Kobayashi Yuki spent the whole day with his head down.
He woke up early to avoid the crowds when leaving the dorm, skipped the cafeteria, and got by on bread from the convenience store for lunch. Even for classes, he kept his hood pulled low and blended into the largest group of students he could find, bolting out the moment the bell rang.
The reason was simple: his next opponent in the dormitory exchange matches was that guy.
A legendary figure—within just one week of starting school, this man had earned the title of "Final Boss" across the whole Ra Yellow dorm. He was also the one student nobody ever wanted to be matched against.
Losing to anyone else meant just a single lost duel and a few credits, but this guy was different. It was said that after dueling him, you wouldn't sleep a wink that night. Some even claimed he could kill your passion for dueling entirely, making you wonder if maybe you were better off as a bricklayer than a card player.
So, whenever someone saw that their next opponent was this guy, they'd instantly look like they'd just lost a family member. The other dormmates could usually guess what had happened and would either shake their heads or stifle a laugh, patting them on the shoulder and telling them to hang in there.
Yuki thought he'd covered his tracks perfectly, staying out of the Final Boss's path all day. Even though he knew hiding was pointless, some primal instinct just told him to avoid the horror as long as possible.
At least, today seemed to have passed peacefully.
Finally, after a day of tension, Yuki relaxed as he headed back to the dorm, ready for a hot shower and a bit of chill time with a show.
Because there, leaning against the stairs on the only route to his room, was the Final Boss, smiling brightly and waving.
"Yuki, right?" Kira grinned. "Did you forget we had a duel scheduled?"
Yuki wanted to cry. He almost wanted to say "You've got the wrong guy," but Kira already had his duel disk out.
"Don't worry, this won't take long," Kira said cheerily. "Come on, let's do this."
"Dimensional Prison! Your monster gets banished!"
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"Pair Cycroid, direct attack!"
Kira wasn't lying—it was over quickly.
Ten minutes later, Yuki was sprawled on the ground, eyes glazed, face blank, utterly defeated. He'd fallen so hard that his deck had scattered all over the floor.
Anyone passing by who didn't know better might think he'd just lost a Shadow Game.
Another one was sent to the Shadow Realm.
"Ah, a nice duel before bed—feels great," Kira stretched and politely bid his opponent farewell.
"That was a good duel. Good night, Yuki—sweet dreams."
Professor Sartyr, the dorm head, happened to pass by and watched the scene, wanting to say something but not knowing where to start.
Originally, he'd organized these matches to help freshmen make friends and bond quickly.
But at this rate, he thought, it wouldn't be surprising if they all bonded through battles soon...
But what could he say? After all, Kira was taking the duels seriously, and his all-win record spoke for itself.
And it had only been a week. Sartyr wondered what the Ra Yellow dorm would look like by the end of the year at this rate.
In the second week, Kira noticed a new course on the schedule that piqued his interest.
Honestly, when he heard the word, he immediately thought of human transmutation and equivalent exchange from a certain famous anime. But Yu-Gi-Oh! has its alchemy, too.
The teacher in charge was Professor Lyman Banner, dorm head of Slifer Red.
At first, he looked like the most useless and laid-back teacher in the whole academy, always seeming timid and weak. But in the Sacred Beasts arc, it turned out he was a hidden boss. Some fans even think that if he hadn't intentionally gone easy to help Jaden grow, Jaden wouldn't have stood a chance against him early on.
That's just speculation, but there's no doubt Lyman is one of the academy's most powerful characters.
His alchemy skills are said to be supernatural. His backstory says he had a terminal illness and used a forbidden human transmutation ritual to create a new body and transfer his soul.
Even after losing a Shadow Duel to Jaden and his body crumbling away, his soul persisted and was eventually absorbed by his pet cat. He stayed with Jaden until the end of GX, becoming a crucial mentor and friend.
But Kira was interested in the alchemy itself. While other students thought Lyman was just a slacker, Kira knew he was a big deal.
Rumor had it that alchemy could grant immortality, and in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s world, everything was linked to dueling. Alchemy also seemed to touch on card creation.
Lyman's most broken card, which he gave to Jaden before his body disappeared, was "Sabatiel - The Philosopher's Stone." It let you pay half your LP to add any card from your deck to your hand, up to three times per turn with no restriction.
Unlimited searching, three times a turn—it was a win button. The only drawback was it could be used only once per duel, and then self-destructed.
But the fact that such a card existed proved how valuable alchemy was.
So Kira listened to this class with rapt attention. While half the class dozed off, he took detailed notes, never missing a word from Lyman, whether intentional or offhand.
Alchemy was a niche subject, and Lyman probably wasn't used to anyone paying this much attention; before class ended, he kept glancing at Kira's way.
Kira noticed and flashed him a warm, sunny smile.
Lyman paused, then put on his signature goofy grin and smiled back.
When the bell rang, Lyman squinted as he gathered his materials, carrying his cat out of the classroom.
That student's name was Fujiki Kira, right?
He'd remember this student.
A kid with such a bright smile had to be a good person.