The protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! world might be the same person.

Chapter 185 GX Competition

After eliminating the Society of Light, Duel Academy has finally returned to normal these past few days.

The students who were wearing blue school uniforms again had missed nearly a month of classes, so the school made a point of arranging for them to catch up on their lessons.

The other students were given a few days off, and Judai took advantage of this time to spend some quality time with his girlfriend.

However, there is a very important matter today that requires the attendance of all teachers and students.

Principal Samejima is back!

......

In the afternoon, all the teachers and students were gathered together in the college auditorium.

Principal Samejima, who hadn't shown his face for several months, stood on the high platform at the front and greeted everyone: "Long time no see, everyone!"

"It seems like a lot has happened while I was away..."

"！！！！"

Listening to the principal's speech, Chronos and Napoleon, who were standing to the side, shrank back like ostriches, feeling guilty.

"But since the matter has already been resolved, let's just let it go."

They breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the principal had let them go.

"Compared to that, I have a really great gift for everyone today!"

"Gift?"

What kind of gift could it be?

The teachers and students present began to speculate, eagerly anticipating what was to come.

Asuka: "Could it be some rare cards or something?"

Judai, sprawled on the table, looked bored: "Maybe Principal Samejima went on a trip somewhere and brought back some local specialties."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Principal Samejima snapped his fingers and said, "My gift is this!"

The large screen behind him suddenly lit up, displaying an image.

It was a huge logo with a gold ring border. Inside the ring was a blue globe with lines of latitude and longitude drawn on it, and the large gold letters 'GX' were marked on it.

"GX stands for GenerationnetX. This will be a world-class dueling tournament. I hereby announce that the first tournament called GeneX will be held at the academy!"

Principal Samejima's voice suddenly became excited. He raised his clenched fist and shouted, "In this competition, all students of the Duel Academy's advanced division are qualified to participate. In addition, there are representatives from dueling-related academies around the world, led by the Northern Branch, as well as professional duelists from the Duel Alliance who will also participate in the professional open competition!"

"And that's why I've been traveling around a lot lately."

These words immediately caused a huge uproar in the audience.

"They're actually going to hold a competition like this?!"

"He can clash with the strongest fighters from other academies and professional duelists? That's impressive!"

Most people's eyes lit up, and their emotions were stirred.

Everyone was filled with longing and anticipation to participate in such a world-class duel.

In the Duel Academy, opportunities to face professional duelists directly are rare. Being able to step onto the world stage before graduation is truly an invaluable gift.

Clearly, the gift brought by Principal Samejima was exactly what everyone wanted.

"Things just keep happening one after another..." Judai wasn't particularly interested in the matter.

"Yes, you've had so much to handle lately, it's really been tough on you."

Even if Judai tanks, Asuka is still confident he can win the championship.

Principal Samejima pressed his hands down to signal everyone to quiet down before explaining the competition rules.

"The dueling arena is this island where the Duel Academy is located, and every participant will receive this qualification badge..."

As he spoke, he pulled out a metal badge, the same shape as the logo on the screen, only the color was silver.

"Participants must duel once a day and cannot refuse the first challenger. The winner can take all of the opponent's badges until only two players with badges remain to compete for the victory."

This format is somewhat like a battle royale, forcing everyone to fight every day. The safe zone keeps shrinking until only two people remain, and some average players can choose to deliberately avoid the strong players and survive until the end, with a chance to become one of the lucky finalists.

Of course, duels are different from battle royale games. Weak players are easily eliminated, and it will be difficult to encounter weak players in the later stages, although there is still a certain probability.

So some people who wanted to take a shortcut prepared to go back and start investigating the data, trying to understand the strength of all the duelists as much as possible.

However, Jaden didn't care about these things. He just needed to have one normal duel every day, and he would be fine as long as he defeated the last person.

"I hope some of you can work hard to ensure that the first winner appears in our academy. The winner will receive honors and special rewards!"

After Principal Samejima finished speaking, everyone was immersed in wonderful fantasies, longing to survive to the end in the GX tournament, win the championship, and enjoy the honor and rewards.

But just then, Manjoume Lightning suddenly said, "That reward, it can't be another kiss from Aunt Domi, can it?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked embarrassed, their beautiful fantasies shattered instantly.

When Duel Academy and the Northern Branch held a friendly duel, Principal Samejima and Principal Ichise kept boasting about the final reward, but it turned out to be a bizarre bet between the two old men, which shocked all the students.

Upon hearing this, Judai muttered to himself, "I didn't expect that Manjoume, besides having the qualities of a comedian, also has the characteristic of creating awkward silences."

After the brief incident, the principal announced that the GX World Championship would officially begin today.

......

After parting ways with Asuka, Jaden wandered around the island, looking for a worthy opponent to challenge.

Naturally, any student at Duel Academy knows to avoid Jaden and find the Great Demon King. Students would run away as soon as they saw him from afar.

Left with no other option, Judai went to the principal's office to see if they had compiled a list of those who hadn't yet had a duel.

Judai entered the principal's office without warning, only to find two people, one fat and one thin, visiting the principal.

"Headmaster! Uh...are we having guests? Excuse me, my apologies..."

Just as he was about to turn and leave the principal's office, he heard one of the people call out to him.

"Jūdai, it's been a long time!"

"Ok?"

