Yu-Gi-Oh: Bridging The Dimensions
Article 9 - Chapter 9 - Island Life
┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 9 ├┬┴┬┴
┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴
Steve took the train and I took the subway so we could meet up between our residences.
"Those train seats are doggy. They should've paid me for the fare to cover the pain and suffering."
My back arched against the pseudo-leather, sweat sticking the skin to it like glue. I struggled beneath the bar to press it back up. It wobbled in my grasp spurring my right arm to take over before consciously correcting it.
My spotter quickly slid his hands over, catching the bar with two fingers from each hand and assisting me over the hump of the rep.
With unrelenting perseverance, the bar found its way up, then swiftly racked.
I sat up from the bench rolling my shoulders around and stretching out.
"Add Two 45's and a 25 to each side," Steve announced stooping over to fetch his plates.
Damn, I'm pathetic right now.
The empty barbell weighed 55 pounds. I'm embarrassed to say at this point I didn't need additional weight. The stares of the other fellow gym-goers magnified after packing Steve's weight to the bar.
I shrugged having no idea what Steve expected from me. "Dude I can't spot 285, I'm going to be zero help."
"That's not true, You're my moral support."
"Anyone trying to spot him? I dunno if you can tell, but that's not me." I surfed around looking for someone to replace me.
A bystander waltzed up, his physique alone told me he was much more qualified to be Steve's spotter. Luckily he was friendly and helped out with no fuss, in fact, he seemed excited.
Steve pumped one out, and another. After five his pace slowed down tremendously. His eyes clenched together and a bead of sweat dripped off his forehead to the black rubber floor.
"You got two more in you, I know it. Come on big-guy." the stranger encouraged.
Long story short, Steve only managed one more rep, before failing and needing the guy to haul the bar back up to the rack.
I finished up first, needing the least stimulation to exhaust myself and promote muscular hypertrophy. I grabbed a Peanut-butter Banana protein shake from the juice bar and paced around 'till Steve finished up and met up with me.
"My elbows feel numb… maybe I should have lowered the weight and increased reps?" Steve speculated.
"That dude was retarded trying to get you to extend fully at the top. Bad for your elbows."
"I bet that guy was juicing. Did you see his traps and delts?"
"No shit. That boy's hairline went quicker than LeBron's."
Steve chuckled while I slurped up my shake through the straw.
"So what? You think we're going to find a wormhole or something to bring us back home?"
"Honestly, this is probably a load of crap. I just figured it doesn't hurt to be cautious and check it out. We'll follow the instructions and see what happens from there." I said.
"This is crazy. I feel like Neo in The Matrix right now."
"Well, you're lookin' more like a chink-eyed fat Albert."
"Yeah? You look like that crack kid vine but all grown up. Get yo yellow muppet lookin' ass and see if you can still get you some of that Micheal Jackson money little boy."
"Me?!" I threw my hands up before finally pointing at him. "You the type of nigga to romance Rosie O'Donnell 'cuz her hips are thick. You don't let anything talk you out of old coochie."
"You're not even talking sense. It wouldn't be romance, it would be strictly the dick. And also it'd be 'cuz she's got tig ol' bitties." He winked, concluding his performance.
"See? This is what I'm talking about. You need a muzzle." I covered his mouth with my hand. "On God, I can't go into public with you."
He licked my hand, the fucker, I pulled back and wiped his spit off on my shorts.
"Eww. Regret. That was nasty." Steve whined before wiping his tongue off on his shirt,
"Serves you right. You probably got aids. If not, definitely Hepatitis. It doesn't matter what head you think with, you're still out trying to catch a virus."
"They're like Pokemon, eventually you just catch them all and you're the best."
"...Pokemon don't even work like that. What are you talkin' about?"
"Why are you always a hater? Why isn't it ever 'Damn Steve, good job with the analogy. I see where you coming from' - or 'fuck dude, you made that 285 look like a little bitch.'"
"I'm not even going to lie, you did make that 285 your bitch. Good job bro."
"See? That's that shit I do like. Yessir!" We slid straight into a clap of the hands, clutched, and brought it in with a hand to the back.
After that, we started off on our way down the sidewalk through the city. I whipped out my phone and went to the KC Maps app.
Steve peaked over my shoulder. "Is that it?"
Estimated time of arrival: 3:29pm - Speed: 4.7 Kilometers/pH
"Yeah, I already put in the coordinates, it's like a 12-minute walk from here apparently and the listed time is 3:47pm, we still got like half an hour."
"So? Let's show up early. I want to pick a good spot."
"I keep telling you not to get your hopes up. This is only recon. The pamphlet's instructions said that any type of movement is ill-advised during the time or whatever. It's vague which means the person who wrote it was an idiot, insane, or sadistic. If you asked me, I'd guess all three."
"How can you still be doubting after everything we've been through?"
"Man, I don't know what's going on. I'm trying to make the best of it while looking for answers. Failed expectations lead to negative emotion, so let's get a bigger view of the picture before we start jumping to conclusions."
"Fair enough."
We made our way to the destination, and upon arrival, my phone dinged and announced "You have arrived." My screen showed the latitude and longitude of the location; 35.4432°, 139.6376°.
Gray poles spaced apart about similar to their height. They extended up about four feet from the sidewalk dividing auto traffic and pedestrians. A long overpass ramped over us rumbled while horns blared.
Large chain link fences stretched up from the right where the sidewalk ended all the way up to the concrete overpass. Past the fence was a mess. Scattered about were partial and full garbage bags, all kinds of tarps and umbrellas rigged up for makeshift shelter, tattered clothes and footwear, and a crowd of homeless people.
"Yikes it be smelling sour out here," Steve observed.
"You're kidding… Are these locations that bum could slum at?!" I said, my fist clenching tight from building frustration.
"Let me see the list."
I tossed it over to him and he opened it right up.
"...Hmm...These… These are all over the world and have timestamps next to them to boot. You're trolling if you think these places are just where he crashes."
"Okay, so that sounds ridiculous, but it sounds even more ridiculous that this is some secret vigilante or an undercover mole for those aliens that gave us another chance. They might even be testing to see if we're still flight risks or something."
"Right here it says we're supposed to cover the cranium with 95% aluminum or higher, but... hide it so it's not visible? What!?"
"That's what I mean! Nothing makes any sense, it's like the guy just wanted us to look like retards."
"... So you didn't bring aluminum?"
"I did. I made our little tin foil hats and slid them into a beanie for both of us so no one could tell."
"Why didn't you say so sooner, Give me mine." Steve held out his hand.
"Tsk." I clicked my tongue retrieving the hat from my backpack and pelting him in the chest with it. "What's that going to do? Shield your brain from electromagnetism? Make sure no one can read your mind? Ha!"
"Hey, you never know. Sometimes you just gotta try for yourself." Steve pulled the beanie over his bald head, and I followed behind begrudgingly.
