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Chapter 382: Untitled
False Tamashii: 【Gaia the Fierce Knight】, 【Rainbow Kuriboh】
True Tamashii: 【Spiritual Ectoplasm】
Hayato truly squeezed every last drop of value out of 【Cyber End Dragon】. First, he maximized 【Cyber End Dragon】's Attack and used its piercing effect to reduce Amelda's Life Points to just 900. These final 900 Life Points were then completely depleted by the 2000 points of Effect Damage caused by 【Cyber End Dragon】's explosion.
【Amelda: 900 LP → 0】
From being full of confidence to losing it, then being encouraged in his despair to regain his spirit, and finally being finished off just as he was filled with expectation for his next Turn, Amelda's emotions had been a rollercoaster. Even after the Duel ended and his and Hayato's Ranking Points were settled, he didn't immediately snap out of it, still immersed in the Duel that had just concluded.
After a long while, he sighed helplessly, full of annoyance. After glaring at Hayato with considerable frustration, he left the Duel Platform without a word.
Did he really need to stay and spout some harsh words? Amelda understood very well that this was just a regular Duel.
Although at the very beginning, upon discovering his "good luck" in being matched against Kobayashi Hayato, Amelda had indeed thought about engaging in a life-or-death Dark Game to eliminate Kobayashi Hayato here and now, he was now somewhat grateful that the Barrier had been broken for some unknown reason at that time.
Otherwise, his soul, having become a Loser, would not have been saved.
Furthermore, after the duration of the Duel, although most of his thinking ability was used in the Duel itself, Amelda couldn't help but feel suspicious about the breaking of the 【Seal of Orichalcos】.
The Master who had given him the 【Seal of Orichalcos】 had said that only the three of them who possessed the "Orichalcos Fragment"—the emerald stone worn on the chests of Valon, Amelda, and Rafael—as well as The Master himself, had the power to break the Barrier.
What was the background of that Kobayashi Hayato?
"Forget it, even if I find the answer to that, it has nothing to do with my Revenge." As a Loser, Amelda walked down the Duel Platform, turned back to glance at Hayato, and thought to himself:
"I'll remember this Duel, Kobayashi Hayato. Sooner or later, I'll get my Revenge!"
Thinking this, Amelda suddenly recalled Hayato saying that "Dueling brings smiles." Combining this with the Cards Hayato had used in the Duel, his mouth twitched slightly as he turned his head and disappeared into the Crowd.
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that Kobayashi Hayato's Dueling only brought smiles to himself. Whether it was that Samejima Iemitsu or Kobayashi Hayato, anyone who played 【Cyber Dragon】 had a truly twisted heart!
He suddenly didn't feel like getting his Revenge anymore. Dueling against people who used the "Electronic Flow" simply offered no Gaming Experience whatsoever.
On Hayato's side, he was somewhat interested in the reason why Amelda, Valon, and Rafael were participating in the KC Cup. Rafael had previously said they were here by coincidence, and Amelda had said he wanted to make money from Kaiba. These reasons were not enough to convince Hayato.
However, more important than those things, what Hayato was most concerned about right now was the System Panel that popped up after his Duel with Amelda ended.
On the System's 【Task】 Panel, ever since Hayato became the undisputed King of Games by winning the Duel City Tournament, no new Main Tasks had appeared for some time. Even participating in the KC Cup had only added a Side Task called 【World Martial Arts Tournament】 with the content "Settlement Reward based on KC Cup Ranking."
But after defeating Amelda, the long-empty Main Task section was finally filled with a new line of text—
【Task Name: The Emperor is Me, Hayato, That Has Never Changed!】
【Task Description: You, who have become the King of Duel Monsters, have discovered someone attempting to threaten you while concealing your identity. As the absolute Emperor, crush their conspiracy, unless you desire Eternal Life】
【Task Content:
Defeat a certain person behind the scenes 0/1
Defeat a certain person in the forefront 0/1
Defeat the Three Swordsmen 1/3
Opposing Force Collapse Level: 0.1%】
【Additional Notes: This Task can be settled at any time, with rewards based on progress】
【Hint Content: Durant.jpg】
【Task Reward Preview: 10000 DP, UR Exchange Ticket X5, Specified Attribute Pre-built Deck】
Looking at the long list of Task content and the generous Task Rewards, Hayato couldn't help but smack his lips.
This System, which hadn't opened for business for half a year, was now making enough to last half a year. It hadn't released a new Task for so long, and then it dropped such a huge one. It was truly an Unexpected surprise.
Although the Task description always made Hayato hallucinate that he was some moldy pink octopus and had a Riddler-like flavor, Hayato could understand that the Task objective was practically screaming "Go, Mill Deck Doma for me."
While he didn't understand what "a certain person in the forefront" and "a certain person behind the scenes" meant, at least one of them was that old geezer Dartz. Instead of guessing here, Hayato was already eager to confront him.
Putting aside everything else, even ignoring the "Specified Attribute Pre-built Deck" and the full 10,000 DP Points, there were five "UR Exchange Tickets"! Hayato had been eyeing some ridiculously expensive UR Cards in the Shop for a long time.
However, the one thing Hayato couldn't figure out was the System's rare inclusion of 【Hint Content】 in the Task, especially something as strange as 【Durant.jpg】.
Could it be that the System was Reminding him that besides Dueling, he could also defeat the Target through Melee Combat?
With this doubt, Hayato reorganized his Deck and looked at his next Opponent walking onto the Duel Platform.
Compared to Amelda, this Opponent's fighting spirit was significantly weaker. Despite being a black man, he was unusually timid, hanging his head instead of Boasting arrogantly. His Haircut was also a plain buzz cut, indicating at a glance that he couldn't Duel.
Inserting his Deck into the Duel Disk, Hayato casually brushed his hair upwards and said arrogantly, "Hoho, you didn't run away but approached me, Dan Kuroto? Muda, muda, muda! 【Cyber Dragon】 is the Strongest Monster, defeating you will be as easy as plucking a withered petal from a roadside flowerbed with my finger!"
"Eeek!"
Seemingly startled by Hayato's Aura, the buzz-cut black guy let out a weak cry and abruptly raised his hands in a French military salute. However, he quickly remembered that Hayato across from him wasn't a policeman with a gun who would make him unable to breathe. He timidly lowered his hands and tremblingly raised his Duel Disk, inserting his Deck.
Lack of fighting spirit meant nothing, no matter how powerful one's Dueling Strength was. Moreover, this black guy's Strength wasn't that great either.
"First hit!"
"Second hit!"
"Third hit!"
"Fourth hit!"
"Fifth hit!"
"Do you dare defy me, who possesses 【Chimeratech Overdragon】!"
Before long, facing the Invincible Chimeratech Overdragon, the buzz-cut black guy couldn't organize a strong enough Defense and was completely depleted of his Life Points by Hayato's Lethal Five Consecutive Attacks. He covered his face and ran away crying like a sissy.
With the Settlement of Points, Hayato's Ranking returned to his previous tenth place.
Looking at the familiar Names ahead of him on the Ranking Board, Hayato showed an excited Smile: "Yosh, let's rush up in one go like this. With my Invincible Chimeratech Overdragon!"
Following the 【Kaiju】 that ran rampant on Arena 4 during the first day's Preliminary Round, rumors of "the Cyber Dragon appearing on Arena 44" also spread on the second day of the KC Cup Preliminary Round. Thanks to the circulating Crowd, information about Player 114514, "Dan Kuroto," was also disseminated.
From the massive 【Kaiju】 never heard of on the first day to the "Electronic Flow" Cyber Dragon of unknown origin on the second day, as the name "Dan Kuroto" surged up the Ranking Board, breaking into third place, "Dan Kuroto" also caught the attention of countless Duelists who were looking forward to the KC Cup.
