Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

The ship that Hayato and Chronos were on first arrived at an artificial landmass next to Duel Academy Island. This place was built as a place that combined the functions of a helipad and a dock. It can be said to be the only window for Duel Academy, which was closed to the outside world, to open to the outside world. When Hayato stepped off the ship onto the dock, he found that someone was already waiting for him.

Dressed in a sharp black suit and carrying a heavy briefcase, the man waiting for Hayato and Chronos was dressed like an ordinary office worker. However, his smart attire could not hide his listless demeanor. His slightly sunken eyes revealed his fatigue, and the few visible white hairs in his dark hair made him look much older.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hayato Kobayashi and Mr. Chronos." Upon Hayato and Chronos's arrival, the ordinary office worker instinctively reached for a business card. Realizing he was no longer a company employee, he coughed slightly awkwardly to cover his mistake and introduced himself to the two, "My name is Kira Aoki. I came here specifically to wait for you two after receiving your invitation to visit, and to serve as your guide on Duel Academy Island."

"Ah, I recognize you. You're the champion of the GenX tournament, right?" Chronos seemed to have also followed the GenX tournament in Domino City. He recognized Kira Aoki at a glance, whose attire hadn't changed much since the duel. "That powerful Winged Beast deck was quite impressive."

"My name is Chronos de Medici, and I will likely be a teacher at this school for a long time to come. From now on, we will be colleagues."

Moving his gaze downwards, Chronos noticed a nameplate on the chest of Kira Aoki's suit, bearing the inscription "Kira Aoki: Teacher (Sun God - Yellow)".

Hayato also noticed the words on Kira Aoki's nameplate and said with some surprise, "Even though he's the champion of the GenX tournament, he didn't choose Obelisk-Blue, which is the class of the top students, but rather the middle-tier Sun God-Yellow?"

Hearing Hayato's words, Aoki nodded and patiently said, "For a long time, I have hoped to maintain a peaceful life, not to be obsessed with winning or losing, not to be troubled by worries, and not to create enemies that keep me up at night. This is my attitude towards society, and I know that this is my happiness. However, even when it comes to when I need to be serious, I will not lose to anyone."

"I prefer second or even third place to the most eye-catching first place. To do this, I need to make sure I have the ability to be selected as the head teacher of that dormitory. So I have to take the GenX competition seriously."

Chronos couldn't quite understand Kira Aoki's attitude towards life, but he didn't dismiss or criticize Aoki's values ​​because of it. He just asked with some doubt, "Obelisk-Blue is the dormitory for the top students, while Sun God-Yellow is in the middle tier?"

“It’s normal for you to find it strange, but who told this academy to be founded by Seto Kaiba, who once possessed the [Obelisk the Tormentor]?” Hayato spread his hands and said helplessly, “Don’t even mention putting the [Ra] who should have been the strongest in the middle. If he wanted, he could name the three dormitories 'Jounouchi', 'Third-Rate Duelist', and 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' from lowest to highest, it wouldn’t matter.”

"He ultimately didn't do that, probably because he didn't want others to call themselves students of 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon,' thus sharing this title that he held exclusively."

However, neither Chronos nor Aoki agreed with Hayato's slander of his future boss, or perhaps it was the truth. They had both heard that Seto Kaiba was a very petty person who would always find a way to make things difficult for anyone who offended him, and would even create an opportunity if there wasn't one. This rumor was spread by a user with the ID "Red-Eyes Must Instantly Kill Blue-Eyes" on a Duel Monsters fan forum, and it was presented in a reasonable and highly credible manner.

They can accept leaving the Duel Academy because of their own lack of ability, but they don't want to be expelled for reasons like "walking into the classroom with their left foot first".

Glancing at his watch, Aoki decided to skip the dangerous topic and said, "It's about time. I'll take you both to the academy now."

The island of Duel Academy is quite large. Even though the entire island was not included in the renovation project when Duel Academy was built, and only less than one-fifth of the area was developed for the construction of the academy and its auxiliary buildings, the area is still quite large. Therefore, Aoki could not let Hayato and Chronos walk slowly to the school. Instead, he drove a four-seater car with the two of them. That car was the one Aoki had driven to the dock.

After departing from the dock, you first need to cross a bridge to reach the island. Then you need to cross a road specially built for vehicles in the forest to reach the Duel Academy. However, halfway there, Hayato and Chronos saw that the road branched off into a two-story building on a clearing on the edge of a cliff.

Noticing that the roof of the strangely familiar building was painted red, Hayato guessed, "Could that be Osiris Red's dormitory?"

