Chapter 2: On Bringing a System to Yu-Gi-Oh! to Become a Duelist

"Ring-a-ling~"

The bell for the end of class rang. Hayato Hayashi, sitting at his desk, closed his book and silently began to organize the notes he had taken during the lecture. On the podium, the teacher hadn't even finished tidying up his handouts before several restless students in the classroom couldn't sit still any longer. Without waiting for the teacher to leave, they excitedly gathered together.

"Hey, did you hear? That 'Devil Ushio' seems to have gone crazy and was sent to a mental hospital."

"That Ushio Tetsu? That’s great news! When did it happen?"

"Just this morning, by the tree at the school gate. Ushio was lying in a pile of fallen leaves and trash like a lunatic, muttering about 'money' over and over. A lot of people saw it."

"And I heard that he probably bullied someone he shouldn't have at school and got dealt with by people from the streets."

Listening to the voices coming from behind him, Hayato thought to himself: It’s true he bullied someone he shouldn't have, but the person who dealt with him wasn't some street gangster. You guys would never guess who it was.

Thinking this, Hayato turned his head and looked to the other side of the classroom. There sat a boy with colorful, starfish-like hair and a stature so small he didn't look like a high school student. At this moment, the starfish-haired boy was sitting across from a blonde boy, holding a few cards in his hands, seemingly playing some kind of card game.

"Sa, it's Jonouchi's turn."

A boy with a plain, unremarkable hairstyle—the kind that clearly didn't know how to play cards—approached the two sitting opposite each other. He reached out and naturally draped his right arm over the blonde boy's shoulder, wrapping it around his neck, and inserted himself into their game: "What are you playing, Jonouchi?"

"Ugh." The blonde boy, neck being tugged, pushed the boy's arm away with his free hand. He twisted his neck before proudly raising the cards he was holding to show them off. "What is it? You don't even know this? It's Duel Monsters, obviously."

"What kind of monster-fighting?"

The blonde boy grew impatient after only a few words: "You're noisy! Just go stand to the side and watch. If I lose to Yugi this time, it’s all your fault."

Saying this, the blonde boy pushed away the boy leaning on him and focused his attention back on the cards in his hand.

The boy who had been pushed away didn't get angry over such a small matter; it was clear that his relationship with the blonde boy was quite good. Watching the two focused individuals, the boy scratched his head, looking slightly troubled: "Geez, is this thing really that interesting? I don't see the appeal at all."

Hayato, who had stood up to head to the restroom, heard the boy's muttering. He glanced sideways at the boy's hairstyle and thought to himself: Can't help it. After all, Honda, your hairstyle is just too ordinary—it’s not even as wild as that unicorn-haired guy from the Conan show next door. Not getting the fun of card games isn't your fault.

As Hayato walked out of the classroom, he could still hear the voice of the girl standing next to the boy the blonde one had pushed away: "So-called 'Duel Monsters' is a game where you summon monsters onto a field and then use magic cards to coordinate attacks and defenses. It’s a very popular and famous game."

And in the future, playing cards can even save the world—more than once, Hayato added internally.

The name "Duel Monsters," while sounding quite unfamiliar, was much more recognizable by another name: "Yu-Gi-Oh!"

Initially, this was just a fictional game the author of a manga had come up with because he set the protagonist to be "good at all kinds of games." There were many such games. But unexpectedly, as the manga was serialized, many readers became particularly interested in this "Duel Monsters" game, leading to a major overhaul of the manga's setting, with the later parts focusing entirely on this one game.

And the manga title, "Yu-Gi-Oh," thus became synonymous with this game.

After a day, Hayato had barely accepted the fact that he hadn't been possessed or reincarnated, but had transmigrated into the world of "Yu-Gi-Oh" as an ordinary student at Domino High School. Even his name had changed from "Hayashi Hayato" to "Kobayashi Hayato."

What gave Hayato—or rather, Kobayashi Hayato (hereafter referred to as "Hayato")—some comfort was that his name from his previous life hadn't disappeared; it had simply been embedded into his new name.

Additionally, Hayato's luck was quite good. The class he was in happened to be the class of the "Yu-Gi-Oh" protagonist, Yugi Muto. The people in this class could be described as hidden dragons and crouching tigers

The officially designated strongest (underworld) duelist, Yugi Muto; Yugi's spiritual mentor and pseudo-heroine, Anzu Mazaki; The genius inventor and card-addict, the second protagonist, Seto Kaiba; The Level-Commoner, supreme gambling king, and third protagonist, Katsuya Jonouchi; The human vessel for the final boss, the Great Thief Bakura, who appeared in the first episode and managed to survive until the end, Ryo Bakura; And Honda Hiroto, who had used his iron fists to beat up the aforementioned good buddy of Jonouchi and was trying to transition into the role of brother-in-law.

What a star-studded lineup (tactical lean back).

Lost in his thoughts, Hayato finished his business and walked out of the restroom, wiping the water from his palms with a handkerchief.

Honestly, he didn't have much dissatisfaction with transmigrating into the "Yu-Gi-Oh" world. In his previous life, his parents had passed away early, he had no elders to support, he had never been married, and he hadn't left behind any regrets.

At most, it was not being able to wait for GTA6, the pre-ordered Kamen Rider toy he hadn't played with yet, and not having time to clear his D drive... The more he thought about it, the worse Hayato's expression became.

Change the train of thought, change the train of thought.

At the very least, while the world of "Yu-Gi-Oh" was dangerous, it was safer than those pure battle anime.

Even as an ordinary person with no power, one still had a sliver of a chance to resist when facing an aggressor—though it was more likely to be OTK'd by someone else's "God Draw" and card-printing. But at least it was better than being randomly killed by wild pirates or Menos Grande in worlds like "One Piece" or "Bleach," right?

Confirming that no one in the hallway was paying attention to him, Hayato carefully raised his hand and "tapped" the air in front of him as if casually.

A voice rang in Hayato's ear: [Beep, you King—your starter deck has arrived.]

Almost at the same time the mysterious voice vanished, Hayato felt his pocket sink. Reaching into it, he touched a square metal object.

Wiggle wiggle, please recommend~

(End of chapter)