Who Let Him Play Yugioh? (Re-Upload)

”First like this, and then like this.”

Professor Lyman sat at the lectern, cradling a cat in one arm while casually pouring colorful liquids from test tubes into a beaker with the other.

Even a layman with the slightest bit of sense could tell how amateurish that operation was.

Bang!

Another explosion announced the failure of the experiment.

The students, however, were long used to it. Lyman emerged soot-stained and ashen-faced, like a charred pig’s head, his glasses sliding crookedly down his nose. Yet he still smiled. ”Ahh, ahh—how regrettable, another failure.

Alchemy and the like—seems the ancients claiming you could refine gold from stone were unreliable after all.”

Kira watched Lyman’s routine act of playing dumb without surprise. The man’s in-class demonstrations had almost never succeeded; his failure rate hovered at 99%. But if you actually listened carefully, you’d find his lectures weren’t devoid of substance.

Sometimes, whether by slip of the tongue or design, he’d even let drop words that strayed beyond the textbook into rather advanced fields of alchemy. It was just that so few students ever attended his class, and even fewer truly listened, so almost no one noticed.

The bell rang.

”Man, that nap hit the spot. Lunchtime, lunchtime,” Jaden said, stretching as he stood.

As the academy’s top class-cutter, Jaden normally wouldn’t be caught dead in such an unpopular class. But Lyman was the dorm head of their Slifer dorm; cutting class while holed up in the dorm might have made life… difficult. So even though he had zero interest in alchemy, Jaden still came every period.

He just slept through it.

”Oh right, Jaden,” Lyman said with his ever-present smile. ”The Chancellor would like you to stop by his office after class.”

Jaden froze mid-motion. ”Eh?”

Before Lyman had even finished, Chazz shot to his feet in the back row and threw his head back in laughter.

”So our time together was short after all, Jaden!” Chazz crowed. ”Looks like your days at Duel Academy are at an end—”

Then Lyman drawled, ”Oh, Chazz, you too.”

Chazz’s smile froze.

”What!?”

”And Asuka Rhodes, Bastion Misawa, and Fujiki Kira… if anyone isn’t here, please pass the message along,” Lyman said as he unhurriedly stroked the cat.

”The Chancellor is waiting in his office.”

The others looked at each other, uncertain and at a loss. Kira, however, already had a good idea.

Though the world line had shifted a bit from the original story, it seemed they were finally getting to this part.

…

A short while later, in the Chancellor’s office.

”The… Three Sacred Beasts?”

Jaden repeated the term, puzzled.

To most of those present—especially the freshmen—it was wholly unfamiliar.

”Yes. Three cards handed down from ancient times,” Chancellor Sheppard said, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

”This school was originally built on the seal of those three cards. The Beasts sleep in the deepest part beneath this island.

Legend says that when the cards of the Three Sacred Beasts see the light of day again, the world will be shrouded in chaos and darkness.

The darkness that once eroded mankind will be unleashed, and the world will end, returning to nothingness.”

Sheppard’s face was grave, his voice low.

”Three cards said to harbor such power—deeply ominous ones.”

Everyone’s expressions shifted.

The end of the world? At first it sounded absurd, but in the bizarre world they lived in, it wasn’t impossible. The finals of Duel City not long ago had showcased power capable of destroying the world; they had all seen it with their own eyes…

As they were thinking this, gazes began turning toward Kira.

Quite naturally, everyone thought of the supreme Egyptian God he had summoned in that final—The Winged Dragon of Ra.

In fact, given Kira’s outstanding performance this term, he should have been promoted to Obelisk Blue. But he refused.

Kira figured he already enjoyed treatment at the Academy beyond that of Blue students anyway. Moving dorms was a hassle, and he’d grown quite comfortable in his current environment. More importantly, he was starting to feel that Ra Yellow suited him best, so he chose to stay of his own accord.

Rumor had it that when Ra Yellow’s barely-noticed dorm head, Sartyr, heard his decision, he was moved to tears.

”Oooh, those sound like awesome cards!” Jaden alone was excited. ”I’d love to see them someday!”

Sheppard said, ”And now, challengers seeking to unseal them have appeared. They are called the ’Shadow Riders’—dark duelists, each one with formidable ability.

Beneath this island lie seven stone locks that maintain the seal on the Beasts. The seven stone locks must be opened by seven keys.

And those keys… are right here.”

He set a small black box on the desk.

”I would like you to protect these keys.”

They glanced at one another.

”Protect them?” Misawa asked. ”But even if you say protect, how—”

”Through dueling, of course,” Sheppard said. ”To seize a key, it must be done by duel—that is the promise set in legend.

I hesitated at first, unsure whether to involve young people like you in this dangerous struggle. But last night, Zane told me the Shadow Riders have already arrived, and that even if I didn’t hand the keys over to you, they would still attack the students…”

All eyes turned in surprise to Zane.

Zane nodded, impassive. ”It’s true. The opponent was very strong—I nearly slipped.”

Even Zane said that…

Their expressions grew more solemn.

”So I thought: perhaps even if I don’t follow the covenant and give the keys to guardians, the Shadow Riders will launch indiscriminate attacks on anyone on this island. That leaves no room for delay.

You are the strongest duelists in this Academy. I hope you can protect these keys. Of course, this is not compulsory. If any of you would rather not be dragged into a fight like this, you may leave—there’s no problem.”

Misawa pondered, then asked, ”But… if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to give all the keys to the single strongest person?”

He snuck a glance at Kira as he spoke.

After all, we have a Duel King among us.

Maybe just that aura alone would scare the enemy off…

”Well, that could work,” Sheppard said. ”But I think this: the seal can’t be opened if even a single key is missing. So having the seven keys held separately is naturally safer.” He rubbed his bald head. ”Of course, if you have other opinions…”

”This sounds fun. Let’s do it!” Jaden grinned, already choosing a key from the box.

He’d been pent up from tagging along with Kira and never getting to snatch any cards.

There are seven in the Shadow Riders, after all.

No matter how strong Kira is, can he snatch all seven?

PS: Bonus chapters at 1000 PS