"Alright, let's Duel today. I'll be playing a pure [Performapal] Deck. A King of Games' Duel must be entertaining."
"Hmph~, I Activate [Change of Heart]! Your [Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon] is mine now!"
"I Activate [Dragon's Mirror], to Summon my strongest Soul, [Dragon Knight Gaia]! Then I Activate [Spiral Spear Strike]! Burst Kill!!!"
Early in the morning, Hayato sat in front of the Kame Game Shop. He had set up a small table under a parasol, Dueling with duelists who came to buy card packs and, while they were at it, admire the two new Kings of Games.
Watching an eleven or twelve-year-old elementary schooler who had just lost a Duel leave in tears, Hayato curled his lip in disdain. "Tch, crying over just one loss. These youngsters really have weak resilience. All I did was take control of, let's see, one, two, three, four, five of his Monsters. You should be smiling when you Duel."
"Um, I think you're being a little too serious when you play Duel Monsters with those kids, Hayato. That's probably why they're crying."
Sitting next to Hayato was Yugi, who was also holding a hand of cards. Although he said that, looking at the five neatly arranged Set Cards in his Back Row, Hayato felt that the kid facing him wasn't having a much better experience than those Dueling against him.
A week had passed since the trip to Duelist Kingdom. Hayato and the others had long since returned to Domino City and seen Solomon Muto, who had successfully woken up. Joey had also used the Prize Money from Duelist Kingdom to pay for his sister's surgery fees. He had about a million yen left over, which he returned to Hayato and Yugi.
The doctor said the surgery was scheduled for three months later.
Everything was heading in the right direction, as if they had returned to the peaceful, everyday life before Duelist Kingdom.
Except, of course, for those annoying guys who hadn't been eligible to participate in Duelist Kingdom but now foolishly dreamed of defeating Hayato and Yugi to achieve overnight fame.
After 24 hours of emergency medical treatment, Pegasus regained consciousness. Although he was still recuperating in the hospital, he took the time to release a video to the public. The video's content was quite simple: on one hand, it was to let his business rivals know that he was in good health and not dead yet, so they shouldn't get any funny ideas. On the other hand, it was to announce that Hayato and Yugi had become the second and third largest shareholders of Industrial Illusions.
Although Pegasus had previously invited many people to watch the Duels, the invitees were either celebrities and influential figures from various circles or famous duelists. And while these people witnessed Hayato and Yugi defeat Pegasus, they weren't gossipy reporters, eager to share everything they saw with others.
Therefore, until Pegasus released the video, the news that the Kings of Games had been crowned only circulated within upper-class social circles. The average person had no idea, and many didn't even hear about "Duelist Kingdom" until after the video was released.
As a result, "quite a few people" were rather unconvinced—why wasn't a great duelist like myself invited to such a huge event? If I had gone, maybe—no, I definitely would have become a King of Games too.
But Duelist Kingdom was already over. So, how could they prove "I could do it too"? The answer was—
"I can't accept this!" Chazz Princeton sat opposite Hayato, watching as Hayato slapped down a Combo of [Earth Spirit God], [Gaia], [Power of Succession], and [Megamorph] to OTK him. "You! You said at the beginning that you were using a [Performapal] Deck!"
Chazz Princeton, one of the "quite a few people" mentioned earlier.
Now that Duelist Kingdom was over, wasn't the way to prove you were stronger than a King of Games simply to beat one in a Duel?
"Hmph, idiot. Who says a Monster that doesn't have 'Performapal' in its name isn't a [Performapal]?" Hayato said righteously. "A King of Games' Duel must be entertaining, and these cards are all my partners. Isn't that what 'Performapal' means? Don't make excuses just because you lost the Duel."
"What kind of crap logic is that! I specifically researched your [Performapal] deck and found they were all Beast-Type and Spellcaster-Type monsters! But you, you only used one [Performapal Sky Magician] on the entire field, and the rest were all Warrior-Type!"
Chazz Princeton was still not quite convinced, but Hayato shooed him away as if he were a fly.
"Alright, alright, next." Hayato waved his hand, watching Chazz Princeton stand up indignantly. "Besides, you can't even beat Joey. Go back and practice some more, young man."
Watching Chazz Princeton move aside, another elementary school-aged child took his place. Hayato tilted his head slightly, sighing in relief as he saw the queue was finally nearing its end.
After Pegasus released the video, those unconvinced "many people" banded together, shared information, and conducted a nationwide, carpet-search-like effort to find Hayato's and Yugi's locations. Hayato's home was in a villa district, and because the property management fees were paid handsomely, the security was excellent, so no one managed to bother him there. But Yugi, whose family ran a Card Shop, was out of luck.
The stream of people showing up was practically endless. The Kame Game Shop was just a small store, and with this crowd, Grandpa Muto couldn't do any business at all.
However, don't be fooled by Grandpa Muto's age. His mind was incredibly sharp, and by the next day, he had come up with a very, very good idea that would not only solve the problem of the duelists but also greatly boost the Card Shop's business.
"Buy ten Card Packs and you get a ticket for the lottery, with prizes ranging from 'Thank you for your purchase,' 'Try again,' and 'One more pack,' all the way up to 'Duel a King of Games.'" Sitting in front of a lottery machine, Joey complained to Téa, who was in charge of selling the Card Packs. "Grandpa Muto is such a good businessman. At this rate, he could probably open his own company someday."
Indeed, this was Grandpa Muto's "perfect" strategy. Want to Duel a King of Games to prove yourself? First, you have to win the right to. How do you get a chance to win? Buy Card Packs. What if you don't win? Keep buying Card Packs.
This move was nothing short of cunning. It created a buffer between Yugi and Hayato, the two Kings of Games, and the duelists who came to their door, preventing conflicts like "Why can he Duel him and not me?" by creating a "fair" environment.
Furthermore, if anyone refused to follow this rule, the people who had already won a ticket would turn into allies on Yugi's side. The conflict would be shifted to the masses, turning into "Why should you get to Duel without buying any Card Packs? He bought ten packs, I bought twenty, and you didn't even buy one and you still want to Duel?"
Hayato listened to the discussion behind him in silence. He would never tell Joey and the others that this idea was actually his suggestion to Grandpa Muto. This move was called "involution."
Just as he was thinking this, the little girl holding a doll who sat opposite him tapped on the table.
"Ah, sorry about that, I spaced out for a moment," Hayato apologized.
"Hmph, a gentleman doesn't keep a lady waiting."
The relationships are actually more exciting than in many modern TV dramas.
Kaiba likes Yugi, Rebecca likes Yugi, and then Yugi and Yami Yugi are the most important person to each other.
Then, you also have to insert the fatefully entangled Kaiba, Dark Magician Girl, and there's even Vivian Wong, voiced by Rie Tanaka, who is an admirer of Yugi's.
(end of chapter)