Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh! novel Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - 3: The First Duel

The initial deck he brought upon transmigrating was now complete. After checking everything was correct, it was only natural that Kira started to feel his hands itch with excitement.

There's no way a true duelist could resist testing out a brand new deck right after finishing it.

So, for him, the first target was clear: head straight to the dojo that his predecessor belonged to and look for a fellow dojo member at random to bring him the joy of dueling.

...

Upon arriving at the dojo and stepping inside, he immediately saw a group of students gathered together, making a commotion.

"No wonder Brother Sato is the best, he ranked up successfully!"

Kira raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued.

In the center of the group was a guy with yellow hair and a duelist-style haircut. He sounded modest but couldn't hide the pride on his face. "Aw, it was just luck, I barely made it to Level 3. Nothing special, haha."

"Level 3! Brother Sato must be the first Level 3 in our dojo, right?"

"So strong!"

Kira furrowed his brows, searching his predecessor's memories, and finally understood what they were talking about.

The Duelist Star Ranking System was a real-time strength evaluation metric set up by KaibaCorp, based on each duelist's performance registered in the company's internal system—basically, the same system that appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime.

Normally, a duelist's star ranking ranges from Level 1 to Level 8—eight ranks in total. In the Duelist Kingdom arc, Duel King Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba himself were both rated Level 8.

But it's also clear the system isn't absolute authority—sometimes it's influenced by personal feelings. For example, Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler), whom Kaiba always sneered at as a nobody.

Jonouchi was once called "the world's third-best duelist after Yugi and Kaiba" by Pegasus, but in KaibaCorp's system, he was only Level 2—amateur level.

It's hard to say there wasn't some personal grudge between the CEO and the nobody.

But that was back in the Duelist Kingdom era. By now, Jonouchi has long been adjusted to Level 8, among the highest ranks for duelists, called by the public a legendary duelist.

Meanwhile, Seto Kaiba, ever arrogant, adjusted his rank to Level 10.

Currently, there are only two Level 10 duelists in the world: Seto Kaiba himself, and the long-retired, legendary Yugi Muto.

Kaiba designed it this way partly because he sees himself as a cut above all other duelists, and also to acknowledge that Yugi is the only one he recognizes as a worthy rival in the world. _{freeweɓnovel.cѳm}

Well, calling him a rival is a bit generous—since everyone knows, Kaiba has challenged Yugi countless times and has never won.

As for Kira's predecessor, his rating in the system:

Level 1.

A scrub among scrubs.

It's because his predecessor was both weak and played for fun, often queueing up for matches at KaibaCorp's arenas and losing far more than winning. Over time, his rank naturally plummeted to rock bottom.

Normally, to rank up, you have to play matchmaking at the arena, but it seems that's capped at Level 4. To go higher, you need to compete in official tournaments.

He then remembered that when researching Duel Academy's admissions requirements, it specified that duelists certified by KaibaCorp must be at least Level 3.

In this system, Levels 7 and 8 are either legendary duelists or top-tier pros. Most pros are Level 6; a few lower-tier pros are Level 5.

Most amateur duelists cluster at Level 2. Level 1 is below average; Level 3 is already considered skilled.

So requiring Level 3 or above for Duel Academy admissions is a high bar.

But that makes sense. Duel education in this world is still in its early stages and there aren't many schools to choose from. Kaiba's academy is among the best, with unmatched quality and resources.

In the GX anime's opening, the principal even says in his speech that admissions are strict, so all the students present are elites. Even the background failures in Osiris Red theoretically have higher skill than most duelists outside.

"So I have to rank up before I can enter the Academy, huh?" Kira twitched his lips.

The student surrounded by everyone was Sato Koji, the top dog in this little dojo, who apparently had a lucky streak this week and just hit Level 3, so everyone was congratulating him.

Kira happened to be looking for a duel, so he decided—why not challenge the dojo boss?

Though the anime's random duelists always seemed weak, Kira knew that only real practice revealed the truth. You can't judge by impressions alone without real testing.

Time to see how duelists here really measure up.

The dojo encouraged students to duel regularly anyway. Sato, having just ranked up and in a good mood, saw the challenge and had no reason to refuse.

Hearing there was a duel to watch, the other students quickly gathered around the dueling field.

"For real? That Kira? Challenging Brother Sato?"

"Isn't he only Level 1? Isn't this just asking to get stomped?"

The students chuckled, while the two duelists took their positions at opposite ends of the arena.

Sato Koji was relaxed. Having just ranked up, coming back to the dojo to duel gave him a sense of towering over his kouhais.

He felt like a master giving pointers to a novice. This duel wasn't about improving anymore; it was partly to guide the younger ones, but mostly to show off in front of the kouhais.

Yep, probably more the latter.

What, a Level 3 big shot like him against a Level 1 rookie—could he possibly lose?

Both activated their duel disks and drew five cards.