Chapter 198: A Friend's Secret
Chapter 198: A Friend's Secret
"Hey! Are you okay?!?"
Yugi Muto panted as he ran down the cliff, taking a detour.
He never expected that a simple card game would lead to someone falling off a cliff. Sho Marufuji and Hayato were also stunned, wondering why the 3D imaging impact was so intense that day, sending someone tumbling down the cliff from such a distance.
Could this lead to trouble?
Breathing heavily, they followed Yugi down and finally spotted the unfortunate soul who had fallen on a rock by the shore.
Sho and Hayato approached cautiously, fearing they would find a bloody mess that would need to be censored. But to their surprise, that wasn't the case.
When they reached the bottom of the cliff, they found nothing but scattered metal fragments, wires, and electronic components.
The three of them were taken aback.
"Was that a robot?"
Indeed, hidden beneath the black-clad, masked figure who claimed to be Beta, there was not flesh and blood but a mechanical body. However, at that moment, its head and body had separated, rolling to different spots at the bottom of the cliff, revealing intricate wiring and chips inside.
The joints of the mechanical arms were broken, and the hydraulic pipes were ruptured. Oil leaked onto the soil, forming patches of oily stains.
Sho and Hayato looked at each other.
"So, Big Brother was dueling a robot just now?"
"But who sent it? And what was its purpose in coming to Duel Academy?" Hayato wondered.
"I don't know," Yugi replied, shaking his head, his expression grave.
He recalled the unusual impact during the duel, reminiscent of a Dark Duel.
Although they didn't know the robot's origins or intentions yet, Yugi was certain that it wasn't sent by anyone benevolent.
"Let's go notify the school first," Yugi suggested, and the other two nodded in agreement. The desolate seaside and the shattered mechanical remains filled them with a sense of unease.
They turned to leave, but Yugi suddenly stopped in his tracks.
After taking a few steps, Sho and Hayato noticed that he hadn't followed and turned back to look at him.
"What's wrong, Big Brother?" Sho asked, puzzled.
Yugi remained silent, but his mind suddenly flashed with a serious image of Yu Xuan, and he heard his words echo in his ears.
"In the hands of evil-doers, these cards can become dangerous weapons. As duelists of sunshine and justice, we must never allow our beloved Duel Monsters to be abused!"
"If we leave it be, what if it's recovered by the evil-doer's companions and used again as a weapon to cause harm?"
". . ."
Yugi pondered for a moment, then quickly turned back and ran to where the robot had disintegrated into a pile of parts.
He rummaged through the metal fragments and found the scattered remains of the Duel Disk. He pulled out the Duel Monster card deck.
He also whispered an apology.
Only after putting the deck into his pocket did he turn and jog to catch up with his companions.
Sho Marufuji: ". . ."
Hayato: ". . ."
It seems like Big Brother is also turning into a Demon King.
The cultural festival was drawing to a close.
As the sky darkened, Yu Xuan, leaving the venue, stretched and yawned, "Today's Duel activity was quite interesting, and I had a good time dueling. But the prizes were stingy—just two rare cards and a custom pendant. The Duel Club is so cheap."
Tazawa and Asuka, walking with him: ". . ."
You may have had a good time, but it's hard to say the same for everyone else.
If things continue like this, the Duel activity might need to change its rules next year, or it could dampen everyone's enthusiasm and motivation for dueling.
Then, perhaps, a new rumor will spread throughout the academy about the man who single-handedly rewrote the rules of the cultural festival.
"By the way, I think you can choose to customize a pendant with any Duel Monster you like. Has Yu Xuan decided which one he wants?"
"Any guesses?" Yu Xuan smiled.
Tazawa ventured a guess: "Magma Demon?"
Asuka actually considered this possibility seriously: "If it's Yu Xuan, it's not impossible."
"What about you, Tazawa? You must have earned enough Duel Points to redeem a pendant as well, right?" Yu Xuan asked.
Tazawa assumed the expression of a proud warrior: "I don't need something like that."
"I understand." Yu Xuan nodded. "'White Magicians—Rongier,' right? I get it."
Tazawa's face paled: "How did you know?!? Ah, I mean, don't you dare spread this around!"
"Calm down, we already know.
Tazawa's face turned red. "No, I didn't... I mean, I haven't..."
Yu Xuan patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay. That's perfectly normal. We understand."
What's so strange about a man liking a loli sprite, especially one with twin tails?
Tazawa: "..."
Damn it! He thought his biggest secret was safely hidden, but had it been seen through all this time?
Tazawa's mood soured, and he remained silent for the rest of the journey, his thoughts elsewhere.
As they walked through the dense forest, Asuka suddenly pointed to the sky. "Look, the moon is so round tonight."
The three of them stopped in their tracks and looked up.
"Indeed," Yu Xuan nodded gently.
They paused for a moment, then sat down on some rocks by a stream in the forest, gazing at the moon.
After a while, Asuka spoke up. "Actually, before I came to the academy, and even when I first arrived, I was always alone."
She wasn't referring to a lack of classmates, but rather a feeling of not quite fitting in. "I think it might be because I came to the academy with a specific purpose in mind."
Staring at the moon seemed to evoke memories, and she continued softly. "The most important secret I hold is about my brother. His name is Fubuki, and he went missing from this Duel Academy. Ever since then, I've been determined to find him, and one of the reasons I came here was to hopefully uncover clues related to his disappearance.
After my brother went missing, I lost interest in everything else. Interacting with others and socializing with classmates... that's why I've always found it hard to get close to people."
She averted her gaze from the moon and smiled faintly. "But now, being able to come to this lab and spend time with you two, my most important friends since arriving at the academy, and achieving things I never imagined before, it truly makes me happy."
She smiled at Tazawa. "What about you, Dr. Tazawa? Do you think we're friends?"
This nickname had apparently been given to Tazawa by Judai, due to his constant scribbling and calculations.
"To be honest, I initially thought we were just classmates or colleagues, not friends," Tazawa said, sitting up straight with his eyes closed and his arms crossed.
"But since you both already know my secret, it seems I have no choice but to acknowledge it," he added awkwardly.
Asuka let out a soft laugh.
The silvery moonlight cascaded down like a waterfall, gently illuminating the tranquil stream and casting long shadows of the trio on the shimmering water.
"Now that we've all shared our secrets, it seems a bit cunning that only you, Yu Xuan, haven't revealed anything important," Asuka teased with a hint of jest.
"Maybe I'm just a boring person," Yu Xuan smiled. "A person without an interesting story naturally has no secrets to tell."
"Ha! You? No interesting story?" Tazawa couldn't help but laugh.
Who in the entire academy would believe that?
"Ahem, well then, how about you tell us about that rumor circulating in the academy? You know, the one everyone's curious about?"
"Huh?"
"You know, the one about you knowing Kaiba Corporation's CEO, Kaiba!" Asuka interjected eagerly. "What's your relationship with someone like that? How do you even know him?"
Yu Xuan: "..."
(End of Chapter)
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