Yugioh 5Ds: Press Start To Begin

by R3AP3R03

When a young causal player is killed and sent to the world of Yugioh 5Ds by a mysterious figure called “The Guide”, he will be thrown into the responsibility of making sure the canon doesn’t get thrown off to much. Will he be able to guard the canon and keep things somewhat on track, or will he lose himself and be erased?

1. Tutorial

Hello new reader! I am R3AP3R and welcome to my story! Now the thing to know about me is that I love Yu-Gi-Oh. From the anime, to the TCG, to even the fanfics I love it and I've been meaning to write a fanfic about it for YEARS but I never got around to it because of High School and all that.

But now I am free from my bindings and I can now write more and more! There a few people I wanna speak for inspiration for this story, I doubt they'll ever read this but I just wanna say these people and the fics they have written have inspired this little gem of a story!

PandoraJail: This is a Arc-V fic writer and in my opinion are incredibly creative with their stories. If you haven't read Trading Game I highly recommend it if you enjoy what I make! I don't really enjoy Meta cards in Anime fics but they absolutely make it work and it's a joy to read!

Emblemfan1: I just found this guy out like…. Two days ago and their story is already one of my favorites. Staying in the Background is an incredibly fun take on the Self Insert trope and I'm going to be nabbing some of his ideas into this story because I fucking love it. Hope you don't mind!

Diabolic Tracer: One of the OG's when it comes to Arc-V fics. Arc-Tracer and Arc-Twins are some of the stories that I think started out my obsession with these kinds of stories. From their creative original created decks to the characters that they make, I believe they are one of the most creative when it comes to OC archetypes.

Now with THAT out of the way, I believe it is time to start this story! Ladies and gents, hope you all enjoy! Also the beginning half was written in 2020 and I decided to use the first chapter of one of my previous deleted fics as a basis!

---

"Anaconda, pitch Red-Eyes Fusion?"

Fuck.

"Bring out Dragoon?"

Shit.

"Uuuuuuh, pass?"

I sat there in silence as I had just watched the man in front of me combo off and then end with the most broken and somehow not banned card currently in the game, Red Eyes Dark Dragoon. I looked through the three cards I had in my hand…. One for One, Zombie World, and a Vampire Domain which I just drew. God if I had one monster I could at least bring something out but it would probably just get negated by Dragoon. I looked to my cards, hoping that something would just appear into my hand but sadly I was stuck with this.

"Well I guess I'll set one and-"

"Time in the round!" And before I could even put down a card, time was called and that meant that was that. I currently had 3200 life points while he had 6000.

"Oh GG my guy. You should really look into buying some hand traps."

"Yeah Good Game. Not much I could do after Dragoon hit the field. And I would, trust me I would but those cards are so expensive."

I'm a casual player. I grew up with the anime and was that kid who first showed up to locals having their deck in a tiny paper bag without sleeves, thinking that the mish-mash of cards would be enough to win. Surely I grew up and got better cards, sleeves, and all that but I guess that child like wonder of watching the anime still never left.

Plus Casual dueling was just more fun. More pure decks still had that anime feel that locals lacked. I tried using more meta cards but trust me… I'd much rather stick to pure.

I began to gather up my cards when I finally turned on my phone since I got into the shop. I usually turn off my phone here because I get distracted rather easily. As soon as I turned it on the phone lit up with around 30 notifications. "What in the-"

Mom: 'You dropped out!?'

Mom: 'I am very disappointed in you. What in the hell were you thinking?!'

Mom: Missed Call

Mom: Missed Call

Mom: Missed Call

That went on for a while….. I have a looooong sigh as I looked to my cards and began sorting them back into the pile when the game shop owner walked out of the back with the round sheet for the top 4. I knew I didn't top this week but it wouldn't hurt to try and look. And hey if I don't that means it gets me extra time to get done the like…. Oh wait. I don't have class work anymore.

Standing up from my chair I began to walk towards the sheet and gave a long drawn out sigh as I looked at the names. Yup… I was right. Didn't even make Top 5.

I turned on my heel and began to walk back to the table and then I noticed something. My cards weren't there. Did I drop them on the floor?

I looked around the table, around the chairs, around anything I could find near where I was sitting earlier but I came up short. How did I lose a small box of cards!? Ok…. I was slightly panicking as I tried to retrace my steps. Let's see I got up…. Walked over here… and then-

In the corner of my eye I saw a hooded person walking out of the store rather quickly. In his hands were new packs of cards…. And a purple deck box.

