Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Watching the two leave, John, who remained in the same spot, looked at the ruby ​​beast on his shoulder, and then a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

……

"Ahem... Alright, starting today, Duel Academy will be entering a new year."

"I hope everyone can hold onto their hopes and have a year without regrets."

When Yusei and the others arrived at the auditorium following Kenzan, the students and teachers had already gathered there, completely blocking the auditorium.

Principal Samejima, standing on the podium with his hands behind his back and surrounded by a group of teachers, solemnly announced the start of the opening ceremony to the students standing below.

Meanwhile, Yusei and his companions, led by Kenzan, arrived at Osiris Red, where Manjoume was located.

"Senior Wan Zhang, are you really planning to stay in Osiris Red? Don't you consider returning to Obelisk Blue?"

Kenzan couldn't help but ask a curious question to Manjoume, who was standing behind him, dressed in black and with his arms crossed arrogantly.

Based on Wan Zhangmu's grades and his outstanding performance in the GX tournament, he was actually qualified to be upgraded to Obelisk Blue.

However, he did not do so.

Kenzan was very puzzled by Manjou's choice.

"Ha... At this point, it doesn't matter where you go, right?"

With a "heh" sound, Manjoume waved his hand and said in a teasing tone, "Well, if there were a separate 'Manjoume Black' dormitory, I might consider going there. As for the Blue dormitory, forget it."

"Speaking of which..."

Noticing Kenzan's yellow uniform, Manjoume raised an eyebrow and then asked him, "Kenzan, shouldn't you be a student of the Yellow Sun God? What are you planning to do by joining Osiris Red's team?"

"Hey hey hey..."

Hearing Manjoume's question, Kenzan's lips curled up, and he replied without hesitation, "As for me, all dormitories are the same! The place where Judai and Yusei stay is my true home!"

Pointing to Yusei and Judai, whom he and Marufuji Sho had just pulled over, Kenzan's face broke into a bright smile.

"Now, next, the freshman representative, Saotome Rei, will come up on stage to take the oath."

Just as Manjoume was about to say something more, Coach Napoleon, who was standing next to Principal Samejima on the stage, took the microphone and began to convey the next steps to the audience.

As the champion of the GX competition, Saotome Rei was chosen as the representative of the first-year students.

Next, it was her turn to go on stage and give a speech.

Under the gazes of a crowd, some envious, some admiring, a girl who had changed into a special Osiris red uniform, with a beautiful face and long black hair that reached her waist and was casually draped behind her, stepped out from the front of the new students' line and walked toward the stage.

Bathed in the gaze of the crowd, the bright and confident young woman walked onto the stage with determination and persistence, and took the microphone handed to her by Ms. Ayukawa.

"Oh! It's coming, it's coming!"

As the only girl in Osiris Red walked onto the stage, cheers erupted from the crowd.

Yusei and Jaden Yuki also looked at the girl with interest, as she gazed at her group.

"Teacher, we new students will abide by the rules of the Duel Academy... We will be proud to be duelists and will hold our opponents in high esteem... We swear that we will strive for excellence every day..."

"...This concludes the presentation of the new students, Saotome Rei."

Like the most exemplary top student, Saotome Rei raised one hand, ignoring the gazes around her, and delivered her oath as the representative of the new students, word by word.

After reciting the oath, she returned the microphone to her teacher, and as she walked off the stage, she secretly winked playfully at Yusei, who was looking at her from the crowd.

"Yusei, Rei looks like she's winking at you!"

Noticing the little junior Saotome Rei's little actions, Yuki Jaden, who was next to Yusei, nudged Yusei with his elbow and teased him with a smile.

At this moment, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but recall the amazing feat performed by Rei Saotome when Caesar was still in the academy and she was just an elementary school student.

At that time, in pursuit of love, she tried every means to infiltrate the Duel Academy, and then, by chance, made a promise to meet again with Yusei, who had defeated her.

Youxing: “…”

Yusei simply nodded slightly at this matter.

Among the women he is currently close to, Ms. Yui is one, Asuka is another, and this persistent junior schoolmate might also be considered one.

"The freshman representative's oath has concluded... Moving forward, I still hope that everyone in the Duel Academy will continue to strive and live in harmony this year."

With his arms outstretched in front of him, Principal Samejima, following Saotome Rei, declared once again: "...Duel Academy, which takes the development of dueling as its mission, has established branch schools all over the world, and this year, during the period when new students are enrolling, we will also welcome top students from various branch schools."

"...Top students from each branch campus?"

"So...the champions or number one from each branch school, right?"

"...Wow! So many amazing people have come all at once!"

Upon hearing Principal Samejima's words, everyone couldn't help but show excited expressions.

Manjoume, who had previously left Duel Academy, returned to Duel Academy as a representative of one of the Northern Branch Schools, displaying the demeanor of a king.

