"... You have got... To be fucking kidding me..." The young man murmured as he stared at the reflection of himself in the mirror, the unfamiliar appearance rattling him.
Staring back at him was a relatively handsome young man, with hair split down the middle; one side of his hair was black, and the other side of his hair was white. Purple eyes displayed pure bewilderment as they looked over the appearance that was not his, and yet it must be his given he was staring at it in his reflection.
He reached behind his head, able to feel the hair tied back in a low ponytail that flowed down his back... What kind of Chinese Protagonist bullshit was this?
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He counted to ten, and then opened his eyes again... Nope, his reflection hadn't changed, it was still exactly the same.
He frowned and took a moment to focus and then looked around at his surroundings. "... This is either a lucid dream where I can't control anything after realising it's a dream, or I really did just get Isekai'd."
With a heavy sigh, he took a seat on the bed, frowning as he tried to reach into his mind and recall anything related to this new body, this new life it seemed he was going to be living from now on.
It took some time but, eventually, he got flashes of something in his mind... An orphanage, a part-time job a... Yu-Gi-Oh Duel?
HIs eyes widened and he jumped out of bed, rushing over to the closet and pulling it open.
Red jackets and black shirts... And beneath them, a Duel Disk.
"I'm in Yu-Gi-Oh GX."
It was the only logical conclusion he could reach, especially with that Academy Duel Disk with a deck sitting inside of it- though he didn't reach for the cards yet. Instead, he headed over to the drawers and began to pull open drawers, looking for any form of I.D. so that he could finally learn just what his name was.
Finally, he found it. Not an I.D mind you, a Duel Terminal. He hesitantly picked it up and instinctively entered the 6 Digit code he used in his previous life. Luckily it worked.
After a bit of getting used to it, he finally found what he was looking for.
Name: Yuji Saito
Dorm: 1st Year | Slifer Red
Duel Points: 0
"Great," he muttered. "I've got no Duel Points... And if I'm in Slifer, then I've almost certainly got a poor deck right?" Most Slifers really didn't have very good Decks, only Jaden's group was the exception given they were the protagonists... Granted, Chumley didn't know how to use his deck properly, but it was still a decent deck for the GX Era.
However, he did notice something... The name.
Yuji Saito.
Yu.
It was a distinction of the protagonist to have a 'Yu' in either their first or last name. It was meant to be a symbol of their destiny, of the great things to come.
Yuji hesitantly made his way over to the Duel Disk and took it out of the closet, setting it down on the bed before he grabbed the deck and pulled it free and fanned out the cards in front of him.
His heart dropped.
Normal Monsters.
His deck was full of just normal monsters; there wasn't even a single effect monster in sight- not even a morphing jar or a man-eater bug. And his monsters weren't even very good, he didn't have anything above a four star, and the highest attack points of his monsters were only 1400.
And the spells and traps? While he did have Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, and Monster Reborn, those were the only ones of note... Mooyan Curry, Sparks, Fake Trap... He even had Cold Feet in his Deck! Fucking Cold Feet!! He didn't even have a decent equip spell to buff up his monsters.
Honestly, Yuji didn't even know how the original Yuji won his entrance exam with this deck. The proctor must have bricked brutally for him to pass with such a bad deck...
Yuji just lowered the cards onto the bed and covered his face, groaning. Fucked, he was so fucked.
He hesitantly lowered in his hand looked around. "... System?" He tried.
Silence.
"... Status? Skills? Stats? Open newbie pack?"
Silence.
"... Please give me anything."
Despite his pleas, it was like screaming into the void. Silence reigned.
Yuji couldn't help but lament how fucked over he had gotten from his arrival in this world. A dogshit deck, no money to buy card packs or a structure deck, and he didn't even have a system to help him out along the way.
"Well, fuck, what do I do now?" He murmured. "The Reject Well, maybe...?"
No, the Reject Well wasn't an option. While some good cards were in there- like Relinquished and Copycat- most cards had been tossed into the Reject Well because they genuinely weren't good cards. And if he went in there only to grab the good cards among the trash and then leave, that would likely only anger the spirits- both within the cards he took and the ones he was leaving behind.
