Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Hayato suspected that Pegasus, that bastard, had definitely investigated everyone, because the bedding in Jonouchi's room was blue and white striped, which was his favorite color combination. Jonouchi often wore clothes with this color scheme when they went out together on weekends.

Of course, liking blue and white doesn't stop Jonouchi from being annoyed by Kaiba using Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Hayato glanced at the antique clock in the room; it was only 10 a.m., and there was still a long time until tomorrow. Following the principle of "disciplining the child on a rainy day," Hayato wondered if he should call the butler to change the sheets or something.

But as he was thinking, Hayato lay down on the comfortable and soft bed, using his waist to bounce around on the bed, looking quite relaxed.

Just like when he first came to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! and saw the magenta bed in his home.

After resting in bed for a while, Hayato sat up, retrieved all the cards he currently possessed from the system, and piled them up on the bed. He picked up one of them and examined it closely.

Although it's unclear what Pegasus did, the Gaia card spirit has disappeared from the Dark Knight Gaia card in Hayato's hand. Perhaps it was sealed away, or perhaps it was stripped away by the power of the Millennium Eye; in any case, Hayato must consider which card he should use next.

Looking at the large amount of DP points he had accumulated over a long period of time, Hayato gritted his teeth, opened the [Shop] module, and confirmed the purchase of a certain item.

Chapter 107 All Eight Finalists Arrive

As the old saying goes, if you can't beat someone, join them. Looking at the extra deck in his hand, Kobayashi Durant Hayato once again marveled at the system's ability to create things out of thin air.

However, although he redeemed a new set of cards, Hayato did not include it in the deck he would use in tomorrow's match. This was a surprise he had prepared for Pegasus, and because the deck's races were relatively homogeneous, it would be easy to counter once exposed.

"Although it might feel a bit awkward to use without [Disruption] as a buffer between the two sets, I've filled my deck with filter cards, so it shouldn't clog my hand, right?" After tidying up and putting away his deck, Hayato heard someone knocking on his door and went out.

———The Disruptive Monsters Still on Guiping———

It was evening, in the banquet hall of the castle.

"That guy Pegasus, though he's a jerk, actually prepared a lavish meal for us." Having learned the correct way to use a knife and fork from Honda, Jonouchi awkwardly cut into the foie gras placed in front of him. He cut off a piece and put it in his mouth, savoring it carefully.

"It's so greasy. Is this foie gras?" He glanced at the foie gras on the plate in front of him. "It's just a mouthful of oil. I think steak is better."

Hayato picked up a piece of pasta with his fork and was about to put it in his mouth: "The fat content of foie gras is about 40% to 60%, which is roughly equivalent to the frosting on a cake. Strictly speaking, eating foie gras is really just about eating oil."

"Most of it is oil? Tsk, that's just fatty liver." Jonouchi pushed away the foie gras in front of him with some disgust and looked at the others. Since the meal provided by Pegasus did not include Jonouchi's favorite curry, he ended up taking a cream of mushroom soup and a croissant to eat.

"You lot are really having a leisurely time," a female voice called out. People in the city looked up and saw Kong Quewu.

"Don't you care at all about tomorrow's match? You don't even know who your opponents are, yet you're eating so easily." Mai said, looking at the several empty plates in front of Jonouchi.

Hayato wiped the cheese powder from his mouth with a handkerchief: "If you're hungry, you can't even concentrate on a duel. Besides, we haven't even finished the top eight yet."

Bekas installed a huge screen in the hall, displaying in real time how many people had qualified for the quarterfinals. Currently, seven profile picture frames are lit up on the screen, but seemingly to create an air of mystery, the identity of each person in the frame is not yet revealed.

"Thief" Keith, Mai, Jonouchi, Yugi, and Hayato—five of the eight contestants are currently known to have made it to the final eight. This means that besides these five, two more people have qualified for the final eight today. However, Hayato and the others haven't met those two yet.

Although Pegasus said that the time limit for qualifying for the quarterfinals is 48 hours, from 9:00 AM on the day the competition begins to 9:00 AM on the third day, which is tomorrow morning, Hayato learned from the butler that the castle gates will be completely closed after 8:00 PM tonight, and no new players will be accepted into the quarterfinals.

