Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

The journey from the dock to the school was obviously not something a primary school student would do on foot. There was already a bus waiting at the dock, driven by Kira Aoki, the head teacher of the Sun God-Yellow Dormitory, the elective course in Hand Care, and the only person designated by the Duel Academy to work overtime.

Compared to Professor Chronos, who was wearing a gorgeous trench coat modified from the Obelisk-Blue dormitory uniform, Kira Aoki, dressed in a suit, seemed quite inconspicuous. So much so that many students didn't even think that he, sitting in the driver's seat, was a teacher at the school, but just a slightly more well-dressed school bus driver.

The oversized bus carrying the new students, a total of eighty students enrolled this year, crossed the bridge and arrived at Duel Academy Island. It drove along the wide mountain road through the forest, turning left and right, and soon arrived in front of the main building of the academy. Professor Chronos handed over the students' files to Kira Aoki, who took them to the principal's office. After that, he got off the bus and continued to lead the new students to the auditorium inside the academy.

Inside the spacious auditorium, which could hold hundreds of people, the freshmen, now dressed in brand-new uniforms, casually lined up in a square formation. On a screen on the wall that had been displaying the "DA" logo of Duel-Academy, the image suddenly shifted to a man wearing a black coat, sitting ostentatiously on the back of a bench with his legs crossed.

"Welcome!" The black-haired, golden-eyed man glanced at the screen. "Welcome everyone to Hogwarts Academy... to begin a new school year and a new life. You all came here by pushing open the doors of the Duel Academy with your own strength, so please study happily here with the goal of becoming the future Duel King."

"That is, the principal of Duel Academy, the legendary duelist, the strongest man in the world, 'Duel King' Hayato Kobayashi..." Asuka Tenjouin recognized the person on the screen as Hayato at a glance. It seemed that for some reason, he was unable to appear in the auditorium to welcome the new students and could only give a speech via video.

"Although we are told to take the Duel King, which is himself, as our goal, that is simply impossible..." Due to the duel several years ago, Marufuji Sho's memories were somewhat blurred. He did not remember that he had ever dueled with the Duel King and experienced a complete defeat. However, even if he did remember, it would only make him feel more unreal about Hayato's words about "becoming the future Duel King" than he does now.

How could someone so weak and powerless become a supreme being like the Duel King?

The one from the Obelisk-Blue dormitory, Manjoume, who ranked first in the entrance exam... I think his name was something like Four Arithmetic Operations? And the beautiful and charming Asuka Tenjouin, they are the ones who might be able to get closer to the title of Duel King, as the principal said.

"That guy makes it sound so easy. I think he's just neglecting his duties by not showing up here." Muttering to himself, Marufuji Sho turned to her. "You think so too, right, Tou..."

What came into his view was Jaden Yuki, who could fall asleep standing up, completely undisturbed by Hayato's speech.

Although he seemed very energetic when he disembarked, he was actually too excited and hadn't slept well the night before. He had exhausted all his energy by the time he got off the ship. In addition, he had no interest in the "principal's speech" that was a must at the beginning of any school year, so he naturally took the opportunity to sleep soundly.

"...I've said enough. I need to add a few more points about things to keep in mind after the start of this semester," Hayato said to the screen. "First-year students, please note that the abandoned dormitories on the back hill of the school are dangerous areas. No student is allowed to enter. Trespassing could result in expulsion."

"Club registration will begin in the second week of this semester. Students who are interested in club activities or already have a club in mind should contact Professor Chronos. Also, Professor Kira asked me to remind everyone that the newly built dueling arena in the academy is not yet fully completed. Do not use it for duels without authorization."

"Finally, I wish everyone a wonderful new semester—" Before he could finish speaking, Hayato on the screen looked up. "Wow, this outfit is pretty, but Isamu, you're prettier—cough, anyway, I wish everyone good luck in your studies and that you all make great progress every day."

Seeing Hayato's image suddenly disappear from the screen, not only the students but even Professor Chronos couldn't help but complain, "He said he was going on a business trip to discuss the academy's operations with Seto Kaiba, but he's clearly just out shopping!"

Despite his complaints, Chronos still completed the follow-up work that Hayato hadn't finished, arranging for the new students to receive their dormitory keys and return to their assigned dormitories to rest.

"I see. So that explains why there are three different colored uniforms. The students at this school are assigned to three different dormitories." Judai looked at his red jacket. "I actually quite like red; it looks like the color of a hero, Osiris Red..."

