"Okay, today we're Dueling. Today I'm playing a pure Performapal Deck. A Duel King's Duel must be entertaining."
"Hmph~, Activate Change of Heart! Your Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon is mine!"
"Activate Dragon Mirror! Summon my strongest Tamashii, Dragon Knight Gaia! Then, Activate Spiral Spear Strike! Explode☆Kill!!!"
Early in the morning, Hayato sat in front of the Kame Game Shop, setting up a small table and a sun umbrella, Dueling with Duelists who came to buy Card Packs and incidentally witness the Duels of the two newly appointed Duel Kings.
Watching a crying eleven or twelve-year-old elementary student who had just lost a Match leave, Hayato curled his lip in disdain: "Tch, crying just because you lost a Match? Young people really have weak resilience. I only took control of about one, two, three, four, five of their Monsters, yet they cried. You should be smiling when you Duel."
"Um, I think, Hayato, you're a bit too serious when playing Duel Monsters with those kids, that's probably why they cried."
Sitting next to Hayato was Yugi, also holding a Hand of Cards. Although he said that, seeing the five Set Cards neatly arranged in his Spell/Trap Zone, Hayato felt that the experience of the child opposite him wasn't much better compared to Dueling against himself.
A week had passed since the Duelist Kingdom trip. Hayato and the others had long since returned to Domino City and met Grandpa Solomon Muto, who had successfully woken up. Joey Wheeler also used the Duelist Kingdom Prize Money to Pay for his sister's Surgery, and had about a million left over, which he returned to Hayato and Yugi.
The doctor said the Surgery was scheduled for three months later.
Everything was developing in a good Direction, as if they had returned to the peaceful Daily Life before the Duelist Kingdom.
Except for those annoying guys who didn't have the Qualification to participate in the Duelist Kingdom but delusionally thought they could defeat Hayato and Yugi and instantly rise to fame.
Pegasus regained consciousness after being rushed to the Hospital and receiving emergency treatment for 24 hours. Although he was still recuperating in the Hospital, he took the time to release a video to the outside world. The content of the video was quite simple: on one hand, it was to let his business Opponents know that his Body was fine and he wasn't dead yet, so they shouldn't think of any crooked ideas; on the other hand, it announced that Hayato and Yugi had become the second and third largest Shareholders of Industrial Illusions.
Although Pegasus had publicly invited many people to watch the Duels before, those who received invitations were either Important Persons from various fields or famous Duelists. 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 Information that the Duel Kings had been born only circulated within the upper social circles. Ordinary people had no idea about this, and even after the video was released, many people heard about the "Duelist Kingdom" for the first time.
Consequently, "many people" were quite unconvinced—Why wasn't Yours Truly invited to such a big Dueling Project? If Yours Truly had gone, maybe—no, Yours Truly definitely could have become the Duel King too.
But the "Duelist Kingdom" was already over. So, how could they prove "I can do it too"? The answer was———
"I can't accept this!" Manjoume sat opposite Hayato, watching Hayato play the The Earth Spirit plus Gaia the Fierce Knight, Inheritance of Power plus Megamorph Combo, hitting him with an OTK. "You guy, you clearly said you were using a Performapal Deck at the start!"
Manjoume Shouji, one of the "many people" mentioned above.
Now that the "Duelist Kingdom" was over, wasn't the way to prove you were stronger than the Duel King simply by Dueling and winning against the Duel King?
"Hmph, Idiot, who says a Monster isn't a Performapal just because its name doesn't include Performapal?" Hayato said righteously. "A Duel King's Duel must be entertaining, and these Cards are my Partners, so aren't they Performapals? Don't make Excuses when you lose a Duel."
"What kind of nonsensical logic is that?! I clearly researched that your Performapals are all animal and Spellcaster Type Monsters! But you guy, you only used one Sky Magician the whole time, and everything else was Warrior Type!"
Manjoume was still somewhat unconvinced, but Hayato shooed him away like a fly.
"Alright, alright, next." Hayato waved his hand, watching Manjoume Shouji stand up huffily. "Besides, you can't even beat Joey Wheeler. Go back and practice more, young man."
Watching Manjoume step aside, another child who looked like an elementary student took his place. Hayato slightly tilted his head, looking at the line that was finally nearing its end, and let out a Breath.
After Pegasus released the video, those unconvinced "many people" united and shared Information, painstakingly collecting Information from all over the country like a carpet search to find Hayato and Yugi's location. Hayato's home was in the Villa Area, and the security was quite adequate because the property fees were paid well, so not many people came knocking. But Yugi, whose family ran a Card Shop, was out of luck.
The people coming to their door were endless. And the Kame Game Shop was just a small Shop. With that group causing such a fuss, Grandpa Solomon 's business couldn't be done at all.
However, don't let Grandpa Solomon's age fool you; his mind was quite sharp. The next day, he came up with a quite, quite good idea that could not only solve the problem of the Duelists coming to their door but also greatly boost the Card Shop's business.
"Buy ten Card Packs and you get a Qualification for a lottery, ranging from [Thank You for Your Patronage], [Try Again], [Another Pack], all the way to [Duel with the Duel King]." Sitting in front of a lottery machine, Joey Wheeler Ranted to Téa, who was in charge of selling Card Packs nearby, "Ji-san is too good at business, isn't he? At this rate, maybe Ji-san could even open a company in the future."
That's right, this was Grandpa Solomon's "perfect" strategy—Want to Duel with the Duel King to prove yourself? You have to draw the Qualification first. How do you draw? Buy Card Packs. What if you don't draw it? Keep buying Card Packs.
This move was undeniably cunning. It separated the connection between Yugi and Hayato, the two Duel Kings, and the challenging Duelists who came to their door, preventing conflicts like "Why do you get to Duel him but I don't?" from happening and creating a "fair" environment.
Moreover, if someone wasn't willing to follow this Rule, then those who had already drawn the Qualification would instead become people who stood on Yugi and their side. The conflict was Transfered to the masses, becoming, "Why do you think you can Duel without buying Card Packs? He bought ten packs, I bought twenty, and you don't buy a single one yet you want to Duel?"
Hayato listened to the discussion of the few people behind him, remaining silent. He would absolutely not tell Joey Wheeler and the others that this idea was actually his suggestion to Grandpa Solomon. This move was called, "Involution".
Just as he was thinking this, the little girl sitting opposite Hayato, holding a doll, knocked on the table.
"Ah, sorry, I was just spacing out." Hayato apologized first.
"Hmph, Gentleman doesn't keep a Lady waiting."
The fun of Yu-Gi-Oh! is actually more exciting than many TV dramas now
First, Joey likes Mai Valentine, Rebecca Hawkins likes Yugi, and Yugi and the King are the most important people to each other
Then, we have to insert the fate-entwined Seto Kaiba, Dark Magician Girl, and there's even Vivian Wong, whose voice actress is Rie Tanaka, who is an admirer of Yugi
(End of this chapter)