Card Exchange

Elder Entity N'tss is a Fusion Monster from the "Cthulhu Mythos" series released after Elder Entity Norden. Despite being a Fusion Monster, it's only Level 4, while boasting a solid 2500 ATK.

And as a Fusion Monster, it has two effects: The first allows you to Special Summon a Level 4 monster from your hand once per turn. The second triggers when it's sent to the Graveyard, letting you target and destroy a card on the field.

Unfortunately, Hikaru's current Deck has no way of Fusion Summoning or Special Summoning this monster.

And maybe, it never will.

Because its summoning method is: "Send 1 Synchro Monster and 1 Xyz Monster from your field to the Graveyard to Special Summon this card."

So, in most cases, the actual way to use this card is to send it directly from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard, and activate its effect to destroy a card, treating it as a simple removal tool.

Although Hikaru has no means to summon this card directly at the moment, it doesn't really matter. If nothing else, figuring out a way to send it to the Graveyard as a bomb card is good enough.

After all, Hikaru's Deck includes cards just like this.

If he mills it with Fusion Guard, it's basically pure profit!

Of course, it's a bit tricky to pull off now, but if he ever gets in touch with Aleister in the future, he might be able to run it through the "Invoked" engine. There's always a chance to make it work.

And beyond Elder Entity N'tss, among the 30 Fusion Monsters Magical Scientist gave him, there are several other cards worth using.

Like Pair Cycroid and Dark Balter the Terrible, both of which have already proven themselves in endgame scenarios.

Especially Pair Cycroid!

Seeing that card made Hikaru feel like the whole world lit up.

Although it's a Machine-type monster, the moment it was added to Hikaru's Deck, it instantly became the card with the easiest Fusion condition!

Two Machine monsters!

Even though it only has 1600 ATK, it can attack directly. After attacking, you can use Metamorphosis to turn it into Dark Balter the Terrible. Using Balter's effect to pay 1000 LP to negate Normal Spell Cards gives Hikaru some solid pressure on the opponent's turn, not bad at all.

"You're quite the impressive human warrior." Magical Scientist clapped repeatedly, then arranged a few helper spirits and told Hikaru that Miss Winda seemed to really like cup noodles, so he prepared a few extra crates to give to him.

Hikaru glanced at Tierra. Tierra nodded furiously, then floated behind Hikaru and said to the Magical Scientist, "Quick, reboot the system! I want to play too."

Magical Scientist didn't mind and restarted the system, letting Tierra take the controls.

Watching Tierra eagerly figure out how to dismantle the opponent, Hikaru shrugged, found a seat with the Magical Scientist, and struck up a conversation.

To be honest, Magical Scientist had no plans to leave the Village of Spellcasters, but Tierra's words had sparked a bit of curiosity in him.

Still, he had a lot of researchers and spirit staff under his command, and as the director of the lab, he couldn't just make decisions lightly.

So, he decided to tell Hikaru his original idea:

Card trade.

Hikaru was genuinely surprised.

Every Duel Spirit he'd encountered so far either shared their power or transformed into cards to follow him. None had ever proposed "trading cards."

But Yu-Gi-Oh! is a trading card game, after all, wanting to trade cards is perfectly natural.

For instance, Hikaru once traded Cybernetic Revolution with Zane to get Cyber Dragon.

But thinking about it, Magical Scientist starting off by offering thirty Fusion Monsters made it understandable.

It made sense. Magical Scientist was clearly a spirit who specialized in collecting cards for all sorts of experiments. So, having a stash of cards was only natural.

He showed Hikaru his collection and card list.

Hikaru looked through it, from the mediocre to some simply powerful monsters, all were present. Some of the Fusion Monsters had already been given to Hikaru as "prizes," and were marked as out of stock, like the ultra-rare Elder Entity N'tss, which Magical Scientist didn't have a second copy of.

On the other hand, Normal Monsters like Crimson Sunbird and Flame Swordsman, cards with no real effects and lackluster ATK, he had in abundance.

Hikaru exchanged some spare Fusion Spells with Magical Scientist and got a Flame Swordsman and two Dark Flares in return.

He never traded his Monster Cards with others. On one hand, Duel Spirits were real beings in this world, and deserved respect. At the very least, he needed to trust the other party. On the other hand, as a seasoned player, he had to be prepared, just because a monster isn't useful now doesn't mean it won't be essential later.