"The Duel Kingdom Tournament aims to select the strongest duelists. If it takes so long to even qualify, then such duelists are not qualified to become the strongest." This seems to be Pegasus's original statement, of course, after removing his strange English slur.

Peacock Dance, however, shook her finger with a hint of smugness and said, "That's not necessarily true. Just because you don't know who the opponents are doesn't mean I haven't gathered information on the other contestants~"

Her words immediately drew the attention of not only Hayato and Jonouchi, but also Yugi. But just as they thought she was about to say something, Mai sat down and started eating a taco roll.

This made Jonouchi anxious: "Don't just tell me half of what you mean! Do you really know who the other two people are?"

"If you don't believe me, then forget it. I even came all this way to share information with you."

"I believe you, of course I believe you, Wu!"

Seeing Jonouchi sitting next to her with a fawning expression, Mai couldn't help but feel a little smug. She slowly took a sip of the red wine next to her before saying, "Of the other two quarterfinalists, one comes from that very famous Duel Dojo in the Duel Monsters world, and he's a sure thing to become a future instructor."

"Duel Dojo?" Yugi paused slightly upon hearing the name, then asked uncertainly, "Miss Mai, you're not talking about that 'Cyber ​​Stream' dojo, are you?"

"Electron Flow?!?" Hayato exclaimed in shock. "That electron flow that uses the 'Cyber ​​Dragon'?!"

"Oh? Hayato, you actually know about the Cyber ​​Flow Dojo too?" Mai looked at Hayato and Yugi with some surprise. "Honestly, I thought only professional duelists knew about the Cyber ​​Flow Dojo and was thinking of showing off in front of you guys, but it turns out you both know about it."

'I know that all too well. Electron Flow is something etched into the DNA of countless card players. It can even make people abandon all mainstream options and join the invincible Sebastián.' Hayato thought to himself.

When it comes to the representative of "electronic flow", there is none other than Ryo Marufuji, a super popular character who appeared in the second Yu-Gi-Oh! work, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, which inherited the world view of Yu-Gi-Oh! DM. His card-playing skills of winning the deck with one hand are extremely popular. Moreover, compared with a bunch of bad teammates, he can be called a rare god teammate of the protagonist Jaden Yuki.

But that was many years later. Hayato was more concerned about the present: "How strong is that guy from the Electro Flow Dojo?"

“It’s not a question of strength or weakness. After all, I was just there to gather intelligence. No one would willingly reveal their deck.” Kongque Wu said, then thought for a moment. “That guy said that he actually collected all the Star Chips yesterday, but something went wrong on the way, which is why he didn’t arrive at the castle immediately.”

"However, another top-eight contestant has dueled with him." After a pause, Mai Kongque noticed that "Thief" Keith, who was walking with an arrogant gait, had also entered the banquet hall not far away. She lowered her voice and said, "That guy from the Cyber ​​Stream Dojo is very good at increasing the attack power of monsters, and he can often perform OTK (One-Turn Kill) maneuvers."

"OTK?" Jonouchi seemed a little confused. "What is OTK?"

"The so-called OTK means 'One Turn Kill,' which refers to defeating the opponent in one turn, such as emptying the opponent's deck in one turn or dealing 4000 damage in one turn."

“Oh, I see.” Jonouchi nodded knowingly, but he immediately sensed something was wrong. He turned his head sharply and saw a strange smiling face.

"You lot seem quite relaxed. I had a real struggle to get to the castle," a strange man with long blue hair said with a smile. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Lemuria. It's nice to meet you all, fellow quarterfinalists!"

The large screen installed in the banquet hall was also updated in time, with the last avatar frame lighting up to indicate that all eight duelists had arrived.

The performance of Chapter 108 has begun; let's give it a thunderous roar!

At nine o'clock the next morning, Hayato and the others came out of their rooms and went together to the hall where they had eaten dinner the previous night.

After a day of rest, Hayato and the other three were fully refreshed, and they had made some adjustments to their card decks to better adapt to various situations that might arise in duels.

Even within the ancient city of brute force, a card that cannot directly increase attack power, the [Whirlwind], was included in the deck for the first time ever.

Upon entering the hall, Hayato and his companions found that someone was already waiting there.

"Oh, finally someone's here?" The speaker was a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap. After noticing Hayato and his group's arrival, he put down the coffee he was holding, stood up from his seat, and took the initiative to greet them, "Hello, my name is Samejima Iemitsu. People who know me call me Samejima."

