Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Hearing such a three-digit number, Professor Chronos's displeasure became even more apparent: "Number 110? Doesn't this mean they haven't seriously studied the relevant knowledge about Duel Monsters at all? Anyone who has done their homework seriously could at least be within the top 100. It's only because the two principals set such a lenient admission line for the written test that they had such a terrible performance in actual battles."

Recalling the appalling duel fought by the students with numbers beyond 100 at the beginning, Chronos had absolutely no interest in students with such far-off admission numbers and decisively said, "The exams for those beyond 100 ended long ago. The entrance exam process was explained during registration. If we follow the standard procedure, that candidate has indeed missed the exam. That's it, no way."

He decided not to waste time on that late, poor student, lest it ruin the pleasant mood he had just gotten after seeing some outstanding students dueling. But just as Professor Chronos finished speaking, his phone on the table suddenly vibrated, making a distinct noise as it hit the table.

Upon picking it up, Professor Chronos was surprised to find that the screen displayed "Principal's Call." He answered with a puzzled look: "Hello, who is this? Oh, Principal Hayato! What's the matter?"

At the Kameji Card Shop, Hayato, who was sitting with his friends testing the newly developed coloring game "Stars" with Yugi, stepped away after the phone call connected and asked, "Teacher Chronos, how are the students' practical tests going?"

"Well... overall, it's actually not bad. Although the actual performance of those students who ranked at the bottom in the written test was as appalling as ever, even worse than in previous years, there were more students who performed well than last year. For example, a candidate named Kagurazaka actually achieved an OTK using a Dragon deck that imitated Mr. Seto Kaiba, and the first candidate who just finished the 50% discount also performed very well."

Kuronos paused for a moment, "However, there are no outstanding students like last year's Yuo Mogi, let alone the students from the class of Ryo Marufuji the year before last."

“Geniuses are geniuses precisely because they are rare. However, the majority of people are only slightly less talented than geniuses. While our Duel Academy aims to cultivate top duelists who can reach even greater heights, the backbone talent that maintains the Duel Monsters environment is also indispensable.” Hayato’s gaze shifted from Yugi, who was smiling as he put down “Angel of Peace,” and he continued, “Aside from that, have any special circumstances arisen?”

"How did you know, Principal Hayato?" Chronos asked, somewhat surprised. "I just found out myself. One of the examinees was late, and not just once or twice, but almost from the start of the exam to the end. The reason given was that the train was delayed. How could this happen in Domino City, where the Kaiba Group is located? And his exam number was 110."

"Actually, he wasn't lying. The tram was indeed delayed today. A friend of mine almost missed my party. It seems someone committed suicide by the tracks again. That's how it is in Japan, Professor Chronos."

Hayato casually remarked, "But even students with lower grades still passed the written test, and not everyone is good at written tests. Maybe that student has special talent in actual combat."

"Principal, are you talking about intuitive duelists? Those who don't learn any Duel Monster knowledge and just rely on their intuition to duel? I remember there were only one or two so-called intuitive duelists in the professional duelist league a few years ago, but none of them made it to the World Championship," Chronos said. "In the end, guessing your opponent's cards by intuition is just a matter of luck. Even Mr. Joeyichi Katsuya, who won three consecutive World Championships, I remember he was an intuitive duelist at the beginning, and later he also specially trained in Duel Monster knowledge."

Just as Jonouchi was about to take control of the fleet, he suddenly sneezed, feeling as if someone was talking about him, and inexplicably recalled the hellish training that Master Sugoroku Muto had given him before the Duel Kingdom.

“Nothing is absolute, Professor Chronos. Besides, our school's aim is to recruit well-rounded duelists; even the intuitive type might be compatible with the academic type.” Without giving Chronos a chance to refute him, Hayato continued, “Anyway, that's it. Could you please arrange a practical test for that candidate, Professor Chronos? Ciao~”

Hearing Hayato say goodbye in Italian and immediately hang up, Chronos sighed: "As always, you're a man of your word, Principal Hayato. Hmph, but you said you'd let me arrange that late student's practical test, right?"

"In that case, I'll go on stage myself. That would be taking responsibility, and besides, it was you, Principal, who said you wanted me to go."

Having realized the flaw in Hayato's words, Chronos stood up and said to the person next to him, "According to the principal, we will conduct a supplementary assessment for that late student, and I will duel with that student."

As he was speaking, he turned to leave, but was stopped by the other teachers nearby: "Please, please wait a moment, Professor Chronos, you forgot to bring the deck for the assessment."

Six decks were prepared for the practical assessment. Although the strength of each deck was generally not high, they were all at the same level and had different styles. This was to interfere with the candidates' ability to gather information about the decks of the assessors. In professional leagues, information gathering about the opponent's deck is also an important factor affecting the outcome of the game.