Although the KC Cup adopted a rule where Participants were selected through Preliminary Rounds and those in the top ranks would Qualify, the truly famous Duelists were actually holding back a bit during their Duels and not going all out to climb the ranks. In such a situation, they were basically uninterested in the Ranking Board's positions, as long as they could Qualify for the Top 64.
What they were doing now was controlling their Points, intentionally Surrendering to leave their current Arena and move to other Arenas to gather Information on other Duelists. Under these circumstances, many Duelists with powerful Strength stayed around the fortieth or fiftieth place.
These Professional Duelists were not as overly cautious as Amon Garlem, who memorized the Information of all Qualifiers. They were dismissive of the name "Dan Kuroto," which they had never heard of.
After all, the Point system primarily tested a Duelist's speed and consistency in defeating others during Duels. Even Legendary Duelists like Joey Wheeler and Yugi Mutou were only in the teens in terms of Ranking. Only Kaiba, using an extremely Aggro 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 Deck, could consistently occupy the first place.
They believed that this "Dan Kuroto" guy simply had his own knack for Bullying weaker opponents, allowing him to advance rapidly. When it came to the Official Match, which tested offensive capabilities, this Kid definitely wouldn't go far.
It was precisely because of this mindset among the Professional Duelists that not many people specifically tried to probe Hayato's Information. The result was that Hayato was full of enthusiasm in the morning but felt somewhat tired by the afternoon.
Throughout the day, aside from Kaiba, who was arranged to Duel him in the opening match by some shady means, the naive Amon Garlem, and the unexpected encounter with Amelda, Hayato didn't encounter any Duelists with sufficient Strength. They were all Lackeys. Sometimes, with Good Luck, starting with 【Power Bond】 + three Cyber Dragons, many people couldn't even last a single Turn.
No matter how interesting Duel Monsters with Virtual Projection was, Duels were only fun when there was back-and-forth. Bullying weaker opponents too much only led to annoyance.
After all, not everyone could find Fun in Dueling AI Duelists like President Kaiba.
——————Kaiba: Bullying weaker opponents is so much fun——————
In the evening, in the Hotel Room, Hayato, who had just finished showering, covered his head with a towel to dry his hair and walked out of the Bathroom.
He slapped the 【Ojama Yellow】, who was causing trouble in the Room, away. Hayato pulled out a Chair and sat down, solemnly taking his Card Box from his belt and taking out the Cards inside one by one.
Normally, Hayato's Deck was always kept in the System's Inventory. Whenever he needed it, he would use the Card Box on his waist as a cover to take it out.
The advantages of doing this were, firstly, preventing his Deck from being lost or stolen by some clumsy guy (Kei: Atchoo!), secondly, he could adjust his deck directly in the system at any time, without having to put the cards in and out one by one.
However, the card box that served as a cover was not empty. It also contained a lot of cards, and in a sense, the value of the cards in this card box was higher than that of the deck Hayato was using---
【Grandsoil the Elemental Lord】, 【Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca】, 【Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder】, 【Raviel, Lord of Phantasms】, and the Three God Cards 【Slifer the Sky Dragon】, 【Obelisk the Tormentor】, 【The Winged Dragon of Ra】.
Rather than saying "highest value", it is more appropriate to say that it is "the most powerful card", although even 【Grandsoil the Elemental Lord】 has been put in by Hayato to make up the word "God", but it is no exaggeration to say that these cards represent the strongest power Hayato has mastered.
Hayato had not forgotten that before the duel with Amerda, that idiot intended to use the power of the Seal of Orichalcos to start a dark game to take his life, but the barrier dissipated unexpectedly beyond the expectations of the two.
Amerda was confused, but Hayato heard clearly that when the power that dispelled the Seal of Orichalcos appeared, a very clear cracking sound came from his card box.
But at the same time, Hayato was also very clear that the power was definitely not from those duel monsters he was familiar with.
Grandsoil is really just here to make up the numbers.
【Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca】 has a bit of B, but Hayato has always kept the minimum level of magic power of the Millennium Wisdom Wheel when feeding it, and has not allowed it to be full, but has been keeping it hungry. It is also impossible for the power that has not fully recovered to break through the Seal of Orichalcos.
Hayato is very relieved about the Three God Cards, and is willing to provide them with support, but it is also a bit short to say that they can break through the Seal of Orichalcos. If they really could do that, they would not have been sacrificed by Dartz as sacrifices to the God of Orichalcos in the original timeline.
As for Hamon and Raviel? Although there is a strange setting that "the three Phantom Demons can destroy duel monsters when they appear together", their B is not as good as the Three God Cards at all, and what about them rescuing Hayato?
It would be good if they didn't stab him in the back.
One card after another was taken out by Hayato and placed aside, leaving only one card at the bottom of the card box.
Hayato recalled that the card seemed to be the card that the guy named Limoria gave him before leaving Pegasus' castle after losing to Samejima at Duelist Kingdom.
That seems to be the same name as that guy Limoria, 【A Legendary Ocean】.
Although Hayato uses a lot of decks, none of them can use this card, and for some reason, the system cannot recycle this card. Hayato simply left it in his hand. Who knows, one day Hayato will start playing an aquatic deck?
Although, the aquatic deck generally does not bring this card, only the 【Mermail】 deck will use it, and use it to assist in Xyz or Synchro Summons.
Reaching into the card box, Hayato took out this 【A Legendary Ocean】 and slowly turned it to the front. He was stunned when he looked down.
At this time, 【Ojama Yellow】 and a group of brothers routinely tried to bully 【Rainbow Kuriboh】, but because their attack power was 0, they were killed by Rainbow Kuriboh. 【Ojama Yellow】 cried loudly and came to Hayato to complain.
While climbing onto Hayato's shoulder, 【Ojama Yellow】 shouted: "Brother, look at that Rainbow bastard, how bad and bad he is, he is bullying us again, brother, you must stand up for us~"
But 【Ojama Yellow】 who climbed onto Hayato's shoulder was also stunned.
I saw that the card art of the 【A Legendary Ocean】 that was pinched in Hayato's hand did not look like a drawing printed on the card, but like a real landscape. The temple that was half-submerged in the sea was actually changing dynamically, gradually collapsing!
"Pa."
【Ojama Yellow】, who couldn't stand still for a moment, fell from Hayato's shoulder and fell on the table. Covering his ass with both hands, he said to Hayato in a panic: "It's, it's nothing to do with me, brother, this card was like this when I saw it!"
Watching the complete collapse of the 【A Legendary Ocean】 into the sea, Hayato turned his head silently and looked at the 【Ojama Yellow】 with a tense expression, and sighed: "I know, it's nothing to do with you. Okay, go aside."
Saying that, Hayato raised his finger and pushed 【Ojama Yellow】, looking at the 【A Legendary Ocean】 without the temple in his hand, frowning.
Rarely being treated peacefully by Hayato, 【Ojama Yellow】 seemed quite surprised.
"Huh? Brother didn't teach me a lesson this time?" Spreading his index finger and thumb and dragging his chin, 【Ojama Yellow】 conjured up a deerstalker hat and a yellow plaid cloak from nowhere, and a pipe in his hand. 【Ojama Yellow】 was dressed as a famous detective, and said to himself: "The truth is always one!"
"I see, I see, no wonder brother hasn't used that Rainbow bastard much during this time. Sure enough, men like the new and hate the old. Brother must be tired of drawing that guy in duels."
"Combining it with the fact that brother's tone of voice today is so good..." 【Ojama Yellow】 smiled triumphantly with an expression that he had deduced something, his eyes narrowed into a line, "Wagagaga, brother finally understands that I am his eternal Tamashii~"
Convinced of his reasoning, 【Ojama Yellow】 nodded definitely and climbed onto Hayato's head again, suddenly taunting Rainbow Kuriboh, who was chasing other 【Ojama】 clan members in the other corner of the room: "The king has the talent of the king, and the chef also has the talent of the chef, but Rainbow bastard, your ability is the most useless!"