"Is aluminum foil even real aluminum?"
"It said 98.5% aluminum on the packaging. If nothing happens, don't you even dare blame me for it, I did my part."
"Thanks buddy. You're the best friend a guy can ask for."
"Of course. I know how much this means to you. Even if I think it's a longshot, I'd be a dirtbag of a friend if I wouldn't even try after pulling you into this in the first place."
"I've had a lot of friends, but the number of people I've ever met willing to ride or die for me can fit on one hand easily. We're more than friends, we're brothers fam."
"Okay, so can you stop looking to pipe my mom?"
"Sure man." Steve replied, his tone suggesting as if anything less was unthinkable. It just didn't feel like something Steve would authentically say. "As soon as you get me back home."
"Home like back to the Beast style Dojo?"
"Nananananana, Home as in home. I want to go back."
"Ahhh! There it is. I figured that would've been too easy…"
"Let's take a look around, see if anyone's seen anything strange."
"Let's ask a bunch of cracked out social rejects if they've seen anything strange. Hmm."
"Dude, If you spend all day shuffling words around you can make anything sound bad. Come on, indulge me."
"Fine." I said with a sigh. "-But if another homeless person spits on me the gloves are coming out." I squared up and lifted my clenched fists into the air.
"Ha."
"-And I'm comin' after you big guy."
"Oooooo, I'm really shaking in my boots." Steve taunted.
We walked around to a snipped hole in the fence large enough to roll a grocery cart through. I ducked under and through, and Steve slinked through next, but after I pulled back the sharp frayed edges so it wouldn't shred him up.
We both got heavy stares as if we were outsiders. We passed by a middle-aged man passed out in a wheelbarrow snoring, his head propped up on a roll of carpet or rug.
"That's something you don't see every day," I smirked as we passed.
"This is sad. Where did everyone's compassion go? How do we let people suffer like this in 2022?"
"They probably did it to themselves, don't feel bad."
"You don't know anything about these people. Maybe they got unlucky and it's no fault of their own."
"Maybe, but probably not."
Steve swerved left and led us straight to a little colony. There were ten people or more scattered about.
"Hi. How are you doing?" Steve asked a dirty-faced nonplussed skinny kid in a tattered graphic tee.
He sent back a questioning glare telegraphing his distrust.
"You hungry?" He asked, reaching into his gym bag over his shoulder and retrieving a cherry-red apple.
The kids' eyes lit up, and still didn't say a word, but nodded in affirmation to the question.
"I was homeless not all that long ago so I know what it's like. Here, take it." Steve tossed the fruit over and the kid caught it. In no time flat the apple disappeared into a pocket.
"T...Thank you a lot." The child bowed to Steve deeply in respect to show his appreciation.
"Ha, no problem." Steve scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Say, there's this guy I'm looking for. He's got blue hair and usually wears a dirty lab coat, have you ever seen him or see anything weird?"
He paused for a long moment, before slowing nodding his head in affirmation again.
"Really? Is he here now?"
He shook his head no.
"Oh, dang," Steve replied with a frown. "I was really hoping he'd still be here."
"See, I told you so." I basked in my self-proclaimed victory.
"... It's been weeks since he came back, but he has a few friends here." The kid told us.
"Really?" I let out in disbelief. "He was like this tall, spiky hair, probably drunk. That sounds right?" I added in, determined to see the kid change his mind.
"If I told you I had another apple for you, would you take me to his friends? We're worried something might have happened to him."
He nodded, and before I knew it we were being led through the slums. We skid by 55-gallon drums of burning trash, clotheslines of drying laundry, and intermittent broken needles or trinkets scattered about.
We stopped at a hut resembling an indian tipi with a salvaged awning shielding it from the wind. Outside lurked a cluster of blatant tin foil hat wearing impoverished men and women.
Steve tapped the guide on the shoulder and promptly slid him the promised apple much to his delight. His shine and thankfulness warmed my heart forcing me to at bare minimum to reassess my prior opinions of the homeless.
Hungry eyes caught Steve handing out food. He became the center focus of everyone present.
Let me be upfront, I've been homeless before. It was my dad's fault and out of my hands. Of Course, we can't fault these kids out here. They either didn't have a choice, or this was the more attractive option of their slim lot. But the adults, most of them had a choice, and the way they envied and gawked at Steve didn't sit right with me at all.
"I should have brought more food…" Steve mumbled under his breath. "Oh well, hey there."
Steve waved to the people and got a response back. "Dear lawdy, 'dis boy must've hit a lick and now be showin' some love. Got 'dem groceries o'er here on lock looking like a supermarket. We ain't been gettin' no love for a minute now, Naa'wat I mean?"
"I know what you mean. People tune out and ignore the homeless like they aren't even human. It's annoying how most people won't even look us in the eye. It's like people would rather pretend bad things don't happen to good people. It's fucked up is what it is!" Steve ranted.
"You got a head on 'dem shoulders now. You stay in school now and don't go lookin' for trouble, ya hear?"
"I'm still in school, but Trouble's my middle name." Steve grinned. "Sometimes I'm chilling, sometimes I'm looking for it, but it always finds me."
"That's just how life be sometimes. Ya gotta hold onto hope. If you ain't got no hope, you ain't got nothin'."
"If you ain't got any hope." I corrected, unable to contain my pet peeve from firing off.
"Weeewooo! Watch out! The grammar police really out here in these streets. Where'd you find him? The library? Keep on readin' 'dem books youngblood."
I clicked my tongue.
"He's a spazz, don't mind him. He wasn't held enough as a child."
A burst of laughter rung out, before the man doing the talking began coughing, lifting his loose shirt over his mouth to cover up.
"I see everyone has those hats. Is there anything to that or you just trying to keep your head warm?"
The playful atmosphere was shattered by Steve's words. Stern expressions appeared on most if not everyone present having universally recognized the shift.
The man twiddled his thumbs around then eventually began scratching his neck.
"...This here stops 'dem from wiping our minds." He flicked his aluminum cap. "We ain't lookin' to forget. See, we want to remember and not get locked up in the pause."
"How original. It stops memories from being forgotten, does it? Is that really what you're going with?" I interjected to throw shade at their nonsense.
"Shut up dude," Steve commanded. "So, locked up in 'the pause' - you said?"
"Stop. Too much!" Someone beside the Homeless spokesman screamed. "Too much, too much!"
"Hey! Dio showed us and told us to pass it down. Don't you be gettin' all greedy now." He scolded his associate. "The Pause. Time just freezes and be standin' still like lady liberty. We usually go hit licks and bring back food, clothes, and money. Whatever we can get our hands-on. Usually, you don't get too long, so we gotta be quick."
"Dio?" I asked, the image of the strange blue-haired wreck of a human being flashed into my head.
"Do you remember the last time a pause happened?" Steve asked.
