Clear Mind / The Ability to See Duel Spirits

Only Crowler was left behind, kneeling dumbfounded on the duel field.

For a moment, he could not think of a word to describe how he felt, as if a dog had just chewed him up!

He had worked so hard to fuse his ace monster, hoping to keep this despicable poor student out, yet he had lost again?!

And what was more, he had lost in such an absurd, bizarre way...!

Who am I?

Where am I?

Why are there such god-draw dogs in this world?!

Crowler was hit with three bewildered questions in a row.

"..." Bastion Misawa, Syrus Truesdale, and the others.

"..." Zane Truesdale, Alexis Rhodes, and the other students and testing teachers in the venue all stared at the scene, dumbfounded as well.

They all turned to Jiang He with strange expressions, at a loss for words.

Was this the legendary god-draw dog himself?

He had drawn a perfect hand right at the start. How was anyone supposed to beat that?!

Even the legendary King of Games, Yugi Muto, might not have been able to win!

Chapter 6: Clear Mind

[Beep. Professor Crowler emotion points +500.]

Hearing that pleasant system notification, Jiang He smiled even more broadly.

"I won. That was a fun duel!"

Jiang He raised two fingers and pointed them at Professor Crowler with a smile.

He copied the catchphrase Jaden Yuki had just used after defeating Professor Crowler, along with his standard victory pose!

Taunting him to his face.jpg

"..." Jaden Yuki.

"Pfft...!!" Everyone else in the venue nearly spat out the water they were drinking.

They all ranted furiously in their heads.

What the hell was fun about that duel?!

God-draw dog!!

Professor Crowler was so furious he nearly suffered a brain hemorrhage. He bit down on his garish pink collar and clutched it tightly with both hands, forcing himself to hold it in!

Mamma mia!

Was that something a person could say?!

This poor student was utterly despicable!

Crowler broke down.

"Uh, hahaha, well... examinee number 111, Jiang He, has passed the duel examination." An awkward female voice slowly came over the venue's speakers, easing the atmosphere.

She announced the final result!

"Examinee number 111, Jiang He..."

At the same time, nearly everyone in the venue quietly committed Jiang He's name to memory.

They also formed the impression that he was a god-draw dog who did not play like a human.

Only Zane Truesdale gave Jiang He a long, somewhat puzzled look.

He pondered the special aura he had faintly sensed when Jiang He drew his card earlier.

He had a feeling that this examinee number 111's victory had not simply been a matter of a god draw.

"It looks like life at Duel Academy should get a little more interesting from here on."

At that moment, Alexis looked toward Jiang He, who was returning to chat with Jaden Yuki and the others, and spoke with a smile.

"After all, some interesting people are about to enroll!"

"Perhaps." Zane Truesdale was noncommittal.

He neither agreed nor disagreed with Alexis Rhodes's assessment.

He merely took a long look at Jiang He, Jaden Yuki, and Syrus Truesdale before turning and leaving.

"Those people leaving over there... are they Kaiser Zane Truesdale, Alexis Rhodes, and the others?" Jiang He also noticed the figures in blue uniforms leaving through the back door in the distance.

He recognized them all at a glance.

He was the last examinee in this duel test.

Now that his test was over, Duel Academy's admissions process this time was basically at an end.

It did not surprise him that the Duel Academy students who had come to see how things were going would leave early.

"All examinees who passed the test, please prepare to gather on the roof of the venue and board for Duel Academy together."

Just then, a Duel Academy testing teacher came over and reminded the examinees who had passed on Jiang He's side.

"Huh? Board for Duel Academy? Isn't this venue Duel Academy?!" Jaden Yuki exclaimed in surprise.

"Wait, don't tell me you didn't even know that Duel Academy's main campus is on an isolated island in the ocean...?" Jiang He's mouth twitched as he looked at Jaden Yuki strangely.

Good grief.

Even he, someone who did not originally belong to this world of dueling, knew that.

It was "common knowledge" in this world.

Yet this hot-blooded idiot was a native and somehow did not know...

Beside them, Bastion Misawa, Syrus Truesdale, and the others also gave Jaden Yuki strange looks as he chuckled awkwardly.

This guy beat Professor Crowler too?

A short while later.

A large private helicopter bearing the words "GX Duel Academy" flew through the air toward a destination in the ocean!

Jiang He sat by a window and glanced around the cabin. Aside from him, Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, and the others,

there seemed to be only a dozen or so people in the entire helicopter.

Among them,

Jiang He did not see the upper-year Duel Academy students such as Zane Truesdale and Alexis Rhodes, who had left earlier.

Apparently, they had left on another Duel Academy helicopter.

Besides them, there was Professor Crowler, whom Jiang He had beaten into shutting himself off with his god draw.

Jiang He did not see him on this helicopter either.

He figured Crowler had been defeated by examinees one after another and was so embarrassed that he was hiding from them.

Jiang He did not particularly mind.

Although Professor Crowler was rather petty, he was a decent person overall.

Besides, Jiang He knew how things would unfold later and could handle them perfectly well.

"System, show me my personal panel."

With nothing else to do for the moment, Jiang He checked what he had gained from depressing Crowler earlier.

[Name: Jiang He]

[Skill: Clear Mind (once per duel, grants a god draw that is guaranteed to draw the desired card)]

[Current deck: Exodia the Forbidden One deck (one-turn kill version of a hellish deck)]

[Emotion points: 800]

Clear Mind.

This skill was precisely what Jiang He had obtained after activating the system and opening the beginner gift pack.

It was the initial skill he had received along with the Exodia the Forbidden One deck!

It was also why, during his duel with that blond mushroom-head, Professor Crowler,

after seeing that four of the five cards in his opening hand were sealed Exodia pieces,

he had been confident that the duel was already over,

and had let his opponent go first.

Because he really could pull off a "god draw"!

And once per duel, he was guaranteed to draw a card he wanted!

Chapter 7: The Ability to See Duel Spirits

"System, open the exchange shop."

Jiang He glanced at the balance of 800 emotion points on the virtual panel in front of him and gave the system a command in his mind.

[System shop (refreshes randomly once every two days, offering four exchange options each time)]

Today's options:

[Deck: Cyber Dragon deck (Zane Truesdale version)] 500 points.

[Deck: Gravekeeper deck (hellish version)] 1,000 points.

[Deck: Lava Golem deck (hellish prison build)] 1,000 points.

[Skill: Duel Spirit Sight Ability] 2,000 points.

"It actually refreshed with the ability to see Duel Spirits?!" Jiang He's eyes lit up, and he was delighted!

Although it was only the most basic ability to see Duel Spirits and communicate with them,

he could neither materialize them nor touch them yet.

Even so, it was already quite useful.

After all, it was still a supernatural ability.

In all of Duel Academy, and even the entire dueling world, only a handful of people possessed it.

Even the hot-blooded idiot Jaden, if Jiang He remembered correctly, had only met the King of Games, Yugi Muto, that morning and received a Winged Kuriboh from him,

before reawakening and regaining the ability he had lost in an accident as a child.

"Two thousand emotion points. I'm still 1,200 short. Looks like I need to find a way to earn more emotion points as soon as possible."

Jiang He rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, considering it.