Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"The more I spend time with you guys, the more I understand one thing, [Yellow]." As he spoke, Hayato released his grip and tossed [Disruption Yellow] into the air. "You can never be nice to guys like you. I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't use some violence!"

"You've been arguing non-stop from the very beginning, it's so annoying! I'm going to beat you until you cry!"

"Take this! Hokuto Hundred-Crack Fist! Ora!"

—Huang, with a bruised and swollen face, is having medicine applied—

The three-day preliminary rounds passed in the blink of an eye. Hayato made it into the finals with a second-place finish, just behind Kaiba. Yugi came in third place, while Jonouchi, due to his unpredictable luck and the fact that he couldn't play without being low on health, was stuck in tenth place and almost got overtaken by Mai, who came in eleventh.

In response, Mai Kujaku pinched Jonouchi's waist, causing him to cry out in pain. Whether Jonouchi, with his thick skin, was genuinely in pain or feigning it to appease Mai Kujaku, is a question only Jonouchi himself could answer.

On the third day of the auditions, Hayato successfully encountered Yugi. Upon learning that "Dan Kuroto" was actually Hayato, Yugi, who was unaware of this beforehand, was quite surprised.

In the subsequent duel, it was not Yami Yugi—Yogi—but Omote Yugi who fought. After a fierce battle, Hayato used the Mysterious Chinese Pot to cook and eat the Chimera Overload Dragon, and successfully withstood Yugi's attempt to detonate the Dark Magician with the Destruction Wheel, thus securing victory.

Hayato was quite satisfied with this, because strictly speaking, this duel was the one in which Hayato truly defeated Yugi, not Yami Yugi but Yugi Muto. It also fulfilled a regret of his own – when Hayato first came to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, his opponent was not Yami Yugi but Omote Yugi. This duel allowed Hayato to achieve a perfect revenge.

Jonouchi had encountered Hayato before, but while Hayato's willpower was strong, it was only evident in his unyielding spirit in the face of adversity. He had little resistance to the mental interference of the Millennium Scepter. It wasn't until after the duel that Hayato voluntarily released his magic, and Jonouchi realized that "Dan Kuroto" was actually Hayato.

Apart from Jonouchi and Mai, none of the other people who came to join the KC Cup for fun made it into the finals, including Honda and Anzu, who are not very good at Duel Monsters, as well as Otogi and Sugoroku, who have considerable strength.

Honda and Kyoko were newcomers to the competition. While there were many ordinary people like them who were just there for the fun, there were also quite a few duelists who coveted fame and fortune. Kyoko was relatively lucky, managing to stay around the top 1000 and avoid qualifying, but Honda was quite unlucky. After winning only two matches, he encountered several professional duelists and was quickly eliminated.

Ultimately, Otogi's true passion remained Monster Dragon Dice, and thanks to Hayato and Yugi's efforts, he had signed a promotional cooperation contract with Pegasus, meaning Monster Dragon Dice would soon receive significant promotion from International Illusion Company. In exchange, this matter consumed much of his energy, preventing him from engaging in full-fledged duels, and his final ranking hovered around 500th.

Grandpa Sugoroku does enjoy dueling monsters, and he's quite skilled at it. However, he's getting old, and his stamina isn't what it used to be. His ranking of 400 is still pretty good.

Keiping's ranking was quite surprising. He actually had a pretty good talent in Duel Monsters, ranking exactly 100th. For a child who was just starting out with Duel Monsters, he was already very strong, which made Anzu and Honda feel a little ashamed.

In addition, what Hayato didn't expect was that Malik, whose strength was actually quite good, didn't make the cut and remained in 65th place.

"After my sister found out that I came along and even participated in the competition, she specifically called to tell me to take care of my health." Sitting next to Hayato, Malik looked helpless. "Although I know it's out of concern for me, it's just so annoying, brother-in-law."

"Come on, stop calling me that. It's not even close to happening yet." Hayato patted Malik on the shoulder. "So you've been deliberately controlling the score from the very beginning?"

