Konami POV

It's been a few weeks since I arrived at Duel Academy, and it's been a surreal experience. Despite my wariness due to the plot and all the dangers that are involved with it, a part of me can't help but marvel at having a childhood dream realized. I'm at Duel Academy, a school that teaches you how to play a children's card game as a professional career. Millions of children both in my original world and in this one have dreamed of attending, and here I am.

I grew up watching GX, playing the games, reading the manga; I was a complete sucker for Yugioh as a whole. I still remember the dub opening; all the memes, the memories. If I'm being honest, once I got some privacy I ended up crying a bit over it all. It was stuff like this that reminded me why I was so happy when I first realized where I had been reincarnated. Unfortunately, the things I had already experienced along with Meta knowledge of what's to come put a damper on things.

Another source of worry is that differences from canon keep seeming to pop up, which makes me wonder how much my Meta knowledge will even help. I had been welcomed into the Red Dorm by Dr. Banner and Midori Hibiki. This already means that the anime and manga are mixed in some way. Another new change is that my temporary roommate is Blair Flannigan. Now normally she should be too young to attend the Academy. She sneaks in for an episode in Season 1 then officially joins early at the end of Season 2. Instead she's a late arrival like me, with her being aged up and having issues with paperwork being the reason she was late and put in Slifer.

Normally with the new Dorm system she would be rooming with the other girls, but apparently her paperwork issues meant the Academy wasn't fully prepared for her. They thought she was a male student so they needed time to clear up another room in the Slifer Girl's dorm, which is just a separate building next to the Slifer Boy's dorm.

All this to say, due to logistical shenanigans, Blair and I would be roommates for a while. Understandably, it took a while for us to get over how awkward it was but luckily for me, Blair was pretty chill about it after we spent some time together. We've set some ground rules to help make sure we avoid any potential embarrassing issues and to make sure we both get some privacy.

Speaking of Blair, she's been a rather pleasant roommate so far. I don't know if it's because she's a girl or if it's a personal trait of hers but she's really organized and good about keeping her things in order. We share chores and get along pretty well. It helps that she isn't a one note character like she was in the anime. I liked her in the show because she was fun but the lack of screen time and development she and many other characters suffered left her rather bland. But now as a real person, she has a lot more than her Maiden in Love schtick to offer.

She still does the Maiden in Love thing but it's not the core of her character. She's already looking for potential pairings among our fellow students as well as potential love interests for herself. She's even tried to rope me into her antics which has been an interesting experience. It kind of feels like I'm having my own slice of life episodic adventure like Jaden was in the original show.

Speaking of Jaden, he's formed his canon friend group with Syrus and Chumley. They also have Alexis and Chazz showing up from time to time as well. Meanwhile, Bastion ended up hanging out with me and Blair.

Apparently, he wanted to meet us because our entrance exam scores matched his own. Bastion and Blair scored similar results with Bastion doing better on the written exam but having scored less than Blair on the practical due to him taking a lot of Lifepoint damage for his strategy, which was deemed risky since had he gotten countered he could have lost the duel. Meanwhile, I scored the highest among us since my written exam scores were barely below Bastion's and my practical exam scores were also near perfect.

So now while Jaden is off doing his canon shenanigans, I've been doing my own thing with my own friend group. That's not to say we're completely disconnected from Jaden's group. Bastion met Jaden and Syrus at the entrance exams and has a small rivalry currently going with Jaden. Plus, Blair and I share a dorm with Jaden so we run into him from time to time. The guy's friendly and energetic, which is to be expected. But it's a lot more interesting to learn about the things he enjoys outside of dueling, like how he's a big fan of most sports with something like tennis being an outlier. Baseball is a personal favorite of his.

I already knew that these guys aren't just characters from a show or manga anymore. They're real people with complex emotions but actually spending time with them and experiencing it for myself has made it all the more real to me. It reminds me a lot of my previous adventures but I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing. I start to wonder if things would be easier if they had actually been hollow caricatures like their show counterparts. Them being so human makes it easier to connect with them, and I know that's just going to lead to a lot of headaches in the future with what's in store for us. Yet I can't just ignore them either. That wouldn't be fair and ultimately it won't even help in any way.

