Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Damn it, my Harpy!" Mai said through gritted teeth, "But because of the battle, your Goblin Assault Force will be reduced to a bunch of useless scrubs!"

"You actually recognize this card?" Hayato wasn't too surprised. [Goblin Assault Force] wasn't a super rare card; compared to cards like [Dark Magician] and [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], it was quite common. Pegasus even had a cartoon version of it, so it wasn't surprising that Mai knew the card's effect.

Although the Goblin Assault Force, as a 4-star monster, boasts an exceptional 2300 attack power, this ragtag group can only use it once. Having just finished a battle and taken down a Harpy, these goblins are already celebrating with a feast, completely oblivious to the murderous glares of the other two Harpies nearby.

"Set one card down, and my turn ends."

[Hayato: 900LP, 0 cards in hand]

[Goblin Assault Force] [DEF0]

【GaiKa】

Chapter 89 You can still pull out a field and kill me instantly?

"My turn! I'll finish you off this turn!" Mai reached for her deck, about to draw a card. She left her perfume scent on all her cards, and even before adding them to her hand, she could smell that the next card would be [Whirlwind].

Once that card is drawn, Hayato's face-down card in the backfield becomes useless. In Mai's eyes, his field is as naked as a naked body, completely defenseless.

“During your preparation phase, I’m going to activate my face-down card.” Hayato interrupted Mai’s actions and flipped over the card he had previously set down. “【Nightmare Mirage】 During your preparation phase, I can draw cards until I have 4 cards in my hand. However, as a price, I need to discard the number of cards I draw during my preparation phase.”

Amidst the extremely displeased looks of Mai and Mista, Hayato drew four cards from the top of his deck.

[Hayato: Hand card 0→4]

"What's the point of replenishing your hand if you can't play a card?" Mai Kongjaku said somewhat irritably, drawing the [Whirlwind] card she already knew about. Activating this card now was pointless and only helped Hayato. However, since Hayato's back row monsters weren't meant for survival, she was guaranteed to win!

"My Ladies, launch a full-scale attack! Harpy #2, destroy that Goblin Assault Force, followed by a direct attack from the Harpies!"

The carefree goblins were completely unprepared for the attack, just like in the card "Counterattack Preparation," with several "Goblin Assault Troops" even still in their pajamas. They were easily annihilated by the "Harpie's" attack, but because they were in defense position, Hayato escaped unharmed.

As the Harpy with an attack power of 1500 swooped down towards Hayato's location, Mai said smugly, "This time, no troublesome monsters will appear to protect you!"

"That's not necessarily true. Come forth, my honor, my Tamashi!" Hayato played the card he had just drawn. "Activate the effect of [Rainbow Kuriboh] in my hand. It can jump out and save my life when I'm about to be finished!"

"Curry!"

Using the seven-colored light bands, Rainbow Kuriboh completely subdued the Harpy, stepping onto it. The Harpy angrily tried to tear the tiny creature on its head to shreds, but was unable to do so because its opponent was covered in political correctness.

"Damn it, it's that tactic again!" Mai was furious. This wasn't the first time Hayato had used this seemingly weak weapon to block her attacks. She was so close to victory, yet she could never quite reach the reality of "victory."

My turn is over!

With the [Whirlwind] spell in hand, the Peacock Dancer ended her turn.

[Peacock Dance: 2700LP, 0 cards in hand]

Harpy 2 (Electronic Bodysuit) [ATK2000]

Harpy (Rainbow Kuriboh) [ATK1500]

【GaiKa】

“During my turn’s preparation phase, I will activate this card from my hand.” Hayato played a card from his hand. “While [Nightmare Mirage] can quickly replenish my hand, powerful cards always have side effects. But I like to get things for free, so I’ll use the effect of [Extraordinary Food] to eat [Nightmare Mirage] and heal myself.”

Ahead of Sugoroku Muto, Hayato pulled off the classic combo of [Nightmare Mirage] and [Extraordinary Food], displaying a style reminiscent of the future Jellyfish Head who would popularize this combo. It's worth noting that [Nightmare Mirage] in this combo wasn't obtained by Hayato from the system, but rather from a certain pig-headed character who lost a duel to him.

(Goro the Pighead: Give me your full name!)

[Hayato: 900LP → 1900LP]

"Then, it's my turn, draw a card!"

Hayato glanced at the card he had drawn and played it: "Now that my Life Points have been restored, I'll generously use some. Paying 1000 Life Points to activate, [Disruptive Mandala]!"

[Hayato: 1900LP → 900LP]

Hayato just spent the Life Points restored by [Extraordinary Food] again. Three beams of light flew out from the graveyard and landed on Hayato's field.

"Clang, clang, clang!" "The three of us brothers are back again!"

