Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

【Winner: Hayato Kobayashi】

The flames slowly dissipated as the duel ended, and Hayato, through the smoke simulated by the system, saw Hato lying on the dueling platform, his face charred black, his life points reduced to zero. His system also timely tallied the duel's results:

Congratulations on your victory in a duel!

The score for this duel is: 3000 dp

Comeback Victory: 2500

Use a magic card 3 times: 100 dp

Use trap card 3 times: 100 dp

Unable to resist (an attack declaration deals over 2000 damage): 300 dp

Hayato noticed that with the change in rules, triggering the "Powerless Resistance" rating only required dealing 1000 damage in the 2000 LP era, but now, with 4000 LP, it requires 2000 damage to get the same rating.

Hayato has fought several duels in the past month, so he has already used up his ten newbie bonuses. Therefore, even though he got a full 3000 dp this time, he can't double it again.

Looking at the balance in the upper left corner, which, after adding the duel reward, had finally broken through to a full 10000 dp, Hayato was about to step off the duel platform with satisfaction when he suddenly noticed another notification from the system:

[The Duelist's current environment has been changed. A system patch has been detected (Note: This system upgrade will grant you 1 Spirit Power and 1 Mind Barrier)]

'Mental barrier? What is that?' Hayato asked, somewhat puzzled as he stepped onto the slowly descending platform to return to the ground.

The system explained: "A mind-reading ability user has been detected. The new version of the system will apply a mind-blocking function to prevent their special ability from peering into the duelist's mind."

Hayato glanced at Pegasus on the terrace: 'Since that's the case, then upgrade the system. Oh, more like upgrade the system.'

[Authorization approved. The SaiQ Duelist System is upgrading. Time remaining: 60 seconds]

While Hayato descended to the ground on the elevator to wait for the system upgrade to complete, Pegasus, who had been acting as the referee for this "exhibition match" on the terrace, began his concluding remarks: "Very thank you Hayato boy and Haga boy for the exhibition match you presented. I hereby declare that the winner is Kobayashi Hayato!"

"Although I really wanted to encourage Haga Boy to keep up the good work in the next match, unfortunately he bet all his star chips in his match against Hayato Boy. It's a real shame that Haga Boy became the first eliminated player in Duel Kingdom."

"The staff of the International Illusion Society will send Hana-boy off this island, as will the other duelists who lose all their chips in the upcoming matches. Therefore, defend your right to remain on this island with the glory of the winner, duelists!"

"Go fight! In the next 48 hours, collect enough Star Chips as quickly as possible to gain entry into the castle!"

With that, Pegasus stopped there and walked into the castle, while the two black-clad staff behind him closed the door to the terrace.

Hayato arrived at the dueling ring, but instead of immediately looking for Yugi and the others, he went around to the other side of the ring to find Haga.

Chapter 68 Plucking Feathers from a Passing Goose

Hayato was naturally triumphant after winning the match, while Haga looked dejected and annoyed, regretting why he had gambled all his star chips and why he had staked the future of Duel Monsters.

Two men in black were already waiting below the dueling platform on Yuugo's side, both to prevent Yuugo from escaping and to keep the onlookers from getting close to her. However, since Pegasus had already announced the official start of the "Duel Kingdom," there weren't many duelists left in front of the castle.

After all, this tournament has invited over a hundred duelists, each with two chips, which means there are at least two hundred star chips. Collecting ten chips grants entry into the castle, and ideally, up to 20 people could qualify.

However, Pegasus added a limit of eight people to the number of people allowed to enter the castle, meaning that only the first eight people to collect ten chips could enter. Under such circumstances, duelists naturally wanted to find their opponents, defeat them, and collect their chips as quickly as possible.

Two men in black were dutifully blocking Haga's path as he stepped off the dueling platform, about to subdue him, when one of them felt a tap on the shoulder from behind. The man in black turned around impatiently, saying, "Please don't interfere with our work... Mr. Hayato."

"I won't get in your way. In fact, if I could, I'd even like to throw this guy off this island myself." The one who patted the man in black on the shoulder was naturally Hayato. "However, I'm the victor, so I'm here to collect my spoils. Is that alright?"

