"That hateful Slacker Boy Jiang He... he made a fool out of me again! Waaaah!"
"I must find a way to get rid of that slacker as soon as possible!"
A moment later, Professor Crowler was walking back to his office, muttering through gritted teeth while pumping his fist to cheer himself up.
"Speaking of which, the slacker boys have Health Class this afternoon, don't they?"
As if he had suddenly hit upon a brilliant plan, Crowler's eyes lit up with a treacherous glint. "I'll use this method to make Slacker Boy Jiang He unable to stay! Expulsion! Ohohoho!"
"That was amazing, Jiang He! You even know the theory that well!"
Inside the lecture hall, Jaden Yuki spoke to Jiang He with a face full of admiration. By now, most of the students had left to grab lunch, leaving only a few people behind.
"You know it even better than I do," Syrus Truesdale added, looking at Jiang He with surprise. He had initially thought that since Jiang He, like his "big brother" Jaden, had scored a zero on the written exam, he would be even worse at theory than Syrus himself.
"It's just the basic stuff," Jiang He said, waving it off dismissively. He was being honest. Syrus and the others simply hadn't seen many specialized Traps before, whereas Jiang He knew the series' lore and card effects inside and out.
"It's truly hard to believe that a man like you scored a zero on the written exam," Alexis Rhodes said as she walked over, a faint smile on her lips. Her two best friends followed close behind.
"Well, I didn't actually have time to take it, so a zero is only natural," Jiang He said, shrugging helplessly. He glanced at the two girls behind her.
If he remembered correctly, they were Jasmine and Mindy. Looking at them, Jiang He's only critique was that their hairstyles were far too normal. They clearly didn't look like they knew how to play cards. If their hair defied gravity or pointed in three different directions at once, their dueling power would likely increase ten-fold. They were pretty enough, though still a tier below Alexis in both looks and figure.
Jiang He didn't dwell on it. After the awkward joke he'd made last night, he suspected Alexis had misunderstood something about him. He didn't really want to hang around her too long lest the conversation veer into strange territory.
He quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, it's about that time. The people I'm looking for should be arriving at the dorm soon. Let's head back."
"Eh? You're looking for someone, Jiang He?" Jaden and Syrus were both stunned.
They were confused, but they quickly recalled Jiang He's mysterious expression from the day before. It was very likely related to whatever he was planning! Interested in seeing what he was up to, the two immediately followed him out of the hall.
"Hmph, I won't let you escape that easily!" Alexis watched Jiang He hurry away and gave a light huff, followed by a confident smile.
She had intended to invite Jiang He to a duel and had even added a few specific Trap Cards to her deck to counter his strategy. She wanted to see what that "secret" he refused to talk about last night really was. To her surprise, he'd made an excuse to leave before she could even open her mouth!
Even if you got away this time, I'll find another chance soon!
If Jiang He knew what she was thinking, he would have pointed out that they were on completely different wavelengths. But even if he had known, he still would have slipped away. After all, he only had 800 Emotion Points and needed 1,000 to redeem a new Troll Deck from the system. Facing someone as strong as Alexis while being specifically targeted would be a bit much for him to handle right now.
"I won't let you escape easily... So Alexis likes that type?!"
"What a powerful aura! Is this the love declaration of Duel Academy's Ice Queen?"
As Alexis was making her silent vow, her two friends had retreated a few steps, whispering and gossiping excitedly. They both pictured Jiang He in their minds. Clearly, they had misinterpreted Alexis's words as something far more romantic...
"What are you two whispering about? It's time to head back to the dorms," Alexis said, turning back with a puzzled look.
"Ah, nothing!"
"Right, right! Let's go!" Jasmine and Mindy quickly hid their "discovery" with giggles, leaving Alexis even more confused.
Inside the Slifer Red dormitory.
"The classes here at Duel Academy are really laid back," Jiang He muttered with a yawn, lying on his bed.
They only had two classes a day. One for theory in the morning, and an indoor health class in the afternoon that mostly involved light stretching and recreational activities. Some days, they only had one class total.
Compared to the school schedules of his past life, this felt like a vacation. Of course, his past life hadn't involved Duel Spirits or supernatural powers... some cards held enough power to fuse twelve parallel universes and destroy everything.
"So, why are you two in my room instead of your own?"
Hearing noise, Jiang He sat up and looked toward the corner of the room. Jaden and Syrus were sitting on the tatami floor with a pile of cards spread out, busily constructing their decks.
"Chumley, our other roommate, is always lying there sleeping. It's too easy to bother him when Syrus and I talk," Jaden said, looking up and rubbing his head with a sheepish grin. Syrus followed suit with a nervous chuckle.
"So you decided to come over here and bother me instead..." Jiang He's eye twitched as he stared at them. Is that even logical?
"But we're friends! Our relationship is totally different!" Jaden argued immediately.
"If you're going to put it like that... I guess I can't really argue," Jiang He said with a roll of his eyes.
Fortunately, his private luxury cottage was already under construction. He didn't mind this room as much now. Just as they had returned to the Slifer Red dorms, they had seen a construction crew from the Princeton Group arrive by helicopter.
They had brought in materials and machinery and were already working fast based on the requirements Jiang He had sent yesterday. He could hear the faint sounds of construction coming from nearby even now.
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