Actually, even though Pegasus Nightwalker initially appeared as a villain in the original work, the first impression he gave Yugen in person was quite favorable.
He was very polite and courteous, and most importantly, generous.
After finishing the card game, Nightwalker didn't say much and immediately took out a limited edition super rare card personally recreated by Beckas, the [Thousand-Eyed Sacrificial Demon].
This card is indeed a legendary monster. It should be the first chapter boss ace in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh! animation, and the mystery and pressure it generated when Beckas first brought it on the scene may have inspired the shaping of many subsequent villain monsters.
From the perspective of the card pool, this card was the first fusion monster in history to be listed as a forbidden card, sitting in the "black house" for a long stint of ten years until it was released in '16.
And its effect, which can "absorb opposing monsters as equipment," makes it a kind of ancestor to the Minotaur, a pioneer for many effect monsters with similar abilities in the future.
Overall, the gains from this trip left Yugen quite satisfied.
Kaiba Company and Pegasus Nightwalker temporarily formed an alliance against the hacker threat. Nightwalker seemed to believe the incident was caused by an AI with ahead-of-its-time capabilities, although Kaiba remained skeptical of this. However, after discussions, both parties agreed to cooperate in the meantime, creating a united front against the AI.
Of course, the bigwigs were busy with that part. Yugen finished his card game and received his reward, then boarded a helicopter arranged by Keihei to fly straight back to the Academy.
It was deep into the night when he returned to the island. He was quite tired from the day's card game, and there were classes early in the morning. Yugen returned to his dorm, freshened up quickly, and rested.
Then it was back to the routine of studying seriously and enjoying dueling at Duel Academy.
This trip to Kaiba Company further convinced him of the effectiveness of his current study plan. The duel with Nightwalker made him realize that the time he had spent at the Academy so far was not wasted, with visible growth in both his skills as a duelist and the strength of his card deck.
But as he progressed, he also realized there was still a long way to go, and there was ample room for future improvement. If he wanted to become one of the top-tier elites in this world, he had quite a bit of road ahead to travel.
While Yugen focused on his studies and training, things were developing at the Academy.
In the past couple of days, he heard people mentioning that Chazz seemed to have gone missing.
It looked like the world line was converging; although the process was different, Chazz still embarked on a similar growth path.
The poor kid had always been an elite in the first half of his life, but ever since arriving at Duel Academy, he was getting beaten frequently, which drove him to isolation. Those students who previously treated him with respect and courtesy gradually grew indifferent as his evaluation by the professors constantly declined.
Chazz stormed off to find Professor Chronos, seeking permission to have another duel with Yuki Judai to reclaim his honor, but the professor refused.
The reason was that he would most likely lose anyway. Instead of fixating on challenging underperformers, he should worry about his grades; at this rate, he'd probably soon end up in Ra's Dorm.
The news hit Chazz like a bolt from the blue.
Ending up in Yellow Dormitory? A top elite like him?
He couldn't accept it!
The next day, no one saw Chazz again.
When Yugen heard about it, he guessed that Chazz must have sailed out to sea. He'd likely experience a shipwreck and drift to the Northern Branch of Duel Academy, where he'd encounter his destined elf, Ojama Yellow...
Hmm, it was the world line converging; it was something that was meant to happen.
Absolutely nothing to do with himself.
On the other hand, Judai was quite enthusiastic. Upon hearing about Chazz's disappearance, he even ran into the nearby forest searching around. However, halfway through, he encountered a monkey wearing a Duel Disc, and was surprised to discover that he could also play cards with the monkey, thus promptly forgetting about the whereabouts of his good friend and started happily dueling with the monkey...
The animation mentions that there's a research institute on Duel Academy Island dedicated to studying whether monkeys have a higher affinity with elves than humans. So, the core task of the researchers was to teach monkeys how to play cards...
You can never imagine what other strange facilities might be hidden on this island.
Yugen's main daily routine now was attending classes, printing cards, and during his leisure time, conducting research with his colleagues in his lab, pulling Daidoji along to serve as their advisory teacher.
At the same time, practicing drawing cards was also a priority project. He felt much more proficient with the Divine Draw now than before he joined the Academy; drawing cards was also about harmonizing with his card deck and elves.
Of course, simply practicing against the wall was theoretical; practical battles were undoubtedly necessary to develop. So Yugen also incorporated a requirement to engage in at least one practical battle each day into his training schedule.
However, there was a slight issue with finding practical opponents.
His first choice of opponents was naturally from the Dueling Department, after all, engaging in dueling exchanges was the very purpose of the club's existence.
Yet, he persisted daily in clocking in for card battles, and eventually, a peculiar phenomenon emerged.
Whenever he cornered an opponent in a duel, a crowd would immediately gather around, pointing and chatting as if watching a show in the square, making the atmosphere light and joyful.
But whenever Yugen's opponent put on a mask of pain and got knocked to the ground, contently completing his daily training and ready to search for the next victim... ah, I mean, the next honorable opponent, he would immediately find that the crowd had dispersed.
Some had soup on the stove, some got calls from their girlfriends, and some forgot to gather the bedding, whatever the excuse, they all vanished in the blink of an eye.
So Yugen began reflecting, realizing it might not be appropriate to constantly shear wool from the same batch of sheep. Perhaps he should consider expanding his target pool a bit.
Then, coincidentally that day, during the routine laboratory research session, he casually mentioned this issue while chatting with two colleagues during their break.
"Academy rookies these days really are something. They don't even know what they're here for."
Yugen shook his head as he spoke.
"If they don't want to duel, what are they doing at the Academy? One after another, they lack ambition, it's truly..."
Mitsuzawa and Asuka exchanged glances.
Though they agreed he made a compelling point, they also felt it was understandable if potential opponents felt reluctant given who they'd be up against...
"But speaking of which, it's not necessarily limited to the Dueling Department." Asuka said, "After all, this is Duel Academy. While there are various clubs around, most of them usually allow casual challenges.
For example, the Tennis Club held an internal competition just last week. Oh, by the way, even the Student Union seems to have arranged an internal competition. I hear their stockpile of rare cards is quite outstanding, and their additional credits and administrative roles are superior to those of other clubs..."
Yugen suddenly stood up, startling her.
"What's up with you...?"
"Tenjouin, you're truly a genius." He said earnestly.
Asuka: "?"
Is that... so?
The out-of-the-blue compliment in such a serious tone rendered her a bit shy.
"Um... I wouldn't say that..."
But Yugen wasn't paying attention to her anymore; he started packing his things.
"By the way, where's the Student Department office? Are they still recruiting?"
"Uh, it's on the second floor of the academic building, a sign on the left side of the staircase." Mitsuzawa said, his expression equally peculiar.
"Great, thank you. Well then, I've got business to take care of, so I'll be off." Yugen smiled at them.
"See you tomorrow."
Yugen's silhouette disappeared beyond the door.
Mitsuzawa and Asuka locked eyes once more.
For a brief moment, Asuka inexplicably felt.
Did I inadvertently say something I shouldn't have...