"It was… err… Last Tuesday? I dunno, it's been a minute, we're running low on stuff and just waiting for the next."
"Last Tuesday?" I blurted out before recalling the time and date of the previous coordinates. "Was it mid-day? Maybe 2-3 pm?"
"Naaaaa. It was… was… Wait, damn! Yeah, it was. This 'lil twerp psychic? How'd you know what time it was?"
My gut sank. The dawn of understanding of how the puzzle could fit together murdered my small hope this was an elaborate prank.
With this new information, only two possible scenarios made sense. The man in the lab coat is with the higher dimensional creatures and is testing us, or he's against them. In either case, we risk making them our enemy. We can't afford that, not with the resources they have.
"Steve. We have to leave." I tugged on his arm.
"Woah, what's the rush buddy?"
"Now! We're late... for that one thing, remember?"
"Huh? The fuck you talkin' about? This was that one thing."
I slapped my forehead.
"You said you still needed to go visit my mom, right?"
Steve's eyes shone with understanding but cocked his head sideways as if to question me anyway. "I thought you said not to-"
"It's now or never Stevie-boy. What's it going to be?"
"Sorry guys, Interesting stuff and all, but captain buzzkill over here is giving me a golden opportunity and I can't waste it. I'll check back in with you sometime, alright?"
"He tell you of kindness AND NO FOOD?!" The lone dissenter bellowed. "I knew shouldn't have told. Stingy-Stingy."
Is that really all you're thinking about? Piss off beggar. You weren't even the one who told us so you get no stake in the matter.
"Man I'm all out. I guess I could stop back by later if you need it, but I'll definitely pay it back. Thanks for lookin' out for me, good eye."
"Awww, we ain't hurtin' 'dat bad yet. Shoot, he actin' like he ain't just eat peppered rice. Get us right when you can, we ain't in no rush."
"'Preciate it. I don't think I ever got your name. Mine's Steveo."
I hardly restrained myself from face-palming. Putting an O at the end of your name is not a clever alias.
"Name's 'lil Jojo. Glad to meet'cha lad. Keep on keepin' on."
We took off on a good note, but I was hurrying away at as fast of a pace possible while still maintaining the facade that I was calm on the outside.
"So what was all that about?" Steve asked.
"Sticking around them is a bad idea. Think about the aliens or simulation overlords or whatever they are. The person I saw must have been either allied with them or their enemy. If time freezes for every single of these coordinates, despite their location, that can only mean something more than frozen time will happen here." I looked at my phone to see it was 3:46."We have less than a minute, COME-ON! We need to put some distance between us and these coordinates, so pick it up."
"I want to see what happens though."
I went to swat a fly squirreling around my face, I reared back and unleashed a slap before it curiously froze mid-air before smacking down.
The constant roar of traffic, even the echo that should have persisted for a few seconds vanished eerily. The people around us locked up inanimately like statues unable to move a muscle or likely have a conscious thought..
I turned back to where we'd come from and decided to play dead, freezing in place and hoping to not stand out in the sea of immobile bodies after recalling the instructions of the Traveler's Guide to the Multiverse.
Steve followed my example without delay. We both gazed back towards the tipi I made us flee from.
A familiar popping static cracked through the air. Green and white light beamed out showering the world in the distinct neon-like hue fighting through the shade.
By the time I could make out what happened, numerous swirling vortexes were floating mid-air, and wave after wave of figures sporting intricate jet black suits and black sunglasses poured out. First in tens, but before I knew it no less than 80 agents dropped in and swarmed the place.
"STAY AWAY!" a familiar voice boomed. "AHHHHHHH!"
"Jojo…" Steve whispered leaving his mouth open.
"Don't." I warned. I was careful to stay as still as possible even while I advised Steve, which would have been made easier if I hadn't frozen in such a strange orientation out of fear.
"Collect all mad-hatters and relocate them. Battalion B, search the perimeter for any signs of Dio. Report suspicious phenomena directly to director Ž&ù^Çh.
"Please! We're sorry we stole!" A voice begged.
One by one, each of the tinfoil crew was forced into the portals, carried away to another dimension or universe.
Boots fell in waves as agents kicked around scouring the area.
Three agents appeared in our vicinity. They each carried a black SciFi looking radar gun or scanner or something. A green hologram of a simple grid overlaid over the faces of everyone around.
Beside my own face hovered a green holograpic text that read: "Kisuke Tashiro - Threat: Nonfactor."
Nonfactor?!
"...No Dio or known associates."
"You think the Federation would list him as the number one most wanted fugitive if he was incompetent enough to get caught by raids of this level?"
The Federation? Is that what they're called?
"When you put it that way it's like you think he never makes mistakes"
"Oh, he makes mistakes, but one's big enough to hand himself over on a silver platter? Not in this century."
They walked off, and I let out the breath I was holding as evenly and quietly as possible.
Another couple minutes of playing mannequin later and most of the agents retreated back to the portals.
"Area secured, prisoners in transit. 60 seconds to clear the premises."
Every second crawled and stretched as if cosplaying an hour. Agents became fewer, and fewer until there were none, and everything around us burst back into motion.
"Oh my god..." Steve cried, tears streaming from his eyes.
My legs trembled like a palm tree in a hurricane. So much I couldn't stand any longer, collapsing to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Holy shit."
...
"What's wrong?" a familiar voice piped up.
I took a few moments to compose myself to find Steve completely out of it, sweat rolling down his forehead from his beanie and soaking his face. Tears rolled down his cheeks blending into his mess.
The slim kid from earlier was lingering a few feet away flashing us looks of concern.
As Steve was incapacitated for the time being, I knew I was up to bat, and I wouldn't sugar coat it. "I… I don't know how to tell you this kid… but lil' Jojo and all them are gone. You'll probably never see them again."
"Uhh… Who's Jojo?" The kid asked.
"What? The tin foil guys you brought us to! You didn't even know his name?"
"Are… you feeling alright? You asked me where I seen the blue-headed guy 'n I showed you. I dunno what you're talking about. Tinfoil? -or something? Stop freaking me out... Unless you've got more apples, then I guess I'll listen to you talk crazy."
"He doesn't remember… Does that mean my wife and kids forgot me too?"
This here stops 'dem from wiping our minds… We ain't lookin' to forget. Jojo's words echoed in my head.
"No way…" I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but the realistic pain told me the truth. That this was real and only the tip of a larger concealed iceberg.
The Federation deletes or changes our memories whenever it's convenient? They want all of us to be blissfully unaware of what is really going on. They want their sheep nice and docile so they can keep on milking our faith or whatever for energy?
Heat culminated in my chest, my overt uselessness and helplessness stung. It woke me to how precarious existence truly was, and left me questioning how I should spend the rest of my life. In any case, I made myself a promise that no matter what, I'll eventually get to the bottom of everything to uncover the truth about the Federation and about life in general.
┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴
Steve and I made a pact not to use the information in the guide for the time being, and with that came a vow of silence that neither of us would bring it back up.
The newest banlist dropped a few days ago. I sold the majority of my collection of cards. Liquidation of Kisuke's old personals and everything I acquired since arriving in this body left me with roughly 75% of Yumi's tuition cost for the semester. For the remaining quarter of the cost I had little other options than to ask for assistance from Kisuke's parents. I toyed with presenting it openly as a loan that I'd pay back, but adding extra responsibilities like that could prove to be detrimental to the focus of my craft.
My final decision left out any talk of a loan, only asking if they were willing to help. They both proved to be the empathetic human's I suspected. The remaining cost was covered and Yumi was officially in.
Even if all of my resources besides my new main deck were being invested in my girlfriend's human capital, the inner optimizer in me celebrated dodging the speeding bullet of depreciating value. Banning cards such as Giant Trunade, Different Dimension Fusion, and Premature Burial slaughtered their net worth. All three cards' values plummeted hard, so if I delayed 2 days I would've been a very sad boy.
Three new booster sets dropped the same day of the ban-list though, and the first emergence of Tuner monsters were introduced to the game. People are still speculating what Tuner monsters will do, but no public information could be mined about their true purpose. There were also speculations that they would be similar to union monsters, or a new contact fusion substitute, which funnily enough isn't far off what they are. Regardless, everyone is underestimating how impactful Tuner's will become and that's facts.
I would have invested in them personally, but with what money? I swear I'm so broke I'm close to eating cereal with a fork to save milk.
My mom seemed especially pleased that I would 'go so far to uplift a friend.' Her words not mine. She was definitely dropping some insinuations there, but I just let them slide with a cheeky grin.
We deposited the bulk of my luggage, everything that I wasn't going to carry with me at the registration checkpoint.
Your father and I are proud of you. I think that it's great that you're moving forward, and if it took losing Aketo… I understand. I know that I'm mom and I'm not entitled to the bigger picture of everything, but always know that you have a supporter in me.
Heat fluttered in my chest when I heard those words
Central Duel Academy has a Dueling final entrance exam for non-recruits looking to enroll in the Duelist course. My full-ride scholarship excluded me from participating in the exam, giving me an opportunity to scout the applicants.
I heard the Duel proctors were given freedom to construct the test decks in any way with the only restriction being that the total value of cards used could not exceed 100,000 Ryo. Kaiba apparently offers bonuses and promotions to the top performing proctors to spark a competitive spirit among them giving students a more worthy challenge.
Waves of kids dueled, some successful, others not so much.
No applicants stood out glaringly to me, but this was only the Japan evaluation site. Other members were being or already recruited from all over the world. CDA maintained a stranglehold as the most prestigious Dueling Academy in the world. The academy was renowned for their top-tier teaching staff, rigorous entrance requirements, and lush environment for accelerated growth.
"This is soooooo boring. Think they'll let me go down there and opt into taking on a proctor anyways?" Steve grumbled as he scooped a handful of salted cashews into his mouth.
"Why not? Might as well try now or you'll never get the chance."
"I've noticed that not many Asian's use sarcasm. Like it doesn't even register to them, they just look at you like your retarded."
"That's probably just because you are retarded."
"I resent that." Steve barked, crossing his arms across his chest… before breaking into a little snicker.
Now that the stands were filling up with tardee existing or newly passed registrants. Craning my neck around I caught Viktor, Aketo, and a bunch of AAA clan goonies packed into the back stands. Apparently Aketo ended up joining AAA after getting disqualified from nationals.
"Look, it's the Poop Troop. Fuckin' shitters." I pointed out to Steve and waved at them.
They ignored us and after picking out some more familiar faces around the stadium, our attention gradually returned to the ongoing duels.
"Examinee 363 - Mina Ishtar, please report to Exam field 6."
Ishtar?
My curiosity was instantly piqued by the family name.
"Maybe all these applicants won't be duds after all." I nudged Stevie a few times with an elbow.
"Grah?" He fought past a mouthful of food to insert his two cents before offering me some of his cashews. I accepted taking a fist full and funneling them into my mouth.
A girl strutted out of the door of the main floor and with agility and ease made her way to Exam field 6. Her proctor was currently rated #2 of 16 on the staff leaderboards so I expected competition to be stiff. Her skin was a browning Brazillian tan while her hair was a gray or white-gold drawing up former images of Marik in my head. She wore a traditional white shawl and comboed it with a blue skirt with black pantyhose. It looked like a green dot was on her forehead but I couldn't make out anything else more specific from way over here even straining my eyes.
Steve knocked the salt off his hands before stealthily wiping his hands on his pants. He then used both pinkies to shoot an obnoxious whistle through the stadium.
A basic white Duel-disk engaged kicking to motion. Across from her was the duel proctor Raizou Mototani. He had brown hair spiked up wildly nearly a foot high. He had one of the most rectangular faces I've ever seen. The dude's jawline looked chiseled.
Applicants have the freedom to choose who goes first or second. Mr. Mototani was the first to draw an extra card signaling the Ishtar girl opted to go second.
"I play Marauding Captain in attack mode, and then bring out one of his friends."
Marauding Captain (ATK: 1200 DEF: 400)
As soon as the disheveled veteran hit the field, Mina shook her head, dumping a card from her hand to the grave. A ray of light burst forth shining its radiance down drenching the captain in its essence and negating the activation of its effect.
"Effect Veiler?" the proctor gasped clearly not prepared for the most sought-after tooner released.
If nothing else, she's clearly connected.
Spiky head threw down two face-downs and passed his turn over to the applicant.
She drew and lunged headfirst into her turn.
"I play the spell Elysian Avatar's Retrieval." She announced to the arena.
I stood out of my seat to get closer, not believing my ears.
The white-gray stadium cover over Exam area 6 took the appearance of a starry sky, with a youth with a fishing pole sitting on the moon. He cast the line down, plucking cards from the top of her deck.
"I pick up cards till I get a monster, then I send it to the graveyard, add a level 4 or lower Elysian Avatar monster from my deck to my hand, then reshuffle the rest of the cards into my deck."
"Bro… Isn't that one of your cards?" Steve pointed out.
"Yeah… Wow, It's crazy to see your creation come to life!"
"Wait 'till you got a kid, then come back and we can talk."
"I added Elysian Avatar - Jihn to my hand." (ATK: 1900 DEF: 1000) "And now let's play Allure of Darkness to draw two cards and banish one dark monster. Cya Jihn."
A black shadow leaped from her Banished dragging something out of her deck.
She failed to mention that it's a hard once per turn, or at least it was when I made it.
