Our True Silent Is Just Too Strong

Kaiba Land.

The venue, designed in the shape of a White Dragon, was pieced together from countless small mirrored panels that formed a scale-like structure, reflecting dazzling colors. Crowds flowed in and out of the building, and the atmosphere was lively yet tense.

This was the site of Duel Academy's annual practical entrance examination.

The students' exam was divided into a written test and a practical test. Only those who passed the written test were qualified to participate in the practical assessment. Furthermore, practical exam ID numbers were assigned according to written-test rankings, and the difficulty of the assessment was also determined by those scores.

The combined score from the written test and the practical test would serve as the admission score. Duel Academy followed an elite education system, emphasizing strength in every aspect of life and study. After enrollment, students were assigned dormitories based on their grades. In addition to luxurious facilities, the top students' dorms had dining and services that poor students could never compare to.

Naturally, credit rewards, priority in purchasing Rare Cards, discount rates, and other benefits also differed.

The academy's dormitories were divided into three tiers, each named after one of the legendary Three Phantom Gods standing at the pinnacle of Duel Monsters. The highest-tier dorm was called "Obelisk Blue," the next was "Ra Yellow," and the lowest-ranked dorm—the one most looked down upon in the entire academy—was "Osiris Red."

Whenever Kira saw this setup, though, he felt certain that President Seto Kaiba, the academy's founder, had pulled some strings behind the scenes.

After all, in the Battle City arc, Obelisk was the Phantom God Kaiba himself possessed, while Osiris was the one held by his arch-rival, Dark Yugi, Atem.

So one could imagine that when President Kaiba had been assigning the dorm tiers, he must have been gritting his teeth with a savage expression. "Damn YU↑GI↓! You beat me, then just ran off without saying a word.

"Make YU↑GI↓'s dorm—no, I mean the Osiris dorm—the lowest of the low!!!"

Lackey: "Yes, President!"

"..."

The written-test results had come out the day before. Unsurprisingly, Kira had taken First Place without much effort, earning Exam ID 001.

When he received the exam ID, Kira recalled something.

In the Original Anime, hadn't there been a character who got first place? Had he stolen that guy's spot?

What was his name again? Four Arithmetic Operations? Or Six-Sawa Sky?

Oh, right, Daichi Misawa. But it didn't matter. As Kira remembered, he was just a passing character with good grades, and deleting him outright would probably have had zero effect on the plot. At least he hadn't held Judai back. Among those Yu-Gi-Oh! GX teammates competing to see who could slack off harder, that already made him a rare specimen.

Kira then arrived at the entrance to the examination hall. Before entering, every candidate first had to check in and complete registration.

Sitting at the entrance was one of Duel Academy's teachers. The school nurse, Emi Ayukawa, wore an Obelisk Blue vest and short skirt. Her crossed white legs pressed against each other, emphasizing their soft fullness.

She was the kind of D-Class Expert who made you realize, when revisiting childhood memories, "She was that big?" and wonder, "Why did I only pay attention to card games back then?"

But Kira felt nothing, because his mind was entirely occupied with what deck and configuration he should use in the exam, and how he ought to play his cards.

A steadfast card gamer was free from distractions. Only with no self in one's heart could one be fearless; only with cards in one's heart could one achieve Man-Card Unity.

"Name?"

"Fujiki Kira."

"Exam ID?"

"001."

"You're this year's number one? Impressive."

Teacher Emi smiled warmly.

Seeing that this was a somewhat handsome student seemed to brighten her mood.

"Alright, register your usual deck," Teacher Emi said pleasantly.

She had volunteered for candidate registration because she was curious about what this year's newcomers looked like.

This year's First Place already left a good impression on her. Not only were his grades excellent, but he was good-looking too. And at a glance, he seemed like a polite, refined child—a sunny young man, no doubt.

"I have to register my deck too?" Kira had not expected that.

Duelists in this world did seem to have their own signature decks, as well as Ace Monsters that symbolized their identity. But Kira's builds were always changing to prevent people from studying and Targeting them. He had originally planned to decide what exact configuration to use after entering and observing the examiners' decks.

Could it be that once he registered here, he wouldn't be allowed to change it?

"This student?" Teacher Emi tilted her head curiously.

He was already a duelist applying to Duel Academy, yet he still had to think about what deck he used?

After giving it some thought, she kindly reminded him, "Oh, this isn't a particularly strict review. It's just a simple registration. Many students' decks may not have a clear Archetype or Theme, so you can register based on your usual Monster Type, attribute, tactics, or something similar."

Kira considered it.

"Then, my usual cards would probably be Spell Card engines, Trap Card engines, Spellcaster Type engines, Warrior Type engines, and Machine Type engines."

Teacher Emi: "?"

Are you sure that thing you just described is called a deck?

"Haha, you're quite humorous, aren't you?" Teacher Emi laughed dryly. "Some students' decks may be a bit mixed. Then just tell me your ace, or your favorite card. Either is fine."

Kira fell into thought.

Though the Monster Core of his deck changed, regardless of the configuration, the Generic Trap hand traps, the disruption that interrupted his opponent, and the brutal draw power that generated advantage would remain unchanged.

With that in mind, he silently pulled out a Pot of Greed. Then his movement abruptly froze.

Because at that moment, he seemed to faintly sense an ominous presence.

From the corner of his eye, Kira caught sight of the reclusive girl, Silent Magician, who was normally always in a Self-Isolated State. At some point, she had floated out and stood silently beside him in Spirit form, visible only to him.

She hadn't said a word or made a single motion, but her resentful little eyes seemed to say: So I wasn't the one you loved most after all.

Kira took a deep breath.

Some unknown survival instinct made him shove the Pot of Greed, which he had only half-pulled out, back in, then take out Silent Magician instead.

"Silent Magician!?" Teacher Emi gasped. "That Ultra Rare Card used by Duel King Yugi Mutou?"

The teacher immediately regarded him with even greater respect.

Once the registration was complete, Kira immediately felt the invisible pressure on his heart ease. When he looked back, sure enough, the spirit that had been floating behind him was gone.

Kira let out a long breath.

That was close, that was close. Good thing I reacted quickly enough.

This should deepen my bond with the spirit too, right?

All right☆!

Though he might not necessarily need True Silent for this exam.

But that wasn't a big problem.

True Silent could win a duel without even taking the field. Our True Silent deck was seriously way too strong.