Chapter 1: The Sun Between Worlds of GX

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You Xuan slowly opened his eyes, looking around the unfamiliar surroundings with a dazed expression. The room was unfamiliar, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Sunlight filtered through the window lattices, casting mottled patterns on the soft floor like twinkling stardust. Even the air seemed light and transparent under the warm sunlight.

His head throbbed with a dull pain, while strange images and unfamiliar fragments flashed through his mind. Some instinct deep within seemed to tell him that the situation he faced was extraordinary—

—he had traveled through time and space.

You Xuan scanned the room and soon his gaze was drawn to the computer on the desk. It was turned on, displaying a search engine page, but it was not any search engine he had known before.

The large characters above the search box read clearly: “Seahorse Search.”

What struck him as even more peculiar was the trending news below the search bar.

“Research Team at East Capital University Discovers New Form of ‘Summoning the Demon’; Demon Decks May Receive Major Upgrades!”

You Xuan: “?”

Curious, he clicked on it. The report said that after relentless day-and-night research, the team had developed new potential for the well-known Demonic Beast “Summoning the Demon,” and had published a paper in a prestigious international Duel Monster journal.

The team spokesperson mentioned that they had spoken with Beccas J. Crofford, CEO of Fantasy International, who was assisting them in developing new cards...

If one couldn’t recognize what kind of world they had traveled to after seeing this, then all those years playing cards would have been in vain for You Xuan.

This was the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, a realm famously ruled by cards, where the foundation and laws of the entire world were built upon dueling.

Below the hot search was an even more absurd headline.

“Middle East International Conflict Eases; Two Heads of State Decide to Negotiate Through Duel”

You Xuan: “......”

Upon reading the title, a vivid image formed in his mind. On a battlefield thick with smoke, two armies faced off, guns blazing, long rifles and cannons aimed at each other.

At that moment, the generals of both sides stepped forward, revealing duel disks and decks on their arms, deciding to settle territorial disputes with a tense and thrilling game of Yu-Gi-Oh!...

It was ridiculously comical.

But this was exactly how this world operated.

Duel Monsters was the only path to ascend beyond the ordinary, to wield divine power capable of rewriting reality itself.

His mind gradually cleared from the haze, and new memories seemed to be absorbed slowly. You Xuan quickly pieced together his identity in this world.

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Fujiki You Xuan, male, currently... an apprentice at a Duel Dojo?

Though called a dojo, it felt more like a societal training class for card dueling. Unlike formal Duel Academies, a Duel Dojo was a community training institution anyone could join by paying.

In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, dueling was hardly a frivolous activity. On the contrary, mastering the game promised a bright future.

Duel Monster cards had developed to the point where almost every profession was closely linked to dueling. Nowadays, even running a company required a dedicated Duel Agent to handle all business matters involving cards. The city of New Tōshi-no, known as the “Duel Capital,” reportedly had become so strict under the management of Kaiba Corp that residents couldn’t register their residency without declaring their deck...

But this didn’t mean the path was easy. Though his past self had worked hard, balancing part-time jobs to pay tuition while training at the dojo and striving toward becoming a true duelist, both he and those around him knew his chances were slim.

Because he was terrible.

The prospects for a duelist were indeed vast, but the industry was fiercely competitive. Unlike his previous life, this world recognized dueling as a talent-driven profession—not everyone had what it took to become a master.

Setting aside everything else, if someone couldn’t even draw the cards they needed, how could they be a duelist?

You Xuan pondered and felt the path his past self had painstakingly pursued was not wrong in principle.

In this world, whether seeking transcendence or carving out a career in the city, Duel Monsters was the prime choice.

So if he wanted to walk this path, his greatest asset was the years of experience accumulated as a hardcore card enthusiast in his past life.

With that in mind, he immediately sat at the computer to search.

First, he needed to confirm the era and background he had traveled to. Yu-Gi-Oh! had many series, and the later the anime, the closer it aligned with the real card game environment. The later the setting, the smaller the advantage for a time traveler.

After a brief search, he quickly found the information he needed.

This was the most classic foundational dimension—the place where dreams began—the world of “Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters” and “Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.”

The current timeline was likely after the end of DM and before or early in the GX storyline. This gave You Xuan a rough understanding of the current card environment.

Now, to examine the deck of his past self.

You Xuan: (─??─)

Are you serious with this deck?

Opening it fully, it was a bloated sixty-card monstrosity... no, it wasn’t even a deck, just a pile of cards.

First, the monster section was full of normal monsters without any effects—card players usually described such cards with a term often quoted by Kaiba himself: “plain bones.”

The entire build was a chaotic mix with practically no synergy between any two cards. Drawing six cards at the start was just six independent fights; You Xuan doubted this mess had any combat capability.

But then he seemed to grasp the past self’s deck-building philosophy.

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It was useless, mainly expensive...

It was like those two rich, clueless brothers from the GX anime—the ones who appeared in two episodes. They had plenty of money but were terrible at dueling, yet believed in the theory that the most expensive cards were the best.

So they threw money recklessly, buying a flashy cash deck of the priciest rare cards to challenge Jaden Yuki, only to be utterly crushed by a makeshift deck built from junk cards Jaden found in a dried-up well behind the school...

Clearly, his past self had made the same mistake as those rich amateurs from the anime. Many cards in the deck were probably earned through grueling part-time jobs. Seeing the absurd market prices, You Xuan even suspected his transmigration was triggered because his past self had died from overwork...

Yet looking at these nominally ultra-rare cards that made little sense to him, he couldn’t help but feel pity for his past self.

In the world of dueling, many strong cards were indeed expensive, but expensive didn’t always mean good. Many cards were costly simply because they were “rare.” Some were made from archaeological artifacts; others used diamond and gemstone materials.

Some monsters were simply popular because they were beautiful but had limited print runs, making them pricey—especially certain statuesque yet scantily clad goddess-type spirits...

So scanning the entire deck, You Xuan estimated only a handful of expensive traps might be somewhat useful.

It looked like the initial deck would need to be dismantled and rebuilt from scratch.

He thought for a moment, then used the internet again to watch videos of current top professional duelists’ matches to understand the prevailing meta and strategies.

Sure enough, just as the anime portrayed, duelists of this era generally pursued brute force and overwhelming power, striving to create high-attack, flashy ace monsters for field dominance.

After watching several match videos, You Xuan sighed inwardly.

What a simple and sincere world...

In summary, it seemed most duelists shared a common problem—

—they were all too straightforward.

The current world’s “underworld index” was 8 out of 10; the legendary duelist Yugi Mutou alone accounted for 1 point, and the rest of the world owed him 2 points.

Now that Yugi Mutou had retired from dueling, duelists everywhere idolized Seto Kaiba, a legendary duelist who pursued “smash and shatter” power domination with zeal, filling the entire environment with a bright and sunny atmosphere.

Thus, You Xuan’s deck-building philosophy was decided.

He would bring a touch of the underworld’s flavor to this sunlit world of cards.