Chapter 19
"A Duel Monster deck consists of Monster Cards, Spell Cards, and Trap Cards. Monster Cards can be further divided into..."
First thing the next morning, the Academy's wide terraced lecture hall was already in session for the first theory class of the year.
The man at the podium was none other than the same unfortunate soul from yesterday's entrance exam.
The golden mushroom-cut himself. Professor Crowler.
His delivery had a faintly comedic quality, and every sentence ended with his habitual verbal tic, a little "non" tacked on like punctuation.
"Spell Cards are further categorized into Normal Spells, Quick-Play Spells, Continuous Spells..."
Rowan had absolutely no interest in any of this.
The content was so fundamental it barely qualified as knowledge.
He propped his chin on one hand, leaned back at his seat in the upper rows, and let his attention drift around the lecture hall instead.
Duel Academy divided students into Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow, and Slifer Red, but classes, as he remembered, brought everyone together in the same room.
Not just one year group either. All three years of the Academy attended together.
Not far away he could see Alexis Rhodes, a year above him, seated alongside her two Obelisk Blue friends.
Further along, Zane Truesdale sat among the upperclassmen, already in his final year before graduation.
Alexis seemed to notice someone watching her. She turned slightly, caught Rowan's eye, and gave a small nod of acknowledgment before turning back to the lecture.
"Alexis, who is that?" one of her two friends whispered, leaning in with open curiosity. "Do you know him?"
The two of them, Jasmine and Mindy, had spent the previous afternoon and most of the evening helping the school nurse with something and had missed everything that had happened.
They did not recognize Rowan. Seeing Alexis nod to a first-year student she apparently already knew was enough to make them curious.
"He's the one everyone was talking about yesterday," Alexis said with a small smile.
"The student who drew all five pieces of Exodia on the first turn and beat Professor Crowler."
"Oh, that's him! Examinee 111, the lucky one!"
Jasmine and Mindy both lit up with recognition.
The story had circulated through the entire Academy by now.
They absorbed it the same way most students had, as an amusing piece of trivia about someone who had gotten extraordinarily lucky once, and moved on.
Their brief exchange, however, was just audible enough for several nearby Obelisk Blue students to catch. Heads turned.
A cluster of curious glances angled toward Rowan from multiple directions.
The sudden collective movement caught the attention of the man at the podium.
Crowler followed the looks.
He found Rowan.
Rowan felt a mild headache coming on.
Someone was doing a wonderful job of making him conspicuous.
Crowler's expression froze the instant their eyes met. Yesterday's memories came flooding back with extreme prejudice.
Mamma mia.
That failure.
Again.
He nearly vibrated out of his shoes on the spot.
The humiliation of being one-turn-killed had spread across the entire Academy overnight and become the subject of open mockery.
He had spent the previous evening in his room biting through at least two of his own collars.
The only small comfort was that Jaden Yuki had also beaten him, and somehow that story had attracted slightly less attention.
At least Jaden had not made him famous.
Crowler composed himself with considerable effort and pointed at Rowan with the precise energy of a man selecting a target.
"Our next question will be answered by Rowan."
He kept his face professionally flat.
Inside, his imaginary counterpart was already rubbing its hands together.
"Please list and explain the types of Trap Cards."
Perfect.
The failure would stand up, stumble through a non-answer, and Crowler would finally have the opportunity to say several things he had been saving since yesterday.
He allowed himself one private smirk, which was already beginning to show around the edges of his expression, when Rowan's lazy voice filled the room.
"Trap Cards are divided into Normal Traps, Counter Traps, and Continuous Traps. Continuous Traps can be further subdivided into standard Continuous Traps and a special subcategory that, once activated, functions simultaneously as both a Monster Card and a Trap Card."
Dead silence in the lecture hall.
Then a collective stare.
"He... he actually answered it."
Crowler stood at the podium in complete bewilderment.
Not only had Rowan answered correctly, he had answered in more detail than Crowler's own model answer, including the subcategory of Continuous Traps that most students did not even know existed.
Super mamma mia.
Crowler's brain stalled entirely.
This student's written exam score was zero.
The same as that other failure, Jaden Yuki. Zero. A person who scored zero on the written examination was somehow producing the most comprehensive answer in the room?