Why did reincarnating into a world revolving around a children's card game have to be so god damn complicated?

-Linebreak-

Bastion POV

As far back as he could remember, he had always been an intellectual. It was something that ran in his family. His father was a scientist who specialized in chemistry and his mother was a medical researcher. He had an uncle who worked as a professor at a prestigious university and an aunt who worked in robotics for Kaiba Corp. It was the same for the rest of his family as well. Grandparents, cousins; they all had a background in various academic fields.

He was no exception. Looking back at his childhood, Bastion could say with confidence that he was born with a fascination for research. Despite his family emphasizing the importance of academics, they were kind and did their best to make it fun for him. He reciprocated that kindness by putting his full effort into his studies and even when he made mistakes, his family always supported him and encouraged him to do his best. Failure was never a mark of shame, simply an opportunity for greater learning.

So he studied, and he loved every moment of it. He learned chemistry from his father and his mother taught him all the best ways to maintain his health. Even when Bastion expressed his desire to seek a career with Duel Monsters, his parents gave him their unconditional support and encouraged him to learn and grow. Academia was not about seeking glory through awards or a prestigious job. It was a way of life, to seek greater knowledge and further understanding of the world. So Bastion was determined to learn and understand all he could about Duel Monsters, and to make the family who taught him so much proud of the son they had raised.

He spent countless hours researching strategies and deck recipes. Experimented with various cards and combos, trying to find clues to an optimal formula for victory. He dueled many opponents, collecting as much data as possible. He entered tournaments to gain experience and to prove his theories to the world.

He had successes and he had failures. He was often able to place highly in Junior League tournaments, but he always seemed to fall short of the top spot. Prominent rising stars always seemed to outdo him. People like Zane Truesdale, Chazz Princeton, and Alexis Rhodes. Bastion also remembered another rising star who some believed to be the next coming of Zane Truesdale. Konami Murasaki, an opponent he never got the chance to face before his tragic kidnapping. Even when he was found a few years later he never returned to the Junior Leagues.

Bastion felt some sympathy for him but knew he had no place involving himself. So he focused on the next stage of development for himself as a duelist; Duel Academy. The most prestigious school for those seeking a career related to Duel Monsters, whether that be as a Pro Duelist, a Card Designer, a Manager, or even a Technician for the many advanced pieces of technology used in the game. As a school funded by Kaiba Corp. directly, it even promised a bright future for those who chose to pursue a more conventional career due to the sheer prestige that came from graduating from a place founded and supervised by Seto Kaiba himself.

He studied rigorously for the entrance exams and constructed a new experimental deck for the practical. The written exam was fairly simple and straightforward. The only questions he had any form of difficulty with were with some of the dueling related questions that had open ended solutions. He could tell that the purpose of these questions were to give the staff a chance to examine the creativity and preferred playstyles of the potential students while testing their problem solving abilities.

In the end, he was confident in his performance on the written exam and chose to focus on preparing for the practical dueling exams that were set to take place a few days later. He reviewed his deck recipe, ran simulations for his combos, and made any edits to his card selection he felt would optimize his chances of victory.

Finally, it was the day of the practicals and Bastion could hardly contain his excitement. He made sure to arrive early even though he knew he was scheduled to be one of the last to duel. This would allow him to analyze his potential peers and perhaps socialize and make some friends. His dedicated focus to improving himself often led to him being isolated by his classmates over the years, but he was sure that in a school specialized in Dueling he could find people to bond with. Friends and rivals, both were welcome and would help spur his growth.

He saw many interesting duels. Chazz and Alexis were some of the obvious highlights. Bastion remembered how arrogant Chazz was during his early career in the Junior Leagues. In contrast to those memories, the current Chazz was still confident but that confidence was now tempered by experience. He remained cool-headed even when his proctor tried to goad him and ruthlessly crushed his opponent for a convincingly one-sided victory.