【Disruption·Yellow】【ATK0】

【Disruption·Green】【ATK0】

【Disruption·Black】【ATK0】

"And then this card, [Ascension]!" Following the return of the three [Disruption] brothers, Hayato played his second card, "The power gained through Equip Spells is ultimately a double-edged sword. Bear the bitter fruit of your own actions, Illusion Collapse!"

In an instant, both the [Electronic Bodysuit] activated by Mai the Peacock herself and the [Rainbow Kuriboh] equipped on the [Harpie] simultaneously self-destructed. The explosion destroyed both monsters, and in a flash, Mai the Peacock's field was completely empty except for the [Whirlwind] and [Harpie's Hunting Ground] in the back row.

"You wiped out all my monsters in an instant!" Mai was stunned by the explosive art of the moment, but she quickly recovered and said, "But the [Disruption] monsters on your field are just weaklings, their mere 0 attack power poses no threat at all."

"Could it be that you can pull out another [Disruptive Land] card and reverse their attack and defense stats to instantly kill me?"

In reality, Mai isn't afraid of Hayato conjuring another "Disruptive Land" card, as her "Whirlwind" card in the back row can be activated at any time.

"Indeed, I only have one [Disruptive Land], but who says that [Disruptive] monsters can't kill people without a Field spell?"

Hayato smiled and played his last card.

"The spell card [Millennium Power] increases the original ATK and DEF of all Level 2 Normal Monsters on my field by 1000, and then destroys all Level 2 monsters on my field during the End Phase."

"And the [Disruption] monsters are all 2-star normal monsters!"

On Hayato's field, the card "Millennium Power" appeared behind the three "Disruption" monsters, as if endless power was gushing out from their bodies.

"Wow! This power! I'm going all out!"

"I am now invincible!"

"Now I'll be unstoppable!"

[Disruption] The three brothers [ATK0→1000]

"The time for battle has come. Save your narcissistic talk for after you win the duel, you cowards!" Hayato waved his hand forward. "Let's deliver a full-force blow from the cowards to the duelist opposite us!"

"Disruptive Flying Kick!"

The three [Disruption] monsters struck a strange pose, as if they had no soul because there was no moon, before leaping into the air and launching flying kicks at the opposite Peacock Mai's dueling platform. Three direct attacks of 1000 attack power each instantly depleted her life points.

[Peacock Dance: 2700LP→1700LP→700LP→0]

The man in black, who had been hiding in the woods observing, stepped out at the opportune moment and announced in a loud voice: "I declare that the victor of this duel is Mr. Hayato Kobayashi!"

Chapter 90 If you feel lost, just clap your hands.

Seeing that Mai's HP had indeed reached zero, Hayato breathed a sigh of relief.

Of all the duels he had ever experienced, this one was the most tense, and he nearly lost several times. Before this, neither his duels with Yugi nor with anyone else, not even with Haga or Bakura, had been as thrilling as this one.

Although she has never won a ranking in an official competition, Mai's strength does not need such a ranking to prove it. Even without a competition, Hayato can tell who is stronger between Hagi and Mai.

"I won! What an interesting duel!" Hayato smiled as he put away the cards on the duel platform after his victory. The system's results popped up at the same time. He had earned 500 DP from this duel, and had also been very lucky to get a card—the [Special Hurricane] that Mai had used in a previous duel.

While there aren't many ways to Special Summon in the current era, unlike the later GX, 5Ds, and Zexal, this doesn't diminish the power of the card [Special Hurricane]. In particular, it's a field-wide destruction card, similar to [Black Hole] and [Torrent Tribute], meaning it can not only destroy your opponent's monsters but also detonate your own.

Seeing that he had finally reached a balance of 11000 DP, Hayato accepted a mission that the system had issued long ago before stepping off the dueling platform. He hadn't been very confident in completing that mission before, but now that he had accumulated so many DP points, if he used them all to buy cards, Hayato was quite confident in completing the mission.

Stepping off the dueling platform, Hayato was not greeted by Bakura, who had been watching from the sidelines, but by the man in black who had previously judged the duel. This employee of the International Illusion Society approached Hayato respectfully, holding a new pair of gloves, and said, "Mr. Hayato, congratulations on collecting ten star tokens. This is your new Duelist Gloves."

Hayato didn't take it immediately, but asked with interest, "Oh, how did you know I planned to continue the duel? Look, I've already collected ten star tokens, which qualifies me to enter Pegasus's castle, doesn't it?"

"Lord Pegasus asked me to give this to you. Lord Pegasus said that there is no doubt that you can qualify for the top eight, but after winning enough star chips, you will definitely not waste the opportunity to duel with other duelists."