However, there will be so many duels in the end. With 120 candidates, each deck will have to go through 20 duels. That's enough for those students who are good at intelligence gathering to know the deck composition of the examiners. That's why the order of the exam is reversed. After all, those students who rank lower can barely pass the written test. It's hard to believe that they have the ability to gather intelligence. After all, to gather intelligence, you first need to know what the intelligence represents. But some poor students can't even name all the types of cards.

Chronos merely glanced at the box containing the test deck that the teacher who had called him was carrying, then turned and continued walking away without looking back, saying, "There's no need for that. I'll use my own deck, Nanonie."

Meanwhile, Misawa Daichi, having just finished his test, returned to the audience and found a seat, quite satisfied with his performance in the duel. He had only just taken the Duel Disk off his wrist to relax for a moment when he heard someone behind him say, "That was really impressive, that combo."

Turning around, he saw a boy with a jellyfish-like hairstyle, brown and light chestnut hair, and a silly grin on his face. Not recognizing the boy, Misawa Daichi didn't reply, only nodding slightly as a response, showing no interest in talking to him.

Then he heard the other person continue, seemingly oblivious, "Maybe he's the third best among the students?"

"Third?" Sanze, who had just turned around, turned back when he heard this, looking at the smiling boy with a puzzled expression.

"Exam admission ticket number 110, Jaden Yuki, please come up to the stage to prepare for the practical test." Just then, a proctor who had replaced Professor Chronos backstage announced the boy's name. Upon hearing his name, Jaden rubbed the tip of his nose with his finger. "Hey, is it my turn? Okay, time to go!"

As he spoke, he turned to leave.

Having left the other person hanging for a moment, Sanze quickly stopped them and asked, "Um, why did you say I was third place?"

"Hmm... because I remember Lightning went to Duel Academy Middle School, and he should have enrolled this year like me. If he weren't here, you would be second." After a pause, Jaden pointed to himself with his thumb and said confidently, "And first place is me."

On the other side of the audience, looking at the extremely spacious dueling arena after the partitions were removed, Professor Chronos, already wearing his special dueling disk and ready to go, and the familiar jellyfish-headed figure standing on the rising platform, Manjoume excitedly leaned on the back of the seat in front of him and stood up, excitedly and expectantly saying, "As expected, you really did show up, Jaden Yuki!"

"Let me see your performance now, after all these years!"

Chapter 1058 The Hero Arrives

Holding the Duel Disk, specially made by the Duel Academy professor, in one hand and slinging it across his chest like a long sword via a disc containing his card deck, Chronos stood ramrod straight like a soldier as he looked at Jaden Yuki who had entered the arena and asked, "Who goes there?"

"Ah, hello invigilators, I am Jaden Yuki, a solo duelist with two and a half years of dueling experience. My hobby is—"

Seeing how formal Chronos was, Jaden stood up straight, saluted Professor Chronos, and introduced himself.

However, when Judai wanted to continue his introduction, Professor Chronos immediately interrupted him, saying, "That's enough for your self-introduction. Knowing your name is enough, Nano-ne."

"Listen up, Jaden, my name is Chronos de Medici, and I am the chief person in charge of the practical combat section of the Duel Academy entrance exam. I will be conducting your practical combat test next."

"Supreme Leader? Wow, what an honor! I'm actually going to duel with you, Professor Chronos? It seems everyone is really looking forward to my performance, right? Hahahaha."

Touching the back of his head, Jaden laughed somewhat embarrassedly, completely ignoring why his dueling test was not conducted according to the normal procedure, but by Professor Chronos, who was the highest-ranking person in charge, instead of by a regular examiner.

"No, nobody's expecting anything from you..." Jaden muttered to himself, chuckling to himself. Seeing that Jaden wasn't listening, Chronos shook his head, flicking the device on his chest with his hand. "Duel Disk, On~"

Chronos held one end of the Duel Disk in one hand, and with the other hand, he caught the five cards that just popped out of his hand as he passed by his deck. He swayed his body slightly, and combined with the design of the specially made Duel Disk, he looked like a musician playing a guitar—but since no sound could be heard, it should be corrected to a bass.

In the past, duelists had to manually draw cards from their decks to search for them, then manually shuffle and put the decks back. While that was indeed the case, that was four or five years ago. Digital products like mobile phones and computers undergo dramatic changes even within a year, let alone four years, and the same is true for the Duel Disk.

The automatic card retrieval and ejection function, which was originally modified by Keihei and installed on Hayato's Duel Disk, is now a standard feature on all new Duel Disks on the market, and the same is true for the Professor's Duel Disk that Professor Chronos is currently using.

Even someone as unattractive as Chronos looks incredibly cool when using this special Duel Disk, immediately attracting Jaden's attention. Jaden looked at Chronos's Duel Disk with envy and exclaimed, "Oh, so cool!"

