Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!? [3]

The starter Deck he’d put together after transmigrating was finally complete. After checking it and confirming everything was in order, Yūgen—naturally—soon felt that familiar itch in his hands.

There wasn’t a single card nerd alive who could finish a Deck and not want to test it.

His first stop was obvious: he headed straight to the dojo where his predecessor had trained, planning to grab a random fellow trainee and duel.

The moment he arrived and stepped through the door, he saw a noisy crowd of apprentices gathered in one spot.

“As expected of Satō-aniki—he actually made it through the test!”

Yūgen raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

At the center of the group was a blond guy with a hairstyle that simply looked like it belonged to someone good at cards. He sounded modest, but he couldn’t hide the pride on his face. “Oh, come on. I just got lucky and hit three stars, that’s all. No big deal, hahaha…”

“Three stars! Satō-aniki’s gotta be the first three-star in our dojo, right?”

“That’s insane…”

Yūgen frowned and sifted through the previous Yūgen’s memories before finally understanding what they meant.

The Duelist Star Rating System was KaibaCorp’s strength evaluation metric, adjusted in real-time based on each duelist’s registered match record—something he’d seen in the Yu-Gi-Oh! DM anime.

Typically, star ratings ranged from 1 to 8 stars, covering eight tiers. During the Battle City arc, the King of Games Yūgi Mutō and Seto Kaiba himself were both 8-star duelists.

Yet, the system wasn’t entirely objective. Personal biases occasionally influenced ratings—like Katsuya Jōnouchi, the man Kaiba derided as a “loser dog.”

Pegasus had once called Jōnouchi “the world’s third-best duelist, after Yūgi and Kaiba,” yet KaibaCorp rated him at only 2-star—essentially amateur level.

It was hard not to suspect Kaiba’s grudge against the “loser dog” had played a part.

But that was back in Battle City. By now, Katsuya Jōnouchi had long since been adjusted up to 8-star—the peak tier known to the world as “Legendary Duelist.”

And President Kaiba, being the shameless show-off he was, had set himself at 10-star.

Globally, there were only two 10-star duelists. One was Seto Kaiba himself; the other was Yūgi Mutō, who had sealed away his cards and retired.

Kaiba had set it up partly because he genuinely believed himself above every other living duelist—and partly because it publicly declared that Yūgi Mutō was the only opponent worthy of his respect.

Well… “matching” was a bit generous.

Because everyone knew: President Kaiba had challenged the King of Games, Yūgi Mutō, countless times… and to this day had never won once.

As for the previous Yūgen’s rating…

One star.

The fighter jet of the scrubs.

Yūgen: (ヘ｀;)

Obviously, the former guy was terrible yet addicted. He kept queuing up ranked matches in KaibaCorp arenas, losing more often than winning. Over time, his rating nosedived straight into the abyss.

Normally, raising your star rating involved grinding arena matchmaking. But matchmaking could only take you to 4-star at most—after that, you’d have to enter public tournaments to climb higher.

Then Yūgen remembered: when he’d checked Duel Academy’s application criteria, there was a requirement that applicants have a minimum KaibaCorp-certified rating of 3-star.

In this system, 7- and 8-star duelists were Legendary Duelists or top-tier pros. Most pro duelists were around 6-star, with some lower-tier professionals at 5-star.

Most amateur duelists clustered around 2-star. 1-star meant below-average novice territory, while 3-star already indicated “skilled.”

Therefore, the Academy’s “3-star and above” requirement was genuinely demanding.

But it made sense. At this point, dueling education in this world was still developing, and there weren’t many schools to choose from. Kaiba’s academy was the best of the best, renowned for its resources and standards.

In GX, the principal even mentioned during a school-wide speech how harsh admissions were, emphasizing that every student was elite. Even the lowest-ranking background students in the Slifer Red dorm were theoretically stronger than most duelists out in the wider world.

“So if I want in… I’ve gotta climb the ladder first?” Yūgen’s mouth twitched.

The apprentice everyone surrounded was Kōji Satō, the big brother figure of this small dojo. Apparently, he’d gotten lucky this week and reached three stars, prompting the crowd’s congratulations.

Yūgen was just looking for someone to duel anyway, so he figured he might as well challenge the big guy.

Sure, random background characters in the anime always looked weak, but Yūgen knew better: actual practice was the real test. You couldn’t rely solely on preconceived impressions.

This was a perfect chance to see what duelists in this world were really like.

The dojo encouraged students to duel frequently. Satō had just ranked up and was in a great mood, so there was no reason he’d refuse a challenge.

When the scattered trainees heard there was a match, they immediately gathered around the dueling area to spectate.

“No way. That Yūgen? Challenging Satō-aniki?”

“Wasn’t he only one star? Isn’t this just asking to get wrecked…?”

The trainees snickered from the sidelines as the two duelists took positions opposite each other on the field.

Kōji Satō was relaxed. After climbing ranks, dueling at the dojo now gave him that proud feeling of looking down from the mountaintop at the smaller peaks below.

