Satellite, the slum district of New Domino City, was a pretty awful place.
Each area was designated by a letter of the alphabet, and compared to the city center, it was clearly the old part of town. No one knew why it had ended up turning into something so much like a giant impoverished ghetto.
On top of that, to support the prosperity of Central City, Satellite was lined with factories and all kinds of facilities built to process the waste dumped out by the central district.
None of that had much to do with Dio, though.
After all, he did not even have Satellite citizenship. He was just an ordinary transmigrator.
Even so, he had seen people dueling by the roadside before. The first time he saw those solid monster projections, they had scared the hell out of him, and people had laughed at him for it.
That was when Dio first learned that this was the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
And from that day onward, he began his journey of searching for cards.
Because he knew very well just how dangerous the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's really was. To say nothing of the coming battle between the Signers and the Dark Signers—even ordinary people would probably end up sacrificed to the Earthbound Immortals.
Sure, in the original story Yusei won.
But Dio did not dare gamble on that.
The real world could never unfold exactly like a scripted plot. What if Yusei bricked?
So from then on, Dio spent every day buried in the garbage heaps, searching through piles of trash day after day, hoping that one day he could piece together a deck of his own.
"I've been finding a lot of cards like this lately."
Staring at the card in his hand—Scrap Beast—Dio muttered to himself.
He thought the whole "novel protagonist muttering to himself" thing was pretty stupid, but in a world where he could not understand the language, he had no choice. If he did not keep speaking his native tongue now and then, he was afraid he might lose even that.
That said, although he had been regularly finding "Scrap" monsters ever since he started scavenging cards a month ago, this was the first Tuner monster he had found.
If only the next card he picked up could be a Synchro Monster.
Carefully putting the card away, Dio continued rummaging.
"Ah!"
A sharp scrap of metal sliced his finger. Dio immediately stuck it into his mouth. He vaguely remembered that saliva was supposed to disinfect wounds.
Wait.
That patch of white—!
Dio's eyes lit up.
He carefully pulled the card out.
A Synchro Monster.
It had really happened.
Scrap Dragon.
I knew it. Heaven really does favor me!
Just as Dio was about to burst into triumphant laughter, a cocky, street-thug voice came from not far away.
"Never thought a lunatic like you would manage to pick up a card that rare."
Dio shuddered all over.
He could not understand the words, but the hostility in the man's tone was obvious enough. He quickly stood up from the mountain of scrap metal and turned to look at the speaker.
There was not much to say about the man's appearance. He looked like an ordinary guy.
The only notable feature was the yellow mark on the left side of his face.
That yellow mark was the brand stamped on criminals by Security. Once branded, it permanently marked you as a criminal.
And it could never be removed.
It stayed on your face for life, and it even carried a tracking signal that allowed Security to locate you at any time.
It could be said that once you were branded, your life was over.
And because of that mark, if you were wrongly accused, then you would remain wrongly accused forever.
Once you were caught, you got branded.
Branded people had no right to appeal.
A complete dead end.
The man noticed Dio staring at the mark and quickly covered it with his hand. His face darkened, and he snapped in anger.
"So even an idiot is going to look down on me? Do you have any idea how hard it is to support a family in Satellite? If I don't steal a little, how am I supposed to survive?!"
What he said was true.
Though Dio had only been in this world for two months, he already understood what kind of place this was.
An ordinary person could support himself by working in the factories.
But the moment there was an extra child in the family, the cost of living would exceed what he could earn.
And to keep that child alive, stealing became the only option.
There was not even much to steal except from the factories, because other people in Satellite barely had anything worth taking.
You could steal cards, sure.
But cards would not fill your stomach.
And while Security would not confiscate the stolen food itself, the branding was unavoidable.
Which meant that in Satellite, anyone who intended to raise children would end up bearing a mark.
How cruel.
Of course, Dio did not understand any of that. He thought the man was about to attack him, so he could only assume the stance he always used.
