3 Skipping to the good stuff?

"I know I hoped things would be convenient, and I'm not complaining, but…"

It had been a few weeks since coming to this world. Tea had helped Dwain get into a local Duel Monster shop tournament. Nothing big and the prize was some coupons. He did not want to go all out too soon and learn more about the level of competition so he held back. However, the average level of player was BAD.

Dwain remembered the start of the anime where Joey claimed his deck was nothing but Monster Cards. That seemed to be the norm for the average Duelist here. Dwain had met a few who did not even know what a Spell or Trap Card were - they were new players but it still dumbfounded him. Eventually, he just half paid attention to what was going on and made random moves. That at least made it look like he was going to lose at times.

What really came across as strange to Dwain was how conveniently things moved along. Every tournament he won, the host would then approach him about another - bigger - tournament that was about to be held. It was a gradual increase, but by the fourth tournament, he was receiving cash prizes.

The really strange thing about this was how many tournaments there were. Dwain continued to be entered in two a week. He knew this was the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, but from what he remembered, it was not until Battle City or even between then and GX that the card game became a cultural phenomenon. He had even found the manga online and was reading it yet found no indication that Duel Monsters was this common at this point.

On another front, Dwain lending an ear to Tea led to her confiding - complaining - about the goings on of her life. This allowed him to learn more about the current plot. He had appeared before Yugi had the Millennium Puzzle by about one week. So, he had now had it for about five weeks and there had been various odd happenings since then. Thanks to reading the manga, Dwain more or less already knew what was happening and concluded they were nearing the start of the anime.

There were a few slight changes though. Since Tea worked for him, she was not present at 'Burgerpalooza' to be held hostage when the criminal tried to rob it and she managed to avoid the phony fortuneteller at her school who would try to knock her out and assault her. These two plots seemed to be fused in the anime, but that was not important. Ultimately, events played out the same.

At the time, Dwain decided to poke fun at canon and mention how it was a good thing Tea did not work there. Though she seemed nervous by the topic, she mentioned how she thought about applying. This provoked him to half-sincerely ask why she worked for him. He would expect an average high school girl like her to work somewhere like that than as a part-time maid.

Tea explained there is an age requirement. Then, she hesitantly confessed how she was planning to lie on her application to get the job before coincidentally stumbling upon his ad in the paper. Dwain could not help but question if she found such a high-paying, seemingly easy job that had no requirements or prior experience questionable. While she did, she still thought it was worth a shot and the money was too good to pass up. Besides, if she had not taken this job who knows what would have happened.

At this, Dwain remained quiet that he did in fact know what would happen. Instead he asked about why she was so desperate for the money. This in turn led to her confessing about her dream of being a dancer which he whole-heartedly supported.

The two had grown closer in their time together and would actually call each other friends. Sometimes when Tea came to work, Dwain would talk her into just hanging out - there really was not much for her to do beyond dusting and washing a few dishes. His kidnapper's note of him pursuing romance sometimes flashed through his mind.

Dwain was never popular and he had certain opinions about dating that left him feeling like he was not 'boyfriend material'. Before all this, he had only had one girlfriend that lasted for roughly thirty hours. By the time he was ready to try, he never had time and it just seemed embarrassing to have never dated anyone at his age. He debated whether this could be a second shot and if he should try. It certainly seemed like working for him had derailed Tea's crush on the Pharaoh. She actually seemed more disturbed by the as-of-yet unknown change in her long-time friend.

This debate had bothered Dwain for some time as he now sat in the waiting room for the tournament to begin. It may have been dumb to worry about, but he found it more engaging than the Duels themselves. Still, this tournament promised to be different.

Besides the large cash prize offered, there was also the matter of this tournament being televised. Recently, KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions had had a press conference about the new Duel Arenas. This tournament was sponsored by both companies to promote the technology and would feature their inclusion. It was not the large arenas featured in the anime, but Dwain was still looking forward to it.

Most importantly, this played into Dwain's plan to get involved with the plot. Using Tea to stay close to Yugi and co was plan B and not one he wanted to use. He may be a bit of an ass and used his meta knowledge with Tea, but he still considered her a genuine friend if not potential love interest. Using their friendship like that left him feeling scummy.

As soon as he first saw the cards he was provided, a joke of an idea formed in Dwain's mind. Once he resolved to actually try being a professional Duelist, he put in a bit of thought and turned that idea into a full - albeit half-baked - idea, but one he figured had a high chance of working. This tournament being sponsored like it was made his plan all the more likely to work. Although, this fact made the odd convenience of it all even more suspicious to him.

"I'm kinda like the MC in some fanfic or something. Hopefully I'm just overthinking it like usual…Although, my kidnapper is an ass. I don't think they'd set me up like that, but what if this is some sort of cosmic joke? They bring me in to the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, build me up, then let me fall - turning me into the third stooge to join Weevil & Rex."

Nervously sweating at his own line of thinking, Dwain looked around. Ensuring no one was there, he put his hands together. "Mr. 'Fuck you'…Kidnapper…God…Author, sir. If you can hear me, please don't turn me into the next Weevil Underwood or Rex Raptor."

"Mr. Dwain Snyder, please report to Duel Area F. Mr. Dwain Snyder, please report to Duel Area F."

Hearing his name on the intercom, Dwain got to his feet and proceeded to the main arena.

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Standing at his designated Duel Area, Dwain looked around the seven other areas. Each one consisted of two seats on either side of a playing table twice their normal size. As he understood it, it was basically a normal playing table with a holographic projector added in the middle - doubling the length of the table. He assumed the expanded width was due to the hardware and circuitry that went into scanning the played cards and projecting them.

