Chapter 192: Culture Festival

Somewhere, unknown location.

Cold iron walls seemed to freeze endless darkness, swallowing every trace of light that tried to seep in. The room's walls and ceiling were especially dim under the cold lighting, with sharp corners occasionally gleaming in the dark.

Three pairs of icy eyes lit up in the darkness.

"It's about time," said one of the shadows.

The shadow beside him spoke in a deep voice, "Orders from Father, Alpha?"

The one called Alpha nodded. "In two days, the target is Duel Academy."

"So we're finally moving," said a third, even larger shadow, grunting. "But the target is just Duel Academy? Here I am coming out of retirement, only to face some students. How boring."

The second shadow asked, "So, Gamma, what kind of opponent would satisfy you?"

"Only the legendary King of Games, that annoying Yugi Muto."

The other two immediately looked at him like he was an idiot.

But the tall figure called Gamma puffed up his chest: "My very existence is to challenge the pinnacle of duelists! If it's not against the strongest, it's meaningless! Yugi, who knows where he's hiding now, but one day, I'll drag him out to face me."

The other two simply ignored the big guy lost in his world.

"Beta, this is the first time Father has handed a mission directly to us." Alpha's tone was low and grave. "This operation is crucial. We have two objectives, you know that, right?"

"Of course." The shadow called Beta nodded. "I've received the data."

But after a pause, he added with confusion,

"I understand the primary objective. But the secondary target, this 'Fujiki Kira'... he's just a first-year at Duel Academy?"

"Don't underestimate him just because he's a student. If Father has set his sights on him, he must have something special. We don't need to understand Father's motives, just follow orders."

Alpha paused, then solemnly warned,

"Also, if you face the secondary target, be careful. Data shows his dueling style is highly unusual—he's skilled at unsettling minds, interfering with the opponent's thinking, making it hard for them to perform or even act rationally during a duel."

The big guy Gamma suddenly interjected, "Heh, just petty tricks. Messing with the mind and brain? Such tricks won't work on me!"

The other two's eyes lit up, both looking at him: "Oh? Do you have a special plan against him?"

Gamma held his head high: "If I don't have a brain to mess with, how can he interfere or respond?"

Both: "..."

A moment of awkward silence.

As if at a loss for words, they seemed to silently agree, "That… makes a disturbing amount of sense."

Gamma continued self-righteously, "Dueling only requires 99% strength and 1% thinking. As long as you have power, who cares about dirty tricks—you can just crush them."

The other two again chose to ignore him.

Beta said, "I still don't get why Father insists on sending this defective product out with us."

Alpha: "Ahem, we don't need to understand Father's motives. He must have his reasons."

At this point, Gamma stood off to the side, arms crossed, laughing loudly. "Hahaha…"

"...I suppose so."

 Alpha was suddenly not so confident.

…

The Culture Festival was one of Duel Academy's most important events of the semester.

When Kira first heard the term, it felt unfamiliar—he instinctively thought it must be something related to dueling culture. But upon arriving at the site, he immediately realized: this was a festival focused on food.

The air was filled with the aroma of food; the smoke of grilling meats mixed with the sweetness of desserts. Colorful flags fluttered, ribbons swayed in the breeze, lending a festive atmosphere.

From early morning, students in their three-colored uniforms had packed the venue, forming a sea of people. Besides food, the stalls were filled with all sorts of merchandise—Dark Magician accessories, chibi Dark Magician Girl keychains, exquisite Blue-Eyes White Dragon models...

Kira wandered through the crowd and soon spotted a familiar face.

Misawa seemed to be instructing a fellow Yellow Dorm student.

As he got closer, Kira recognized the other person.

Wasn't his name… Dimitri?

 Yes, in the anime, he stole Yugi's deck copy.

Misawa's assessment of this guy was that he was a prodigy, skilled at imitating other duelists' tactics and personalities. Whatever deck he picked up, he could use smoothly—a unique talent.

Kira agreed. Yugi's deck was infamous for bricking—a mess of different systems cobbled together, only the most advanced duelists could pilot it. Yet Dimitri could steal it and play smoothly, never bricking, which was remarkable.

If he had a flaw, it was that he never actually won.

 It was strange. Dimitri could play any deck without bricking, but only in that sense. Even with Professor Crowler's mighty Ancient Gear deck, he could still lose—not just to anyone, but even to Syrus. Truly one of the world's unsolved mysteries.

"So, I'm telling you, Dimitri, even if I share my deck build with you, it's pointless," Misawa said, exasperated.

"A duelist's deck is powerful because it's built with their effort and care. Your ability to imitate and learn is first-rate, but in real duels, you're always restricted—doesn't that tell you something?"

Misawa, apparently not noticing Kira nearby, was even using him as an example.

"Take Kira, for example. His strength is obvious. As much as I hate to admit it, he's far better than me—the top of Yellow Dorm.

His strength comes from never following others, always forging his path. Even I can't keep up."

Kira was silent.

He felt a bit undeserving of such praise from Misawa. Truthfully, his decks—while self-built and strange in others' eyes—were often based on the collective wisdom of countless predecessors.

So, while outsiders saw him blazing new, hidden trails, he was really driving down well-traveled highways, run over hundreds of times already.

"I understand!" Dimitri nodded emphatically.

"I always thought Kira's decks looked stronger and more unique, and now I see you think so too.

Alright, I know what to do next—thanks for the guidance, Misawa!"

Misawa: "No, what I meant to say was—"

But before he could finish, Dimitri had already dashed off into the crowd, seemingly so inspired he didn't even want to attend the festival anymore and was heading home to build decks.

Misawa: "..."

Feels like there's been a misunderstanding again.

Oh well, let him be.

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