NOVEL NEXT Chapter 108: TST [108]
Everyone present, examiners and students alike, stared at Morgan in surprise. The students were already nervous just taking the exam, yet she was calmly and fearlessly challenging a teacher—no, the Director of Instruction himself.
The examiners were equally astonished. They knew Charles's strength—he could give even club mainstays a run for their money. His meticulous combo executions were exactly as he claimed—without a single error.
Regardless of this candidate's identity or achievements, challenging Charles head-on meant she could kiss her promotion goodbye.
Several examiners sighed and shook their heads. There had been some promising students worth nurturing, but with Charles involved, they all lost their chance.
Jade stared at Morgan in shock. This had only been about her, but now Morgan had dragged herself into it. She'd thought about telling Morgan to let it go, but Morgan had gone straight to challenging the Director—there was no turning back.
Jade felt deeply guilty. It was her own nerves and mistakes that had caused all this.
Behind Morgan, Isla and Rowe could only watch speechlessly. They hadn't even processed what was happening before Morgan issued the challenge without a word to them. They'd heard of Charles's reputation; to Morgan, he was a formidable opponent.
One who could cost her a place in the senior division.
Charles blinked at Morgan's words, studying her for a moment before smiling.
It had been a long time since a student had spoken to him like that. Morgan's firm voice and confident smile sparked a bit of anticipation in him.
But if she lost, he wouldn't hesitate to fail her.
"Very well, Candidate 68. I accept this test."
"All other exams are paused. You and I will enter the arena first."
Charles walked over with a smile, and someone brought out Duel Disks.
He glanced at the preloaded Deck for the exam and tossed it aside to the teacher behind him.
"Director, the school requires us to use the exam Decks…"
"Hmph, how boring. When my challenger is this fired up, how can I use such garbage? I'll use my own Deck and go all out."
'His own Deck? And… all out?'
The teacher froze. He couldn't imagine what Charles at full power looked like, but he was sure that Candidate 68 was about to be failed.
Morgan followed Charles to the arena, smiling. She didn't regret the challenge—if Jade was rejected for such a subjective reason, she couldn't accept it.
And this time, she wanted to test a new Deck.
She'd recently discovered that this world had HERO decks, but they were limited in variety and so common that they were dirt cheap.
After a quick check, she found they lacked many key cards—winning would require pure soul.
And even with soul, Fusion Summons drained resources badly.
One turn of summoning left you with no hand and just one monster on the field.
Morgan hadn't planned on using such a clunky Deck—until she managed to pull three copies of Stratos and several other key pieces from the System. That changed her mind.
After browsing further, she saw HERO cards were just as cheap in the System, so she bought a full set.
Who said girls could only transform into magical girls?
This time, Morgan would become a HERO!
Standing in the arena, Charles pulled his personal Deck from his coat with a smile.
"Using the exam's junk Deck would insult my challenger. I'll use my own Deck."
"Please do," Morgan said. She was here to test her Deck, and the exam Decks would be no fun.
The duel drew everyone's attention. Teachers passed the news along, and even the teacher interviews stopped. The examiners came to watch.
Hannah, having just finished her own test successfully, stepped outside. Hearing the commotion, she frowned and stopped a staffer.
"What's going on up there? Why's everyone gathering?"
The man gave her a quick once-over before answering, "A student challenged the Director during the exam. Never seen that before—everyone wants to watch."
'A student challenging a teacher?'
Hannah froze for a moment, then her lips curved into a smile. Intrigued, she swayed off toward the arena.
By now, most of the crowd had gathered.
Morgan and Charles had loaded their Decks into their Duel Disks. With a crisp sound, the Disks unfolded and Life Points—8000—appeared.
They each drew five cards, and at the start signal, both called out:
"Duel!"
Charles smiled. "Normally, I'd give the first turn to the candidate. But since you challenged me, we'll decide by coin toss."
Morgan nodded. HERO decks preferred going first for setup, but they could still pressure going second.
A coin engraved with a Blue-Eyes flipped through the air, and Charles won first turn.
The crowd sighed. Charles's Deck was strong at locking down the game—going first would be trouble.
"My turn—draw!"
He glanced at the card, and his expression grew serious—his usual dueling look.
"I Normal Summon Karakuri Merchant mdl 177 "Inashichi" in Attack Position!"
A wooden humanoid machine appeared, carrying a yoke laden with wares, its twin-level eyes glowing blue.
[Karakuri Merchant mdl 177 "Inashichi"] Level 4│ATK 500/DEF 1500
Gasps came from the stands. Perhaps because it had been so long since Charles had dueled, the teachers were excited.
"Finally—we get to see the Director's Karakuri deck!"
"Is it that good? I'm new here."
"You're lucky—he rarely uses it, even in the senior division. Back when he was a club ace, he won three matches straight with it."
Hearing the chatter, Morgan glanced at the monster in surprise.
So it was Karakuri. In her past life, that deck had been decent—especially with Bureibu, it could explode as a Synchro deck.
She wondered how strong it was here.
Anyhow, she didn't panic. One look at her hand made her smile.
Nothing brought her more comfort than Stratos and his friends.
...
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