Duels should be played with a smile.

Before he became the aloof overlord who guarded everything, he also had such a hearty and sincere smile.

Although Leyou is usually just an ordinary person who is not good at communicating with strangers and has a bit of social anxiety, she does not feel social anxiety when facing these familiar strangers, and even feels a sense of warmth.

After a brief exchange, the two quickly became acquainted, and after confirming that Leyou was not a bad person, Chronos generously began to introduce some related matters.

Leyou didn't ask about things that would be common knowledge to Chronos; he simply inquired about information related to the academy.

What he is presenting to Chronos is an ordinary duelist from another dimension who has lost some of his memories.

Anyway, I beat you and I didn't show any malice, so you can't really refute what I say, right?

While the two were fighting, Philvo had already gathered a lot of information. Combined with the information provided by Chronos, Leyou had a general understanding of his current situation.

This is an academy that merges dimensions; beyond the academy lies a vast world.

In the fusion dimension, there are three other dimensions: Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum, as well as a virtual world that connects all dimensions.

Just as the academy is the core of dimensional fusion, the city of harmony, the super-quantity heart garden, and the pendulum arc are also their respective cores.

Such a place does not exist in the virtual world.

Or rather, it once existed, but no longer exists.

Just like the fundamental dimension, which has long since disappeared, and the ritual rifts that were attached to it.

That's right. Although both are advanced summoning techniques, rituals do not have their own dimension; they only have dimensional rifts that are attached to the basic dimension.

Even so, after the basic dimension was lost in this world for unknown reasons, the ritual rift also disappeared without a trace.

Just like the abandoned school building of the Ritual Academy that Leyou and his friends saw when they first arrived here.

Led by Professor Chronos, Leyou followed him toward the main campus of the academy, chatting casually along the way.

As a teacher, Chronos possesses a quality common to most teachers: he is very willing to answer questions from others.

Facing a duelist stronger than himself, he didn't care at all about revealing what he knew that wasn't confidential.

"The Ritual Academy was once an important part of the academy, and many talented students came from there. In the era when ritual still held a place, many students from the Ritual Academy could compete with students from other major academies."

Chronos's expression held a hint of nostalgia; that period could be considered the most prosperous time for the academy.

"And then what? What happened next?"

Curiosity drove Leyou to ask this question.

Of the many pleasures in his life, besides playing cards, satisfying his curiosity is probably what brings him the most joy.

"What followed was a dimensional upheaval."

"Dimensional upheaval?"

“That’s right.” Chronos’s expression turned serious. “In the beginning, I was just noticed by the legendary duelist, Seto Kaiba, and was hired to teach at the newly built academy. At that time, the academy was in dire need of rebuilding. Later, many legendary duelists came to the academy one after another, and the strongest of them became the deans of the corresponding Summoning Magic academies.”

"Under their leadership, the academy has flourished, with a healthy competitive environment among the various sub-academies. The students are all exceptionally intelligent, and many famous duelists have emerged."

"As a result, just after the academy reached its peak, a sudden disaster, whether natural or man-made, destroyed everything."

"The entire academy was sent to an unknown other world."

"Leyou" sounds familiar, isn't this the alternate dimension of GX? But something doesn't quite sound right!

With all six summoning techniques unleashed, those elite students in the academy would be at least elite monsters in another world! Wouldn't that be a one-shot victory?

"Hmm...may I ask, who were the deans of each college back then?"

"Well... because I was just an ordinary teacher at the Fusion Academy at the time, I didn't know much about the other academies. I only knew that the dean of the Fusion Academy was Samejima Teacher, who was the first teacher of the Electronic School at the time. However, as far as I know, his position as dean was more of an administrative role. The strongest duelist was that legendary duelist, Mr. Katsuya Jonouchi."

"Jonnouchi? The Fusion Dean?"

Leyou couldn't help but be surprised. If Jonouchi became the dean of the Fusion Academy, wouldn't that mean he was going to release Red Father?

Does that mean I can find information about Red Father in the academy, or even fight Red Father directly, and then be invited to the Investiture of the Gods?