"Oh you son of a- HEY! STOP!" I yelled as I began to run towards the man but as I went to bolt towards the card thief he took off running out of the shop and into the parking lot of the shop.

"Mother fucker THERES NO EXPENSIVE CARDS IN THOSE-! ONLY SENTIMENTAL ONES MY GUY." Opening the door I raced out of the shop, spotting the man who was hauling ass down the road. Didn't seem he had a car… but getting in mine would take too long, as it was a piece of absolute shit so I decided to start run. Run as fast as I could to try and catch up with him.

It was around Late Fall getting almost to winter and almost 9:00 PM so it was extremely cold right now, the cold wind made my eyes water and my nose run but I kept running. Now I wasn't the most athletic person alive, not by a long shot so while I kept running my lungs began to burn, my breathing becoming wheezy…

We got to a crosswalk, the man pushing people out of the way and running out to the other side. Without staring at the crosswalk sign I bolted after him, trying to reach the other side but as I got halfway there the light turned green….

A car raced through the road, not slowing down….

The next feeling I felt was as if my whole entire body was nailed by a cannonball… I felt bones shatter, cold and hard pavement connect with my skin, and warm blood begin to flood through my hoodie. I was flung off my feet, being launched back by the force of the car…. I tried to scream but no sound came out.

I could feel my consciousness begin to fade. I was there in thee moment but I felt dizzy and light headed. I could hear people scream in horror and I could hear footsteps of strangers running out to check on me. Blurry faces of people I've never seen before stood around me. Trying to speak to me. I heard voices but they were muffled and inaudible.

"I'll….. I'll just rest for now….." I muttered to myself as my eyes began to grow heavy. Having no energy at all I closed my eyes… for what I assumed to be the last time.

---

"GAH!-!" I immediately jolted up from where I'd been laying, immediately getting light headed. Was that just a dream?! Am I alive?! I could have sworn that I had died. That felt so real.

"Mr. Cross!"

As that name was called, my attention snapped from where I was seated and I began to realize where I was. A classroom. Filled with about a dozen students, everyone of them staring at me. Immediately shrinking down into my chair, I looked at the man at the head of the classroom.

Dark green hair with a long wire-like mustache and bright yellow glasses. He wore a magenta colored suit with a green tie. "Mr. Cross! If you are so confident in your abilities that you choose to sleep in the middle of my lectures, tell me. I activate 'Soul Taker' to destroy your 'Peten the Dark Clown'. Can Peten's effect activate after it's destruction?"

I blinked in utter confusion. Was this a… Yugioh question? What is this guy on about!? "Um…. Huh?"

"Hm. Looks like you shouldn't be sleeping through my lectures Mr. Cross. Does anyone know the answer to my question?"

A hand shot up immediately. "I do, Mr. Heitmann!"

"Maggie! What is the answer to my question?"

Standing up was a tanned skinned girl with blonde hair put into twin drills. She wore this red academy uniform that every girl seemed to be wearing. There wasn't a hair out of place, not a blemish on her skin. "Peten's effect wouldn't activate as Soul Taker's ability would make the monster's effect miss timing."

"Absolutely correct Ms. Kitaki! Wonderful job. As for you Mr. Cross, pay attention in class and maybe your grades would be better." The teacher, now named as Mr. Heitmann, sneered as a few chuckles echoed throughout the class. I could feel my face getting warm from embarrassment.

Maggie shot me a smug look and sat back down, giving a small 'Hmph!' In my direction.

"Where am I…?" I quietly muttered to myself, looking at the desk I was seated in.

[Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to your new life!]

"…what?" A blue screen popped in front of my face, but no one seemed to notice.

[You have been selected at the time of your death to aid in a problem that could destroy this universe in trade for a new afterlife. How Exciting!]

So I did die. Why am I not freaking out as much as I thought I would?

[That's one of your Gamer Abilities. The crushing realization of your own death as well as the concept of true reincarnation would destroy your mortal brain]

"Wait… Gamer Ability?!"

"MR. CROSS!"

My eyes snapped to a very angry Mr. Heitmann. I think I spoke to loud. "If you don't wish to be in my class you don't have to be Mr. Cross. I will happily give you a fail. Maybe Ms. Bartlet will allow you to join in with the younger students."

I bit my tongue to not say anything in retort. This is exactly the reason I dropped out of my own school. Looks like in every world, most teachers are assholes.

[You have received a message!]

[Opening Message…]

[Greetings Mortal! I hope the drop off didn't mess you up that much! Anyway you may be asking why you are here. Well! I need help with a little problem I created and you were the first person that I could put into a human body! How fun!]

