Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Heroes

"The Four Heavenly Kings and Number One of the Northern Branch… is that all you've got?"

Manjoume sneered with a twisted grin, mocking them as he looked down at the Four Heavenly Kings collapsed around him—and that bulky Number One wearing an orange and black jacket with a patch of black stubble on his chin.

"Manjoume, as expected from someone I hand-picked. You defeated the entire first-year class of the Northern Branch in just a single day!"

The speaker was a man in full battle gear: a brown leather coat, a grey-black iron mask over his face, and an orange cloth wrapped around his head. His voice sounded like that of a middle-aged man, and the sight of him triggered Manjoume's memory.

"You're that bastard from the whale's stomach?!"

Manjoume had gone out adventuring alone, but got caught in a storm and shipwrecked. While trying to quench his thirst by drinking seawater, he recalled the scene of getting completely crushed by Yuuya and Judai back at Duel Academy. That frustration made him drop his bottle into the sea. When he tried to retrieve it, he fell into the ocean himself.

When he woke up, he found himself inside the belly of a massive marine mammal—a whale. And it was there that he met the mysterious, fully-covered man standing before him now.

With a single sneeze, Manjoume was blown out from the whale's blowhole, landing on the icy cliffs just outside the Northern Branch Academy.

From there, he spent the entire day gathering scattered Duel Monster cards on the ice. He managed to collect 40 cards and assembled a deck out of them. That morning, after getting a response from the academy gate by presenting that makeshift deck, he was allowed entry—and what followed was a day-long duel rampage, defeating the first-years one after another.

"I'm no bastard. I'm the principal of this academy—Ishijonson!"

Removing his mask and headwrap, he revealed his unshaven, bespectacled face—clearly the same man Manjoume had met the day before.

"Old man! It's you?!"

It was this same man who had explained the academy's rules to him when he first arrived—like needing a 40-card deck to enter. He'd even expressed concern when Manjoume returned cold and miserable, regretting not giving him a spare card the day before to complete his deck and spare him some suffering.

"Let's not talk about all that. By defeating those five, you've now become the 'New King' of this academy's first-year class!"

Looking down at the defeated students, Principal Ishijonson revealed his true purpose:

"And that also means—you'll be the representative for our branch in the upcoming exchange duel with the main campus."

"Exchange duel between the two academies... me, the representative?"

Manjoume thought he misheard. Not only had he never heard of this event before, but being the branch's representative...?

Wait a minute, I've barely been here two days! Beating up these guys and becoming the "New King" was one thing—but representing the whole school? Isn't that a bit too fast?!

"Of course it's you. Who else? That's exactly why I brought you to this branch campus in the first place."

Principal Ishijonson didn't hide anything. He had seen Manjoume's potential and had deliberately brought him here, believing he had what it took to represent the Northern Branch in the academy exchange duel.

"Since we're choosing you—a student who's only been enrolled for a little over two months—it's only fair the main campus also sends a first-year student."

"I see…"

Realizing that his strength was being acknowledged, Manjoume no longer resisted the idea of representing the academy.

"I guess I don't mind… But, Principal—can you tell me ahead of time who the main campus is sending as their representative?"

Manjoume was about 90% convinced. Now he just wanted to know who he'd be facing.

"If I remember correctly, the representative from the main campus this time is a student from the Osiris Red dorm."

"Osiris Red?"

Something about that dorm's color made Manjoume's eyelid twitch.

"Yeah, I think the name was… Yuujou Ninki? No, maybe Yūjō Nijūdai or something like that?"

The principal couldn't remember the full name, but that was all Manjoume needed to hear.

"You mean 'Yuki Judai'—the guy who uses an 'Elemental HERO' deck, right?"

"Yes, yes! That's it! A boy with that jellyfish-looking hairstyle—Yuki Judai!"

Principal Johnson finally remembered the person in question. The message that old geezer Sheppard sent him, included the name and photo of the participant from the main campus, along with some basic personal information.

"Omoshiroi! I accept!"

The moment he heard it was Judai—the so-called slacker—Manjoume accepted immediately, without a second thought. It didn't even occur to him how someone he considered a slacker could have become the main campus's representative in this exchange duel.

"Oh! I forgot something!"

While Manjoume's agreement was certainly good news, Principal Johnson suddenly recalled that Sheppard hadn't only sent over information about Judai—there had been a second file.

"You won't just be facing one opponent. There's another one—someone who wears a red baseball cap pulled low over his face, so you can't see his features. As for his name or deck... I'm not too sure."

Manjoume: ?!!

More than one opponent?! Two opponents were already a hassle. If they were both like Judai, he could maybe scrape by using the deck he had now. But the real issue was that this second opponent… was none other than the mysterious duelist who had forced him into dropping out and running away from Duel Academy—the one who used a never-before-seen brand-new HERO deck…

That mysterious duelist: "Shin Yuuya"!

(The protagonist's name was originally "Sakaki Yuuya," but he temporarily uses "Shin" to avoid trouble while at the academy.)

"That's not true! I didn't agree to this! Stop making stuff up! Anyone else can represent the Northern Branch—I'm out!!"

That name alone sent him spiraling! Manjoume immediately denied it three times over and backed out. Duel that guy again? He'd rather go back home and help his overworked brothers manage the Manjoume Group Corporation.

Principal Johnson: ???

What just happened? He was all in a moment ago, and now he's backing out?!

Trying to make sense of it on his own, Principal Johnson assumed Manjoume's sudden retreat had something to do with the strength of his current deck. To win him back, he decided to hand over the greatest treasure the Northern Branch had to offer.

"With this, plus your abilities, I'm sure you can bring victory to our academy!"

"Huh?"

Stunned, Manjoume took what the principal handed him and looked down—it was a deck, shining with dazzling brilliance like new.

"This deck is…?"

"Ah, that right there is the Northern Branch's greatest treasure—our strongest deck: the 'Armed Dragon' deck!"

The moment the name was spoken, Principal Johnson grinned with pride. Thanks to this deck, their losses in the past two exchange duels hadn't been too humiliating.

"The academy's treasured 'Armed Dragon' deck, huh?"

Manjoume muttered to himself, flipping through the cards one by one. With each turn, the look on his face gradually shifted into one of growing confidence.

And finally, after seeing the last card—

"Perfect. I'm participating in this exchange duel!"

Clutching the deck in hand, Manjoume looked up toward the sky, gazing at the warm, shining sun above. Deep in his heart, he muttered:

"Yuki Judai… Sakaki Yuuya… The pain you two gave me—I'll return it to you in full at the exchange duel! An eye for an eye… a tooth for a tooth!!"