Domino City, birthplace of the greatest duelists in history, was seen as a symbol of modernization balanced with environmental preservation. Mirrored skyscrapers coexisted with suspended parks and tree-lined streets, and almost every corner featured some type of technology dedicated to Monster Duels.
Even so, for newcomers, the term "duelist" always caused confusion. Few could imagine that, there, it didn't refer to swordsmen or fighters, but to players capable of materializing creatures, spells, and traps from nothing more than simple cards... and a little of super advanced holographic technology
"I sacrifice my monster, and now I summon Curse of Dragon in attack mode!"
The firm voice of a boy echoed through the central plaza at the exact moment he slid a card into the device attached to his forearm. The Duel Disk lit up, projecting a so-called "dragon", emphasis on the quotation marks, with yellow scales and red details, right in front of everyone.
Around, the crowd reacted with a chorus of astonishment.
All eyes were fixed on the massive screen suspended at the center of the plaza. That duel was being broadcast live, pulling in spectators who, with every strike and summoning, held their breath as if they were watching Brazil's national team about to win the sixth World Cup.
"Look at this kid… he controls the field like he's already been in pro tournaments."
"Controls? He's straight-up humiliating the other duelist. Who handles a monster like that at such a young age?"
"Curse of Dragon… that's a rare card. Very rare. I'd give anything to have one of those in my deck."
"Don't even say it. I can barely pull one shiny card a month… That kid's luck is absurd."
"It's not just luck. Look closely: he's been holding two cards since the start. He's planning something."
"You really understand dueling, huh?"
"Me? Not at all. I just watch every tournament they show on this screen."
Subtle laughter rippled through the circle of spectators as the virtual dragon roared across the screen. The energy of the crowd was almost tangible, some cheered, others tensed up in anticipation, and some simply watched with that dreamy glint of someone who wished they were up there, dueling for the whole world to see.
"If I had a monster like that, I would've passed the Academy exam years ago…"
"Yeah… some are born with talent. Others with rare cards. And the rest of us? We just watch."
But no one looked away. The match was far from over, and everyone knew the next move could become legend, or a live disaster.
Amid that vivid scene, sitting on one of the benches, a young man watched everything intently.
His hair was a disordered mess of silver strands with dark green inner streaks, while his eyes were a striking shade of blue. Just those two distinctive traits alone already spelled in the cards that he'd become a great duelist.
His clothes didn't draw attention: a soft black T-shirt, a light jacket in pale gray with gold details, and a pair of dark blue jeans with factory-made rips at the knees.
He watched the battles unfolding on with curiosity. Bursts of light, victory shouts, giant creatures… everything looked way too real. Far too real for someone who, hours earlier, lived a normal life.
Not that he truly understood his own situation.
'Okay… let's break this down. I was on Discord, I remember that. One of my online friends, whose real name and face I have no clue about, asked something. What was it again? … Ah, right. He asked which anime world I'd choose to live in if I could. I thought for a few seconds, looked at my Dark Magician figure on the shelf in my room, and answered Yu-Gi-Oh without thinking too much…'
He ran a hand behind his head and grimaced, as if the memory brought physical discomfort.
'Right after that I took a hit to the back of my head and woke up here. Did someone break into my house…?'
Yuji straightened his posture on the bench, his heart speeding up as pieces began falling into place inside his head.
'Wait… hold up. Let's think this through. I was on Discord… answered Yu-Gi-Oh… got hit… woke up here…'
He blinked. Once. Twice.
Then his expression simply opened up.
'…My God. I got isekai'd.'
His eyes sparkled. His breathing quickened. The smile appeared before he could stop it.
'I. GOT. ISEKAI'D. HOLY SHIT!'
He nearly jumped from the bench, but restrained himself so he wouldn't look like a lunatic in the middle of the plaza.
'Dude… it finally happened. The ultimate fantasy of every living otaku! I'm not dreaming! I literally ended up in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! My deck is gonna be my power! My monsters are going to appear holographically! I'm gonna duel people who shoot lasers from their little plastic arm devices!'
His eyes welled up with pure emotion.
'IAteYourMother_323… you wonderful bastard. I never doubted you. I thought you were just another guy with no shame and no mother to put a nickname like that and go around interacting with strangers… but no! You were an R.O.B all this time!'
He placed a hand on his chest as if taking a sacred oath.
'Thank you, IAteYourMother_323. Thank you for sending me here. I swear I won't waste this chance. I'm going to live the best isekai possible! I'm gonna have a cool school life! I'm gonna become a duelist! I'm goi-'
His smile grew even wider, devilish.
'I'm gonna fix that ridiculous hair of Yugi Muto!!!'
The excitement exploded… and then slowly began to settle. Yuji inhaled deeply, trying to drag his own soul back into his body.
'Okay, okay… let's slow down. Before I start solving legendary protagonists' hair problems, I need to figure out where the hell I am.'