"When Jihn gets banished, I can summon any Elysian Avatar with 2400 or less attack from my deck. Say hello to Elysian Avatar - Kokyuu (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1000) [6 Star]
A female crimson-eyed, petite, white-haired mage clad in a white cloak beneath black robes blinked onto the field in a surge of green giving me an onset of flashbacks from a few days ago.
Solid pick.
Spiky head decided to spring a trap, but before I could even determine which card he played, Mina responded with a card of her own.
"Super Polymerization."
If you're informed well enough, you'd know that nothing can be chained in reaction to super poly making it essentially spell speed 4, a basically made-up category just to house this oddball card.
Spiky's and the Ishtar brat's monsters melded and fused together forcing Spiky's trap Bottomless Trap Hole to lose its target and fall to his grave disarmed.
A beastly presence rose to Mina's field. The monster wore a metal mask with eye slits streaming yellow light out. It was equipped in a mix of leather and platemail giving it a distinct aesthetic that was like a cross between a paladin and an assassin.
Elysian Avatar- Willzyakk the Heroic (ATK: 2400 DEF: 3000) [8 Star]
"How'd she know she'd need super poly? She didn't even have time to think." Steve tossed out.
I felt exactly the same, but I could at least speculate on what was going on. "She must've pre-decided her move. Maybe to get a tempo advantage?" I offered up.
"Ooowee, She's playing it real fast and loose. Stevie likes!"
"Do you even have to think about sexual innuendos anymore or do they just pour out of your mouth without thinking?"
"Why would I go 'n give up a perfectly good mystery?"
"Yeah, way more fun to speculate how special you are."
"I've always kinda thought that's where you go wrong with girls. You always open up too quick."
"I don't know man… At least I'm not as hopeless as I used to be. Remember freshman year of high school? God, I was a mess. I just didn't understand girls at all. I fell into every trap in their book."
Steve put a hand on my shoulder and added his two cents to the mix. "Your game's gotten way better over the years, but you never really ditched that nasty habit of randomly going balls to the wall. Remember how crazy Kashka was? That shit was on you. You got her bored way too fast and avoided conflict. You overthink shit and get predictable. Gotta remember Mystery goes a long way."
"You underthink shit and wing everything. If you weren't so damn lucky I feel like you wouldn't skate by so easy."
"Na man, I just make it look easy."
Mina spoke up again. "Now I normal summon Summoner Monk." (ATK: 800 DEF: 1600)
Summoner monk's effect switched it to defense position despite being normal summoned in attack mode.
She discarded a card, likely a spell for the Summoner Monk's optional effect. As I predicted, I was right.
"From my deck I summon, Elysian Avatar - Yuma (ATK: 200 DEF: 2000) [4 star], and when he gets special summoned from my deck, I can add any "Elysian Avatar" spell card from my Graveyard or Deck to my hand. Pretty neat, huh teach?"
The winged humanoid landed on the field in defense position. His long brown stretched down to mid-chest. In one hand was an iron kiteshield while the other clutched a dismembered goat horn. Tarnished armaments were clasped all over his body for protection. The beast brought the goat horn to his mouth and blew unleashing a bugling roar.
"Err…"
"-I'll grab another Elysian Avatar's Fusion from my deck."
Another? Ah, she must have discarded one.
"And now I'll finally activate my Elysian Avatar Fusion, banishing the Elysian Avatar - Chiyo in my hand, and the dark Summoner Monk on my field, to fusion summon Elysian Avatar - Hayate the Balance Breaker (ATK: 3000 DEF: 0)
A blue flash combined two monsters into a more fearsome presence. The most unnatural pasty white skin peeked out behind a leather robe. Green clumpy locks were flipped over the right side of his face hiding an eye, the other beady, black, and glistening. His malicious grin dripped with chaotic malice. His weapon was a demonic harp that could bewitch the souls of the banished.
"I can tell you're confused, so let me explain what this guy does. His first effect changes every monster on either of our fields and graveyard to dark typing. Then once per turn I get to revive a monster kind of like Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, except instead of reviving from the Graveyard, it's from my banished, and instead of dragon-type monsters, it's any."
"THAT'S BUSTED!" I heard some students in the vicinity complain.
Elysian Avatar - Kokyuu (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1000) [6 Star] was special summoned in attack mode.
Yeah, those effects are pretty damn good. But Hayate has two major draw-backs she didn't highlight that reigns in its power. For one, he can't destroy any dark monster by battle, and two he can't target any card with the same name to be a rez target.
"Any data on her custom cards on the Database?" Chloe's voice carried all the way down to us.
"No. And she wasn't on any of the National circuits leaderboards." The gravelly voice I recognized as Seto Junior replied. "Dad told me all the Ishtar's are third rate. I guess he was right. She didn't earn her deck."
"Yeah? My dad won't tell me any stories of his glory days! He always plays modest like - I just got lucky - like that does anything. Soooo Lame." Chloe yelled.
"Now I banish Elysian Avatar - Nami from my Graveyard to activate the effect of Elysian Avatar Fusion to return it to my hand," Mina said while digging her card out of her deck and replacing it in the holster.
Right… The search card dumped Nami and now she'll get Jhin back to her hand, unless there's another target she can choose that I'm not thinking about.
"HER FUSION CARD IS REUSABLE!?" Aketo bellowed, huffing and puffing in the nosebleeds.
"And when Nami gets banished I get to return a banished level 4 or lower 'Elysian Avatar' monster to my hand, but he won't be sticking around for long, I fuse him and my Yuma on the field to summon another Hayate."
An identical phantom figure appeared beside the existing Hayate to ensure double the trouble.
Elysian Avatar - Hayate the Balance Breaker (ATK: 3000 DEF: 0).
"Then I special summon Jhin from my banish using Hayate #2."
If she went for Chiyo instead, she probably could have dumped more monsters in her Grave to recycle her fusion cards back. Did she misplay?
Elysian Avatar - Jhin (ATK: 1900 DEF: 0).
Is she being cautious of that last trap, giving herself extra outs?
"Battle Phase." The arena speakers relayed.
"What?!" I spat out narrowing my eyes.
Avatar Jhin channeled a bolt of chaotic black magic firing it off and blasting the proctor head-on.
(-1900LP | Mina: 8000 - Raizou: 6100)
"Kokyuu, show him some girl power."
The mage blinked from her zone to the space directly in front of spiky-head bashing him with her staff.
(-2100LP | Mina: 8000 - Raizou: 4000)
Mina tapped a button on her duel-disking spurring the Paladin-assassin beast into motion. The Ninja-Beast warrior monstrosity tore through his life points with ease with one lightning fast swing of his sword.
Elysian Avatar - Willzyakk the Heroic (ATK: 2400 DEF: 3000).
(-2400LP | Mina: 8000 - Raizou: 1600)
"Hayate, finish him off."
Spiky-head hovered over his back row, finally springing it at the last moment before the attack's impact.
