Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

However, in reality, the premise of "role-playing game" must be "on a tabletop". The difference between the two is as big as the difference between "Lightsworn" and "Hellfire". Although both involve building graveyards, the ideas are completely different.

"Role-playing" means that you have to face and think about problems from the perspective of that character, but in "tabletop role-playing", you become the controller of many pieces, and you can see everything that happens in the game from multiple perspectives. Even if the piece you mainly control dies, you only need to replace it with another piece.

The so-called "tabletop role-playing," this ultimate dark game, is precisely such a thing. It's just that because of the subjective first impression left by his memories of his past life, Hayato subconsciously forgot this fact.

Although he didn't know exactly what methods Meliamon used to get himself into the perspective of a player in this game, it was thanks to him that Hayato realized he wasn't one of the many "pawns" he had thought he was, but rather the manipulator. In a way, he had to thank him.

Since Hayato has shifted his perspective to outside the game, it means that—

"Tch, as expected of the Duel King, you actually realized the truth behind this game too." A familiar voice rang out. Hayato looked over and saw Bakura, dressed in a sailor's shirt, sitting on a chair by the chessboard, gritting his teeth and saying to him with a displeased expression, "Kobayashi Hayato!"

On the surface, the Bakura before him looks exactly like the evil will within the Millennium Wisdom Wheel that Hayato had just destroyed. However, now that Hayato has remembered the truth about the Dark Game, he knows that the two are not the same. The latter is merely an NPC replicated from the memory world of three thousand years ago, just like the thief Bakura.

The Bakura before them was the one who truly dragged Yami Yugi and Hayato into the Dark Game; he was the one who manipulated Bakura and other pawns to oppose Hayato and Yami Yugi. Moreover, if Hayato remembered correctly, at that time, Bakura was also the embodiment of the evil will left in the Millennium Wisdom Wheel.

Even though it was Tomeriam who realized the truth about the Dark Game, it didn't stop Hayato from putting on a confident expression to intimidate people: "Of course! The game you set up is so boring and rudimentary. It's still 20,000 years away from the world having a game that can completely fool me."

Bakura, unaware of Meliamon's existence, didn't suspect anything and frowned, saying, "Still so fond of boasting, huh? Tch, I lost a piece just now, it's definitely thanks to you, isn't it?"

Although it was a question, Bakura's tone was quite certain, since there were no other answers.

Just moments before Hayato, the player and player of the game, awoke before this chessboard, one of the many chess pieces controlled by Bakura was destroyed. That piece was an evil will that Bakura had injected into the Millennium Wisdom Wheel after he manipulated Bakura to seize it from Mahad and recreate the history of three thousand years ago.

One advantage of doing this is that it can increase the upper limit of the power that the "Bakura" piece can use. Another advantage is that if "Bakura" is destroyed, when someone touches and retrieves the [Millennium Wisdom Wheel], they can take the opportunity to seize the body of the person who touches it with that will, thus providing Bakura with a new piece.

Even if he fails to seize the body, as long as that will remains within the [Millennium Wisdom Wheel], the [Millennium Wisdom Wheel] can still serve as a tool to provide Bakura with information about the surrounding area.

It's important to understand that although both Bakura and Hayato have many pieces at their disposal in this dark game, these pieces are not much different from NPCs. They are not directly controlled by them, but rather have their own logic for action.

For example, Seth and Mahad are both pawns under the Yami Yugi, but the Yami Yugi only has the authority to command them. How Mahad and Seth act and what choices they make when faced with problems are not things that the Yami Yugi can control.

As players, Bakura and Hayato can only control their own piece. The other pieces exist more as backup options. Even if their piece dies, they can still win as long as the other pieces achieve the game's objective.

In fact, even though Hayato entered the Millennium Wisdom Wheel immediately after defeating Bakura to eliminate the evil will within, Yugi and the others, along with Set, had already provided Bakura with a considerable amount of information along the way when they brought Yami Yugi, Shada, and Hayato back to the palace.

He now knew that Hayato, that bastard, had only been bluffing to scare him. The moment he controlled Bakura to escape, that guy collapsed. If he had let Bakura fight to the death to stay behind, he might have been able to wipe out Yami Yugi and Hayato. But he had missed a golden opportunity.

