"..."
Tenjo Hikari lay slouched in a chair in the hall of Duel Academy's lounge.
Professor Cronos, having just finished a meeting, returned to the lounge with Marufuji Ryo and another student, immediately noticing Tenjo Hikari.
Seeing the messy card packs on the table, the three of them immediately understood what Tenjo Hikari had been up to.
"Mamma mia, Tenjo-san, you claimed you were too sick to attend the Kaiba Company meeting, but you've just been opening card packs here?" Cronos looked regretful, "You've been tricked, Tenjo-san."
"Heh..." Even Caesar couldn't help but chuckle lightly, shaking his head, saying, "Hikari, the professor's right. Just now, the head of Kaiba Company advised us not to easily buy X Dimension's card packs.
Many of the X Dimension shops sell leftover card packs from their world. The chance of getting a Rare Card is almost zero, and even if you somehow pull a powerful Rare Card, like an X Dimension exclusive, it might be unusable in our world. You've been tricked."
"Of course I know that." Tenjo Hikari snapped back to reality and sighed, "I wasn't expecting to draw some Xyz Monster. I just didn't expect every pack to be full of Common Cards and R Cards. Am I really that unlucky?"
From the start, Tenjo Hikari's goal wasn't to pull an Xyz Monster.
After all, even if he did pull an Xyz Monster, his Super Polymerization would probably just show him what "fusion" means.
Of course, if he'd pulled one, that would've been better, as it might have fused into an Elder Entity, you know?
He was actually hoping to pull some cards not found in his world to use as Fusion Material for Super Polymerization.
In fact, he actually pulled two cards from the Ninja series, which could completely be used as Material for Ninja Fusion to feed Super Polymerization, making it worth the money spent, even surpassing expectations a bit.
"Oh? You already knew?" Caesar was a bit surprised, "Indeed, our opponents use something called the Xyz Summoning System..."
Caesar then frowned, looking puzzled: "It's said you can perform an Xyz Summon as long as the Monsters are of the same level... The people at Kaiba Company explained it clearly, but I'm struggling to understand."
This is true.
For a Duelist who grew up in the GX World, Caesar Ryo has spent a decade from childhood to now without seeing any Extra Deck cards other than Fusions. Even with an explanation from Kaiba Company, it's likely hard for him to grasp quickly.
Tenjo Hikari wasn't too surprised about contacting the Xyz World, because in Yu-Gi-Oh! A5, the Fusion Army's first invasion target was indeed the Xyz World.
Although his world isn't A5, there are indeed some similarities, so he felt quite normal about contacting the Xyz World.
"The tournament is in five days, for first, second, and third-year students respectively. Apart from our school, there are duelists from Kaiba Company, two Professional Duelists, and a dimension exchange conference.
Your duel is on the 10th day. That is, one week later."
After half a day of flying, they checked their bodies and tested Spirit abilities, which took another day.
Once in this world, it took another day, and the remaining time was left for them to "tour" around.
Incidentally, after Kaiba Company's tests, it's confirmed that Tenjo Hikari's Spirit Adaptability has reached "five-star," lifting him out of the four-star lower status and making him a noble Intermediate Spirit Master.
Tenjo Hikari nodded.
He didn't expect it to be so soon.
As time passed day by day, Tenjo Hikari saw more people from other worlds, but none he was very familiar with.
A week later, Tenjo Hikari was a bit worried about Judai and the others, anxious about the pressure Darkness Duel might put on Judai, yet he couldn't afford to ponder much, as he was about to step onto the duel stage.
The dueling arena was located at the top of a tall building, which was said to be the real-life venue where Muto Yugi and President Kaiba once battled — reminiscent of the Duel City stage.
Thud, thud, thud—
Lights from all directions flashed onto the stage, making Tenjo Hikari squint slightly, as countless cameras linked to the Dimension Gate started up.
Meanwhile, at Duel Academy, Judai, with several scratches on his face covered with bandages, shouted excitedly, "Ooooh! It's happening, it's happening!"
Ten days after another Seven Stars attack on the academy, leaving him a bit injured.
For a "world-class" tournament like this, Duel Academy didn't hesitate to suspend classes, allowing all students to watch, as opportunities like this are rare and might not involve their school next year.
Meanwhile, Tenjo Hikari saw his opponent taking the stage, unrecognizable at first glance.
The hairstyle was ordinary.
"Hello, I'm a freshman at Duel Academy, Tenjo Hikari."