With inhuman, machine-like reflexes, Mina countered his Call of the Haunted with the quick-play spell Elysian Avatar's Sacrifice from her hand.
I imagined he played Call of the Haunted not realizing that Hayate can't destroy dark monsters, and all monsters on the field become dark monsters, but Mina's automatic response banished a monster on her side and the Call of the Haunted on his side. After Call of the Haunted left the field, the monster it drug out crumbled to dust leaving Hayate's attack on target to Spiky-head's life points.
(-3000LP | Mina: 8000 - Raizou: 0)
Instead of using one of her monsters who previously attacked, she banished the only Hayate on the field who hadn't declared an attack.
That was like… less than a 100 millisecond window to time that while her monster's attack was still in motion. "What the hell?!" I shouted, my sentiment of unbridled confusion echoed by several of my peers.
Entirely unnecessary… Had to have been a misplay, right? Unless she was prioritizing safeguarding the intel that Hayate can't destroy dark monsters by battle… Hmm.
"Damn bro, I told everyone that shit was busted even way back when Jackson and Moz just weren't thinking straight."
"To be fair, she got about as powerful an opening hand as possible. Well, how I would've run the deck anyway. Yeah the deck swarms, but there are so many once per turn effects that if she gets countered on a decent push, it'll be a pretty significant setback. I mainly wanted to give it a lot of fun options for outplays."
"Yeah? I can't wait to see her outplay your ass then. We'll see how it feels when the shoe is on the other foot my guy."
"You don't think… that she could actually be Jackson or Moz… do you?"
"Huh… That would be... Nope! Not gonna even entertain the idea. I'll leave that one up to you to investigate. Whew, Detective Bertram is at it again. Am I right or am I right?"
"Why me?"
"Because with everything that's been going on up here," Steve paused tapping the side of his head. "Finding out she is one of my boys would make talking to… them… difficult. You know what they say, Ignorance is bliss and all."
┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴
The examinations lasted about 5 hours in total, and no one else made near the splash the Ishtar girl did. After everyone was registered, we all loaded up on buses and made our way to the pier. From there we relocated to a huge ferry with nearly double the people from before. I found out after boarding that the 2nd and 3rd years didn't go to the examination site which made sense.
Registration is where they assign dorms and hand out CDA's custom Duel-disks which were color coated according to what Elo division rank you were, not dorm assignments.
A gold Duel-Disk and set of yellow blazers were issued to me. I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around my placement. I didn't expect everything to be the same, but the school changed significantly from what I remembered of Yu-gi-oh GX.
Dorm: Ra, Rank: Gold, Adjusted ELO: 1513
I asked how dorm assignments worked, and they had a mathematical formula to determine it.
Broken down it worked like this. For fresh students, I was told they'd take the average of your top two highest KC ratings, Your written exam results, and exam duel results if applicable, then average everything again.
Obelisk blue has a limited number of seats which is about 10% of the student body at any time. Promotion and Demotions to or from Obelisk happen every Sunday. Also, for new students, they capped your starting rating at 1849, meaning nobody starts above Gold rank. It was impossible to be assigned straight into Obelisk Blue for this very reason. The system was set up no doubt so that deck strength and talent would be the deciding factors of rank instead of nepotism or bribery.
I did some quick math to make sure everything added up to be certain.
(KC STATS)
...
Match: Silver - 1255 ELO - 56W / 57L / 0D
Tag(Match) Gold - 1711 ELO - 344W / 289L / 7D
...
So they just take ((1255+1711)/2) = 1483. Uh, no… That's not right. Oh yeah, the written exam, I remember seeing I placed in fourth for the first years, but not what score I or anyone else got.
I could figure out how I did by figuring out what Elo rating it must have been though, so I began writing the equation and substituting the unknown value of the test score elo equivalent with X to solve for.
(1483 + X)/2 = 1513
1483 + X = 3026
X = 1543 Elo
My written exam was barely at the standard of Gold rank? What kind of harsh bull criteria is that?!
...
"What are you writing?" I felt the male voice's owner lingering over my shoulder.
"I'm just working out what the written exam must have contributed to my overall adjusted elo."
To my surprise, it was an obelisk blue student.
"You're one of those Duelist's, huh?"
"One of those duelist's?"
"A math geek always looking for an edge up. I'm a 2nd year, so believe me when I tell ya you're going to love the whole classroom grade aspect."
"Hmm?"
"It's like… Adjusted Elo is also affected by academic performance. If you over-perform compared to your adjusted elo, it goes up, but if you under perform it'll go down. Something tells me that'll be to your advantage."
"Oh… Maybe, but I don't really care. I'm here for the competition. Steel sharpens steel you know? I'd be okay if their system was a 100% copy of the KC system to be honest, but I guess they probably did it this way for a reason... Anyways, I'm Kisuke Tashiro, and you are?"
"Levi Lin, but everyone's going to remember me as the future rap sensation, DJ, and producer - LL-Stylish."
"A rapper? Alright-alright. You tryin' to lay down some bars?"
"Does a bear shit in the woods? Here, check it out." Levi announced before his phone's speakers poured out a tune and he jumped into lyrics.
"No believers or role models on our debut.
Felt some real shit to draw this blueprint, dreaming of a breakthrough.
Lost my way too many times. Let skeptics live rent free in my mind.
Always saying 'He won't make it, should give it up, He'll never be refined!'
I admit I lost hope. 'How could I be dope?' But somehow, someway, I came back every day.
Getting nowhere fast like a treadmill. Illest in fam so the doc prescribin' pills.
Addy in my veins to construct the skill so passion could pay the bills.
'Unrefined? Na, Undefined.' Next came the nonstop study and grind.
'The stars aligned and that kid got signed?!' Went and blew their minds.
Now they're trying to hit rewind, saying 'Just kidding! Nevermind!'
No longer sidelined by humankind. We makin' Headlines. 'LL-Stylish, a wunderkind mastermind.'
That's why we Don't listen!
Fool me one time? Shame on you.
Fool me two times? Can't put the blame on you.
Fool me three times? No more peace signs. I murdered the beat, then I finally knew.
Had to block them out to erase the doubt. They're all petty and jelly of rising clout.
Angry cuz the kid's preparation was a hundred devout like a Mike Tyson knockout.
So don't listen. Disarm them before they disarm you.
Don't listen. Put in the work and we can still pull through."
Don't listen. All these haters used to pray to see us fail.
Don't listen. Now they actin' phony, like we didn't see them turn tail.
They love to switch sides to the latest on the rise patting their backs like they didn't fail.
Frail minds afraid to try always prevail, no wait… my bad, that's in fairytales.
I broke out into a clapping fit after he finished. His ability to switch the pace kept a steady rhythm to his song.
"DAYMNNNNNN! Okay, you can spit a little. I see you! You kinda remind me of a cross between Mac Miller and J-cole."
