Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Use the newbie reward - double rating? (Remaining uses: 10)

Double it! Double it for me!

Hayato didn't hesitate at all and clicked the "Yes" button, then watched as a full 6400 dp was added to his original balance of 2500 points.

He currently has a full 8900 DP points, just 100 points short of enough to exchange for a slightly cheaper UR card.

However, just as the text resolving the previous duel with Masaji Manjoume disappeared, Hayato noticed that the [Achievements] and [Shop] sections of the four templates simultaneously lit up with gold borders.

Chapter 25 Ah~ni~gei~! ?

Hayato could understand the achievement being lit up, but the fact that the shop was lit up gave him a bad feeling. In his mind's eye, the mysterious smile of the owner of that famous gaming platform from his past life—a guy codenamed "GabeN"—appeared.

Whenever that fat man and the green box that always accompanies him appear, the money in Hayato's wallet always mysteriously disappears.

Forcing himself not to open the [Shop], Hayato clicked into the [Achievements] section.

As before, the [Achievements] area was still filled with gray card backs. The three achievements unlocked last time were placed at the top for easy viewing, and in addition, Hayato unlocked two more achievements this time. As usual, Hayato flipped them over together:

[Achievement Completed: First Victory]

[Condition: Win a Duel Monsters game]

[Achievement Completed: Comeback!]

[Condition: Achieve a "comeback victory"]

Rewards statistics:

500dp*2

R-level self-selection coupon *1

【Obstruction Vaccine ΩMAX】*1

The returns are pretty good. Including the previous 6400 DP, this duel with Masashi Manjoume yielded a full 7400 points, plus a very substantial R-rank selection card. Also, the [Damage Vaccine ΩMAX] card is quite decent.

Its effect is to restore the corresponding amount of Life Points after taking damage in any way, essentially negating that damage. It's a combination of [Scrap Kuriboh] and [Kuriboo]. However, this card has a drawback: its effect is resolved after taking damage; if your Life Points are already at zero, this card will not work.

After exiting the [Achievements] area, Hayato looked at the 9900 dp below his avatar in the upper left corner and felt like he had plenty of money.

With so many dynamic programming operations, using just a little bit shouldn't matter, right?

With this thought in mind, Hayato couldn't resist and opened the [Shop]. Upon entering the [Shop], several large characters eagerly jumped out:

[To celebrate the duelist's first victory, a limited-time Beginner's Choice Booster Pack is available – purchase only once!]

As expected, his premonition was correct. No matter the game, if the shop in a gacha game gives you a red dot notification, it's never a good sign. This rule still applies even after Hayato's transmigration. Sure enough, he'd finally managed to save up a little balance, and the system had already set its sights on him, even creating some kind of "newbie selectable booster pack."

While inwardly grumbling about the system, Hayato's finger finally brushed past the "View Later" option and obediently clicked on the "Go Now" button. The original "Basic Card Packs" section on the shop's homepage redirected, replaced by about thirty card boxes—

[Earth Attribute Booster Pack] [Fire Attribute Booster Pack] [Wind Attribute Booster Pack]...

Dragon Race Supply Pack, Warrior Race Supply Pack, Orc Race Supply Pack...

[Mixed Themes: Magic Swordsman] [Mixed Themes: Alien Exploration] [Mixed Themes: Undersea Races]...

From targeting specific attributes and races to mixing various support cards, the system showcased the potential for Hayato to make money. Hayato could freely choose one of these card packs to buy, and at a price that was cheaper than the original 10000 dp for 100 packs—9900 dp.

This is exactly the number in my account balance!

As the price reflects, these card packs are of high quality. For example, the "Hybrid Theme: Alien Exploration" pack mainly combines the "Zerg" series of the Reptile race and the "Giant Battleship" series of the Machine race. It guarantees at least one UR card and three or more SR cards, and even has a chance to get cards from the "Grey Basket" and "ABC" series that are not available in the "Shop".

There's also the "Sea Race" pack, which combines fish, water, and sea dragons into a "sea" theme. Buying one of these packs allows you to instantly become a fisherman who becomes a card, and you also have a chance to get the "Water Sprite Scale," "Ice Barrier," and "Legacy" series.

Hayato felt his indecisiveness flare up again after the last R-level selection—he wanted to choose both and didn't want to give up any of them, but the system only allowed him to choose one, and even if he could choose all of them, he could only afford one.

