoot!" "Mamma mia!" Professor Chronos de Medici shouted.
A massive explosion rang out, and amid the stunned crowd, Professor Chronos de Medici clutched his head and fell to the ground as his collapsing Ancient Gear Golem crashed into ruins. Professor Chronos de Medici, LP 0. The entire venue was shocked.
The academy's chief professor and head of practical combat had actually lost. He had lost using his legendary Ancient Gear, to a bottom-ranked student. It was not over yet.
That jellyfish-haired underachiever even jumped forward, made a mocking gesture at the professor lying on the ground, and said with a grin, "I won. That was a really fun duel, Professor!" Professor Chronos de Medici had no words.
For some reason, seeing the chief examiner beaten down on the ground made Sunglasses Examiner smile again. He suddenly felt much less angry. Judai Yuki had been right after all.
Dueling really could bring happiness.
On the sea island, Duel Academy Headquarters stood quiet under the afternoon light. After a busy stretch, Principal Samejima finally found a brief moment of free time. He returned to his office, brewed a cup of tea, and used the rare pause to review this year's entrance exam results along with several duels that had caught his interest.
He had not expected Professor Chronos de Medici to step onto the field in person, which made it obvious that someone was deliberately putting pressure on that jellyfish-haired freshman. Yet the student named Judai Yuki proved astonishingly strong, actually defeating the academy's top practical examiner using his own Deck. The outcome alone was enough to raise eyebrows.
Principal Samejima took a sip of tea and felt genuinely pleased with the extraordinary potential shown by Judai Yuki. Such talent appearing right at the entrance exam was rare, and it reassured him about the academy's future. His expression softened as he replayed parts of the duel in his mind.