When Jaden heard the voice, he turned around and saw a koala in a suit waving at him.

"Hayato?"

That's right, the visitor was none other than Hayato Maeda, who came to visit his alma mater as a card designer.

As for the other man, who was wearing a red suit and had long silver hair, he also turned around curiously to look at Judai, and then his eyes widened as if he saw something on the latter.

Chapter 186 The Stolen Winged Dragon

'This boy looks just like the game boy... Even though they look completely different, I can see the game boy's shadow in him, it's amazing!'

This person's unique and strange way of speaking, mixed with English, clearly indicates that he is Bekas.

He turned to Principal Samejima behind him and asked, "Who is that boy?"

The latter explained, "He's an acquaintance of Hayato's, a former student in the Red Dormitory like Hayato, and his name is Yuki Judai."

"Oh! You must be Judai-boy. Hayato-boy often talks about you to me."

Pegasus warmly extended both hands to greet Jaden.

"It's actually Mr. Pegasus, the father of Duel Monsters! I've heard so much about you, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too!"

Judai shook hands with him politely and then let go, asking, "By the way, you had something to discuss with the principal, right? Should I step outside for a moment?"

"It's alright, you can wait here for a bit, no problem!"

He is quite tolerant of outstanding young people, especially since Jaden may have some connection with the game.

At this moment, the bald principal spoke up: "Perfect timing, we need your help with this, Judai-kun!"

"Help? Me?" Judai pointed to himself, looking completely bewildered.

So the principal began to explain the situation to him.

......

"Huh!? You're saying the [Winged Dragon of the Sun] was stolen!?"

After listening to Principal Samejima and Pegasus's explanation, Jaden was immediately taken aback: "Isn't that sun god one of the legendary Egyptian God cards used by Yugi-san? The original Egyptian God cards seem to have disappeared from the world with the departure of the Pharaoh, and I remember that the Egyptian God cards that Yugi-san is using now cannot be copied by anyone else, right?"

Pegasus explained, "Of course, the original no longer exists in this world. However, our company kept a copy of the original card in order to study the terrifying power of God, but..."

"...That has already been stolen by our chief designer, Franz."

Hayato Maeda added, "We've received information that that person seems to have infiltrated this dueling tournament!"

Principal Samejima nodded in agreement: "Although it is a replica, the power of the God Card is immeasurable."

"In fact, some duelists have already been harmed in this tournament. According to eyewitness accounts, there was indeed a scene resembling the descent of the Winged Dragon of Ra. If this is not resolved quickly, it could become a real problem."

Upon hearing this, Judai understood. "I see. You want me to resolve this matter."

The bald headmaster nodded: "That's right. In my opinion, you're the only one on this island capable of dealing with the God Card."

"Since the principal trusts the 10th generation boy so much, then I must solemnly ask you for a favor!"

"So, what is my reward?"

"The badge on Franz is yours."

Judai's lips twitched violently: "Tch, you're being too stingy, Principal!"

Despite his initial dissatisfaction, he agreed nonetheless.

After all, it's worth it to gain Pegasus's favor, especially since he also happens to need an opponent to farm badges.

Moreover, Principal Samejima was right; he was the only one capable of defeating the God Card.

'Since my opponent is a god, I'll use demonic magic against him!'

Thinking of this, Judai's lips curled up slightly, as if he hadn't used those three cards even once since he got them last year.

......

Not long after, Principal Samejima broadcast a notice: "To all participants in the GeneX competition, the competition is temporarily suspended due to unforeseen circumstances. Unless there is further notice, no one is allowed to leave the premises!"

"To reiterate, this is a sudden incident, and everyone is prohibited from leaving the premises!"

Although no one knew what had happened, anything that could interrupt the competition was clearly not a good thing, so they all cooperated and returned to the teaching building or their respective residences.

The bustling players and spectators dispersed, and the island, which had been lively because of the GX tournament, fell silent.

During this time, Principal Samejima was not idle either. He sent people to keep watch in the teaching building and all the residences early on, but when everyone returned, they did not find Franz.

"I'm sorry, Judai-kun, I'll send someone to look for it again..."

"No need!" Judai waved his hand, interrupting Principal Samejima.

"I guess he's probably still in the forest."

"forest?"

“Yes, ever since I learned about the loss of the God Card, I’ve been keeping a close eye on it. There have been several powerful outbursts in the forest, and that power is undoubtedly divine. If we go there now, we might actually run into that person.”

"Wonderful~! Jaden boy~ You really are a duelist favored by the Pokémon, even I didn't sense you from this distance..."

Without delay, Jaden set off immediately, and Pegasus followed.

......

Once inside the forest, Jaden didn't just wander around aimlessly based on gut feeling. He openly deployed the Black Scorpion Five, ordering them to search as quickly as possible.

'The more I look at Jaden Boy, the more he resembles Game Boy; it's like a different form of the same person. Perhaps he really can defeat the God Cards.'

In a way, Pegasus really guessed the truth.

As expected, the Black Scorpion Thieves were experts at finding people and things, and Mina returned to Jaden's side in just over ten minutes.

She's spotted a suspicious target!

......

The movement through the forest was minimal, but because the forest was so quiet, the sound of footsteps crunching on dry branches and leaves, and the rustling of trouser legs against bushes and weeds, were all very noticeable.

Therefore, when Jaden and Pegasus approached their target, the target also discovered them.