Another new card deck added to his collection, Yugen was in high spirits today.
The Artificial Human series still has room for development as a card deck, and it's one of those series that received nostalgic boosts with new cards years later. Yugen jotted down this topic, planning to research it when he had more time.
Before Yugen transmigrated, Consortium K seemed to have discovered a new secret to fortune, crazily boosting old card decks from the DM to the GX era.
Many of these old decks might seem like junk to modern Yu-Gi-Oh! players, but you have to realize that many new-generation junk cards would be considered devastating false cards twenty years ago.
And as for the new-generation upper-tier card decks, it's even more extreme. The whole deck is practically full of false cards. Taking them back to twenty years ago would be like advanced alien technology pounding primitive people waving pitchforks.
Moreover, old-era decks that have been strengthened are not just rotten fish. Who could have imagined that Yubel, which was a trash card deck in its time, would have the chance to defy fate nearly twenty years later...
You can only say that Duel Monsters has deep waters, and the road to research is long. As long as the card printing power is strong enough, even three rounds of it can be taken to the heavens.
It further proves that in this world of rampant cheating, you either max out your connections and metaphysical luck or rely on scientific research to make your wealth, rolling up your sleeves to fend for yourself.
However, Yugen already has quite a few projects lined up for research, and the list of card decks he wants to study when he has time is growing.
Trying to lead every project himself obviously wouldn't go far. Yugen is already considering expanding his team once their first wave of results is published and the lab's influence grows.
Of course, Yugen will still personally research his mainstay and his Elf, but he won't have time for all the random other card deck series. With so many themes and new cards to print, resources and manpower are essential.
But it seems the day their lab's first batch of output is released is not far away.
Under Yugen's guidance, Asuka completed the initial strengthening of the Digital Angels and then spent several nonstop days grinding to finally finish the paper she intended to submit.
The day before submission, she had the mentor assigned by the lab, Teacher Dade Temple, review it—though she still doubted his real ability.
Teacher Dade Temple, petting a cat, casually flipped through the paper, adjusting his glasses in a troubled manner: "Ah, even if you say so, I've barely written papers myself..."
He quickly flipped through the pages from start to finish and handed the stack of papers back to Asuka.
"Very good, no problem, just like that. As expected of Asuka, your work is always reassuring."
Asuka took the paper, bewildered and hesitant to speak, but seemed unwilling to embarrass the teacher.
She wanted to say, "Teacher, you didn't even look..."
Mitsuzawa couldn't help but say: "Besides, I've learned that the conference you mentioned is next week already. Submitting now... is this even possible..."
Indeed. Though Yugen didn't understand this world, in his previous life, paper submissions took months to over a year. Now, they were not just missing the deadline, but the conference date was looming, yet they were still preparing to submit, which was unheard of.
Teacher Dade Temple smiled, eyes squinting: "It's okay, my friend is quite influential; this small thing shouldn't be a problem."
Mitsuzawa wanted to say something more: "But... "
Isn't this more than just a small issue?
But Yugen interrupted him with a smile: "No worries, since the teacher said so, let's just give it a try."
"...Alright, since you said so." Mitsuzawa said no more.
But he couldn't help but sneak a glance at Teacher Dade Temple.
Though he trusted Yugen, he was puzzled as to why Yugen believed in what Teacher Dade Temple said.
The teacher just doesn't seem reliable...
...
...
Outside the academy, elsewhere, at a Duel Monsters research institute.
At the headquarters of the Digitalization Research Association.
Huge servers were running quietly, their deep hum a background to the space. The walls were filled with images and data of digitalized monsters, and the air was permeated with the unique scent of electronic equipment.
The head of the association, walking briskly, entered the lab.
"Sakura, help me review a paper. Quickly, for next week's International Illusion Association conference paper."
Getting straight to the point.
The girl named Sakura, with pink hair, stood up from her position, looking surprised.
"Next week's conference? Review now?"
"The recommendation is from a big figure, said to have once been a giant in the Alchemy Domain... not important. They say this time the situation is special, and as the research topic is Digital Angels, the organizers asked us to review it."
"Just go through it first, mark any problems or highlights, and package it for me by tonight. Understand?"
"Got it."
Sakura sat back down, feeling curious.
A recommendation from a giant in the Alchemy Domain, and on the digital angels?
What could it achieve?
Their team already represented the top tier of "digitalized" series research, with their recent breakthrough, the "Electronic Angel - Tujini" being the strongest digital terminal currently recognized.
But even after that, they've been stuck at a bottleneck, unable to achieve new progress.
Curious, she opened the article the head had sent.
"Overlooked potential of Digital Angels?"
Sakura frowned slightly.
The Digital Angels were a ritual card deck under the large "digitalized" series, which just happened to be Sakura's research focus.
Could there be some unexplored details in this deck that they have consistently overlooked?
She sipped her coffee, her eyes moving down, catching sight of the paper's authors.
"Asuka Tenjouin, Fujiki Yugen... Duel Academy first-year students!?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.
What breakthrough discoveries could newly admitted students have?
She sipped her coffee again, continuing to read with a hint of skepticism.
And then she spit it out.
"..."
"Chief! Chief, chief!"
Sakura ran up to the chief's office, knocking on the door.
"What's the matter? Why the panic?"
The chief opened the door, puzzled.
Sakura, short of breath, said: "The paper you gave me... it's just... unbelievable..."
"Wasn't it requested to review and send it back to me?" The chief looked at her oddly. "Is it that exaggerated?"
Sakura continued panting, holding her wildly heaving chest, cheeks flushed, she nodded repeatedly.
The chief was surprised: "Is it really that incredible? Let me guess, they discovered the potential enhancement of a card? Which one?"
Sakura kept nodding, but after thinking, she shook her head.
"No... it's not about a particular card, Chief."
Sakura revealed a frightening expression.
"...It's the entire card deck."
The chief: "???"