Alexis was perhaps even more brutal. If Chazz was cool, then Alexis was ice cold. Bastion felt that she wasn't even truly acknowledging the proctor as her opponent. It felt more like she was looking past the proctor, towards someone or something else. She was clinical and had no mercy, winning the duel in only a few short turns. He saw her looking around, as if searching for something before she left the arena.

It was somewhat strange behavior but it had nothing to do with him. Bastion distracted himself by watching the other duels. There was a girl who used a rather unique control strategy, forcing her opponent to attack her monster only to take control of the attacking monster and using it to boost hers.

At last, he was called and Bastion quickly made his way to the arena.

"Alright applicant, the rules of this practical exam are simple. I'll be dueling you with a Test Deck to assess your dueling ability. The results of the duel will have an impact on your grade but losing does not necessarily mean you fail. Alternatively, winning does not guarantee that you pass. Finally, any attempts at cheating will result in an automatic fail. Is all of that understood?"

The Proctor explained while setting up his Duel Disk. Bastion simply nodded as he did the same.

With both parties ready, they started the test.

"Duel!"

"Duel"

Bastion: 4000 LP

Proctor: 4000 LP

"For the sake of the assessment, you will be allowed to take the first turn applicant." The Proctor says while crossing their arms.

Bastion wasn't sure if this was an attempt at intimidation as part of the exam or if the examiner was looking down on him but either way he planned to take advantage of this chance to set the pace of the duel.

"Very well, I draw."

Six cards in his hand, but it seemed he was unlucky. His current deck was built around pressuring his opponent by summoning powerful monsters quickly and harassing them with damage from his spells and traps mixed with some protection of course. His current hand consisted of Luster Dragon #2, Barrel Behind the Door, Call of the Haunted, Reload, The Fiend Megacyber, and Magic Jammer. Nothing he could use immediately but strong enough that he was irked that he had to send them back to the deck with Reload if he wanted to try and draw something else.

"I activate the spell card Reload. With this card I can send the rest of my hand back to my deck, shuffle, and draw cards equal to the amount I sent back. Since I sent five cards back to my deck, I draw five new cards!"

His new hand wasn't much better but he could at least make some moves now.

"I summon Axe Raider in attack mode. Then I will set one card face down and end my turn."

In front of Bastion a barbarian-like warrior wearing golden armor and wielding a hand axe appeared and let out a defiant roar. A large face down card also appeared in front of him.

Axe Raider: 1700 ATK

"A rather lackluster start. I hope that's not the best you can do."

The Proctor seemed unimpressed.

Bastion made sure to keep his composure as he responded. The duel had just begun and he would have plenty of opportunities to show his ability.

"I assure you, there is far more to come."

"We'll just have to see about that. Draw!" The Proctor began his turn without delay.

"I'll start things off by summoning Goblin Attack Force in attack mode. Then I'll have my monster attack your Axe Raider. Go! Goblin Assault!"

A group of Goblin armed with clubs appeared in front of the Proctor. Brandishing their weapons, they let out a battle cry as they charged.

Goblin Attack Force: 2300 ATK

"Not so fast! I activate my face-down, the trap card known as negate attack. This card stops your attack and forcibly ends the battle phase."

Bastion's face down card revealed itself, creating a barrier that pushed the Goblin Attack Force back to the Proctor's side of the field.

"Fine, then I'll end my turn by placing a card face down." The Proctor says while the hologram of his card appears in front of him.

"Then it's my turn, I draw." Bastion declared while looking at his hand. He had four cards in his hand, Axe Raider on the field, and his opponent had Goblin Attack Force, a face-down card, and four cards in their own hand. He could work with this.

"First, I activate the spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your face-down card."

Intense winds were bursting from his card, blowing away The Proctor's set card, Trap Hole, before destroying it. Perfect, with that trap removed he could focus on overcoming the Goblin Attack Force's formidable attack power.

"I tribute my monster in order to summon the mighty Beast of Talwar in attack position."

Axe Raider was engulfed in a pillar of light. As the light died down a fearsome demon had replaced the axe wielding warrior. The monster had green skin with black accents, blue bat-like wings, and two large blades it held in its hands.