He looked around, analyzing every detail of the plaza, the buildings, the people's clothing, the monitor designs… and exhaled in relief.
'Thank the Egyptian gods… I'm not in Ancient Egypt. Hallelujah. Imagine being isekai'd there? Forty-degree heat every day, wearing a cloth skirt, working for free for a pharaoh, and watching Atem play stone tablets with real monsters inside. PASS.'
Just imagining it made him shiver as he adjusted the collar of his shirt.
'Okay. So… contemporary Yu-Gi-Oh era. Good. Very good.'
He observed the buildings, still modern, but not decked out in neon blue everywhere. People wore normal clothes. No floating skateboards. The Duel Disks? New… but not ultra-futuristic. And most importantly, no dueling motorcycles on sight.
'Alright, so I'm before season three. Because after that, the city turns into a Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, missing only cyber implants and Johnny Silverhand.'
He crossed his arms, thinking.
'That leaves… season one or season two. But which?'
As if the universe had heard his question and decided to answer in the most obvious way possible, the giant screen in the center of the plaza flickered, remaining black for a few seconds before displaying a high-definition image.
Seto Kaiba appeared in full screen.
The advertisement began with an epic soundtrack, dramatic enough to sound like a movie trailer.
"Attention, duelists..." said Kaiba, his voice firm and mildly arrogant. "Today is the last day of admission tests for Duel Academy. Exams will be held at 2 p.m. Don't miss your chance to join the best dueling academy in the world… and perhaps, one day, become the next King of Games."
The final line came with a dramatic sparkle in his eyes, clearly artificial.
"KaibaCorp wishes participants good luck."
The ad ended with the company's giant logo.
Two seconds of silence.
Then a passerby muttered:
"No way in hell Seto Kaiba said that himself. Bet he made that supercomputer of his put the whole ad together."
Meanwhile, Yuji stared at the screen with an expression of mixed confusion and disbelief.
"…Is this for real?"
The words slipped out barely above a whisper. He tilted his head, unable to believe he'd just seen Kaiba warmly encouraging young students. It was about as likely as finding a lost coin on the street in 2025.
Reality struck right after.
His eyes widened suddenly, as if lightning had struck his skull.
"…wait. Wait. WAIT." he whispered, freezing on the spot.
Out of nowhere, he began patting down his pockets, jacket, waistband, nearly panicking as he searched everything with frantic, clumsy movements.
"Where is it…? Where is it?! Where's that damn thing?!" he muttered through clenched teeth, bending forward, opening pockets he didn't even remember having, flipping the jacket lining inside out as if it were a life-or-death matter.
Some people nearby slowed down, throwing strange looks. He ignored all of them completely.
His focus was on a single objective. The idea of being transplanted into an anime without the basic survival items of a Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist was simply unbearable.
And then-
"FOUND IT!" he shouted, loud enough to scare an old lady walking by.
From the inner pocket of his jacket, Yuji pulled out two objects like someone who'd just found a lost treasure:
'Okay… whew. At least I have a ready deck. Even if it's a pile of level 4 monsters with 1500 attack, that's already great. It's more than enough to start.'
The urge to open the deck right there almost won. He wasn't exactly a hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh fan, but being in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh? That was a whole different story. ''When in Rome, do as the Romans'', right? And just imagining the absurd things that existed in that world thanks to shiny cardboard made excitement hit him like a wave.
But, for the first time since he'd woken up in that world, his conscience decided to work.
Priorities first.
He took a breath, pulled out his wallet, and removed everything inside, organizing it with the care of someone examining crime evidence.
Documents. IDs. Cards. Money.
The first thing he saw was his ID: a simple laminated green card containing things like his registry number, family information, etc. But the most important part was his name.
Yuji Kurogane.
'This is perfect… this is literally a protagonist buff.'
Every protagonist in the franchise followed the sacred rule: the name started with YU. It was the invisible seal that guaranteed epic adventures, monsters with unnecessarily dramatic effects and abilities that ignored about ten official rules.
Even Jaden from GX followed it: Jaden Yuki. In Japan, surname comes first. Yuki. YU. Natural order preserved.
'Yuji… YU-ji… This is like +777 luck right off the bat.'
He flipped the document to see the photo. And froze.
"What is that hair?!"
The picture showed him with a hairstyle so absurd it looked fake. But tugging on a strand falling over his eyes confirmed it, it was real. Completely real.
His hair had a highly suspicious two-tone gradient of dark-green to sliver-gray as natural as it can be in a n anime world.
'Okay, calm down… this is important. Very important.'
There was a second sacred rule in the world of duels: the weirder the hair, the stronger the protagonism. Yugi Muto wasn't the King of Games by luck or skill, it was because of that hair that defied every mathematical calculation of existence.
'If my name already buffed my luck… this hair just put my combat power above eight thousand. That's it. It's destiny.'
He placed the ID back into his pocket almost reverently.
'Alright, from now on I'm Yuji Kurogane, next King of Games and rich guy.'