To be honest, Leyou really felt like he was Jiang Ziya, needing to collect all the fragments of rationality that had separated from him—and he didn't even know what to do next after collecting them all.

However, there seems to be another point worth noting. According to Chronos, the academy's prosperous period seems to have lasted quite a while. So, which time period does the current timeline belong to?

Anyway, Leyou is now completely confused about things related to time and space—it claims to be a unique entity in multiple dimensions, yet it also says that it has different versions of itself in other dimensions. It feels like some third-rate work that just messes around with random ideas and then gives up on them.

"Is there anything else you know?"

"The others..." Chronos looked up and saw that they were still quite a distance from the academy gate, so he continued to recall some details from back then.

"I only remember that the deans of Synchro Academy, Xyz Academy, and Link Academy were all female duelists, while the deans of Pendulum Academy and Ritual Academy were more mysterious. All I knew was that they were among the legendary duelists, but they rarely appeared in the academies..."

"and..."

"And what?"

Kronos suddenly sighed, leaving Leyou somewhat bewildered.

"Moreover, after the dimensional upheaval, all those legendary duelists disappeared without a trace. Just like in the basic dimension, no one has ever seen them again, as if they vanished along with the basic dimension."

Recalling that apocalyptic scene, Chronos still felt a chill: "If they were still here, this dimension wouldn't need him to protect it alone, would it?"

"The academy that returned to its original world from another world pieced together with the shattered fragments of the basic dimension to become a new world called the Fusion Dimension."

"After the interaction between the Overlord and his army, led by the three elves, the Super Magical Dragon Knight, the Phoenix of Destruction, and the three elves, and several other dimensions that seemed to appear suddenly, the fused dimension replaced the basic dimension and became the new benchmark. From then on, the major dimensions coexisted 'harmoniously'."

"This is the current situation."

Leyou was speechless.

How are you supposed to play this? This is utterly pointless!

All I want is a peaceful life and to play cards properly!

Chapter Six: The Sealed Being

The Overlord is very strong.

This is the impression most people in the universe have of the Overlord, an impression that comes from the "exchange" that determined which dimension could become the new foundational dimension.

At first, the four dimensions were extremely wary of other dimensions. After a long period of testing, they gradually lowered their guard and began to broaden their communication channels through various means.

Fortunately, the leaders of each dimension are all wise. Except for some historical issues caused by special circumstances in cities where the strongest is not the leader of the dimension, and occasional disagreements in upper-level decisions, the external attitude of each dimension depends entirely on the leader of that dimension.

To prevent war between dimensions, the leaders of each dimension met in the virtual world and agreed on a rule that each would send three powerful individuals to engage in a series of decisive battles.

Most outsiders don't know the specifics of that decisive battle; they only know that Arc Domain and City were the first to be eliminated, and after the first round of clashes, the representatives of these two dimensions became spectators.

Many people thought that the representatives of these two dimensions were not strong enough, which is why they were quickly eliminated. But only the parties involved knew that it was not that they were not strong, but that their opponents were stronger—and that the dimensions they represented did not actually have the qualifications to become new foundational dimensions before the final battle.

Hidden within the academy is a power called "Hyperfusion," and the fusion dimension still retains some remnants of the basic dimension, making it the most likely to become the new basic dimension. The hyperdimensional dimension also possesses a high-level power called "Source Code," and the hyperdimensional beings are the strongest among the four dimensions in terms of both quality and quantity.

Witnessed by the Arc Domain and the City, the Academy and Heart Garden engaged in their final duel.

Ultimately, the fusion dimension qualified to become a basic dimension, but the duel did not result in a victory for fusion.

It was a draw.

After the Super Magician and the Phoenix Man were defeated one after another and only managed to perish together with a powerful being called "Dominator", the Overlord then faced off against the remaining two powerful beings, "Outer God" and "Magic King Beast".

The Overlord was very strong, but even with all his strength, he could only fight these two powerful figures to a draw. In the end, he barely managed to achieve a draw by relying on his invincible "super fusion" power.