“Yes, Mr. Hayato, according to Mr. Seto Kaiba’s design, the students of this Duel Academy are divided into three dormitories according to their abilities, and the students of Osiris Red are arranged in the dormitories over there.” Aoki introduced, “Although it looks very simple, the facilities in the Osiris Red dormitory are actually above those of a regular star-rated hotel. Apart from being a multi-person dormitory, it is even better than the environment of most ordinary people’s homes. It’s just that it seems a little simple compared to the other two dormitories.”

"Mr. Seto Kaiba believes that external conditions can motivate people to strive for improvement."

Hayato nodded: "That's true. Kaiba is qualified to say that. After all, his previous circumstances were only slightly better than a beggar's. He earned his current status through his own hard work."

Thinking back to his high school dorm, where even the air conditioner wasn't installed until almost graduation, perfectly fitting the rule that "good things in school only appear after graduation," Hayato suddenly felt that Osiris-Red's conditions weren't so bad after all.

After passing the bend leading to the Osiris-Red Dormitory, another fork appeared at the next bend, leading to a lake on Duel Academy Island. However, more attractive than sightseeing was the main entrance to Duel Academy, which could be seen along the straight road. After stopping the car at the entrance, Aoki led Hayato and Chronos through the long road leading to the main gate of Duel Academy.

On both sides of the road stand stone cones that serve as decorations. The cones are flattened and each of the four sides is carved with a relief of a different dueling monster. Each cone is different, featuring powerful monsters such as Baby Dragon, Captain Charging into Battle, Dark Knight Gaia, and Dark Magician.

"This is the Duel Academy. I really look forward to seeing how many outstanding students will graduate from here in the future," Chronos said with genuine anticipation, looking at the towering main building of the Duel Academy.

"Duel Academy is different from ordinary universities. It no longer requires students to study foreign languages ​​and mathematics. Although these courses are still offered, they are elective courses that interested students can take and are not included in the assessment. The most important courses for students of Duel Academy are dueling theory and dueling practice."

After entering the Duel Academy, Aoki led Hayato and Chronos toward the principal's office, saying that the principal would handle Chronos's inauguration there. As they passed several empty classrooms, he explained to them, "In addition, the teachers at the Duel Academy can also create interest courses for students to choose from based on their personal preferences. These empty classrooms are for the teachers to decorate freely for these interest courses."

"For example, Professor Hugo Daitokuji, the head of Osiris Red's dormitory, offers a course on 'alchemy' because the ancient 'alchemy' is very similar to 'fusion' in Duel Monsters. Students can learn by analogy and master the use of 'fusion' more proficiently."

Hayato wasn't surprised that Duel Academy would offer a course like "Alchemy," which seemed completely unrelated to Duel Monsters. In the original story, Daitokuji actually did offer such a course, and quite a few people attended. The key point was that his alchemy theories were actually quite helpful for Fusion Summoning in Duel Monsters—even though he himself never used Fusion Summoning.

Hayato, at the same time, became curious: "So, does that mean that opening extracurricular classes also requires the principal's approval? And Mr. Aoki, what courses do you offer?"

“As we all know, drawing cards is a very important process in Duel Monsters, which can directly affect the course of the duel. And the most basic thing for drawing cards is your hands,” Aoki said seriously. “So I’m going to open a course on hand care, so that students will know how to protect their palms, relieve finger fatigue, and keep their skin smooth.”

"It fits my stereotype about your surname perfectly," Hayato remarked, adding, "It's really a wonder that Principal Samejima would approve these strange applications."

“Samejima, Principal? You mean Mr. Samejima Iemitsu? Isn’t he…” Aoki was puzzled by Hayato’s words, but then he remembered a special instruction he received when he received a message from Seto Kaiba, and suddenly he understood. He didn’t continue speaking, but changed his words, “No, I remembered wrong. Mr. Samejima is indeed the principal.”

Although he found Aoki's reaction a bit strange, Hayato didn't think too much about it. Instead, he followed Aoki and Chronos to the top floor of the Duel Academy, where the principal's office was located. On the corridor leading to the principal's office, Hayato happened to run into an old acquaintance—Samejima Iemitsu, whom he had just mentioned.

"Yo, Samejima Teacher, it's been a long time." Hayato greeted Samejima, who was wearing a baseball cap, then corrected himself, "No, now I should call you Principal Samejima, right?"

Hayato didn't find it strange that Samejima Iemitsu wasn't in the principal's office but in the corridor. What if he was just going to the restroom? There was no need to delve into such questions.

