What do you mean I'm already dead?

Yu Ming suddenly felt a bit awkward.

He'd been complaining about his "transmigrator's luck" earlier, like how he'd encountered some damned Shadow Game without even a small card game to warm up.

He'd been prepared to take a life, only to now realize that the guy wasn't dead at all.

How should he put it?

I'd already come to terms with it, and this is all it amounts to?

"Honestly, you might as well have just died."

"Haha, I think so too, but unfortunately, I can't die."

Keith grinned as he struggled to pull himself up from the floor.

"But clearly, dying in this world is a very difficult thing."

"Difficult? It just means you're still clinging to the idea of living."

Listening to Keith's reckless, hooligan-like remark, Yu Ming couldn't help but purse his lips.

"If you really wanted to die, it wouldn't be that hard."

"That's hard to say."

Although Yu Ming still held a degree of caution, the guy simply took out his personal bag and rummaged through it casually.

That relaxed, almost defeated posture didn't look like he was facing an enemy he'd just been fighting.

"No matter, I'll take it one day at a time."

Finally, he pulled out a small bottle. Smoke swirled within the transparent glass, making it impossible to see what was inside.

It wasn't until Keith started chugging it down that Yu Ming confirmed it was a liquid.

But...

"What are you drinking?"

As Yu Ming spoke, he could even see Keith's injuries rapidly healing.

"This? It's a good thing here. Just one sip can replenish your Soul Power, it's essential for survival."

"So why does something like this exist?"

At this moment, Yu Ming even felt as if he hadn't transmigrated into Yu-Gi-Oh!, but into a series of games like Knee-Stiffening Paralysis vs. Slow-Fast Knife Mad Dog.

But... never mind, it was Yu-Gi-Oh!'s world after all; anything could happen.

"I suggest you abandon common sense like me."

"Hmm?"

"After all, this isn't the world we're familiar with."

Yu Ming, who had thought he could accept all sorts of strange things, suddenly froze.

"In this godforsaken place, even severe injuries don't necessarily mean death, and even death doesn't mean complete rest."

Listening to Keith's slow, emotional sigh, he couldn't help but widen his eyes.

A feeling of bewilderment spread from deep within him, erupting into an uncontrollable sound:

"What did you say?!"

And that astonishment led to confusion.

"Why are you so surprised?"

Keith's eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, swept over him. That look was a bit like a teacher's gaze he'd seen in the office back in his school days.

"You don't mean you don't know anything?"

Oh no, I really don't.

"That's impossible. You don't have any memory at all?"

When Keith asked this casually, Yu Ming felt a strange pang of guilt.

Dude, I just transmigrated. I don't even know whose body this is. How about you introduce me to the local customs?

Of course, he couldn't speak these thoughts aloud, so Yu Ming could only shrug and offer the versatile, formulaic answer:

"I really don't remember anything."

Meeting Keith's increasingly strange gaze, Yu Ming sighed.

"I don't know what happened. I just woke up and found myself here."

"Hmph, then you're really pathetic. You don't even know the cause of your death, and yet you end up in this godforsaken place."

Not knowing if he believed this extremely vague statement, Keith merely raised an eyebrow.

Cause of death?

"What cause of death?"

Yu Ming was stunned.

He instinctively wanted to ask, but a frantic noise echoed from the distance.

Footsteps, gasping, dripping water.

When he came to his senses, a massive figure had already appeared around the corner.

It wore a tattered green cloth cloak and wielded a huge cleaver, but its face could only be described as hideous and terrifying.

"G-guh… Oh-oh-oh!!"

In the candlelight, Yu Ming could even see the humanoid monster's drool at the corners of its mouth.

"Is that…?"

"Damn it! That thing actually circled back!"

Keith reacted quickly, slapping a card onto his Duel Disk.

The next moment, a phantom image of a mechanical spider appeared behind him.

「TM-1 Launcher Spider」

"Stop it!"

The steel spider, laden with rocket launchers, instantly fired a barrage of missiles.

With a collapsing sound, the gate, which had already been blown open, was quickly re-covered by rubble.

But before they could relax, an even more terrifying, insane roar erupted from the other side of the rubble pile.

"Oh-oh-oh-oh—"

"So, what is that thing?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's a Ghoul."

Keith spoke.

"Just like the tales and legends we heard as kids, completely mindless, feeding on flesh and blood."

"Then why is it here?"

