Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Leaning against the door of O'Brien's dormitory, listening intently to the mutterings O'Brien made inside, the bespectacled man, Amon, wore a thoughtful expression.

After noticing that John had helped O'Brien back, he returned to his dormitory from the research institute and volunteered to stand guard outside O'Brien's room to prevent any accidents from happening.

John, who had no ill intentions, readily accepted Amon's suggestion and handed over the guard duty to him, while he went to Osiris Red Dormitory to play cards with Yuki Judai.

"This watch-shaped device is indeed related to Professor Cobra's plan..."

"Then, our next target should definitely be the research institute..."

Adjusting his glasses, Amon recalled his previous analysis of the watch mechanism, and a barely perceptible glint flashed in his eyes.

……

The next day, at Duel Academy, in the Obelisk Blue girls' dormitory.

Awakening from his decadent state of debauchery, Yusei, rubbing his throbbing head, looked at the multiple white wrists and pale thighs on his body. Like a wise man who had attained enlightenment, he showed no joy or sorrow, and habitually untied his restraints, pulled up his pants, and walked out of the room.

Yusei secretly left through the back door of the girls' dormitory in Obelisk Blue, and then rowed a small boat back to the Osiris Red dormitory, which was separated from here by a river.

After washing away the traces left on his body in the communal shower room, Yusei, with an unchanged expression, pretended to have just returned from exercising outside. He changed into a brand new uniform and put the Duel Disk on his arm.

Having made thorough preparations, Yusei woke up Yuki Jaden, Kenzan, and the others who were still asleep. Then, together with Yuki Jaden and his group, who were rubbing their eyes and waking up, they went to the classroom.

Yu, who practically turned Obelisk Blue into his own backyard, had a series of intense and explosive battles with the girls last night!

Although he nearly died in the hand-to-hand combat, he ultimately survived thanks to his unwavering perseverance and subdued the group of female demons under the scorching spear imbued with "hyperfusion power".

After a full rest in every sense of the word, Yusei, who was extremely satisfied both physically and mentally, was still full of energy.

Seeing Yusei's energetic state, his roommates, who had already anticipated where he would be going, showed the same speechless expression as usual.

The ability to freely enter and frequently stay overnight in the Obelisk Blue girls' dormitory, which is off-limits to boys... Yusei is probably the first person in Duel Academy to do so before or after his time...

It's quite bizarre that he wasn't beaten to death by those girls.

Seriously, don't the dorm supervisors care about this? Ayukawa-sensei, please help!

"...Whoa!!! What's going on??? What's going on??? What happened???"

Suddenly, just as Kenzan was walking down the road and about to say something, he felt an indescribable, intense pain in his buttocks.

Instinctively, he jumped up on the spot and turned his head behind him. Then he discovered that his buttocks were being bitten hard by a crocodile that had appeared out of nowhere.

If it weren't for the fact that his body inherited the genes of dinosaur fossils, making his skin thicker and tougher than that of an ordinary person, that one bite from the crocodile would probably have torn off half of his buttocks...

"Holy crap, is this crocodile even okay?!"

Yusei, quite shocked to notice the creature on Kenzan's rear end, couldn't help but let out a surprised exclamation.

"What on earth is this guy doing?"

Upon discovering that he had been bitten on the butt by a crocodile, Kenzan immediately knelt on the ground in an "OTZ" pose.

At that moment, accompanied by a series of apologies of "Sorry! Sorry!", Jim, a member of the branch school champions, appeared in everyone's sight and quickened his pace to come to Jianshan's back.

Jim stroked the head of the crocodile that was biting Jianshan's rump, trying to calm her down.

That's right, the crocodile that suddenly appeared and bit Jianshan's buttocks was none other than the crocodile named "Karen" that was almost inseparable from Jim.

678 Jungle Adventure, Sudden Changes

For Jim, the crocodile named "Karen" was like family, an inseparable part of him.

Therefore, shortly after his family made a mistake due to external factors, Jim immediately appeared from the crowd, calmed Karen down, and rescued the innocent Jianshan from the attack.

Holding the adult-sized crocodile in his arms, Jim stroked Karen's head and hummed a lullaby to calm her down.

With Jim's help, Karen gradually recovered from her irritability and returned to her original calm state.

"Hey! You... I don't object to you keeping a crocodile as a pet, but you'd better keep a close eye on it!"

Rubbing his still-painful buttocks, Jian Shan, now freed from the crocodile's gaping maw, couldn't help but complain to Jim and the crocodile in his arms.

Although he carries dinosaur genes and his skin is thicker and tougher than that of an average person, being bitten by a crocodile would still be extremely painful.

If it were anyone else, this might have resulted in serious injury.

“Sorry… Actually, Karen’s behavior has been a bit strange since yesterday.”

Jim, having bound the now-calm Karen with a special belt and hoisted her back onto his back, stood up and offered a sincere apology towards the location of Sword Mountain.

However, in terms of his attitude towards people and things, Jim's performance was acceptable, and there was nothing to criticize.

While he may not be as kind as John, his performance was still quite good compared to the deep-thinking Amon and the taciturn O'Brien.

