"Dimensional Exchange Tournament?"
A chorus of students echoed the words.
A few days later, inside the principal's office, Hikaru and the other Keyholders stared at each other, clearly unfamiliar with the term. Only Chazz Princeton sighed in resignation, closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and put on the act of an expert.
"What is that?" Syrus asked excitedly, turning to Bastion.
"Uh… even if you ask me..." Bastion wiped the sweat from his brow. Even someone as well-read as him had no idea.
"Dimensional Exchange Tournament? Why bring that up now?" Chazz stroked his chin in confusion. "That's something KaibaCorp established, a yearly event for interdimensional dueling.
Although they call it 'another dimension, ' many of KaibaCorp's scientists prefer to refer to it as a 'parallel world. '"
"Huh? Chazz, you know about this?" Jaden asked in surprise.
"It's 'The Chazz!'" Chazz snapped back, veins bulging in frustration.
"So what's the full story, The Chazz?" Hikaru asked.
There were still many things in this world Hikaru didn't understand, and since Chazz seemed to know, he was more than happy to ask.
"It was three or four years ago," Chazz said, arms crossed and eyes closed in recollection. "That was when Dimensional Exploration suffered its first setback. No matter what direction we explored, we couldn't find a new dimension. The whole project was at a standstill. Then, in a dimensional transport tunnel, someone accidentally crashed into a strange ship."
"Yeah, a ship," Chazz nodded. "Looking back, it was actually pretty cool-looking. Anyway, because of that ship, my mentor discovered a new dimension, one later named 'World X'. To be honest, calling it another dimension is a stretch. It's basically a parallel world. And there are humans there!"
"H-Humans!?" Syrus and Chumley, who had never been to another dimension, exclaimed in shock and confusion, "Isn't that normal?"
"In fact, up to this point, that's the only world we've discovered with humans like us," Bastion added. "Now that Chazz mentioned it, I remember seeing the news back then. It was called 'The Discovery of the Century' or a 'Third Kind Encounter'."
"My mentor wasn't interested in that stuff," Chazz shrugged. "What caught his attention was, he heard that world had the 'Dark Magician. '"
"D-Dark Magician!?"
"That's Mr. Yugi Muto's ace card!" Jaden exclaimed, instantly fired up.
Before entering Duel Academy, he had met Yugi Muto and was gifted a 'Winged Kuriboh' by him. He held both deep respect and gratitude toward Yugi, so hearing about the Dark Magician naturally excited him.
"Honestly, I found it strange too. Mr. Yugi Muto isn't dueling anymore; he's supposedly transitioned into card design, but it's not like he's gone. So why was my mentor so fixated on finding a Dark Magician user?"
"Anyway, when he heard that the world had the Dark Magician, he immediately tried to visit. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let him. So, they reached a compromise.
KaibaCorp built a city in an empty dimension as a transfer station called Neo Domino City. Both sides can use it to access the parallel world."
Then he shook his head, "But my mentor's no longer interested. Apparently, the one he was looking for isn't there."
"That's right," Principal Sheppard nodded, continuing. "Even though KaibaCorp no longer sends invitations to that world, Neo Domino City was still completed and now acts as a bridge between the two worlds.
Every year, Neo Domino City hosts the Dimensional Exchange Tournament. Our world has seen both wins and losses, or rather, aside from when Kaiba himself entered, it's mostly losses."
Principal Sheppard shook his head. "Just recently, the Chairman proposed to KaibaCorp that this year's tournament feature youth students to see how the 'new generation' stacks up."
"We've mostly lost?" Even Zane exclaimed.
"So, Principal, what's your point?" Professor Crowler asked.
"Hehehe," the principal chuckled, a glint of excitement in his usually calm eyes. Even a gentle elder like him got excited over something like this. "Our Academy has been chosen to represent this year's Exchange Tournament! Representing our world, we'll face young duelists from the other side!
The whole trip will take about twenty days, a grand festival for new duelists! If you make a name for yourself in this event, it could really boost your future prospects as a pro duelist!"
"Whoa!" The students immediately rushed forward, excited.
"Principal! Pick me!"
"Principal, I—I—I want in!"
"Heheheh, Principal, you know I'm Kaiba's personal student, right?"
"Hey, that's cheap, Chazz!"
"Hohoho..." The principal laughed, enjoying the suspense. After a moment, he finally said, "Alright, settle down. KaibaCorp already decided, the top student from each grade will participate."
"Ah! That's not fair! I wanted to go too!" Alexis Rhodes's brief spark of hope quickly faded.
"Wait," Hikaru interrupted the commotion, frowning. "Principal, what about the Shadow Riders?"
"Eh!"
"Ah!"
The group suddenly remembered.
"That's exactly what I was getting to," Principal Sheppard said with a serious expression. "First, Hikaru, Zane, you two are confirmed participants. Professor Crowler, you'll be the accompanying instructor.
In other words, the three Keyholders."
"Those of you staying behind may face even tougher challenges." The principal looked at Jaden, Bastion, Chazz, and Alexis.
The group swallowed nervously while Jaden was the first to step forward and loudly vowed to protect the Keys.
"Principal…" Zane frowned. "I should stay."
"No way! This is a world-level event!" Jaden quickly objected. "You're our school's ace, Kaiser!"
He patted his chest and said, "We can't keep relying on you. Leave it to us!"
"Yeah, Kaiser, don't underestimate us." Chazz laughed.
Hikaru opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but stopped.
In the original, one big reason Jaden ended up isolated later on was that he truly trusted his fellow students, never expecting the most reliable one, Zane, would be physically 'removed'.
Now, this world's Zane hadn't been taken out by some vampire's dirty trick, yet was once again heading off to a faraway tournament.
Hikaru had wanted to ease Jaden's burden, but realizing he was leaving too, he dropped the idea.
"Still, Hikaru, Kaiser, even in Neo Domino City, you must stay on guard," the principal added. "The Shadow Riders move in secret, appearing and disappearing at will. Even in another dimension, they may strike."
Both nodded.
That's true. Since someone like Vampire Fraulein could be a Shadow Rider, encountering other members in another dimension wouldn't be strange.
"Then it's settled."
"I'll notify the second-year top student later. Professor Crowler, I'm leaving it to you."
"Don't worry, Principal!" Crowler pounded his chest with confidence.
…
Hikaru and the others boarded a KaibaCorp plane and arrived at the company's headquarters.
There, they saw the massive Blue-Eyes White Dragon statue, and beneath the facility's fixed interdimensional portal, they were transported to the city in the parallel dimension, Neo Domino City.
Honestly, it didn't look all that different from the Domino City Hikaru remembered, just with some dimensional flair and multicolored decorations.
And, the instant they arrived, Hikaru made a beeline for the card shop in the city.
"Boss, do you have any booster packs our world doesn't have? Bring them out, let me see!"
This is exactly what that scholarship was for!