Chapter 775: When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do

「Aaaah—」

An unnamed security officer fell off the stage, his eyes filled with utter bewilderment, a stark contrast to the confidence he had shown when he stepped up.

「We won. 」 Fujiki You Xuan grinned. 「Thank you, my lord, for the guidance. What an interesting duel. 」

Security officer: 「. 」

Interesting?

Think carefully about what just happened.

The opponent came out with 「The Mischievous Twin Demons」 and discarded two of his hand cards. Then he imprisoned him and discarded another hand card. He normally summoned Knightmare Cerberus, equipped it with Thief's Smoke Jade, and when Thief's Smoke Jade was destroyed by Knightmare Cerberus's effect, the opponent discarded yet another hand card.

Then it was the security officer's turn: during the Draw Phase, a face-down card activated and immediately discarded the card he drew. During the Standby Phase, the trap 「Weapon Summon」 activated, summoning Thief's Smoke Jade Mk. II from the deck and equipping it to Knightmare Cerberus; when Mk. II was destroyed, the opponent discarded yet another hand card.

The duel had barely begun, and the nameless security officer stared at his empty hands, a giant question mark hovering over his head.

Huh?

What the hell? Where are my cards? All six of them?

The first match ended amid the security officer's stunned confusion, lasting barely two minutes. Quite fast indeed.

Fujiki You Xuan paid no further attention to the security officer who had lost his dream, leapt off the stage, and swiftly headed toward his next match.

Indeed, even in this new world, dueling was still this joyful.

「. 」

Fujiki You Xuan rapidly earned a batch of cards, several of which were valuable rarities—all sold for cash. He then went to a card shop and opened a few packs just to test his luck.

And he actually pulled a card with considerable fame.

Scrap Warrior.

The signature monster from the early days of the third protagonist, Yusei Fudo, a truly soulful monster.

Not only that—he even got several 「Tuner」 cards, part of Yusei's deck series.

Fujiki You Xuan's first reaction was surprise, but he quickly understood.

In GX, Jaden's Hero deck was rated by Professor Crowler as extremely common trash, already a very common deck. But by 5D's, Yusei's deck was even more extreme.

If Jaden's deck could be called 「commoner」, then Yusei's deck should be called 「pauper」. Because Yusei grew up in the slums of the Satellite District, and his entire deck was made of junk he scavenged.

Aside from the rare Stardust Dragon—his destined ace, which the spirit came to him voluntarily—most of his deck was theoretically composed of the most common cards; it was no surprise that opening a pack yielded several Tuners.

After opening a round of packs, Fujiki You Xuan immediately returned to the dueling arena to keep gambling for cards—and swiftly won another three or five matches.

When he first crossed over, he had quickly gained infamy in a single arena, remembered by every duelist in the surrounding area. Now, with experience, he knew his reputation would spread through this arena in no more than two days, turning him into a feared monster that all duelists would avoid. At that point, earning cards so efficiently would require moving to another location.

Best to cash in while he still wasn't famous.

After several consecutive matches, as Fujiki You Xuan stepped back onto the stage, he suddenly spotted a familiar face.

「Big brother, it's him! 」

The very first security officer he'd defeated had apparently brought reinforcements. A massive, muscular, dark-skinned man followed him to the arena's edge, eyeing Fujiki You Xuan with suspicion: 「This kid? He doesn't look like much. 」

「Believe me, big brother, this kid's weird! 」 the security officer said. 「He won my rare cards! 」

「Is that so? Interesting. 」

The big brother stepped onto the stage, grinning and rolling his fists.

「Kid, you're lucky—I just happened to be looking for someone to test my skills. 」

The security officer, now emboldened by his backup, declared: 「Big Brother Senior Niwei is the strongest duelist in our pursuit squad—you're done for! 」

Fujiki You Xuan wore an expression of keen interest.

Big Brother Senior Niwei has emerged—this is no small thing.

He's a legendary figure spanning the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! history, appearing in the very first chapter of the original manga, the first person Yugi Muto punished with a Dark Game after his modern revival—technically, the first villain in Yu-Gi-Oh! history.

He survived from the DM era all the way into the 5D's era, becoming a pursuit duelist who relentlessly hounded Yusei.

Finally, a slightly more interesting opponent.

「Then I leave it to your guidance, Big Brother Senior Niwei. 」 Fujiki You Xuan remained courteous and humble.

「Duel! 」 x2

【Fujiki You Xuan, LP 4000】【Senior Niwei, LP 4000】

The most popular format in this era was, of course, Riding Duel—both duelists rode motorcycles called 「D-Wheel」s. But Fujiki You Xuan was new here and had no D-Wheel. Though he had used Paradox's D-Wheel to cross over, it was too conspicuous and risked unwanted attention, so he hadn't brought it along.

He was still using traditional standing duels.

「I place one monster face-down in defense position. 」 Fujiki You Xuan said. 「Then I set one card. End of my turn. 」

「My turn, draw! 」

Senior Niwei slapped down a monster.

「I summon 「Assault Gunhound」 in attack position! 」

A ferocious hound burst from his summoning vortex and landed on the field. The hound wore battle armor, its eyes a fierce, dark red.

【Assault Gunhound, ATK 1200】

「Battle! 」

!

Senior Niwei barked.

「Assault Gunhound, attack the face-down monster! 」

The hound lunged, clawing the face-down card over. The revealed card showed the silhouette of a black-clad soldier, who fired rapidly—but all bullets were dodged nimbly by the hound, which then bit down hard on the soldier's wrist, causing him to explode into fragments.

【Double-Identity Soldier, DEF 800】

「I set one card. End of turn. 」

Senior Niwei sneered.

「Heh, doesn't look so tough after all. 」

Fujiki You Xuan wasn't bothered, only smiled: 「Then it's my turn—draw. 」

He glanced at the drawn card, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

As the saying goes: when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Since he'd come to this era, he might as well experience its unique flavor.

「I'm coming at you now, Mr. Senior Niwei. 」 He looked up and smiled.

Senior Niwei, confident: 「Oh? Then bring it on—let's see who's better! 」

Fujiki You Xuan said: 「I normal summon 「Scrap Tuner」! 」

The moment the orange little warrior leapt onto the field, Senior Niwei's brow twitched.

As if the monster stirred unpleasant memories within him.

「When Scrap Tuner is summoned, I can special summon from the graveyard any monster with 2 stars or less in defense position. 」 Fujiki You Xuan said. 「Special summon 「Double-Identity Soldier」! 」

「Then Level 3, Tuner monster 「Scrap Tuner」! 」

「Level 2, 「Double-Identity Soldier」! 」

「Tuning! 」

【3+2=5】

「The gathered stars awaken new power—become a path shining with light! Synchro Summon—」

「—Level 5, Scrap Warrior! 」

Senior Niwei: 「! 」

(End of Chapter)