[Now don't worry, I got permission to do this from the Big G himself to do this so think of this like… weird restart. You know those silly little stories you love to read? Well I dropped you in one of those scenarios. Now I won't bore you with the whole Tutorial thing cause I bet you know how that goes. Just say 'Menu' and go from there.]

[Oh! And one last thing! Don't fuck up the time line here too much. You can change some things but I would hate for this whole thing to have erase you! So no offing anyone important that doesn't need to be offed! I'll tell you your true objective later! Ta Ta!]

[XOXO, The Guide]

….

…..

…..

I sat there in stunned silence as I read the entire message. This left me with more questions than fucking answers but beggars can't be choosers. But still for someone to be so casual at…. Well death. Taking a deeeeep breath in.

"Think… think on the bright side…" I muttered, trying to think of a upside to this situation. "At least I'm not dead. Yeah. That works…" Well I guess I can try it out.

"Menu."

[Thank you for opening up the 'Gamer Menu' for the first time! Before we show your menu, please choose your difficulty!]

[Story: You will basically never loose unless you choose too. Your opponents decks will be severely nerfed, filled with thematic Normal Monsters, No Synchros, and very poor Spells and Traps. Note from The Guide: This option is for cowards and piss-babies. Gonna choose this, Piss-Baby?]

[Easy: A bit more difficult than Story but anyone with a basic understanding of the game will be able to win most if not all duels. A bunch of misplays, less than optimal plays, while your draw luck is increased. Note from The Guide: Fucking Noob option. You aren't a beginner! CHOOSE SOMETHING ELSE!]

[Normal: You and your opponents' draw luck are neither increased nor decreased. Decks may be made more optimal than the anime, but won't include any non-archetypal cards from beyond the 5ds era. Recommended for those who want to leave their victory to chance. Note from The Guide: This is the vanilla ice cream of difficulty. Basic bitch difficulty]

[Hard: Draw lucks are reversed from the [Easy] difficulty. Decks will be made more modern, using cards up until the most recent set upon your demise while you can use up until 'Extreme Victory'. Note from the Guide: NOW WE ARE TALKING! Choose this one!]

Is this guide rooting for my demise?

Well even though 'The Guide' wants me to get my ass whooped I'm just gonna choose Normal. While I don't distrust my skill, having up to the point of pre-zexal era while everyone else can drop out Albaz doesn't seem the most… fair.

[Normal has been selected! Now onto the Menu!]

[The Gamer Menu]

[Stats]

[Friends]

[Store: Locked]

[Messages]

"That's a rather…. Small menu."

Going down the list I looked at the different selections. Hey! Store! If this is the 5ds Universe at least I can keep myself ahead of the curb.. Stats was most likely the most obvious one, be it your normal strength and dexterity stats or something else entirely. Messages was already used but the store is what I'm kinda most excited for. But why was it locked? That's a bit unfair don't ya think?

"Stats."

[STATS]

[Name: Alexander Cross]

[Age: 17]

[LV: 0 (100 XP to LV Up!)

[Title: New Domino Academy Student (0% Win Rate)]

[Deck: Beginner Zombies]

[DP: 0]

Hooray! I'm fucking broke. And 0% Win Rate?!

So let's break this down. Gamer fanfic ripoff afterlife, now you in Yugioh… 5ds given the title and what the difficulty settings said. How do I get money? Win duels? Do I need to get a job?

"Hey! Pssssst. Alex! Pssssst."

"Should I find the main characters as quickly as possible… or that might be a bad idea since I can't mess up the timeline. What even am I supposed to do here…?"

"Buddy? Pssssst. Alex!"

"But what if I mess something up? Like Jack wins against-" A small paper ball nailed me in the head, sending me out of my thoughts. I whipped around to see a girl with bright green hair, with a couple of purple hair clips holding some of it sitting right beside me. She looked at me with a tad bit of worry. "Yo. Alex. You got the notes for the last couple minutes? I completely spaced out."

"Huh? Oh- Uh…" I stared down at my blank page. "Nope."

"Come on man- we can't both space out-"

[To see who this is, say 'Observe'. No one will see it if you say it]

"Observe?"

As that was said, a small box appeared over their head.

[Name: Erika]

[Age: 17]

[Title: New Domino Duel Academy Student (80% Win Rate)]

[Origin: Yugioh Duel Links]

[Relation: Positive (Friend)]

A duel links character?

