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# Chapter 335: Pre-Match Preparations
Because of Hayato's move that resulted in a draw, Yugi and he, who had been eliminated one after another, were grouped together.
Thus, the Semifinals pairings became Hayato versus Yugi, and Kaiba versus Joey.
Both Yugi and Hayato were quite satisfied with these pairings. Joey was also in a good mood because he could finally give Kaiba a good beating. The only one who felt annoyed was Kaiba.
This was especially true after he discovered that Hayato actually had a way to continue Dueling but still chose to force a draw, preventing others from having satisfying Duels.
Because of this, with his Dueling Addiction unsatisfied multiple times, Kaiba, who arrived at the Tower Top with everyone else, saw Hayato and Yugi, who had arrived early and were eager for battle. With a sour face, he said, "The Semifinals start in three hours."
With that, without any intention of listening to others' opinions, he walked towards the Lounge inside the Duel Tower to close his eyes and rest. Knowing he couldn't Duel immediately, Kaiba felt a bit of fatigue without the suppression of his Dueling Addiction.
One could only say that Kaiba, who abused his power for personal revenge, was scum.
Internally complaining that Kaiba should only ever be an AI Player, Hayato and Yugi exchanged helpless glances. In the end, they could only obediently comply with the arrangements of Kaiba, the power-tripping authority, and hold the Semifinals Match after three hours.
Although Kaiba seemed to be taking public revenge for private grievances, in reality, waiting three hours before holding the Semifinals was quite necessary and not without reason.
On one hand, Yugi and Hayato needed to make adjustments to their Decks.
After seeing Hayato's "Present Underworld" and "Cyber Dragon OTK" two powerful combos, Yugi needed time to think of countermeasures. He also had to take into consideration various Monsters Hayato had used before, such as Armed Dragon, Ojama, Gaia, Performapal, and Xyz Monsters.
At the same time, Yugi also had to remove some Cards from his current Deck that were prepared for the Grouping Match, including Cards like Gift Card, which were used to recover the opponent's Life Points and were useless in normal Duels.
It was the same for Hayato. If the opponent was Yugi, no amount of thinking about strategy was too much.
On the other hand, because the S.S. Anne was hijacked earlier, the originally scheduled "Live Broadcast" was not aired. Furthermore, since neither Kaiba nor Mokuba could contact the outside world due to communication interruption, it caused an uproar on the Network.
This was especially true after KaibaCorp heavily promoted the Grouping Matches after the Elimination Round for the Top 8 ended.
With Duel Monsters gaining global popularity, as long as they weren't laggards whose villages lacked internet access, any Duelist, or even just a fan of Duel Monsters, was camped in front of their television or computer, waiting to watch the world's top Duel Monsters Tournament.
Then it was like you, eagerly anticipating payday, finally saving enough money to get a new mobile phone, only to find that even after waiting until the next morning, your salary wasn't paid, and your boss was acting dead, not replying to your messages at all.
After transforming from an Arms Conglomerate into an Entertainment Company, KaibaCorp's business was on the rise. Their current biggest source of income came from the licensing of the Virtual Projection System developed by Kaiba, and the basis for these earnings came from the vast number of Duel Monsters fans.
In other words, if the unfavorable trend against KaibaCorp that was beginning to take shape on the Network wasn't handled well, KaibaCorp, which hadn't fully established itself in the Duel Monsters domain, could very likely sheepishly withdraw from this industry under the unified boycott of bystanders who were guided by schemers to become dissatisfied with KaibaCorp.
It sounds like the situation is somewhat grim? However, just seeing the expressions on the Kaiba brothers' faces, no matter how worried one was about KaibaCorp's future, they would feel relieved.
Perhaps there simply aren't any difficult problems in the world that could stump the Kaiba brothers? Except for Duel Monsters.
In Yugi's Lounge.
Spreading his Deck out in a line on the table, Yugi rested his chin in his hands and said somewhat hesitantly to the mirror in front of him, "The Other Me, do you think this is okay?"
In the eyes of others, Yugi was just talking to himself in the mirror. But if it were a Duelist with the ability to see Spirits or a holder of a Millennium Item, they would be able to see that the Yugi in the mirror looked significantly more mature than the Yugi in front of the mirror.
"Aibo, are you planning to use this card?" Pharaoh glanced at a Fusion Monster Card in the spread-out Deck. "Didn't you say before that you planned to save this card for dealing with Kaiba?"