The Overlord knew perfectly well that this draw was just a fluke, because any one of the three powerful beings could fight to the death with the Super Magician and the Phoenix Man. And his invincible super fusion power could be suppressed if he was not careful when facing the "Dominator".

The Xyz Dimension is simply too powerful, so powerful that they didn't even send their strongest fighter to participate in this duel.

However, what puzzled the Overlord was that, although the strongmen of the Hyperdimension were all formidable figures, the strongest among them was an incredibly gentle person.

“We in the Hyperdimensional Dimension don’t need to become any kind of Basic Dimension… It seems to me that you need this ‘qualification’ more than we do, so you win this time.”

He is a very gentle person, but he doesn't seem to be good at expressing himself when it comes to certain things. The Overlord could sense that he wanted to transfer this qualification to the Fusion Dimension while not wanting the Fusion Dimension to feel that it was a handout.

The strong do not deign to give alms.

However, they will not refuse the care given by gentle people, nor will they refuse gifts from friends.

The Overlord and the strongest being of the Hyperion became friends. Even though they never fought, they both felt each other's strength and the gentleness that no strong person lacks.

The Overlord gained his first friend after becoming the Overlord.

The fusion dimension also gained the "qualification" to become a basic dimension, as well as the benefits of becoming a basic dimension—the fusion dimension, which was on the verge of collapse, gradually stabilized with the help of mysterious forces and began to recover and develop.

The other dimensions also fell silent afterward, maintaining communication with each other while living peacefully and calmly for a long time.

……

"Ah, we're almost at the academy!"

Travel time can be long, but if you have some interesting topics to talk about along the way, the time will pass quickly.

This can also be considered a form of relativity.

Although she was mentally prepared, Leyou was still somewhat surprised when she saw this magnificent academy.

What kind of college is this? Just call it the urban area.

With such high walls, and beyond them you can see many towering buildings with a somewhat fantastical style. I feel like this place could be used as a film set for an isekai anime without feeling out of place.

"Isn't it peculiar!" Professor Chronos said with a hint of pride. "Our trip to another world caused us great losses, but it also gave us some 'special products' that we don't have in other dimensions. Many of the spirits of Duel Monsters have come to settle in the academy, and many of the teachers and students are also spirits. If you see any buildings with a unique style, they must all belong to the spirits."

As they spoke, the two approached the gate, or rather, the city gate. There were guards by the gate who were clearly elves, giving Leyou a feeling of temporal and spatial dislocation.

Was I really not in another world? Or was I really at Duel Academy?

The guards clearly recognized the professor, given his distinctive Pot of Greed. So they didn't question Leyou, who was standing next to the professor. After all, with the Overlord protecting him, the academy and even the entire Fusion Dimension would be safe.

"If there's nothing else to do, Leyou, come with me to the academy to complete some basic procedures. Because of the frequent spacetime turbulence that started recently, quite a few people like you have come to the academy. So we've set up a special procedure to accommodate people like you. Just register and you'll get a temporary place to stay."

Professor Chronos seemed very familiar with the process, and Leyou, who didn't have any specific goals for the time being, readily agreed. However, halfway there, Chronos seemed to suddenly remember something and spoke up again: "If you don't mind, you can come to my house. My house is quite big... We can also exchange dueling experiences from time to time."

"Ah... this is really unnecessary. It's already a bit much that you've troubled me to handle those procedures, and it would be inappropriate to bother you any further."

Although Professor Chronos is a good person, let's forget about his suggestion.

How can you get so caught up in playing cards! You still have important things to do!

He rejected Chronos's offer without much concern and continued leading Leyou to the office.

Meanwhile, Leyou chatted with him casually while also talking with Philvo, Ella, and the Snow Maiden.

After Chronos's previous introduction, Leyou had a general understanding of the current situation. Thanks to the existence of the virtual world, Philvo could connect to the network of the electronic world anytime, anywhere to check relevant information.

While helping Leyou search for information about possible whispered spirits, Philvo is also trying to understand what has happened in the virtual world of this world—if nothing unexpected happens, the spirit heart stored in the electronic world should contain relevant records.