You Chen turned his head and met that gaze, finally discovering where it came from.
It belonged to a petite and delicate girl.
The girl had short hair, dyed a pale silvery-white color.
Her pupils carried a faint dark-red hue, most likely due to colored contact lenses.
Her facial features were neat and well-proportioned, the kind that grew more pleasing the longer one looked at them.
What truly set her apart from other girls, however, was the smile on her face.
It was strangely twisted.
If one had to describe it—
It was an extremely unnatural smile.
No wonder she had looked so unsettling earlier.
That smile alone was enough to make people instinctively uncomfortable.
"Brother Chen!"
"I know you!"
"I've been waiting for you here for a long time!"
At first, You Chen had assumed this girl simply had an eccentric personality.
Unexpectedly, the very next moment, she raised her slender hand and waved enthusiastically, speaking with obvious excitement.
Brother Chen?
You Chen's expression immediately turned strange.
The way she shouted was so loud and familiar that he almost thought he had met her somewhere before.
But after searching his memories, there was no such person at all.
You Chen did not respond.
He simply walked forward, found an empty seat, and sat down calmly.
The distance from the classroom door to the seat was not long, yet during that brief walk, You Chen felt as if there wasn't a single normal person in this so-called master class.
Was this what they called the coexistence of genius and madness?
"Super!! Super!!"
"The Master Class finally has another strong duelist!"
"My burning heart has ignited again!"
A tall and sturdy young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes suddenly jumped to his feet and roared excitedly.
You Chen: "..."
"Too noisy."
A cold voice sounded immediately afterward.
Near the window, a boy spoke indifferently.
The boy was only about 1.6 meters tall, yet the aura he exuded made him feel much taller than anyone else present.
His sharp gaze swept over the classroom and briefly landed on You Chen.
After a short glance, he withdrew his eyes, as if completely uninterested.
At that moment—
The class bell rang.
Along with it came the sound of steady, heavy footsteps.
A towering figure appeared at the classroom entrance.
Huh?
This build looked more like a physical education teacher.
You Chen blinked slightly.
A teacher nearly two meters tall, with muscles as solid as steel cables, stood at the door.
"There's a new student again."
"I've already heard about you from the principal."
"You Chen, transferred from Yunhai No. 9 Middle School."
"You won the collegiate league championship and were specially recruited by Thunder Academy."
"Welcome."
"I also appreciate your unique dueling style."
"Oh, right, I almost forgot to introduce myself."
"My name is Taishan."
"You can call me Teacher Taishan."
After Taishan finished speaking, the first thing that came to You Chen's mind was a certain reckless card-drawing character from the GX era who relied purely on brute force and momentum.
"Alright, without further delay, let's continue from last class."
"In the previous lesson, we discussed the topic of secret realms."
"You Chen, since you didn't attend the last class, if there's anything you're unclear about, you can take a look at your deskmate's notes."
"Who's willing to share their notes?"
Taishan glanced around the classroom.
"Hehe, I will!"
The girl from earlier immediately raised her book, jumped up, and rushed to You Chen's side, squatting down beside him.
Yes—
Squatting.
Right on the chair.
Her posture was exactly like that of street punks squatting on sidewalks.
Her legs were spread apart, hands resting on her knees, head tilted slightly as she stared straight at You Chen with that same strange smile.
Damn it.
What is wrong with this woman?
Anyone who could remain calm under such a stare had nerves of steel.
You Chen felt uncomfortable from head to toe.
"Michelle, stop staring at others and focus on studying."
Taishan said in a deep, authoritative voice.
Only then did Michelle retract her gaze, smiling as she turned back.
You Chen lowered his head and glanced at the notes.
To his surprise, the handwriting was neat and elegant, completely inconsistent with Michelle's eccentric behavior.
The content of the notes revolved entirely around the concept of secret realms.
After reading carefully, You Chen confirmed that this information indeed aligned with the teachings of the four major academies and deepened his understanding of the subject.
The notes stated—
Secret realms do not appear without cause.
There are two main reasons for their emergence.
The first is the opening of dimensional cracks, which directly give birth to secret realms.
The second is prolonged dueling activity within a secret realm. The more duelists who fail, the more the secret realm expands, and it may even undergo evolution.
The greater the number of secret realms, the faster dimensional cracks widen.
Once that happens, Duel Spirits and other unknown entities will emerge from the cracks and the secret realms into the human world.
No one knows what will happen once the cracks expand to a critical point.
Therefore, humanity's primary responsibility at present is to eliminate secret realms.
The more secret realms are destroyed, the more effectively dimensional cracks can be reduced and controlled.
As a result, this issue has become one of the core strategic objectives of all nations.
At this moment, Taishan continued explaining.
"Not only that, secret realms contain countless mysterious regions."
"The worlds inside secret realms are essentially equivalent to the worlds where Duel Spirits live."
"What's astonishing is that every secret realm is different."
"Some people have escaped and returned alive."
"They claimed to have seen a star-blue ocean, mermaids as beautiful as divine spirits, and crimson aircraft carriers flying through the sky."
"These Duel Spirits have never appeared in recorded history."
"But one thing is certain."
"They are extremely dangerous existences."
"Because until now, no one has been able to retrieve valuable intelligence materials."
"Otherwise, it might have been possible to create corresponding cards."
Hearing this, You Chen froze.
Isn't that describing the archetype world of Tearlaments and the battlefield of the Six Samurai?
Dangerous?
Not just dangerous.
A complete Tearlaments setup could wipe out entire groups effortlessly.
Please—
Stop worrying about trivial matters and never provoke Tearlaments or Six Samurai.
Especially Tearlaments.
Each card appears harmless on its own, but once activated in a duel, they are more terrifying than any ancient warrior deck.
Entering their card-story world isn't about drawing the right card, top-decking miracles, or rewriting fate.
Even if you know exactly what they will do next, you still cannot stop them.
They tell you everything.
They let you see the outcome.
And you still lose.
That is true despair.
As for Six Samurai—
They make you die in frustration.
Your deck is sealed, your field is locked, and you are imprisoned turn after turn.
In a world governed by card lore, how exactly are you supposed to win?
You simply can't.
You Chen was actually grateful that no one had successfully brought back information.
If someone truly did, it would draw the attention of those archetype worlds.
Once that happens, it would be a complete dimensional suppression.
Like the Dark Forest Law—
Every civilization is a hunter.
Remaining silent ensures survival.
But the moment one fires, it exposes itself.
If Six Samurai or Tearlaments crossed into the human world through the cracks, conquering the world through duels would not be difficult at all.
At least with the current power structure, it would be pure dimensional annihilation.
Still, this explanation helped You Chen better understand the relationship between secret realms and dimensional cracks.
In that case, the intelligence he had seen in the chat group made sense.
About one year in the future—
The dimensional cracks would fully open.
And the world would face an unprecedented catastrophe.
This was not baseless speculation.
Furthermore, when the cracks open completely, it won't just be duelists.
Entire Duel Spirit worlds may emerge from the secret realms.
From this alone, one could tell how dire the situation truly was.
The stories hidden within card illustrations would gradually unfold.
If you want to know the lore behind specific card artworks, feel free to leave a message.
We will do our best to satisfy your curiosity.
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