"Buster Blader? Indeed, using him against Kaiba, whose Deck's Monsters are mainly Dragon-Type, would allow him to display his greatest effect."
Yugi nodded. After a pause, he continued, "However, Five-Headed Dragon also exists in Hayato-kun's Deck. Without Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Black Luster Soldier working together, our Deck simply doesn't have a monster comparable to Dragon Master Knight that can defeat Five-Headed Dragon."
"I see, you even considered Five-Headed Dragon?" Pharaoh nodded, suddenly enlightened, and said with a smile, "It's really thanks to you for covering the blind spots, Aibo."
"Hehe, since you've made up your mind to find your lost memories, then let me be your support, The Other Me." Yugi returned a shy smile. "The teamed-up 'Yugi Mutou' is invincible, I firmly believe this."
"Aibo..."
While Yugi and Pharaoh were sharing a deep bond of friendship, a few rooms away, Hayato was also organizing his Deck in his Lounge.
"First of all, Yugi's Deck definitely has many Trap Cards. Even if not at the start, if Original Yugi participated in modifying the Deck, there will definitely be many. Anyway, I'll include Red Reboot and Bribe of the Magic Palace, these Counters."
"Dark Magician won't be absent either. I'll include Super Polymerization too."
"Yugi will definitely use Traitor Dragon too, so I'll bring one more of this."
Card after card was stuffed into Hayato's Deck. After all, the opponent was Yugi; he couldn't be too careful. And speaking of which, Hayato hasn't defeated either Original Yugi or Dark Yugi so far. This time, Hayato was preparing with a winning mindset.
However, in the middle of handling the cards, looking at The Winged Dragon of Ra card, Hayato felt a bit troubled. If he were aiming for entertainment, Hayato would definitely put Ra into the Deck, after all, it's a God Card.
But what his current Deck needed was strength. Was there really still a need to include a God Card?
Especially since he got his hands on Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, if three monsters were gathered on the field, wasn't direct fusion better than Tribute Summoning a God?
As if hearing Hayato's inner voice, suddenly, the The Winged Dragon of Ra card in Hayato's hand began to emit golden light.
Because of Hayato's move that resulted in a draw, Yugi and he, who had been eliminated one after another, were grouped together.
Thus, the Semifinals pairings became Hayato versus Yugi, and Kaiba versus Joey.
Both Yugi and Hayato were quite satisfied with these pairings. Joey was also in a good mood because he could finally give Kaiba a good beating. The only one who felt annoyed was Kaiba.
This was especially true after he discovered that Hayato actually had a way to continue Dueling but still chose to force a draw, preventing others from having satisfying Duels.
Because of this, with his Dueling Addiction unsatisfied multiple times, Kaiba, who arrived at the Tower Top with everyone else, saw Hayato and Yugi, who had arrived early and were eager for battle. With a sour face, he said, "The Semifinals start in three hours."
With that, without any intention of listening to others' opinions, he walked towards the Lounge inside the Duel Tower to close his eyes and rest. Knowing he couldn't Duel immediately, Kaiba felt a bit of fatigue without the suppression of his Dueling Addiction.
One could only say that Kaiba, who abused his power for personal revenge, was scum.
Internally complaining that Kaiba should only ever be an AI Player, Hayato and Yugi exchanged helpless glances. In the end, they could only obediently comply with the arrangements of Kaiba, the power-tripping authority, and hold the Semifinals Match after three hours.
Although Kaiba seemed to be taking public revenge for private grievances, in reality, waiting three hours before holding the Semifinals was quite necessary and not without reason.
On one hand, Yugi and Hayato needed to make adjustments to their Decks.
After seeing Hayato's "Present Underworld" and "Cyber Dragon OTK" two powerful combos, Yugi needed time to think of countermeasures. He also had to take into consideration various Monsters Hayato had used before, such as Armed Dragon, Ojama, Gaia, Performapal, and Xyz Monsters.
At the same time, Yugi also had to remove some Cards from his current Deck that were prepared for the Grouping Match, including Cards like Gift Card, which were used to recover the opponent's Life Points and were useless in normal Duels.
It was the same for Hayato. If the opponent was Yugi, no amount of thinking about strategy was too much.