Then, that will was destroyed, and combined with the previous information, it could only have been Hayato who did it.

It's too late for regrets now; Hayato, who has returned to the palace to recuperate, will soon be fully recovered. However, if the other piece of intelligence he has obtained is accurate and the operation undertaken based on it succeeds, the losses can still be mitigated.

Thinking of this, Bakura looked at Hayato and couldn't help but taunt him, "Hmph, I'll let you have a taste of the sweetness first. Anyway, I'm getting closer and closer to victory. Once I achieve my ultimate goal in this ultimate dark game, whether it's you, Hayato, or the nameless pharaoh, your lives will be nothing more than candles flickering in the wind!"

Chapter 766 The Target: The Valley of the Royal Family's Long Sleep

After uttering a harsh threat, Bakura seemed to have no interest in continuing the conversation with Hayato. Without waiting for Hayato to retort with his classic "faint candle in the wind" flag, his figure vanished into the darkness.

It seems he has begun to manipulate the actions of his pieces again.

This left Hayato somewhat bewildered. If he remembered correctly, Bakura's goal was to destroy the dynasty and awaken his true form from the stone tablet. These two conditions could actually be simplified to just one: once the entity sealed within the stone tablet was awakened, the destruction of the dynasty would become inevitable.

Hayato remembered that two conditions were required to awaken the entity within the stone tablet: firstly, all seven Millennium Items had to be reattached to the Netherworld Stone Tablet from which they were born; but currently, all seven Millennium Items were still there…

Hayato was taken aback, suddenly remembering that a few days ago, Isis and Kalim had been sent to the Valley of the Royal Sleep to place the mummy of the former Pharaoh Aknamkanon!

The decision by King Aknam Khanon to relocate the capital resulted in the relocation of the royal tombs. King Aknam Khanon's mausoleum was built on the new site. However, after Bakula's tomb raiding incident, King Aknam Khanon's mausoleum has become somewhat awkward.

Knowing that the tomb would be robbed, putting the mummy inside would be insane, but leaving the tomb empty would be a waste. After much deliberation, the final decision was to place the mummy of King Aknamkanun back into the royal tomb of the past—the Valley of the Kings' Long Sleep—and have the tomb-guarding clan there find a suitable resting place for it.

As the current Pharaoh, who is also Yami Yugi's father, even a mummy must be treated with great respect. After all, Egyptians value the remains very much. Of course, it was also to separate Kalim and Set, who had almost started a fight earlier. That's why Yami Yugi had Kalim and Isis accompany him on his journey.

Hayato couldn't help but wonder if Bakura had found out about this information and was going to go to them to get back the lost Millennium Item?

Thinking this through, Hayato knew he had to act quickly. But before he did, he glanced at what was beside him.

Beside the chessboard, three small props were placed. Hayato guessed that since he was here, it must mean that he, like Bakura and Yami Yugi, was a player.

In this dark game, both Yami Yugi and Bakura, as players, have their own consumable cheat items called "GM items." So I should be no exception, and the few items in front of me are my own "GM items."

The so-called "GM" is the game administrator. Hayato immediately perked up and carefully examined the three items in front of him, trying to see if there were any powerful items that could be made unavailable.

The first item Hayato picked up was a transparent doll with the words "Phantom Blood" written on it. However, the doll had two cracks on it and looked like it was damaged and unusable. There was no way to know the specific instructions for its use.

However, Hayato's intuition tells him that this item might be the source of the story of how Meliamon and Nefertari, who should have belonged to the future world of memories from three thousand years ago, were brought to the past and possessed Meliamon.

Just thinking about it, I realized that in order to have a body to move freely in the memory world like Bakura and Yami Yugi, I was inherently missing out on a GM item, which was a huge loss.

However, Hayato's mood brightened again when he picked up the remaining two items. He didn't need the second GM item yet, but this third item would come in handy soon.