"Although I really want to embarrass Pegasus, I have to admit he was right." Hayato took the new glove and retrieved his old star chips from the old one. "Can't we just embed them like this?"

Hayato embedded the original seven star chips into his gloves one by one. As he took off the old gloves and was about to put on the new ones, a hand reached out from the side, with three star chips and a green magic card on its open palm.

Hayato turned his head and saw Mai Kujaku looking resentful. Hayato gave her a kind smile and accepted the star chips and cards. He didn't say anything to thank her; these were the stakes he had won, they were rightfully his. To say thank you would be to look down on Mai Kujaku.

"That was quite a duel, wasn't it? Also, I'll make good use of this card you gave me." Hayato waved the [Harpie's Feather Duster] in his hand and added it to his deck. Although Hayato had quite a few random spell and trap cards, he didn't have many that could be used to clear the field, so the Peacock Dance card came at just the right time.

"It's a bet, a bet." Seeing Hayato accept her chips and the [Harpie's Feather Duster] she had lost as a wager, Mai sighed and looked down at her dueling gloves. There were eleven inlaid there before, but now only eight remained, not even enough for a complete circle.

"Don't be discouraged, Mai. I believe you can collect ten more next time." Hayato looked at the duel gloves that were now complete, his obsessive-compulsive tendencies greatly satisfied. "After all, it's only been a few hours since the start of the competition, and there's still more than a day to go."

"I'm just a little annoyed that I lost to such a disgusting monster." Mai glared at Hayato. If she had been defeated by a majestic monster like Gaia or the Cursed Dragon, Mai wouldn't be as annoyed as she is now.

Anyone who has been attacked at close range by the disgusting "Disruption" monster with its buttocks and short legs covered in snot and tears would find it hard to stay in a good mood.

"How dare you call us disgusting!" "You hateful woman!" The five members of the newly joined Red and Blue [Disruption] group shouted from Hayato's shoulder.

Feigning nonchalance, Hayato brushed the dust off his shoulders and swept away the five members of the "Disruption" group buzzing in his ears. He shrugged helplessly: "Those guys are noisy and disgusting, but there's nothing I can do about it. They are indeed somewhat useful. If it weren't for the 'Disruption' monster, I probably wouldn't have been able to beat you, Mai-san."

"Can I take this as a sarcastic remark?" Mai was in a bad mood and found everything disagreeable, especially Hayato, who had beaten her and still maintained a composed demeanor.

"Don't misunderstand, I just wanted to continue with a question." Hayato waved his hand, then said seriously, "Miss Mai, now we can talk about what your initial reason was for challenging me to a duel, right? Or, let me put it another way..."

What exactly is Duel Monster in your eyes?

Peacock Dance paused slightly, about to reply that it was "a tool to wealth and glory" and "a means to earn money." But for some reason, she didn't want to say it that way. Subconsciously, she looked at the card deck in her hand.

After the duel, when she was organizing her cards, she didn't put the Harpies at the front of the deck. Instead, the Harpie Girl, who had been sent to the graveyard by the Eagle Attack in the previous duel, was placed at the front.

Looking at the frail girl on the card, Mai murmured, "I...I don't quite know..."

Fighting monsters is just a tool. Money is what matters. Greater power is everything.

His desire to duel with powerful duelists like Hayato, Yugi, and Kaiba stemmed entirely from his own lust for money.

She couldn't bring herself to say those words.

Hayato said meaningfully, "If you're feeling lost, I have a little suggestion. When it comes to Duel Monsters, besides the person who invented them, only the strongest person truly understands them, right?"

Chapter 91 The Strange Boy Appears

Mai, guided by Hayato, went to find the game, while Hayato and Bakura followed the man in black, leaving the forest and heading towards the castle.

"Hayato-kun, why are we going to the castle side?" Bakura asked, somewhat puzzled, on the way. "Didn't you say you were planning to compete against other duelists?"

Hayato, with a lollipop dangling from his mouth, said, "So let me ask you, where do you think is the most convenient place to find strong duelists? Where strong fighters appear? Where they rest? Neither."

“The most convenient location to find a powerful duelist is Pegasus Castle, which is the finish line.” Hayato smiled “kindly”. “When they finally collected ten star tokens and traveled a long way to Pegasus Castle, someone suddenly jumped out of the bushes and challenged them to a duel.”

"Don't you think it's super funny?"

"I just feel that Hayato-kun has a really weird sense of humor," Bakura said with a wry smile.

Just as Hayato was planning how to quickly duel and rack up points, as the group passed by a patch of grass, Hayato caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flashing through the woods out of the corner of his eye.

The man in black didn't pay much attention; after all, all sorts of duelists roamed this island, and some might prefer to hide in the forest. But Hayato seemed quite concerned: "Who's there!?"