"Ten... Tenjo?" The other paused briefly, shook his head, "I didn't expect to encounter a familiar name in the Otherworld. I'm a first-year at Heartland Duel Academy, Kunikawa Haruto, nice to meet you."
After greeting each other, Tenjo Hikari installed his Duel Disk, while Kunikawa Haruto directly pulled a monocle from his pocket.
D-Gazer.
"Duel!" x2.
Tenjo Hikari LP: 4000.
Kunikawa Haruto LP: 4000.
"My turn, draw!" The order of duke initiation was decided by a coin flip between Professor Cronos and a man named Mr. Heartland from the X Dimension. Tenjo Hikari and the second-year students would go second, Caesar Ryo would go first.
It's arguably the worst coin.
"I Normal Summon, Rescue Rabbit! Then I activate Rescue Rabbit's effect, banishing it from the field to Special Summon two LV 4 or lower monsters with the same name from the Deck! The monsters Special Summoned by this effect are destroyed at the End Phase."
"I banish Rescue Rabbit to Special Summon two Evilswarm Heliotrope!"
Wow—
Tenjo Hikari's eyes lit up.
Such a classic opening, he felt a bit nostalgic.
He couldn't help but reflect in his heart.
Camilla was right before. Although the world he was in developed much faster than the original timeline due to dimensional exploration, it was still too "ancient," unprepared to connect with a truly "Future World." It was indeed very dangerous.
Perhaps, this "Buffer Dimension" is not merely because Kaiba lost interest in that world; there might also be a thought of hiding and protecting his own world.
Otherwise, there might be an "Xyz invasion" against them.
After all, to Kaiba, Xyz Fusion might not matter, but to ordinary people, the gap was too big.
On the other side, the students were still puzzled. What use is this effect?
Even though two LV 4 monsters with 1950 ATK were Special Summoned, if they are destroyed at the End Phase, isn't that pointless?
"Heh heh heh, don't blink, okay!"
"The Summoning condition is two LV 4 Evilswarm Monsters. I overlay the two Heliotrope on the field to perform an Xyz Summon!"
"Overlay!?"
"Xyz??"
Kunikawa placed the two cards on the field on top of each other, then laid them horizontally on the Duel Disk and directly took a card from the Extra Deck, putting it on the field.
"Xyz Summon, Evilswarm Bahamut!"
An Ice Dragon revived from the darkness, then was covered in jet-black armor, emitting a terrifying, distorted scream. Dense black mist emanated from it, creating a hellish scene!
Evilswarm Bahamut, Rank 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon-Type, 2350 ATK.
"This—" Many students at Duel Academy watching the live stream were rendered speechless.
"Summoned a Monster with 2350 ATK with just one card..." Someone was dumbfounded.
"Xyz...Xyz..." Mitsuzawa Daichi was so shocked he almost fell off his desk.
"So, so cool, no need for Polymerization, just directly Special Summoned!?" Judai excitedly stood up, "Indeed, dueling is so much fun!"
Since the Seven-Star Incident, he hadn't been this excited for a long time.
"Haha, how about that, that's the power of dueling in the new era!" Kunikawa confidently placed another card, "Compared to you classics, this is progress!"
"For the past few years, our world has always been the victor. Before I came, Mr. Heartland also reminded me, even if they are newcomers, our duelists would certainly be more excellent!" he said confidently, "I will definitely win!"
"Progress, huh..."
Tenjo Hikari drew a card.
He had to admit, Xyz Monsters really could wreak havoc in the Forbidden Card list.
But that's because the Monsters were strong.
"Then, it's my turn."
"First, let me introduce myself. I'm a first-year student at Duel Academy, Ra Yellow, Tenjo Hikari, also a student of the Fusion Department."
"And then—"
His eyes narrowed, his hand shivered as he quickly drew out a Spell Card at light speed!
"Oh oh oh oh, here it comes, here it comes!!" Judai, watching the broadcast, cheered excitedly, raising his hands.
"Here it comes!" Many first-year students in the Fusion Department also jumped up excitedly, causing Akaba Leo, who was observing on the other side, to turn dark.
"Ha..." Professor Cronos in the audience gave a Pot of Greed smile, while Marufuji Ryo couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
Almost simultaneously—
Whether in this dimension.
Or among friends watching the live stream.
They all shouted the same slogan with Tenjo Hikari!
"Fusion is the noblest form of summoning!"