Sixteen Duelists would compete simultaneously. The winners would face off similarly with the winner of A facing the winner of B, C against D, and so on until the winner of Duel Area G going against the winner of duel area H. Once they have the final four, the contestants will be shuffled and only one pair will play at a time.

As Dwain reminded himself of the tournament's layout, his opponent approached him to shake hands and offer a generic show of good-sportsmanship. He was a blond boy wearing a white polo shirt under a blue sweater-vest, gray trousers, and brown dress shoes. He introduced himself as Issac Notwen.

Dwain returned the pleasantry before they both took their seats. They then took out their Decks, shuffled, and put them in the middle of the table for the opponent to cut. Retrieving their Decks, they set them in their respective Deck Zones and agreed to a simple coin toss to decide who goes first. Dwain called tails and it landed heads. Issac taking the first turn, they both wait for the official call for all contestants to begin.

Before coming to this world, Dwain had never participated in a tournament. So, it was an adjustment. An even bigger adjustment for him was learning the rules of early Duel Monsters. While musing that he was on his way to Duelist Kingdom after entering his first tournament, he remembered the rules were different at the start of the anime. Fortunately, the Yu-Gi-Oh! wiki proved very informative in this regard. There were several key points to keep track of.

Once the game began, they would each start with 2000 Life Points and draw five cards from their Deck. Each turn they would draw a card from their Deck and play Monster, Spell, or Trap Cards to try reducing their opponent's Life Points. The first person to run out of cards and be unable to draw at the start of their turn or reach zero Life Points would lose.

What was noticeably different about the game was that there were additional rules that did not exist in Dwain's world. If you do not control a monster at the start of your turn, you must Summon one before your turn ends or you lose the Duel. Tributing is not a mechanic of gameplay and monsters can be Normal Summoned regardless of Level. While the rules for monsters battling is the same, they cannot attack the opponent directly and only one monster may declare an attack per turn. Finally, when a monster is destroyed by a card effect, the owner of that card takes damage equal to half that monster's Attack Points.

Learning all this had been easy but Dwain was already wishing to hurry to Battle City were the rules would change to be more in-line with the game he knew.

"Alright Duelists! Duel!"

As the announcer's voice sounded, Dwain and Issac drew from their Decks.

Dwain Snyder: 2000

Issac Notwen: 2000

"I shall be taking the first move," Issac said as he drew a sixth card from his Deck. Looking at his cards, he added what he drew to his hand before pulling another and revealing it. "I Summon, Dark Gray, in Attack Position and end my turn."

Dark Gray: Earth Attribute, Level 3, Beast-Type, ATK/800, DEF/900

Issac placed the card vertically in the top row of the place mat in front of him. Then, the corresponding space on the holographic imager between them lit up. In a display of light, a 3D projection of a dark gray goat about the size of a chess piece appeared. It had big, entierly green eyes; little, curling yellow horns; and disproportionately tiny bat wings on its back. Issac looked on in awe at the sight of his monster coming to life before his eyes.

Dwain nodded before drawing from his deck. Every tournament he has been in he has switched which of the four Starter Decks he has used - saving the special Deck he was given for the conclusion of his little plan. He whittled them down to forty cards if they were over but did not pay much attention to what he left in them. Once he realized how poor the competition was at this stage, he felt it only fair.

Examples included keeping cards like Ultimate Offering. He remembered this card being on the ban list in his world and smirked at the idea of dominating with it here. However, due to the current rules, he saw little value in it and removed it.

For this tournament, however, he wanted to put his best foot forward. The gimmick player in him - or call it poetic side of him - wanted to use the pure Starter Deck. But he realized doing that may cause certain people to ask questions about things he did not want them drawing attention to. So, instead, he used the Starter Deck as a base and swapped out some cards with the others. Also, while he knew it was a risky - bad - idea, he decided to present himself as weaker than he was and mostly use the weaker cards of each Deck. He may deny it, but he was a smart-ass troll when he wanted to be.

"I Summon, The Wicked Worm Beast, in Attack Position."

The Wicked Worm Beast: Earth Attribute, Level 3, Beast-Type, Effect, ATK/1400, DEF/700

[This face-up card on the field is returned to the owner's hand during the End Phase of your turn.]

Just like before, when Dwain placed the card onto the placemat, the corresponding space on the holographic field lit up and a 3D projection of the monster was created. What appeared was a grotesque abomination with a lower body consisting of thick hairs and tentacles and a humanoid upper body of sinewy muscle. Worms of various sizes could be seen wriggling and coiling around, in, and out of the monster's body with its head being a mass of flesh with one giant worm sticking out.

"Now, Worm Beast, attack Dark Gray!"

As commanded, Dwain's monster rushed forward and grabbed the enemy goat with its right hand - its worm-like fingers tightening around and seemingly biting into the beast's neck. Then, the writhing tentacles that comprise its left arm lunged forward to bind, squeeze, and ultimately crush them. Exploding into countless holographic pieces. Issac looked slightly green at how his monster met its end.

Dwain Snyder: 2000

Issac Notwen: 2000 - 600 = 1400

"Now, I end my turn and Worm Beast's effect activates."

"It has a special ability," Issac said in shock.

Dwain smirked. "That's right. During the End Phase, if it's face up on the field, it returns to my hand." He then picked up the card off the place mat and put it back in his hand - the holographic image of the monster disappearing with it. He then indicated that it was Issac's turn. However, the boy just looked on confused.

After a moment, Issac collected himself and asked, "But you don't have a monster on your field. Doesn't that mean you'll lose?"

Dwain's smirk turned shit-eating. "The rules say that if you don't have a monster on your field at the start of your turn, you have to summon a monster or you lose. The rules don't say it has to stay on the field."

"But, if there's no monster on your field, then how am I supposed to..."

"You're not."