Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"So, how about we set our sights on the world of the elves? With the coordinates and map of the elf realm, and the [Quantum Cube] that can open dimensional gates, we can absolutely conquer the elf world with ease," Dartz said excitedly. "Even those 'legendary dragons' considered gods, we can take their place!"

Without interrupting Dartz, Hayato listened to him finish explaining his thoughts. Then, looking at Dartz on the screen, he asked, "Conquering another world, what kind of obstacles will you encounter along the way?"

"It's alright, Hayato-kun. You possess the spirit and ability to become a king, and the very act of exploring another world can greatly promote the spiritual growth of humanity. I will do my best to help you; it's all beneficial!"

Dartz spoke with genuine sincerity. Although it sounded like Dartz was doing something that wouldn't benefit him at all, and generally speaking, one should be more vigilant in such situations, Hayato believed Dartz's words. He truly wanted to help Hayato conquer the Spirit World.

"That's incredibly tempting. Conquering another world—even the most famous kings in history haven't been able to do that. If I agree, wouldn't I be rewriting history?"

Hayato smiled, but Dartz couldn't detect even a hint of excitement in his calm expression.

"However, I refuse, not because I like to say no to self-righteous people, but because Dartz, your proposal got one thing wrong from the very beginning, a very important thing."

As Hayato held up a finger, Dartz didn't quite understand what exactly he meant by "I got it wrong."

"Conquering the Elf Realm is a win-win situation? Absolutely wrong! When you think about such a thing, have you ever heard the cries of the elves?" Hayato said righteously and solemnly, "Unlike you, I trust the elves. They are my beloved family and friends, my brothers and sisters. What do you take the elves for?!"

Upon hearing Hayato's words, Dartz's smile vanished on the screen, replaced by an indignant expression: "What's there to trust about spirits? You've been bewitched by them, Hayato-kun."

"If I had known about the existence of the Elf Realm and the danger of Orichalcos back in Atlantis, I would have attacked the Elf Realm without hesitation!"

"Consider the feelings of the spirits in the spirit world? These card spirits have no reason to be entrusted with your precious trust! Hayato, you are too gentle and kind! They are necessary sacrifices for the development of the human civilization you live in. Do you remember how many slices of bread you have eaten?"

“Thirteen pieces, I’m a Japanese food enthusiast.” Hayato looked at Dartz on the screen. “Your distrust of Pokémon is just your individualism!”

"But humanity cannot live on Earth forever. These limited resources cannot accommodate humanity's endless selfishness. Do you want to repeat the fate of Atlantis in humanity?"

Faced with Dartz's question, Hayato answered without hesitation: "Human wisdom can surpass even that kind of thing!"

"No, that's impossible, even for you, Hayato. If it were really possible, that guy Shadi's 'dimensional ascent' would have succeeded long ago." Dartz on the screen looked at Hayato and shook his head. "Hayato-kun, you don't want to sacrifice the Spirits, but you want to preserve the future of humanity. You're doing something incredibly greedy!"

“I am neither as radical towards the elves as you are, nor am I despairing of humanity,” Hayato said, looking at Dartz. “Although I’ve said this to the other you once before, I’ll repeat it here: The fate of humanity is in my hands!”

Upon hearing Hayato's words, the data stream that constituted Dartz's image surged repeatedly, as if symbolizing his intense inner struggle. After a long silence, Dartz on the screen sighed: "Even if you have complete trust in the elves, those lowly elves will not appreciate it. When they have the opportunity to invade the human world and harm humans, they will never hold back."

"You're too gentle, Hayato, too kind." Dartz paused, then shook her head helplessly. "But as I knew it, my judgment was right. You possess a perfect soul, more radiant and dazzling than stardust, as pure and flawless as the sun. That's the kind of hero I admire..."

It sounded as if Dartz had easily given up trying to persuade Hayato to abandon his plan to conquer the spirit world, which he had just been so strongly advocating.

"Then, please accept this small gift. This is the last bit of help I can give you. I hope you will never regret leading human civilization forward into the future..."

"This is the final blessing from the emperor of the long-vanished civilization of Atlantis, a soul that has long since perished."

As Dartz's voice came from the speakers, Hayato saw that the data stream on the screen had shrunk considerably. The data stream that had originally filled the entire room had shrunk to the size of Dartz's avatar on the screen in front of him, and it was still decreasing, to the point that the image of Dartz was gradually becoming abstract.