"The ability to block attacks is garbage at all. Sure enough, only I am brother's only trump card, hahahaha!"
【Ojama Yellow】, who was overconfident and standing on top of Hayato's head, laughed with his hands on his hips, completely ignoring the pity and sympathy contained in the eyes of 【Rainbow Kuriboh】 looking at him like an idiot, and did not notice that Hayato had already put down the card of 【A Legendary Ocean】, clenching his fists with a gloomy face.
"Ya ge."
Hearing Hayato's unhappy voice under his feet, 【Ojama Yellow】's body also stiffened. Just as he was about to jump off Hayato's head and escape, 【Ojama Yellow】's body was just caught by Hayato in his hand.
Lifted to Hayato's face, looking at Hayato's unhappy face, 【Ojama Yellow】 swallowed subconsciously:
"Bro, brother?"
"The more I get along with you guys, the more I understand a truth, 【Yellow】." While saying that, Hayato let go and threw 【Ojama Yellow】 into the air, "I can never be kind to you guys, I'm sorry for myself if I don't use violence!"
"I've been making noise there since the beginning, which is so annoying. I'm going to beat you until you cry!"
"Eat my Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken! ORA!"
----The bruised and swollen Yellow is applying medicine----
The three-day preliminary round passed in a blink of an eye. Hayato successfully qualified with the second place after Kaiba. Yugi was the third place, and Joey was stuck in the tenth place because of his unstable luck and the setting of not playing if he was not in blood. He was almost overtaken by Mai Valentine in eleventh place.
In this regard, Mai twisted the soft flesh of Joey's waist unhappily, and Joey screamed in pain. As for whether Joey was really in pain or pretending to be in pain to give in to Mai, this depends on Joey himself.
On the third day of the preliminary round, Hayato successfully met Yugi. After learning that "Dan Kuroto" was Hayato, Yugi was taken aback and quite surprised.
In the subsequent duel, it was not Dark Yugi who played, but Yugi Mutou. After the fierce fight, Hayato successfully took over Yugi's suicide act of detonating Dark Magician with 【Burst Rebirth】 by frying and eating 【Chimeratech Overdragon】 with 【Mystical Wok】, and won the victory.
In this regard, Hayato was quite satisfied, because strictly speaking, this duel was the first time Hayato really defeated Yugi, not Dark Yugi but Yugi Mutou, which was a regret for himself - the first duel Hayato had after coming to the Yu-Gi-Oh! world was against Yugi Mutou, not Dark Yugi. This duel was a success to complete the revenge.
Joey also met Hayato, but this guy's willpower is strong, but it is only reflected in the unyielding face of the desperate situation. He has not much resistance to the spiritual interference ability of the Millennium Rod. It was not until Hayato took the initiative to release the magic after the duel that Joey realized that "Dan Kuroto" was Hayato.
In addition to Joey and Mai, none of the other people who came to the KC Cup for fun qualified, whether it was Honda and Shizuka, who were not good at duel monsters, or Ryota and Grandpa Mutou, who had a certain strength.
Honda and Shizuka were the first to come into contact, although there were many ordinary people who came to join in the fun like them, but there were also many duelists who coveted fame and fortune. Shizuka's luck was pretty good, and her name was in the 1,000th place without qualifying, but Honda was quite unlucky. After winning only two games, he met several professional duelists in a row and was quickly eliminated.
Ryota still really likes Monster Dragon Gate Dice after all, and with the help of Hayato and Yugi, he has signed a promotion cooperation contract with Pegasus. Monster Dragon Gate Dice will be strongly promoted by the International Illusion Society soon. In exchange, this matter took up a lot of his energy and he did not duel with all his strength. His final ranking was around 500th.
Grandpa Mutou likes duel monsters and also has the strength. But, after all, people are old and their physical strength is not good. He ranked 400th, which is not bad.
Kei's ranking was quite surprising. He actually has a good talent for duel monsters. His ranking was exactly 100th, which is already very strong for a child who has been in contact with duel monsters for the first time, which makes Shizuka and Honda feel a little ashamed.
In addition, what Hayato didn't expect was that Malik, who was actually quite strong, did not qualify. His ranking was 65th.
"After my sister found out that I was also participating, she called me specifically to tell me to pay attention to my health." Sitting next to Hayato, Malik looked helpless, "Although I know this is caring about me, it's really annoying, brother-in-law."
"Come on, call me less of that title, the two of us haven't even started yet." Hayato patted Malik on the shoulder, "So you deliberately controlled the points from the beginning?"
"Yes. In your words, brother-in-law, this is the job of the 'qualifying gatekeeper', right? If you want to qualify, you have to pass me. It feels great."
While saying that, Malik showed a sly smile. It was only at this time that Malik, who was wearing a T-shirt, could be seen as the former leader of the criminal organization "Ghouls".
It wasn't Hayato who led him astray. According to Isis, Malik actually liked trendy things since he was a child. The reason why he triggered the rules of the Tombkeeper clan and was punished was because he wanted to buy a motorcycle and become a racer.
Since the birth of Dark Malik because of the punishment and the murder of his father in public, Malik had been blinded by hatred for a long time and suppressed his nature for many years. Now, the truth has come out and the Dark Personality has been resolved, and Malik can finally be himself again.
Although Ghouls has been disbanded by Malik, the property of Ghouls is quite difficult to handle, because a large part of their property was obtained by killing people and stealing goods. You can't dig up people's graves and return the money, right? Therefore, after donating a large part of the property, Malik also left the remaining property as pocket money with Hayato's acquiescence.
With so much money, Malik, who doesn't need to be careful for the development of the organization, spends money like water. After buying several motorcycles he had wanted for a long time in one go, he also became obsessed with the culture of痛car through the痛car culture.
"Talk when you talk, don't keep giggling there." Hayato pouted, turned his head, and looked back at the huge venue in front of them.
The place they are currently in is the first Kaiba Land in America of Kaiba Corporation, and it is also a super-large Kaiba Land that exists as a "flagship store". Specifically, it is the Kaiba Dome, which is specially used for holding public duel monster competitions in Kaiba Land.
--I also want to know who named it. In that case, the reason why the shape here is the head of a 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 roaring to the sky is obvious.
The Kaiba Dome can accommodate a full 10,000 spectators at one go. The wealthy Kaiba resolutely rejected the operation of selling high-priced tickets, and chose to put all the tickets in a prize pool. The location of the seats depends entirely on luck.
In Kaiba's words, "Duelists who are fully committed to duel monsters can even create their own card draws. Those who don't understand this should watch the game and deserve to be in the last row."
Although Kaiba's tough face, arrogant expression, and windbreaker were quite handsome when he said these words, Hayato wanted to laugh when he thought of the stinky face Kaiba had when he drew a ticket for the dead corner in the last row after demonstrating the extraction of a seat.
The final result was that Kaiba, the dog administrator, directly opened a back door for himself and directly used the spare lounge in the back as his VIP seat.
Correspondingly, the seats of Hayato, Joey, Yugi, Kei, Grandpa Mutou, Shizuka, Honda, Ryota, Malik, Mai, Rebecca and Professor Arthur, a total of twelve people, are all connected together. This probability is simply a miracle among miracles.
The biggest contributor is Joey, who was threatened by Mai's death stare to use God's Draw.
After knowing this, Kaiba's face became even stinkier.
A total of sixty-four players qualified, divided into four groups of sixteen people each: ABCD. At the same time, in order to balance the consideration, the candidates for the group were "completely random" - Kaiba said this in front of everyone, but Hayato, who personally experienced the shady operation on the second day of the preliminary round, would not believe him.
