"I swear it's true!"
Sitting at a table outside the school store, Syrus spoke with intense agitation.
"Last night, I woke up half-asleep just wanting to use the restroom, but I accidentally ended up outside Professor Banner's room..."
"How do you accidentally end up outside Professor Banner's room when going to the bathroom?" Chumley chimed in. "Syrus, could you be any more out of it?"
"Shut up! What comes next is the important part!"
Syrus lowered his voice, glancing left and right as if terrified of being overheard, before leaning in conspiratorially.
"When I got to the door, I saw it wasn't closed. Professor Banner was sitting in front of his computer, talking to someone." He deepened his tone. "I couldn't hear every detail, but it sounded like he was talking about an 'ancient tomb,' saying it was a pity to keep it 'buried,' and mentioning something that was still sleeping. You guys have no ideait sounded utterly terrifying..."
"What kind of nonsense are you babbling about? Did you dream the whole thing?" Jaden laughed breezily.
"Well... I mean, I was a little groggy..." Syrus scratched his head.
Yugen sat at the same table, quietly eating a Golden Egg Sandwich from the school store. Jaden had drawn the Golden Egg Sandwich with his usual uncanny luck, but claiming he had eaten far too many and was tired of them, he had handed it over to Yugen.
Hearing this, Yugen already understood what was happening.
It seemed time for the field study was drawing near.
This was an event from the original storyline. Professor Banner would organize a field study to explore ancient ruins on the island, which would trigger a hidden mechanism leading straight into the Spirit World. There, they would encounter spirits of the Gravekeeper clan, culminating in a Shadow Game fought by Jaden.
However, that wasn't a lethal Shadow Game where losers died; the opponent merely suffered real damage during the duel without being wiped out.
Looking back, the entire incident had likely been an orchestrated trial set up by Professor Banner to test Jaden's capabilities.
With the first semester coming to a close, the timing lined up perfectly.
Sure enough, during class that day, Professor Banner brought up the proposal.
Over the course of the semester, his Alchemy Class had successfully driven away the vast majority of students. By now, only about a dozen regulars still showed up, leaving most of the lecture hall completely vacant.
Still, Professor Banner was exceptionally easygoing. He never bothered checking attendance, always launching into his lectures right away, talking about obscure topics nobody paid attention to, and playing dumb while botching a few alchemy experiments to easily coast through the period.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
"That was such a great nap!"
Jaden, who appeared to have sat rod-straight and paid rapt attention the entire time, stretched lazily and opened his eyes.
Beside him, Syrus gasped in shock as he realized Jaden's open eyes had actually been drawn onto his eyelids with a pen. He had literally spent the entire class sleeping upright.
Choreographed straight out of Tom and Jerry.
Syrus sucked in a breath of cold air. "Bro, you were asleep the entire time?!"
"All right, time to eat!" Jaden cheered, beaming happily.
In his world, outside of dueling, only eating and sleeping mattered. It was impossible for him not to be happy.
"Wait just a moment, class. Please take these before you go." Professor Banner pulled out a stack of documents.
"Huh?" Jaden immediately deflated. "Homework?"
"No, this is the itinerary for this Sunday's field study," Banner explained with a pleasant smile. "Many ancient ruins are hidden across this island, and Sunday's activity is an expedition to visit one of them. Any student who wishes to go is welcome to participate."
The handful of students looked at each other in silence.
As expected, hardly anyone signed up in the end.
On one side stood the iron trio of the Slifer Red dorm led by Jaden; on the other was the research trio of Yugen, Misawa, and Alexis.
"By the way..." Syrus glanced curiously at the three across from them. "We're from the Red dorm, so our dorm head practically dragged us here by force. Why did you guys come?"
"Exploring ruins sounds quite interesting, doesn't it?" Yugen smiled.
Besides, although the Gravekeeper deck was somewhat outdated overall, several of its individual cards were exceptional in the early erassome had even seen play in World Championship decks. Furthermore, obtaining them in the Spirit World might even grant versions inhabited by duel spirits, an opportunity far too valuable to pass up.
And compared to the Gravekeeper monsters themselves, the most crucial card was undeniably their archetype Field Spell:
Field Spell: Necrovalley.
As long as it remained on the field, all card effects that would affect cards in the Graveyard were negated, and neither player could banish cards from the Graveyard.
Its sheer toxicity was evident from a single glance at its text. Even in modern Yu-Gi-Oh, it stood as an absolute nightmare against Graveyard-reliant decks, capable of shutting down entire strategies single-handedly.
"Ruins actually sound really cool," Chumley said. "That ruin is near the volcano, which is normally off-limits to students. We'd never get to go without a teacher leading the way."
Alexis added, "I heard rumors that the ruins might be connected to Shadow Games, so I wanted to see for myself."
Ever since her brother went missing, Alexis had been acutely sensitive to any rumors involving Shadow Games. Wherever there were whispers of dark duels or missing students on the island, she was sure to be there.
"Splendid, our team is assembled!" Professor Banner declared with enthusiasm. "Let's depart!"
Shouldering their backpacks and gear, the group set off toward the mountaintop ruins.
"According to the records, these ruins are the tomb of an ancient civilization," Banner introduced as they walked. "Rumor has it that it's a forbidden tomb... purely a rumor, of course, ahaha."
Hearing this, Alexis grew even more attentive.
A forbidden tomb... that sounded like it could easily be connected to the missing students.
Perhaps there would be a clue about her brother.
Alexis never let a single lead slip by, even if most of them had led to dead ends so far. Yet perseverance paid off; Yugen knew for a fact that this journey genuinely held a clue regarding her brother, Atticus.
According to the spirits of the Gravekeeper clan in the original anime, only one person before Jaden and the others had ever triumphed in their clan's Shadow Game trialand that person was Atticus.
Moreover, Atticus had won half of a certain Shadow Charm from that duel, while the other half was later entrusted to Jaden by the Gravekeeper's Chief.
During the subsequent Sacred Beasts Arc, when Jaden was trapped in a Shadow Game, that very Shadow Charm, pieced together from both fragments, played a pivotal role.
That was likely the only Shadow Charm available right now with a clear lead and a relatively straightforward acquisition method. While this journey was merely a casual field study for the others, Yugen had set out with a clear objective.
Recalling the plot's progression, all he had to do was follow the director behind the curtain, Professor Banner.
After trekking across rough terrain and climbing for the better part of the day, the group finally reached their destination under Banner's guidance.
The entrance to the ancient ruins lay nestled near Duel Academy's volcano. It was said to house a tomb built like an ancient dueling arena; despite its antiquity, its layout bore a striking resemblance to a modern duel field.
Perfect, the students have been brought right to the planned location, Banner thought, his eyes narrowing as he smiled faintly to himself.
Next, his plan was to stage an accident where his cat, Pharaoh, would trigger the Shadow Charm buried nearby, transporting all the students into the Spirit World of the Gravekeepers...
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a brilliant pillar of emerald light suddenly erupted into the sky, shaking the earth beneath their feet!
The azure sky darkened in an instant. Right before everyone's stunned eyes, the blazing sun fractured into three distinct suns hanging high in the heavens. A radiant cascade of prismatic rainbow light poured downward, casting a colossal web across the firmament that enveloped the entire area.
The students gasped in shock. Even Professor Banner, the mastermind behind the scheme, stood frozen in disbelief.
What is going on?
This was part of the plan, but I haven't even done anything yet!
Bewildered, Banner turned his head aroundonly to see Yugen standing beside him, spreading his hands with an entirely innocent expression.
"Professor... did I just accidentally touch something I wasn't supposed to?"
Banner: "..."
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access 400+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).