Duelists Never Surrender!

"Seven Star Synchro Monster—Equation Spell, Electric Track Ace!" Studying pays off. Julie had heard of this card in an advanced duel analysis class. She couldn't quite remember its specific effects due to the passage of time, but she vaguely recalled that this monster had an effect that could inflict piercing damage!

Hara Shichi's LP was already hanging by a thread. If she could attack either Owl or Pudding Princess with Electric Track Ace, she would be the victor of this duel!

The path to victory had opened before her. All that remained was to move the large rock in the middle of the road.

Although she didn't possess this Synchro Card, she had a Synchro-specific base card that she had exchanged for a large amount of points from the Academy shop. According to the duel rules, it could be used during a duel, and even extra monsters printed on the fly were encouraged!

"I'll tune the Varon Gaus and Growing Flower on the field! Come forth—Equation Spell, Electric Track Ace!" Julie suddenly raised her head and shouted.

"This is bad, I'm going to be flipped!" As a seasoned duelist, Hara Shichi naturally knew the effect of Electric Track Ace. With only 400 LP left, he couldn't possibly withstand a single attack from Electric Track Ace!

Silver Synchro Particles began to gather, enveloping Gaus and Growing Flower, and then... nothing happened.

The Synchro Particles swirled gently around the two monsters like a light breeze for a moment before dissipating, as if they had never existed.

"..."

"Damn it! I've practiced this so many times, why can't I control it!" Julie clenched her fists tightly, her sharp fingernails digging into her palms, a trickle of blood flowing out.

"I will perform a Synchro Summon using Gaus and Growing Flower! Synchro Summon!" Julie tried again. This time, not even Synchro Particles appeared. The only response was the echo in the empty stadium.

"Synchro Summon!"

"Synchro Summon!!"

"Synchro Summon!!!"

Julie's voice was hoarse, but the Synchro Particles didn't even flicker.

"Her Duel Power is neither pure nor vast. Moreover, the card in her hand isn't a Synchro Monster, but a base card for Synchro Summoning. It's already lucky that the Synchro Particles responded once," Ai said with pity as she watched Julie's repeated attempts.

"Why don't you go help her?" Hara Shichi felt a pang of sympathy seeing Julie's distressed state.

"I can help her once, but I can't help her a second time," Ai stated calmly. "While it's difficult to accept a lack of talent, one will never grow if they don't face it."

"That's why I hate it. How can duels full of talent theories bring joy to everyone?"

Ai sighed sadly.

Chapter Thirty: The Genesis Land.

After shouting until her throat was sore, Julie finally accepted reality.

She accepted the fact that she couldn't control Synchro Particles.

So, she silently removed her Duel Disk and walked towards Hara Shichi like a zombie, saying in a low voice, "I lost. You can do whatever you want with me now."

"Okay, then come with me first." Hara Shichi didn't say much. Words of comfort were unnecessary; strictly speaking, he wasn't very familiar with Julie.

"Where are you taking me?" Julie asked, looking down.

"I'm going to drag you into my dorm, lock the door, and have my way with you," Hara Shichi said with a raised eyebrow.

"You're lying. The boys' dorm isn't this way." Julie stopped and looked at the surrounding scenery. "This is the way to the infirmary."

"I'll help you ask the teacher for some throat lozenges. It would be bad if it got inflamed." Since his joke was exposed, Hara Shichi explained directly.

"You don't need to pity me... cough... cough..." Julie couldn't help but cough.

"It's not pity, it's an order." Hara Shichi glanced at Julie. "Didn't you say you'd let me do as I please?"

"Even if you do that, I won't give you any benefits," Julie said abruptly.

"Are you joking?" Hara Shichi looked at Julie with disdain. "What benefits can you, a defeated opponent who has lost to me twice, give me?"

"You! You scoundrel!" Julie's face turned red as she tried to retort, but after stammering for a long time, she couldn't say anything, so she just sulked.

The two arrived at the infirmary, where they were greeted by a young female teacher in a white coat.

"Ah, open your mouth and let me see," the female teacher said softly to Julie.

"Ah..." Julie slightly opened her small mouth.

"Wider," the teacher said gently.

Julie looked at Hara Shichi standing nearby and frowned slightly.

The female teacher then waved at Hara Shichi, telling him, "You go out first. Come back in later."

"..."

Hara Shichi reluctantly walked out of the infirmary and leaned against the wall outside the door.