Kaiba was assigned to Group A, Yugi was in Group B, Joey and Mai were in Group C, and Hayato was assigned to Group D. According to the more detailed duel order, Hayato's duel will not start until two hours later at the earliest.
But it was just right. Hayato had been bullying vegetables too much for the past two days and was too tired, so he was happy to stay in the audience and watch the battle between the two players on the duel field.
And just right, Hayato knew both of the duelists who met on the duel stage at this moment, and they knew each other, and they could even be said to have a deep relationship.
"How could it be? I obviously didn't see you appear during the preliminary round." After receiving the opponent's deck from the referee, Joey simply shuffled it a few times and handed it back, looking strangely at his old acquaintance opposite him.
The short boy tugged at his hat, and handed Joey's deck back to the referee while inserting his own deck into the duel disk: "Idiot Joey, because I also kept the undefeated data and kept guarding the arena, of course you couldn't have seen me!"
He is not tall but has a high heart, who else can it be but Dinosaur Ryuzaki?
"Really, why would I have to face you? This is my first duel in public after a long time." Glancing at the cameras surrounding the duel stage, Ryuzaki tugged at his collar uneasily, trying to make it look neat and energetic. "I plan to find an investor after I regain some fame."
"Huh? Who understands those things?"
Joey pouted indifferently, not caring about the surrounding cameras at all. Looking at Ryuzaki, who looked a little nervous, he smiled: "I said Ryuzaki, you're not afraid of losing to me, are you? Hehe, that's not like you."
Hearing this, Ryuzaki also glared: "Who's afraid of losing to you, you area Joey!"
While saying that, Ryuzaki put his arms around his chest: "Don't get me wrong, Joey, I'm worried that dueling with you won't show my strength at all, especially since you're just relying on good luck. It makes me feel ashamed to defeat you, who used dice to strengthen monsters."
"Hey, hey, what do you mean I'm just relying on good luck?"
While saying that, Joey pointed his thumb at himself triumphantly: "Remember, Ryuzaki, the legendary duelist, the strongest Black Dragon user, the top 8 player in the Domino City Regional Tournament, the top 4 player in Duelist Kingdom, the top 4 player in Duelist Kingdom, and Joey Wheeler, the one who almost turned over Kaiba's trash."
"Your name is stinky and long, where did you get the middle name from! And there are too many strange nicknames. You obviously made them up yourself!"
Professional referee, ancestral tool man, wherever you need to go, the heartless sunglasses black-clothed man - Isano raised his hand, looked at his watch and calculated the time, and interrupted the chat between Joey and Ryuzaki, two old acquaintances.
After all, this is not a coffee shop, but the KC Cup competition site. There are many duels arranged next.
"The two players have finished exchanging and shuffling the decks. Please take your place and prepare to start the duel!"
Hearing Isano's voice coming from the broadcast, Joey and Ryuzaki stopped chatting in time and went to their respective positions to prepare. They were not in a hurry to decide the winner, but although they would not read the atmosphere like 明美, Joey also knew that the audience was not here to watch them chat and dismantle each other on stage. This was not to listen to crosstalk.
Standing in his position, Joey lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Raising his head again, looking at Ryuzaki, who was still a little nervous, he showed a sincere smile and thanked him: "Thank you, Ryuzaki."
"Huh? Thank you? Me?"
Ryuzaki was confused by Joey's unclear thanks and asked in confusion.
"Back in Duelist Kingdom, I was indeed what you said, a semi-professional in both the deck and the mentality. I didn't have the qualifications to enter Duelist Kingdom at all." While saying that, Joey looked down at his deck, "Unknowingly, so much time has passed."
"Thanks to the existence of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it helped me defeat many enemies. For this reason, I must express my gratitude to you, Ryuzaki."
Hearing Joey's words, Ryuzaki said unhappily: "You bastard, are you mocking me? Are you mocking me!"
"Damn it, don't say it as if I took the initiative to give you the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. You bastard is becoming annoying too!"
"I must teach you a lesson!"
Hearing Ryuzaki's energetic harsh words, Joey couldn't help but show a confident smile: "Hmph, I have grown a lot, Ryuzaki. It won't be so easy to defeat me. Let me and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon defeat you together!"
"Don't always focus on one point! And I'm not what I used to be anymore, okay!"
Under Joey's influence, Ryuzaki's mood became excited, and in the midst of the noise, he unconsciously put his restraints and nervousness behind him, as if he had returned to two years ago, when he had just become the runner-up of the Japan National Duel Monsters Tournament, so high-spirited.
'This Ryuzaki is the Ryuzaki I know.' In his heart, Joey thought so. The eyes of the two met in the air, and they heard the two of them shout in unison:
"Duel!" X2
【Joey: 4000LP】
【Ryuzaki: 4000LP】
"I'll take the first attack without ceremony, Joey!" After entering the duel state, Ryuzaki calmed down slightly and thought about it. Then he realized that Joey's words were actually actively guiding him to let go of his restraints and tension.
However, Ryuzaki is not the kind of person who always keeps the kindness of others to him on his lips. He took Joey's feelings in his heart, and the tough guy Ryuzaki chose to repay him with a full duel!
"My turn, draw!"
"I activate the effect of my 【Gilasaurs】 in my hand!" After drawing a card, Ryuzaki played one of his hand cards and placed it on the duel disk, "This card can be special summoned directly from my hand, and then when the Gilasaurs is successfully special summoned using its first effect, Joey, you can choose a monster in the graveyard to special summon."
On Ryuzaki's field, a velociraptor who had always been agile ran into the field, making a lot of noise, but did not get any response from other monsters.
【Gilasaurs】【3☆/Earth】
【Dinosaur/Effect】
【1400/400】
"Hey, there are no monsters in my graveyard at all. That's too cunning, Ryuzaki!" Joey complained, looking at his empty graveyard.
This made Ryuzaki a little proud: "Hmph, a true duelist can even avoid negative effects and even use them. You're still far behind, Joey."
"The summon of 【Gilasaurs】 is a special summon, I haven't done a normal summon yet!" While saying that, Ryuzaki drew another card, "The effect of the magic card 【Cost Down】, I discard a card, and then decrease the level of the monsters in my hand by 2☆."
"Then, I use 【Gilasaurs】 as a sacrifice to perform a high-level summon. Come out, 【Overtex Qoatlus】!"
On the quiet duel stage, a thunder suddenly sounded, and the 【Gilasaurs】 on Ryuzaki's field was grinning, but suddenly a huge mouth protruded from its side. With the overflowing lightning, the 【Gilasaurs】 was swallowed into the mouth in an instant, and the giant beast swallowed the 【Gilasaurs】 in its mouth without chewing it.
【Overtex Qoatlus】【8☆/Light】
【Dinosaur/Effect】
【3300/1400】
"Fuhahaha, how is it, Joey? Have you seen the power of my dinosaur monsters!"
Ryuzaki was quite proud of summoning 【Overtex Qoatlus】 with an attack power exceeding the 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 in one turn. He didn't expect that his luck was not bad and the development was so smooth. "I said, I'm not what I used to be anymore. Don't look at my evolved deck with the eyes of the past!"
"Dinosaur decks are very strong! I set two cards, and the turn ends!"
【Ryuzaki: 4000LP, Hand Card 0】
【Overtex Qoatlus】【ATK3300】
【Set Card】X2
As Ryuzaki ended his turn, Hayato heard other spectators around him start discussing:
"That guy, is his name Ryuzaki? Is his title 'Dinosaur' Ryuzaki?"
"I remember he seemed to be the runner-up in the Japan National Tournament before?"
"I thought he was a conservative guy before. He can summon such a powerful monster in the first turn. I didn't expect him to be a bit strong."
