After the duel ended, even Professor Crowler, who had always looked down on Jaden, didn't make any sarcastic remarks. Instead, he happily joined in the applause.
A spectacular duel always resonates with duelists, of course, another important reason was that the principal had already eagerly stepped forward to congratulate Hikaru and encourage him to keep winning.
"That was truly an excellent duel. I watched the entire match between you two." The principal smiled while clapping. "Jaden, Hikaru, your passionate dueling spirit even made my blood boil a little."
"Jaden, though you lost, don't be discouraged. I believe today's performance has already lived up to Zane's recommendation of you back then."
"Oh, right that happened." Jaden suddenly remembered and looked into the distance, spotting Zane, the Kaiser. He quickly waved and called out an apology.
After all, he was able to stand on this "representative match" duel stage because of Zane's recommendation.
"Heh…" Zane chuckled.
"You're actually laughing, Zane?" Alexis asked in surprise. "Even though Jaden lost."
Originally, the academy representative match should have featured the strongest student duelist, Zane Truesdale. However, since the Northern Branch chose a freshman, even though Principal Sheppard was desperate to win, he couldn't just bully them. So he let Zane recommend a student.
Naturally, Zane chose Jaden, a promising freshman he had once dueled and met briefly.
Though not on his level yet, Zane believed Jaden's potential was extraordinary. But now that he had lost, his reputation might even take a hit.
"It doesn't matter." Zane smiled again. "A duelist no less talented than Jaden, perhaps even purer in their passion for dueling, has appeared. Isn't that something to be excited about?"
"Eh…" Seeing that familiar duel addict expression on Zane's face, Alexis could only sigh again.
'Why are all the men around me like this?'
"Hikaru, do you have confidence in defeating your upcoming opponent?" Principal Sheppard kindly held Hikaru's hand and asked warmly.
If Hikaru hadn't known the truth, he might have thought the principal was purely concerned about the academy's honor.
"Uhh… that depends on the situation." Hikaru didn't give a straightforward answer. "I can only say I'll do my best. After all, duels are ever-changing. Until the last moment, no one can guarantee the outcome."
"Oh?" Principal Sheppard was a bit surprised by Hikaru's response.
He had expected a young duelist who had just won to be full of arrogance, but to his surprise, Hikaru remained composed.
Besides, based on his experience, both Jaden and Hikaru seemed like duelists destined to win.
Looking at Jaden and Hikaru chatting and laughing, along with the approaching Bastion and the others, he nodded in approval.
"Stay humble in victory… and resilient in defeat."
'It seems the academy's future rests in the hands of these students!'
In truth, despite defeating Jaden, Hikaru knew well that, at this stage, Jaden was still quite "ignorant."
Though he was unmatched among first-years, at this point, he had once been utterly crushed by Zane, practically getting beaten down one-sidedly. Later on, after experiencing the Seven Stars incident, he was beaten again by Kaibaman. Even when facing the Sacred Beasts, he barely won using a near-broken card like "Philosopher's Stone."
It was only after going through all of that, he finally managed to fight Zane to a draw by the end of the semester then again, how strong had Zane become after graduation?
Against a pro duelist even younger than Jaden, Aster Phoenix, he was defeated without even forcing out Aster's real deck. After that, his confidence was completely busted!
Until he finally let go and pursued pure victory, he didn't win even a single match!
Any pro duelist could bully him at that point!
While defeating the protagonist was thrilling, Hikaru couldn't let his guard down. This world was full of abnormalities, and he had to stay sharp.
This was no time for arrogance!
The real crisis of this world hadn't even surfaced yet.
In the following days, Hikaru noticed that his school life became noticeably smoother.
On one hand, Professor Sartyr from Yellow Dorm became even more cordial with him, and he even got the opportunity to have free meals in the school cafeteria.
On the other hand, the Fusion Club saw a wave of students mimicking his style.
But these weren't just the usual students who wanted to spar with or learn from him. Instead, they were legit trying to copy him, attempting to build full-fusion decks.
That was completely unnecessary.