"Teacher, teacher, where can I buy such a cool Duel Disk? At Duel Academy? Can I buy it there too?"

It was clear that Jaden really liked Chronos's Duel Disk, but Chronos, knowing that Jaden couldn't get this special Duel Disk limited to professors, casually replied, "Any student with good grades can get it."

'But actually it has absolutely nothing to do with a poor student like you who doesn't take this test seriously and has no manners at all, no way~' Chronos kept the rest of his thoughts to himself.

In Chronos's view, he had personally taken action, and even if he hadn't gone all out, he certainly couldn't have defeated such a freshman. The opponent's performance in actual combat would only result in an ugly defeat, and coupled with his poor written test scores, he would have no chance of being admitted. So, naturally, he wouldn't know that what he was saying was just a lie to appease him.

Jaden didn't think Chronos, as his teacher, had any reason to deceive him, so he naturally believed him and said enthusiastically, "Alright, let's go then. I can't wait to go to the academy and buy one of those Kakuichi Duel Disks."

"Duel!" x2

Professor Chronos: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

Although Chronos only challenged Jaden to a duel out of displeasure, he didn't actually go all out. Instead, he followed the usual examination procedure, allowing candidates to choose who went first. After all, different people have different strengths; the best example is that letting a "Cyber ​​Stream" duelist go first and going second are completely different things. However, there were also decks that could freely unfold regardless of whose turn it was, making one wonder if they had entered the world of Duel Monsters 2.0, but those cards were basically irrelevant to the newly enrolled students.

Judai didn't think that far ahead at all. He didn't even consider whether his deck was good at first-move board control and defense or second-move attack. He said with high spirits, "I'll take the first turn, teacher! Draw a card!"

"Oh, I drew a pretty good card." Jaden placed the card he had drawn into his Spell & Trap Zone and said, "I activate the Normal Spell Card 'Hero Arrival'. If I have no face-up monsters on my field, I pay half of my Life Points to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'E-Hero' monster from my Deck!"

[Tenth Generation: 4000 → 2000 LP]

"You've already paid out a whopping 2000 Life Points right off the bat?" Chronos stared at Jaden, whose Life Points were already halved before he'd even done anything. "Good heavens, is that some kind of self-destructive deck?"

The so-called "self-harm deck" refers to a type of deck that needs to pay Life Points in order to activate powerful effects or maintain the existence of powerful cards. For example, Ryuzaki Dinosaur, who is currently active in the professional duelist circle, uses cards such as "Survival Instinct" to banish a large number of Dinosaur-Type monsters to gain Life Points, and then uses cards such as "Dimensional Fusion" and "Return from Another Dimension" to summon a large number of monsters at once.

There are also decks like the "Demon" deck, where monsters need to continuously pay Life Points while they are on the field; these can all be categorized as "self-damaging decks".

"No way! The [E·hero] I'm using is an Elemental HERO deck, not a self-destructive one!" Jaden retorted, but considering he lost half his Life Points in the blink of an eye, it wasn't very convincing.

"In conclusion, I Special Summon this monster from my Deck." Catching the automatically retrieved card, Jaden placed it horizontally on the Duel Disk. "When evil appears, I will neutralize its myriad techniques, like flowing water, to quell the evil warrior!"

"【E·hero Foam Man】!"

The hero representing the element of water, [E·hero Foam Man], emerges from a dense cloud of foam. With a chin-revealing hood reminiscent of a certain instant noodle character, and a white cape symbolizing strength, [Foam Man] makes a stylish entrance with pipes attached to his arms!

【E·hero Bubble Man】【4☆/Water】

[Warrior Race/Effect]

[800/1200]

"Paying 2000 life points just to summon a monster whose attack and defense combined are barely 2000 points?" Chronos had heard of the [E·hero] deck, but his impression of it was only that it was a "minor deck," and he didn't really remember what the [E·hero Bubble Man]'s effect was.

After all, in the entire deck of [E·hero], there are almost no powerful monsters, whether in lower or higher ranks. On the contrary, other decks have one or two top-tier normal monsters, while [E·hero] has a full four. Moreover, even in the fusion terminal, there are no cards with a value exceeding the 3000-point threshold.

Although the monsters in [E·hero] have plenty of synergistic Spell & Trap cards, having those cards is one thing, but drawing them is another. While Pegasus initially envisioned [E·hero] as "a hero that can flexibly synergize and function in any battle situation," for most people, [E·hero] is simply "a deck that only appears in inappropriate situations with inappropriate cards."

Due to its overall strength, no one would use [E·hero] as their main deck. In the four years that Professor Chronos taught at the Duel Academy, this was the first time he had ever seen anyone use the [E·hero] deck in a duel, especially during an important entrance exam.

