Chapter 184: Hit it Off
"Grandpa!?" Rebecca's face was full of surprise. "Why are you in Japan?"
"Arthur?! You're Arthur, right?" Solomon also had a surprised expression. "We haven't seen each other in a long, long time."
"Yes, it's been a long time, Solomon." Compared to the spoiled and willful Rebecca, her Grandpa—Professor Hopkins—had a completely different personality; he was quite gentle and refined. "My wild little Granddaughter must have caused you a lot of trouble. I'm truly sorry."
"Grandpa!"
With a smile on his face, Professor Hopkins walked over to Yugi, who hadn't had time to leave the Duel Platform yet, and kindly asked, "Yugi, could I take a look at your Deck?"
"Yes, no problem." Yugi slightly turned, revealing the Deck on the Duel Platform that he hadn't had time to tidy up yet. Professor Hopkins nodded in thanks. He didn't pick up the entire Deck, but merely flipped over the top Card.
That was the Card Yugi had just drawn and put back into his Deck.
"Indeed, it's just like that time." Professor Hopkins showed the Card to Rebecca.
After Rebecca saw the Card clearly, a surprised Expression couldn't help but appear on her face. "How could it be, Soul Release?! A Spell Card that can Banish Monsters from the Graveyard! If you had Activated it, wouldn't my Umbral Horror Ghoul have been destroyed by Dark Magician!"
"Many years ago, the Duel between me and Solomon was exactly the same as the Duel between you two, even this Card." Hopkins looked at the Card in his Hand with nostalgia. "I desperately piled up the number of Monsters in the Graveyard, all for the sake of Victory. But Solomon made the same choice as Yugi back then—he surrendered."
"Well, before that Duel, we Dueled, and the last sip of water in the kettle was for the Winner. But Hopkins was already about to collapse back then," Grandpa Solomon said, looking a bit embarrassed. "It was just the Victory or Defeat of a Duel; how could it compare to the safety of a good Friend?"
"The most important thing isn't the Duel, but Life."
So you two are both in poor health, yet you can still Duel? Hayato Ranted in his Heart.
"Rebecca, Grandpa was actually just like you back then, blinded by Victory or Defeat. I kept Sending Monsters to the Graveyard to strengthen Umbral Horror Ghoul. But we must also show respect to the sacrificed Monsters, whether it's in Duel Monsters or in Archaeology, which involves excavating the tombs of the deceased."
Squatting down, Professor Arthur Hopkins gently rubbed Rebecca's head, looking at his Granddaughter whose face still held a hint of unwillingness. "You must have respect for your Duel Opponent. It was precisely with this mindset that I gave the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to Solomon, who taught me this lesson."
With the direct testimony of the two parties involved, the misunderstanding was finally resolved. Rebecca, realizing she had been acting unreasonably all along, couldn't help but blush, stammering and not daring to face Yugi.
"It's a bit difficult to say, Arthur." Solomon walked up to his old Friend whom he hadn't seen in many years, his face full of apology. "The precious Blue-Eyes White Dragon you entrusted to me back then, I wasn't able to keep it safe."
"Yes, it's alright, Solomon." Arthur smiled gently, not taking the torn Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Solomon's Hand to Heart at all. "The most important thing isn't the Card, but the Friendship we entrusted to it, isn't it?"
"You're right, hahahaha."
The two elderly men, both over sixty, exchanged knowing smiles. Although they hadn't seen each other for a long time, their Friendship remained unchanged from years ago; in fact, it had grown even stronger due to their reunion.
Meanwhile, Hayato took the opportunity to come up behind Yugi and watched him organize his Hand.
Watching Yugi stuff several Cards that were red and green and clearly didn't look like "good stuff," such as Raigeki Break and Mirror Force, back into his Deck, Hayato glanced at Rebecca, who was hiding behind Arthur and secretly watching Yugi, and thought to himself:
'Seeing that his Opponent was a little girl, he actually learned to Go Easy and hide his Trap Player nature? Yugi, you're so kind.'
"Listen, Rebecca." Noticing that his Granddaughter hiding behind him had been watching Yugi, Arthur, who had perceived her thoughts, revealed a rare cunning smile and said to his Granddaughter, "Cards represent the Heart. A wonderful Duel can foster a Friendship."
"If you can't understand this point, you won't be qualified to be a proper All-American Champion. Go and apologize to Yugi."
Rebecca didn't notice her Grandpa's strange smile. Instead, she was genuinely moved by his words and approached Yugi hesitantly. "Yugi, I..."
"It's alright, Rebecca." Yugi smiled gently.
Watching the two of them look at each other, Hayato couldn't help but turn his gaze towards Téa, whose face was filled with emotion, wondering if a magical green light had appeared above her head. Incidentally, he also overheard the whispering of the two elderly men with the "most adorable height difference" huddled together:
"Yugi really is a good Kid."
"Rebecca is also quite good, isn't it?"
"Looks like we're thinking the same thing?"
"The Kids seem quite willing too, don't they?"
"Get things done in a few years?"
"Completely OK."
In just a few words, the two old men had practically married off their Grandson and Granddaughter.
However, looking at the smile on Rebecca's face, it's likely she wouldn't have any complaints and would be quite willing. As for age, that's even less of a problem. Although Yugi is only 17 this year and Rebecca is 12, in Japan, you can register a marriage as long as the male is 18 and the female is 16. As for informal Folk Weddings, there isn't even an age limit.
The only somewhat magical thing is that the legal age of adulthood in Japan is 20.
Professor Arthur Hopkins, reunited with his old Friend after a long time, had his interest piqued by Yugi and Rebecca's Duel. He wanted to have a game of Duel Monsters with Grandpa Solomon to relive their youth and also experience the Virtual Projection System currently only installed within Japan. Grandpa Solomon naturally didn't refuse.
Of course, the Virtual Projection System used by Kaiba Land is different from the one installed on the top-floor Duel Platform of KaibaCorp back then; it has the function to adjust the Projection Level of the Virtual Projection.
It seems Kaiba still remembers the last time he dragged Grandpa Solomon into a Duel, which resulted in the Old Man having a Heart Disease attack. Without the function to adjust the Projection Level, KaibaCorp would probably be dragged down by various Lawsuits before Kaiba Land could even be promoted nationwide.
Watching the two elderly men stand on the Duel Platform, Hayato suddenly heard a voice from behind him:
"Hayato, save me!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! World: DM Arc
Speaking of which, the Subtitle for the Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime Version, DM, Duel Monsters, comes from this Arc.
(End of Chapter)