Also disappearing was the map on the screen next to Dartz. As a mechanical arm handed Hayato a metal box, the room seemed to lose all power and plunged into darkness once more when the arm stopped in front of him.

Hayato hesitated for a moment, then pried open the stopped mechanical arm, caught the not-so-heavy metal box, and saw the entrance he had come from behind reopen. Not forgetting to take the "Orichalcum Jewel" that Dartz had mentioned, which seemed to contain a part of Dartz's memories, Hayato walked out of the secret room and returned to the clock chamber on the top floor of the clock tower.

As the entrance to the secret room was once again hidden behind the closed brick wall, Hayato hesitated for a moment about whether to destroy the secret room, but in the end he did not do so. He simply leaned against the wall and was about to open the metal box in his hand.

"Tap, tap, tap, tap..." Accompanied by the sound of boots stepping on the stone steps, it seemed that someone was walking towards the clock chamber at the top of the clock tower.

Chapter 1003 Resetting the Marathon

"Da, da, da, da..."

Wiping the sweat from his brow, clockmaker Tokiwa climbed the long stone steps to the clock chamber at the top of the clock tower. He put down his tool bag on the ground to temporarily relieve his burden, and plopped down on the last step to rest and recover his strength.

There are 393 steps. Chang Pan doesn't know why the designer chose such a number when designing this clock tower, nor does he care what it symbolizes or what its meaning is. In short, because he has been with this clock tower for nearly ten years, he remembers the steps of this clock tower very clearly.

Built before the Second Industrial Revolution and predating the generator, Big Ben is naturally not a modern electronic clock, but an ancient and elegant wind-up clock. Its rustic and noble temperament makes Big Ben and the clock tower that houses it a landmark of London, serving as a calling card for London to the world.

All of the above is what tour guides and high-ranking officials think when they come to visit the city. But they have no idea that in order to keep Big Ben running, it needs to be wound up every three days.

Winding up a toy is relatively easy; it only takes a few turns. But winding up the clock mechanism of Big Ben, which connects to four clock faces simultaneously? Winding it up once can exhaust an adult, making him feel as tired as carrying dozens of bags of cement on a construction site. Don't ask him how he knows how tiring it is to carry cement on a construction site. As a Japanese man who came to London to make a living, Tokiwa had done all kinds of jobs before.

Three times a week, the clockmaker would bring his tools to the nearly 100-meter-high clock tower to wind up the clock and check for any dirt or malfunctions in the winding mechanism. Although the clock tower holds a special place in London, the job of winding up Big Ben was never an easy task, and it naturally fell to Tokiwa, who was Asian and therefore faced implicit discrimination.

After all, it is well known that American civilization is basically derived from England, whether it is the thieving behavior of self-proclaimed gentlemen/peace envoys who amassed wealth and resources from all over the world, or the claim of "equality for all" while equally launching racial discrimination.

Anyway, the once-glorious "Everlasting Sun" is long gone, while his hometown has actually prospered thanks to the existence of the Seahorse Entertainment Group. Chang Pan has already decided that after finishing his work this year, he will go back to his hometown and open a watch shop. He has even thought of a name: "Nine to Five Hall." By the way, he can also visit his brother's grandson who was born last year.

"Wind-up clocks are just decorations; the important people up there wouldn't understand them." Muttering this, the clockmaker Tokiwa, having finished his rest and regained his strength, stood up, picked up his tool bag, and walked towards the mainspring unit in the center of the clock room.

But as soon as he turned around, he saw a person with his collar pulled up to the bridge of his nose, his face covered like a mask, about to leave through the passage leading from the clock room to the clock face outside the clock tower!

"Why is someone here!?" It's only 7 a.m., and while it's not to say that everyone is still sound asleep, compared to the standard working time of 9 a.m., when most people are still battling in bed with Warcraft, there are definitely not many early risers.

Not to mention that the clock tower was not open to the public at this time, and he should be the only person who came to the top clock room to wind up Big Ben.

After thinking for a moment, Changpan continued to press, "What are you doing here? Who exactly are you?"

While pressing for answers, Tokiwa had no intention of chasing after him whatsoever, and even turned his head away, afraid that the other person's face would be revealed to him.

He wasn't some young man in his teens or twenties anymore; he was long past the age of impulsive, hot-blooded righteousness. Although he still had a heart that yearned for justice, he would never act impulsively because of it. He understood the rules of the underworld. If he hadn't seen the other person's face, the other person might have just run away, but if he had seen the other person's face, he might not be alive.