Upon seeing Hayato, Samejima adjusted his hat and replied, "Long time no see, Hayato. I heard you recommended me to Mr. Seto Kaiba for the position of principal? Hahaha, you've certainly found me an interesting job."

As he said this, Samejima turned to the side, and only the words "Principal" were visible on the nameplate on his chest. Although Hayato felt that the length of the nameplate was a bit strange, he didn't pay much attention to it.

As they spoke, Samejima opened the door to the principal's office and stood at the doorway, gesturing for Hayato and the others to come inside. Aoki and Chronos glanced at Hayato and waited for him to go first.

Hayato nonchalantly walked into the principal's office first, saying as he went, "The principal of the Duel Academy, that's a very heavy responsibility."

“Indeed, this is a very important position, so it’s not appropriate for someone who isn’t capable to fill it.” As Hayato walked into the principal’s office, Samejima and Aoki stopped Chronos from following them in and gently closed the door. Hayato was unaware of what the people behind him were doing.

"Mr. Samejima, don't you feel any remorse for lying to Mr. Hayato like this?" Aoki asked in a low voice, while Samejima waved his hand, "How did I lie? Isn't the vice principal the principal?"

Pulling back the collar that was covering the nameplate, the word "Deputy" appeared before the word "Principal" on Samejima's nameplate.

Inside the principal's office, before Hayato could even turn around to look at the people behind him, a huge screen in the principal's office suddenly lit up, revealing an image of Kaiba sitting in his office.

A few minutes later, Hayato's angry voice came from inside the office: "Seth, you tricked me!"

Chapter 1031 Duel Academy Faculty

"It's getting cold, Anige, put this yellow robe on."

Holding a small strip of cloth, [Disruption·Yellow] tried to inquire about Hayato's well-being, only to be flicked away by Hayato with a flick of his finger: "It's only May, are you trying to kill me with heat, you bastard!"

Sitting in the swivel chair in the principal's office, Hayato leaned back and said unhappily, "I petitioned Kaiba to withdraw his appointment as principal of the Duel Academy, and Kaiba has already replied. He can't believe it!"

"That bastard must be jealous of my freedom to travel around and have money without doing any work, so he deliberately rejected my request." Hayato said, pointing to Aleister, who was sitting at a coffee table not far away, studying the donuts on the table. "Scumbag, I order you to go and get his head and bring it to me."

"Who's the scumbag?!" Alai complained. "Master, are you even thinking straight?"

"I'll disobey Ani's orders too!" [Disruption Yellow], which had been flicked away by Hayato's finger, climbed back onto Hayato's desk and shouted, before being gently pushed off the desk by Hayato and falling off again.

"Tsk, how did I end up as the principal of Duel Academy out of nowhere? That Kaiba guy even played the 'act first, report later' trick, pretending that Samejima was already the principal while secretly using my name to recruit students." Hayato tapped his fingers on the table, complaining unhappily. "After finding out I was coming to Duel Academy, he even organized a visit for parents to the school. He's clearly trying to kill off my position as principal."

"In that case, Lord Hero, let's kill the Seahorse Group and seize the Bird Throne from Seto Kaiba!" [The Temple's Water Warrior] immediately suggested to Hayato, her words full of excitement, though it was unclear what she was so excited about.

“Good strategy, but I’d like to make a slight modification.” Hayato leaned back tactically. “If I appoint you as the head of the Kaiba Group, then we can become the owners of the Kaiba Group effortlessly by just dealing with you.”

"That's great! Let's get started, Master." The Dragon Girl Butler, who was serving Hayato a glass of Pepsi in a stemmed glass, said impatiently, "The situation is urgent. Let's take down the Temple's Water Scourge as soon as possible. We've been waiting for this moment for ages."

Hayato had only said it casually, but judging from the attitude of the [Dragon Girl Butler], it seemed that she had long planned to eliminate dissidents. Seeing her sharpening her knife and coming towards her, the [Temple's Water Scout] immediately changed her expression and said, "Hahaha, I say the Hero is right. Since things have come to this, why don't we eat first?"

“Kami-kami.” “Agreed!” The miniature [Turtle Kaibun - Kamesiere] on Hayato’s desk and the little blue turtle caring for the turtle agreed in unison.

To others, the large principal's office might seem like a place where only Hayato sits at his desk, bored and talking to himself like a madman. But to those who can see the card sprites, the office is filled with sprites, almost like an amusement park.