"What's wrong? You look so dejected." Ai said this, but in reality, she wasn't feeling much better.

"Didn't you say you wanted me to help you turn dueling into a normal game?" Hara Shichi looked at Ai's silver hair, recalling the scene of their first meeting.

Her silver hair, radiating a brilliant glow like the moon, her delicate face like a doll's, and her pair of crystal-clear, ethereal deep blue eyes.

Such a fairy-tale princess appearing before him as a god still felt incredible to Hara Shichi.

"Yes, that's my wish, and perhaps my ideal," Ai said, pursing her rosy lips. Her previously tense face relaxed as the corners of her mouth turned upwards.

It had only been a few days, yet it felt like a long time ago. Time was truly a strange thing.

"Then can you tell me, specifically, how to do it?" Hara Shichi asked.

Ai sighed, a trace of sorrow appearing on her cute face.

"I originally planned to tell you after we'd accumulated a bit more, but since you're asking now, I'll tell you," Ai said after a moment of silence.

"The answer is – make a wish to me," Ai pointed to her flat chest.

"Huh?" Hara Shichi looked at Ai suspiciously. "Are you serious?"

"Let me finish," Ai gestured for Hara Shichi to calm down. "The 'me' I'm talking about isn't the me here. The me here is just a clone. The real me is still all alone in the Genesis Land."

The Genesis Land, or rather, the dwelling of the gods.

It was a vast alternate dimension that only opened to the outside world once every three years. Only powerful Duelists were permitted to enter the Genesis Land, to showcase their duels before the gods, defeating opponent after opponent. The Duelist who remained in the end would earn the chance to meet with a god.

And this person was also known to the world as the Duel King.

"So, as long as I become the Duel King, I can make a wish to you?"

"It's not that easy," Ai shook her head. "You only earn the qualification to meet.

If you want to make a wish to me, you must duel me. Only if you win can your wish be granted. However, if you simply want to ask questions, I can help answer them."

"But that's for others. If one day you reach that point, I'll definitely go easy on you so you can win and make your wish," Ai clapped her hands. "Then you can wish for dueling to become a normal game, and our goal will be achieved!"

"Sounds simple enough," Hara Shichi rubbed his chin. "I just need to enter the Genesis Land and beat everyone else, right?"

"Yes, but before that, we need to get stronger gradually," Ai nodded. "And we still need to figure out how to get an entry ticket to the Genesis Land."

"Didn't you say only powerful Duelists can enter the Genesis Land?" Hara Shichi asked, confused.

"You don't think that just because you get stronger, a red symbol will appear on your arm telling you you've been chosen and to hurry to the Genesis Land, do you?" Ai pouted.

"Otherwise?" Hara Shichi asked.

"What are you thinking? That's a chance to meet a god! How could greedy humans allow such a thing? In fact, five hundred years ago, the 64 spots to enter the Genesis Land were already divided among the major powers." Ai sounded a bit angry as she spoke. "There was this bad woman who tricked me, saying that as a great god, I shouldn't be bothered with trivial matters like allocating spots, and that I should let humans handle it."

"You agreed?" Hara Shichi was shocked.

"I thought she made sense at the time..."

"You couldn't see such an obvious power grab?" Hara Shichi twitched his lips.

"Ahhh, that hateful bad woman! If I ever meet her descendants, I'll do this and that to them..."

"Enough, do you know how to obtain the spots?" Hara Shichi inquired.

"I don't know about others, but the Duelist Academy gets two spots every time," Ai pointed to the academy beneath Hara Shichi's feet. "That's one of the reasons why I wanted you to come to the Duelist Academy."

"The spots will definitely be given to the teachers," Hara Shichi's mind conjured the image of Nafili. "There's no way it would be my turn."

"Wrong. If you can rise rapidly within these three years, the academy might extend an olive branch to you."

"Then, we can talk slowly."

Chapter 31: Correct, Reasonable.

"There are no major issues, but try to speak less for the next few days. As for dueling practice class... hmm... I'll give you a sick note," the teacher seemed accustomed to this, expertly opening a drawer and taking out a stack of sick notes. While signing, he said softly, "Students often injure their throats from dueling too intensely. It's good to have spirit, but don't get too carried away."

"Okay, we understand. Thank you, teacher," Hara Shichi took the sick note and a pack of throat lozenges.

"If the lozenges don't help, come back and see me," the teacher waved them off, indicating they could leave.

