Night fell.
A thin layer of white frost silently formed on the window frame.
Yūki was sitting at his desk sorting his spare Deck Box when he happened to look up. Through the clear windowpane, he caught sight of a few tiny, faintly glimmering snowflakes spiraling down from the pitch-black night sky.
They landed on the windowsill and melted into wet marks in an instant.
"Snow already?"
Yūki paused, breathed out a faint puff of white vapor, and couldn't help rubbing his fingertips together.
"This island's weather changes faster than you can blink. There were still warm breezes during the day a few days ago, and now winter's already charging right at us."
He shook his head as he muttered to himself and slipped [Lava Golem] into a card sleeve. Without warning, his personal PDA on the corner of the desk began vibrating violently, accompanied by an urgent buzzing.
Yūki glanced at the screen. The caller ID read Jaden Yuki.
The moment he swiped to answer, Jaden's trademark booming voice exploded from the speaker, with heavy panting and howling cold wind mixed into the background.
"Hey! Yūki! Can you hear me?!"
Jaden sounded frantic, his words coming like machine-gun fire.
"You're staying in your dorm room, right? Don't come out! Listen, absolutely, under no circumstances, go into the dark woods or anywhere secluded alone!"
Yūki held the phone half an inch farther away and raised an eyebrow.
"Slow down, Jaden. With all that panting, anyone who didn't know better would think Koala had chased you for a mile."
"Why aren't you warming yourself by a fire at this hour? What's with the midnight cross-country training?"
"This isn't the time for jokes!"
Jaden shouted as he ran, sounding as solemn as if he were announcing that Duel Academy's island was about