"Winner: Hikaru Amagi!"
"Heh heh heh, looks like Duel Academy's taken the victory again this year!"
"Dammit! Just you wait—next year, I'll get my revenge!"
Hikaru stood at the center of the Duel Arena, blinking in confusion. His posture stiff, expression blank.
Wait… it's over?
By the time he came back to his senses, the two Academy heads—who had been bickering over Ms. Tome's affections—had already wrapped up their quarrel, and the prize of the "Academy Exchange Duel"… Ms. Tome's kiss… had just landed square on Chancellor Sheppard's cheek.
That was when Hikaru finally remembered what had happened.
His opponent? A complete stranger. No name recognition, no memory jogged. Which had actually made him nervous—unknown Duelists were wild cards. What if they ran Aroma Lockdown or Anti-Fusion traps?
But… the guy just Normal Summoned Armed Dragon LV3 and passed.
No set cards.
Hikaru slapped his cheeks to snap himself out of his daze.
Sure, his deck had absurd post-era Fusions, but without anyone handing him the ideal cards, he'd still had to build and balance everything himself. Against well-known characters, he'd always had to calculate, predict, strategize every move.
This time, though?
It was the first time he'd mindlessly blitzed with Future Fusion and Neo Future Fusion, steamrolling the entire duel like it was nothing.
Even the crowd started to complain.
"What the heck was that?"
"Seriously? I wanted to see another intense match, like the one a few days ago!"
The general spectators were disappointed. Jaden and Hikaru's friends, however, were just relieved—and congratulated him with a grin.
Still…
"Hahahaha, what a joke! That's the North Academy rep?!"
"Told you—no way the branch schools can measure up!"
Hikaru noticed a few upperclassmen from the Fusion Department laughing at the North Academy.
He frowned.
The Fusion Department had a serious problem.
He had originally expected his opponent to be Chazz Princeton. In the anime, after losing to Jaden and Bastion, Chazz got booted for shady tactics and ended up dominating North Academy, eventually returning as its representative…
Sure, Chazz never really lived up to the rival title—his spotlight got stolen again and again by Zane, Aster, and later, Jesse—but he was still Jaden's designated rival and about on par with him at this point. Hikaru had hoped to duel him for a serious energy haul.
But nope—this world's Chazz never even went to North Academy.
Rubbing his temples, Hikaru replayed what he'd learned.
Up until yesterday, he'd been sure Chazz would be his opponent. But in this world, Seto Kaiba's obsession with interdimensional exploration meant the Princeton Group had invested heavily in KaibaCorp experiments… and somehow, Chazz had ended up where only manga!Chazz had ever gone:
He became Kaiba's personal apprentice.
Sure, anime!Chazz also had clear Kaiba homage moments, but no direct connection. Not like this.
According to Syrus, after his loss to Jaden, Chazz's pride took a massive hit. He returned to KaibaCorp and began a strict training regimen—planning to make his dramatic comeback during the midterms.
Well, good luck with that, Hikaru thought, smirking faintly.
In his memory, Chazz never actually beat Jaden. Not once.
"Hahahaha! Well done, Hikaru-kun!" Chancellor Sheppard laughed so hard he nearly choked. "That was brilliant—Professor Chronos, you've trained him well!"
"Er, uh—y-y-yes! Of course!" Dr. Crowler stammered, beads of sweat forming as he caught the chancellor's gaze and quickly adopted a wise, stoic pose. "Naturally, Chancellor! You can trust me with Hikaru-kun's education!"
"Ah, right. Hikaru-kun," Sheppard smiled, pulling something from his coat. "Here's the dimensional coordinates recovered by North Academy. Keep this card safe—"
Hikaru took the card. There was no text—only a faint holographic cube floating in a void. He could only marvel.
Only in the world of Duel Monsters could interdimensional coordinates be printed on a card.
"Now then, we'll have Ra Yellow—"
"Chancellor!" a voice interrupted from the side.
A student in a pristine purple uniform stood at attention. Upright posture, formal tone—more soldier than student.
"Hm? And you are?" Sheppard blinked, not upset, just puzzled.
"I am Kaname Jinrin, third-year from the Fusion Department," the student replied without expression.
"Fusion Department…" Sheppard furrowed his brow.
Now that he thought about it… the duel representative had come from the Fusion Department, but Professor Declan Akaba hadn't even shown up to watch the match.
Honestly, he didn't know much about Professor Akaba. The man had been hired directly by the board of directors, beyond even his own authority. Most years, he only showed up for year-end exams. The fact that he'd recommended a student for this duel had given Sheppard hope that maybe, just maybe, he'd finally start engaging with the faculty.
Guess not.
"Professor Akaba wanted me to convey his thoughts," Jinrin continued. "To be selected as a representative of the Fusion Department and to achieve victory for Duel Academy is both an honor for Hikaru-kun and for us."
Jinrin's tone didn't change at all, like he was reading from a script. "As such, a reward in the form of academic credits is warranted, and the Fusion Department would also like to make a contribution."
"Declan Akaba said that?" Sheppard was visibly surprised—and then deeply moved.
Hikaru rolled his eyes.
No wonder Chancellor Sheppard let Crowler run wild in season one. The guy's just… too nice.
But he understood the situation clearly: this was a setup.
"Our department also has a dimensional portal," Jinrin continued. "There's no need to use Ra Yellow's limited monthly energy allotment. We can transport Hikaru-kun using our own gate—and that way, he'll still be able to use Ra Yellow's portal later for other dimensional exploration."
"My, how thoughtful of Professor Akaba!" Sheppard nodded enthusiastically, then turned to Hikaru. "What do you think, Hikaru-kun?"
"Absolutely," Hikaru replied without hesitation.
This was his chance to finally figure out what that egghead was planning.
"Of course…" the chancellor murmured, rubbing his chin. "It is an unknown dimension. Even if North Academy verified its safety, we can't be too careful. We'll go with standard procedure—two-person teams. One for exploration, one for support. In emergencies, the support member can activate emergency extraction."
The Fusion Department students exchanged uncertain glances but ultimately nodded.
"Very well. Hikaru-kun, do you have anyone in mind?"
At those words, several students immediately stood up in anticipation.
A number of them were from the Fusion Department—clearly fans of Hikaru's dueling. But of course, Jaden and Bastion "Five Seas" Misawa raised their hands without hesitation, yelling Hikaru's name to get his attention.
"If it's for safety…" Hikaru turned toward the chancellor. "Could I ask Professor Crowler to go with me?"
"Ma-Ma-Mama mia, ME?!" Crowler yelped, pointing to himself.
But as soon as he caught the chancellor's narrowed eyes, he straightened his back, puffed out his chest, and adopted his most reliable teacher face. "N-Naturally, Chancellor! I will personally ensure Hikaru-kun's safety!"