With the world spinning, it felt as if the entire world was flipped over and then flipped back again. Everyone was drawn into the Other Dimension by the gravitational pull amidst the intense light, violently jolting through the long energy tunnel, feeling as if they were tossed into a gigantic toilet.
The solid ground suddenly arrived, slamming into everyone's bodies hard. Before they could gather their wits, they were already thrown onto the ground, their faces smeared with icy sand and gravel.
Youyu was the first to stand up, patting the dust off his windbreaker, and looked around to assess the situation.
All that could be seen was a stretch of wasteland, empty and desolate. The ground was covered with soft white sand and gravel, desolate like a dead land.
The players also excitedly jumped up—some didn't forget to care for their fellow students. They all began to look around at the surrounding environment.
There was no sun in the sky, yet there was a faint light, ensuring this space wasn't pitch dark.
"Is this... the Other Dimension?"
Students who had resolved to help Judai were now truly in the Other Dimension, inevitably feeling a bit timid. Thinking that this was a completely unknown world with completely unknown enemies waiting ahead, even these outstanding and powerful young people couldn't help but feel nervous.
The players appeared very excited, their eyes filled with the enthusiasm for exploration and adventure.
The only thing preventing them from immediately running around exploring the map was Youyu. Based on experience, they all knew that for any major event, following Youyu's arrangement often yielded the greatest rewards.
"I'll go investigate the geology here."
The speaker was Jim, a student from another school. This guy wore a stylish wide-brimmed hat, had one eye bandaged, and carried a huge crocodile on his back.
Yes, that's right, a living crocodile, said to be his pet.
"Huh?" Maruten Xiang finally noticed his companion, "You're... Jim? How did you come here too?"
His gaze then shifted to the black man next to Jim: "You're O'Brien from the Duel Academy Western Branch? Why have you all..."
"Although we've only known each other for a short while, Judai is already our companion." Jim gave a thumbs up, "If a companion is in trouble, naturally, we must lend a hand."
Only now did Maruten Xiang realize that of the four exchange students from another school this semester, aside from the mysterious foreign prince Amon Garam, the other three—Jim, O'Brien, and John—had all followed along to this Otherworld.
Looking at it this way, Judai's persuasive skills might really be exceptional. In just a few days, he had managed to assimilate several new schoolmates into his style, willing to risk everything for him in the Other Dimension.
"In any case, I'll go survey the area." Jim said, "Geological surveying is my specialty, so you guys stay here and wait..."
"No need."
Youyu interrupted him, already walking to the foot of a nearby mountain.
He walked along the mountain wall in an arc, knocking on the rock wall with his knuckles as he moved.
When he arrived at a certain spot, he stopped, knocked for a moment, then lifted his foot and kicked the mountain wall. Surprisingly, the seemingly solid rock shattered with a spiderweb of cracks under this kick, bursting open with a bang.
Everyone gathered around, looking inside the hole that had been kicked open, discovering that behind the mountain wall was a completely large cavity. A steep slope extended downward into endless darkness, its destination unknown.
Fudo Yusei, who had been tailing him, showed an expression of admiration: "Mr. Youyu, how did you notice there was a cavity here?"
"Because I was looking for it from the start." Youyu said.
He recognized it the moment he landed. This was one of the Twelve Dimensions ruled by the Supreme King, also the dimension Yuki Judai and his companions arrived at during their second dimensional journey in the original work.
The surface of this dimension was a complete desert with no living creatures. In the original work, Judai, while exploring this dimension, unwittingly leaned against a mountain wall to catch his breath, only for the brittle wall to collapse immediately, causing him to fall in and discover the underground space.
Youyu was the first to enter the cavity he kicked open, sliding down the slope.
Seeing him lead the way, everyone exchanged glances for a moment, then followed along one after another.
After sliding down the steep slope, the area below opened up.
They landed in a vast cavity, light illuminated the entire space. Artificial lights hung on the surrounding rock walls, lighting up every aspect of the cavern.
This cavern was sprawling, with countless paths crisscrossing. Tracks were laid down along the ground like iron snakes slithering on the ground.
It felt like a giant mine.
One could imagine that this underground space was enormous, with tunnels paved with tracks resembling highways built between cities, sprawling endlessly, and rushing in blindly might mean never finding the way out.
At such times, having a local guide would naturally be ideal.
Just as they thought this, the person they needed appeared at just the right moment.
A shadow suddenly flew out, doing a spectacular mid-air flip over everyone's heads, landing heroically like a superhero, performing a 360-degree spin, sweeping a wave of dust off the ground with a roundhouse kick.
The figure was robust, as imposing as a mountain, with an impressive entrance resembling a martial arts master.
At first glance, everyone imagined an "Otherworldly Gatekeeper" type of expert, and they couldn't help but be ready to spring into action.
But then that figure got up, opened a Duel Disc without a word—an action that let the students breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed not only aliens but also inhabitants of the Other Dimension were used to resolving conflicts through card games, which made them feel at ease.
They weren't afraid of how strong the enemy was, just afraid the enemy wouldn't duel...
But upon seeing the person's appearance, everyone couldn't help but freeze.
"Tania?" Mitsuzawa Daichi couldn't help but shout.
As the dust settled, the figure was revealed to be a dark-skinned, muscular woman, who appeared to be female.
Tania, one of the "Seven Stars" who attacked the Duel Academy back then, an Amazon Race's female Dark Duelist. At that time, the academy was defended by Mitsuzawa Daichi, who successfully defeated Tania and won.
However, Mitsuzawa, despite winning the duel, nearly lost his heart—somehow, this muscular woman struck a chord with Mitsuzawa's heartstring, and after the match, Mitsuzawa became smitten with this tigress...
Incidentally, calling her tigress here isn't a metaphor because Tania's true form is suspected to be an Amazon Monster spirit, originally a tigress, transformed into human form with dark powers, akin to "shapeshifting."
Although Mitsuzawa knew this, he was not only unconcerned but seemed even more excited.
"Ah... so cute..." Mitsuzawa's heart was stirring.
But Tania gave no face. She tilted her head like she was pondering long and hard before saying, "You are... who again? I do seem to remember something like Gozawa... Gozawa Tenku?"
Mitsuzawa Daichi spat out a mouthful of blood.