"Ah, Professor Chronos is so annoying."
Judai kicked a stone as he walked.
"The duel theory report requires so many words and is due the day after tomorrow. Ah, writing reports makes my head hurt."
He rubbed his head, turning his jellyfish hair into a mess.
Then he suddenly thought of something and looked to his side: "Speaking of which, Sho, how about giving me a hand?"
"Huh? But I haven't even started mine yet, big brother..." Marufuji Shou made a bitter face.
"Well, that's true."
Judai sighed and continued kicking the stone.
The small stone spun and kicked up a trail of dust as it flew far away.
"It would be great if we could use duel to replace the theory report..."
Hayato broke into a sweat: "If it's a duel, no one can beat Judai, right? Not even if Professor Chronos himself came..."
"No way, there are still strong guys in this academy. Like Sho's brother, the one they call Caesar, he's really impressive."
Judai's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"I dueled with him not long ago, but he was really strong, I couldn't win..."
"Of course." Sho felt proud, "That's my most amazing brother."
However, every time he said this, it made the contrast between the two brothers a bit too stark...
During their conversation, Yugen joined in: "Oh, you've already faced that Caesar?"
"Huh, Yugen?"
The group turned back all at once.
"Yeah, yeah." Judai nodded repeatedly, "As expected of someone called the Academy's Caesar, he's incredibly strong. Just like that, he had an Electronic Ultimate Dragon with 8000 attack power, and it had a defense piercing ability.
In just one move, I lost..."
The carefree Judai seemed to be quite amused even about the duel he lost and looked as though he wanted to duel again.
"I see, even Judai couldn't withstand it. No wonder he's the Academy's Caesar." Yugen nodded.
"Haha, but don't worry, Yugen, you'll definitely have a chance to duel with him too... Oh, by the way, we haven't dueled each other yet." Judai was raring to go, "So, do you want to..."
"No rush." Yugen smiled, "Our duel is waiting for a more suitable grand stage. But I think that opportunity is coming soon, so you can start getting ready."
"What are you talking about? I'm always ready." Judai said confidently.
Yugen nodded.
Yeah, that's true, Judai is naturally a dueler who excels at spontaneous play.
When Caesar chose Judai for his graduation duel, the night before, Judai uncharacteristically concentrated on enhancing and adjusting his deck, but the one time he tried to duel by thinking strategically, he ended up disappointing Caesar, who regretted choosing him as his graduation opponent.
According to Marufuji Ryo, he might have felt that Judai was naturally better at improvising, hitting wherever it feels right.
"Oh, in this direction, Yugen, are you going to draw bread too?" Marufuji Shou asked.
"Yeah, it's practice for card drawing." Yugen smiled.
The so-called bread drawing is a special event at the academy's shop.
The special bread from the shop, each piece has a different filling, but from the external packaging, they all look the same. No one knows what waits inside each bread until they take a bite.
The lore says that the Duel Academy has a magical Golden Chicken that supposedly lays a Golden Egg every day. So, the shop includes just one Golden Egg Bread each day, a rare bread that everyone wants.
Plus, the instructors of the card drawing class heavily promote the event, encouraging everyone to practice card drawing at the shop, making it packed with people during event hours.
Many rumors say that the academy's heavy promotion of the shop's events might involve some special arrangements. Like the urban legend about Auntie Tami at the shop and Principal Jiaodao having some unspeakable story.
Some even say there's a secret passage under the principal's office desk leading directly to Auntie Tami's shop counter.
However, since this saying is ridiculous, it's generally considered a fabrication by students.
Of course, those who watched the animation, like Yugen, know it's actually true. Yet, the true purpose behind building such a passage in the school remains a mystery...
Although the event hadn't started yet, the shop was already crowded when they arrived. Students lined up outside with eager anticipation.
"Everybody, don't push, one at a time..." A young female clerk was trying hard to maintain order.
Judai began blowing into his hands.
"Alright, today I've got to..."
Yugen glanced at Judai: "You didn't even get it the last couple of days?"
"Yeah, unbelievable, right?" Marufuji Shou said, "Big brother used to hold a record of twenty consecutive wins, known as the man called the King of Eggs."
Judai's face fell: "That's a horrible nickname, Sho."
"But even so, big brother hasn't won for many days in a row now." Marufuji Shou said.
Yugen was deep in thought.
It seems like it's about time for that card drawing hermit from the original story, Taira Oyama, to make an appearance.
Previously mentioned as a Duel Academy student, Taira Oyama disappeared a year ago, having realized some truth about the divine draw by observing nature, then went to the mountains to practice.
Now, having completed his training, he's decided to return and test his results. So, before the events begin, he sneaks into the shop at night to draw out the bread with the golden egg as a proof of his training.
Yugen thought while resting his chin in his hand.
In the early GX timeline, Taira Oyama is one opponent Yugen wants to face.
Not because he thinks the guy is super strong, but to personally experience what the "momentum" of a divine draw expert is like; it would also prepare him for dealing with Judai, and masters even more experienced in the art later.
It's also a test of his own current practice results.
"Drawing bread!"
Judai made a divine draw, then tore open the bag with anticipation and bit into the bread.
"Ahhhh chestnut bread!"
Judai slumped to the ground, dejected like a defeated rooster.
"How could this happen, my divine right hand..."
Yugen wasn't surprised at all.
Well, this is only natural since there absolutely wasn't any golden egg bread; somebody had already stolen it. Even a cheater can't draw bread that's not in the batch...
...Hm, speaking of which, that's not entirely impossible either.
The academy's event further proves that what's called Destiny Power allows a duelist to somewhat rewrite their own future, not limited to card drawing in duels. Judai's twenty consecutive wins indicate even bread drawing can be hacked by Destiny Power.
Yugen himself has not drawn any golden egg bread so far, but that's the same for everyone else. Ever since this event started, the grand prize had practically been monopolized by Judai.
But...
Yugen casually drew one, tore open the bag, and bit into the bread.
Pizza bread, not bad.
Up till now, he hadn't drawn a flavor he disliked even once.
It felt like some small success in his practice.
"Sorry everyone, there's actually no golden egg bread here."
Auntie Tami from the shop appeared and explained helplessly.
"Actually, starting a week ago, every day only the golden egg bread was stolen..."
"What? Stealing just the golden egg bread so precisely?" Marufuji Shou was surprised, "That thief must be pretty skilled."
Judai immediately showed an expression of displeasure.
He seemed to feel his status as the king of the divine right hand being challenged.
"Alright, tonight we'll stay here." Judai clenched his fist, "We're going to catch that dastardly golden egg thief together!"