“…Of course, no problem, Mr. Hayato.” After a moment’s thought, the two men in black tactfully stepped back to make room for Hayato. One of them hesitated for a moment before adding, “However, please do not use violence again. It will affect the reputation of the International Illusion Society, and it will be difficult for us to do so.”

"Okay, okay." Hayato waved with a smile and walked towards Haga, who was leaning against the dueling platform.

The dust on Yuga's face hadn't been wiped off yet. When she saw Hayato approaching, she became somewhat agitated: "Hayato! You bastard!"

"No matter how loud you yell, it won't change the final result, will it? I won, you lost, you insect bastard." Ignoring the murderous glare of Yuga, Hayato reached out and grabbed Yuga's left hand, pulling off his dueling glove.

“Mr. Hayato…” the man in black behind him warned, seeing how rough Hayato’s actions were.

Hayato, holding his dueling glove, waved his hand and said, "Relax, relax. Think about it, the star chips are all embedded in the dueling glove. I was too lazy to dig them out one by one, so I just pulled them all out. It makes perfect sense, okay?"

As he spoke, Hayato grabbed Hato by the collar and, taking advantage of his height and long arms, lifted him up completely. Ignoring his struggling hands, he reached for the box at Hato's waist where he kept his deck and pulled it out along with the belt from his pants.

“Just like the bet I made with him before, we bet everything about Duel Monsters in the future, so of course I have to take his deck too. Otherwise, what if he goes to play cards somewhere else after leaving Duel Kingdom?” Using a reason that no one but himself could convince, Hayato tossed the bewildered men in black with Haga’s pants that had slipped down, revealing his beetle-patterned underwear, and then strode away with his dueling gloves and Haga’s deck.

System update complete.

Upon hearing the system update notification, Hayato immediately opened the deck of the newly acquired Yumoth and skillfully clicked into the "Recycle" module of the "Shop." He quickly recycled cards like "Swordhorn Beetle" and "Evolution Cocoon," which were useless to him, and surprisingly gained a full 1000 DP in return.

"Hayato!" Hayato, who was happy to have snatched other people's stuff just like Kaze, heard someone calling his name. He turned his head and saw Yugi and the others. With his back to the dueling ring that had been recycled and sunk underground, and listening to the cries of Haga as two men in black carried him away, Hayato went to the group and handed the dueling gloves in his hand to Jonouchi.

"Hayato, what's this?" Jonouchi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"You heard me say that you need Duel Gloves to participate in the Duel Kingdom tournament, right? I and Yugi both have some, so I'm giving them to you. They belong to that disgusting guy, Hagiwara, though. I don't know if they'll fit your hand." Hayato said, waving a Star Chip he'd plucked from the glove. "But I can only give you one Star Chip, sorry."

"No, I should be thanking you, Hayato." Although Hayato's attitude was casual, Jonouchi knew how much Hayato's actions would help him, and bowed very solemnly.

Mai stood aside, watching Hayato distribute his spoils to Jonouchi: "I'm touched by your friendship, but is this really the right thing to do? The competition for Star Chips is quite fierce right now."

"Are you saying that my helping Jonouchi will hold me back? But only when our companions support each other can we go further, right?" Hayato replied with a smile. "Besides, what's wrong with giving Jonouchi a star? I don't think I'll lose to anyone else when I'm already a star ahead."

"Do as you please." Mai Kongque glanced deeply at the cheerful group, said nothing more, and turned away to walk towards the steps leading out of the castle. "I'm going to find my hunting target. Farewell, Yugi, Hayato, and Jonouchi."

"Isn't Miss Mai coming with us?" Jonouchi tugged at his slightly tight gloves, looking in the direction where Mai had left.

The game player thought for a moment and said, "It's probably because of the time limit. The faster we collect the star chips, the better. If we act together, the speed of the duel will definitely be affected."

“That makes sense, game. So I’ll be parting ways with you guys from now on.” Hayato said to the group, his gaze occasionally glancing at a certain spot. “You and Jonouchi should stick together. I need to talk to Pegasus about something. Let’s meet again when we’ve collected all ten stars.”

