Chapter Two: On Taking a System into the World of Duel Monsters to Become a Card Player

“Ding ling ling~”

The bell rang signaling the end of class. Lin Sun closed his book and silently began organizing the notes he had taken during the lesson. On the podium, the teacher was still arranging the handouts, but a few restless students in the classroom couldn’t sit still any longer. Before the teacher even left the room, they excitedly gathered together.

“Hey, have you heard? That ‘Demon Disciplinarian’ seems to have gone crazy and was sent to a mental hospital.”

“That Ushio Tetsu? That’s great news! When did it happen?”

“Just this morning by the tree at the school gate. Ushio was lying there like a madman in a pile of leaves and trash, muttering ‘money’ over and over. Lots of people saw it.”

“I also heard it’s probably because he bullied someone he shouldn’t have at school, and then someone from outside dealt with him.”

Listening to the voices behind him, Lin Sun thought to himself: Indeed, he bullied someone he shouldn’t have. But the one who dealt with him isn’t some gang from the outside world. You definitely wouldn’t guess who it was.

With that in mind, Lin Sun turned his head to look at the other side of the classroom. There sat a boy with starfish-like, multicolored hair and a stature far too small to be a high schooler. At that moment, the star-haired boy was sitting across from a blond boy, holding several cards as if they were playing some kind of card game.

“Sa, it’s Jounouchi’s turn.”

A boy with an unremarkable hairstyle, obviously not skilled at card games, approached the two. He casually draped his right arm over the blond boy’s shoulder, hooking it around his neck and inserting himself into their game. “What are you playing, Jounouchi?”

“Ugh.” The blond boy, whose neck was being pulled, pushed the other’s arm away with his free hand, twisted his neck, and then proudly raised the cards he was holding. “What? You don’t know? Of course it’s Duel Monsters.”

“Duel what?”

Jounouchi had barely spoken a few words before growing impatient. “Shut up! Just watch quietly on the side. If I lose this game, it’s all your fault.”

With that, Jounouchi pushed the boy leaning on him away and focused back on the cards in his hand.

The boy who was pushed away didn’t get angry over such a trivial matter; it was clear that he and Jounouchi had a decent relationship. Watching the two so absorbed, he scratched his head in mild frustration. “Seriously, is this stuff really that fun? I don’t see it at all.”

Lin Sun, who was about to stand to go to the restroom, heard the boy’s muttering clearly. He glanced sideways at the boy’s hairstyle and thought to himself: No wonder. Your hairstyle, Honda, is just too ordinary. It’s even less flashy than the unicorn from the Conan set next door. Not being able to enjoy the fun of card games isn’t your fault.

As Lin Sun walked out of the classroom, he could still hear a girl standing next to the boy who had been pushed away explaining, “Duel Monsters is a game where you summon monsters onto the field and use magic cards in proper combination to battle each other, attacking and defending. It’s a very popular and well-known game.”

Moreover, in the future, playing cards might even save the world—more than once, Lin Sun added silently in his heart.

The name “Duel Monsters” might sound unfamiliar, but under a different name, it’s much more recognizable: “Yu-Gi-Oh!”

Originally, it was just a fictional game created by the author of a manga, who designed the protagonist as someone skilled in various games. There were many such fictional games. Unexpectedly, as the manga continued serialization, many readers became particularly interested in Duel Monsters, leading to a major shift in the story. From then on, the manga named Yu-Gi-Oh! focused entirely on this game.

And thus, the manga’s title, Yu-Gi-Oh!, became synonymous with the game itself.

After a day, Lin Sun had barely accepted the fact that he wasn’t reincarnated through soul possession but had actually traveled to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, becoming an ordinary student at Tōmiya High School. Even his name had changed—from Lin Sun to Kobayashi Hayato.

It was somewhat comforting to Hayato that his previous name hadn’t disappeared but was embedded within his new name.

Additionally, Hayato’s luck was quite good. His class happened to be the same one as the protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh!—Yugi Mutou. This class was truly a gathering of hidden talents:

The officially designated strongest (and somewhat shady) duelist, Yugi Mutou;

Yugi’s spiritual mentor and pseudo-female lead, Anzu Mazaki;

Genius inventor and compulsive card game addict, Seto Kaiba;

Ordinary-level player, supreme gambler, and third lead, Katsuya Jounouchi;

The final boss from the first episode who survived till the end, Bakura Ryou;

And Honda Hiroshi, Jounouchi’s close friend who once beat him up with his fists and wanted to become his brother-in-law.

Now that’s what you call a star-studded lineup (leaning back dramatically).

Lost in random thoughts, Hayato finished washing his hands and stepped out of the restroom, wiping the water off his palms with a handkerchief.

To be honest, he didn’t have much resentment about being transported to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! His parents had passed away early in his previous life, so there were no elderly relatives to care for, and he had never married. There wasn’t much left for him to regret.

At most, he hadn’t gotten to play GTA 6, the pre-ordered Kamen Rider toys he never got to enjoy, or clean up his D drive... The more he thought about it, the grimmer his expression became.

Time to change perspective.

At least one thing was certain: although the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! was dangerous, it was safer than those pure battle-based worlds.

Even a powerless ordinary person had a slight chance to resist an aggressor, though more often than not, someone else would draw a godlike card and defeat him in one turn. But at least it was better than being wiped out by wild pirates or monsters in worlds like One Piece or Bleach, right?

Making sure no one in the hallway was paying attention to him, Hayato cautiously raised his hand and seemingly casually “tapped” the air in front of him with his finger.

A voice sounded in his ear: [Beep beep, you’re a king—your starter card deck has arrived.]

Almost as the mysterious voice faded away, Hayato felt a weight in his pocket. Reaching in, he touched a square metal object.