People liked to say that 'every card had its use,' but that was only true when you actually had the other cards to synergise properly and give the card a use.
Sure, Petit Dragon was a pretty bad card. But if you use it as material for Five-Headed Dragon, it's not as useless anymore.
And, sadly, Yuji just didn't have the cards to synergise with the spirits in the Reject Well. Even Chazz hadn't only grabbed cards from the Reject Well, there was no doubt that he'd also used Spells and Traps from his own collection in order to make the cards synergise better.
Yuji just didn't have that, and so going to the Reject Well would only be a waste of his time.
He groaned and sighed, shaking his head. His Terminal beeped and he checked it... A reminder for him to head to class, huh? Well, at least he appreciated the reminder.
He reluctantly climbed out of bed, shuffling the deck and reluctantly sliding it into the Duel Disk. He grabbed one of his red jackets and put it on, giving himself a once over in the mirror. He slipped his Terminal into his pocket before he left the dorm and headed towards the Academy for class.
He easily slipped into class once he arrived, finding a seat in the row of Slifer Red Students- near to the front. He didn't interact with anyone or pay attention to anyone else once he arrived, instead he just focused on the lesson...
And he frowned as he realised that this lesson was... Well, it was easy, frankly... They were literally just talking about card types, monster zones, and basic rulings.
From this, he was able to understand which era the rules were in- he knew he was in GX but you could never be too careful. It seemed like Master Rule 2, which was interesting since Master Rule 2 came about with the era of Xyz Summoning.
It did mean that the Extra Deck and Side Decks were both limited to 15 cards, whereas before Master Rule 1 you could have as many cards as you wanted in your Side Deck and Extra Deck- though it was known as a Fusion Deck before Master Rule 1.
Regardless, knowing what 'era' the rules were in meant he wouldn't make mistakes in the future when it came to duels... He'd need to find a way to get Duel Points quickly in order to improve his deck.
"Now then," Doctor Crowler looked over everyone. "Let's have a Duel to demonstrate you understand the rules... Let's see..."
His eyes looked over the crowed before they settled on Yuji. "Let's go with Yuji Saito..." He looked straight up to the Obelisks. "And Setsuna Uzen."
Yuji sighed through his nose... Of course he got targeted thanks to his red jacket... At least losing would still get him a little bit of DP, so there was that at least.
Setsuna, a snobbish Obelisk, smirked smugly as he got up and made his way down to the front of the class.
Yuji reluctantly got up, putting on his Duel Disk and shuffling his deck once again before he slot it into place.
"Don't worry, Slacker, I'll go easy on you," Setsuna smirked at him smugly.
Yuji didn't respond, he just activated his Duel Disk and drew five cards. He already knew he was going to lose, and so his purple eyes showed nothing but utter apathy.
"Duel!"
"I'll take the first move!" Setsuna drew from his deck, before he frowned and clicked his tongue. "I'll set a monster down in defence mode, and that's all from me."
Yuji blinked... Really? No backrow? Did the guy really brick?
Whatever, not his problem.
"Draw," Yuji pulled a card free and looked at his hand. "I summon Dark Assailant in Attack Mode," he placed the card down onto his field- revealing the Zombie monster wielding daggers and a pair of swords on its back.
Dark Assailant | Level 4 | DARK | Zombie/Normal | ATK 1200 | DEF 1200
"Dark Assailant attacks your monster."
The Dark Assailant readied his daggers before he charged in, tossing them straight at the monster.
The card flipped over, revealing the Magician of Faith which shattered like glass under the assault of the Dark Assailant.
"Set one card face-down. Turn End."
"Lucky break, but now it's my turn!" Setsuna drew and then grinned. "I summon Vorse Raider in Attack Mode!" He declared.
Vorse Raider | Level 4 | EARTH | Beast-Warrior/Normal | ATK 1900 | DEF 1200
"In response to your summoning of Vorse Raider, I activate Trap Hole," I told him, flipping over the card. "Since you Normal Summoned a monster with 1000 or more ATK, that monster is destroyed."