"Are you alright? You've been spacing out for the entire class." Erika said in a whisper. Think of a lie, think of a lie.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Just having a bit of trouble focusing." I lied as naturally as I breathed. But what else are you supposed to do when someone you just met is labeled as your 'friend'? But it's nice to not be completely friendless in a new world.

"Is it about the duel test today? Don't worry, just rip off the bandage! It's not like you'll do worse than you did last time!" The green haired girl said, trying to give me words of encouragement. I had to take a pause after that.

"Wait? There's a test?"

"….did you forget?"

WHY WOULD THEY DROP ME OFF WHEN THERE'S A FUCKING TEST?!

"Ms. Erika! Mr. Cross! Now that I see you two are so eager to start the dueling test that you both are talking about it in my class, may the two of you like to start?" Mr. Heitmann asked, looking at me with a slight scowl towards me. "Start the bar low."

An 'Ooooooo' echoed throughout the class as I stood up. The classroom had a large, almost gymnasium attachment to it with a duel field. "You forgot your duel disk, Mr. Cross."

More chuckles echoed through the class. Man, I guess whoever this Alexander Cross wasn't the most…. Popular of students.

I jogged bag to my desk, grabbing a real, genuine, 5D's era duel disk. This was actually happening? But why? Who cares at this point though! That's a question for future me. Current me has a DUEL DISK! Erika leaned towards me, whispering in my ear. "Hey, if you want me to throw the game I can. I got a C in this, I'm good on my end-"

"Nah I'm good! I uuuuh…. I can't get any better if I'm not actually trying! Yeah that's it." I whispered back. Erika nodded back and went to the other end of the duel field.

[New Story Quest!]

[Tutorial]

[Objective: Defeat 'Erika' and pass the test. On Success: +1000 DP, Unlock 'Store' on Menu, Reputation [Erika] Up, [Erika] Upgraded to 'Friendly Rival', +100 XP. On Failure: Gain title 'Failed Student', -1000 DP]

[Bonus Objective(s): Win without taking any damage, Synchro Summon a monster, Attack Directly (5) times. Rewards on Success: +50 XP and +100 DP for every Bonus Objective completed]

"Looks like Erika has an easy A." The girl who answered Mr. Heitmann's question earlier, Maggie I think it was? Anyway, way to be a Regina George.

…God I'm gonna miss musicals in this world.

"Hey, don't be mean. He's trying his best." A young male voice called out in response. This started a bunch of chatter amongst the class as me and Erika stood across from each other, Duel disks at the ready.

"You ready, Buds?" Erika called out with a large smile.

"As I'll ever be?"

""LET'S DUEL""

{Alexander Cross: 4000 LP}

Vs.

{Erika: 4000 LP}

Turn 1: Alexander (5 cards in hand)

"If you wanna take the first move you can!" Erika called out.

This deck sucks. But hey! I can win with this hand! At least it had some protection but calling it a 'Zombie deck' isn't really true. More like stall with added Zombies. I'm changing that immediately. "Fine. I draw!" Well at least I can do something.

"I set two cards face down and a monster face down!" As I spoke and placed the cards on the disk, like in the anime they appeared at my feet. "That's so COOL!" I exclaimed, gaining a questioning look from my 'best friend'.

"Oh right. I've done this before. I end my turn."

Turn 2: Erika (5 cards in hand)

Erika looked down at her cards, a look of almost slight remorse and regret but she sighed. "Here we go, buds! I draw! I summon Dragunity Brandistock! [LV 1, 600 ATK] Then I activate the effect of DragunityArma Mystletainnto send my Brandistock to the graveyard in order to special summon itself! Come on out, Dragunity Arma Mystletainn!" [LV 6, 2100 ATK]

What appeared in the spot of the much smaller dragon was a large winged dragon with beautiful yellow armor, muscles like a bodybuilder, and a sword about the size of myself. An actual solid vision hologram. "Oh I am SO EXCITED!"

"Glad to hear it, Buds! Now Mystletainn's effect activates. I can target a Dragon-type 'Dragunity' monster and equip it to Mystletainn! So I choose Brandistock! And whenever Brandistock is equipped to a monster, that monster can attack twice during the Battle Phase!"

"See! I was right! Easy A! As expected from a commoner!" Maggie exclaimed from her seat. She could be much more kind, ya know?

"Sorry Bud. But you told me not to hold back. Mystletainn! Attack his face down monster!" The dragon swung its sword down in arc, producing a large beam of force that went surging towards me before a large cylinder appeared in front of me.

