Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Kenzan, who was sitting to the side, took over the conversation and shared his thoughts with his older brother, Yuki Jaden.

"Is...is that so?"

"Yeah! The girls might be talking about you guys right now too!"

As if he had just thought of something, a wistful look appeared on Marufuji Sho's face: "He clearly likes his older brother, but he's never been able to confess..."

"It contains the deep-seated pain of unrequited love..."

As she spoke, Marufuji Sho covered her face with a card, revealing a shy expression like a girl in love: "Ah~~~ Ah... I don't dare to confess to the person I like, I lack that kind of courage, so I can only watch silently from the shadows... Although I can't be by his side, just watching like this, simply watching, is enough..."

"Well, this is getting more and more outrageous!"

Seeing that Marufuji Sho had started to run a fever as if no one else was around, Yusei, feeling that his eyes had been polluted, quickly waved his hand to interrupt his eye-watering behavior: "...You have taken all three of the three great illusions of life."

It would be fine if a cute girl were to use the adorable charm, but Xiao Xiang is a different story...

You felt that he could not resonate with him at all.

"That's right! Seniors, Duel Academy is a place for learning and dueling. Dating is such a hindrance!" Kenzan couldn't agree more with Yusei's words and expressed his determination to remain single.

Women and such will only slow down my card-drawing speed!

Having survived a long, harsh winter, the ultimate dinosaurs simply needed to be exposed to these romantic and affectionate things.

Duels, as long as there are duels!

"Kenzan, you... um? Is there something you need?" Just as Yusei was about to say something, a group of former Obelisk Blue students wearing white trench coats surrounded them, quickly encircling Yusei Isshin.

Upon seeing this scene, Yusei abandoned his plans to continue teasing and focused his attention on the person who had just arrived.

Hmm, they're all small fry faces I've hardly ever seen before; looks like they're here to give away experience points.

Then let's resolve this quickly.

"..."

With that thought in mind, Yusei reached for the card deck at his waist.

At that moment, the crowd did indeed part automatically, and from the other side of the parted flow, Asuka Tenjouin's figure appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Asuka? You..."

Upon seeing the identity of the person who had arrived, Yusei paused, stopping what he was doing.

Having not seen Asuka for a while, he was momentarily at a loss as to how to interact with the girl before him.

"Hey guys, can you come with me for a second?"

Asuka smoothed a strand of hair that had fallen behind her ear, gave Yusei a deep look, and then explained her purpose.

"...Hmm? Judging from this, could it be that Asuka-senpai is planning to confess to Yusei-nii and then ask us to be witnesses?"

Recalling what Marufuji Sho had just said, Kenzan, a tough guy, couldn't help but have this thought.

A handsome guy and a beautiful girl are a match made in heaven. I just wonder if Brother Youxing has any thoughts about that.

"You're overthinking it, Kenzan. Asuka is clearly here to take us somewhere for a duel!"

Sensing the impending duel, Jaden Yuki, waving his arms, ruthlessly shattered Kenzan's illusions.

Compared to Kenzan, he felt that love was an extremely troublesome thing, so he never thought about it from the beginning.

"Exactly!" Marufuji Sho expressed his full support for Yuki Jaden's words, though it was unclear what he was thinking.

Perhaps, at this moment, he's thinking things like, "If I can't have her, no one else can either. As long as Asuka is still single, I still have a chance..."

"That's right, it's a duel... Jaden, this time our Society of Light will be the representative to duel you from the Osiris Red Dormitory."

Shifting her gaze away from Yusei, Asuka nodded, acknowledging Jaden Yuki's guess.

"Oh! So it really is a duel? Then what are we waiting for? Take us there quickly!"

With his guess confirmed, Jaden Yuki immediately smiled and swung his right fist.

A duel? That has to be me!

We can't let Yusei bear the pressure all the time!

Whether it's the Society of Light or anything else, bring it on!

"Asuka...you..."

Yusei stretched out his arm toward Asuka, but he quickly withdrew it.

He could no longer sense the ambiguous atmosphere that had once permeated their relationship, nor could he feel the tenderness and understanding that emanated from Asuka now.

It was as if the person standing in front of him was a complete stranger.

She's still the same person, but she probably no longer holds those past thoughts in her heart.

……

"Does this mean... the heroine's romance progress has reached zero, and we need to start building up her affection all over again?"

Even as he followed the crowd to the Duel Academy Historical Archives, which would soon become the dueling arena, Yusei continued to ponder this question.

If we use a visual novel analogy, it's roughly equivalent to a state where the save data has been largely wiped out, and everything has to start from scratch.