"You can consider putting him on the sponsorship list. I'm
False Tamashii: 【Gaia the Fierce Knight】, 【Rainbow Kuriboh】
True Tamashii: 【Spiritual Ectoplasm】
Hayato truly squeezed every last drop of value out of 【Cyber End Dragon】. First, he maximized 【Cyber End Dragon】's Attack and used its piercing effect to reduce Amelda's Life Points to just 900. These final 900 Life Points were then completely depleted by the 2000 points of Effect Damage caused by 【Cyber End Dragon】's explosion.
【Amelda: 900 LP → 0】
From being full of confidence to losing it, then being encouraged in his despair to regain his spirit, and finally being finished off just as he was filled with expectation for his next Turn, Amelda's emotions had been a rollercoaster. Even after the Duel ended and his and Hayato's Ranking Points were settled, he didn't immediately snap out of it, still immersed in the Duel that had just concluded.
After a long while, he sighed helplessly, full of annoyance. After glaring at Hayato with considerable frustration, he left the Duel Platform without a word.
Did he really need to stay and spout some harsh words? Amelda understood very well that this was just a regular Duel.
Although at the very beginning, upon discovering his "good luck" in being matched against Kobayashi Hayato, Amelda had indeed thought about engaging in a life-or-death Dark Game to eliminate Kobayashi Hayato here and now, he was now somewhat grateful that the Barrier had been broken for some unknown reason at that time.
Otherwise, his soul, having become a Loser, would not have been saved.
Furthermore, after the duration of the Duel, although most of his thinking ability was used in the Duel itself, Amelda couldn't help but feel suspicious about the breaking of the 【Seal of Orichalcos】.
The Master who had given him the 【Seal of Orichalcos】 had said that only the three of them who possessed the "Orichalcos Fragment"—the emerald stone worn on the chests of Valon, Amelda, and Rafael—as well as The Master himself, had the power to break the Barrier.
What was the background of that Kobayashi Hayato?
"Forget it, even if I find the answer to that, it has nothing to do with my Revenge." As a Loser, Amelda walked down the Duel Platform, turned back to glance at Hayato, and thought to himself:
"I'll remember this Duel, Kobayashi Hayato. Sooner or later, I'll get my Revenge!"
Thinking this, Amelda suddenly recalled Hayato saying that "Dueling brings smiles." Combining this with the Cards Hayato had used in the Duel, his mouth twitched slightly as he turned his head and disappeared into the Crowd.
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that Kobayashi Hayato's Dueling only brought smiles to himself. Whether it was that Samejima Iemitsu or Kobayashi Hayato, anyone who played 【Cyber Dragon】 had a truly twisted heart!
He suddenly didn't feel like getting his Revenge anymore. Dueling against people who used the "Electronic Flow" simply offered no Gaming Experience whatsoever.
On Hayato's side, he was somewhat interested in the reason why Amelda, Valon, and Rafael were participating in the KC Cup. Rafael had previously said they were here by coincidence, and Amelda had said he wanted to make money from Kaiba. These reasons were not enough to convince Hayato.
However, more important than those things, what Hayato was most concerned about right now was the System Panel that popped up after his Duel with Amelda ended.
On the System's 【Task】 Panel, ever since Hayato became the undisputed King of Games by winning the Duel City Tournament, no new Main Tasks had appeared for some time. Even participating in the KC Cup had only added a Side Task called 【World Martial Arts Tournament】 with the content "Settlement Reward based on KC Cup Ranking."
But after defeating Amelda, the long-empty Main Task section was finally filled with a new line of text—
【Task Name: The Emperor is Me, Hayato, That Has Never Changed!】
【Task Description: You, who have become the King of Duel Monsters, have discovered someone attempting to threaten you while concealing your identity. As the absolute Emperor, crush their conspiracy, unless you desire Eternal Life】
【Task Content:
Defeat a certain person behind the scenes 0/1
Defeat a certain person in the forefront 0/1
Defeat the Three Swordsmen 1/3
Opposing Force Collapse Level: 0.1%】
【Additional Notes: This Task can be settled at any time, with rewards based on progress】
【Hint Content: Durant.jpg】
【Task Reward Preview: 10000 DP, UR Exchange Ticket X5, Specified Attribute Pre-built Deck】
Looking at the long list of Task content and the generous Task Rewards, Hayato couldn't help but smack his lips.
This System, which hadn't opened for business for half a year, was now making enough to last half a year. It hadn't released a new Task for so long, and then it dropped such a huge one. It was truly an Unexpected surprise.
Although the Task description always made Hayato hallucinate that he was some moldy pink octopus and had a Riddler-like flavor, Hayato could understand that the Task objective was practically screaming "Go, Mill Deck Doma for me."
While he didn't understand what "a certain person in the forefront" and "a certain person behind the scenes" meant, at least one of them was that old geezer Dartz. Instead of guessing here, Hayato was already eager to confront him.
Putting aside everything else, even ignoring the "Specified Attribute Pre-built Deck" and the full 10,000 DP Points, there were five "UR Exchange Tickets"! Hayato had been eyeing some ridiculously expensive UR Cards in the Shop for a long time.
However, the one thing Hayato couldn't figure out was the System's rare inclusion of 【Hint Content】 in the Task, especially something as strange as 【Durant.jpg】.
Could it be that the System was Reminding him that besides Dueling, he could also defeat the Target through Melee Combat?
With this doubt, Hayato reorganized his Deck and looked at his next Opponent walking onto the Duel Platform.
Compared to Amelda, this Opponent's fighting spirit was significantly weaker. Despite being a black man, he was unusually timid, hanging his head instead of Boasting arrogantly. His Haircut was also a plain buzz cut, indicating at a glance that he couldn't Duel.
Inserting his Deck into the Duel Disk, Hayato casually brushed his hair upwards and said arrogantly, "Hoho, you didn't run away but approached me, Dan Kuroto? Muda, muda, muda! 【Cyber Dragon】 is the Strongest Monster, defeating you will be as easy as plucking a withered petal from a roadside flowerbed with my finger!"
"Eeek!"
Seemingly startled by Hayato's Aura, the buzz-cut black guy let out a weak cry and abruptly raised his hands in a French military salute. However, he quickly remembered that Hayato across from him wasn't a policeman with a gun who would make him unable to breathe. He timidly lowered his hands and tremblingly raised his Duel Disk, inserting his Deck.
Lack of fighting spirit meant nothing, no matter how powerful one's Dueling Strength was. Moreover, this black guy's Strength wasn't that great either.
"First hit!"
"Second hit!"
"Third hit!"
"Fourth hit!"
"Fifth hit!"
"Do you dare defy me, who possesses 【Chimeratech Overdragon】!"
Before long, facing the Invincible Chimeratech Overdragon, the buzz-cut black guy couldn't organize a strong enough Defense and was completely depleted of his Life Points by Hayato's Lethal Five Consecutive Attacks. He covered his face and ran away crying like a sissy.
With the Settlement of Points, Hayato's Ranking returned to his previous tenth place.
Looking at the familiar Names ahead of him on the Ranking Board, Hayato showed an excited Smile: "Yosh, let's rush up in one go like this. With my Invincible Chimeratech Overdragon!"
Following the 【Kaiju】 that ran rampant on Arena 4 during the first day's Preliminary Round, rumors of "the Cyber Dragon appearing on Arena 44" also spread on the second day of the KC Cup Preliminary Round. Thanks to the circulating Crowd, information about Player 114514, "Dan Kuroto," was also disseminated.
From the massive 【Kaiju】 never heard of on the first day to the "Electronic Flow" Cyber Dragon of unknown origin on the second day, as the name "Dan Kuroto" surged up the Ranking Board, breaking into third place, "Dan Kuroto" also caught the attention of countless Duelists who were looking forward to the KC Cup.
