In the dim room, the only light source barely sketched out the outline of the long rectangular table. The shadows along its edges pressed heavily onto every shoulder present.
A broad, heavily built boy sat at the head of the table. His thick hands were clasped beneath his chin, elbows planted firmly on the tabletop, and the pressure radiating from him made the air itself seem to freeze.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
His voice was low, like distant thunder.
"You people from the Twenty-First Squad were only supposed to deal with a bunch of natives, and not only did you get completely wiped out without winning a single duel, you even handed over your Duel Disks and Decks to them!"
The moment he finished speaking, the people seated around the table exchanged glances in unison. Their throats bobbed, but not one of them dared answer. Every face was full of humiliation.
Losing to a group of natives they usually regarded as bugs underfoot was a shame that burned like red-hot iron seared straight into their hearts.
"What, all gone mute now?" The burly boy's gaze swept across them, cold and mocking.
In the end, his eyes stopped on the bespectacled boy to his left, and his tone left no room for refusal.
"You start. How did you lose?"
The boy who had been called on stiffened all over. He stayed silent for several long seconds before finally speaking with difficulty.
"The guy I lost to... said he was going to play Blue-Eyes for the rest of his life. And he was using a pure Blue-Eyes Deck too."
"A Blue-Eyes Deck?" The burly boy arched a brow, his tone dripping with contempt. "That busted old Deck is barely third-rate. The whole thing only has one remotely decent card in Blue-Eyes Ultimate Spirit Dragon. And you still lost to that?"
The bespectacled boy's face flushed bright red, then immediately drained pale again. He lowered his head and fell back into silence.
Seeing that reaction, the burly boy frowned.
"What, was his build unusual? Or are you saying he wasn't actually using Blue-Eyes at all?"
"No! He summoned Blue-Eyes!" the boy blurted out, suddenly lifting his head, a faint tremor in his voice.
"Oh? Then what?"
The burly boy leaned forward slightly.
"Then he activated Blue-Eyes' effect... and searched a card called Sangen Summoning!"
"Sangen Summoning?"
The burly boy froze for a second, his brows knotting up. He ransacked his memory for everything he knew about Blue-Eyes Decks, but no matter how he thought about it, that name did not belong there.
For the moment, he forced down his confusion and turned toward the boy on the right.
"What about you? How did you lose?"
The second boy froze as well. His fingertips dug nervously into the edge of the table. After more than ten seconds of dead silence, he finally stammered out an answer.
"The guy I was up against... was also using a Blue-Eyes Deck?"
"Hm?" The burly boy narrowed his eyes. "Did he also Normal Summon Blue-Eyes and search Sangen Summoning with its effect?"
"No!" The boy hurriedly shook his head. "He Normal Summoned a small dragon first, then used its effect to get Primite Lordly Lode, and then used Primite Lordly Lode's effect to search Primite Drillbeam!"
Lordly Lode? Drillbeam?
The burly boy's confusion deepened, and his expression darkened along with it. He had never even heard of those cards. No matter how he looked at it, they had nothing to do with the Blue-Eyes Deck he knew.
Since when did Blue-Eyes run stuff like that?
Just then, a frightened, tearful voice suddenly came from the corner.
"The names are all lies! They're all fake!"
The burly boy turned toward the sound. In the corner, a girl was clutching her own hair with both hands, forehead pressed to the table, her whole body trembling uncontrollably as if she had remembered something horrifying.
"Chinatsu? What's wrong with you?"
The girl did not answer his question. She only kept repeating herself in broken fragments.
"The names are all fake... The guy I ran into... said he was playing Traptrix, but in the end he turned into some high-speed machine factory..."
"Traptrix?" The burly boy was startled, then let out a scoff. "Isn't that a trap-focused Deck? I remember you were using Eldlich. Both are trap-centered strategies. In terms of power, Traptrix shouldn't even be in the same league as Eldlich."
"But he... he summoned two Traptrix monsters, then immediately overlaid into a monster called Evilswarm Exciton Knight!"
Chinatsu's voice was full of collapse, almost breaking into sobs.
The burly boy stared blankly.
What kind of nonsense was that supposed to be?
Since when did Traptrix overlay into an Xyz Monster with that kind of name?
He sat in silence for a few seconds before finally straightening out his thoughts.
