Beckas actually asked for his name first instead of the other two people with him. Yugen was a bit surprised.
Then Yugen caught a glimpse of Nightwalker silently observing from behind.
Could it be that Nightwalker had mentioned their last encounter to Beckas?
It's not entirely impossible.
So Yugen replied politely but playfully, "Fujiki Yugen. Mr. Beckas can call me Yugen Boy~"
This was exactly Beckas' classic catchphrase, referring to people as "game Boy" and "Kaiba Boy" in the original story. With Beckas being a senior and older than Yugen, calling him "boy" wasn't surprising.
Beckas laughed heartily.
"Alright, Yugen boy~, as Nightwalker said, you are indeed an interesting duelist~"
Hearing Uncle Beckas' accent, just as enchanting as he remembered, Yugen felt relieved.
"Just as Pegasus said, designing cards requires imagination as boundless as the sky and a pioneering spirit, along with passion."
Beckas turned to face the crowd as he spoke.
"If we are content with the status quo and afraid of change, the path will never open before us. So I hope everyone can be like Yugen boy, open-minded and daring to try."
With the influential figure speaking, the experts naturally chimed in agreement.
"Mr. Beckas is right."
"Truly a model for us researchers!"
Then Beckas turned, patted Yugen on the shoulder, and said lightly with a smile, "I'm counting on you, Yugen Boy~"
With that, he turned and left.
Mitsuzawa beside them, almost like a transparent person, swallowed hard, weirdly eyeing Yugen.
There were already rumors that he was a man chosen by Seto Kaiba, and now even Mr. Beckas, the so-called Father of Duel Monsters, seems interested in him...
Mitsuzawa became increasingly certain that his initial judgment was correct.
This guy, from constructing, playing cards to printing them, seemed unscientific from head to toe. Or perhaps, because he was so unscientific, he naturally drew the attention of influential figures wherever he went...
Damn, I was standing right next to him shoulder to shoulder, so why did the influential figure just pass by and ignore me?
Even though my performance is good, and my research is diligent too...
Sora Shizawa fell into deep thought.
It seems Beckas wasn't just coming here; he might have been secretly observing during the duel just now.
The reason he showed up after seeing the cards might not only be because Pegasus Nightwalker mentioned himself to him, but the recent duel might have piqued his interest as well.
Pegasus Nightwalker, possibly handling the organization of this meeting, might have spoken with Beckas as well. So they knew that although Asuka was the main user of the digital card deck, it was actually Yugen who was steering the direction of the research.
In other words, the unique card concept that carried Wei Wu's legacy, the Digital Angels, was definitely his idea...
Beckas's attitude seemed to appreciate this.
But when Yugen thought about it, it seemed reasonable as well.
Back in the Duel Kingdom days, when Beckas was the BOSS, his cartoon deck used to turn opponents' monsters into cartoon versions for fun. The final trump card, the Sacrificial Demon series, was an NTR pioneer with a full underworld index.
And all the antics like pulling out the Dragon Race Sealing Pot to mess with President Kaiba until he was fuming...
Tracing back, the one with the spirit of Cao the Traitor should actually be him. If there were a hierarchy of underworld people in Yu-Gi-Oh!, even the famous Mr. Malikma would have to call him a senior.
Yugen seemed to understand something.
Indeed, the same type of stand-ins attract each other, perhaps it was similar hidden traits that caught Uncle Beckas' eye...
It seems after today's meeting, getting sponsorship from the International Illusion Association is within reach.
"..."
The meeting began, basically with the experts introducing their respective team's achievements one after another.
Yugen quickly noticed that the so-called achievements didn't necessarily involve printing new cards. Many people just proposed some new ideas or directions after some verification and compiled them into papers.
After all, innovative breakthroughs don't happen every day, and not everyone can foresee the future like him.
New cards did appear in the meeting, but at least Yugen felt most of them looked like the meaningless stuff that the Dog K Association stuffed into the card box to make up the numbers.
But that's normal too. In Yu-Gi-Oh!'s bottomless card pool, randomly picking stuff likely results in meaningless things.
For example, the strangest card seen today was this one.
[Trap Card – Unfortunate Report
Effect: The opponent conducts two combat phases in their next turn.]
Yugen had to admit, he truly didn't remember there was such a card in the card pool.
How should I put it...
It's not that it's useless. Because as some influencer once said, in Yu-Gi-Oh!, there's no such thing as a completely useless card. No matter how odd or useless something seems, there's always a trick to use it.
But it can only be said that it's really hard to manage and greatly tests a duelist's imagination.
There was another card that seemed meaningless.
[Magic Card – Evil Ceremony
Effect: The position of all monsters on the field is exchanged, and their positions cannot be changed in the activated turn. This card can only be activated during the standby phase.]
At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong. A card that forcibly changes positions in the entire field should have its uses.
But upon taking a second look.
Ordinary Magic?
Can only be activated during the standby phase?
The wording was just mind-boggling.
As is widely known in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ordinary Magic Cards are a speed-one effect and can only be used during your own main phase. During the standby phase, only effects with speed equivalent to trap cards or speed attack magic can be activated.
In other words, just from how the card's effect is written, it's inherently contradictory and practically unusable...
Then Yugen heard the presenting expert explain that, after a night-long effort and overcoming numerous difficulties, their team finally figured out how to solve the issue of this card not being activatable.
With their team's technical upgrades, [Evil Ceremony], though still an Ordinary Magic Card, can be set face-down on the field, and activated during the player's next standby phase.
Yugen: "..."
Hmm, it really is...an epic breakthrough.
In reality, that's indeed how this card was ruled by the administration. As an ancient card, many people seeing it would think it was a print error by K Society in the early design days, but later, additional clarification from the administration suggested that although it's a magic card, it can indeed be set on the field and activated during your next turn's standby phase.
This is also the only Ordinary Magic Card in the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! card pool that can be actively activated during the standby phase, indeed a breakthrough worthy of going down in history...
Though today, these two cards were the only ones of unclear meaning. The other reports, while not particularly striking, were decent, and not particularly noteworthy.
Soon, it was Yugen and his team's turn according to the list.
Nightwalker, the host of the meeting, said, "The results from the Duel Academy student team should have already been demonstrated in advance through a duel."
"So, do you want to elaborate through a report? Or..."
"Of course."
Yugen stood up with a smile.
"That was just a part of the results we brought this time."
Everyone: "?"
He exchanged a glance with Mitsuzawa, who understood, stood up, and took out several cards that had already been printed and prepared.
"Actually, our team's research projects extend beyond just digital direction."
"We've also explored the relationships between the Demon Race and the Undead Race...and enhanced several Monster Cards on the original foundation."
The experts: "???"
More experts?