From the veterans like the Disruptive Brothers and Gaia, who were liberated by Hayato the most... I mean, the ones who accompanied Hayato the longest, to the younger ones like Midrash and Mizuki, who joined relatively late, Hayato treated these spirits, who had always been confined to cards, as if they were in his own home, allowing them to leave the cards and roam freely.

Although he complained to Alai and the others that he didn't want to accept the position of principal, Hayato's behavior showed that he had already treated the principal's office as his own territory. However, although he was 100% prepared to take responsibility for the students' growth, Hayato still needed one more 1%. Just one more 1% and he could fully accept the position of principal.

Just then, the office phone rang. Hayato pressed the answer button, and Samejima's face appeared in front of him as a virtual projection.

"Yo, good afternoon, Vice Principal Samejima."

Seeing Hayato's resentful expression, Samejima casually shrugged and said, "Are you still bothered by the fact that we kept it from you and made you the principal of Duel Academy, Hayato? Don't be so petty. We were just following orders from the founder of Duel Academy, Seto Kaiba."

“I’ll settle the score with Kaiba for scheming against me, but Samejima, you’ve disappointed me so much.” Hayato said with a pained expression. “In my memory, you were such a kind and honest person, but you’ve actually learned to lie, and you even lied to me to shirk such a good position as the principal of the Duel Academy.”

"The position of principal of the Duel Academy is indeed very good, but I think the more capable the person sitting in this position is, the greater the help they will be to the Duel Academy, right? In that case, besides you, Hayato, is there a more suitable candidate?" Samejima said seriously, "With great power comes great responsibility."

"The last person to say that has already become a monument, and the number of those who have become monuments is almost the same as the number of four hundred old ladies in the multiverse," Hayato argued. "Even if the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, the more things there are to do, and the more things there are, the smaller the ability becomes. So the greater the ability, the smaller the ability becomes."

While rambling on, Hayato sighed and said, "However, since I've become the principal, there's no way around it; I can only try my best to be a good principal. Although the Duel Monsters Academy is the first of its kind in the world, everything is difficult at the beginning, in the middle, and in the end. Nurturing the first batch of students is an even greater challenge. But, what can I do? I'm the man who can turn the impossible into the possible."

Hearing Hayato's words, Samejima smiled: "Then, please take care of me from now on, Principal Kobayashi—"

"My first order as principal is that the skirts of all girls' uniforms must not be longer than ten centimeters."

"You'd better actually know how to be a school principal!"

————The dividing line where [Disruption·Yellow], who was thrown back, crawls back————

"I think we should prepare a promotional slogan or something. So that students and parents can clearly understand our school's spirit." Standing in front of the Duel Academy, Hayato said seriously, "Idiot! Trash! Crybaby! Twist! What do you guys think of this?"

"Reporting to the principal, that might get reported for plagiarism, right? We've read 'Harry Potter'." The speaker was Ms. Ayukawa Megumi. Because the Obelisk-Blue dormitory, like the Osiris-Red and Apollo-Yellow dormitories, is currently co-ed and there is no separate girls' dormitory for Obelisk-Blue, she is currently only a health and physical education teacher.

After all, the students who come to the Duel Academy are between 15 and 18 years old. They will inevitably encounter many situations that are unique to puberty and require "health knowledge". It is necessary to offer such a course. At the same time, when Ms. Ayukawa is not teaching, she will stay in the health room, which also serves as a medical room. Students can seek her help for any bumps or bruises.

However, besides teaching health classes, Ms. Ayukawa also serves as a physical education teacher. Despite giving off a gentle, older sister vibe, her athletic ability is actually quite impressive. How impressive? At least a third as good as Jonouchi's! This demonstrates just how good her physical fitness is, and it further proves that the medical profession is full of talented individuals and not to be trifled with.

“I see. How about ‘raising monsters, not ordinary people, and those who dare not cause trouble are mediocre’?” Hayato said again.

Kabayama, the cooking class teacher, complained, "If we use this slogan, people will say we're 'seeking our own death,' right?"

“That makes sense. Then, Professor Kabayama, you should go back and reflect on your actions.”

"Don't make the gender discrimination so obvious, Principal!" Ms. Kabayama complained, muttering something like, "Although I'm usually not very noticeable, I don't want to be noticed in a place like this."

In the original timeline, because there was no GeneX tournament, Aoki was still working as an employee of Kaiba Entertainment Group. The dormitory head of Aoi-Gyo was this Kabayama-sensei. He even tried to lure other students back to Aoi-Gyo with his curry dishes because of his low profile and excessive loneliness.