"Bro, I've been bumping Miller since I was like 8. That's a hell of a compliment. Never heard of J-cole tho."
"I bet you'd love him, here look." I whipped my phone out, pulled up ViewTube, typed in J-Cole, then hit search.
A bunch of results popped up, but none of them were the ones I was expecting.
*NBA J-Cole 2020-2021 season Highlights
*Insider leaks Jermaine Cole in talks for trade to the Milwaukee Bucks?!
*Learn how to extend your shooting range like Jermaine Cole with
*Breathtaking D1 takeover run by J-Cole during Elite 8 at Duke.
"What the?"
Did he stick with basketball over rap in this universe?
"An NBA player? Does a little rap on the side? Yeah, no wonder I never heard of 'em. I'll check him out sometime though."
"Uhh, yeah." I scratched the back of my head. Whoops. "-But hey. The man made it and is still dreaming for more. He's got my respect."
"Ayyyy, you're alright boy! When we get to CDA, I'll be looking to pick you up in my tour group. See if I can't pull some strings, you know what I mean?"
"Sweet. So, if I ever get lost, that means I get to blame you, right?"
"I'm getting set-up! Sheesh! Can't even let my guard down for a minute, for real."
"Ahaha! I'm Professor Finesser, and class is in session. You're gonna learn today boy."
"Wait a minute… Ayee! L.L. Stylish and P.F. Chang!"
"That shits...racist. Hello?"
"No idea what you're talking about..."
He tried to play it off, but that just made the punchline all the sweeter. "That's DR. P.F. Chang to you buddy. You've got to say the whole thing."
"Ahhh! I knew there was a reason I liked you. You're made different too, I can tell."
┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴
The ride took forever, it was 11 pm before we made landfall, but because it was so late, we didn't disembark until morning at 7am. Yumi hit the jackpot while we were split up and came back with like two pounds of the most delicious raspberry yogurt ever, but only one spoon and a devilishly sly grin.
Ooooo, I was onto her, but at the same time, she was also onto me. She's been catching on faster these days, especially after getting her out of her stagnant homelife.
After watching her shovel spoonful after spoonful of yogurt in her mouth, I wrestled the spoon from her and started working on devouring my share.
"Do… you think you can help me find a job on campus? Maybe not today, but soon?" Yumi asked, smoothing down her black uniform that distinguished her as a Non-duelist, a lower social pariah than most Slifers.
"I told you that you don't have to pay me back."
"Yeah, but I've been helping my parents. Dad's back is still bad so it's not good for him to go to work yet."
"Doesn't he get disability?"
"Yeah, but half of that goes to rent. Then there's electric, water, food, travel fare, insurance. Also, I've got to start saving for next semester if I don't want to get thrown out."
"Okay, okay. Well, if that's what you want, then I got you. I linked up with one of the upperclassmen guides earlier, so I'll see if he's got any recommendations next time I see him."
"That'd be great." She wrapped her arms around me and kissed my neck.
Steve wobbled around heavy-footed like he was roleplaying a zombie. He appeared barely conscious with darkened bags under each eye.
"You look tired bro."
"Couldn't… sleep… seasick." Is all he could manage before rushing his hand to his mouth and standing awkwardly.
"Feels bad man."
"I felt a lot better after having a ginger-ale." Yumi cut in. "Maybe it would work for you too."
My old friend took a little bit to gain his bearings before delivering his opinion.
"I don't know…" Steve massaged his temples of frustration. "It's a bit late now."
"All first-years gather around over here, everyone else are free." A teaching staff I recognized as a proctor from the former exams announced.
"Goodluck. Text me later when you're free and I'll come find you." I told Yumi.
She smiled and nodded in agreement, before breaking off to join a mosh of black coats.
There were six docked ferryboats, and we were the 2nd one to evacuate, the other four apparently waiting for us to clear the premises.
We clustered up in massive droves, then were broken down into small premade groups to set off and do our own thing.
Our group leader? It was none other than the aspiring rapper and Obelisk blue Levi Lin.
The duelist and non-duelist class students were separated even at the tour level. My guess was that different buildings on campus would be more focused on during the tour based on the curricular specialization, but that's just me spinning ideas.
"Not you!" a feminine voice shouted.
I spun around to find a familiar face, the alpha-girl from the mall not too long ago.
"Yeah, I vote that he's not in our group." Elise said, nudging the girl beside her. "What about you Emilia?"
"Mhm…"
"Emilia?"
"Yeah… I don't want him in our group either."
"Well tough luck ladies, we already drew lots for groups. Please bear with it." Levi announced clapping his hands together. "Most of you probably don't know me, I'm Levi and I'll be your guide for the next couple hours."
"Great!" Elise huffed folding her arms across her chest and giving me the stink eye.
Elise's hair was the same exact color as Chloe's, and her sister's was black. After closer inspection, I could see a few roots of her hair were bleached or black.
My group could have been mistaken for road workers. Our uniforms were such a bright vivid yellow, it was impossible not to catch the eye. Each member was a recipient of the Ra dorm.
Our group was composed of Elise and Emilia, the fraternal Sano twins that seemed codependent on each other for different reasons. Next was the loud pretentious Jeffington Rosewood, someone who'd have an opinion about anything even if he knew nothing. Adam Sugihara was an unusual specimen, I couldn't get much of a read on him at all with the couple of sentences we exchanged. Last but not least there was Shin Akatsuki, a member of the Beast-style dojo and adoptive sibling of Steve. Despite being asked questions by myself and others, he never opened his mouth.
"So right now we're on the southern part of the island. If you look off to your right you'll see our outdoor sporting courts for tennis and basketball, as well as the public pool. Public amenities close down at 9:00 pm every weekday so don't get caught lurking or the discipline committee might write you up." Levi turned and ushered with his other hand. "To the left, down the beat and path is our indoor gymnasium. You'll see it here in a minute because we're about to check out the island's state of the art dueling arena that's right next door."
Shoes clacked off the cement pathway that intersected another sidewalk running east to west. We verged off to the left and followed Levi closely as he filled us in on some trivial facts and history of the island.
A massive grey stone statue crafted in the likeness of Seto Kaiba senior overshadowed the sculpture beside it.
"This is Kaiba's statue, as you all probably knew, and next to him is our school's current chancellor, Joey Wheeler."
If I had been drinking, I might have done a spit take.
"Right there is my family's store Rosewood Sporting Goods. We've got the best prices on the island for sports apparel guaranteed."
"Yeah, but don't be tricked, they have the only sports stuff for sale on the island. I'd normally just buy stuff online unless you need it right away."
"Hey! Who do you think you are, trying to drive away our business?!" Jeffington vented.
"I'm just being one hundred. The prices are a little steep. No real competition around if you know what I mean."
"The prices are fair!"
"If that's the story you're sticking with…" Levi trailed off. He bolted ahead forcing us to move along with him while Rosewood grumbled some stuff under his breath a little too erratic to make out.
