"Duel City?"
Marufuji Ryo glanced at the poster with a curious expression.
"Do you want me to participate, Professor?"
"Yes. This year's event is different from previous ones, and it's said that President Seto Kaiba himself will be attending."
"That Seto Kaiba?" Marufuji Ryo asked, surprised. "But hasn't he already..."
"Retired? Yes, there have been rumors saying so externally, but now it seems they might be just that—rumors."
Principal Jiaodao leaned back in his chair, smiling slightly.
"Moreover, I've had the fortune to meet President Seto Kaiba in person. In fact, I can sense that there are very few duelists today with such pure enthusiasm for dueling like him.
At that time, I thought, if we're talking about a duelist like him retiring... I feel it's just not very likely."
"I see..." Marufuji Ryo mused thoughtfully.
In fact, Seto Kaiba has always been a duelist Ryo deeply admires, with his tactics and style influencing Ryo significantly.
After all, Marufuji Ryo is a duelist similar to Kaiba.
Both have card decks filled with three ace monsters, both employ triple fusion, both are duelists of aggressive suppression type, and even their three-on-one starting plays seem to use the same style with a signature 502...
If someone were to stand up and question Marufuji Ryo for not shuffling his cards properly with three Cyber Dragons always fusing, President Kaiba would likely be the first to step out and clear his name.
If you can't form bonds, why say we're not shuffling?
"So, are you interested, Ryo?" Principal Jiaodao asked with a smile, "Though the entry threshold for this year's Duel City seems to have risen, for the academy's ace like you, it should be no problem as long as you want to participate."
Marufuji Ryo nodded.
"I understand, thank you, Professor. I'll seize this opportunity for training and aim to further myself during this break."
"Good." Principal Jiaodao said, "Oh, by the way, I heard that one of our school's students, Fujiki Yugen, should be participating as well this year..."
"That first-year in yellow... the new champion?"
Marufuji Ryo quickly corrected himself.
Someone notorious in Duel Academy, so much so that even his nickname is too ingrained for Marufuji Ryo, who almost called it wrongly.
"Haha, yes. That kid and President Seto Kaiba seem to be quite familiar, so it's not surprising if he gets the chance to participate. You might encounter him on the field."
Marufuji Ryo pondered.
A duel against Yugen, hm...
As this year's most interesting freshman, Yugen had naturally caught Ryo's attention long ago. Ryo had been planning to duel against him sooner or later.
It's just that the first semester didn't provide the right opportunity.
However, if it's on the world-class stage like Duel City...
Marufuji Ryo's lips curled up, as the duelist's fighting spirit within him began to stir.
Interesting. He's already looking forward to the duel against that guy.
Perhaps, it will be at this Duel City, where they'll decide who the true king of Duel Academy is.
...
...
"Electronic School?"
In Yugen's lab, Asuka curiously rested her chin on her hand while sitting across from him.
"Isn't that... Ryo's card deck?"
"Yes."
Yugen was currently sorting through a new batch of Electronic School cards received from Kaiba Group. These were new research materials for the Electronic Flow project group.
Asuka then recalled that Marufuji Ryo had also told her that the Electronic Flow wasn't exclusive to their dojo. The treasure that Ryo inherited was mainly the Electronic Ultimate Dragon, and based on known information from the animation, Ryo had two Electronic Ultimate Dragons in his possession.
Even their dojo's core "Cyber Dragon," although a relatively powerful rare card, wasn't as rare as the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon," which worldwide only has three copies. If there's a channel, it can still be obtained.
Yugen had actually always wanted a Cyber Dragon set.
In fact, while Electronic Flow card decks weren't highly favored earlier on, Cyber Dragon had long been recognized by players as a super-powerful avenger in the competitive environment.
Early Yu-Gi-Oh!'s duelist standards were still at 1600 points, and attack power between 1800 and 1900 was considered to be excellent for lower-level attackers.
Until the "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX" animation was released, and something called "Cyber Dragon" appeared—obviously, it's a 5-star monster, yet it could be summoned directly without sacrifice, landing with an attack power of 2100 and overpowering all usual attackers of the past environment.
This thing's emergence caused quite a stir in the environment; back then, Cyber Dragon became almost mandatory in competitive and recreational decks.
Therefore, Cyber Dragon was in limited status for a long time, even limited to 2 cards, and by 2008, as the environment sped up, not only did it not get freed, but it received a heavier punishment, becoming limited to 1 card.
For a pure attacker card, reaching a limit of 1 could be considered the highest honor it can receive.
"Don't underestimate the Cyber Dragon; its development is just the tip of the iceberg. This card deck's potential might far exceed even your... or Caesar's expectations," Yugen said with a smile.
Far exceeding Caesar's... expectations?
Asuka's expression became somewhat complex.
If it was someone else saying this, she might consider it absurd. From Asuka's perspective... no, from the perspective of every student in the academy, Marufuji Ryo was almost synonymous with the Cyber Dragon.
No one knew the Cyber Dragon better than Ryo.
But Yugen was different.
After all, Yugen had already proven to Asuka that she thought she was well-versed in Digital Angels, but actually knew nothing...
She had discovered that any card deck Yugen focused on always had something special.
Once Yugen pointed out its "potential," for the card deck, it was almost like a divine opportunity, and taking off and breaking through might just be a matter of time.
Speaking of which, she suddenly remembered that yesterday Ryo mentioned he also wanted to participate in this year's Duel City tournament...
Marufuji Ryo and Asuka's brother, Tenjouin Fubuki, were once best friends, called the academy's "Kaiza Ryo" and "King Fubuki," respectively. As a result, Asuka was often by Ryo's side early on, which is why she was informed first when Marufuji Ryo decided to participate.
Now, she thought absurdly, if they meet on the field, this guy Yugen might just use Cyber Dragon to duel Ryo...
It sounded absurd just thinking about it, but considering it's Yugen, it might not be something he wouldn't do...
"Alright, a few good ideas. Let's leave them to the Electronic Flow project group for research," Yugen packed up the cards and stood up.
"Oh, before the vacation, I have to find Teacher Dade Temple."
"Anything important?" Asuka asked.
Unlike when she first arrived at the lab, she now vaguely felt Teacher Dade Temple might not be as simple as he appeared. But she still didn't understand what Yugen hoped to learn or obtain from Teacher Dade Temple.
Yugen glanced at her and gave a mysterious smile.
"There might be quite a few tough battles to fight during the winter break, so I want to find a way to add a bit more chips to the game."