The transparent glass bottle contained a golden vortex, with the words "Golden Wind" printed on the mouth of the bottle. The moment Hayato picked up this item, he knew that it was a powerful item that could create a strong wind on the map and allow him to teleport people over a long distance. Now was the time to use it to go to the Valley of the Royal Sleep!

Without further hesitation, Hayato immediately focused his attention on the chess piece corresponding to himself on the board. As his attention became more concentrated, he returned to the world of his memories.

Upon opening his eyes, the first thing Hayato did after sitting up in bed was to summon his [Spiritual Exophysical Body] and display it before him. However, unfortunately, perhaps because the world of memories was different from the spiritual world within the [Millennium Wisdom Wheel], this time Meliamon was unable to freely occupy the [Spiritual Exophysical Body] as before. The phantom, which looked exactly like Hayato, simply stood there motionless.

Indeed, if Meliamon could freely use the [Spiritual Exophysis] here, he would have appeared in front of Nefertari long ago. After all, judging from that guy's demeanor, he would have been worried for half a day just because Hayato put Nefertari in a little danger.

Hayato's movements caught the attention of a doctor in the room: "Hmm? You've woken up, Hayato-sama. How are you feeling?"

Hayato twisted his neck, looked at the pillow that had been resting on his neck—it was as tall and hard as the old man's—and complained, "Everything else is pretty good, it's just that my neck is a bit sore. Speaking of which, where am I?"

Besides Hayato, the only other person in the room was the man dressed like a modern doctor. Hayato guessed that the man was probably a physician from the palace, but he still needed to confirm with him first.

"This is the royal hospital. Because the Pharaoh has fallen into a coma and his condition is critical, I brought you, Priest Shada, and the Pharaoh here together, Hayato Kobayashi." The one who answered Hayato was not the physician, but Seth, who happened to walk in from the doorway, carrying a white-haired girl in his arms.

After casually replying to Hayato, Seth didn't have any free time and immediately called over the doctor standing nearby: "Come here and see what's wrong with her. Make sure you take good care of her."

Upon hearing this, the physician's heart immediately stirred with gossip. This was the first time in all his years working at the palace that he had seen Priest Set show such concern for a woman. However, despite his gossip, the physician swiftly went to the white-haired girl, whom Set had gently placed on the empty bed, and began to check on her condition.

Hayato wasn't in a hurry to ask Seth anything else. Judging from his anxious expression, he knew that even if Hayato asked, Seth probably wouldn't be in the mood to answer properly. Besides, the woman Seth was carrying in a princess carry looked very familiar to Hayato. If he remembered correctly, besides Bakura or Bakura, the only person with white hair in this memory world was Kisara.

He was really lucky to have arrived at this time. If he remembered correctly, this was the first time Kisara had revealed her white dragon power in front of Seth. Hayato was quite interested in how the doctor would handle Kisara's situation of overusing her spirit power. After all, not to mention, Hayato himself had almost collapsed from exhaustion not long ago due to overusing the power of Ra's Winged Dragon.

Hayato waited and waited, but the doctor didn't take out any medical tools. He just approached Kisara, who was lying on the bed, with his hands empty.

"Is this the traditional Chinese medicine method of observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation?" Hayato asked, somewhat curiously.

Although Hayato was an important person whom Priest Set had instructed to treat with care, and Priest Set was right there beside him, perhaps because of his young age, when asked about his professional knowledge that he was so proud of, the doctor looked at Hayato with his innocent eyes and said confidently, "What era are we living in? Still using traditional medical techniques?"

The doctor's outstretched hands, adorned with golden bracelets, emitted a radiant golden light, enveloping Kisara, who lay exhausted and weak with her eyes closed. Kisara's discomfort visibly subsided, and within a few breaths, she drifted off to sleep, completely relaxed.

“Although the kingdom’s medical technology was not very advanced in the past, due to the vigorous promotion of alchemy and magic during the reign of the previous pharaoh, in fact, in addition to the court mages, court physicians also promoted medical techniques based on alchemy and magic.” Seeing that Kisara’s condition seemed to have improved a lot, Set also had the mind to explain to Hayato.