With that, Hayato ignored Jonouchi and Honda's attempts to stop him and ran towards the stairs. Yugi watched Hayato's retreating figure and vaguely saw several yellow and green figures pointing the way ahead of him.

It's probably just my imagination.

Chapter 69 Facing Dark Ash – I'm Talking About the Rabbit-Eared Demon King

As Hayato descended the excessively long steps, even with his decent stamina, he had to sit down and catch his breath. Ignoring the strange looks from the duelists around him, he asked the air beside him, "Yellow, which way?"

"There's still a long way to go, Annie, how about we rest a bit more?"

Floating in the air, invisible to everyone except Hayato, [Disruption Yellow] glanced at [Disruption Green] waving at him from afar, then looked at the blazing sun overhead. He conjured a small fan and fanned Hayato while muttering, "Annie, look how tired you are, you're all sweaty. Why don't you take a break?"

"That rainbow ball is all cuteness and completely useless. Only I feel sorry for Annie~"

Hayato didn't bother to comment on where he learned the phrase "[Disruption·Yellow]" from. Once his breathing had calmed down a bit, he ran off again in the direction Yellow had indicated.

On the other side, along the forest path.

A white-haired boy with a youthful face and an innocent appearance walked alone. While the other duelists around him were engaged in fierce battles, the white-haired boy, who seemed as relaxed as if he were on vacation, was quite an anomaly.

Stopping under the shade of a tree, watching the two duelists locked in fierce combat not far away, the white-haired youth's lips curled slightly: "Oh dear, how strange, why do I always feel like someone is following me?"

A dark shadow leaped down from the treetops above him, landing not far behind him. Gaia was not riding his own warhorse; his lance dragged on the ground as he stared intently at the white-haired youth: "By order of my lord, I am to keep an eye on you."

The boy turned around, his harmless face hidden in the shadows cast by the tree canopy, with only his neck and below exposed to the sunlight: "What a loyal dog."

The gold disc ornament on his chest glittered in the light.

Everything seemed normal, but the fact that the white-haired boy could see Gaia, which was invisible to ordinary people, was itself very abnormal.

Raising his hand towards the invisible card sprite, the white-haired boy revealed a harmless smile: "I just decided that this Duel Kingdom is a bit boring, so why don't I use you to make a doll to pass the time?"

Just as the white-haired boy and the card spirit were about to clash, a voice broke into their standoff: "Instead of attacking my subordinates, why don't I become your opponent, Bakura-kun?"

The white-haired boy turned to look at the speaker, his face displaying a flawless performance of surprise: "Oh, isn't this Hayato-kun? I didn't expect to meet you at the Duel Kingdom tournament. Congratulations on eliminating the strongest player in all of Japan, Haga, and achieving your first victory."

"Just lucky, I was just fortunate." Hayato emerged from the shadows, sweat still clinging to his forehead from his strenuous exercise. He held five Duel Monster cards in his hand; after brushing past Gaia, the card spirit of Dark Knight Gaia had returned to the card.

"As for you, Bakura Ryo, you're usually so unassuming. I never expected you to be a powerful duelist invited by Pegasus. I thought you were like the game, not interested in the empty title of 'King of Duels' at all."

"That's not how it works. I'm human too, with all my emotions and desires. Besides, in addition to the title of 'King of Duels,' Mr. Pegasus has also prepared generous prizes for the winner."

Hayato smiled. "Oh? A prize? So what is it that attracted you here? Is it the wealth symbolized in the duelist's right hand, or the glory symbolized in the left?"

"Or perhaps, what about Pegasus's left eye?"

Bakura's expression froze for a moment, then his eyes sharpened instantly: "As expected, the scent of the [Millennium Artifact] on you wasn't just a figment of my imagination. You really do know something!"

As he spoke, Bakura's hand reached towards the golden disc on his chest, and an invisible force began to ripple and spread around him. The [Disruption Yellow] card hidden in Hayato's hand was the first to notice: "Anee! That white-haired guy is about to make his move!"