Although the KC Cup adopted a rule where Participants were selected through Preliminary Rounds and those in the top ranks would Qualify, the truly famous Duelists were actually holding back a bit during their Duels and not going all out to climb the ranks. In such a situation, they were basically uninterested in the Ranking Board's positions, as long as they could Qualify for the Top 64.
What they were doing now was controlling their Points, intentionally Surrendering to leave their current Arena and move to other Arenas to gather Information on other Duelists. Under these circumstances, many Duelists with powerful Strength stayed around the fortieth or fiftieth place.
These Professional Duelists were not as overly cautious as Amon Garlem, who memorized the Information of all Qualifiers. They were dismissive of the name "Dan Kuroto," which they had never heard of.
After all, the Point system primarily tested a Duelist's speed and consistency in defeating others during Duels. Even Legendary Duelists like Joey Wheeler and Yugi Mutou were only in the teens in terms of Ranking. Only Kaiba, using an extremely Aggro 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 Deck, could consistently occupy the first place.
They believed that this "Dan Kuroto" guy simply had his own knack for Bullying weaker opponents, allowing him to advance rapidly. When it came to the Official Match, which tested offensive capabilities, this Kid definitely wouldn't go far.
It was precisely because of this mindset among the Professional Duelists that not many people specifically tried to probe Hayato's Information. The result was that Hayato was full of enthusiasm in the morning but felt somewhat tired by the afternoon.
Throughout the day, aside from Kaiba, who was arranged to Duel him in the opening match by some shady means, the naive Amon Garlem, and the unexpected encounter with Amelda, Hayato didn't encounter any Duelists with sufficient Strength. They were all Lackeys. Sometimes, with Good Luck, starting with 【Power Bond】 + three Cyber Dragons, many people couldn't even last a single Turn.
No matter how interesting Duel Monsters with Virtual Projection was, Duels were only fun when there was back-and-forth. Bullying weaker opponents too much only led to annoyance.
After all, not everyone could find Fun in Dueling AI Duelists like President Kaiba.
——————Kaiba: Bullying weaker opponents is so much fun——————
In the evening, in the Hotel Room, Hayato, who had just finished showering, covered his head with a towel to dry his hair and walked out of the Bathroom.
He slapped the 【Ojama Yellow】, who was causing trouble in the Room, away. Hayato pulled out a Chair and sat down, solemnly taking his Card Box from his belt and taking out the Cards inside one by one.
Normally, Hayato's Deck was always kept in the System's Inventory. Whenever he needed it, he would use the Card Box on his waist as a cover to take it out.
The advantages of doing this were, firstly, preventing his Deck from being lost or stolen by some clumsy guy (Kei: Atchoo!), secondly, he could adjust his deck directly in the system at any time, without having to put the cards in and out one by one.
However, the card box that served as a cover was not empty. It also contained a lot of cards, and in a sense, the value of the cards in this card box was higher than that of the deck Hayato was using---
【Grandsoil the Elemental Lord】, 【Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca】, 【Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder】, 【Raviel, Lord of Phantasms】, and the Three God Cards 【Slifer the Sky Dragon】, 【Obelisk the Tormentor】, 【The Winged Dragon of Ra】.
Rather than saying "highest value", it is more appropriate to say that it is "the most powerful card", although even 【Grandsoil the Elemental Lord】 has been put in by Hayato to make up the word "God", but it is no exaggeration to say that these cards represent the strongest power Hayato has mastered.
Hayato had not forgotten that before the duel with Amerda, that idiot intended to use the power of the Seal of Orichalcos to start a dark game to take his life, but the barrier dissipated unexpectedly beyond the expectations of the two.
Amerda was confused, but Hayato heard clearly that when the power that dispelled the Seal of Orichalcos appeared, a very clear cracking sound came from his card box.
But at the same time, Hayato was also very clear that the power was definitely not from those duel monsters he was familiar with.
Grandsoil is really just here to make up the numbers.
【Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca】 has a bit of B, but Hayato has always kept the minimum level of magic power of the Millennium Wisdom Wheel when feeding it, and has not allowed it to be full, but has been keeping it hungry. It is also impossible for the power that has not fully recovered to break through the Seal of Orichalcos.
Hayato is very relieved about the Three God Cards, and is willing to provide them with support, but it is also a bit short to say that they can break through the Seal of Orichalcos. If they really could do that, they would not have been sacrificed by Dartz as sacrifices to the God of Orichalcos in the original timeline.
As for Hamon and Raviel? Although there is a strange setting that "the three Phantom Demons can destroy duel monsters when they appear together", their B is not as good as the Three God Cards at all, and what about them rescuing Hayato?
It would be good if they didn't stab him in the back.
One card after another was taken out by Hayato and placed aside, leaving only one card at the bottom of the card box.
Hayato recalled that the card seemed to be the card that the guy named Limoria gave him before leaving Pegasus' castle after losing to Samejima at Duelist Kingdom.
That seems to be the same name as that guy Limoria, 【A Legendary Ocean】.
Although Hayato uses a lot of decks, none of them can use this card, and for some reason, the system cannot recycle this card. Hayato simply left it in his hand. Who knows, one day Hayato will start playing an aquatic deck?
Although, the aquatic deck generally does not bring this card, only the 【Mermail】 deck will use it, and use it to assist in Xyz or Synchro Summons.
Reaching into the card box, Hayato took out this 【A Legendary Ocean】 and slowly turned it to the front. He was stunned when he looked down.
At this time, 【Ojama Yellow】 and a group of brothers routinely tried to bully 【Rainbow Kuriboh】, but because their attack power was 0, they were killed by Rainbow Kuriboh. 【Ojama Yellow】 cried loudly and came to Hayato to complain.
While climbing onto Hayato's shoulder, 【Ojama Yellow】 shouted: "Brother, look at that Rainbow bastard, how bad and bad he is, he is bullying us again, brother, you must stand up for us~"
But 【Ojama Yellow】 who climbed onto Hayato's shoulder was also stunned.
I saw that the card art of the 【A Legendary Ocean】 that was pinched in Hayato's hand did not look like a drawing printed on the card, but like a real landscape. The temple that was half-submerged in the sea was actually changing dynamically, gradually collapsing!
"Pa."
【Ojama Yellow】, who couldn't stand still for a moment, fell from Hayato's shoulder and fell on the table. Covering his ass with both hands, he said to Hayato in a panic: "It's, it's nothing to do with me, brother, this card was like this when I saw it!"
Watching the complete collapse of the 【A Legendary Ocean】 into the sea, Hayato turned his head silently and looked at the 【Ojama Yellow】 with a tense expression, and sighed: "I know, it's nothing to do with you. Okay, go aside."
Saying that, Hayato raised his finger and pushed 【Ojama Yellow】, looking at the 【A Legendary Ocean】 without the temple in his hand, frowning.
Rarely being treated peacefully by Hayato, 【Ojama Yellow】 seemed quite surprised.
"Huh? Brother didn't teach me a lesson this time?" Spreading his index finger and thumb and dragging his chin, 【Ojama Yellow】 conjured up a deerstalker hat and a yellow plaid cloak from nowhere, and a pipe in his hand. 【Ojama Yellow】 was dressed as a famous detective, and said to himself: "The truth is always one!"
"I see, I see, no wonder brother hasn't used that Rainbow bastard much during this time. Sure enough, men like the new and hate the old. Brother must be tired of drawing that guy in duels."
"Combining it with the fact that brother's tone of voice today is so good..." 【Ojama Yellow】 smiled triumphantly with an expression that he had deduced something, his eyes narrowed into a line, "Wagagaga, brother finally understands that I am his eternal Tamashii~"
Convinced of his reasoning, 【Ojama Yellow】 nodded definitely and climbed onto Hayato's head again, suddenly taunting Rainbow Kuriboh, who was chasing other 【Ojama】 clan members in the other corner of the room: "The king has the talent of the king, and the chef also has the talent of the chef, but Rainbow bastard, your ability is the most useless!"