"I get it now. The people you ran into are all the kind who never play by the rules. Their Decks are completely different from any standard build we've seen before."
Once he said that, his eyes moved to Sousuke Kanzaki, who had been sitting across from him in silence the entire time.
"And you? How did you lose?"
Sousuke raised his head, his expression complicated. After a moment of silence, he slowly began to speak.
"The guy I faced was using a Deck called Tearlaments. I'd never even heard of it before. In a single turn, he filled his entire field and locked down both my monster effects and my Special Summons."
"He filled his board in one turn and also locked your monster effects and your Special Summons?" The burly boy frowned as he analyzed it. "If that's really true, then sure, the Deck's got some power. But a lockdown like that should only last one turn at most, and on the first turn you can't even enter the Battle Phase, so it shouldn't be that threatening. Why did you lose?"
Sousuke's expression turned even uglier.
"Because that one turn was my turn."
The burly boy stared at him.
"...What?"
He had his own first turn shut down by the opponent, who filled the board and sealed his effects before he could even play?
What kind of absurd Deck was that?
...
At the same time, in Domino City.
Yusaku had just finished another duel when a message suddenly popped up on the phone in his pocket.
It was from Takeuchi Dojo.
The message said that Genius Academy had rebelled. They had joined forces with Gurus and defected to Fusion Dimension, and were now aggressively looting the Decks of duelists throughout Domino City.
What was even stranger was that anyone who lost a duel against them not only lost their Deck, but was also transformed into a card.
By now, a large group of Genius Academy members and Fusion Dimension soldiers had already gathered outside Takeuchi Dojo.
Yusaku's eyes instantly turned serious.
Takeuchi Dojo had a special meaning to him. It had been the first place he stayed after arriving here. In a sense, it was where he had first put down roots.
Back then, the master of the dojo had treated him very well. The Pot of Greed and Super Polymerization in his possession had both been gifts from the master.
Without the slightest hesitation, Yusaku turned around the moment he finished reading the message and sprinted straight toward Takeuchi Dojo.
Not far away, the players who had just watched his duel immediately followed after him, each of them running at full speed.
When they had first chosen to join Domino City's local faction, the mission they received had been to resist Fusion Dimension's invasion. Since the mission never assigned them a leader, they had naturally started treating the overwhelmingly powerful Yusaku as their core. Wherever Yusaku went, they followed.
Half an hour later, Yusaku finally arrived at the newly built Takeuchi Dojo in the Guardian District.
At a single glance, he saw that inside the plaza, the dojo members and the Fusion Dimension forces were still locked in a standoff. No duel had begun yet.
"Good. I'm not too late."
Yusaku let out a quiet breath of relief.
Almost at the exact same moment, another similar voice sounded from the entrance.
Yusaku turned toward it. Another group had just arrived at the dojo gate as well, and leading them was none other than Kai, the man he had met once before, the one who claimed to be from the Xyz Dimension.
The people behind Kai, upon seeing Yusaku and the players at his back, immediately unfolded their Duel Disks, their eyes sharp, as though they might attack at any second.
The players were no weaker in spirit. They activated their Duel Disks too, and as brilliant light flared in the dim surroundings, the tension between the two groups instantly became razor-sharp.
"Wait! Everyone stop!"
Seeing that, Kai hurriedly stepped in to stop them.
"I know them. They're not from Fusion Dimension!"
Only after hearing Kai say that did the people behind him ease up and slowly lower their Duel Disks.
"We can talk about the details later." Kai looked at Yusaku, his tone grave. "First, let's deal with the bastards inside."
Yusaku nodded, his eyes steady.
"That was exactly what I was thinking."
At that moment, in Takeuchi Dojo's central plaza—
A boy with a bowl cut and thick black-rimmed glasses, dressed almost exactly like Weevil Underwood from an anime, was sizing up the Takeuchi Dojo apprentices in front of him with a mocking look, a sinister grin curling at his lips.
"I'll give you one more minute to decide. Either join us, or come out here and duel like good little boys and girls, then offer up all the energy stored in the cards of your Decks to Lord Zarc!"
"Keep dreaming!" one of the apprentices snapped.
The dojo students were all trembling with rage, fists clenched tight.
It was not that they were afraid to duel.