"Yeah. In your words, brother-in-law, this is the job of a 'goalkeeper' for the shortlist, right? You have to get past me to make it, it feels so awesome."

As he spoke, Malik revealed a sly smile. It was at this moment that Malik, dressed in anime-style anime clothing, still showed signs of being the former leader of the criminal organization "Grus".

It wasn't Hayato who led him astray. According to Isis, Malik had always liked trendy things since he was a child. He was punished for breaking the rules of the Gravekeepers because he wanted to buy a motorcycle and become a racer.

Since the emergence of Dark Malik as a second personality due to punishment, and the public patricide, Malik was blinded by hatred for a considerable period, suppressing his true nature for many years. Now, the truth has come to light, the issue of the Dark personality has been resolved, and Malik can finally be himself again.

Although the Gluth had been disbanded by Malik, the Gluth's assets were quite difficult to deal with because a large part of their wealth came from murder and robbery. You can't exactly dig up graves to return the money, can you? Therefore, after donating a large portion of their assets, Malik, with Hayato's tacit approval, kept the remaining assets as pocket money.

With so much money, Malik, who no longer needed to be frugal for the sake of the organization's development, spent it like water. He bought several motorcycles he had longed for and also became obsessed with anime through itasha culture.

"Speak up, stop grinning like an idiot." Hayato pouted, turned his head, and looked back at the huge venue in front of them.

They were currently at the first Haima Park in the United States, which was also the "flagship" of the Haima Group. Specifically, it was the Haima Dome, a giant Haima Park specifically designed to host public Duel Monster tournaments.

—It's obvious who named it, so it's also clear why the design here is a roaring blue-eyed white dragon.

The Hippocampus Arena can accommodate a full 10,000 spectators at once. The wealthy Hippocampus resolutely refused to sell tickets at high prices and instead put all the tickets into a prize pool, so that whichever seat you get depends entirely on luck.

To paraphrase Kaiba, "A duelist who is fully committed to Duel Monsters can even create his own cards. Someone who doesn't even understand this deserves to be left out of the game if he wants to watch the match."

Although Kaiba looked quite dashing when he said those words, with his rugged face, arrogant expression, and trench coat swaying in the wind, Hayato couldn't help but laugh when he recalled the incredibly sour look on Kaiba's face after he demonstrated drawing a seat and ended up with a ticket for the last row, a corner seat.

The end result was that Haima, the dog with the management privileges, opened a backdoor for itself and treated the backup lounge in the backend as its own VIP seat.

In contrast, Hayato, Jonouchi, Yugi, Keipi, Sugoroku, Kyoko, Honda, Otogi, Malik, Mai, Rebecca, and Professor Arthur—a total of twelve people—were all seated together. Such a probability is simply a miracle among miracles.

The greatest contributor was within the castle where the death stare of the Peacock Dance threatened the God of Draw.

After learning about this, the seahorse's face turned even uglier.

A total of 64 contestants were shortlisted, divided into four groups of 16 each: A, B, C, and D. To maintain balance, the selection of participants for each group was "completely random"—this is what Kaiba said in front of everyone. However, Hayato, who personally experienced the behind-the-scenes manipulation on the second day of the auditions, did not believe him.

Kaiba was placed in Group A, Yugi in Group B, Jonouchi and Mai in Group C, and Hayato in Group D. According to the more detailed duel order, Hayato's duel would not be until at least two hours later.

But it just so happens that Hayato had been stomping too many weaker opponents the past few days and was feeling quite tired, so he was happy to stay in the audience and watch the duel between the two sides in the arena.

And just now, Hayato knew both of the duelists who met on the dueling stage. They knew each other, and their connection was quite deep.

"How could that be? I clearly didn't see you during the preliminary rounds." Taking the opponent's deck from the referee, Jonouchi quickly shuffled it a few times and handed it back, looking at his old acquaintance across from him with some curiosity.

The short boy tugged at his hat, returned Jonouchi's deck to the referee, and took his own deck, inserting it into the duel disk: "Idiot Jonouchi, since I've maintained a perfect record and been guarding the stage the whole time, of course you couldn't have seen me before!"