"The ability to block attacks is garbage at all. Sure enough, only I am brother's only trump card, hahahaha!"
【Ojama Yellow】, who was overconfident and standing on top of Hayato's head, laughed with his hands on his hips, completely ignoring the pity and sympathy contained in the eyes of 【Rainbow Kuriboh】 looking at him like an idiot, and did not notice that Hayato had already put down the card of 【A Legendary Ocean】, clenching his fists with a gloomy face.
"Ya ge."
Hearing Hayato's unhappy voice under his feet, 【Ojama Yellow】's body also stiffened. Just as he was about to jump off Hayato's head and escape, 【Ojama Yellow】's body was just caught by Hayato in his hand.
Lifted to Hayato's face, looking at Hayato's unhappy face, 【Ojama Yellow】 swallowed subconsciously:
"Bro, brother?"
"The more I get along with you guys, the more I understand a truth, 【Yellow】." While saying that, Hayato let go and threw 【Ojama Yellow】 into the air, "I can never be kind to you guys, I'm sorry for myself if I don't use violence!"
"I've been making noise there since the beginning, which is so annoying. I'm going to beat you until you cry!"
"Eat my Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken! ORA!"
----The bruised and swollen Yellow is applying medicine----
The three-day preliminary round passed in a blink of an eye. Hayato successfully qualified with the second place after Kaiba. Yugi was the third place, and Joey was stuck in the tenth place because of his unstable luck and the setting of not playing if he was not in blood. He was almost overtaken by Mai Valentine in eleventh place.
In this regard, Mai twisted the soft flesh of Joey's waist unhappily, and Joey screamed in pain. As for whether Joey was really in pain or pretending to be in pain to give in to Mai, this depends on Joey himself.
On the third day of the preliminary round, Hayato successfully met Yugi. After learning that "Dan Kuroto" was Hayato, Yugi was taken aback and quite surprised.
In the subsequent duel, it was not Dark Yugi who played, but Yugi Mutou. After the fierce fight, Hayato successfully took over Yugi's suicide act of detonating Dark Magician with 【Burst Rebirth】 by frying and eating 【Chimeratech Overdragon】 with 【Mystical Wok】, and won the victory.
In this regard, Hayato was quite satisfied, because strictly speaking, this duel was the first time Hayato really defeated Yugi, not Dark Yugi but Yugi Mutou, which was a regret for himself - the first duel Hayato had after coming to the Yu-Gi-Oh! world was against Yugi Mutou, not Dark Yugi. This duel was a success to complete the revenge.
Joey also met Hayato, but this guy's willpower is strong, but it is only reflected in the unyielding face of the desperate situation. He has not much resistance to the spiritual interference ability of the Millennium Rod. It was not until Hayato took the initiative to release the magic after the duel that Joey realized that "Dan Kuroto" was Hayato.
In addition to Joey and Mai, none of the other people who came to the KC Cup for fun qualified, whether it was Honda and Shizuka, who were not good at duel monsters, or Ryota and Grandpa Mutou, who had a certain strength.
Honda and Shizuka were the first to come into contact, although there were many ordinary people who came to join in the fun like them, but there were also many duelists who coveted fame and fortune. Shizuka's luck was pretty good, and her name was in the 1,000th place without qualifying, but Honda was quite unlucky. After winning only two games, he met several professional duelists in a row and was quickly eliminated.
Ryota still really likes Monster Dragon Gate Dice after all, and with the help of Hayato and Yugi, he has signed a promotion cooperation contract with Pegasus. Monster Dragon Gate Dice will be strongly promoted by the International Illusion Society soon. In exchange, this matter took up a lot of his energy and he did not duel with all his strength. His final ranking was around 500th.
Grandpa Mutou likes duel monsters and also has the strength. But, after all, people are old and their physical strength is not good. He ranked 400th, which is not bad.
Kei's ranking was quite surprising. He actually has a good talent for duel monsters. His ranking was exactly 100th, which is already very strong for a child who has been in contact with duel monsters for the first time, which makes Shizuka and Honda feel a little ashamed.
In addition, what Hayato didn't expect was that Malik, who was actually quite strong, did not qualify. His ranking was 65th.
"After my sister found out that I was also participating, she called me specifically to tell me to pay attention to my health." Sitting next to Hayato, Malik looked helpless, "Although I know this is caring about me, it's really annoying, brother-in-law."
"Come on, call me less of that title, the two of us haven't even started yet." Hayato patted Malik on the shoulder, "So you deliberately controlled the points from the beginning?"
"Yes. In your words, brother-in-law, this is the job of the 'qualifying gatekeeper', right? If you want to qualify, you have to pass me. It feels great."
While saying that, Malik showed a sly smile. It was only at this time that Malik, who was wearing a T-shirt, could be seen as the former leader of the criminal organization "Ghouls".
It wasn't Hayato who led him astray. According to Isis, Malik actually liked trendy things since he was a child. The reason why he triggered the rules of the Tombkeeper clan and was punished was because he wanted to buy a motorcycle and become a racer.
Since the birth of Dark Malik because of the punishment and the murder of his father in public, Malik had been blinded by hatred for a long time and suppressed his nature for many years. Now, the truth has come out and the Dark Personality has been resolved, and Malik can finally be himself again.
Although Ghouls has been disbanded by Malik, the property of Ghouls is quite difficult to handle, because a large part of their property was obtained by killing people and stealing goods. You can't dig up people's graves and return the money, right? Therefore, after donating a large part of the property, Malik also left the remaining property as pocket money with Hayato's acquiescence.
With so much money, Malik, who doesn't need to be careful for the development of the organization, spends money like water. After buying several motorcycles he had wanted for a long time in one go, he also became obsessed with the culture of痛car through the痛car culture.
"Talk when you talk, don't keep giggling there." Hayato pouted, turned his head, and looked back at the huge venue in front of them.
The place they are currently in is the first Kaiba Land in America of Kaiba Corporation, and it is also a super-large Kaiba Land that exists as a "flagship store". Specifically, it is the Kaiba Dome, which is specially used for holding public duel monster competitions in Kaiba Land.
--I also want to know who named it. In that case, the reason why the shape here is the head of a 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 roaring to the sky is obvious.
The Kaiba Dome can accommodate a full 10,000 spectators at one go. The wealthy Kaiba resolutely rejected the operation of selling high-priced tickets, and chose to put all the tickets in a prize pool. The location of the seats depends entirely on luck.
In Kaiba's words, "Duelists who are fully committed to duel monsters can even create their own card draws. Those who don't understand this should watch the game and deserve to be in the last row."
Although Kaiba's tough face, arrogant expression, and windbreaker were quite handsome when he said these words, Hayato wanted to laugh when he thought of the stinky face Kaiba had when he drew a ticket for the dead corner in the last row after demonstrating the extraction of a seat.
The final result was that Kaiba, the dog administrator, directly opened a back door for himself and directly used the spare lounge in the back as his VIP seat.
Correspondingly, the seats of Hayato, Joey, Yugi, Kei, Grandpa Mutou, Shizuka, Honda, Ryota, Malik, Mai, Rebecca and Professor Arthur, a total of twelve people, are all connected together. This probability is simply a miracle among miracles.
The biggest contributor is Joey, who was threatened by Mai's death stare to use God's Draw.
After knowing this, Kaiba's face became even stinkier.
A total of sixty-four players qualified, divided into four groups of sixteen people each: ABCD. At the same time, in order to balance the consideration, the candidates for the group were "completely random" - Kaiba said this in front of everyone, but Hayato, who personally experienced the shady operation on the second day of the preliminary round, would not believe him.
