"It's true!"
Seated in the snack bar, Marufuji Shou said excitedly.
"Last night, I got up half-asleep just to go to the bathroom, but somehow I ended up at Teacher Dade Temple's room...
"Why would you go to Teacher Dade Temple's room when you're going to the bathroom?" Hayato teased, "Shou, could you be any more confused?"
"Shut up! The important part is next!"
Marufuji Shou lowered his voice, glanced around as if afraid of being overheard, and spoke mysteriously.
"I got to the door and found it wasn't closed. Teacher Dade Temple was sitting in front of the computer, communicating with someone." He said solemnly, "I didn't catch all of it, but it sounded like 'ancient tombs,' and 'burying it' is too much of a waste. There was also something about being 'asleep.'
You have no idea, it was really scary to hear..."
"What nonsense are you talking about? You must have been dreaming?" Judai chuckled.
"Ah, well, I was a bit groggy..." Marufuji Shou scratched his head.
Yugen was also sitting at the same table, quietly eating his snack-bar golden egg bread—Judai, as always, steadily drew out a golden egg bread but said he was sick of eating too much of it, so he gave it to Yugen.
Upon hearing this, Yugen had already made up his mind.
It seemed that it was time for extracurricular learning.
This was a plot from the original. Teacher Dade Temple would arrange an extracurricular activity to explore the island's ruins, but it would trigger a mechanism that leads to the Elf Realm. There, the Tomb Guardian Race's elves would appear, and Judai would conduct a Dark Duel.
However, it wasn't a life-threatening Dark Duel; although the opponent lost, they wouldn't perish directly; they would merely suffer real damage during the duel.
Looking back later, this event was likely a test specially arranged by Teacher Dade Temple to evaluate Judai's abilities.
It seemed the first semester was nearly over, and indeed, it was about right for this.
Sure enough, during class that day, Teacher Dade Temple proposed the plan.
After an entire semester, Teacher Dade Temple's Alchemy class had succeeded in scaring off most of the students. Only about ten or so students were left attending, leaving the classroom majority empty.
But Teacher Dade Temple was kind and didn't care about students' absences; he would just start lecturing, covering content hardly anyone listened to and conspicuously feigning ignorance to conduct a few failed alchemy experiments, successfully passing the class.
The bell for class's end rang.
"Slept so well!"
Seemingly sitting straight through the class, unusually attentive, Judai stretched and opened his eyes.
It was only then that Marufuji Shou noticed his brother, up until now, had drawn eyes on his eyelids with a pen, really sitting there asleep.
Guided by action, Tom Cat.
Marufuji Shou gasped: "So my brother was sleeping all along?"
"Alright, now it's time to eat." Judai was delighted.
In his world, apart from playing cards, it was just eating and sleeping; it's impossible not to be happy.
"Wait a moment, everyone, please take these with you." Teacher Dade Temple pulled out a stack of documents.
"Eh?" Judai drooped instantly, "Homework?"
"No, it's the plan for this Sunday's extracurricular activity." Teacher Dade Temple explained, "This school hides many relics from the past, and Sunday's event plans to explore one of them.
All interested students are welcome to participate."
With hardly any attendees, the remaining students exchanged glances.
...
...
As expected, very few showed up in the end.
On one side was the Osiris Red Dormitory trio led by Judai, and on the other was the research group of Yugen, Mitsuzawa, and Asuka.
"Speaking of..." Marufuji Shou said, looking at the trio opposite strangely, "We came because the dorm leader enforced it on us Red Dormitory folks...why did you guys come?"
"Exploring ruins sounds interesting, doesn't it?" Yugen smiled.
Besides, the Tomb Guard Card Deck, although generally unspectacular, had individual cards that were quite potent back then, even present in world champion decks. Moreover, acquiring it from the Elf Realm could possibly result in a version with an elf, which shouldn't be missed.
And compared to the Tomb Guardian Beasts, the key card was actually the unique Field Spell.
Field Spell - Royal Valley of Eternal Rest.
As long as this card exists in the field, all spells, traps, monster effects affecting the graveyard are nullified, and neither side can banish cards from the graveyard.
Even in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, this card remains quite sinister, a dread for any deck heavily reliant on graveyard resources, capable of single-handedly crushing an entire deck as expected.
"Actually, the ruins sound fascinating too." Hayato commented, "Those ruins are near the volcano, usually off-limits. Impossible to visit without a teacher."
Asuka added: "There are rumors that those ruins might be related to Dark Duels, so I wanted to see it for myself."
Due to her missing brother, Asuka was sensitive to any rumors related to Dark Duels. In events concerning Dark Duels and missing students on the island, she was always present.
"Alright, the team is assembled." Teacher Dade Temple said with gusto, "Let's go!"
The group packed their bags, ready to set out towards the mountain-top ruins.
"The information says these ruins are ancient tombs." Teacher Dade Temple explained while walking, "There are rumors of them being forbidden graves...but just rumors, haha."
More intrigued by this, Asuka felt concerned.
Forbidden graves...they might be linked to those missing on the island.
Possibly offering clues about her brother.
Asuka never lets any hints go, yet most of her pursuits end fruitlessly. But persistent effort pays off, and Yugen knew there would indeed be traces of her brother Fubuki.
According to the Tomb Guardian Race's elves in the animation, only one person before Judai's group had won in their Dark Duel ceremony, and that person was Fubuki.
And in that duel, Fubuki won a half-piece of a Dark Artifact, with the other half later given to Judai by the tribe leader.
In the animation's later Phantom Demon chapter, during Judai's encounters with Dark Duels, the recombined Dark Artifact played a critical role.
That is likely the only Dark Artifact Yugen knows with a straightforward acquisition method. Therefore, for others, this might just be a mere extracurricular activity, but Yugen's purpose is clear.
Remember the plot development; just follow Teacher Dade Temple, the orchestrator.
They trekked through mountains for half a day before finally reaching their destination led by Teacher Dade Temple.
The entrance to the ancient ruins was near the academy's volcano. Inside lay what was called the ancient dueling grounds, a tomb relic from ages past, outwardly resembling a dueling field.
Perfect, the students had successfully been brought to the designated site.
Teacher Dade Temple squinted his eyes, chuckling inwardly.
Next up, pretended accident plans involving his Cat Pharaoh to trigger a Dark Artifact buried nearby, transporting the students to the Tomb Guardian Race's Elf Realm...
Just as he considered this, suddenly a green light shot skyward, and the earth seemed to tremble!
The once blue sky turned dark, the fiery sun split into three in the astonished gaze of everyone, transforming into three suns hanging mid-air. Rainbow rays radiated down, as if casting a giant net over the entire area.
Stunned by the spectacle, even the planner Teacher Dade Temple was taken aback.
What's happening?
This was his plan, but it wasn't time to execute it yet?
Bewildered, Teacher Dade Temple turned to see Yugen innocently spreading his hands.
"Teacher, should I not have touched something just now?"
Teacher Dade Temple: "......"