"First, there's Spade Academy, which has the best-preserved fighting force. Their chief Yuto and Kurosaki Shun, known together as the Spade Twins, achieved some initial resistance success. However, with the disappearance of Kurosaki Shun's younger sister, Kurosaki Ruri, both of them have gone missing. The current situation of the leaderless Spade Academy is not optimistic."
"Then there's Clover Academy. Their chief, Tenjo Kaito, seemed like a different person after being seriously injured that day. He abandoned his position as chief and chose to hunt academy army duelists alone. As for the remaining Clover Academy students, although they have Kaito's covert protection, they're still steadily retreating."
"As for Diamond Academy, the only chief who survived that day, Sugihara Yasuo, has become a madman. Every report about him involves fighting large academy forces alone and escaping with serious injuries. Although everyone assumes he's dead each time, he somehow emerges from some corner. However, the last report about him was over a month ago, so he might truly be dead now."
After listening to Shinjo's description, Yuji slapped his forehead. Who were these people?
A siscon, a lone wolf, a crazy avenger, plus the original owner's autism - it wasn't without reason that the XYZ Dimension had reached its current state.
Moreover, according to Shinjo's information, Yuto and Kurosaki Shun might have already gone to the neighboring Standard - no, perhaps it was already the Pendulum Dimension now?
After thinking for a while, Yuji said to Shinjo beside him: "Gather our remaining forces and pack our belongings. We'll depart tomorrow morning."
"Where are we going?" Shinjo asked after nodding.
"To the Spade Academy stronghold. It's still not too late to unite the entire dimension's power. Otherwise, it'll truly be too late once Spade Academy is destroyed." Yuji said.
"I understand, Chief Yuji." After Shinjo finished speaking, he turned to gather the other survivors.
As the true helmsman of this camp, Shinjo Katsu had no objections to Yuji taking real leadership, though he'd previously been only a nominal leader. He had been Yuji's fan before the war began, and in his heart, after the principal's sacrifice, the leader of Heartland Academy should have been Yuji. The principal's death had left the original owner in despair. Now that Yuji had rallied, Shinjo couldn't be happier.
After Shinjo left, Yuji found a quiet place, recalled the plot, and considered his next plan.
First, they needed to preserve Spade Academy. The combination of Yuto and Shun - a devoted boyfriend and siscon - he'd find a way to bring them back once things settled here. They were among the few high-level fighters in the entire dimension.
Then there were the Clover people. Since they'd have to go to the Pendulum Dimension to bring back Yuto and Shun, they'd need to retrieve Kaito to help guard their base. Otherwise, the group of children from Heartland who hadn't matured yet might not be able to hold their stronghold.
As for the Diamond Academy chief who didn't appear in the original work, he'd probably died somewhere in obscurity. Yuji didn't count on him at all.
To complete the system's first-stage main task, he needed to unify the entire dimension's vital forces, preventing the Fusion Dimension's army from rampaging through Heartland as they were now.
Then, knowing this system's nature, they'd probably have to counterattack the Fusion Dimension eventually. But with the XYZ Dimension's current power, it was simply impossible.
So, he needed allies.
Speaking of allies, although the filial son Akaba Reiji in the Pendulum Dimension, who wanted to orphan himself, shared his position, the tomato-haired protagonist in that dimension made him wary. For no other reason than that guy was truly too magical- if his whole family got brainwashed into just thinking about smiling all day, how could he restore the XYZ Dimension's glory?
Conversely, the currently neutral Standard Dimension was a potential ally, provided that dimension's ruling class changed hands.
Yuji had always been someone who thought carefully before acting. After making his plan, he turned his attention to the system:
All his plans required strength as support, so becoming stronger was now urgent.
Currently, his deck was semi-finished. In today's duel, if he hadn't drawn the key [Onomatopaira] card on his first turn, he might have become a card by now - and his opponent had been just a foot soldier.
"First, the reward for completing the first task node: 3 random card packs for designated fields. Designating onomatopoeia field, open."
Three packs of cards, 9 cards appeared in Yuji's hand.
After checking them, Yuji sighed: "It seems if I don't sacrifice my dormmates' lifespans, I won't get anything good. Out of 9 cards, hopefully I draw something useful."
Afterwards, Yuji turned his attention to the shop system in the system panel and clicked in.
The shop interface was simple, with only 3 options: Sell, Buy, and Lucky Wheel. When Yuji wanted to see what good things were for sale, the glaring gold coin count in the lower right corner - 0 - made him abandon that thought. After all, out of sight, out of mind.
After entering the Sell interface, Yuji found that among his many possessions, only one was saleable - the card transformed from the academy vanguard earlier, worth 100 gold coins.
"Well, at least I'm rich now." After selling the loot, Yuji entered the Buy interface.
"Designated archtype card packs cost 500 gold coins each, 4500 for a 10-pack bundle. Full card pool random packs cost 100 gold coins each, 900 for a 10-pack bundle. Why don't you just rob me!" Yuji cursed the system internally, then resentfully opened the last interface - the Lucky Wheel.
After entering the lucky wheel, Yuji glanced at the UR prizes in the introduction, such as Millennium Items, Philosopher's Stone, and UR Dream Tickets, then skillfully scrolled to the guaranteed rewards column.
"I knew this system created this lucky wheel to scam money. Ishizu Ishtar's original underwear? Even a dog wouldn't want that, yet it costs 100 gold coins per spin?" Yuji sneered.
[T/N: You don't know shit!!!!]
"Fortunately, there's a free draw every day. Let's use today's." Yuji casually clicked the wheel's center.
[Congratulations on obtaining SR-level reward: Broken Emperor's Key]
Yuji: ???
Had this system finally felt remorse? Yuji looked at the golden pendant covered in cracks in his hand with confusion.
[Broken Emperor's Key (Uses: 1/1)]
[After use, temporarily unlocks the first stage of skill ZEXAL - XYZ Evolution]
This system must be trying to trick me into spending money. I absolutely won't be fooled.
...
[Congratulations, you have received UR reward, Monster Card: [Axe Raider]]
[[Axe Raider]: An axe-wielding monster of tremendous strength and agility. Has accompanied the legendary duelist Jonouchi Katsuya through countless battles]
Yuji: ...
"Damn system, give me my money back!"
"Why can't I control my hands?" Yuji sighed.
Yuji exited the system, called Shinjo Katsu, and asked him to bring all the academy soldiers who had been turned into cards.
"Is that all? Well, it's enough for a 10-pack bundle for a designated archtype." Yuji said with distress.
It seemed there was still a long way to go before he could restore the XYZ Dimension's glory.
...
(End of this chapter)