The gym coming into vision was MASSIVE, and the arena beside it was like quadruple the size in height. It was basically a tower.
"So here's where you can go to organize practice and ranked matches. It's not like there are any rules saying you can't duel elsewhere, but the majority of games end up here, especially higher profile matches."
We followed him into the building, the sliding doors peeling apart to allow us entry.
The first room was expansive. Television screens were hanging all over displaying various different duels. Several desk clerks were caged in behind plexiglass handling money or servicing students waiting in lines.
"There's 8 floors, but the biggest matches happen on the ground floor, and the less popular matches will be on the upper floors. Every game and match is recorded so you can datamine opponents or study your own film by requesting footage over in the computer lab. There are usually experts on duty who can give you tips to help out if needed."
"Wow… This place is awesome!" I blurted out.
"Of course he's impressed. All high-level facilities are like that, it's nothing new, or didn't you know?" Elise asked.
"No, I really didn't. Maybe while we're here we could exchange pointers with a little duel. You seem to think you have a lot to teach me."
"You're not worth my time worm." She flicked her hair behind her back and refused eye contact with me veering her gaze off to the side.
"I get it, I get it. You're scared. Don't worry, I'd be nervous too after how hard I exposed you last time."
"But I didn't-I mean you didn't… AURGHH!" She frowned, tugging at her hair. "You're going to regret disrespecting me. I promise."
"I heard there was betting on matches. How does that work?"
"Uh, Adam Sugi...hara?" Levi waited for the kid to nod in affirmation before continuing. "There is betting, but only on tier 1 promotional matches, and only for students who get their parents or legal guardians to sign the necessary consent documents."
"Tier 1?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah. The Tier 1 matches will always happen on the first floor when available, but If none are ongoing or scheduled, then we bump down the next highest duels to feature. I'm not too sure what constitutes the tiers, it's probably Elo brackets, but I'm not into knowing stuff like that so you guys are on your own on that one." Levi played it off like he was talking to the whole group, but I could tell he was talking to me.
"So...What stops students from fixing matches to exploit the gambling?" Adam asked.
"Well firstly, like I said, It's got to be a tier 1 duel, that alone disqualifies most people from gaming the system. However, we've also got a zero tolerance policy for match-fixing in ranked. Get caught once and that's it, you're expelled. It does a pretty good job at keeping the competitive environment fair and all."
"Awesome. That stuff ruins the whole sport of it. An invisible hand that swoops in and interferes with a game of chance is despicable."
"Corrupting a duel for money is something only a poor scum incel would do." Rosewood added before winking over to the group of ladies.
"What? I'm talking about taking advantage of gamblers' trust in a fair bet. If the match is fixed, then everyone who participated in the bet got cheated out of their chance at playing."
"Who cares about that when the real problem is anyone who would intentionally lose a game of duel monsters doesn't deserve to walk among us. This school is only for the best, the bottom competition is only there to be cut later like fat and remind us real duelists not to slack off or we could be next. Almost half of all freshmen duelist's are cut during or after the first year."
"Yeah? Well, who names their kid Jeffington? Did your parents hate you?" Yikes, Adam seems to have taken that last jab of Rosewood's to heart.
Levi snapped his fingers several times until he caught most of our attention. "Guys, guys! We've still got a bunch of places left so we've got to keep moving. Are there any more relevant questions about the arena?"
...
"So how does finding competition work exactly?" I asked.
"Basically like Kaibaland. There's an exclusive messaging system and app like Kaibaland but we have our own dedicated server for the school's network, so you can set-up duels then just register the duel and go do it. There's also random matchmaking if you really want a quick game with no hassle."
"Random matchmaking you said?"Adam's face brightened, hands rising to assist in painting us a picture. "Someone told me there wasn't. Lucky lucky."
┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴
After leaving the arena our group meandered north until reaching the split off to the Obelisk dorms. As Ra yellows we get to see around a little bit in the dorm lobby, showing us how to navigate through the building if need be, but it was kept short and simple.
We visited the main academic building to the east of the Obelisk dorms to figure out where the lecture halls and classrooms were, then the administration offices next. After, we were at the Ra yellow dorm to ingratiate ourselves with our new lodging.
It was nowhere near as distinguished or elegant as the Obelisk dorms, but the building wasn't the lesser of a typical college dorm. Most notably it was functional, fresh, and well maintained. Two wings split off diverging from the lobby, the girls' rooms, and the boys'.
I wanted to check and make sure my bags and stuff made it to the room okay, so I took my keycard issued after registration up to the third floor to room 321.
I arrived at the door after wandering the halls for a moment and slid the card into the card scanner mounted on the door handle. The light blinked yellow, then green, and a click later the door unlatched allowing me entrance.
I let out a sigh of relief.
Adjusting to my new environment wasn't going to happen instantly.
The North facing window showered the room in sunlight, it hit you as soon as the door opened. The window was positioned in the middle of the back wall. Beyond the glass was a magnificent white sand beach with several figures passively lying about, and a few engaged in beach volleyball.
A warm salty Seabreeze welcomed me to my new home for the time being. Two beds were pressed against the walls on each side of the room. My stuff was all stacked on the right bed, while the left had a black kid stretched out relaxing on his bed.
"Hey." I greeted.
"Do not go around leaving dirty clothes out and stinking up the place. Other than that we should be fine."
His black hair was done up in a curly high top fade. He was also lanky but had pretty defined compact muscles compared to my gummy worms.
"Alright, we're good then. I'm not trying to live like a pig."
"...Okay. So I'm Alijah, nice to meet you and everything."
"Your tour is already over then?"
"My dad works on the island, so I've already been here for like two weeks."
"Damn, so you always have to be looking over your shoulder then, huh? Feels bad man."
"Na, my dad is actually pretty cool. He's not really as hands-on as most parents, or that's what other people say. He just helps me get to where I want to be."
"Wow. Your dad sounds fictional. You're talking him up, right?"
"No. He's just… my dad, I don't know. Guess I got lucky."
"Hmm… Well, I'm supposed to meet back up with my tour group for the last bit. I'll catch you later man, nice meeting you.
"Cya Tashiro."
"Oh, my bad. I forgot to introduce myself."
"I know who you are, I searched you up on the web when I found out the name of my roommate."
"Huh… Alright then," I waved headed out of the room. "Like I said, catch you later."
┬┴┬┴┤寸法の橋渡し├┬┴┬┴
A/N: I see we got two new reviews, both of them packed with valuable insight. Thanks for your guys' input, and because of Kenrovan's comment I ended up axing out the Kaiba Jr. POV chapter. I'll figure something else out to flush out Kaiba's character later for what we didn't get here. Let me know what you think about the update, and what predictions you think the story will or should take. Have a good Thanksgiving everyone.