Hayato nodded, glanced at Seth, and noticed that Seth's attention was completely focused on Kisara. Even when answering his question, Seth's eyes were glued to her. Hayato didn't bother the guy who was staring like a pervert, and asked where the others were.

Seth was unaware of Yugi's presence and assumed that Hayato was asking about the situation of Priestess Shada and the Pharaoh. He didn't care and, after telling Hayato where Dark Yugi was, continued to stare at the sleeping Kisara.

After Kisara demonstrated her power in the dungeon, Set noticed that the priest Aknadi looked at Kisara with an alarmingly urgent gaze. If Set hadn't been so firm in protecting Kisara, he might not have been able to bring her out of the dungeon.

Even though he has already brought Kisara away, Set is still worried that if he is not careful, the priest Aknadi will find a way to take Kisara away again. Therefore, Set has decided that he must stay with Kisara and protect her at all times for the time being.

Hayato followed the direction Seth pointed out and soon arrived at the room where Yami Yugi was. Compared to where he had been before, Yami Yugi, being the Pharaoh, had several soldiers guarding the door to prevent unidentified individuals from entering.

Of course, Hayato wasn't exactly an unknown person. Not only had he saved the Pharaoh this time, but he had also shown his face during Bakura's night raid. In addition, Priest Set had given prior instructions, so the guards easily let Hayato in.

"Rest assured, my lord, our guards are as solid as an impregnable fortress. No suspicious person will be able to get even half a step closer to the Pharaoh!"

Before the guard's voice at the door had even faded, Hayato, who had just entered the room, saw a suspicious-looking blond man greet him with a look of surprise and delight: "Hayato, are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry to have worried you, you suspicious blondie."

"Who's the suspicious blond guy?!" Jonouchi retorted. "My hair color is natural, I can't choose it myself."

"Can't you tell Hayato is joking with you, Jonouchi..." Honda patted Jonouchi's shoulder helplessly and looked at Hayato, saying, "Speaking of which, although it seems troublesome that the people in this world can't see us, it's not without its advantages. At least someone like Jonouchi, who looks suspicious, can get here smoothly."

"Hey, Honda!"

Hayato smiled as he watched the two making a ruckus, then looked to the other side. Kyoko and Yugi, who had just been blocked by Jonouchi and Honda, were now guarding the bedside, while Yami Yugi remained unconscious on the bed.

"Is Pharaoh still not awake...?" Because there were two people in the "game" present, Hayato referred to the "dark game" on the bed as "Pharaoh" for easy distinction.

"Yes, the doctors said that the other me overexerted himself while using a Duel Disk similar to Duel Monsters. Even with the doctors' emergency treatment, he will probably need a long time to recover." Yugi smiled at Hayato, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at Yami Yugi on the bed.

Upon hearing Yugi's words, Hayato frowned. Despite his assistance in preventing Yami Yugi from being shot off a cliff and disappearing due to Bakura's scheme, it seemed that the fate of this memory world was coming to an end. Yami Yugi had fallen into a coma, causing another loss to one of their already few high-level combatants.

More importantly, Hayato had originally intended to use Yami Yugi's connections to do himself a favor.

"The Valley of the Royal Slumber?" Jonouchi paused, taken aback by the name Hayato mentioned. "Isn't that a Field Spell Card? I think someone used it in their deck..."

"It's Miss Isis! Miss Isis used that card during Hayato's duel in Duel City." Kyoko's memory was much better than Jonouchi's, but she was also a little puzzled. "Why are there Field Spell Cards in this era?"

“No, your premise is wrong, Anzu, Jonouchi.” Yugi finally realized, “Pegasus got the inspiration for the Duel Monster cards from artifacts in ancient Egypt. In other words, it wasn’t the Field Spell Card [Royal Valley of the Slumber] that appeared in this world, but rather the once-existing Royal Valley of the Slumber that Pegasus created as a Duel Monster card, right?”

"However, Hayato, you said that Bakura, who has the same name as Bakura and looks similar, is going to attack the priests transporting mummies at the Valley of the King's Long Sleep," Honda said, looking at Hayato. "You've only just woken up; isn't it too dangerous for you to go there alone?"