Kaiba was assigned to Group A, Yugi was in Group B, Joey and Mai were in Group C, and Hayato was assigned to Group D. According to the more detailed duel order, Hayato's duel will not start until two hours later at the earliest.
But it was just right. Hayato had been bullying vegetables too much for the past two days and was too tired, so he was happy to stay in the audience and watch the battle between the two players on the duel field.
And just right, Hayato knew both of the duelists who met on the duel stage at this moment, and they knew each other, and they could even be said to have a deep relationship.
"How could it be? I obviously didn't see you appear during the preliminary round." After receiving the opponent's deck from the referee, Joey simply shuffled it a few times and handed it back, looking strangely at his old acquaintance opposite him.
The short boy tugged at his hat, and handed Joey's deck back to the referee while inserting his own deck into the duel disk: "Idiot Joey, because I also kept the undefeated data and kept guarding the arena, of course you couldn't have seen me!"
He is not tall but has a high heart, who else can it be but Dinosaur Ryuzaki?
"Really, why would I have to face you? This is my first duel in public after a long time." Glancing at the cameras surrounding the duel stage, Ryuzaki tugged at his collar uneasily, trying to make it look neat and energetic. "I plan to find an investor after I regain some fame."
"Huh? Who understands those things?"
Joey pouted indifferently, not caring about the surrounding cameras at all. Looking at Ryuzaki, who looked a little nervous, he smiled: "I said Ryuzaki, you're not afraid of losing to me, are you? Hehe, that's not like you."
Hearing this, Ryuzaki also glared: "Who's afraid of losing to you, you area Joey!"
While saying that, Ryuzaki put his arms around his chest: "Don't get me wrong, Joey, I'm worried that dueling with you won't show my strength at all, especially since you're just relying on good luck. It makes me feel ashamed to defeat you, who used dice to strengthen monsters."
"Hey, hey, what do you mean I'm just relying on good luck?"
While saying that, Joey pointed his thumb at himself triumphantly: "Remember, Ryuzaki, the legendary duelist, the strongest Black Dragon user, the top 8 player in the Domino City Regional Tournament, the top 4 player in Duelist Kingdom, the top 4 player in Duelist Kingdom, and Joey Wheeler, the one who almost turned over Kaiba's trash."
"Your name is stinky and long, where did you get the middle name from! And there are too many strange nicknames. You obviously made them up yourself!"
Professional referee, ancestral tool man, wherever you need to go, the heartless sunglasses black-clothed man - Isano raised his hand, looked at his watch and calculated the time, and interrupted the chat between Joey and Ryuzaki, two old acquaintances.
After all, this is not a coffee shop, but the KC Cup competition site. There are many duels arranged next.
"The two players have finished exchanging and shuffling the decks. Please take your place and prepare to start the duel!"
Hearing Isano's voice coming from the broadcast, Joey and Ryuzaki stopped chatting in time and went to their respective positions to prepare. They were not in a hurry to decide the winner, but although they would not read the atmosphere like 明美, Joey also knew that the audience was not here to watch them chat and dismantle each other on stage. This was not to listen to crosstalk.
Standing in his position, Joey lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Raising his head again, looking at Ryuzaki, who was still a little nervous, he showed a sincere smile and thanked him: "Thank you, Ryuzaki."
"Huh? Thank you? Me?"
Ryuzaki was confused by Joey's unclear thanks and asked in confusion.
"Back in Duelist Kingdom, I was indeed what you said, a semi-professional in both the deck and the mentality. I didn't have the qualifications to enter Duelist Kingdom at all." While saying that, Joey looked down at his deck, "Unknowingly, so much time has passed."
"Thanks to the existence of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it helped me defeat many enemies. For this reason, I must express my gratitude to you, Ryuzaki."
Hearing Joey's words, Ryuzaki said unhappily: "You bastard, are you mocking me? Are you mocking me!"
"Damn it, don't say it as if I took the initiative to give you the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. You bastard is becoming annoying too!"
"I must teach you a lesson!"
Hearing Ryuzaki's energetic harsh words, Joey couldn't help but show a confident smile: "Hmph, I have grown a lot, Ryuzaki. It won't be so easy to defeat me. Let me and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon defeat you together!"
"Don't always focus on one point! And I'm not what I used to be anymore, okay!"
Under Joey's influence, Ryuzaki's mood became excited, and in the midst of the noise, he unconsciously put his restraints and nervousness behind him, as if he had returned to two years ago, when he had just become the runner-up of the Japan National Duel Monsters Tournament, so high-spirited.
'This Ryuzaki is the Ryuzaki I know.' In his heart, Joey thought so. The eyes of the two met in the air, and they heard the two of them shout in unison:
"Duel!" X2
【Joey: 4000LP】
【Ryuzaki: 4000LP】
"I'll take the first attack without ceremony, Joey!" After entering the duel state, Ryuzaki calmed down slightly and thought about it. Then he realized that Joey's words were actually actively guiding him to let go of his restraints and tension.
However, Ryuzaki is not the kind of person who always keeps the kindness of others to him on his lips. He took Joey's feelings in his heart, and the tough guy Ryuzaki chose to repay him with a full duel!
"My turn, draw!"
"I activate the effect of my 【Gilasaurs】 in my hand!" After drawing a card, Ryuzaki played one of his hand cards and placed it on the duel disk, "This card can be special summoned directly from my hand, and then when the Gilasaurs is successfully special summoned using its first effect, Joey, you can choose a monster in the graveyard to special summon."
On Ryuzaki's field, a velociraptor who had always been agile ran into the field, making a lot of noise, but did not get any response from other monsters.
【Gilasaurs】【3☆/Earth】
【Dinosaur/Effect】
【1400/400】
"Hey, there are no monsters in my graveyard at all. That's too cunning, Ryuzaki!" Joey complained, looking at his empty graveyard.
This made Ryuzaki a little proud: "Hmph, a true duelist can even avoid negative effects and even use them. You're still far behind, Joey."
"The summon of 【Gilasaurs】 is a special summon, I haven't done a normal summon yet!" While saying that, Ryuzaki drew another card, "The effect of the magic card 【Cost Down】, I discard a card, and then decrease the level of the monsters in my hand by 2☆."
"Then, I use 【Gilasaurs】 as a sacrifice to perform a high-level summon. Come out, 【Overtex Qoatlus】!"
On the quiet duel stage, a thunder suddenly sounded, and the 【Gilasaurs】 on Ryuzaki's field was grinning, but suddenly a huge mouth protruded from its side. With the overflowing lightning, the 【Gilasaurs】 was swallowed into the mouth in an instant, and the giant beast swallowed the 【Gilasaurs】 in its mouth without chewing it.
【Overtex Qoatlus】【8☆/Light】
【Dinosaur/Effect】
【3300/1400】
"Fuhahaha, how is it, Joey? Have you seen the power of my dinosaur monsters!"
Ryuzaki was quite proud of summoning 【Overtex Qoatlus】 with an attack power exceeding the 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 in one turn. He didn't expect that his luck was not bad and the development was so smooth. "I said, I'm not what I used to be anymore. Don't look at my evolved deck with the eyes of the past!"
"Dinosaur decks are very strong! I set two cards, and the turn ends!"
【Ryuzaki: 4000LP, Hand Card 0】
【Overtex Qoatlus】【ATK3300】
【Set Card】X2
As Ryuzaki ended his turn, Hayato heard other spectators around him start discussing:
"That guy, is his name Ryuzaki? Is his title 'Dinosaur' Ryuzaki?"
"I remember he seemed to be the runner-up in the Japan National Tournament before?"
"I thought he was a conservative guy before. He can summon such a powerful monster in the first turn. I didn't expect him to be a bit strong."
"You can consider putting him on the sponsorship list. I'm
