"..."
Hikaru Amagi lay slouched in the Duel Academy dorm lounge, sprawled across a chair like a man who'd just seen the future and didn't like it.
Professor Crowler had just returned from a KaibaCorp meeting, flanked by Zane Truesdale and another student. The moment they stepped into the room, they spotted the chaos of ripped booster packs covering the table and instantly understood what Hikaru had been up to.
"Mamma mia! Amagi-kun, you claimed you had a cold and skipped the KaibaCorp summit… just to sit here cracking packs?" Crowler looked heartbroken. "You've been scammed, ragazzo."
"Heh…" Even Zane couldn't help but chuckle. "He's right. At the meeting, KaibaCorp's rep warned us not to buy X-Dimension booster packs lightly."
"Most of the shops here offload leftover sets from their own world. The pull rates for rare cards are nearly zero. And even if you do pull something powerful, there's a good chance that X-Dimension exclusive card won't even be playable in our world. You got played."
"I knew that," Hikaru muttered with a sigh. "I wasn't trying to pull some busted Xyz monster or anything. I just didn't think I'd get nothing but Commons and Rares. Am I really that unlucky?"
He hadn't even been aiming for Xyz Monsters. Honestly, even if he pulled one, his trusty Super Polymerization would remind it what real summoning looked like: Fusion.
Of course, if he had gotten something cool, maybe it'd be fusion fodder for an Elder Entity or something.
His real goal was simple—grab cards that didn't exist in his world, to use as versatile Fusion materials. And hey, he had pulled two cards from the Ninja archetype—perfect Fusion material. Honestly, that alone made the purchase worth it.
"You already knew?" Zane raised a brow, surprised. "Then you've heard—our opponents use a system called Xyz Summoning."
Zane's brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "From what I gathered… as long as you control monsters of the same Level, you can stack them to summon? KaibaCorp explained it, but it's… hard to grasp."
No surprise there.
Zane had lived in the GX era his whole life—fifteen years of seeing nothing but Fusion. No Synchro, no Pendulum, no Xyz. Even with a briefing, it was bound to feel like trying to read a new language.
As for Hikaru, he wasn't shocked. In Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, the Fusion Dimension's first invasion target was the Xyz Dimension. So even if this world wasn't that timeline, the fact that they'd contacted the Xyz world made perfect sense to him.
"The tournament starts in five days," Zane continued. "It'll go by school year—first-years, second-years, then third. Apart from our academy, KaibaCorp will send duelists too. Two pros will appear. Plus, there's a Dimensional Exchange Summit."
"Your duel's on Day 10. One week from now."
It had already taken a day to fly out, get medical scans, and Spirit Compatibility tested. Then another day just to reach this dimension. The remaining time? Allotted for "sightseeing."
Oh, and Hikaru's Spirit Compatibility? Officially rated ★★★★★ now. No longer a four-star scrub—he was a certified Mid-Tier Spirit User. Fancy.
Hikaru gave a subtle nod.
He hadn't expected that promotion to come so soon.
As the days passed, he started seeing duelists from other dimensions—but none he recognized. He was a little worried about Judai. Would the stress of another Shadow Duel send him spiraling again?
But there was no time to dwell on it.
His own duel was about to begin.
The arena was set atop a massive skyscraper. According to the staff, this was the very stage where Yugi Muto once clashed with Seto Kaiba—an old Domino City classic, brought to life.
THUD—THUD—THUD
Spotlights flared from all directions, flooding the stage in white brilliance. Hikaru squinted through the light, cameras linking across the dimensional gates.
Meanwhile, back at Duel Academy—Judai, bandaged and bruised from the latest Seven Stars attack, jumped to his feet.
"OHHHH! It's starting!!"
Ten days had passed, and yet another Seven Star had ambushed the Academy. Judai took a hit—but he wasn't down.
A world-class duel event like this? Of course Duel Academy suspended classes so the entire school could watch. Who knew if they'd ever be chosen again?