He's not tall but he's proud and arrogant. Who else could it be but Ryuzaki?

"Seriously, why did I have to face you? This is my first duel in public in a long time." Glancing at the cameras surrounding the dueling platform, Ryuzaki nervously tugged at his collar, trying to make himself look neater and more presentable. "I was planning to find an investor after I regained some fame."

"Huh? Who understands those things?"

Jonouchi nonchalantly curled his lip, completely unconcerned about the surrounding cameras. Looking at the slightly nervous Ryuzaki, he smiled and said, "Ryuzaki, you're not afraid of losing to me, are you? Hehe, that's not like you."

Hearing this, Ryuzaki glared back: "Who would be afraid of losing to you, you mere Jonouchi!"

As he spoke, Ryuzaki crossed his arms and said, "Don't get me wrong, Jonouchi. What I'm worried about is that a duel with you won't really show my strength, especially since you're just relying on luck to defeat a monster that's been enhanced by dice. It would make me look bad."

"Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean I just got lucky?"

As Jonouchi spoke, he proudly pointed to himself with his thumb: "Remember this, Ryuzaki, the one in front of you is the legendary duelist, the strongest Black Dragon Master, the quarterfinalist of the Domino City Regional Tournament, the semifinalist of Duel City, the semifinalist of Duel Kingdom, the one who almost turned the tables and defeated that bastard Kaiba, Jonouchi Squalo Katsuya!"

"Your name is so long and awful, where did you even get a middle name? And you have so many weird nicknames, you obviously made them up yourself!"

A professional referee, a tool of his family, a man who goes wherever he is needed, a man in sunglasses and black with no emotions—Isono raised his hand, glanced at his watch to calculate the time, and then decisively interrupted the chatter between Jonouchi and Ryuzaki, two old acquaintances.

After all, this isn't a coffee shop, but the venue for the KC Cup, where many more duels are scheduled.

"Both players have exchanged decks and are ready to begin the duel!"

Upon hearing Iso's voice coming from the loudspeaker, Jonouchi and Ryuzaki promptly stopped chatting and took their positions. They weren't in a hurry to determine a winner, but although, like Akemi, they weren't good at reading the room, Jonouchi knew that the audience wasn't there to watch them chat and undermine each other on stage; it wasn't a stand-up comedy routine.

Standing in his place, Jonouchi lowered his eyes and took a deep breath. When he raised his head again and looked at Ryuzaki, who was still somewhat nervous, he gave him a sincere smile and thanked him, saying, "Thank you, Ryuzaki."

"Huh? Thank you to whom? Me?"

Ryuzaki was confused by Jonouchi's ambiguous thanks and asked in bewilderment.

“Back in Duel Kingdom, I was indeed as you said, a complete novice in both deck and mentality. My dueling skills were simply not up to par for Duel Kingdom,” Jonouchi said, glancing down at his deck. “Unconsciously, so much time has passed.”

"Thanks to the existence of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it helped me defeat many enemies. For this, I must express my gratitude to you, Ryuzaki."

Hearing Jonouchi's words, Ryuzaki said somewhat unhappily, "You bastard, are you mocking me? You're mocking me, aren't you!"

"Damn it, don't talk like I willingly gave you the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]. You've become annoying too!"

I'm going to teach you a lesson!

Hearing Ryuzaki's fierce words, Jonouchi couldn't help but reveal a confident smile: "Hmph, I've grown a lot, Ryuzaki. Defeating me won't be so easy. Let me and [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] defeat you together!"

"Stop harping on about the same thing! Besides, I'm a completely different person now!"

Influenced by Jonouchi, Ryuzaki became excited. In the midst of his loud commotion, he unconsciously forgot his earlier unease and felt as if he had returned to two years ago when he had just become the runner-up in the Japanese National Duel Monster Tournament, so full of vigor.