"Don't even think about it!" Hayato grabbed the five cards in his hand and threw them forward. Although he didn't use any card-throwing techniques, each of the five cards drew a flight path and struck the golden disc in front of Bakura's chest. But just as they were about to hit, the power around Bakura spread out, and the five cards only blocked for a moment before scattering to the ground.

Having already experienced a battle against Pegasus's [Millennium Eye], Hayato knew that his and his card spirits' power was still insufficient. However, he dared to approach Bakura because he had his own trump card: "System, deploy the barrier!"

[Understood. The dueling arena has begun; automatically adapt to the rules of the Dark Game.]

[Unknown power detected, resisting, 500 DP deducted]

Almost the instant Bakura's power erupted, an invisible force also spread from Hayato's body. As Hayato's 10000 DP points decreased by 500, Hayato's power took the lead over Bakura's power, encompassing the surrounding space.

"Dark Game!? You bastard, do you also have a Millennium Item?" Bakura, whose demeanor was completely different from before, looked tense. As the barrier formed, he could sense Hayato's scent more and more clearly. In addition to the scent of the Millennium Eye, he could even detect a very faint scent of the Millennium Key.

"Who knows? It could be the 'Millennium Eye,' or it could be the 'Millennium Block.' Oh, or maybe it's the 'Millennium Wisdom Wheel.'"

Seeing Bakura's sudden change in expression, Hayato wasn't quite sure why he was reacting this way, but that didn't stop him from making some witty remarks: "If you want to know the answer, then beat me in this dark game that's a game of life and death, Bakura who's not like Bakura at all."

Hayato was perfectly aware of who the soul that had taken over Bakura's body was at that moment: the Great Evil God Zorc, who appeared in the first episode and continued until the last, who had only won one duel in the entire anime, was one of the few final bosses who didn't have a dueling mind and would use means other than dueling to achieve his goals.

However, this information is a bit too advanced, so it's best not to reveal that I know this.

"A Duel Monsters game? Hmph, what a hassle." Bakura reluctantly took out his deck, looking at the strange device that had appeared out of thin air in front of him. "What is this thing?"

Hayato slipped the blade-like gadget onto his wrist and placed it in his deck, revealing a fiercely competitive smile: "It's just an interesting thing I concocted using a temporarily created domain. You can call it a Duel Disk; this thing is much more useful than a Duel Arena."

"Come and fight, Bakura! Let's wager our souls and enjoy this dark game to the fullest!"

Chapter 70 The Dark Game

As Hayato followed the guidance of the pre-sent card spirits and chased after Bakura, whom he had noticed in the crowd during the duel arena, he checked the updated system.

System patch installation complete, Spirit Power delivered, Mind Barrier installed.

[Duelist's current environment detected. DP acquisition rules have been modified. Welcome to continue using this system.]

The "Dark Game" module is now available. Each activation requires 500 dp. Please explore the details yourself.

Hayato first accepted the "spirit power." Although he didn't experience any strange phenomena like "black mud suddenly emerging from his pores," his mind became much clearer. The Rainbow Kuribohs also said that his body had become much stronger and he even had the ability to materialize.

The existence of card spirits can be roughly divided into three stages: the first stage, they can only be seen and communicated with by specific groups of people, but cannot interact with ordinary things in the outside world; the second stage, they have simple materialization abilities, and can still only be seen by specific groups of people, but they also have the ability to interact with the outside world; the third stage, they can be fully materialized in the human world and use their true powers on their own.

Previously, Hayato's card spirits were all in the first stage, but after receiving the system patch reward, Gaia and Rainbow Kuriboh both advanced to the second stage, gaining the ability to influence reality. While the Disruptor brothers remained in the first stage, they were much freer than before, even able to leave their card habitats at great distances. This is how Hayato got them to track Bakura.

Hayato couldn't test the "Mental Barrier" on his own. The newly opened "Dark Game" feature required Hayato to spend his already limited DP points, and being stingy, he was unwilling to experiment with them. So all he could look at was the modified DP acquisition rules.

But after watching for only a few seconds, he felt like cursing.