"Hello, Mr. Samejima." Hayato shook hands with him quite warmly. "My name is Kobayashi Hayato, you can just call me Hayato."

"Hello, Hayato."

Watching Hayato enthusiastically greet the people he had just met, Jonouchi lowered his voice and said to Honda beside him, "Hey, what do you think?"

"I think there's something strange about them." Honda paused. "Hayato isn't exactly a very enthusiastic person, is he?"

Inside the hall, besides Samejima, there was also Hayato and his group who had just arrived: "Hmph, so noisy, a bunch of boring guys."

Keith the thief leaned back in his chair, put his feet on another chair, and looked at the lively atmosphere on Hayato's side. He grumbled angrily, "It's so early in the morning, and all I see are you kids chattering away. It's so annoying!"

Hayato and the others didn't say anything, but Samejima said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Mr. Keith, did I disturb you?"

"Humph!"

Samejima had the air of a nice guy. Based on what Jonouchi and the others knew about Keith, he should have been arrogantly mocking Samejima and showing off his status as the All-American champion. But for some reason, upon hearing Samejima's words, the thief Keith just snorted and fell silent.

Samejima Iemitsu, if there are no surprises, it should be that "Samejima," Hayato thought uncertainly, looking at the hair peeking out from under Samejima's hat.

When he heard Mai Kujaku mention that one of the top eight duelists used "Cyber ​​Stream," Hayato's first thought was that he would face Ryo Marufuji, but he quickly dismissed that idea.

Keep in mind that Ryo Marufuji was only 17 years old when the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX story took place in 2012, and now it's only 2000. Even Ryo Marufuji, the prodigy who showed extraordinary dueling abilities from a young age, is only five years old.

Following this line of thought, Hayato recalled the previous generation's Cyber-style duelist, Ryo Marufuji's teacher, and also the principal of the Duel Academy—Principal Samejima. The "Samejima Iemitsu" in front of him looked to be in his early thirties, and in another ten years he would be forty. Although it would be a bit tragic to be bald at forty, it did match the age of that "Principal Samejima."

"Um, Mr. Samejima?"

"Oh, what's wrong, Hayato-kun?" Samejima smiled kindly. Like Mirai, Samejima was a very amiable person, and quite friendly to young duelists; otherwise, Kaiba wouldn't have appointed him as the principal of the Duel Academy.

"That hat you're wearing is too tight. If you wear it too often, you'll easily go bald."

Hayato had barely finished speaking when someone nearby chimed in, "That guy, what does it matter if he's bald?"

Turning his head, Hayato saw a guy walking with an arrogant swagger, almost as arrogant as Keith. Beside that guy was a girl dressed as a maid, carrying an aluminum suitcase.

As he walked towards Hayato, the arrogant guy kept his eyes fixed on Samejima: "Samejima Iemitsu, didn't expect this, did you? I told you, don't think it's over after you defeated me once. Just wait for my revenge."

Hayato turned to look at Mai, who nodded: "I mentioned it yesterday, the eldest son of the Gallamy Corporation, Ptah Gallamy. He lost to that Samejima guy over there once."

"Hmph, that's all in the past!" Clearly, hearing about his less-than-glorious record made Ptah Garlem somewhat embarrassed. He glared at the innocent-looking Peacock Dancer beside him, then walked away without looking back, inwardly regretting his momentary lapse of judgment yesterday, telling that woman named Peacock Dancer about his past.

Yugi silently counted the number of people present: 'Mai, me, Jonouchi-kun, and Hayato-kun, that's four people. Then there's Samejima-san and the thief Keith, plus that Ptah Garlem from before, that makes seven. The last duelist should be—'

"Wow, it's so lively! I didn't know everyone arrived so early." A voice suddenly appeared behind Youxi, startling him. Turning around, he saw the guy who had been so overly friendly with them at dinner last night standing behind Youxi. "I thought I'd be the first one here."

“Lemuria.” Hayato frowned and read out the name the other party had given him last night.

Among the top eight players, Thief Keith is good at gambling cards and machine monsters, and Jonouchi is also good at gambling cards. Yugi, or rather, Yugi's deck emphasizes synergy and cooperation.

The Peacock Dance deck excels at backrow destruction, and even if Samejima's cards aren't the invincible Sebastián, they're most likely machine-type. The only cards with unclear information are Prah Garam and Lemuria in front of us.