A pitfall opened up beneath Vorse Raider, who instantly dropped in with a yell.
"Damn it," he cursed and frowned. "I end my turn!"
Yuji just shook his head and drew again, unable to believe this duel was going so well for him... But, looking at his hand, he knew that wasn't going to last much longer.
"I summon Dark Prisoner in Attack Mode," he placed the card onto the field, revealing a green monster tied up in chains.
Dark Prisoner | Level 3 | DARK | Fiend/Normal | ATK 600 | DEF 1000
"Battle Phase. Dark Assailant and Dark Prisoner attack you directly."
Both monsters leapt into action charging at Setsuna and striking him viciously.
Setsuna LP: 4000 - 2800 - 2200
"I set one card face-down and end my turn."
There were murmurs from the crowd about how Yuji was doing 'pretty good against an Obelisk.' Of course, it was just because the Obelisk in question had bricked- otherwise he would probably be losing on his opponent's next turn.
"I won't tolerate this damned humiliation anymore!" Setsuna's nostrils flared angrily. "I draw!" He looked down at his hand and grinned. "I activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards!" His grin only widened. "Perfect! I'll start by activating the Spell Card - Delinquent Duo!"
Yuji's eyes actually widened when he saw that come out, not expecting some mob to have one of the most powerful cards in the early game.
"I pay 1000 Life Points, and then you have to discard a random card from your hand! And if you still have any cards in your hand, you discard another! So, go ahead and discard two cards!"
Setsuna LP: 2200 - 1200
He just sighed and shuffled the cards in his hand before he held them face down and grabbed a random one- sending it to the Graveyard. Fake Trap- utterly worthless.
Then, he looked over his hand and grabbed Dipity, sending it to his Graveyard next.
Dipity | Level 4 | LIGHT | Fiend/Normal | ATK 0 | DEF 0
"Then, I'll activate the Legendary Dark Hole!" He grinned and lifted it up. "With this, all monsters on the field are instantly destroyed!"
A black vortex formed on the field, Yuji's monsters crying out as they were dragged into it- vanishing into the nothingness.
"Then I summon to my Field- Thunder Nyan Nyan!" He declared boldly, slamming the card onto his duel disk. Thunder struck down on the field in front of him, revealing a girl with red hair and horns wearing a tiger girl outfit- ceremonial drums laid out in front of her.
Thunder Nyan Nyan | Level 4 | LIGHT | Thunder/Effect | ATK 1900 | DEF 800
Yuji just sighed, knowing that was pretty much game. He didn't have anything in his deck that could defeat that card, meaning now Setsuna could summon more monsters and wipe him out.
His face-down card was Cold Feet- it was just meant to be a deterrent to make him cautious about attacking... But it seemed like Setsuna didn't care and would attack anyway.
"Battle!" He pointed at Yuji dramatically. "I attack you directly!"
His monster grinned and banged on the drums, creating electricity that surged towards him and struck his body.
Yuji LP: 4000 - 2100
Yuji grimaced just slightly and stumbled for a moment as he felt the lightning coursing through his body... Now he understood why people reacted that way during duels, there was a bit of pain caused by the holograms somehow... Perhaps the beginning of the Solid Vision System was already in Kaiba's holograms?
"I end my turn," Setsuna said smugly. "Go ahead and make your move, there's no way you can defeat this."
He just sighed, knowing Setsuna was right as he shook off the pain. He slowly lifted fingers towards his deck to draw a card...
Suddenly, he wasn't in Duel Academy anymore.
He found himself in an ashen wasteland... No, a facility. Almost like experiments had been conducted in this place, however something gone wrong. The facility was in ruins, covered in ash with corpses strewn about everywhere.
He slowly cast his gaze around, looking for any sign of life... Before a chill ran down his spine as he turned around, finding himself staring into a pair of crimson red eyes framed by ash white hair with red streaks.
Crimson met violet, the two of them staring at one another before both of them instinctively tensed and looked up to the sky...