The problem was that these people had no honor at all. If they won, fine. But if they lost, not only would the Decks they had worked so hard to build be taken from them, even their own bodies would be forcibly transformed into cards.
Just a short while ago, Ushio, the dojo's senior apprentice, had taken the initiative to step forward.
He lost.
The moment the duel ended, it was as if all the energy in his body had been sucked out. He turned into a streak of light, condensed into a card, and fell to the ground with a light slap, utterly motionless.
That scene was still circling through every student's mind.
"Heh-heh-heh... One minute's up."
The bowl-cut boy let out a grating cackle.
"So, you've really made up your minds not to join us?"
"Wait!"
An old but powerful voice rang out.
Takeuchi's master stepped out from behind the students and moved to the very front.
"Master, no!" the students cried out at once. "These bastards are cheating! If we lose, we turn into cards, but if they lose, the worst they have to do is hand over one Deck, and then someone else immediately takes their place to challenge us again! It's completely unfair!"
Master Takeuchi gently shook his head, his gaze firm.
"I am your master. There's no reason for me to hide behind my students. More importantly, as the master of this dojo, if I won't stand up at a time like this, then who will?"
"Isn't that what I'm here for?"
A familiar voice suddenly came from the entrance of the dojo, cutting through the heavy tension hanging over the plaza.
The moment they heard that voice, every student in the dojo jolted and turned around in unison.
Backlit by the light from outside, a handsome young man stood at the gate, tall and straight, his calm eyes fixed on the bowl-cut boy in the middle of the plaza.
"You wanted a duel, didn't you? I'll play with you."
He stepped through the gate, expression calm.
It was Yusaku.
...
"Didn't you say you wanted a duel?"
Yusaku walked up to Ichiki Uehara, his expression flat and unreadable.
"I'll play with you people."
"Yusaku?"
The bowl-cut boy froze, then immediately pulled out his phone and rapidly swiped across the screen. He carefully compared the image on it to Yusaku's face.
"Yeah, it really is you. Perfect timing. I was looking for you, actually. That idiot Sousuke Kanzaki really lost to you."
The moment he finished speaking, he sharply raised one arm, and his Duel Disk unfolded with a crisp mechanical sound.
"Come on. Let me see just how capable you really are if the higher-ups saw fit to put a bounty on your head!"
Then he deliberately paused, his eyes full of challenge as he glared at Yusaku.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell you my name. I'm Ichiki Uehara, captain of Fusion Dimension's Seventeenth Squad. Remember that name, because I'm the one who's about to defeat you."
Seeing the two of them on the verge of dueling, Master Takeuchi hurried a step forward and shouted a warning.
"Be careful, Yusaku! There's something wrong with these people. Anyone who loses a duel against them gets forcibly turned into a card!"
"Turned into a card?" Ichiki sneered the moment he heard that, his tone mocking and arrogant. "That sounds way too ugly. This is clearly offering your own power up to Lord Zarc. Being able to contribute your strength to Lord Zarc is an honor for all of you."
Yusaku gave Master Takeuchi a slight nod, telling him not to worry.
Then he looked back at Ichiki, a trace of mockery entering his tone.
"An honor? Then why don't you offer up your own power first? What, too scared?"
He paused, watching the furious look spread across Ichiki's face, and the curve of his mouth turned even more sarcastic.
"And one more thing. You wanted me to remember your name? Sorry..."
"I never remember the names of losers."
"What a mouth on you!"
Ichiki laughed from sheer fury, then let out a cold snort.
"Arrogance takes capital! Enough talk. Come on. I'd like to see how much you're really worth!"
"As you wish."
Yusaku slowly raised his arm, and his Duel Disk unfolded with a mechanical hum.
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
The two loud declarations rang out at the same time. The screens on both Duel Disks lit up, pale blue data streams rushing like waterfalls as they crossed and collided in the air before finally settling on the turn order.
[Yusaku, LP 8000]
[Ichiki Uehara, LP 8000]
[First Turn: Ichiki Uehara]
Ichiki glanced at the prompt on his Duel Disk, then let out a cold laugh.
"Looks like Lady Luck's on my side. Then I'm taking the first turn!"
With that, his fingers slid across his Deck and cleanly drew his opening hand.
"Now let me show you the strength of my Deck!"
(End of Chapter)
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