School Legacy

The next day, when Kira returned to the Duel Dojo, everything felt completely different.

It wasn't just about the changes to himself. Of course, after winning the championship, he could clearly feel that everyone was looking at him differently. As soon as he entered, someone immediately shouted a greeting, and then everyone swarmed forward to pay their respects to the expert.

But it wasn't just that.

Looking at the dueling hall, Kira immediately noticed that the vibe here was completely different from when he first arrived.

When he first came, the Duels here still largely resembled the environment of early "Axe Raider" slugfests. While it wasn't exactly just playing a Monster and passing, the main offense and defense basically revolved around both sides constantly trying to summon stronger Monsters to overwhelm the opponent.

But entering today...

Apprentice A: "My Turn, First Turn! Draw! I set four cards. Turn end!"

Apprentice B: "Nani! Four sets on the first turn?! Don't get too cocky yet! It's My Turn, Draw! I set five cards. Turn end!"

"..."

Similar scenes were happening simultaneously on several different dueling fields.

Just a short week ago, when Kira first arrived, going first and not playing a Monster in a Dojo Duel would still earn you ridicule for having a poor Deck Build.

Suddenly, it seemed to have become the norm.

The style of Dueling now had become quite peculiar. Often, one side would set three cards in the Back Row and pass, and the opponent would reciprocate by setting three or four and passing on an Empty Field.

Then, both sides would just stare each other down, often only occasionally playing a Monster after several turns, which would, of course, immediately fall victim to the Back Row traps upon hitting the field. Then, both sides would go back to staring each other down...

It was practically a series of games where they were essentially trapping each other. The philosophy was basically, "I'm not playing this game today, and you sure as hell aren't either."

Kira: "..."

These good brothers had clearly fallen into some strange misconceptions.

Trap-Beatdown was indeed a classic Deck Build strategy that had stood the test of time in Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Building, but the term "Trap-Beatdown" wasn't just about having traps.

The essence of this strategy was that the "traps" were actually simply disruption. It involved including a large number of cards capable of interrupting the opponent's actions and bringing their plays to a halt, but that was merely a defensive strategy. Building upon that defense, you still needed to rely on Monster attacks (Beatdown) to secure victory.

In simple terms, it required both offense and defense.

Therefore, this strategy actually required a compact core of Monsters, possessing strong attacking power, sustainability, and consistency, while also needing to free up a large number of card slots. Only then would there be space to include more traps to interrupt the enemy's actions.

Even heavy trap decks were essentially about resource exchange to create an advantage for oneself. Decks that used traps just for the sake of trapping were merely designed to mess with people's minds; they weren't strategically sound and lacked significant combat power.

This was also why everyone knew traps were powerful, but not every Deck in competitive play went full Netherworld. Many Decks didn't have good synergy with traps, and many others had core Systems that didn't allow them to free up so many card slots unrelated to their System.

Deck Building in this regard was quite a science. Although early Decks were destined to be phased out, many competitive strategies remained timeless. Many principles of Deck Build were still applicable even in today's extremely high-speed meta.

Of course, it was quite clear that the Dojo brothers hadn't realized the issue. They only saw that Kira trapped opponents mercilessly and then won the championship, so Red Traps were powerful.

In just one week, the originally Sunny Meta atmosphere throughout the Dojo seemed to have turned into a sneaky, Netherworld vibe.

Kira reflected on himself.

Could it really be his fault?

"Oh, right, Kira!"

One of the apprentices remembered something and reminded him.

"Master said if you came, you should go see him."

"Okay, got it."

Kira replied, feeling a bit uneasy inside. Why did that sound like an elementary school teacher telling you to come to their office after class?

Was the old man unhappy with the sudden prevalence of the Netherworld playstyle and the vengeful atmosphere in the Dojo overnight?

But he figured he hadn't taught them that...

Well, at least not directly.

Carrying his doubt, he walked through the main hall to the back. He saw Takeuchi Master already sitting cross-legged, eyes closed as if meditating. He slightly opened his eyes when he heard Kira's movement, revealing a knowing smile.

"You're here."

"I'm here."

Seeing that the Master seemed to be in a good mood, it was likely good news. Kira relaxed, walked forward, and sat down.

"Congratulations on winning the championship," Takeuchi Master said.

"It's thanks to Master's guidance," Kira offered politely at the right moment.

But Takeuchi Master just smiled and shook his head. "Haha, the kid's quite polite. But you and I both know, your current level is beyond what I could teach."

He paused, then lifted his eyelids and carefully sized Kira up.

"You're different, I can feel it," he said slowly. "I don't know what sort of extraordinary experience you had, but I know you're already different from us ordinary Duelists.

It's subtle, but sometimes you just get that feeling. When you see a Duelist, when you see them stand on the field, their aura, their dueling stance... you just naturally know they are different from the rest of us."

This idea struck Kira as a bit novel.

He had heard that even warriors and assassins could spot others of their kind in a crowd and sense the difference, maybe because of killer intent or something. But Duelists could too?

What would that even be called? Duel Aura?

But he figured he was just someone who had transmigrated. In his previous life, he was at most an amateur enthusiast, not a professional. In this world where cheats were everywhere, without any cheats or Spirit Possession, and they could still tell his aura was different?

"Actually, I'm not the first Master of this Dojo," the Master said, entering reminiscing mode. "The Master before me, he was the truly powerful Duelist.

His whole life was dedicated to promoting the Dojo's philosophy, cultivating excellent Duelists among the younger generation, and from them, finding someone worthy of entrusting the School Legacy.

But..."

He sighed.

"In one particular Duel... I don't know who his opponent was, and the Master never wanted to talk about it with anyone. All I know is, he seems to have lost that battle.

It was after that he fell ill and was admitted to the hospital. But all the doctors couldn't find the root cause, only that his health was deteriorating day by day.

Eventually, he fell into a complete coma and hasn't woken up since, even to this day."

Kira listened, a slight frown appearing on his face.

This sounds a bit like a legendary Dark Duel.

At this point, you might be asking, can Duels actually kill people?

Then we have to talk about the unique characteristics of the Yu-Gi-Oh! world. Dark Duels are almost omnipotent; Dueling can not only kill people but also capture souls, control minds, and turn the loser into a puppet to be twisted into any shape imaginable without issue.

This is also why it's said that even within the Supernatural Power world, exceptional Dueling skill makes one an absolute king.

However, if it really was a Dark Duel, going by this description, he apparently hung on for a long time after losing before falling into a coma. That opponent's Dark Duelist level sounds a bit weak, even compared to the Original Work anime.

"Before falling into a coma, the Master passed the position of Master to me, along with the Rare Card that represents our School Legacy and serves as its symbol.

But I knew clearly that I didn't have the talent, nor was I qualified to inherit that power. So I sealed this Deck, just as the previous generation's Master had done, to search for a young person who was worthy of inheriting it..."

Takeuchi Master let out a long sigh, slowly turned around, and looked at Kira.

"...Until today."