He even felt like some grandmaster, generously offering pointers to the younger generation. This duel wasn’t about honing himself—instead, it was a chance to offer the junior some guidance and, more importantly…

…To show off in front of all the underclassmen.

Yeah. Mostly the second one.

I mean, come on.

A 3-star big shot against a 1-star amateur—how could he possibly fumble this?

Both Duel Disks unfolded, and each drew five cards.

“DUEL!” x2

[Yūgen Fujiki | LP 4000]

[Kōji Satō | LP 4000]

“I’ll go first. Draw.”

Yūgen drew from his Deck.

This was still the era when the player going first could draw. In his previous life, players hadn’t gotten a first-turn draw in years.

Turn order was usually randomly decided by the Duel Disks, though the winner of the toss could choose to go second.

He scanned his opening six cards and nodded slightly. Not a “perfect hand,” but decent enough.

“First, this card…”

He slotted the first card into his Duel Disk.

“I pay 1000 Life Points to activate the Spell Card—[DELINQUENT DUO]!”

[Yūgen Fujiki | LP 4000→LP 3000]

As the card activated, a green Spell hologram flashed into life before Yūgen. Two little devils—one red, one blue—burst forth, numbers “1” and “2” hovering above their heads.

“This card’s effect forces you to discard one random card from your hand. After that, you select another card from your hand and discard it.”

A brutally simple, heavy-duty hand-destruction staple from early competitive play. A harsh one-for-two trade—once resolved, your opponent started the duel two cards short.

The devils shot forward and bluntly snatched a random card from Kōji’s hand, practically shouting, Hand it over.

Kōji frowned, then reluctantly chose another card himself and sent it to the Graveyard.

After that, Yūgen made no further plays. He smoothly set three cards from his hand—three backrow, and ended his turn.

Then he gestured politely.

Alright. Now it’s your turn to play Yu-Gi-Oh.

Any real-world player staring at three facedown backrow this early would already be sweating, sensing danger. But under the bright, optimistic anime-era atmosphere, Kōji didn’t fully grasp the seriousness yet.

He even kept up that warm, big-brother smile and offered advice in an instructive tone. “Couldn’t draw a monster on your first turn? When you build a Deck, you need to balance your monsters and Spells/Traps properly!”

“My turn—draw!”

“Hold it.”

Yūgen cut him off with a wave.

“The instant you drew, my Trap activates. I flip my facedown—Trap Card, [DROP OFF]!”

“When your opponent draws their normal draw in their Draw Phase, your opponent discards the card they just drew!”

Kōji: “!”

He hesitated, then reluctantly sent the freshly drawn card—still practically warm—to the Graveyard via his Duel Disk. Glancing down at the remaining cards in hand, he finally began to realize something was wrong.

Neither side had even summoned a monster yet. It felt like the duel hadn’t truly started—but Kōji’s opening six cards were already halved. He had only three left.

And an even bigger, headache-inducing problem:

He had no monsters in hand.

One of the two cards discarded by the twin devils had been a low-level monster. The card discarded by Drop Off was another. Now, with only three cards remaining, he had nothing summonable.

But he still had options.

“Tch. Fine—I activate a Spell Card from my hand!”

With a swift gesture, Kōji slapped down one of his remaining three cards.

Monster Reborn!

The revival Spell that could bring a monster back from the Graveyard—an iconic comeback card beloved from DM through GX, both in reality and anime.

“I use [MONSTER REBORN] to revive—[WARRIOR OF ZERA]! Revive in Attack Position!”

A warrior clad in green armor wielding a greatsword appeared on center field, standing proudly—the duel’s first summoned monster.

WARRIOR OF ZERA | EARTH | LEVEL 4
MONSTER | WARRIOR
A wandering warrior who seeks the sanctuary where he can gain the power of the Archlords. To escape the temptation of evil fiends, he fights solo day by day.
ATK 1600 | DEF 1600

Given the choice, Kōji wouldn’t have spent a precious Monster Reborn on such a small fry. But he had no other plays. Hesitation in a duel meant defeat—he had to seize the moment and push tempo.

“I flip my facedown—[BOTTOMLESS TRAP HOLE],” Yūgen calmly announced, turning another backrow card face-up. “When your opponent Summons a monster with 1500 or more ATK: Destroy that monster, then banish it.”

Thus, the Warrior of Zera—just revived at great cost, having barely appeared—misstepped, plunging into the dark pit suddenly opening beneath his feet. With a sharp explosion, he vanished in smoke.

Kōji: “…”

Only two cards remained in hand, and his field was still empty.

Maybe it was just his imagination.

But Kōji Satō felt his blood pressure starting to rise.

—

T/N: huehuehuehuehue uhhh i don’t need to write down descriptions or do that whole thing with warrior of zera for other cards since they explain it themselves, idk i might get tired of doing that but for now its staying! here’s the cards they used!

This is a fan translation of 谁让他玩游戏王的！by 名称被占用 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!