Yuki Judai is a first-year student at Duel Academy, about to enter the second year.
As a renowned student, he skips classes, sleeps during lectures, breaks into various dormitories, and ventures into forbidden zones — considered a problematic student in the eyes of the teachers. However, as a Duelist, Yuki Judai is quite famous in the first year and even the entire academy.
In the academy, he is the only one considered capable of being on par with Tenjo Hikari among his peers. In most cases, he rarely loses a duel, and in his duel against Teacher Daitokuji, he almost won, revealing Daitokuji's true identity, doing even better than Marufuji Ryo.
Occasionally, some students from the Integration Department try to take advantage of students from other Fusion Departments and target Yuki Judai, but his heroes always give them a hard lesson, making them flee with their tails between their legs.
And at such times, the carefree Yuki Judai would display an exaggerated smile with a nonchalant expression, saying, "What an interesting duel!"
For the students of the Integration Department, a simple 'interesting' from Yuki Judai is ten times more terrifying than the fierce hostility and harsh words from Tenjo Hikari!
And it's this Yuki Judai who's in trouble today.
While Tenjo Hikari and the others were preparing to return to the Human World, Yuki Judai was helping someone, slowly heading towards the starting point.
"Hang in there, Mitsuzawa."
"Sorry, Judai, I didn't expect a Spirit to suddenly go berserk," Mitsuzawa Daichi said regretfully, "Even the instant transporter got destroyed."
Blood was still flowing on his forehead, a wound he sustained from the Spirit's sudden attack earlier.
"Besides, my injuries aren't that severe..."
"Don't say that! It was originally meant to hit me, wasn't it? If it weren't for you, I would have been the one injured."
Judai interrupted his words sadly.
"Sorry, Judai, I couldn't stop it," said the Winged Kuriboh next to him, bowing its head.
"Judai, it was my negligence, I'll definitely be more serious next time!" The Captain Gold also appeared, apologizing.
Beside him, Burst Lady and Bubbleman also admitted their mistakes, clearly dissatisfied with their previous behavior, ashamed they failed to react when Judai was attacked, and let Judai's friend protect him.
For the [Heroes], it was already a mistake not to protect Judai well, let alone causing Judai's friend to get hurt?
"It's okay, Captain," Judai forced a smile, "After all, the duel had already ended, who would have expected a Spirit to suddenly go berserk?"
This dimension that Judai had come to was a shattered one, because he heard that Bubbleman had appeared in this dimension, so he planned to come here to find his partner.
The usage status of the academy's Dimension Gates was almost entirely controlled by their Fusion Department. Since he didn't go with Tenjo Hikari to the [Mountain], he naturally didn't want to miss the opportunity, so he called Mitsuzawa Daichi to explore.
Originally, everything went very smoothly. He successfully found his most frequently used hero — Bubbleman — after finding Winged Kuriboh, Captain Gold, and the recently discovered Burst Lady.
Unexpectedly, after the duel ended, while he and Mitsuzawa were happily chatting with the Spirits, a Spirit suddenly erupted and attacked them!
This was completely beyond everyone's expectations, even the Spirits'. Judai almost didn't react, if it weren't for Mitsuzawa's quick reflexes, he might have been stabbed in the chest!
He knew this was definitely an accident.
With a smile on his face, he spoke comforting words, supporting Mitsuzawa Daichi, encouraging his partners and the Spirits.
Seeing this, Captain Gold wanted to rush forward again to help support Mitsuzawa Daichi, but when he reached out, he saw the terrifying determination in Judai's eyes.
He retracted his hand dejectedly, allowing Judai to persist in supporting Mitsuzawa Daichi.
Yuki Judai didn't have many friends since childhood.
He lived alone from a young age.
For some reason, all the children who got close to him would get injured under mysterious circumstances, some even fell into comas. Over time, the kids didn't dare to play with him, and he voluntarily distanced himself from his peers.
Without friends, he started playing cards alone or even designing cards himself. As a child, he fell in love with dueling and monsters, especially the "Heroes."
Because they were cool, they were dependable!
He treated cards as his friends, imagining that one day he too could become a hero.
One day, the Kaiba Company held a grand event, where only the most popular or successful child could send their "dream" to another dimension as a goodwill gesture towards the Spirits.
That day, an excited Judai sent his drawn cards and imagined future to the Kaiba Company, putting all his hopes into it. As a result, he was unexpectedly selected as the luckiest child in the world.
After that, the misfortune that always seemed to haunt him vanished, and no one around him suffered unexplained injuries anymore.
He was — the luckiest!
He repeated this sentence in his heart.
Whenever he wanted to draw a card, he always drew what he needed; despite having no friends before entering Duel Academy, he gradually made friends like Shou, Maeda Hayato, Manjome, Mitsuzawa, Hikari, Caesar, Fubuki, and Asuka after joining the academy; he and Tenjo Hikari established the Fusion Department together because it was not only fun, but they could duel with Caesar every day, and most importantly, they could challenge the Integration Department, achieving heroic feats.
This is his luck!
But—
Through this process, it was filled with pain.
He lightly bit his lip, a flash of gold passing through his eyes.
Through the duel with the Seven Stars, he realized the brutality of the "Darkness Duel", the real pain enough to torture an ordinary person's body; after the duel with Teacher Daitokuji, he discovered he wasn't that determined, often hesitating; the Integration Department always dared to provoke them until they were thoroughly defeated; Tenjo Hikari and Manjome kept discussing something secretly, obviously hiding it to prevent worry.
These days, Caesar's situation made him suddenly remember something — that although they were very happy in the Fusion Department, one day they'll part ways, just like Caesar graduating.
Then what?
What about separations other than graduation?
Like...
Death!?
The Spirit just now—
No mistake.
He saw it, the Spirit emitted an intense white light before going berserk, bright as a bulb.
He smiled, supporting Mitsuzawa Daichi to the Dimension Gate, chose to leave after surveying the surroundings.
Despite still smiling, it was not the pure smile of the past.
As he left, he seemed to hear a faint, indistinct voice resonating throughout.
"Judai, wait for me, I will find you!"