On the pedestrian walkway at the main entrance of the school, Judai held the freshman handbook he had never used before, looking at the page that Marufuji Sho had turned to for him, and reading about the dormitory assignments.

“I remember the top student in the Obelisk-Blue dorm explained it once when we were on the ship, why did you forget it so quickly? Besides, red only makes people think of trap cards, right…” Marufuji Sho sighed, somewhat speechless at Judai. “Osiris-Red seems to be the worst-treated dorm, how can you still be so happy about it?”

"Haha, don't mind it, don't mind it." Judai patted Marufuji Sho's shoulder, who was a head shorter than him, and said nonchalantly. Turning his head, he saw Misawa Daichi there as well, and greeted him with a smile, "Yo, No.3, are you also from the Osiris-Red Dormitory?"

Daichi Misawa raised an eyebrow and looked down at his yellow uniform: "No, it's obvious I'm in the Yellow Dorm, right? Sun God - Yellow, I almost thought I got the wrong uniform from you."

Looking at Judai's red uniform, Misawa said with great confusion, "But it's really unbelievable. With such a good combat record, why were you assigned to the Osiris-Red Dormitory?"

"Uh, it's probably because I'm really bad at theoretical stuff. I have to admit, you're much stronger in that area, 40% off—"

"It's Misawa."

“Okay, No.3.” Realizing that he couldn’t quite remember Misawa Daichi’s full name, Jaden activated his extraordinary wisdom and decisively chose to use “No.3” instead of addressing Misawa.

Looking around at the students, who were either wearing red uniforms or yellow uniforms like the one Misawa was wearing, Jaden became curious again: "Speaking of which, Manjoume and Tenjōin, they seem to wear blue uniforms, the kind that's mentioned in the book, the 'Obelisk-Blue' dormitory, right? Strange, why don't I see many people wearing uniforms like theirs here?"

"Manjoume? Tenjouin? A top student who was promoted from the middle school to the high school?" After reading the freshman handbook, Misawa knew that only top students from the middle school could be assigned to the Obelisk-Blue dormitory when entering the high school. He immediately remembered the two names that Judai mentioned and planned to include them as observation subjects like Judai. At the same time, he answered Judai's question, "The three dormitories assigned by the academy are not in the same location. The specific location is on page 167 of the freshman handbook."

"The location of the Obelisk-Blue dormitory is not in the same direction as us. The two people you mentioned must have gone in the direction of their own dormitory."

Marufuji Sho tried to turn to page 167 and found, just as Misawa Daichi had said, a slightly smaller map of the academy, with three different colored dots marked next to the main academy building to indicate the location of the student dormitories.

Judai said with some surprise, "Wow, No. 3, that's amazing! Did you memorize the whole book? That's so cool!"

"No, it was just a basic understanding of the academy." Although he didn't know why Judai thought this was cool, Misawa still enjoyed the recognition he received from others. He waved to Judai and Marufuji Sho and walked in another direction, saying, "Then I'll go to the dormitory first. The Osiris-Red dormitory is in that direction."

Following Misawa's directions, Sho and Jaden traveled together until they found the Red Dormitory located on the edge of a cliff. However, they discovered that it was just a small apartment with only two floors, four rooms on each floor, plus the dormitory head teacher's room, as well as common areas such as a bathroom, kitchen, and dining room.

"Could it be that only the Red Dorm has such bad treatment...?" Standing in front of the dormitory door, Marufuji Sho said dejectedly, "What is this? This is too much."

"Maybe it's to encourage us to study hard? But I think this place is pretty good, with a great view and a sea breeze."

Despite the fact that both Judai and Judai were better off in terms of family background and academic performance, Judai was quite satisfied with the Osiris-Red dormitory, while Marufuji Sho always seemed dissatisfied.

As soon as Marufuji Sho opened the door with the key, before he could even turn on the lights, he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, screaming, "Ugh, ugh! Help!"

"Huh? What's wrong, Sho?" Hearing Marufuji Sho's cry for help, Judai, who had been leaning on the railing looking at the scenery of the sea under the sunlight, decisively turned around and ran towards Marufuji Sho, only to find him pointing tremblingly into the room and saying, "There's a koala!"

Upon hearing the sound, Judai looked over and saw a burly, dark figure standing up in the somewhat dimly lit room, looking outside. With its round cheeks, large nose, and hairstyle resembling koala ears on the sides of its head, even Judai initially mistook it for the koala that Marufuji Sho had mentioned.

But he quickly realized something was wrong. Upon closer inspection, he laughed and patted Xiang on the shoulder: "What? That's clearly our roommate! Xiang, your eyesight is terrible! Say sorry now!"