A vortex swirled in the air, filling the area with a feeling of foreboding and power... Power that was rushing straight towards Yuji, making his eyes widened as he instinctively braced himself-!
Yuji gasped as he looked around, sweat beading on his face...
He was in Duel Academy, in the middle of his duel- everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to begin his turn.
His fingers were resting on the top card of his deck, staring down at it...
Was that some sort of vision? And that person... He knew them. They were familiar- too familiar for him to ignore.
He shook his head, frowning. He would Duel first, worry about weird visions later.
"I draw," he declared, pulling the card free from his deck and looking at it.
His eyes widened in shock- a visible reaction that everyone noticed. Anticipation began to build in the class, wanting to know just what had caused Yuji to react like that.
Yuji stared down at the card in his hand- a card that hadn't been in his deck earlier... And he knew this card; it was a key card in a certain deck. But... Even if he drew it, he didn't have any cards in his Extra Deck.
Suddenly, he felt like the crimson eyes of the card moved to meet his own... And he instinctively understood.
Use me.
"I summon Fallen of Albaz in attack mode!" Yuji declared, his eyes igniting with genuine life as he slammed the card onto his Duel Disk.
White ash spread across the field as a monster rose up from the ashes- white hair with red streaks, crimson red eyes, and dark skin with black, burnt clothing.
Fallen of Albaz | Level 4 | DARK | Dragon/Effect | ATK 1800 | DEF 0
"Heh, not a bad monster, but what's that gonna do about my Thunder Nyan Nyan?" Setsuna mocked.
"Fallen of Albaz's effect," Yuji declared. "When he is Summoned, I can discard 1 card and Fusion Summon using monsters on the Field as Fusion Material!" He slipped a Level 1 monster into the Graveyard as the wind picked up in the room suddenly.
"Pft, what's that gonna do!" He laughed. "You have no other monsters on your field! You can't even use that effect!"
"The summoning conditions are Fallen of Albaz and a LIGHT attribute monster. I fuse Fallen of Albaz..." He pointed at Setsuna's monster. "With your Thunder Nyan Nyan!"
Everyone in the room froze, eyes widening.
"You... You what!?" Setsuna gasped as a vortex appeared in the middle of the Duel Field, sucking both monsters towards it. "You can't do that!"
"I can!" Yuji told him. "Fallen of Albaz lets me fuse monsters on the field! Not just specifically mine, I can use your monsters too!"
"But that means-!"
"Fallen Dragon of ashes! Swallow the light and brand this world with your fury!" Yuji chanted boldly. "Fusion Summon! Be born, Level 8! Albion the Branded Dragon!"
Out of the vortex flew not a man, but a true Dragon of crimson red- with large wings and flames burning around its body. Its golden eyes stared at Setsuna with dark, furious intentions.
Albion the Branded Dragon | Level 8 | DARK | Dragon/Fusion/Effect | ATK 2500 | DEF 2000
"Th- this can't be!" Setsuna exclaimed, stepping back in fear. "You're just a Slifer Slacker, and I'm-!"
"Battle! Albion the Branded Dragon attacks you directly! Fury of Albaz!"
Albion pulled its head back, inhaling deeply, before it roared and unleashed a torrent of flames at Setsuna, washing over him as he covered his head with his arms and yelled out.
Setsuna LP: 1200 - 0
WINNER: Yuji Saito!
There was silence in the classroom, nobody knowing how to react as Albion let out a roar before fading away with the Hologram.
"Ah... Well done, Yuji-san," Crowler finally said. "You may... Return to your seat now."
Yuji took a deep breath and nodded, gathering his cards and heading back to his seat. He fanned out his cards, looking at them closely...
And among them, he saw another card that hadn't been there before. A spell card, one of the most dangerous and powerful spell cards in the game... Especially in the anime world.
Super Polymerization.
Yuji took a deep breath, carefully squaring up his cards and putting the deck inside his inner pocket on his jacket... He would ponder the revelations of everything that just happened later. But, for the first time, he felt like he had a fighting chance in this world.