'This is the Ryuzaki I know,' Jonouchi thought to himself. Their eyes met in mid-air, and they both shouted in unison:

"Duel!" x2

[Within the city: 4000LP]

[Ryuzaki: 4000LP]

"I'll take the first strike without hesitation, Jonouchi!" After entering duel mode and calming down for a moment, Ryuzaki belatedly realized that Jonouchi's words were actually guiding him to let go of his restraint and tension.

However, Ryuzaki is not the kind of person who would constantly express gratitude for others' kindness. He appreciated Jonouchi's kindness, and the tough guy Ryuzaki chose to repay Jonouchi with a duel of all his might!

"My turn, draw a card!"

"I activate the effect of [Swift-footed Raptor] in my hand!" After drawing a card, Ryuzaki plays one of his cards and places it on the Duel Disk. "This card can be Special Summoned directly from my hand. Then, when [Swift-footed Raptor] is Special Summoned using its first effect, Jonouchi can Special Summon one monster from his Graveyard."

On Ryuzaki's field, the agile Velociraptor charged and leaped into the field, making quite a commotion, but received no response from any of the other monsters.

[Swift Velociraptor] [3 stars/land]

[Dinosaur Tribe/Effect]

[1400/400]

"Hey, there aren't any monsters in my graveyard at all! How cunning of you, Ryuzaki!" Jonouchi complained, glancing at his empty graveyard.

This made Ryuzaki a little smug: "Hmph, a true duelist can even avoid or take advantage of negative effects. You're still far from that level, Jonouchi."

“The summoning of [Swift-footed Velociraptor] was a Special Summon; I haven’t performed a Normal Summon yet!” As he spoke, Ryuzaki drew another card. “With the effect of the Spell Card [Reduce Cost], I discard one card and then lower the Level of the monsters in my hand by 2 stars.”

"Then, I will offer the [Swift-Footed Velociraptor] as a sacrifice for a superior summon. Come forth, [Hyperconductive Terror]!"

On the calm dueling stage, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted. Ryuzaki's Velociraptor was baring its fangs and claws when suddenly a gigantic maw emerged from its side, accompanied by overflowing lightning, and swallowed the Velociraptor whole in an instant. The behemoth barely chewed before swallowing the Velociraptor whole.

[Superconductive Terror Beast] [8☆/Light]

[Dinosaur Tribe/Effect]

[3300/1400]

"Hahaha, how about it, Jonouchi? You've seen how powerful my dinosaur monster is!"

Ryuzaki was quite pleased with himself for summoning the Super Terrorbeast, whose attack power surpassed that of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, in a single turn. He hadn't expected his luck to be so good and his deck to develop so smoothly. "I've told you, I'm not what I used to be. Don't judge my evolved deck with your old eyes!"

"Dinosaur decks are really strong! I'll set two cards face down, turn over!"

[Ryuzaki: 4000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Superconductive Terror Beast】【ATK3300】

[GaiK] X2

As Ryuzaki finished his round, Hayato heard the other spectators around him begin to murmur:

"That guy, his name is Ryuzaki, right? His nickname is 'Dinosaur' Ryuzaki?"

"I remember he used to be the runner-up in the Japanese national championships, right?"

"I thought he was a closed-minded guy before, but he was able to summon such a powerful monster in the first round. I didn't expect him to have some strength."

"We could consider adding it to the sponsorship list. I'm really looking forward to the outcome of this duel."

Malik asked Hayato with great interest, "Brother-in-law, who do you think has a better chance of winning? I remember that Ryuzaki lost to Jonouchi Katsuya, that ordinary guy, back in Duel Kingdom, right?"

Hayato nodded: "Although I wasn't there at the time, what I do know is that Ryuzaki was about to win when Jonouchi got lucky and turned the tables on him."

"From what you're saying, brother-in-law, you also think that Jonouchi Katsumi can defeat Ryuzaki, right? What a pity, I was thinking of betting with you on who would win."

Hayato leaned back in his chair with interest and smiled. "The final thing isn't just the result, Malik. The process is just as important."

"I believe Jonouchi will win, and I also believe Ryuzaki's statement that he has grown during this time. That's why I'm really looking forward to what kind of duel will break out between the two of them."