Upon hearing Judai's words, Marufuji Sho realized that the person in the room was indeed a person, not a koala. He also belatedly realized that even if it was a koala, it was a herbivore and there was nothing to be afraid of. He quickly got up from the ground, pushed up his glasses, and said, "I-I'm sorry, my glasses weren't on properly and I couldn't see clearly. I'm very sorry."

Koala, who was about to get angry because of Marufuji Sho's words, relaxed a little after hearing Judai's words and seeing Marufuji Sho apologize in time. She said to Judai and Sho at the door, "I'm not a koala, I'm Maeda Hayato who lives here. You two must be my roommates, right?"

"Honestly, I even cleaned your beds for you. Don't call me koala next time."

Chapter 1066 Dormitory Head Teacher

Although their first meeting wasn't very pleasant, Maeda Hayato quickly became friends with Jaden and Sho because of Jaden's outgoing personality. After all, they would likely remain roommates for the next three years as long as they didn't leave the Red Dormitory, so it was better for everyone to have a harmonious relationship.

"But, the next three years? Maeda, are you also a first-year student?" Jaden asked, looking at Maeda Hayato with some curiosity. "But I haven't seen you on the ship. Is it like Shizawa, who's been reading on deck the whole time while you've been sleeping in your room?"

"Well, it's a bit embarrassing to say, but I was actually a repeat student from the previous year because of my poor grades." Turning his head, Maeda Hayato said somewhat embarrassedly, "Although my grades were acceptable in the theoretical exams, when it came to the real duels that required enough courage and willpower, I was completely unable to fight properly, and my overall grades were almost on the verge of being expelled."

Hearing Maeda Hayato's words, Marufuji Shoya, who felt the other was even more unfortunate than himself, suddenly gained confidence and was no longer intimidated by Hayato's voluptuous figure. He comforted him, saying, "It's okay. Actually, we're pretty much in the same boat. The 'red' in Osiris-Red Dormitory probably means 'dangerous.' Being assigned here, we're probably in the dangerous red zone. The more we're at the bottom of this academy with no hope of advancement, the more we need to unite and help each other..."

While saying this, Marufuji Sho was actually quite pleased that Maeda Hayato's written test score was decent but his practical combat ability was lacking. Yuki Judai's written test score was poor but his practical combat ability was outstanding, while Maeda Hayato was the exact opposite. Didn't this mean that he could learn from their strengths and make up for his own weaknesses to improve himself?

Although I am currently in the Osiris-Red dormitory, it is possible that with some effort I can move up to the Sun God-Yellow dormitory in my second year, or even to the Obelisk-Blue dormitory before graduating in my third year.

I am like Liu Bei in the ancient legends of the west. Today, with General You Cheng and strategist Maeda Wolong, the world is within my grasp!

Maeda Hayato tilted his head, looking at Marufuji Sho, who was lost in his daydreams, imagining that one day he might be with the beautiful and charming Tenjōin who had left a deep impression on him, and said with a puzzled look, "Although I know my limitations and that I don't have much hope of getting into places like the Sun God-Yellow Dormitory, that doesn't mean that people in the Osiris-Red Dormitory have no hope of advancement, does it?"

"Eh?"

"Although it seems that only Minazuki Jun, one of the first graduates after the academy was founded, has been able to rise from the Osiris-Red Dormitory to the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory, and he even did it in just one academic year, as far as I know, there are actually quite a few people who have been able to rise to the Sun God-Yellow Dormitory."

Maeda Hayato shrugged. "After all, we students who were admitted through the assessment have not received three years of dueling-related education like those students who studied at the Duel Academy's middle school. After making up for the theoretical deficiencies through learning, some of us can often improve our grades to the level of the Sun God-Yellow dormitory. The Osiris-Red dormitory happens to be the dormitory with the most personnel changes."

After a pause, Maeda Hayato said with some emotion, "Although the academy's system may seem to discriminate against underachieving students, in practice, you can see that the school treats all students equally. For example, Professor Chronos, the dormitory head of Obelisk-Blue, may seem like a bad person, but he only puts a little more pressure on underachieving students like us and gives a little more encouragement to top students."

"However, he sometimes doesn't quite grasp the right measure. But thankfully, the principal is a very tough and even capricious person. If it were someone with a slightly gentler personality like Vice Principal Samejima, our school might really be like what you said, where the bad students are suppressed and bullied to the point of being unable to hold their heads up."

