"Since Professor Mushroom Head has finished his performance, it's my turn," Jiang He said with a calm smile. He reached for the deck on his left wrist.
"My turn! I draw!"
In that instant, both Jaden and Zane felt a sharp prickle of intuition. They sensed a brief, incredibly intense aura flash through Jiang He as he drew the card.
What... was that? they both thought simultaneously.
"This duel is already over, Professor," Jiang He said. He didn't even fully look at the card, merely glancing at it with the corner of his eye before smiling lazily at Crowler.
"It is not Mushroom Head! It is the Head of Practical Exams, Professor Crowler!" the man shrieked, pulling at his hair.
He quickly regained his composure and smirked. "I see you've realized your defeat, Jiang He boy. Go home and study for another year, then come back"
He was cut off by the sound of his Duel Disk beeping frantically. His Life Points, which had been at 4000, began to plummet.
3000... 2000... 1000... 0!
"Mamma mia! Wha-What is happening?!" Crowler stammered.
"What's going on?" The crowd was thrown into confusion.
"Is the machine broken? Hey, maintenance department! What are you doing?!" the Obelisk Blue students who had been mocking Jiang He shouted.
"No, it isn't a mechanical failure," a maintenance technician reported after a quick check. "It seems Candidate 111 achieved a special victory condition immediately after drawing his first card!"
"A special victory condition? On the very first draw?" Bastion Misawa repeated, deep in thought.
Suddenly, a realization hit Bastion, Zane, and Alexis all at once. Their faces went pale with shock.
"Could it be...?! Is it...?"
Crowler also seemed to realize something. He stared at Jiang He, completely dumbfounded.
"Exactly. Exodia the Forbidden One!" Jiang He chuckled. He fanned out the six cards in his hand.
From left to right were four "meaningless" cards: the Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Leg, and Right Leg of the Forbidden One. He had drawn those in his opening hand.
Then he pointed to the final card the one he had just drawn at the start of his turn.
[Exodia the Forbidden One]
[Level: 3]
[Attribute: Dark]
[ATK: 1000 / DEF: 1000]
[Effect: If you have 'Right Leg of the Forbidden One', 'Left Leg of the Forbidden One', 'Right Arm of the Forbidden One' and 'Left Arm of the Forbidden One' in addition to this card in your hand, you win the Duel. This effect cannot be negated!]
A golden light erupted from the five cards. Suddenly, the towering silhouette of the golden Forbidden One appeared, bound by massive chains. With a thunderous roar, it shattered its bindings and threw a single, colossal punch at the Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!
BOOM!!
The mechanical giant exploded into a cloud of fire and smoke. A stray gear flew out of the explosion and landed squarely on Crowler's head, knocking him to his knees.
The holographic image of Exodia faded away, vanishing into particles along with the debris of the mechanical titan.
Professor Crowler knelt on the arena floor, his mind a complete blank. He couldn't even find the words to describe how it felt to be "chewed up and spat out" like this. He had worked so hard to fusion-summon his ace, only to lose instantly?
And to lose in such an absurdly rare way...
Who am I? Where am I? How can a 'Destiny Draw' like that even exist in this world? Crowler's brain had short-circuited.
Syrus, Bastion, and the rest of the onlookers were just as frozen. Zane and Alexis looked at Jiang He with unreadable expressions.
Was this guy literally a God of Topdecking? To draw a full Exodia hand at the start of the game... how are you even supposed to play against that? Even if the original King of Games, Yugi Muto, were here, he wouldn't necessarily have won!
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