Duel Monsters.
In an ordinary world, it was a children's card game. Popular, expensive, and undeniably fun to play with friends... As long as they weren't running 15 hand traps.
But in the world of its origin, it was more than just a game- it was a way of life. Disputes over everything were not settled with weapons- but with duelling.
A dispute over land?
Duelling.
Running from the cops?
Duelling.
A couple gets into an argument?
Duelling.
It was the very force that ruled the world.
If you couldn't duel, then you were forever destined to be a nobody.
And this was the kind of world that I had found myself reborn into.
I let out a yawn as I woke up in my bed, rubbing my eyes tiredly. I get out of bed after taking a moment to wake up and opened the curtains to look out at the slums. I didn't smile, nor did I frown, just staring out at the slums with a sense of familiarity and acceptance.
Ten years ago, I- Yukio Demara- found myself regaining memories of my past life after an accident, being reborn into a Yu-Gi-Oh World that was unfamiliar to me. The surroundings were futuristic but rundown, and as I saw people duelling, I had realised just what kind of world I had ended up in after I died.
I was an orphan, with my parents either dead or having abandoned me because they couldn't afford to raise me. I had thought I would die out on the streets not long after getting my memories back, but I had been fortunate and experienced an encounter that told me that the world wasn't quite what I thought it had been.
I was found by a girl a couple of years older than me, with pink hair and a figure that was quickly budding despite the fact she was only eleven at the time. She had taken pity on me, bringing me back to the abandoned home that she along with a few others stayed at together- building a new family.
Nicole Demara.
It was her who had given me my new name- Yukio Demara- and adopted me as her little brother. Alongside another adopted sister- Anby- and a chaotic brother about my age- Billy- we lived together in the house, scraping by as best we could for the last ten years.
On top of living together in the house, we also took any job we could get our hands on- often trash sorting. And whenever we found an extra Duel Monster Card, we didn't hesitate to take it with us- since all of us dreamed about being duellists.
I walked over to the closet, peeling of my pyjamas and getting dressed in my usual clothes- a white shirt, a long red jacket, and black cargo pants with fingerless black gloves. My black hair streaked with blue was messy, and I didn't even bother trying to get in order, as my red eyes with bags under them stared tiredly at myself in the mirror.
Staring only for a moment longer, I made my way downstairs and yawned loudly before I made my way to the kitchen and got started on making breakfast for everyone.
I was the only one who knew how to cook in the house- thanks to memories of my past life. While I was no master chef, I could whip up some simple dishes that we ate every day. Nicole hadn't wanted me to go into the kitchen at first, but given I was the only one who knew how to cook she hadn't been left with much of a choice.
"Good morning, Yu," a tired voice spoke, familiar to my ears as a girl with white hair and amber eyes took a seat at the run-down table we ate at together.
"Morning, Anby," I nodded at her. "You're usually up earlier- is it your day off today?"
Anby nodded at my words, rubbing her eyes. "Mm... I'm going to head to District 4- there's a rumour that another rich kid tossed out their cards. All of us are only missing a couple of cards until our decks are done, so hopefully..."
I merely nodded at her words, my mind drifting as I thought about that.
Some people may have said, 'People toss out cards they think are weak all the time, surely building a Deck from tossed out cards couldn't be that bad? Chazz did it at the Reject Well. Yusei did it in the Satellite.'
Sadly, despite having the 'Yu' in my name I was pretty sure I wasn't a protagonist. Not everyone can just find cards that somehow work so perfectly well together on the street... Sometimes you fail to even find a single card after months or even years of looking.
On top of that, the little amount of money we did earn from our jobs all went into making sure we could eat the next day- even with four of us we had no expenses to spare to buy cards.
After ten years of looking, even with the help of my family, my Deck was only at 39 cards. My siblings had, of course, offered cards from the decks they were creating but I had declined- I wouldn't take the cards they had also spent so long looking for long before I showed up just to finish my Deck.
On the bright side, we did at least have Duel Disks. Well... Duel Terminals- DTs for short.
I glanced down at the red bracelet on my wrist. In this futuristic world, Duel Disks had been replaced by nano-technology Duel Terminals. Not only did they act as a Mobile Phone with the internet, acting as identification and a credit card- but they also could also create a slot for a deck with a holographic blade for the disk. They were even solar powered, meaning you didn't need to plug them into outlets.
The craziest thing? Duel Terminals were completely free.
Yes, you heard that right- we had to scrape by for money, but Duel Terminals were completely free. They were even specifically bound to your DNA, so people had literally no reason to steal them other than to be a dick.
"How many cards do you need again?" I glanced back at Anby as I began to plate up the food.
"I'm at 32," Anby told me. "Big Sis Nicole is at 37, and Billy is at 34."
I gave a nod... In other words, for all of us to finish our decks, we needed a total of 18 cards split between the four of us.
"Goooood morning my adorable little siblings~" Nicole's voice boomed happily as she made her way down the stairs, Billy trailing not far behind her.
Billy was definitely the most 'stand out' member of our family- currently wearing a cropped jacket with a black shirt and matching black pants. The reason he was stand out, however, was because of the black metal mask covering his face.
Billy was abandoned because he was born disfigured and ugly, his parents hadn't wanted him. Nicole had taken him in, and he chose to wear a metal mask to hide his face. Which was a shame, because he trained extremely hard every day- to the point he had six-pack abs unlike me.
"Morning," Billy waved cheerfully, his white hair waving back and forth as his golden eyes shone happily behind his mask. Despite the difficulties of his life, Billy continued to remain an upbeat and cheerful person. "What's for breakfast?"
"Bacon and Eggs," I told him, plating up the food. "Today's a special day, so I made something special."