The two then left the infirmary. Hara Shichi walked ahead, with Julie following behind, maintaining a subtle distance between them.

"Are we really going to your dorm?" a soft, sweet voice asked. Hara Shichi turned his head in surprise, looking at Julie suspiciously.

"Was that you speaking just now?"

"Obviously! Who else could it be! Cough... cough!" Julie's voice became weak after she raised her tone, and she said meekly, "Of course it was me."

"So you have such a gentle voice too," Hara Shichi then took a good look at the girl before him. She had short, light purple hair, dark red eyes, and skin so delicate it seemed about to burst, along with a delicate face that was astonishingly beautiful. Her white uniform hugged her youthful, graceful figure. A girl like this would be a shining pearl anywhere.

Except in this world.

"But... she's still a girl after all," Hara Shichi remarked.

"What do you mean? Wasn't I a girl before?" Julie gritted her teeth.

"If you're a girl, you should cherish yourself and not bet yourself," Hara Shichi looked at Julie's pristine white skirt, his mind drifting back to her fair, tender thighs.

"Don't look!" Julie clutched her skirt tightly. "Besides, do you think I wanted to do that? It was all for your Tiramisu of the Tiara!"

"Is it that important? Tiramisu of the Tiara might be an indispensable Ace Monster to me, but to you, it's just a powerful card," Hara Shichi asked, confused.

"Just... hehe, how ironic. I sacrificed my modesty, and even exchanged points specifically for that card that targets Xyz monsters, and in your words, it's 'just a powerful card'?" Julie suddenly grabbed Hara Shichi's collar, suppressing her urge to roar, "Then tell me, if I didn't do that, how would I get a powerful card? Would you give it to me?!"

"If you want it that badly, it's not impossible for me to give you one," Hara Shichi took out the card "Possessed". "Anyway, all my Marincess are EARTH attribute, so I can't use this card. Do you want it?"

Julie stared blankly at Hara Shichi, then suddenly slapped his hand away. "No, you idiot!"

"You, you're not some young master from a dueling family, are you?" Julie sighed. "You shouldn't just give away powerful cards like that."

"But this card isn't mine either. It belongs to Yukikaze," Hara Shichi explained. "Her entire deck is WATER attribute, so she gave it to me."

"That's because that idiot likes you!" Julie said irritably.

"I say, you don't have any friends, do you?" Hara Shichi looked at Julie with pity. "It's normal for friends to give each other cards."

"I... I'm f**king..." Julie really wanted to curse him out, to tell this dense guy that even friends wouldn't give away Xyz monsters, cards that are priceless even in the black market, but the truth was, she really had no friends!

Tsk!

"You really are from that dueling family," Julie concluded, taking out Dragon's Demise from her deck. "What do you think of my Ace Monster?"

"It's pretty good, cool and powerful," Hara Shichi replied.

"Be honest!" Julie said, huffing.

"Oh, besides having high ATK and being able to Special Summon a Token, it's not very useful," Hara Shichi admitted truthfully. "If you had Super Polymerization, it would be a different story combined with Zombie World."

"How could I possibly have a card like Super Polymerization!" Julie felt that talking to Hara Shichi was exhausting; if this continued, her lungs would explode.

"That's right, just as you said, Dragon's Demise isn't really useful besides having high ATK and being able to Special Summon a Token." Julie knew this very well. "But do you know how much this card sells for on the black market?"

"How much?"

"Ten million," Julie said calmly.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Hara Shichi frowned.

"Most people will never even get their hands on a card like Dragon's Demise in their lifetime. Many people don't even have their own Fusion Monster. Many people here, including students from our academy," Julie said, looking coldly at Hara Shichi. "Originally, I was one of them."

"Originally?" Hara Shichi sensed something. "Didn't you buy this card?"

"Please, I'm not some rich kid; I'm just from an ordinary family," Julie said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I only knew the price because I wanted to buy this card back then."

"But I didn't have the money. That was ten million! I wouldn't be worth that much even if I sold myself," Julie said gravely. "Until that fiery woman appeared before me. She gave me hope."

"Who?"

"The strongest student in the academy, the embodiment of invincibility, arrogant and domineering, who didn't even care about the teachers. She even established the Crimson Lotus Society to steal other students' decks and was privately called a demon by everyone – Crimson Lotus," Julie said, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

"She stood before me, reached out her hand, and said to me..."

"'The weak are not worthy of using such powerful cards. Let's go and snatch them away!'"