Beast of Talwar: 2400 ATK

"Go Beast of Talwar, destroy the Goblin Attack Force with Twin Blade Slash!"

Bastion's monster let out a roar before leaping into the air. It circled over the goblins before swooping down and destroying them in a single swing of its two blades.

Proctor LP: 3900

"I will end my turn with that."

Bastion said with confidence. The field was now empty with the exception of his powerful monster. This should keep the Proctor on the defensive, allowing Bastion to gather resources and build up his field so that he can take the teacher down before they can fight back.

"It's my turn, I draw."

The Proctor pauses to look at his hand before making his move.

"I'll admit, your last move wasn't half bad. You managed to destroy my monster while also dealing with my face down card. However, you have another thing coming if you think you'll be keeping this lead. I summon the Exiled Force."

A group of armed men appeared, each wielding various weapons ranging from swords to spears.

"Now I can use my monster's effect! By tributing this monster, I can destroy your Beast of Talwar."

The group of warriors charged at Bastion's monster. The demon was more powerful and managed to slay most of them with ease, but their reckless zeal allowed them to impale the beast on their weapons as they died. Both monsters were slain in mutual destruction.

"I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

Bastion grimaced at the loss of his monster. The silver lining was that his opponent was forced to leave their field open but that wasn't taking their face down into account. This could be the perfect opportunity to attack and deal tremendous damage but it might also be bait leading him into a trap.

As he drew his next card Bastion silently bemoaned his tendency to overthink. This would be simple if he had another card that could destroy spells and traps but he hadn't drawn anymore since his Mystical Space Typhoon which he already used.

No. He couldn't afford to be meek right now. This duel was too important for him to be paralyzed by indecision, he had to be bold and decisive or else he won't survive in a prestigious school like Duel Academy.

"From my hand I summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!"

A vicious man with beast-like features appeared on his field. It wielded a polearm with blades on both ends and had powerful muscles rippling throughout its body.

Vorse Raider: 1900 ATK

"Now Vorse Raider, attack directly with your Berserker Blade Rush!"

Vorse Raider let out a roar before running towards the Proctor. As it ran it through its weapon like a lethal boomerang. The weapon struck the Proctor as it flew past him and again as it returned to its wielder's hands. Vorse Raider jumped to catch the blades and slashed down at the Proctor as it landed before finally jumping back to Bastion's side.

Proctor LP: 2000

"I will end my turn there."

After that the duel blurred a bit in his memory. He had taken control of the duel and maintained it until his victory. The Proctor attempted to buy time using cards like Messenger of Peace and with monsters that had high defense like Gear Golem the Moving Fortress and Big Shield Gardna. They had even dealt some direct damage to Bastion's Life points using Ookazi.

However, it was too late by that point. Bastion had quickly drawn another removal card to get rid of Messenger of Peace. He also drew the Ring of Destruction which allowed him to bypass the Proctor's powerful defensive monsters.

He had won and in doing so, secured his place in Duel Academy. Yet he felt unsatisfied with his performance. He was stalled more than he would have liked and he lost his momentum multiple times in the earlier parts of the duel. Simply winning wasn't good enough. The proctor was using a test deck that was specifically built to assess the ability of the potential students. Against a more serious foe with a deck built to win, Bastion realized his chances of losing were far higher than he wanted.

This exam had humbled him. Once again he had found himself lacking and it was up to him to use this experience to improve himself. To not allow himself to remain stagnant.

It was with that thought that Bastion made his way back to the stands and met Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale for the first time. He didn't know it yet but this would be one of many encounters that would change the course of his life during his time at Duel Academy.

Author's note:

Hey guys! Well first off, I did warn everyone that my updates would be sporadic. But as for why this chapter specifically took so long-long story short, I got too ambitious and tried to make a really big chapter but it kicked my ass trying to write it. In the end I had to cut it into chunks and even that resulted in me taking way longer to write this chapter. Hopefully I wont take so long in the future. For now hope you enjoy.