"Woohoo!" Billy cheered and sat at the table, eagerly tapping his knife and fork on the table.
"What makes today so special?" Nicole asked, taking a seat and crossing her legs as she watched me with a fond smile.
"Today's the day you adopted me ten years ago," I reminded Nicole easily- not upset that she didn't remember. With how chaotic our lives were, remembering special dates wasn't exactly easy.
Nicole's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's right! I remember how cute you were back then~" She grinned widely, "You looked at me as though I were a Goddess coming to save you~"
I snorted, "Actually I think the first words out of my mouth were, 'Who the fuck are you?'"
She waved her hand, "Semantics!"
Everyone chuckled as I set breakfast on the table. Billy lifted his mask just slightly and the four of us began to eat together.
"So, what's everyone's plans for the day?" Billy asked. "I'm going to District 2- Miss Fudo found some rare parts and offered to pay me to help her with adding them to her bike."
"District 6 for me," Nicole told us, "I've got a job there to help find some missing gear, should be a decent payout."
"District 4," Anby told everyone. "I got a lead on some cards."
"Ohhh! As expected of big sis Anby, nothing escapes you!" Billy gave a thumbs up.
Nicole looked at me, "What about you, Yu? You can take the day off if you want, today is a special day for you after all."
"I'll go door to door and do some odd jobs," I shrugged. "Trash Heap is closed today, and just sitting around scrolling on my Terminal always makes me feel restless when you're all busy."
She smiled and rubbed my head, "I'm happy to have such a hard-working little brother like you, Yu."
The other two both nodded in agreement, and I just smiled at her before I focused on eating my breakfast.
Even though we didn't have much, at the very least the atmosphere was lively between us... We had each other, and that was enough.
After breakfast, I bid farewell to the others and left the house to start looking for anyone who needed some help and were willing to pay to get it.
This was my everyday life. It wasn't the most glamorous life, but it was the life I had accepted as my own. And truthfully, even though I was living in poverty, I still had a better life than most could say. I had a family that loved me and cared about me- that chose me when they didn't have to. I may have to work hard every day just to live- but I wouldn't trade it if it meant losing them.
As I walked around, doing odd jobs and obtaining money- or Lumins, as the money in this world was called- I found myself stopping and my gaze drawn down an alleyway.
For some reason, a sense of familiarity struck me about the alleyway. It was a well-lit alley, yet that wasn't enough to make it familiar. There was something that called to me... And then, after a moment, I realised why.
This was the alleyway I'd found myself waking up in the day I regained my memories in this world. The day that Nicole had found me, and I'd obtained a new family.
I slowly walked down the alley, looking around with a nostalgic expression on my face... Ten years ago, this had been the place I'd started my new life- and now, ten years later, I had come back a different man. I was proud of how far I'd come from that little abandoned kid who knew nothing about this world and had to rely on a girl who was only vaguely familiar.
With a smile, I turned and began to leave before I stopped as I spotted something.
Face-up on the ground, in the exact place I had been when I'd regained my memories, was a Duel Monster card.
My breath quickened and I looked around before I slowly leaned down and grabbed the card, lifting it up to get a better look at it.
What drew my eyes first was the art on the card- it was unfamiliar to me. A dark-skinned woman with silver hair and crimson eyes, in a skimpy burnt black dress wearing a mage's hat atop her head. Her eyes almost felt like they were looking through the card to stare straight at me.
Only after I looked at the image on the card did I look at the name.
Silent Magician.
My eyes widened in pure shock.
Silent Magician, even in this world far into the future, was a legendary card. Alongside the likes of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Dark Magician, and countless others- it was a card spoken of in fable and myth. While it didn't have the same fame as Blue-Eyes and Dark Magician, it was still a Legendary card.
Two things about the card, however, threw me off.
The first, obviously, was the card art itself. Once upon a time, Silent Magician had been one of my Yu-Gi-Oh Waifus. Therefore, I was very familiar with what Silent Magician looked like. The art on the card, while resembling her, was very different to the one I knew. It almost made me wonder if this was a fake card.
The second thing was the card's attribute. Silent Magician was meant to be a LIGHT monster, but the card I was holding in my hand was clearly a DARK monster.
I hesitated for a moment... But I decided it didn't hurt to at least scan the card. Worst case, it wasn't recognised as a real card.
I pulled my deck out of my back pocket- I never left home without my Deck because you never knew who would break into the house while we were away- and slipped Silent Magician into the deck.
"Terminal, Duel Mode," I told the bracelet on my wrist.
Instantly, the nanotech in the bracelet activated- turning into a deck holster with a holographic screen, a prompt flashing on the screen.
Please insert your deck.
I took a deep breath, the deck in my hands feeling heavier than I thought, before I slipped it into place.
Scanning Deck... Scanning... Scanning...
My breath hitched as I waited, extremely anxious.
Scan Complete. All Cards - Clear. Registering in online Dueling Network... Registered. Yukio Demara has been Registered as a Duelist.
I placed my hand on the wall to keep myself up- a rush of emotions flowing through my body...
Being registered as a Duelist was a huge deal. Dueling itself meant that you could earn money far better be it by duelling people on the street or entering tournaments- but Duelists also received a stipend every month. The amount of money I'd receive would be enough to feed all four of us for a month, with enough left over to even buy some more luxury items.
Life would finally turn around, now that I had finally become a Registered Duelist...
[Detected the Host has completed their first Deck.]
My eyes snapped up as I saw a new screen- this time a red holographic screen with white text staring at me... Completely unattached from my Duel Terminal.
[Яeverse System has been activated.]
Just like I said...
Life had finally turned around.