"Wait-"

"Honestly, thank you so so much for overextending on the second turn. Magic Cylinder baby! For the uninitiated, this card negates your attack and then you take damage equal to the damage I would have taken! Fun, right?"

{Erika: 4000 – 2100 = 1900}

Wow. Am I sure that this wasn't set to easy?

[This is the tutorial]

Yeah I know that. Screw off.

"Cocky are we? Well I still have Life Points. So don't count me out just yet!" Erika exclaimed. "Because I don't trust that face down, I end my tur-"

"I activate Ring of Destruction!" I interrupted Erika as a collar of flames appeared around the neck of the dragon. Erika's eyes went wide as she realized what happened. "Oh you son of a-"

A large blast of fire covered the entire field with her monster imploding in on itself.

{Alexander Cross: 4000 – 2100 = 1900 LP}

{Erika: 1900 – 2100 = 0 LP}

{WINNER: Alexander Cross}

The class went silent.

"He… won?" Mr. Heitmann questioned, dumbfounded at what he'd just seen.

"YES! HAH! I NEW YOU COULD DO IT!" Erika screamed out, scooping me up in a hug. "I WAS SO WORRIED YOU'D FAIL!"

"Erika- please put me down. You're crushing my bones-" This girl has the grip strength of a gorilla, dear god. But in the corner of my eye, I saw something. She didn't put her hand away.

Heavy Storm. She went easy on me.

A small window appeared in front of my eyes as I came to this realization.

[Congrats! Objective Complete: Win the duel. Rewards: Rival 'Erika' unlocked. +1000 DP, 'Store' unlocked, +100 XP. 0 Bonus Objective(s) completed]

[LV UP! LV increased to LV 1]

That doesn't feel like a victory. Like, yeah I'd much rather not have the title 'Failed Student' but it doesn't feel right. But nonetheless, it worked!

"Congratulations Mr. Cross. You haven't failed yet. But it does make me wonder how you would have fared against someone who doesn't have a positive attitude towards you…" Mr. Heitmann said, squinting at the two of us in suspicion. "But if you would have your seats, the next duels are about to begin."

Cool. Rip off Crowler has it out for me.

---

*BRIIIIIIIIIIIING*

"Looks like that is all the time we have for today class. Please make sure that you study for the next exam and that the Class Representative Tournament will be soon! Class is dismissed."

I totally tuned out the last… hour and a half of class. It was interesting at first but it's kinda boring when there isn't epic orchestral music and shining lights. I guess that's only for important moments.

"Hey buds! You did great out there!" Erika said, gathering her things.

"Thanks… I guess? I don't really know how to respond to this."

"Don't worry about it! I knew you'd eventually win! Now it's only uphill from here!" She tried to give a proud and happy smile, showing her belief in me. "Hey! You're now 1-9 in test duels! And now that you won again we can start a streak!"

Good lord. How bad was this guy before I showed up?! "Well let's actually hope-"

"Ohohohohoho!" Was that an Ojou-sama laugh?

Walking towards the desk was Maggie and now that I look at her, she does look like a princess.

"Just because he won a duel doesn't mean that he's going to be the next King. He's still nearly failing but that's to be expected on a commoner. Ahahahahahah!" She put her hand in front of her mouth and continued to laugh.

"Observe."

[Name: Maggie Kitaki]

[Age: 17]

[Title: New Domino Duel Academy Prodigy (100% Win Rate)]

[Origin: Tag Force]

[Relation: Negative (Bully)]

"Get out of here, Maggie. We're celebrating." Erika glared as Maggie crossed her arms.

"What!? It's not like you can prove me wrong! The commoner got one lucky win with cards that anyone could have one with if their friend was helping them out."

"What did you say you spoiled little-"

"Well! This has been very eventful and thought provoking but imma head out. My uh…. My…. I ran out of excuses, I'm just gonna leave." I immediately grabbed my things and ran out.

I hadn't had time to myself since I got here, so I haven't been able to have time to process this. I'm in another world…. I have a different life. I'm not me anymore. Does this still count as me? Was my previous life even real?

Shit. How is my mom grappling with the fact that her only son died because his shiny pieces of cardboard.

….

….

….

But maybe I can make the most of this.

My previous life. The one I lived before, with a shit nine to five job, expectations to be the smartest or be nothing, burnt bridges, all of that is now erased. And while this does weigh on my conscious… I can be something here. A champion, an idol, an inspiration.

I get to start again.

Just gotta fix my grade first and my reputation as a loser and I should be fine!

Yeah… should be fine.