Hayato's sixth sense as a duelist kept telling him one thing—that the Lemuria before him was a formidable enemy.

“Oh dear, Mr. Hayato, your gaze is quite intimidating.” Lemuria noticed Hayato’s gaze and said in a mocking tone, “Or are you already eager to fight me? You have quite the burning desire for a duel.”

In the hall, the thieves Keith and Jonouchi, who couldn't stand each other, were bickering. Samejima and Yugi were chatting about their understanding of Duel Monsters. Mai looked at her fingernails with boredom. Ptah accepted his deck from the maid. Hayato was playing a game with Lemuria, where "whoever blinks first loses."

"Ahem." An aged voice rang out, and the castle's steward appeared at the entrance of the hall at some point, reminding everyone of his presence, "All duelists have arrived. Please follow me to the dueling hall, where Lord Pegasus awaits you."

Led by the old butler, the group obediently followed to the spot where Kaiba and Pegasus had dueled the day before. Just as the old butler had said, Pegasus was still wearing his ever-present red suit, already waiting there.

"Welcome! Fellow duelists~ Welcome to My Castle." It was Pegasus who spoke first. "First of all, congratulations to anyone for passing the first round of selection and becoming one of the top eight in the Duel Kingdom, thus qualifying to compete for the title of 'Duel King'."

"However, as everyone has seen, there are seven other contestants blocking your way," Pegasus said with a smile. "Therefore, I hereby declare the selection process for the top eight to begin!"

Chapter 109 Jonouchi vs. Ptah

"The top eight selection, huh?" Jonouchi glanced nervously at the others around him. "I wonder who I'll be up against. I'm so nervous."

“I’d love to run into you sooner, kid. Dealing with you would be too easy; I probably wouldn’t even need to reveal my trump card. In these kinds of selection tournaments, the deeper you keep your cards hidden, the better,” the thief Keith said to Jonouchi.

Jonouchi didn't back down either: "Hmph, shouldn't I be the one saying that? I don't even need to use 1% of my strength to deal with a despicable person like you. I can easily defeat you."

"Oh, Jonouchi-boy and Mr. Keith seem to be quite looking forward to the selection tournament."

Pegasus noticed the thief Keith and Jonouchi exchanging barbs: "I'm quite moved by your passion for dueling. However," he paused, then made a helpless expression, shrugged, and shook his head, "to be fair, the order of your duels will not be decided by 'you yourself,' nor by 'me,' but by 'this!'"

He snapped his fingers, and the old deacon, who had returned to his seat, received the signal and pressed a button on a remote control beside him. Suddenly, a door cracked open in the wall opposite the audience seats in the dueling hall, and a large screen was pushed out from within the wall.

On the big screen were eight lit-up avatar frames, the same style as yesterday. The only difference was that the avatars in the frames were also lit up today, including Hayato, Yugi, and Jonouchi.

The image on the large screen began to change. The eight portraits disappeared one by one, leaving only two blank portrait frames, symmetrically positioned on either side of the screen. The portraits within the frames kept changing, and after a short while, the changes slowly stopped. Finally, the portraits of Jonouchi and Ptah Garlem appeared on the screen.

"I'm the first one to go?" Ptah glanced at Jonouchi beside him, then ignored him, his gaze fixed on Samejima sitting by the game. "Hmph, Samejima Iemitsu, you're lucky you didn't face me. Win this match properly, then wash your neck and wait for me to come and take you down!"

Jonouchi was a little angry: "You're getting too cocky. The only one who will win the duel is me, and I have a reason not to lose."

"As you can see, the two teams competing in the first qualifier are Jonouchi-boy and Ptah-boy~" Bekas raised his hand to clap, but no one joined in, so he stopped after clapping twice. He didn't seem embarrassed at all, still smiling. "Well then, the match starts in ten minutes, so you two should prepare yourselves well~"

Guided by the old deacon, the group arrived at the audience seats they had visited the day before and each chose a suitable place to sit. Meanwhile, Jonouchi and Ptah Garlem followed the old deacon backstage to prepare for the upcoming duel.

“Mr. Samejima, I heard from Miss Mai that Ptah Garlem seems to have dueled with you once,” Yugi, who was sitting next to Hayato, asked Samejima.