Yu - Gi - Oh ! - Duel 001 " The Puzzle of the Gods " is first publication of any " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " media . It was originally published September 16 , 1996 , in Japanese , in 1996 ' s issue 42 of the " Weekly Shōnen Jump " magazine . Its first English release was in the " Shonen Jump " magazine . It has been reprinted in volume 1 of the and volume 1 of the bunkoban . Summary . Day 1 . At lunch time at Domino High School , the boys decide to play basketball and let the girls join them . Yugi is offered to come too , rather than play " Bluebeard ' s Attack " by himself . Yugi declines saying it is alright , his team would just lose . Yugi begins to talk in soliloquy , wishing he could play his kind of games with someone . Taking a box containing a puzzle out of his bag , he says his greatest treasure is in this box , but you have to keep it a secret . He gives a riddle to hint what is in the box , " It is something that you see , but have never seen before " . About to reveal the answer , as he opens the box , Hiroto Honda suddenly appears and swipes it from Yugi ' s hands . Honda and Katsuya Jonouchi mock Yugi for talking to himself . They tease him by throwing the puzzle across the room to each other , while Yugi tries to take it back . Jonouchi is disgusted by Yugi caring so much for the box . He tells Yugi that he is going to teach him to be a man . Holding up the puzzle Jonouchi says , " You want this box back ? Then gimme all you got . " Yugi protests , shouting that he hates fighting . As they continue to tease him , Jonouchi peeks inside and calls it dumb , as he chucks it across to Honda . However Anzu Mazaki arrives and catches the box in midair , exclaiming that if he thinks it is dumb , he should give it back to Yugi . After being told off , Jonouchi and Honda leave the room , saying they will get her back for this . Yugi thanks Anzu , while she explains that the boys playing basketball had been peeking up the girls skirts , while they took their shots . Yugi begins to fantasize and Anzu is slightly taken back , but asks him what is in the box . Yugi offers to show her , provided she keeps it a secret . He shows the contents to Anzu , who is impressed by the sparkling gold pieces . Yugi reveals that the answer to the riddle is " a puzzle " . He has never finished it , so he does not know what it looks like . Explaining that his family owns a game shop , that sells unusual games from all over the world , he tells Anzu that he found the puzzle a few years ago and that it is a memento of his grandpa . Shocked , Anzu shouts out " Your Grandpa died , Yugi ! ? ! " and calms down thinking that that does make it special . Yugi tells her that the puzzle had been found in an Egyptian ruin and proclaims that the hieroglyphs read " Whoever solves this puzzle shall be granted one wish . . . like the " . He drops his head in shame , thinking Anzu is laughing at him . He reminds her that this is a secret , and Anzu insists he can trust her . Yugi admits that it is depressing that he has been working the puzzle for eight years and has not solved it . Anzu tells him not to give up , he has heart in it . She winks and asks Yugi what his wish was . Yugi winks back saying that it is too secret . Meanwhile Honda and Jonouchi bump into Ushio , who overhears them talking about bullies and asks what they said . Jonouchi tells hims to keep out of this , but Honda quickly restrains Jonouchi and forces a smile saying that it is nothing . Ushio declares that picking on people is bad and Honda quickly agrees . After Ushio leaves Honda tells Jonouchi not to pick a fight with Ushio . He explains that Ushio makes the rules and even the teachers are afraid of him . Jonouchi yells that he will get Ushio someday . He slips his hand into his pocket and reveals a piece of Yugi ' s puzzle he managed to swipe from the box earlier . He grasps the piece and grins , saying how Yugi will not be able to solve his puzzle if it is missing a piece . Honda laughs and compliments Jonouchi , who throws it out the window into a body of water . Ushio later meets Yugi and asks him if Honda and Jonouchi were bullying him . Yugi replies that nothing is happening to him . Ushio explains that victims often defend their attackers and assigns himself the position of Yugi ' s bodyguard . After school . Yugi meets Anzu just outside his house and the two go in together . Anzu screams as she sees Yugi ' s grandfather , Sugoroku Mutou . She looks at Yugi and asks him through gritted teeth why he said his grandfather was dead . Sugoroku screams that he is not dead and Yugi said he meant it was going to be a memento . Sugoroku makes Anzu uncomfortable by commenting on how much she has grown since he last saw her , especially around the bust . As Yugi and Anzu go upstairs to work on the puzzle , Sugoroku tells Yugi that the puzzle is beyond his understanding . The team of archaeologists who took it from a pharaoh ' s tomb all died mysterious deaths . The last said with his dying breath " The Shadow Game s " . Anzu gets worried , but Yugi thinks Shadow Games sound cool . Sugoroku makes an attempt to grab the puzzle , but Yugi runs saying that he just wants to sell it . Day 2 . The next day at school , Ushio greets Yugi and shows him to Jonouchi and Honda , who are lying against a wall , beaten up . Yugi tells Ushio that this is too much and asks Jonouchi if he is okay . Jonouchi grunts asks Yugi if he is happy now . Yugi tries telling him that he did not ask Ushio to do this . Ushio continues to attack Jonouchi , but Yugi protests , saying he will not let Ushio do this to his friends . Ushio jokes about Yugi calling them his friends and imposes a bodyguard fee of ¥200 , 000 . For ¥200 , 000 , he adds that Yugi can hit the two all he wants . Yugi continues to stare at Ushio in shock , which Ushio interprets as Yugi not being satisfied until Jonouchi and Honda are beaten up some more and continues to attack . However Yugi stands in his way and insists that if he wants to hurt someone , he can hurt him . Ushio takes Yugi by the collar and says that he hates picking on people , but does not consider this to be bullying , but a warning , showing Yugi what will happen if he does not pay up . Jonouchi is shocked at Yugi standing up for them as Ushio beats Yugi . Yugi thought about the wish he had made ; it was to have friends , whom he could count on and who could count on him . As Ushio left the three of them , he warned Yugi that if he does not pay , he will hurt him with the knife he holds up . That night while Yugi was trying to work out what can be done about Ushio and his fee , he could not help but work on his puzzle . Unlike other days , solving the puzzle seemed a lot easier and he quickly assembled it until there was just one piece left . Upon realizing it was not in the box , he began frantically scavenging his room in search for it . In failing to find it , he sobbed that he would not get his wish . Sugoroku enters the room and Yugi tells him about the missing piece . Sugoroku reminds him that he had put eight years into making it , and says that he should have more faith and that his wish will be granted . He then produced the last piece . Yugi hugged him for finding it , but Sugoroku said that it was not him and that a friend of Yugi ' s had come by earlier . He was soaking wet even though it was not raining . A flashback showed Jonouchi approaching Sugoroku ' s shop . Jonouchi had asked Sugoroku to give the piece to Yugi . In the present , Sugoroku remembers Jonouchi telling him about Ushio giving Yugi trouble and inserts an envelope of money into Yugi ' s bag , hoping it will help him stay out of trouble . Yugi inserts the last piece into its position on the puzzle , while Sugoroku walks away . Something strange begins to happen to Yugi and the Eye of Anubis appears on his forehead . The Shadow Game . Later that night , Ushio waits at the school after being called out there by Yugi . Yugi appears sitting on a nearby vaulting horse . This time Yugi , as Dark Yugi , has an air of confidence around him and looks slightly different while also wearing the now - solved Millennium Puzzle on a lace around his neck . Ushio asks for the money and Dark Yugi holds it out saying he has raised it to ¥400 , 000 . However , he thinks it would not be fun to just hand it over and insists that they play a game . Ushio is shocked at first but thinks it sounds interesting . Dark Yugi asks Ushio for his knife and sets it next to the money saying that is what they need for the game . Ushio gets anxious as he wonders what kind of game involves money and a knife . Dark Yugi explains the rules : Ushio begins to wonder if this is really Yugi before agreeing to start . They play roshambo to decide who goes first . Dark Yugi wins and took the first move , getting less than ten bank notes . He reminds Ushio , that if you use too much strength , you will stab yourself . The point of the game is to control your greed . Ushio goes and gets over 100 , 000 . Later in the game , when the money has almost ran out , Ushio thinks he will get the rest , but his right arm begins to tremble . Dark Yugi explains that it was now controlled by his greed and asked would he sacrifice his hand to get more money . Ushio , said there was a way he could get the money with one stab without hurting his left hand , before lunging the knife towards Dark Yugi . Dark Yugi jumps away and claims that he thought Ushio would not be able to follow the rules . Ushio starts sweating and points at the Eye of Anubis , as it appeared on Dark Yugi ' s forehead . Dark Yugi explains that it is only seen by those who trespass in his soul . He points at Ushio , yelling " Penalty Game , Greed , The Illusion of Avarice ! " . Ushio starts to see money falling everywhere , due to the illusion of avarice . Dark Yugi then left , taking the money with him . Day 3 . The next morning students see Ushio showering himself in leaves and rubbish , which he believes is money , and wonder what happened to him . Yugi cannot not remember the events of the previous night apart from finishing the puzzle . While walking down the corridor celebrating , he bumps into Jonouchi . Jonouchi asks him how he is doing and says that he also has a treasure and asks Yugi if he wants so see it . Yugi says " yup " . But Jonouchi laughs and says that he cannot , as " it ' s something you can show , but can ' t see " . Yugi begins to think and Jonouchi tells him that the answer is friendship and thanks Yugi for showing him they are friends . Jonouchi dashes off saying he will see Yugi later in class , ashamed that he said something so corny . Yugi runs after him calling him back saying he forgot his shoe . Appearances . Debuts are in bold . Adaptations . Toei anime series . This chapter is adapted in the first episode of the Toei anime series . Differences include : NAS anime series . This anime starts much later in time , so the events of Yugi solving the Millennium Puzzle are skipped . The viewer is briefed in on this information at the start of episode 1 . Joey ( Jonouchi ) and Tristan ( Honda ) being beaten - up by Ushio and Yugi trying to defend them appears in a flashback in episode 3 . " Yu - Gi - Oh ! The Movie : Pyramid of Light " . The film " " , shows Yugi solving the Millennium Puzzle under different circumstances . He ' s simply at home working on the puzzle , not stressed over paying Ushio . He looks through some instructions as he constructs the puzzle and is not missing the last piece . Upon completion , he is confronted by a number of Duel Monster Spirits . Dark Yugi then takes control and vanquishes them . Afterwards , Yugi regains control of his body , not sure of what just happened . " Yu - Gi - Oh ! Duel Monsters : Pyramid of Light " . The prologue to " " , the novelization of the film , expands on the events at the beginning of the film , making it more like the manga . It included Jonouchi retrieving the missing piece and Sugoroku passing it on , as well as explaining how Yugi got the Puzzle and spent 8 years trying to solve it . There is no mention of Yugi using instructions , but does include the monster spirits vanquished by Dark Yugi . Afterwards , Dark Yugi looks at his reflection to see his new form . He asks who Yugi is and states that he doesn ' t know who he is himself .