Yugen slowly opened his eyes, bewildered as he surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings.
The room was one he had never seen before, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Sunlight filtered through the window, casting dappled patterns on the soft floor, shimmering like specks of stardust. Even the air seemed to lighten and turn transparent under the warm glow of the sun.
His head throbbed with a dull ache, and strange images and unfamiliar fragments flashed through his mind. Some instinct deep within told him he was facing an extraordinary situation—
—he had transmigrated.
Yugen glanced around, his attention quickly drawn to a computer on the desk.
The computer was on, displaying a search engine webpage, but it wasn't any search engine he recognized from his previous life.
Bold letters above the search bar clearly read, "Seahorse Search."
Even more peculiar were the trending news headlines below the search bar.
"Domino University Research Team Discovers New Form of 'Summoned Skull,' The Archfiend Deck is Set for Major Boost!"
Yugen: "?"
Curious, he clicked on the article. It reported that the research team, after tireless work, had unlocked new potential for the well-known Fiend-Type monster "Summoned Skull" and published their findings in a prestigious international Duel Monsters journal.
The team's spokesperson said they had already discussed matters with Pegasus J. Crawford, CEO of Industrial Illusions Company, which was assisting in developing new cards.
If Yugen couldn't figure out what kind of world he had transmigrated into after this, all his years of card-playing would have been for nothing.
This was the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, a plane where cards reigned supreme, and the very foundation and laws of the world were built on dueling.
Below the trending news was an even more absurd headline:
"International Conflict in the Middle East Eases, Leaders Agree to Settle Disputes Through Dueling."
"..."
Yugen was speechless.
Reading the headline, he could almost picture it: a battlefield shrouded in smoke, two armies facing off, armed to the teeth, guns and cannons aimed at each other.
Then, the commanders of both sides step forward, revealing their Duel Disks and decks, deciding to resolve their territorial dispute with an intense and thrilling Yu-Gi-Oh! match.
Utterly ridiculous.
But that was how this world worked.
Duel Monsters was the only path to achieving transcendence in this world, to wielding godlike power capable of rewriting the laws of reality across time and space.
As his mind cleared from its fog, new memories began to surface. Yugen quickly pieced together his identity in this world.
Fujiki Yugen, male, currently an apprentice at a small Duel Dojo.
Though called a dojo, it was essentially a social card-playing training class. Unlike formal Duel Academies, anyone could enroll in a Duel Dojo as long as they paid the fees.
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, dueling was far from a trivial pursuit. On the contrary, mastering it promised a bright future.
Duel Monster cards were deeply intertwined with nearly every industry. These days, even running a business required a corporate Duel Agent to handle all card-related matters. In Domino City, known as the "City of Duels," it was said that under Kaiba Corporation's influence, you couldn't even register residency without a deck.
But that didn't mean the path was easy. Yugen's predecessor had worked tirelessly, juggling part-time jobs to pay for dojo fees while training to become a true Duelist. Yet, both he and those around him knew his chances were slim.
Because he was bad at it.
The potential for Duelists was limitless, but the industry was brutally competitive. Unlike his previous world, being a Duelist here was widely acknowledged to require innate talent—not everyone had the potential to become a master.
Putting aside everything else, if someone couldn't even draw the card they wanted, what kind of Duelist could they be?
Yugen reflected and concluded that his predecessor's dogged persistence on this path wasn't misguided.
In this world, whether seeking transcendence or building a career in the city, Duel Monsters was the primary route.
And his greatest asset was the knowledge and experience he had accumulated as a veteran TCG player in his previous life.
With that in mind, Yugen sat at the computer and began researching.
First, he needed to determine which era and setting he had transmigrated into. Yu-Gi-Oh! had many series, and the later the series, the closer the anime mirrored the real card game environment. The later the era, the smaller his advantage as a transmigrator.
After a quick search, he found the information he needed.
This was the classic standard dimension, the birthplace of dreams—the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! DM and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
The current timeline was likely after the end of DM but before or early in GX. With this, Yugen had a rough grasp of the current card environment.
Now, to check his predecessor's deck.
"Huh?"
Seriously, what kind of deck was this?
Spreading it out, he saw a bloated sixty-card mess—not even a deck, just a pile of cards.
The monster lineup was a heap of Normal Monsters with no effects—what card players affectionately called "vanillas," a term Kaiba often used.
The deck's construction was a chaotic mess, with almost no synergy between cards. Drawing any six cards felt like they were each fighting their own battle. Yugen seriously doubted this pile had any duiling potential.
But upon closer inspection, he began to understand his predecessor's deck-building philosophy.
It was useless, but expensive.
It reminded him of the GX anime arc where Chazz's two wealthy but clueless brothers appeared. Those tycoons had money to burn but no dueling skill, believing that expensive equaled better.
They threw money at the priciest rare cards to build a pay-to-win deck to challenge him, only to get crushed by a makeshift deck he built from discarded cards found in a dried-up well.
Clearly, his predecessor had made the same mistake. Many cards in the deck were likely earned through grueling work. Seeing their outrageous market prices, Yugen suspected his predecessor might have literally worked himself to death, triggering this transmigration.
Looking at the so-called ultra-rare cards that were, in his eyes, meaningless, Yugen couldn't help but feel sorry for his predecessor.
In the dueling world, strong cards were often expensive, but expensive didn't always mean good. Some cards were costly purely for their rarity—like those crafted from excavated artifacts or made with diamond and gemstone materials.
Some were pricey simply because the summoned monsters were aesthetically pleasing and highly sought after, yet produced in limited quantities—especially certain voluptuous, scantily clad female-displaying cards.
After reviewing the deck, Yugen estimated that only a few expensive Trap Cards were somewhat useful.
The starting deck would need a complete overhaul.
He thought for a moment and turned to the internet again, pulling up videos of current professional Duelists' matches to gauge the mainstream strategies and environment.
As expected, just like in the anime, Duelists of this era focused on raw power, aiming to summon high-attack, flashy ace monsters to dominate the field.
Watching a few match recordings, Yugen couldn't help but sigh.
What a pure and wholesome world.
In short, most Duelists shared a common flaw—
—they were too positive .
Now, with Yugi retired from competitive play, Duelists idolized Seto Kaiba, the legendary Duelist obsessed with "smashing and shattering" through sheer power. The environment was filled with a sunny, straightforward vibe.
Thus, Yugen decided on his deck-building approach.
He would bring a touch of shady fun to this sunlit card world.