After much deliberation and searching, Hayato finally found a card pack with a completely different name in the deepest corner of countless decks: [Special Custom: Deck Building Supplement Pack].

Hayato found the description rather novel. While the other card packs all had a fairly clear theme, this one took an unconventional approach, simply stating "Randomly replenished cards based on the currently used deck."

Compared to other card packs with clearly defined rewards, this one was clearly a gamble; there was no way of knowing what the possible rewards were before buying it. Logically, Hayato, knowing his luck wasn't great, shouldn't have chosen this pack, but there's a saying, "The less skilled you are, the more addicted you are," and he couldn't resist, ultimately buying the booster pack anyway.

Watching his DP points below his avatar instantly drop to zero, and the only remaining basic card packs in the shop sitting there forlornly, replaced by a large box of card packs falling into the warehouse waiting for Hayato to open, this guy who had just impulsively bought something gritted his teeth—please, please give me something good!

By the time Honda came out of the back room with a puzzle box, the duel between Yugi and Jonouchi had ended. As expected, Yugi won. Honda immediately opened the puzzle in the store, intending to ask his companions for help in figuring out what to write on it. Just as Honda looked up, about to say something, he saw Hayato looking somewhat dazed.

"What happened, Hayato?"

"Uh, it's nothing, I'm fine, all good." With a wry smile, Hayato secretly vowed never to believe in his luck again, his eyes fixed fiercely on his bare shoulder.

Unseen by Honda and the others, three strange creatures were perched on Hayato's shoulders, chattering incessantly:

"Big brother, you scared me to death during that duel!"

"Hey bro, that woman over there has such big breasts!"

"When are we going to eat, big brother?"

"Big brother~"

"Big brother!"

"Big brother?"

......

Damn it, if this keeps up, I'm going to go insane.

Hayato felt like he was being brainwashed by the three guys on his shoulders calling him "Big Brother." He told them he had something urgent to attend to and hurriedly ran out of the Kameji Game House, wanting to find a quiet corner to stay in for a while. At this moment, he completely understood why the future Jun Manjoume had changed from a cold and aloof villain to a goofball.

It's absolutely, absolutely related to those three guys who appeared next to him!

Chapter 26 When "Luck" Comes Knocking

After Hayato opened the booster pack he had purchased with all his DP points, several messages popped up in the system:

[New player booster pack detected; "SaiQ Duelist System" fully activated, providing upgrade patches for duelists...]

[Patch installation complete. The Duelist "Personal" module is now enabled. Please click on the avatar to view.]

[Upgrade rewards are being automatically distributed, please accept them]

Hayato hadn't even had a chance to check what cards he'd drawn before a barrage of messages bombarded his face. It took him a while to realize that his system wasn't the full version yet; it wasn't until he opened the "Newbie Booster Pack" that the official version was activated.

As a perk of the upgrade, the system will grant Hayato the ability to "communicate with card spirits," which is the "spiritual connection with cards" ability that is standard for advanced duelists.

Who would be the card spirit he awakened? Hayato couldn't help but wonder. His most vivid memory was that incredible draw of [Dark Knight Gaia]. If he were to awaken a card spirit, Gaia would be the most likely candidate.

Thinking this, Hayato was slapped in the face by three palm-sized guys, accompanied by three different "Big Brother"s in different tones.

This is also why Hayato didn't look too good in the Kame Game House earlier. On one hand, he was disappointed that he hadn't awakened Gaia, and on the other hand, he was startled because he was close to the three Disruptors (unambiguous).

"Even [Death Stalker] would be fine. After all, it's Tamashi, which I acknowledged, and it was the first monster I summoned." As he walked home, Hayato looked at the large stack of cards in his hand and complained, "Any of these cards would have been fine, why did it have to be this one?"

He was holding the [Disruption Trio] card in his hand. Apparently, because it helped Hayato create an opportunity for victory in his duel with Manjoume, this card was randomly selected by the system to awaken a card spirit, namely the [Disruption Yellow/Green/Black] trio, and Hayato also happened to have the original cards of the three spirits on hand.

Why did I have to be so impulsive and buy these three? There are so many R-rank cards to choose from, why did I pick this one? Hayato couldn't help but sigh.

"Big brother~"

The cheeky voice came from beside him again, and Hayato immediately reached out and grabbed [Disruptive Yellow], who had somehow climbed onto his shoulder again: "I remember I warned you that you'd better keep quiet, or I'll imitate my classmate Seto Kaiba."