"Because this guy was guarding this place to begin with…"

Thump

Thump

Thump

Suddenly, violent crashing sounds broke the already brief conversation.

"Aow—"

Shing

The pile of rubble, which seemed to completely block the gate, was suddenly pierced by an ancient blade.

Through the crack, which looked as if it had been directly impaled, a fierce, almost glowing eye and half a rotten face reflected back, just like in the famous movie The Shining.

Gazing at that fierce, cruel face, Yu Ming felt his heart clench, as if being tightly squeezed, and his breathing inexplicably began to quicken.

This guy…

"Tsk, this guy is still as troublesome as ever."

Before Yu Ming could ponder further, Keith directly turned his head.

"Hey, kid, this isn't the place to talk. We need to get out of here."

However, Yu Ming didn't move immediately.

"I need to confirm something first."

"Go on."

"You knew that explosion, that duel, couldn't kill me, right?"

"Of course. That's common sense in this world."

Keith rolled his eyes.

"As long as your Soul Power remains, you'll survive no matter what."

"So you're just a short-tempered thug who wanted an excuse to fight on the street, and then I beat you up instead… Is that a fair understanding of our previous conflict?"

Suppressing the inexplicable turmoil churning within him, Yu Ming nodded.

"Hey…"

Before Keith could retort, he pointed to the floor.

"There's a secret door here, but I don't know what's below."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter what it is. This wretched place is all the same anyway."

Keith grumbled as he lifted the secret door and jumped down, without any hesitation, delay, or testing.

Then…

"Oh, for f***'s sake, why is it so high up here?!"

His voice sounded a little distant, and the expletives were plentiful.

"But there's actually a secret passage out of this damn ruin here?"

Yu Ming silently estimated the possible height, then just walked over to the secret door.

To be honest, he felt like he was numb to it all.

What even was all of this?

He'd inexplicably transmigrated to this place, inexplicably played a Shadow Game, and now he was inexplicably teaming up with his previous opponent to escape.

What was worse was that he seemed to have had no choice from beginning to end.

"…I'll just take things as they come."

Looking around the room he'd transmigrated into, Yu Ming couldn't help but let his gaze fall on the fierce scratches on the walls.

Though he hadn't noticed it before, he could now faintly make out a distorted message among them.

'Safe and Sound'

He didn't know who had left it there, but…

"I'll take that as a good omen."

"Hey, kid, what are you spacing out for? Get down here!"

CRUMBLE

The pile of rubble finally gave way, and a fierce Ghoul entered the room.

After exchanging a glance with the brutal creature, he jumped into the secret door, which was only large enough for one person to pass through.

It was very high, higher than he'd expected.

But soon, he no longer paid attention to the so-called height.

Thump

After landing with a controlled fall, what greeted his eyes was a landscape he had never imagined:

Dark clouds and miasma obscured the sky, and the ground was piled high with flesh and skeletal remains.

In a visibly murky shadow, demons and wandering spirits that constantly challenged human aesthetics roamed.

Staring at the apocalyptic landscape, Yu Ming's gaze fell on the only human present who gave him a sense of instinctive familiarity.

Keith Howard.

The man simply stood beneath the miasma and dark clouds, laughing heartily.

"Surprised, aren't you? Never seen a sight like this before, have you? This is a view only we dead folks get to see!"

"…Where exactly is this place?"

"Where else could it be?"

Hearing this, Keith couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Welcome to hell, kid."

In a low voice, his expression gradually became manic, as if he was mocking something.

Perhaps he was mocking Yu Ming, the 'newcomer,' or perhaps he was mocking himself.

"Welcome to the… Undying World, a place only unlucky souls swallowed by darkness enter!"

[New career script detected. Please write your story.]

"Huh?"

A game-like prompt suddenly echoed in his ears, and Yu Ming couldn't help but look around.

In the landscape covered by miasma and dark clouds, he suddenly felt a cold wind coming from behind him.

He instinctively looked back, only to see the corpse of a giant dragon silently sprawled, its massive head drooping in front of him.

[Location discovered – Crimson Ruins]

Immediately after, a large logo appeared before his eyes:

Dimensional Duel: Crimson Undying Legend

Amidst the wailing sounds that seemed like background music, Yu Ming felt a certain emotion brewing within him.

Finally, it transformed into an uncontrollable, heartfelt exclamation:

"F**k!"