"Hahaha, is that so?" Marufuji Sho scratched his head, laughing awkwardly, and quickly changed the subject, looking at the table behind Maeda Hayato. "Oh right, Maeda-kun, what's on your table? I've been curious about it for a while now."

Upon hearing Marufuji Sho's words, Maeda Hayato's attention was immediately diverted. He smiled somewhat shyly and said, "This is just a little hobby and a trivial skill of mine. Although I can't draw cards and duel with the same confidence as those professional duelists, I believe that my love for Duel Monsters is no less than anyone else's. I've always dreamed of becoming a Duel Monsters card designer."

"I've always lived alone in this dorm without any other roommates, so Judai and Sho are the first people to see my drawing."

"Oh! Can we see it, Maeda?" Jaden said excitedly, immediately moving closer to the table. "Wow, Kakuichi! Is that a stone used for pickling kimchi?"

Marufuji Sho, who also saw Maeda Hayato's painting, almost collapsed: "No way! You can recognize this famous landmark at a glance, it's some kind of rock formation."

“This is Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock in Australia.” Although neither Jaden nor Sho recognized it or knew its name, Maeda Hayato was neither angry nor frustrated. “This is the scenery I saw in Australia during this holiday. I originally went there to… no, there’s no need to say that now. Anyway, when the sun rose from the horizon and shone on Uluru, I could never erase that moment from my heart.”

"So, even though I know it's just wishful thinking, I dream of seeing the scene in my heart become a Duel Monster Card and be shared with others one day."

Seeing the unconscious smile creeping onto Maeda's lips, Jaden didn't say anything, but patted him on the shoulder: "Then good luck, Maeda, we're the passionate Osiris-Red Dormitory!"

"Speaking of which, I also loved drawing my dream cards when I was in elementary school, and everyone said I was pretty good at it. I even designed a whole set of cards. Hmm, now's my chance to show off!" As he spoke, Judai casually started doodling on the freshman handbook, completely ignoring the fact that his drawings had covered up the contents he hadn't memorized at all.

What made it even more difficult for Maeda Hayato was that Jaden might not have been lying; his drawing skills in elementary school should have been decent. But the problem was that even now, at fifteen years old, Jaden's drawing skills were still at an elementary school level, barely enough to make people recognize that what he drew appeared to be human figures.

"I named him [X-hero Eleven-Character Man]. Like the additional warriors in Super Sentai, he's an extra hero, not standing at the front of the team, but a support hero standing at the back to assist others. However, I haven't finished the specific settings yet, this is just a draft, but I think it's already pretty cool." With his hands on his hips, looking at the humanoid figure in the freshman handbook covered in "X" characters, who almost wanted to call himself "X-Men," Jaden said proudly.

Just after he finished speaking, because Marufuji Sho, the last person to enter the dormitory, did not close the door, a fat orange cat had already walked into the dormitory as if it were visiting its own home without the others noticing. The moment Judai finished drawing, it suddenly jumped onto the table and stepped on Judai's "masterpiece"!

"Whoa! [Wand Rear Drive]!"

"Weren't you just calling yourself 'Eleven-Character Man'? So you really haven't figured out your character design yet," Maeda Hayato remarked, but immediately put away his drawing the moment the fat cat jumped onto the table. Thankfully, Jaden's abstract painting had caught the cat's attention; otherwise, his own drawing would have been ruined, and he'd look terrible.

After the fat cat stepped onto the painting, it glanced at Judai nonchalantly—if its squinty eyes could still see—and then, completely unaware that it had done anything wrong, lazily stretched and was about to lie down on the table to sleep.

After reaching out and tugging a few times, Judai realized that the cat seemed a bit too heavy. It was not like an ordinary cat at all, and even heavier than a typical orange tabby. His important new student handbook was pressed down by the cat and he couldn't pull it out at all.

"You fat cat!" Upon their first meeting, Jaden called the cat a fat cat, "Give me back my [Fear Annihilator]!"

However, Jaden was only pretending to be fierce to scare the cat away; he didn't actually hurt it. Just before Maeda Hayato and Marufuji Sho were complaining that Jaden had changed the name of the monster they drew again, a pair of hands grabbed the orange cat by the neck, lifted the excessively heavy cat off the table, and held it in their arms: "Oh my, Pharaoh, you really can run fast, meow~"

"Sorry, Marufuji, Yuki, and Maeda. Pharaoh is upset with me because I ate his dried fish. I'm sorry for causing you trouble, meow."

The three of them looked at the person who was apologizing to them while holding an orange cat that seemed to be called "Pharaoh". They noticed that the person had squinty eyes just like the orange cat, and was wearing thick glasses with a kind smile on his face.