"Hehe, compared to other heroes who already possess elemental power, [E·hero Bubble Man] is indeed relatively weak. He can only control the water elemental power by relying on equipment he developed and designed himself. But Professor Chronos, even mortals can rival gods with their own power."

As Jaden spoke, he waved his hand, “The effect of [E·hero Bubble Man] is that when he is successfully Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned, I can draw two cards from my Deck, but this effect can only be activated if I have no other cards on my field.”

Known as the "Pot of Greed," E·hero Bubble Man activated his money-making ability, creating a large amount of foam that gathered into Jaden's hand, turning into two new cards. The only cost was that a small amount of the expensive foam liquid in his storage tank was consumed. Then, as if he had a bug, he couldn't stand seeing his storage tank not full, so he immediately discarded the half-full tank and replaced it with a new one.

Jaden, having drawn two cards, activated them, saying, "Next is this Quick-Play Spell Card, Bubble Illusion. It can only be activated while E·hero Bubble Man is face-up on my field. This turn, I can activate one Trap Card from my hand."

After activating the "Foam Illusion" which has an effect similar to "Executioner - Masura", Jaden did not immediately activate a Trap Card. Instead, he played a Spell Card that Chronos rarely recognized, "Fusion": "Here we go, teacher. Heroes should not be alone. The true way to unleash their power is to cooperate with each other in perfect harmony."

"Activate the Spell Card [Fusion], using [E·Hero Bubble Man] on my field and [E·Hero Nendoroid] in my hand as Fusion Material—"

"O bubble hero with extraordinary wisdom, unite with the hero born from the earth, and continue to guard peace and justice in a new form!"

"Fusion Summon! [E·Hero Mudball]!"

The power of water and earth resonates and harmonizes under the power of [Fusion]. The [E·hero Bubble Man], who was originally weak even when wearing a full set of equipment, is now covered in thick clay. The mud, which has been wetted and solidified by water, has become an exceptionally sturdy armor protecting the [E·hero Bubble Man] inside. It looks like some kind of armor made to restrain giant creatures and worn over other armor.

【E·hero Mudball】】【6☆/Land】

[Warrior Race/Fusion/Effect]

[1900/3000]

"Although I don't know the deck you're using, Teacher, the [E·hero Mudball] has a defense of 3000 points, making it a reliable barrier that can even defend against the legendary [Blue-Eyes White Dragon]."

As he spoke, Jaden played another card, “After the successful activation of [Foam Illusion], even if [E·hero Foam Man] leaves the field, its effect continues. I will activate this Trap Card from my hand, Normal Trap Card [Glide]! This can only be activated if the opponent has 4 or more cards in their hand. I will check the opponent's hand and select 1 monster card, returning that card to its owner's deck.”

With a strange smile on his face, Jaden said, "Come on, teacher, let me see your hand!"

"What?!" Upon hearing Jaden's words, Chronos's eyes widened as a large number of bubbles suddenly floated out of Jaden's hand and gathered in front of him. Through the reflection of the bubbles, Chronos realized that his hand was now completely exposed to the poor student opposite him. "Damn it, my hand has been exposed!"

"Oh, wow, teacher, your hand is pretty good. [Pot of Greed], [Great Storm], and [Demolition] are all very powerful cards. It's a pity that [Slide] can only remove monster cards." Jaden said, looking at Chronos's hand. "In that case, I'll return this [Ancient Gear Giant] from your hand to the deck."

Jaden casually sent Chronos's highest-level monster to the Graveyard, and Chronos's cards fell into a slot that had appeared in front of him, leading to the Deck. While Jaden remained calm, everyone else in the Kaiba Dome watching the duel was surprised—

"Ancient Mechanical Giant!? Isn't that Chronos's ace monster?!"

"Although it cannot be Special Summoned, in exchange, the Ancient Gear Giant has ATK and DEF comparable to the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon's 3000 ATK, and even has DEF piercing effect and can block Spell & Trap Cards when attacking. It is an extremely powerful rare card!"

"It's one thing that Professor Chronos isn't an ordinary examiner, but he even used his own 'Dark Middle Ages' deck! And who exactly is that guy with the jellyfish-like hairstyle?!"

Although he couldn't quite make out what the chaotic noises in the arena were saying, Jaden heard the last sentence clearly. He rubbed his nose, smiled at Chronos, and said, "Hehe, just a duelist who likes heroes. Remember that."

"After activating the Continuous Spell Card [Nightmare Mirage], I set two more cards face down, and my turn ends."

[Junior: 2000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【E·hero Mudball】】【DEF3000

[Nightmare of the Mirage Tower] [Given Card] X2

Chapter 1059 Yin Xiong's First Clues

"My turn, draw a card." After Jaden's turn ended, Chronos drew a card from his deck, but because of Jaden's [Slide] card from the previous turn, he now only had five cards in his hand.