Come on, then. Watch closely—my Chen Hegao-style extreme self-defense counterattack technique!
The man, already red with rage, reached one-handed into who-knew-what pocket dimension and pulled out a Duel Disk. Then he pointed at the card in Dio's hand.
"Damn you! Duel me! If I win, you hand over that card. But if you win, I'll give you this one!"
Though Dio could not understand the words, he clearly saw the card the man was showing him.
Flutter Bug.
Also a Synchro Monster.
I see. A card-betting duel.
Just as Dio was about to nod in agreement, another voice suddenly rang out.
"Hey, Dole! What do you think you're doing?"
The man walking over had no fewer than three marks on his face.
But Dio recognized him immediately.
That short-sleeved leather jacket—
Wasn't that Crow?!
Forget it. It has nothing to do with me. I can't even talk to people.
Dio let out a regretful sigh and resumed rummaging through the garbage heap.
He distinctly remembered putting it here.
"Ah… Boss Crow!"
Dole shrank back slightly and said timidly, "I just wanted to have a little card-betting duel…"
"With him? A card-betting duel with that mentally unstable guy?!"
Crow exploded.
Who in this area did not know Dio?
Sure, he had great skin, was ridiculously handsome, and looked like someone who had grown up pampered and privileged.
But that blank confusion and air of complete foolishness—well, actually it was just because he could not understand what anyone was saying—was not something you could fake.
And on top of that, he dug through garbage heaps for food instead of going to work at the factories.
Anyone would think there was something wrong with his head.
People had guessed that he was probably some illegitimate child from the city center, thrown out because of corporate infighting.
Poor guy.
So everyone more or less looked out for him.
Some people would deliberately toss edible scraps onto that garbage heap for him.
As for why they did not just hand him food directly…
Well.
At first, people thought he was some city-dweller and went looking to pick a fight with him.
They got beaten up instead.
"My bad, my bad."
Dole apologized quietly and was just about to retract his Duel Disk when he suddenly felt a faint electric jolt.
The Duel Disk, which had been switched off, activated by itself.
He turned his head and saw that Dio now had a Duel Disk in his hand.
It was in terrible condition, looking like it had been pieced together from a pile of cheap, worn-out scrap parts.
And Dio's deck was already loaded into it.
"Duel?"
"Duel!"
Now there was no excuse to refuse.
The other guy had already stepped up head-on!
"Boss Crow, even if you try to stop me now, I'm still doing this!" Dole shouted excitedly, pumping his arm. "A duelist can't back down in the face of a challenge!"
Crow let out a faint sigh.
Since the other side had willingly accepted the duel, there was no reason left for him to interfere.
So he stepped aside and watched the two of them prepare to duel.
Though, honestly…
The fact that this guy had managed to assemble a working Duel Disk out of discarded Duel Disk parts was pretty impressive.
Crow looked at Dio with a trace of surprise.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (261 Chapter) (Ending)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (130 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (130 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (78 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (189 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (135 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (145 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (65 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (90 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (70 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (90 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (95 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (75 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (105 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (90 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (75 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (110 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
Arknights : Yandere Game: The Operators Have Come Knocking (100 Chapter)
Arknights: This Dating Sim Is Seriously Wrong! (100 Chapter)
Arknights : Ch'en Hui-chieh, I'm Done Being the Good Guy! (40 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Wasn't This Supposed to Be a Family Simulator? Why Am I the Family Heirloom? (40 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail : The Trailblazer Only Wants a Peaceful Life (40 Chapter)
Arknights: The Unlucky Dad? But I've Got the Chronicle of Time! (50 Chapter)
The Wheelchair War God Is Speedrunning Hogwarts (40 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Elemental Blaster of Orario (37 Chapter)
Playing Honkai in Star Rail (30 Chapter)
As an Alien, I'm Solo Leveling in Warhammer 40K (30 Chapter)
Arknights: A Symbiote's Survival Guide (30 Chapter)
My Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Is Built Entirely from Stuff I Picked Up (30 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it