On the arena stage, Hikaru eyed his opponent—a first-year student as well, with a totally forgettable haircut.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hikaru Amagi, first-year, Ra Yellow."
"Amagi… Hikaru?" the boy blinked. "Didn't expect to hear a familiar name in another world. I'm Haruto Kunigawa, first-year from Shinen Duel Academy. Pleasure to duel you."
The two bowed. Hikaru readied his Duel Disk. Haruto, meanwhile, pulled a monocle-like device from his pocket and placed it over his eye—
A D-Gazer.
"Duel!" ×2LP: 4000 vs 4000
"My turn! Draw!" Haruto shouted.
The coin flip for turn order had been decided by Professor Crowler and some guy named Mr. Shinen from the X-Dimension. Hikaru got the short end: he'd go second. Zane had gone first. Classic coin-flip betrayal.
"I Normal Summon Rescue Rabbit! Activate its effect—banish it to Special Summon two Level 4 Normal Monsters from my Deck!"
"I Special Summon two copies of Evilswarm Heliotrope!"
Whoa—
Hikaru's eyes lit up.
Now that's a classic opening… He couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia.
He sighed internally.
Camula was right. Sure, his world had advanced rapidly thanks to dimensional tech… but it still wasn't ready. Facing a true future world like this one was flat-out dangerous.
Maybe KaibaCorp's distance from the Xyz world wasn't just disinterest—maybe it was caution. A buffer.
Otherwise… the roles could be reversed, and they'd be the ones being invaded.
After all, for someone like Kaiba, maybe Xyz versus Fusion was trivial—but for average duelists? That gap was massive.
Meanwhile, the students watching were still confused.
Two Level 4s? 1950 ATK each? But they'd self-destruct at end phase—what was the point?
"Hmph. Don't blink now!"
"Using my two Level 4 Evilswarm monsters, I Overlay! I build the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon!"
Overlay!?
Xyz Summon??
Haruto stacked the two monsters sideways on his Duel Disk. Then, from his Extra Deck, he slammed down a new card onto the field.
"Xyz Summon! Evilswarm Bahamut! Rise!"
A frigid wind howled. A dragon of ice erupted from the void—its body wrapped in dark armor, howling in twisted fury. A fog of black miasma burst from its wings, turning the field into a nightmarish battlefield.
Evilswarm Bahamut – Rank 4 / DARK / Dragon / ATK: 2350
"Whoa—"Students watching from Duel Academy fell silent.
"He summoned a 2350 ATK monster… from one card?"
"X…Xyz…" Misawa was so shocked he nearly fell off his chair.
"So cooool!" Judai leapt up, eyes gleaming. "No Fusion needed—just Special Summoned straight out! Duel Monsters really is the best!"
It was the most excited he'd felt since the Seven Stars mess began.
"Heh, this is the power of next-gen Dueling!" Haruto said confidently, setting a backrow. "Compared to your old-school style—this is progress!"
"For years now, our world has dominated in these tournaments. Before I came, Mr. Shinen told me: even if I'm a rookie, I'm representing the best. I will win!"
"Progress, huh…"
Hikaru drew a card.
He had to admit—Xyz bosses had definitely carved up the Forbidden List.
But that was because the monsters were broken.
"Then—my turn."
"First, some context. I'm a first-year, Ra Yellow. Hikaru Amagi. Member of the Fusion Department."
"And now—"
His eyes narrowed. His hand snapped forward. One card flew from his grip like a bullet—
A Spell Card.
"OOOOHHHH, it's happening! It's happening!!" Judai threw both hands in the air, watching the stream.
"It's time!" First-years in the Fusion Department leapt up in excitement. Watching from afar, Reiji Akaba scowled.
"Ha…" Crowler grinned like a Pot of Greed. Zane simply chuckled and shook his head.
And almost in unison—
Whether in this dimension…
Or across the livestream…
Every single voice shouted as one:
"Fusion is the most noble form of summoning!"