"Hey there, miss, are you okay?" Seeing Hoshino Chiyuki in a trance-like state, the enthusiastic (and slightly perverted) young man Jonouchi couldn't help but express his concern.
Gradually clearing her thoughts, Chiyuki slowly came back to her senses. She gave Jonouchi a pure smile in response to his concern, "Thank you for your concern. I was just a bit starstruck seeing my idol, Yugi Mutou."
"I-I see." Jonouchi scratched his head awkwardly, giving Yugi a jealous glance.
Since she had been transported into the world of Yu-Gi-Oh and was about to head to the Duelist Kingdom, it was the right move to stick close to the main characters. Chiyuki's clever mind quickly started thinking.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hoshino Chiyuki, a high school girl (though in reality, I'm a shut-in)." Chiyuki tried to display her perfect smile to win the favor of the main cast.
"I'm Katsuya Jonouchi, also a high school student." Jonouchi quickly introduced himself, striking a pose he thought was very cool.
"So this is the legendary 'Facial Expression King' Jonouchi. He does look a bit handsome in person, though he's a bit silly," Chiyuki thought to herself.
"I'm Yugi Mutou, Jonouchi's classmate. My family runs a shop selling Duel Monsters cards. Feel free to come by anytime." Yugi politely introduced himself.
"Yugi in his normal form is pretty cute, but I remember there's also a very handsome Dark Yugi, right?" Chiyuki's heart was filled with respect for the original protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh.
Jonouchi tapped Yugi on the head, "She said she's your fan, so you don't need to introduce yourself."
"Yeah, a high school student who defeated Seto Kaiba, the chairman of KaibaCorp. Every duelist knows who Yugi Mutou is." A seductive voice came from behind them, and a woman in a revealing outfit approached Yugi slowly.
"Wow!" Jonouchi, standing aside, was dazzled. First a pure beauty, now a sexy older woman. "Yugi, you are lucky," Jonouchi thought enviously.
"I'm Mai Valentine. I didn't expect the one who defeated Seto Kaiba to be such a cute little boy. I like you." Mai Valentine winked at Yugi seductively.
Even Chiyuki, as a girl, felt a shiver from Mai's sultry gaze. Yugi, an inexperienced boy, blushed and looked down, muttering a small "thank you."
"What are you doing to Yugi, you woman!" Anzu, who had snuck onto the ship, couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up.
"Anzu? Honda?" Yugi and Jonouchi asked in unison, "What are you doing here?"
Realizing her impulsive outburst had revealed her presence, Anzu stuck out her tongue, "We were worried about Yugi and Jonouchi, so we snuck onto the ship."
"Yeah, yeah," Honda echoed, "Don't forget, we're best friends."
Seeing the familiar, harmonious scene, Chiyuki breathed a sigh of relief. So far, it seemed she had crossed into a peaceful world without wars, zombies, or demon lords, where everyone just enjoyed playing cards—a nice and easy world.
The remaining problem was how to survive in this world with no money and only a mysterious deck of cards.
This problem seemed simple but was complex. Typically, in such scenarios, the protagonist would receive some special abilities to help them get by in the new world, gradually leveling up and maybe even conquering the world.
But in Chiyuki's case, she had no special abilities and was dressed normally. The system had gone silent after the initial crossover, leaving her only with a deck of cards, at the cost of her entire FGO collection.
If I could convert this deck into the money I spent on FGO, I could live comfortably for a while. Desperate, Chiaki briefly considered selling her deck for money. But just for a moment—selling her "wives"? No way! Chiyuki Hoshino would rather starve on the streets than do that—
"Jonouchi, you're joining the Duelist Kingdom tournament for the prize money mentioned in the invitation, right?" Anzu looked at Jonouchi, who hadn't received an invitation, with a questioning gaze.
"Huh? Prize money!" Chiyuki's cute little ears twitched slightly at the words "prize money."
"Excuse me, what did you mean by prize money?" Chiyuki, eager to make money, asked Anzu.
Facing Chiyuki's question, Anzu looked at her in disbelief, "You didn't receive an invitation to the Duelist Kingdom? It says that the winner will receive a huge cash prize."
"Did you get an invitation, cute girl?" Mai Valentine looked skeptically at Chiyuki, "Almost every duelist's goal here is the prize money. Though the title of Duel King is attractive, the real draw is the cash prize."
"Except for one person," Honda added, "Yugi is here to defeat Pegasus and save his grandpa."
Yugi's grandpa, Sugoroku Mutou, had his soul taken by Pegasus using the Millennium Eye, forcing Yugi to participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament.
Feeling Mai's suspicion, Chiyuki instinctively looked away and pouted, "I-I did get an invitation. I just didn't read it carefully."
"Oh, is that so?" Mai wasn't convinced, "Then show me your duelist star."
"Duelist star?" What new term was this? Chiyuki had watched only a few episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! as a child and barely remembered the plot, though she knew the rules from the card game.
"It's this," Jonouchi said, opening his hand to reveal a yellow star.
"Ah! I think I have it." Chiyuki nervously rummaged through her pockets.
Please, please let it be there! This is my best shot at earning a living here. System, don't be so disappointed me as to not even give me a star.
Praying silently, Chiyuki finally felt two prickly objects in her pocket. She pulled them out to find two identical stars to Jonouchi's.
"See, I told you I had it." Chiyuki breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she didn't pull out a Saint Quartz from FGO instead.
"I knew it, a cute girl like you couldn't be a stowaway." Jonouchi gave her a look that said, "I always believed in you."
Anzu, standing nearby, stomped on Jonouchi's foot in anger, "So you think I'm not a cute girl because I'm a stowaway?"
Everyone around laughed at Jonouchi's predicament as he squatted down to rub his foot.
Although Chiyuki laughed along, she had already started planning in her mind.
"Duelist Kingdom, huh? prize money, huh?" She patted the mysterious deck in her pocket and confidently nodded, "Becoming the Duel King, commanding respect, and living a rich life in a 2D world—I, Hoshino Chiyuki, am ready!"