Chapter 118: Won't That Be Insufficiently Exciting?

"Eh!? Big brother, you guys really went to the world of spirits?"

During the break, Marufuji Sho, who had just walked out of the building and onto the path, stared wide-eyed at Jyudai, his face written with disbelief.

Jyudai: "Yeah, no need to shout so loud."

"But that's the world of spirits!" Marufuji Sho exclaimed excitedly. "Did you see the spirit of the Dark Magician Girl? Or..."

"Hahaha, unfortunately, no." Jyudai chuckled. "But I did see 'Captain of the Vanguard,' and I even dueled him."

"Eh, You Xuan?"

At that moment, Jyudai's sharp eyes spotted You Xuan passing through the crowd, and he immediately rushed over with great enthusiasm.

"How was your rest yesterday?"

"It was alright."

"We're about to go fishing; do you want to come along?" Jyudai invited warmly.

Marufuji Sho: "Eh!? I didn't hear anything about that, big brother!"

You Xuan declined: "I'm going to organize my class notes first, so I'll head back."

Jyudai and Marufuji Sho exclaimed in unison, surprised: "Huh? There's such a thing as notes?"

In the time it took to exchange those few words, another voice came from the side: "That's so like your style, treating every class with the same serious attitude."

The three turned around together and immediately saw Asuka Tenjoin, arms crossed over her chest, smiling brightly.

"However, I heard a rumor saying that you've been arranged as the duel opponent for Ryuuga, the new teacher joining the staff. Is that true?" Asuka asked You Xuan.

"Your intelligence network is quite thorough. Yes, that's the case."

Jyudai exclaimed in surprise: "You get to duel a newly hired teacher? As expected of You Xuan, I'm so envious~"

"Be careful; there are some bad rumors about that Ryuuga." Asuka lowered her voice. "Some say he seems to enjoy snatching rare cards from opponents through duels."

"If it's him, he'll most likely propose a wager involving cards. Of course, the academy explicitly forbids this on the surface, so it would definitely have to be done privately."

Upon hearing this, You Xuan's face lit up with joy.

There's such a good thing?

So he's a duelist of the same type as me?

However, having said that, You Xuan had never taken anyone's deck outside of life-or-death card games, nor had he ever actively requested a card wager. Whenever he took decks, it was always to confiscate the tools of evil used by wicked individuals, done from the perspective of upholding justice and punishing evil.

Yes, that's exactly it.

But if the other party sincerely and earnestly made the request themselves, then it wouldn't be right for him to deny them face.

Seeing You Xuan acting as if it were no big deal, Asuka became slightly displeased: "Take this seriously! That Ryuuga is quite formidable; he was a student council member back in his academy days, and his strength is said to be quite impressive."

"Moreover, he's achieved high rankings in various tournaments; I hear his resume is very impressive now."

"Understood, thank you for the reminder, Tenjoin-san." You Xuan smiled.

He now had a slight impression. Teacher Ryuuga... a character who appeared in the GX manga.

In the manga, he was an outright villain who would abuse his position as an intern teacher to forcibly win students' cards using wager rules, arrogantly claiming, "These cards will be happier with the stronger me."

Furthermore, in the manga, he seemed to use underhanded tricks. Once he realized the situation was turning against him, he would activate special electromagnetic waves to interfere with the opponent's duel disk, preventing them from activating Spell Cards.

The requirement for promotion to teacher in the manga was for Ryuuga to achieve fifty wins in duels against students. Honestly, You Xuan felt it was ridiculous that he managed to win using such dirty tricks more than once without being discovered; most opponents seemed to just think their duel disks had malfunctioned.

However, since the current development didn't completely match the manga, You Xuan wasn't sure if the other party would use such methods. But out of caution, he still called Heihachiro to consult.

The conclusion he received was that the duel disk he was currently using was the latest smart model, ahead of the market, with no risk of system interference. With that, there was no need to worry about underhanded tricks.

Actually, confirming this was just to be on the safe side, because You Xuan felt that even without using Spell Cards, he might not necessarily lose.

The next day, when the time arrived, You Xuan accepted Cronos's invitation and came to the academy's duel arena.

Many students who had heard the news also rushed over to watch.

Especially his colleagues from the Yellow Dormitory.

"Nani? The new teacher has been assigned to duel a student? And with that guy?"

"The new teacher is truly pitiful."

"Don't say that; what if the new teacher is unexpectedly strong?"

"..."

At this moment, according to the match rules, both combatants had faced each other and entered the shuffling exchange phase.

"So you're student You Xuan, correct? Professor Cronos speaks very highly of you," Ryuuga said with a light laugh.

"You flatter me."

You Xuan behaved with humility and courtesy, showing a respectful attitude.

He could roughly guess why Professor Cronos had invited him to serve as the test opponent.

On one hand, just like how the professor always called on him to answer questions and give demonstrations in class, this was part of the daily routine of handing him credits.

Moreover, this wasn't just an ordinary classroom demonstration like usual; once he won this match, he would naturally receive far more credit rewards than answering a single question normally would. The professor had already guaranteed this point to him; it was a rare opportunity.

Actually, even if he lost, it wouldn't affect him at all.

On the other hand, it should also be that Professor Cronos himself was interested in his strength.

After all, as a key student under cultivation, the professor surely wanted more opportunities to see him clash with experts. This would both provide him with a chance to hone and improve, and allow the professor to gauge his progress and true level.

To be honest, Cronos had also been very curious about exactly how strong this student was.

So far, the duel where You Xuan appeared most serious in public was his match against Daichi Misawa during the phase test. Daichi had thoroughly researched and analyzed his common tactics to formulate countermeasures, but ultimately, he was still calmly defeated by the opponent.

At least to onlookers, it seemed Daichi still hadn't managed to force this student to go all out.

Professor Cronos stood with his hands behind his back on the high platform, smiling as he watched You Xuan on the field.

"Student You Xuan, let Professor here see just what level your strength has reached, none."

"..."

At this moment, while shuffling, Ryuuga narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "The professor says you're extraordinary. So, how about it? Dare to play for something bigger?"

You Xuan's eyes flickered: "Teacher, you mean...?"

"Wagering our respective rare cards." He pushed up his glasses and lowered his voice. "The winner can choose any one card from the loser. How about it?"

You Xuan's humble and polite image made him look like one of those sunny, good students, whose grades must also be excellent. Plus, with Cronos praising him so highly, the resources he obtained must be quite good.

Therefore, he must possess cards of considerable value in his hand.

You Xuan showed a troubled expression: "Ah? Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Ryuuga curled the corner of his mouth: "What, are you scared?"

"No, I'm saying, only wagering one card?" You Xuan blinked his eyes. "Wouldn't that not be exciting enough?"

Ryuuga: "???"

(End of Chapter)