"Jiang He, you were assigned to Slifer Red too!" Jaden shouted happily when he saw Jiang He holding a red jacket. He looked quite proud. "As expected of the guy who beat Professor Crowler, just like me!"
"Jaden, you don't actually think Slifer Red is a good thing, do you?" Jiang He asked, his lip twitching as he crushed Jaden's pride.
It seemed not just Jaden, but Syrus was confused too. Jaden being an idiot whose only love was dueling wasn't surprising, but Syrus was Zane Truesdale's brother. He should have known the rules.
Jiang He could only shake his head. It made sense why these two bonded so easily. He began to worry if being around them too much would be contagious.
"Whatever. Let's just go to the dorm. You'll see what I mean when we get there," Jiang He said, waving them off.
He didn't need to explain; the reality of Slifer Red would speak for itself.
"Huh? Okay..." Jaden and Syrus shared a confused look before following Jiang He. They used the maps on their PDAs to navigate toward the red dorm.
They crossed the campus into a remote area near the coast. There, they found a simple, weathered red-and-white building standing alone against the vast blue ocean.
Low emotional intelligence: A run-down shack.
High emotional intelligence: An unbeatable ocean-view villa.
Jiang He chuckled internally.
"This... This is way too plain!!" Jaden and Syrus both froze, clutching their heads as if they were about to collapse.
"Your room should be the first one at the top of the outdoor stairs. I'm right next to you. I'm heading in," Jiang He told them, leaving them to their misery.
He walked into his room and looked around. It wasn't quite as bad as the anime had portrayed, though it was certainly modest. There was a large bed in the center and a reasonably comfortable tatami floor.
And... that was it.
Interestingly, he had been assigned a single room, unlike a certain protagonist...
"Jiang He! We're here to visit!"
Jaden's voice rang out from outside the partially open door. He and Syrus walked in.
"Whoa! Why do you get a single room?!" Jaden's eyes widened.
Syrus looked like he was about to cry from envy. "We're both in Slifer Red, but Big Brother and I have to share a room for three!"
In just a short time, Syrus had already started calling Jaden "Big Brother." Jiang He wasn't surprised; that was just the way things went in the original story.
"It's probably because I beat the mushroom professor on the very first turn with full Life Points. I technically had the best practical score," Jiang He explained.
To others, it might have been seen as pure luck, but the fact remained that he had won a "Perfect Victory" in a single turn. Naturally, his practical ranking was the highest among the new students.
"I wish I had luck like that!" Syrus wailed.
Looking at the tears streaming down from behind Syrus's glasses in perfect anime fashion, Jiang He couldn't help but wonder how he managed to make his tears flow in such wavy patterns. This dueling world really was a perfect recreation of the animation.
Suddenly, Jiang He had an idea.
"Syrus, want to duel? If you win, I'll consider swapping rooms with you," Jiang He suggested, his voice full of temptation.
He was ready to bring a "smile" to Syrus and harvest some Emotion Points from his first "tool."
"Really?!" Syrus's eyes lit up.
However, his excitement quickly faded. He looked at Jaden and then sighed. "Actually, never mind. I'd rather stay with Big Brother."
"..." Jiang He's expression turned blank.
He hadn't expected Syrus to prioritize his "bromance" so heavily. This really was the world of "Brolestrial" Dueling.
Women only slow down my draw speed!
"Syrus, you're really... hahaha!" Jaden laughed, scratching his cheek.
"Fine, forget it. I'm going to go check out the facilities. You guys coming?" Jiang He asked, wanting to escape the awkward atmosphere.
"Yeah, let's go!" Jaden replied instantly.
He had been about to ask Jiang He for a duel, but the idea of exploring the campus distracted him. He was hoping to run into some of the elite Obelisk Blue students and test his skills!
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