On the other hand, because the S.S. Anne was hijacked earlier, the originally scheduled "Live Broadcast" was not aired. Furthermore, since neither Kaiba nor Mokuba could contact the outside world due to communication interruption, it caused an uproar on the Network.
This was especially true after KaibaCorp heavily promoted the Grouping Matches after the Elimination Round for the Top 8 ended.
With Duel Monsters gaining global popularity, as long as they weren't laggards whose villages lacked internet access, any Duelist, or even just a fan of Duel Monsters, was camped in front of their television or computer, waiting to watch the world's top Duel Monsters Tournament.
Then it was like you, eagerly anticipating payday, finally saving enough money to get a new mobile phone, only to find that even after waiting until the next morning, your salary wasn't paid, and your boss was acting dead, not replying to your messages at all.
After transforming from an Arms Conglomerate into an Entertainment Company, KaibaCorp's business was on the rise. Their current biggest source of income came from the licensing of the Virtual Projection System developed by Kaiba, and the basis for these earnings came from the vast number of Duel Monsters fans.
In other words, if the unfavorable trend against KaibaCorp that was beginning to take shape on the Network wasn't handled well, KaibaCorp, which hadn't fully established itself in the Duel Monsters domain, could very likely sheepishly withdraw from this industry under the unified boycott of bystanders who were guided by schemers to become dissatisfied with KaibaCorp.
It sounds like the situation is somewhat grim? However, just seeing the expressions on the Kaiba brothers' faces, no matter how worried one was about KaibaCorp's future, they would feel relieved.
Perhaps there simply aren't any difficult problems in the world that could stump the Kaiba brothers? Except for Duel Monsters.
In Yugi's Lounge.
Spreading his Deck out in a line on the table, Yugi rested his chin in his hands and said somewhat hesitantly to the mirror in front of him, "The Other Me, do you think this is okay?"
In the eyes of others, Yugi was just talking to himself in the mirror. But if it were a Duelist with the ability to see Spirits or a holder of a Millennium Item, they would be able to see that the Yugi in the mirror looked significantly more mature than the Yugi in front of the mirror.
"Aibo, are you planning to use this card?" Pharaoh glanced at a Fusion Monster Card in the spread-out Deck. "Didn't you say before that you planned to save this card for dealing with Kaiba?"
"Buster Blader? Indeed, using him against Kaiba, whose Deck's Monsters are mainly Dragon-Type, would allow him to display his greatest effect."
Yugi nodded. After a pause, he continued, "However, Five-Headed Dragon also exists in Hayato-kun's Deck. Without Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Black Luster Soldier working together, our Deck simply doesn't have a monster comparable to Dragon Master Knight that can defeat Five-Headed Dragon."
"I see, you even considered Five-Headed Dragon?" Pharaoh nodded, suddenly enlightened, and said with a smile, "It's really thanks to you for covering the blind spots, Aibo."
"Hehe, since you've made up your mind to find your lost memories, then let me be your support, The Other Me." Yugi returned a shy smile. "The teamed-up 'Yugi Mutou' is invincible, I firmly believe this."
"Aibo..."
While Yugi and Pharaoh were sharing a deep bond of friendship, a few rooms away, Hayato was also organizing his Deck in his Lounge.
"First of all, Yugi's Deck definitely has many Trap Cards. Even if not at the start, if Original Yugi participated in modifying the Deck, there will definitely be many. Anyway, I'll include Red Reboot and Bribe of the Magic Palace, these Counters."
"Dark Magician won't be absent either. I'll include Super Polymerization too."
"Yugi will definitely use Traitor Dragon too, so I'll bring one more of this."
Card after card was stuffed into Hayato's Deck. After all, the opponent was Yugi; he couldn't be too careful. And speaking of which, Hayato hasn't defeated either Original Yugi or Dark Yugi so far. This time, Hayato was preparing with a winning mindset.
However, in the middle of handling the cards, looking at The Winged Dragon of Ra card, Hayato felt a bit troubled. If he were aiming for entertainment, Hayato would definitely put Ra into the Deck, after all, it's a God Card.
But what his current Deck needed was strength. Was there really still a need to include a God Card?
Especially since he got his hands on Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, if three monsters were gathered on the field, wasn't direct fusion better than Tribute Summoning a God?
As if hearing Hayato's inner voice, suddenly, the The Winged Dragon of Ra card in Hayato's hand began to emit golden light.