Just then, someone pushed open the door and walked in—

Chapter 767 I Have Romantic Feelings for You

The person who entered the room was also taken aback when he saw Hayato, but then calmly nodded to Hayato as a greeting: "Kobayashi Hayato, you're awake."

"Hehe, this is all thanks to Priest Seto for taking care of me, Priest Aknadi." Seeing that the other party could not see Jonouchi and Honda walking straight through them, Hayato casually replied, while focusing his attention on Aknadi's one eye.

"Priest Aknadi, are you here to visit the Pharaoh as well?"

"After all, the Pharaoh is the most important person in our country. As a priest under the Pharaoh, although I was unconscious due to the attack by the thieves, the first thing I had to do after waking up was to check on the Pharaoh's safety."

Although Aknadi's gaze was clear and showed no other intentions whatsoever, Hayato always felt that the other party's visit to Yami Yugi was not for any good purpose.

It's not time to use any "duelist's intuition" yet. Hayato, who knows the plot, has an information advantage that others can't match. Although Bakura said that he stole the stone tablet monster from Aknadi, because he just met Seth who was taking Kisara to find a doctor, Hayato is 90% sure that Aknadi is already a pawn on Bakura's side.

The remaining 10% is that Bakula really didn't lie and didn't do anything to Aknadi, but the probability of that happening is not much greater than winning $2 billion in the lottery today and tomorrow; it's almost impossible.

Aknadi was a rather complex person. He was undoubtedly not a good person because he committed massacres to create the Millennium Items. However, his original intention in creating the Millennium Items was not driven by any personal desires, but solely by his love for his homeland.

As far as Hayato knew, if others were to fall into darkness, they would at least satisfy their own selfish desires and do whatever they wanted, not necessarily with grand goals like conquering or destroying the world. But even though Aknadi had fallen, the ultimate purpose of everything he did was not for himself, but to fulfill his son's wishes and help him reach a higher level.

It's just like that good neighbor in New York who turned to the dark side and started dancing in the street.

However, regardless of the circumstances, it is an undeniable fact that Aknadi would stand against him after turning to the dark side. Therefore, Hayato was very wary of Aknadi, but on the surface he remained calm: "Then, Priest Aknadi, shall we examine the Pharaoh's physical condition carefully?"

Hayato wasn't worried about whether Aknadi would take the opportunity to kill the defenseless Yami Yugi, because even though there were only three of them—Hayato, Aknadi, and Yami Yugi—this place was definitely not a good place to kill, since too many people knew that Aknadi had come here.

If Aknadi killed Yami Yugi here, even if he framed Hayato for the murder, the death of a pharaoh is not something that can be easily overlooked. As a priest, Aknadi failed to protect the pharaoh and is equally responsible.

Although Hayato doesn't know much about ancient Egyptian history, he does know one thing: wherever there are people, there are factional struggles. Starting with the previous Pharaoh Akhenam Khanon, who spearheaded the religious reforms, the priests in the current palace are second only to the Pharaoh, but the nobles who once held high positions are always waiting for them to make mistakes so they can be brought down.

Aknadi himself may not care about his current status, but his ultimate goal is to make Set the Pharaoh. That would require a process to prove that Set is qualified to become the Pharaoh. This process would not only require proving that Set has sufficient ability, but also proving that Set has the right bloodline.

Aknadi's true identity is the younger brother of the previous pharaoh and a true member of the royal family. As his son, Set is naturally qualified to succeed the current pharaoh upon his death. However, if Aknadi is suspected of being "related to the death of the previous pharaoh," it will inevitably have a great impact on Set's ascension to the throne.

Therefore, even if Aknadi had the intention, he would never choose to make a move here, especially since, in fact, besides Hayato, Jonouchi, Honda, Kyoko, and Yugi—four people who cannot be observed by people of this era—were all watching Aknadi's actions in this room.

Aknadi indeed had no intention of killing Yami Yugi. His purpose in coming here was more to confirm whether the Pharaoh was truly in a coma and unable to wake up. Looking at Yami Yugi lying on the bed, Aknadi seemed oblivious to Hayato's subtle wariness towards him and shook his head.