Even cards like Fabled Lurrie, a Level 1 LIGHT Fiend that hadn't seen play in years, suddenly became meta-relevant because it fit into a new archetype.

Any of his monsters might become vital combo pieces one day. He wasn't about to lose them.

Besides, he had tons of extra Fusion Spells and Traps. To Magical Scientist, those held way more "value" than Fusion Monsters he might already have, or have seen before.

As for why Hikaru specifically grabbed Flame Swordsman and Dark Flares… it was purely for insurance.

Even if they haven't evolved yet, if they do later and he doesn't have their base forms, he'll have to go hunt them down again. Better to prepare early.

"Hey, Hikaru! How do I deal with this part? Hurry up and tell me!"

By the time Hikaru was finishing up his card trades and promised to bring more Fusion cards next time, Tierra was already getting impatient.

She seemed to have hit the endgame with The Last Warrior from Another Planet, and its effect, preventing Summons, had left her frustrated.

She called out to Hikaru.

Hikaru chuckled and shook his head as he walked over.

"You can set a monster, then use Creature Swap to shift the field."

"Wait, you can set monsters?!" Tierra was amazed. "Got it! That's so simple! I didn't realize setting had this kind of use. I always thought that if you could summon a monster in Defense Position, what was the point of setting? So that's what it's for."

'This world really is special.' Tierra thought.

Hikaru shrugged.

Normally, monsters are summoned in Attack Position, and Defense Position plays like Aleister's was another level entirely.

Hikaru and Tierra spent a bit more time playing out some endgames with Magical Scientist, while Tierra seemed to enjoy it.

Eventually, when Bastion called Hikaru back to the Academy, they said goodbye to Magical Scientist.

"Until next time, Mr. Magical Scientist."

"Keep coming back with cool games!"

Magical Scientist laughed heartily and said he would. Like a kindly grandpa, he added that he also collects Fusion Monsters, and might have more new ones by Hikaru's next visit.

Hikaru was genuinely looking forward to that. So far, Magical Scientist had been the greatest benefactor to his Extra Deck, giving him thirty different Fusion Monsters to choose from.

It was fitting that such a powerful card, one that can pay 1000 LP to bring out Fusion Monsters endlessly, would be this generous with them.

Hikaru wobbled out the door with several crates of cup noodles. Tierra looked over, saw how unsteady he was, and waved her hand. A few violet puppet strings emerged and wrapped around the crates, lifting them into the air to help Hikaru easily reunite with Bastio.

The two of them exchanged a look and saw delight in each other's faces.

This dimensional trip wasn't dangerous… and was incredibly fruitful. For both of them, it had been a huge win.

Hikaru had fixed the gaps in his Extra Deck. And Bastion, with the Mathematician spirit following him, had finally resolved his long-standing issue of weak spirit affinity, a timely solution, and a joyous one.

In fact, after talking with Mathematician today, he had already decided the direction of his next Deck, and was ready to give Hikaru some serious competition this semester.

"Hahaha, I'm looking forward to it, Shino!"

"Hmph, just you wait. I'm claiming the top spot in our grade this term."

"Hohoho~ Then you'll have to beat Chazz first, Third Place~"

The two laughed as they returned to the dimensional gate, light-heartedly stepping back into the human world for the first time, thinking maybe, just maybe, traveling to another dimension wasn't all that bad.

Then—

They noticed students running everywhere across campus.

"What happened?" "What's going on?"

Next to Hikaru, the crates slowly descended and stacked up neatly. Bastion called out, but the students didn't even seem to hear him.

He dropped his hand, disheartened.

"Hahaha!" Hikaru couldn't help laughing, which made Bastion blush.

Bastion had always struggled with presence. Even now, he'd been ignored despite calling out first. It was both funny and a little pitiful.

One of the students from the Fusion Club stopped and shouted, "Hikaru! Something crazy's going on! You should head back to the club and find a TV! News is blowing up!

Mr. Kaiba discovered another new dimension with humans in it! He's calling it Dimension S!"

'Dimension S!?'

Hikaru and Bastion looked at each other, sharing a look of utter shock.

No wonder!

Another Third Kind Encounter!?