Who asked him to play Yu-Gi-Oh

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The second week at Duel Academy was drawing to a close, and the Ra Yellow exchange battles were also finally nearing their end.

You Xuan had basically dueled everyone he needed to, though he felt he hadn't quite had his fill. Over the past two days, he could occasionally still see some Ra Yellow students in the dormitory area completing their respective duels.

You Xuan would sometimes stop to observe when passing by. Generally speaking, although quite a few students had been "educated" by his duels over these two weeks, there hadn't yet been a significant phenomenon of degenerate strategies spreading from person to person, unlike in the dojo.

After all, those who could enter the academy were already considered elites among duelists. Everyone had a certain attachment to and pride in their own decks and wouldn't change them easily, which was different from the dojo students...

Then, as he passed by, he saw a Ra Yellow student: "My turn, draw! I Set four cards face-down on the field. Turn end!"

You Xuan: "..."

He suddenly felt like he had seen this opening somewhere before.

Well, there were always exceptions.

He observed for a bit. Setting aside other things, the ratio of iconic red traps among Ra Yellow students seemed to have risen recently. While no one directly copied his homework and learned his deck, and students still insisted on using their own decks and main monsters, on top of this, there was a subtle trend towards the "underworld" style.

If this trend continued, and if there was a large-scale inter-dormitory exchange duel in the future, then the students from the other two dorms...

No, if it extended even further.

If the phenomenon of degenerate strategies spreading continued to proliferate, until one day it dominated the entire Duel Academy... When Sartorius arrived, he wouldn't last a week before shaking his head and taking his leave, stating, "This place of yours is too dark; my Light of Destruction is powerless here."

And when the Yubel arc arrived, and the entire academy was transported to another dimension, the tone of that entire arc might shift from "The Difficult Otherworldly Survival of Academy Teachers and Students" to "The Underworld Cataclysm of the Duel Spirits"...

You Xuan reflected for a moment and felt that if it really turned out that way one day, it definitely wouldn't be his fault.

Yu-Gi-Oh! was originally a game played by two people, but only enjoyable for one.

Dueling was just like that.

Afternoon, Alchemy class.

Before the second week was even over, the number of students attending Alchemy class had visibly decreased by a quarter.

But this was hardly surprising. To most students, alchemy was already something rather mysterious, and it didn't seem to offer any help in dueling.

Furthermore, the instructor, Professor Banner, looked like the type who was easy to bully. He didn't take attendance and didn't seem to care how many people were absent. He would just start lecturing on his own and leave when the time was up. So, Alchemy was also considered the easiest class to slack off in by the students.

However, Professor Banner also noticed that even though he projected this image, that student You Xuan from Ra Yellow still sat bolt upright throughout the entire class, constantly taking notes. In the entire classroom, no one else was as serious as him.

That focused attitude once made Banner himself wonder—

—Am I really that good at lecturing?

Not only that, but this student would even chase after him after class to ask questions!

Honestly, since Banner came to Duel Academy, through so many cohorts over the years, he had never seen such a serious student. Even model students like this year's Atticus Rhodes or the former Zane Truesdale, when attending his class, at most just listened attentively out of respect for the teacher; they never showed such great enthusiasm for alchemy.

"Teacher, after the first class, I became very interested, so I went to the school library and looked up a lot of related materials."

You Xuan cornered Banner in the corridor outside the classroom, even specifically taking out a list of questions he had prepared.

"I found some clues in many documents. The development of alchemy in ancient Egypt, its relationship with excavated relics and artifacts from the same period, and some other things... I've specifically listed them out. Teacher, could you see if these are correct?"

Professor Banner, holding his fat cat named "Pharaoh" in one arm, took the list handed to him with the other, peering at it through his squinted eyes.

"All the clues indicate that alchemy has been connected to Duel Monsters since ancient times, right, Teacher? Is this also why our academy offers an alchemy course?"

Banner carefully looked at the content of the documents he had excerpted, then observed him for a moment through his lenses, before the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"Oh my, this... is it true or not? Student You Xuan is truly studious..." He thought for a moment. "Well, indeed, there are many theories suggesting that the origins of alchemy are closely related to Duel Monsters, but that's just one school of thought. There are still many controversies in the academic world currently..."

He was acting.

You Xuan knew that Banner was giving the official answer here because this was indeed a question still debated in academia. But in the anime, before Banner died, he clearly told Jaden that he firmly believed the ultimate answer to alchemy lay in Duel Monsters, and he considered Jaden a natural top-tier alchemist.

"I've also read many textbooks and introductions to alchemy, and I feel that alchemy and 'Fusion Summoning' are very similar, aren't they, Teacher?"

You Xuan continued to feign humility.

"It's just my personal opinion, please don't mind if I'm wrong. But I think the alchemical methods mentioned in the books, and the process in dueling of fusing two originally ordinary monsters to create a new, powerful existence... This process of researching and developing Fusion Monsters, isn't it like turning stone into gold, a miracle in itself?"

Banner: "!?"

Professor Banner, an Oscar-level actor, couldn't hide the surprise on his face at this moment; his eyes, perennially squinted into slits, almost popped wide open in shock.

He couldn't help but be astonished because this student's words had struck a chord deep within his heart. This was precisely the insight he had gained from years of research as an alchemist, things he had never mentioned in class or shared with anyone.

This student, merely by consulting documents and self-study, had arrived at such a similar understanding...

But this was only natural.

Because the theory You Xuan had just presented was originally something he had heard from Banner... right in the anime, during the Sacred Beasts arc, it was what Banner had said to Jaden. Of course, he had long forgotten the exact original words, but the meaning was more or less the same.

Perhaps for the first time in front of a student, Banner set aside his usual dorky and cowardly image, squinted his eyes, and seriously sized up You Xuan.

"You Xuan Fujiki... is it? You're very interested in alchemy?"

"Yes, Teacher," You Xuan said seriously. "I hope to receive your guidance frequently in the future."

The dagger was drawn when the map was unrolled;5 he laid his cards on the table.

He just wanted to learn card printing from the academy's number one hidden master card printer.