Yu-Gi-Oh!: This is the real duel!

Darkness, darkness...

His consciousness went from clear to scattered, then from scattered to detached, until finally he felt as if he were being swept into a vortex, his soul being pulled back and forth at will...

After an unknown amount of time, the light finally reappeared.

But when You Che opened his eyes, he was shocked to find himself in a new world.

He was no longer at an airport, but at the foot of a silver-white building. Looking up, he could see two huge letters shining on the top of the building—KC.

"KC...isn't that Seto Kaiba's company?"

You Che looked around blankly, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with everything around him.

Is this... Domino City?

Is this the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!?

I...time-traveled?!

Chapter 2 The Despicable Champion and Runner-up

At noon, Tongshiye Market.

In the park near the KC building, he stood blankly under a large tree. Not far away, two children were playing cards with great enthusiasm on a bench.

"I'm going to use a monster card! Summon! Angel of Friendship!"

"Hmph! I won't let you succeed. I've already laid a trap!"

"What? It's a trap card!"

"That's right! Activate the Divine Proclamation! Your Angel of Friendship is dead!"

"Damn it!"

"..."

???

What is that?

Hearing what the two kids were doing, You Che couldn't help but show the same expression as the "subway grandpa".

Where am I?

What about those two silly kids?

You Che looked around, and in a casual glance up, he saw a silver-white building not far away, with two incredibly brilliant letters flashing on the top of the building—"KC"!

KC Company?!

Isn't that Seto Kaiba's company from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series?

Did I travel through time?

You Che was startled, and then he remembered what had happened earlier.

I was originally going to the airport to see my cousin off, but I unexpectedly encountered an accident while riding the elevator, and then inexplicably ended up here...

As a college student with a wide range of interests, You Che has watched many anime and read many novels. Based on his experience, he is probably a time traveler.

Looking up at the KC Building, which he had seen countless times in anime, You Che sighed deeply.

Although as a card game enthusiast, I dream every day of being transported to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's still hard to accept that this actually happened.

You Che couldn't imagine how his cousin would feel when he learned of the accident he had suffered...

"Hey? Big brother, you dropped your card!"

Before he could grieve for long, a childish voice came from the side.

Yu Che turned his head and saw the two children who had just been dueling next to him. They were standing next to Yu Che, one of them holding a monster card that was slightly dusty.

The moment he saw the card, Youche's pupils contracted sharply.

This is... Armored Dragon Lv3?

The one my cousin gave me before he left?

It actually traveled through time along with us?

"Thank you, thank you!" You Che said, quickly putting the package away.

Although it may not play any role in this world, it is an extremely valuable card to him.

Seeing this, another child said somewhat unhappily, "Why did you give it back to him? That's a Zhanglong Clan monster! It's very rare!"

His partner replied with a smile, "That card must be very important to the older brother, otherwise he wouldn't have put a card cover on it."

"Sigh... A very important card... A card that was very important to us has been stolen by those two guys, and we don't know if we can get it back..."

"They are the national champions and runners-up, maybe they'll give it back to us someday?"

Youche keenly gleaned some information from the conversation between the two children.

Using race as a criterion for rarity...

This situation only occurred in the early stages of Yu-Gi-Oh! DM.

The national champion and runner-up who will steal the children's cards...

So it's most likely an insect, a moth, or a dinosaur, Ryuzaki.

"Your cards were stolen?" You Che asked.

“Yeah,” they said, looking aggrieved, “We wanted to get their autographs, but they said the champion and runner-up couldn’t just sign autographs for free, so they took our most precious cards…”

"Do you know where they are now?"

"Of course... they often hang out in that card shop in the mall."

"Okay, take me to them."

"Huh? What did you say?"

You Che smiled confidently: "If it weren't for you, my most precious card might have been lost. So in return, I'll help you get back the card that was stolen."

Upon hearing this, the two children were immediately overjoyed, but they quickly hesitated: "Really? That's wonderful! But... but they're the national champion and runner-up..."