Hikaru only used this type of deck because it was the only one he had, and could use. Even so, he had still packed his deck with low-level monsters to make it playable yet he barely ever drew them thanks to Super Polymerization.
For others to copy his deck style would just make their own lives miserable.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for the students to realize that trying to mimic Hikaru was almost impossible. Even if they filled their decks with Fusion cards, they couldn't even reach the 40-card minimum, Hikaru simply had far too many Fusion cards, and moreover, they lacked enough actual "Fusion" materials.
So, pretty soon, the trend died out within the Fusion Club.
On the flip side, at the same time, a new rumor began circulating.
When the smoke cleared, it turned out… building a full-fusion deck was incredibly difficult. Since some had tried and realized the hardships Hikaru must have faced, their admiration for him only grew stronger.
He had overcome all these difficulties just to wield this kind of deck!
The Academy's representative, the pride of the Fusion Club! Now, even Blue Dorm students looked at him with enthusiasm.
Well, except for some of the upperclassmen, whose expressions toward him seemed rather… odd.
It was strange.
Based on his achievements, he should at least be considered the first-year representative of the "Fusion Supremacy Fanatics," right? So why were the senior students, who were supposed to be more Fusion-friendly, looking at him like that?
Beyond that, of course, came another classic moment.
The night before the exchange duel.
"Hikaru, do you want to take this card?" In the now mostly empty Academy Duel Arena, Syrus approached Hikaru eagerly, handing him a card.
Steam Gyroid, one of Syrus's favorite cards. A Fusion Monster, Level 6, Machine-type with no effect.
"Hikaru, my Master of Oz is a Fusion Monster with 4200 Attack Points! You want to use it?" Chumley recommended his ace monster, the Level 9 Fusion Beast-type monster, Master of OZ, boasting a whopping 4200 ATK and no effect.
"And, and how about this? My Water Dragon!?" Bastion also jumped in excitedly.
"Hey, their cards are one thing, but your Water Dragon isn't even a Fusion Monster!" Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Daichi, you're making this difficult for me!"
"Uh… look, chemical reactions can be considered fusion, right? You love alchemy, don't you?" Bastion stubbornly insisted, so desperate to be involved he didn't even mind being called the wrong name.
To be honest, Hikaru was actually inclined to accept these cards.
Aside from the impractical Water Dragon, the other two had special applications, if nothing else, the Master of Oz's 4200 ATK was certainly useful, and his deck did have a way to suddenly mutate it into play.
But there was still one problem.
He was terrified that Super Polymerization would end up fusing away his own allies' cards.
"Ah… Hikaru, guys, you're all here?" At that moment, Jaden entered the Duel Arena and spotted the group. "What are you all up to?"
"Uh, Jaden, we..."
Syrus quickly explained.
With the duel happening tomorrow, they all wanted to help Hikaru win while also hoping their ace monsters could appear in battle. After all, Hikaru was so good at material-free Fusion that their monsters might actually get summoned!
"Oh, I see. Speaking of which, Hikaru, here, take this card." As if suddenly remembering something, Jaden rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a purple-colored monster card, handing it to Hikaru.
Hikaru looked down at the card, his pupils contracting slightly as he took it.
"Is this…"
Evil HERO Inferno Wing!
"Avian asked me to give it to you." Jaden grinned, pointing his thumb to the side. "Take my power with you and win, Hikaru!"
In Hikaru's mind, he pictured that cold-faced, black-winged Avian and nodded.
So this was its dark counterpart split off. That made accepting this card feel much easier.
"That's so unfair, Jaden!"
"Yeah, seriously, Jaden!"
"Hahaha…" Jaden scratched the back of his head, then promptly changed the subject. "Oh, by the way, on my way here, I saw the North Academy's representative. Did you know? His beard is so long and thick, and he's our age!"
'Beard?'
That description didn't match Hikaru's memory at all.
"Wasn't it supposed to be Chazz?"
He clearly remembered that in the original timeline, the second main rival had gone to the North Academy!
"What are you talking about, Hikaru? Chazz went to KaibaCorp for training, remember?"
'Huh?!'