The rare card images that flashed by from time to time along the corridor could neither distract him nor interrupt his thought process.

While Jaden and his friends were marveling at the past scenery and the rare cards that flashed by, Yusei was also silently making a decision in his heart.

It's time to make a decision about this ambiguous relationship.

In any case, there will be an inevitable duel between him and Asuka, so let's start preparing for it before that day comes.

The matter concerning Manjoume will be handled by Judai Yuki.

As for Yusei, all he needs to do is deal with Asuka's matter.

Asuka was defeated in the duel and was affected by the light of destruction, which is why she looks like this now.

So as long as I defeat her and truly convey my inner thoughts to her, I should be able to awaken her from this abnormal state.

"You Osiris Reds, you probably aren't very familiar with this place, are you?"

Asuka, who was leading the group and acting as their guide, slowed her pace slightly and spoke to Yusei and his group behind her: "After all, most people there don't really care about their grades or future, so they probably aren't interested in these things from the past either, right?"

"Asuka, have you turned completely white like that Manjoume guy?"

Watching Asuka's retreating figure, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but ask, "Manjoume, Asuka... why did you become Saiou's subordinates? Were you brainwashed by him?"

"Brainwashing? No, to be precise, it's rebirth."

With a faint smile on her face, Asuka glanced at the crowd behind her out of the corner of her eye. Seemingly retaining her own will, she continued to explain, "During that duel, I realized my own insignificance and narrow-mindedness, so... I decided to abandon all my past prejudices and join the Society of Light, which brings hope to people."

"...It has nothing to do with my brother, Yusei, Manjoume, and the others. I just wanted to do it myself... Moreover, what we yearn for is the happiness of all mankind!"

You're kidding me...

Listening to Asuka's charlatan-like pronouncements, which sounded like those of a second-generation Saiou, Yusei's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but mentally mutter a complaint.

Young lady, you'd better say less...

When you come to your senses, all of these things will become a dark chapter in your history!

"No, no, no, this is clearly not voluntary, right? Those guys from earlier were really strange... What exactly is going on?"

Having witnessed Asuka's transformation before and after the duel, and having a deep understanding of it, Jaden Yuki, who almost became Saiou's prisoner after losing to Edward, like Yusei, did not take Asuka's words seriously.

"...We've arrived."

Without answering Jaden Yuki's question, Asuka walked down the narrow corridor into a room, stopped, and turned to face the group.

"This place contains the projection equipment from the former planetarium... This is the venue for the upcoming duel."

Asuka began explaining the general information about the place to Jaden Yuki, who was about to step into the dueling arena, and to Yusei and the others following behind him.

515 Giant Battleship - Spinning Wheel Ascends!

"...Your opponent is already ready on the other side, Jaden. Let the duel begin."

Asuka pointed to the high platform on the other side of the room and said this to everyone.

Just as Asuka said this, the pompadour-haired boy on the other side of the stage, who had been preparing for a duel, shouted triumphantly after seeing the crowd entering the room: "...I've been waiting for you for a long time, Jaden Yuki!"

"Next... let's go! The distant Milky Way!"

Raise one hand and point to the ceiling above your head.

As the boy with the pompadour moved, the planetarium was switched on, instantly transforming the surrounding space into a cosmic space filled with planets and nebulae.

The surrounding space was completely blacked out, with scattered points of light shining in every direction of the room.

With the help of the planetarium, everyone felt as if they had entered the universe, and a sense of tranquil exploration arose in their hearts.

"Is this... a three-dimensional stereoscopic dome projection?"

"...We're surrounded by planets, it's like we're in space!"

"Wow, this setting feels kind of romantic."

"Wow~~~ This is my favorite place! Dinosaurs from outer space, just hearing that gives me a really strong feeling!!!"

As they watched the changing scenery around them, people couldn't help but utter various exclamations of wonder.

In this state, the boy with the pompadour stretched out his arm again, pointing at Judai Yuki, who was currently looking around with a curious expression: "Alright! Let's have a showdown, Judai Yuki!"

"No...who are you?"

When the other party called him by name, Yuki Judai instinctively asked a question in return and began to inquire about the identity of the person who came.

Heroes don't kill nameless nobodies, so quickly tell me your name!

The boy with the pompadour: "..."

The declaration of war was ignored by the opponent, and an embarrassed look immediately appeared on the face of the boy with the pompadour.

The feeling of punching cotton was indeed quite unpleasant for him.

"This guy... I think his name is [Silver Meteor]... He was apparently the world champion of a shooting game?"

With a look of reminiscence on their faces, someone spoke up and revealed the identity of the boy with the pompadour.