"Hey~ Big brother, what did your classmate do?" Even though Hayato pinched her body between two fingers and lifted her up, [Disruption·Yellow] still didn't change her despicable nature. She wiggled her legs and looked at Hayato with her eyes that seemed to have detached from her head, with a sly smile on her lips.

Hayato said with a straight face, "Him? He tore up the Duel Monsters cards."

"Eek!" [Disruption·Yellow] let out a strange cry, startled by Hayato's words, and rattled off a string of words, "Big brother, please don't tear me apart! I'm much more useful than my other two brothers! If you want to tear them apart, tear them apart instead!"

"Disruption Yellow!" Two strange cries suddenly rang out from Hayato's other shoulder, calling out Disruption Yellow's name. Disruption Green and Black leaped and pounced on Disruption Yellow, whose body was being held by Hayato.

"You traitor!"

I'm going to teach you a lesson!

"Take this Nine Heavens Thunder Double Kick!"

Seeing the disruptive trio start arguing again, Hayato felt his head was about to explode. He quickly shouted to interrupt the three brothers' quarrel: "Shut up, all of you! I'll tear anyone who talks to me to pieces!"

The three troublemakers were startled and quickly smiled apologetically at Hayato, pretending to tug at their mouths to indicate they would shut up. Surprisingly, they actually managed to pull out a zipper, and the troublemaker's tongue even got stuck on the zipper for a moment.

"Mommy, Mommy, is that big brother over there the 'idiot' you told me about last time?"

"Don't go there, it's contagious."

Silently watching a passing woman carry her child away, Hayato, carrying three Disruptors, looked around but couldn't find a suitable place, so he quickened his pace towards his home.

What he didn't notice was that, from the dense woods by the roadside, a gaze was fixed on him.

—Being followed—

Lucky hid in the shady woods, watching the obviously wealthy kid leave. He hid in the woods both to avoid the annoying police search and to prepare for his own escape.

He is a murderer who is currently on the run from prison. The escaped prisoner that Hayato heard about in the newspaper on the bus was Lucky.

In an attempt to escape prison, the superstitious Lucki chose his luckiest time to break out, and things went incredibly smoothly. Just last night, he killed a prison guard and escaped, also taking a revolver with him.

Escaping from prison is not an action, but a continuous state. After leaving the prison, Lucky tried every means to shake off the police and avoid being seen by anyone. According to the law, as long as Lucky could successfully escape to the high seas, he could gain a considerable period of freedom, and as long as he was not caught by Interpol, he could even remain at large indefinitely.

However, escaping to international waters is no easy task; Lucky needs to get a boat. He knows a smuggler in Domino City, so the route to the sea isn't a problem. The biggest problem is—he doesn't have a single coin on him after escaping prison.

Not only that, in order to get out of prison, he hasn't eaten anything since noon yesterday, and he hasn't had a drop of water. He feels like he can barely walk. Rather than searching for wealthy people, Lucky thinks it would be better to just find a random target nearby, rob them of their money and maybe even steal some food.

And clearly, our protagonist, Hayato Kobayashi, is the unlucky one who was chosen.

"They found their target so quickly, just as I expected," Lucky said, gripping his revolver in one hand and unconsciously stroking the "777" tattoo on his forehead with the other. "The magazine was right, today is my lucky day!"

Getting up from the muddy ground, Lachi didn't bother to brush the filth off his pants, because in his mind, he was already robbing people, so robbing one more piece of clothing wasn't a big deal.

Along the ample green space of Domino City, Lucky quietly followed Hayato.

Chapter 27 Mr. Lucky, I Want to Play a Game with You

Hayato returned home with the three brothers, who had been kept quiet due to the threat, and changed into slippers while casually leaving his shoes in the entryway before heading towards the kitchen.

Last night, because I was in a rush, I just cooked some instant noodles and made do. Today, I got home much earlier than usual, so I can finally have a proper dinner.

Since transmigrating, Hayato has hardly ever had a proper meal. It's not that he's ever been hungry, but he's always treated breakfast items like toast and fried eggs, or the fried noodles and bread sold at school as snacks. When it comes to meals, the most important thing is to have a proper meal.

Hayato hadn't even taken a few steps away from the door that had just been closed when he heard the doorbell ring from behind him.

Could it be someone coming to see his mother? Hayato turned around uncertainly, not immediately opening the door, but instead peering through the peephole to see what the person outside looked like.