"My head is spinning."
"Where have I ended up?"
Tenjo Hikari rubbed his head and glanced around. The surroundings were unfamiliar to him, with numerous Dark Magician Girl posters on the walls and a giant "Polymerization" written above the door.
He looked down at his clothes, noticing a white and yellow school uniform. After a brief examination, it seemed to resemble the uniform of a Ra Yellow Academy student from "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX." Definitely not something he would typically wear.
Now he could understand.
He had crossed dimensions.
He just didn't know which world he had traversed into. Was it the world of "Yu-Gi-Oh," or had he entered the body of a buddy who loved to cosplay? If it was the former, he quite liked it; he had always been a card game enthusiast. If he had the chance to play cards in a world with a holographic projection system, it would be incredibly thrilling.
Frankly, this world was quite promising for him—because before he crossed over, he was also a card enthusiast. Although he had never participated in official tournaments, his rank in "Master Duel" had always remained in the Master tier. In this dueling world, he could probably make a decent living, right?
As he was pondering this, he suddenly heard some noisy voices outside the dormitory. He moved to the window and looked down, only to see a group of people in purple clothing shouting slogans.
"Fusion is the most noble summoning method!"
"Defeat those from other dimensions!"
"Make them recognize us!"
Well—
Now he knew for sure; he really had crossed into the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, but it wasn't quite what he expected.
Could it be the world of "Yu-Gi-Oh! A5"?! No way, I don't want to live in such a messed-up universe. Is it too late to end it all—
He patted his head, hurriedly turned on the computer in his dorm, and searched as much as possible to confirm what kind of world he was actually in. He also quickly opened various notes in the dorm, searching for as much information as possible. After a thorough search, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Firstly, this was definitely the world of "Yu-Gi-Oh."
But it didn't seem like the world of Yu-Gi-Oh GX.
Instead, it resembled a mixed world that seemed like GX but wasn't exactly it.
This world had Muto Yugi, Kaiba Seto, Jonouchi Katsuya, and people like Ed Phoenix and Professor Cronos. Naturally, it also had Yuki Judai, and they were even classmates.
The difference was that this academy was a mix that included the academy from "Yu-Gi-Oh A5," with several variations.
The good news was that the extreme fusion faction was just one group, with most of the academy's professors not subscribing to that philosophy.
So, it was roughly a world that incorporated the worldview of "Yu-Gi-Oh A5" but was still predominantly "Yu-Gi-Oh GX."
After all, he watched some duel videos and even found the first episode of "Yu-Gi-Oh GX," featuring the famous scene where Yuki Judai defeated Professor Cronos with his Flame Wingman.
Not much of a problem there.
Perhaps he was gradually getting used to it, or maybe it was because he saw some familiar things from this world. Tenjo Hikari felt that he seemed to have gained some memories that didn't belong to him. After pondering for a bit, he realized that these were likely this world's own memories.
The original owner of the body was a first-year student at this Duel Academy, in the same grade as Yuki Judai. Unlike the "Osiris Red" Yuki Judai, the original owner was a mid-level student at Ra Yellow Academy.
In this world, Duel Monsters and dueling weren't just a performance type of entertainment. Beyond that, Duel Monsters possessed extraordinary powers, and dueling was more than a simple game. It was a contest of wisdom and "power."
You see, in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, using cards to duel was the ultimate means of ending all conflicts and wars. There's nothing in this world that a card game can't resolve, from deciding who gets the last loaf of bread today to the fate of the cosmos and the destruction of the world.
For instance, the election of a national leader often turns into a duel showdown, which is why in this world, Old Pu crushed Old Deng and maintained his position as the American president for two terms.
No one understood dueling better than he did.
In this world, Duel Monsters were integrated into every aspect of life. He even knew of a city preparing to use Duel Monsters in experiments to create a "perpetual motion machine"—something that's physically impossible but made possible with the help of Duel Monsters and Duel Spirits in this world.
Moreover, aerospace, exploration, and even "Otherworld adventures" and "searching for the Netherworld" could be achieved through the power of Duel Monsters.
For example, Kaiba Seto from the Kaiba Company had been working relentlessly on searching for the Netherworld, even beginning to research Metaverse technology for this purpose.
Just like the historical idiom of King of Chu's fondness for slender waists resulting in palace servants starving, in this era where Muto Yugi no longer plays cards, Kaiba Seto was the strongest duelist on the surface, conducting such experiments, naturally leading other duelists to follow suit.
On this basis, the Duel Academy discovered other dimensions, giving rise to the radical fusion summoning faction headed by Professor Akaba Leo...
As for the original owner himself, although he wasn't a student of the extremist faction, since he enrolled in Duel Academy, naturally he intended to follow the path of fusion summoning and become a professional duelist, freeing himself from worries for life.
In theory, his idea was quite sound.
After all, in this world, dueling is everything. Becoming an excellent duelist for people in this world was akin to pursuing a civil service career in his original world, wasn't it?
The problem was, the original owner was...
Poor at dueling.
Of course, the original owner, as a Duel Academy student, in theory, should be an "elite student" proficient in various Yu-Gi-Oh texts and rules, given that Duel Academy students are top-notch talents selected from around the globe.
He wouldn't mindlessly throw some rare yet powerful Normal Monsters together and call it his deck.
But, whether due to misunderstanding or deliberate choice, the deck comprised numerous specific Low-Level Monster Cards, which could only "fuse" if drawn together.
They were very weak monsters, not even on par with something like the Axe King.
For example, only with Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, and Fairy Dragon could they fuse to form a 2300-ATK White Board Kaiser Dragon. And that was among the better fusions; other inexplicable and bizarre fusion monsters requiring pairing only added to the confusion.
Not to mention, there were only three Fusion Spell Cards in the entire deck. How were these one-copy Low-Level Materials supposed to fuse together? Would there even be any Life Points left by the time they came together?
Tenjo Hikari couldn't help but shake his head.
Was this really the deck that the previous owner assembled after spending all his savings and working part-time tirelessly?
It seemed like a total waste.
He genuinely felt it was unfair to the previous owner—because although these cards weren't particularly rare, they sold for quite a bit due to their role as specific monster fusion materials. The original owner had pieced together this deck through hard work all summer and passed Duel Academy's entry exam.
However, in reality, as evidenced by memories, the same or even better results could have been achieved for half or less of the cost.
He shook his head, found the card box, and prepared to modify the deck's configuration. But just as he opened it, he was taken aback.
"This isn't the original owner's deck!"
Because the first card was not an ordinary card, it was..."Gem-Knight Fusion"!
Gem-Knights? They might work well in this environment.
He quickly flipped to the next card, which gave him another surprise: "Red-Eyes Fusion??"
What sort of deck was this?
Feeling confused, he hurriedly flipped through the deck, growing more startled with each card.
Fossil Fusion, Aroma Blend, Melodious Concerto, Ground Xeno, D-Fusion, Fusion Destiny...
Vehicroid Connection Zone, Fusion Gate, Power Bond, Magicalized Fusion, Invocation, Branded Fusion!!
He turned the cards one by one.
Every card in his deck had been replaced with "fusion" cards, all of which were Spell and Trap Cards capable of fusion summoning monsters!
Even, upon seeing one particular card, he gasped.
This was included too!
The ultimate invincible, strongest fusion card!
Super Polymerization!