"Master Daitokuji, why did you eat Pharaoh's dried fish again?" Maeda Hayato clearly recognized the person in front of him, unlike Judai and Sho, and greeted him.

"Hahaha, because I forgot to eat before I knew it, meow." Daitokuji said with a smile, looking at Judai and Sho, "Hello, I am the head teacher of the Osiris-Red Dormitory, Daitokuji Hugo, and I also teach alchemy."

"Fusion?" Marufuji Sho was taken aback when he heard Daitokuji's self-introduction.

"It's not Yuugo, it's Hyuggo. Anyway, you can call me Daitokuji-sensei. You can come to me if you encounter any problems, meow." Daitokuji corrected her with a strange verbal tic, then turned to look at Jaden and said, "Also, I didn't expect you to be assigned to the Osiris-Red dormitory, Yuki-kun. You have a record of defeating Professor Chronos in actual combat, which is an amazing thing that most people in the academy, including me, can't do, meow."

"Hehe, it's okay. I'm actually very happy to be able to get into the academy. I also really like the red dormitory. The burning fire and the fiery atmosphere are perfect for a passionate person like me!"

Looking at Judai, who didn't seem to care at all about not getting into the higher-ranking Yellow Dormitory, Daitokuji nodded: "You're so energetic, unlike someone like me who's almost in the grave. But I'm also happy that you like the Red Dormitory so much, meow."

"Haha, teacher, you're so funny. You look to be no more than twenty or thirty years old." Seeing that Daitokuji seemed very easy to talk to, Marufuji Sho wasn't afraid of Daitokuji, who looked easy to get along with, and said.

Daitokuji looked at Marufuji Sho, returned a cryptic smile, and without explaining anything, simply said to the three of them, "Tonight, every dormitory will have a welcome ceremony for new students, and of course, our Osiris-Red dormitory will too, so remember to go back to your dormitory early tonight and don't wander around the school too late, meow~"

Holding the heavy orange cat "Pharaoh," Daitokuji waved goodbye, intending to leave and go to other dormitories to inform the new students. However, he suddenly stopped just before leaving and turned back to Judai, saying, "Oh dear, I almost forgot something important, Yuki-kun. When I came from school just now, I saw a new student from the Obelisk-Blue dormitory looking for you everywhere. I think his name was Lightning."

"Lightning? Ah, I know, it's Manjoume." Judai remembered that Manjoume had a particular attachment to how others addressed him, always preferring to be called "Lightning" (actually, "Sir"). "But it's strange, does he want to see me about something?"

Daitokuji shook his head: "I don't know about that, meow. Today is free time for new students to visit the school. If you go now, you should still be able to find Yuki-kun. But remember to come back early tonight."

Since Maeda Hayato already lived in the dormitory, Judai and Sho didn't need to clean like the freshmen who moved into empty dorms. Maeda Hayato even made their beds for them, so they had the whole day to themselves. Since they were going to explore the different buildings and facilities around the school anyway, Judai decided to also look for Manjoume to see what he wanted to see him about.

Marufuji Sho followed Jaden closely, intending to go with him to take a look. Maeda Hayato also enthusiastically offered to guide them so they wouldn't get lost at school.

Standing at the dormitory entrance, Daitokuji watched the three leave, a strange smile still on his face: "Yuki Jaden, the user of [E·hero], what an interesting kid. And that hairstyle looks like the person in that illusion I saw before. Could he be the right person? Let me see more of your talents, Yuki-kun."

As he was laughing, Daitokuji saw the Pharaoh in his arms suddenly call out, which brought him back to his senses. His nose twitched involuntarily, but he smelled a burnt smell from somewhere.

In an instant, Daitokuji realized where the burnt smell was coming from, and hurriedly ran downstairs to the dormitory building with Pharaoh in his arms, rushing towards the kitchen, shouting, "The stew I prepared for the welcome party?! It's going to burn! It's going to burn! It's going to burn! Meow!"

Chapter 1067: Because the nickname is Panda Dragon, there's absolutely no problem with giving the user panda eyes.

Standing on a dueling platform, Manjoume crossed his arms and said with a sneer, "I've already defeated Caesar, the top student in the third year of this school. I have no interest in knowing who the top student in the second year is."

"You're next, Jaden Yuki!"

"Heh heh, instead of running away, you're approaching me, aren't you? That 'just this level' guy was like a student frantically writing down the last question on the exam paper until the bell rang, desperately telling you my deck, and you still want to approach me?"

"Then let's move closer!"