"Hmm... is this crocodile named Karen?"

Looking at the ferocious beast that Jim was carrying on his back, which appeared extremely docile like a large doll, Yuki Judai, who was curious about new things, couldn't help but show an interested expression.

In his eyes, the relationship between this crocodile named Karen and Jim was like that between himself and Winged Kuriboh—it transcended that of ordinary companions and reached a higher level of intimacy.

"Speaking of which, why did it suddenly launch an attack on Sword Mountain?"

Yusei, facing Jim, asked the most crucial question at that moment.

"Ah, that's because... somewhere on this island, extremely strong electromagnetic waves are being generated... and strong electromagnetic waves can trigger the fighting instincts of reptiles, so..."

Wiggling his fingers, Jim smiled and began to explain to everyone why Karen had rioted.

In fact, Karen has exhibited such unusual behavior more than once recently.

It was just bad luck today that Kenzan became the target of its attack, as it was running around everywhere.

"Hmm... Judai, did you understand what he said?"

Looking at Jaden Yuki, who was standing beside him with his arms crossed and looking thoughtful, Yusei, who had heard Jim's words, raised an eyebrow and asked Jaden Yuki curiously.

In Yusei's memory, Jaden Yuki should be the kind of person who doesn't like studying and has little interest in theoretical things.

Could it be... that after experiencing so much, he's changed his personality? Has he become interested in this kind of theoretical knowledge?

"No, I don't understand at all."

Everyone: "..."

In an extremely calm tone and with an air of matter-of-factness, Jaden Yuki crossed his arms, shook his head, and indicated that he had not understood Jim's explanation at all.

He had simply thought Jim's explanation was very sophisticated and made a lot of sense, so he nodded instinctively.

Well... all I can say is that this performance is very much in line with Jaden Yuki's personal style.

"Hmm...look, this is an electromagnetic wave detection device."

Jim, speechless at Jaden Yuki's candid reply, could only twitch his lips helplessly.

Seeing that a simple explanation would have limited effect, Jim thought for a moment, then took out a small dashboard from his pocket and held it up in front of Yusei and Jaden Yuki.

"Last night, a very strong electromagnetic wave suddenly appeared on the island..."

Pointing to the still-swaying needle on the dashboard in his hand, Jim explained to everyone, "...From that time on, Karen fell into a berserk state."

"Last night...I think that was when I dueled with O'Brien, right?"

Recalling what happened yesterday, Yusei gave his guess in an uncertain tone.

If I had to pinpoint the reason, it would probably be because of this incident.

O'Brien's dueling energy was absorbed by Professor Cobra's device, which then caused a synchronized energy burst somewhere...

“I also think… that electromagnetic wave that caused the reptiles to go berserk is probably related to yesterday’s duel.” Stroking his chin, Jaden Yuki agreed with Yusei’s guess.

"While we can't be certain that's the reason... it's an interesting guess."

Jim, having heard the news, put away the dashboard and looked on with a look of realization.

If you can generate such enormous energy, then it must be duel energy.

……

"That damned Professor Cobra... he's hidden in the lab again..."

Today, Amon is still tracking the suspicious Professor Cobra, hoping to find the information he needs from him.

After following Professor Cobra to the abandoned laboratory deep in the forest, he lost track of Professor Cobra once again.

Entering the interior without authorization might alert Professor Cobra and disrupt subsequent plans.

Caught in a dilemma, Amon gritted his teeth and rationally disappeared.

Now is not the time to completely turn against each other; we need to quietly wait for the right opportunity.

……

"The energy for the duel is being gathered faster than I expected... If this continues, I'll soon be able to fulfill my promise to that person..."

Meanwhile, deep within the research institute, Professor Cobra, standing before the glass vessel that had grown, watched the golden substance that had absorbed the duel's energy and was now churning, a smug look appearing in his eyes.

Although they were unable to absorb the enormous energy from some powerful duelists as planned.

However, relying solely on the energy absorbed by ordinary students in their daily duels, they still achieved a similar effect through small, cumulative actions.

—Beep beep beep!

"...Huh? The alarm's going off. Is there an intruder?"

Just as Professor Cobra was marveling at the smooth progress of the plan and the fact that his long-cherished wish would soon be fulfilled, the alarm devices he had placed around the research institute suddenly emitted a series of strange noises.

Drawn by the alarm, Professor Cobra immediately turned his gaze toward the monitor.

Then he saw Jim emerge from the dense forest, holding some kind of instrument, observing the surrounding scenery.

"Jim? And his pet crocodile? What...why is this guy here?"

Looking at the figure appearing on the monitor, Professor Cobra, with his hands resting on the screen, narrowed his eyes and revealed a thoughtful expression.

With his military background and keen observation skills, he has recently felt that he is being followed.

However, upon closer inspection, no trace of the stalker was found.

Just when Professor Cobra thought it was just his imagination, Jim's figure suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

It seems this guy is the one who's been following me all along.

"Hmph! You've come at the perfect time... Take this opportunity to offer your dueling energy to that great one!"