Today, representatives from other branch campuses will also be here for friendly exchanges and learning.

This time, the scale is undoubtedly much larger than before.

"Now, let me introduce the representatives from each branch."

Seeing the students' enthusiastic welcome, Principal Samejima narrowed his eyes and nodded in satisfaction.

After his explanation, everyone learned the identities of the people who walked onto the stage one by one.

These individuals, including Professor Cobra, were representatives from the Duel Academy who had traveled from all over the world to this location aboard a luxury cruise ship arranged by the Seahorse Group.

They are:

Amon Garlem, representative of the Duel Academy East Branch;

Representative of the Western branch campus—Austin O'Brien;

Representative of the Southern Branch – Jim Claudel Cook;

And finally, the representative of the northern branch—John Anderson.

Every time Principal Samejima called out the name of a representative, applause would erupt from the audience, and a corresponding representative would walk out from backstage.

The bespectacled, spiky-haired youth Amon, the stern-faced O'Brien, and Jim carrying the alligator "Karen"—all three of them were like this without exception.

When they got to John Anderson, the last person whom Amon had labeled "the ghost," no one came out from backstage.

Principal Samejima: "...Hmm? John? Where is he?"

Professor Chronos: "Uh... what happened?"

Napoleon the Emancipator: "Why isn't anyone coming out?"

Amon: "Heh...so it really is a ghost?"

Manjoume: "John? John Anderson... Could it be the John who owns the [Jewel Beast] deck?"

Seeing this unexpected scene, the crowd couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"Huh? John isn't..."

"That's right, it's the guy we saw earlier."

Upon hearing Principal Samejima call out John's name, Jaden Yuki, sitting in the audience, paused for a moment and couldn't help but look at Yusei beside him.

Yusei nodded in agreement, confirming his guess.

The boy with blue-green hair that they met on the rooftop earlier was none other than John Anderson, the representative of the Duel Academy North Branch mentioned by Principal Samejima, a duelist using the [Crystal Beast] deck.

"Manjoume, do you know who this John is?"

Noticing Manjoume's reaction, Yusei turned to him and asked a question.

"Ah, that's natural."

Nodding, Manjoume explained, "In the past, the Manjoume Group used all its financial resources to try to buy the Treasure Beast cards from the International Fantasy Society."

"Senior Banjō, why are you doing this again!" Upon hearing that Banjō intended to buy the rare card with money, Kenzan couldn't help but cast a teasing glance at him.

"...I already said it's all in the past!"

Wan Zhangmu twitched his lips, glared fiercely at Jian Shan, then cleared his throat and continued, "...According to ancient books discovered by the International Fantasy Society, Julius Caesar, who once ruled the Roman Empire, collected seven of the most precious gems from all over the world in order to create a symbol of the Roman Empire's world domination. He intended to have them made into stone tablets and pass them down forever."

"However, those precious stones encountered a great storm on their way to Rome and disappeared into the depths of the sea."

"Later, those precious stones were found by President Pegasus of the International Fantasy Society, who then used their composition to create seven different cards..."

"That's... the Gem Beast, right?!" Upon hearing this, everyone instantly understood the origin of these cards and the value they represented.

No wonder, no wonder even a multinational corporation like the Manjoume Group wanted to possess these cards...

The value of the cards themselves is one aspect, but more importantly, they represent a symbol of status!

That was a precious gem specially selected by Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor who once dominated Europe, as a symbol of his conquest!

"...In short, regarding these [Jewel Beast] cards, Chairman Pegasus was unwilling to exchange them for money and rejected the Manjoume Group's request...In the end, he gave these cards to the junior champion of a certain tournament."

With a look of reminiscence on his face, recalling the scene when he was rejected, Wan Zhangmu couldn't help but let out a regretful sigh.

"That teenage champion..."

"That's right, it's John Anderson."

Looking at Yusei and Judai who were casting their gazes at him, Manjoume nodded firmly.

"Amazing! That guy named John actually has such powerful cards!" Judai Yuki exclaimed excitedly, clenching his fist. "I really want to duel with that guy!"

"However, he doesn't seem to have come here. Could he have gotten lost?"

With a smile, Yusei casually remarked.

Really? Surely no one is so bad at directions that they don't read signs and get lost?

——Click!

Just as Yusei was teasing John, the doors of the auditorium where the freshman ceremony was being held were suddenly pushed open from the outside.

John Anderson, a blue-haired boy who appeared to be panting heavily, came into view with an apologetic expression.

"Oops, I'm late! I'm so sorry, I have no sense of direction and couldn't find my way for a moment..."

Seemingly having heard Principal Samejima call his name from the stage, John walked in, scratching the back of his head apologetically, and quickened his pace to join the group of branch school representatives on the stage.