Chapter 1: My Deck Is a Bit

"Ouch! So painful! My head!"

You Tian clutched his head, grimacing as he woke from unconsciousness.

"Where am I?"

A cold sensation came from beneath his buttocks.

Looking around, he realized he was sitting on a park bench. People passed by, but none noticed him.

The unfamiliar surroundings left him thoroughly baffled.

He vaguely remembered, just before passing out, he had been at a card shop, playing Yu-Gi-Oh!

In that match, a new short-haired girl had come in and specifically challenged him to a Duel…

You Tian instinctively raised his left hand, wanting to rub his chin. Tiantian reads novels to kill boredom, tttks. tw is super reliable

"Huh?! This is!?"

Suddenly, he noticed something on his left forearm—a device every card enthusiast longed for!

"Whoa~ This isn't the Duel Disk from Yu-Gi-Oh!?"

You Tian was stunned, but before he could react, a loud, familiar voice came from above.

"Duelists, welcome to Duel City!"

You Tian looked up.

Holy shit, an Airship?!

What shocked him further was the massive screen hanging beneath the Airship—the voice had come from someone on that screen.

And the person on the screen… You Tian recognized him.

Brown short hair, a gravity-defying cloak—wasn't that Seto Kaiba?!

Am I… transported into the Yu-Gi-Oh! DM world?!

Suddenly, a flood of memories came with dizziness.

Words like "Traveler," "ThreePhantomGods," "Seize" echoed through his mind like ghostly whispers.

"Traveler from the Other World, seize the ThreePhantomGods."

"When you collect all three The God Cards, He will return you to your original world."

…

What the hell?

You Tian's face was full of question marks.

The plot had become absurd beyond reason; for a moment, he didn't know where to even begin complaining.

After a while of processing the information, he finally understood his current situation.

He was indeed transported into the Yu-Gi-Oh! DM world.

The location, without doubt, was Jounouchi—the famous town from Yu-Gi-Oh! —and the timeline was precisely when Duel City had just begun.

As for why he had been transported here, the reason remained unclear.

But someone seemed to have promised: if he collected the ThreePhantomGods, he would be sent back to his original world.

"So I'm supposed to steal the ThreePhantomGods right out of Pharaoh and Seto Kaiba's hands?"

If so, then my Duel Disk and deck were prepared by the owner of that voice in my head.

"Who was that person again? Why can't I remember?"

You Tian rubbed his temples hard, trying to recall more details.

"Hey! You over there—you're a Duelist too, right! Shoo-shoo-shoo! Let's Duel!"

Suddenly, a sneaky voice interrupted You Tian's thoughts.

He turned and saw a guy in green clothes, thick glasses on his face, holding a Duel Disk and leering at him.

"Insect YuE?!" You Tian exclaimed.

That's right—the man standing before him was none other than the first character to be beaten to death in Yu-Gi-Oh! DM: Insect YuE!

YuE was surprised—this guy actually knew him.

Not surprising; after all, he was the former national champion of Japan—he had to have some fame.

Judging by the other's shocked expression, he was probably a fan.

He hadn't expected that, while waiting for Jonouchi to challenge him, just picking a noob to steal Raya's card and chips would land him a fan.

"Shoo-shoo-shoo!" YuE chuckled lewdly.

"So you're my fan? Then this is easy—hand over Raya's card and the chips, and I'll even sign your autograph."

You Tian was speechless.

Fan? This Insect YuE was just as narcissistic as in the anime.

But this might be an opportunity.

In the Original Plot Lines, Insect YuE never won a single Duel, and his tactics were underhanded—but he still had real strength.

He was the dividing line between generic passersby and NPC-level power.

Right now, You Tian had no clue why he was transported into the Yu-Gi-Oh! world—aside from that strange message in his head.

So he might as well follow the message's instructions: join the Duel City tournament and seize the ThreePhantomGods.

Then, perhaps he'd remember more.

Why not test his mettle here first, to gauge the general strength of the Original Plot Lines' Duelists?

Wait!

You Tian realized a problem.

What's my deck?

He hurriedly took out the deck from his Duel Disk and began flipping through it.

Oh, I see—they're all first-generation cards.

Thinking about it, it makes sense—playing cards still has to follow basic logic.

He's not Uncle Paradox; how could he possibly take the absurd later-era fake cards and beat the crap out of the "Call-Everything-Out-Of-Your-Ass King"?

You Tian flipped through his starter deck and shook his head.

Look at these cards now—how wonderfully plain and honest they are!

He casually flipped through the cards in his deck.

【Earthbound Immortal Aussa】

Effect: 【When this card is flipped, activate by targeting 1 EARTH Attribute monster on your opponent's side of the field. While the targeted monster remains face-up, gain control of it.】

Oh~ so it's an Immortal deck, then?

You Tian nodded and flipped to the next card.

【Wind Spirit Gusto, Winda】.

Just as I thought!

He continued flipping through the remaining cards.

【SubstituteGiantStatue】

Effect: 【Flip: Your opponent selects 1 monster they control. Switch control of the selected monster with this card.】

Hmm?

You Tian's brow furrowed.

He flipped open the remaining cards once more.

【Fantastical Flower Pot】, 【Mind Control】, 【Possessed Dark Soul】, 【Throne of the Gods Invader】, 【Alien of the Outer World】…

You Tian's expression gradually grew strange.

The monsters in his deck really were all first-generation cards with relatively plain effects.

But the effects of these cards seemed, faintly, to all be of one type.

Put in plainer language: every one of these cards has an effect that controls the opponent's monsters.

Players would jokingly call this kind of card: Niu Tounren!

"Hiss—" You Tian sucked in another cold breath.

My deck seems a bit "bull"!

"Hey, you!" YuE on the opposite side, seeing You Tian ignoring him for so long, was getting a little annoyed.

He had made up his mind—even if this guy was his fan, he was definitely going to use a Duel to teach him a harsh lesson!

"Looks like you don't take this All-Japan Champion seriously at all! Then let me use a Duel to teach you how to show a little more respect to a champion!"

Saying so, YuE raised his Duel Disk.

You Tian also came back to his senses.

Uh…

He gave a helpless little smile.

Alright then.

Things being as they are—Duel first!

(A preemptive patch: since the Yu-Gi-Oh! Original Plot contains quite a lot of "calling-it-out-of-your-ass" phenomena, this author can only try to stay as close to the OCG as possible. But for cards like the ThreePhantomGods, Orichalcos, and the "Treasure Cards Falling from the Sky"—if you really went by their OCG effects, they'd be a bit too weak. So for the sake of the plot looking good, for some cards' effects, this author will choose to write them using their anime or manga effects.)

(PS: The author doesn't actually play Yu-Gi-Oh!, so this is just wishful thinking and nonsense writing.)