As for the cooking class teacher, Mr. Kabayama's cooking skills were surprisingly high, even earning praise from Manjoume, who came from a wealthy family. Especially considering that Manjoume was brainwashed by Saiō and only liked white foods such as milk and fried rice made with only egg whites, you can imagine how high his skill level was.

Hayato went to see this teacher, Kabayama, specifically for this reason. After tasting it, he concluded that it was indeed quite delicious, even to the point of being almost like it had been drugged. It's a real pity that Totsuki Culinary Academy doesn't exist in this world, otherwise it would be perfect for him, whose dueling skills are average but whose cooking skills are outstanding, to teach.

Looking around at the teachers, Hayato didn't see Daitokuji, so he asked Aoki, "I remember Mr. Samejima and Professor Chronos went to the dock to meet the PUA people, but where did that Daitokuji guy go?"

"It's not PUA, it's PTA, Parents-Teacher Association." Aoki corrected Hayato's mistake seriously, then looked back at the forest as if gazing into the depths of the jungle. "What Daitokuji-sensei said is that he received a mission from Kagemaru, one of the founders of Duel Academy, to go to the undeveloped back mountain to do something."

"Kagemaru? What is that old guy up to?" Hayato frowned upon hearing Aoki's words. He didn't have a good impression of Kagemaru. If it weren't for the fact that the island needed his assistance in its development, neither Kaiba nor Hayato would want someone like Kagemaru to get involved in the establishment of the Duel Academy.

However, Kagemaru showed considerable sincerity in the cooperation. Not only was the island handled, but also the supplies that the island needed to be replenished regularly, especially medical resources, were provided by Kagemaru's medical company. At the same time, he did not want any power and hardly participated in the management of the school.

This left Hayato and Kaiba with no suitable reason to kick him out. After all, it was free, so why not take it? In the end, all Kagemaru could get was the empty title of one of the founders of the Duel Academy and the powerless position of chairman.

If he had behaved himself normally, Hayato wouldn't have minded. But now, he's deliberately approaching Daitokuji on the eve of the first class's start of school and arranging some secret mission. What is he trying to do?

Thinking this, Hayato was about to leave to see what Daitokuji was doing after receiving Kagemaru's orders when Ayukawa-sensei stopped him in time, saying, "Please wait a moment, Principal. Professor Chronos and Vice Principal Samejima are about to pick up the PTA members who are visiting the school and bring them to the academy."

"So what? Actually, I wouldn't have come down to greet you if those idiots in my office hadn't been playing so noisily." Hayato waved his hand dismissively. "Although the Duel Academy has only just been established, you can start to change your mindset. Our school isn't one of those third-rate academies that's afraid of parental complaints and has fourth-rate teachers. Since I'm the principal of the Duel Academy, it's destined that only those parents will have to be mindful of our attitude."

After making his assertive declaration, Hayato added, "Besides, didn't Mr. Samejima say that 'the vice principal is also the principal'? I heard that clearly in my office yesterday. I'll have him handle the reception for me then."

"The reason given later is your true thought, Principal, isn't it?" Mr. Kabayama complained. Hayato immediately gave him a thumbs up. "You got it right, Mr. Kabayama. Your perfect attendance bonus for this month is gone."

"No way!" Mr. Kabayama's face fell instantly, his mustache twitching as if he had taken Hayato's words seriously and was genuinely afraid of losing his full attendance bonus for the month.

Megumi Ayukawa seemed to want to say something more, but Hayato had already gone off on his own along a path through the forest toward the Obelisk-Blue dormitory located in the forest, from where the fastest way to reach the back mountain was.

“Mr. Hayato may sound like he’s joking, but he’s serious,” Kira Aoki suddenly said, drawing Ayukawa Megumi’s attention. “Even though he was tricked by Mr. Kaiba Seto into becoming the principal of Duel Academy, he seems to be prepared to train the students of Duel Academy into excellent duelists, and that’s his only goal. He doesn’t care about or pay attention to things like PTA.”

"This reflects his focus as the principal and his confidence as the Duel King."

Megumi Ayukawa nodded as if she understood, and looked at Aoki, saying, "Kira-sensei, you understand Principal Kobayashi very well."

"What I want is a peaceful, plant-like life that is neither too ecstatic nor too deeply despairing. For this, I am willing to endure the troublesome control of my boss, but without the so-called PTA, the feeling of being able to unleash my true nature would allow me to live a more peaceful, comfortable, and happier life."