"No problem, trust me." You Che smiled and patted the two children's heads. "However, I didn't bring my card deck with me today. Can I borrow your cards first?"

........................

In the bustling shopping mall, people came and went. In front of a card shop, a man with a sleazy-looking middle-parted hair and a short man in a green jacket were drinking beverages and counting their "loot".

"Hehe, I've had quite a haul today!"

"However, we need to be more discreet for the next few days, otherwise no one will dare to ask us for autographs in the future."

"Alright, I'll take these cards with me. You can keep the monster card." After finishing the last of her drink, Insect Moth got up from the recliner and prepared to leave.

Dinosaur Ryuzaki glanced at the card he had left for him and couldn't help but object: "Wait! Why did you only leave me one? And it's the worst one in there?"

The insect moth grinned mischievously: "Hehe, of course it's because the national champion is more famous than the runner-up. Those fans will definitely want my autograph more. Since that's the case, I should get the most cards from the fans, right?"

Ryuzaki the dinosaur gritted his teeth, his expression somewhat angry, but he didn't say a word.

"See you another day!" The insect moth turned and left, waving goodbye with a relaxed and smug air.

"That damned guy!" Dinosaur Ryuzaki angrily turned his head as he watched his figure gradually disappear into the distance.

Just then, a childish voice came from not far away. Dinosaur Ryuzaki looked over and saw two familiar children and a stranger.

"it's him!"

"That's right! The card in his hand is mine!"

Even without the two children pointing them out, Yu Che, a seasoned card player, could recognize the dinosaur Ryuzaki. He walked up to the guy, smiled, and said, "You're the one who stole their cards, aren't you?"

Ryuzaki, who was already quite unhappy, snorted and said, "None of your business! I'm the national runner-up, I can do whatever I want with you!"

You Che smiled slightly: "What if I want to have a card-betting duel with you?"

"Gambling cards?" Dinosaur Ryuzaki's eyes turned cold.

You Che nodded and said, "Let's have a duel. If I win, you'll return the cards they stole. If I lose, I'll give you a rare card."

Ryuzaki the Dinosaur sneered, "Heh, all I have left is this useless 'Goddess of Reversal,' the rest are with Insect Moth. I have no problem with you wanting to die, but... do you really have any cards worth my attention?"

You Che didn't say anything, but simply showed off the "Armed Dragon Lv3" card.

In this day and age, the criteria for determining the rarity of cards are still quite unclear.

If Yugi Muto's vanilla card with 1400 attack, "Winged Dragon of the Castle," can become an extremely rare card, then "Armed Dragon Lv3," which is also a Dragon-type card, must be not much different.

Sure enough, upon seeing the card in Yuzuru's hand, Ryuzaki, the Dinosaur, revealed a greedy look: "Alright, it's settled then. Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson: meddling in other people's business comes at a price!"

Chapter 3 Offerings to the Dead

"duel!!!"

Inside a card shop near Tongshiye Square, another duel began amidst a chorus of shouts.

In this era, the vast majority of duels can only be fought in the most primitive way, which is simply using cards to fight.

Because the dueling ring developed by Seto Kaiba is not yet widely used, it will probably become popular after the Duel Kingdom tournament.

This card shop, due to its close partnership with KC Corporation, became the first card shop in Domino City to have a dueling ring.

At this moment, Yuzuru and Ryuzaki had already taken out their respective decks. Before the duel even started, the audience was already surrounded by all sorts of spectators.

"Wow! Another duel to watch!"

"I'm so envious! I want to use a duel stage to fight too."

"Don't even think about it. The boss only let them use it because of the national runner-up. Normally, this dueling platform is only for viewing."

"What?! National runner-up? Dinosaur Ryuzaki? Oh my god, it really is him!"

"Ha, then it seems this is a duel with no suspense whatsoever!"

"..."

The dueling enthusiasts watching were all talking at once.