Putting aside the fact that Big Ben has no symbolic meaning for Tokiwa, a clockmaker who is not a member of the old London Union Jack, his salary alone would not allow him to risk his life to hunt down a suspected terrorist who had broken into Big Ben to cause damage; that is the duty of a security guard.

He only earns a few hundred pounds a month as a watchmaker, why is he risking his life?

When the watchmaker questioned him, the "terrorist" replied flippantly, "Just a passing...phantom thief, remember that!"

With his back to the end of the passageway where there was no handrail, the "terrorist" jumped backward and landed face up from the top of the clock tower, which was nearly 100 meters high!

"What?!" The watchmaker, startled by the unexpected turn of events, even uttered a phrase in his native dialect, staring in astonishment as the "terrorist" plummeted to the ground. He hadn't even chased after him; how could the man, seemingly cornered, have jumped? Did that mean he'd killed someone?

Rushing to the passage leading to the clock face, Tokiwa saw not a trace of the person who had jumped from the clock tower, let alone a body that had fallen to the bottom of the clock tower. All he could see was the empty city shrouded in the gradually dissipating mist.

It was as if that person had never existed at all, and it was all just a vivid dream he had.

Rubbing his eyes and checking again, Chang Pan wondered if he was really getting old. After hesitating for a moment, he picked up a walkie-talkie clipped to his chest and called out to the security guard downstairs who worked with him: "Smith? I just saw someone on the clock tower."

"Nonsense, I know you're in the clock tower, okay?" came the impatient voice of the doorman named Smith from the walkie-talkie. "Didn't you tell me before not to use the walkie-talkie for unnecessary nonsense that would affect your work?"

"That's why we need to communicate now!" Chang Pan said anxiously. "I just saw someone in the clock room on the top floor. I don't know how he got in or what he was doing there. I didn't even see his face before he jumped off the clock tower!"

"Jumped from the clock tower?" Smith glanced at Big Ben outside, but there was nothing on the ground. He couldn't help but speak into the walkie-talkie, "Tokiwa, are you awake? How could someone jump from the clock tower?"

"But I really saw someone..."

"Pfft-"

He was halfway through his sentence when he heard Smith's barely suppressed laughter coming from the walkie-talkie. Knowing that the other party hadn't taken his words seriously at all, he didn't continue, turned off the walkie-talkie, and said with some dissatisfaction, "Working in London is a complete waste of my youth!"

Anyway, I've already reported the situation, so even if the clock tower gets blown up, it won't affect my timekeeping. I'll just wind up the clockwork assembly and leave without a care.

On the Thames outside the clock tower, with a loud thud, a small boat moored at the bank rocked, and the "terrorist" who had jumped from the clock tower appeared as if a character model had just loaded into a video game. As he lowered his raised collar to reveal his true face, wasn't that Hayato?

"Phew~ I've done paragliding more than once in the game, but it's always so much fun and exciting in real life, no matter how many times I do it." Hayato glanced at the [Cursed Dragon] that had just carried him from the Clock Tower all the way to the Thames and was now returning to the card on his Duel Disk, and added, "Although strictly speaking, this can't really be called gliding."

The reason why the clockmaker who came to wind up Big Ben didn't see Hayato was because Hayato used the Quantum Cube he always carried with him. With that, Hayato could also become invisible and teleport like Ayaka and Sera. However, Hayato didn't want to use the latter unless necessary; he didn't want to become Major Anderson.

While pretending to jump off the building, Hayato actually summoned the [Cursed Dragon] the instant he leaped to carry himself away in his invisible state. As for the [Cursed Dragon]? Even when it enters a materialized state that can interfere with reality, most people still cannot see the spirit's existence unless the card spirit has the will to manifest.

As for why Hayato didn't knock the clockmaker unconscious, making him invisible from the start or unable to communicate his presence to others, even though he clearly had the ability, Hayato wouldn't just attack innocent people, especially when the other person seemed kind and like a good-natured person.

Compared to the area where the clock tower is located, the Thames River has been bustling with ships ever since Hayato arrived, carrying out water transport operations without ever stopping. However, the small boat that Hayato had the [Cursed Dragon] land on seems to be for tourists to rent and play on. It's still so early, and they won't be disturbed for the time being.

Hayato, now free, sat comfortably on the ship as if he were at home, took out the metal box that Dartz had given him, and opened it.

Although the outer layer was made of sturdy metal, the inside of the box was carefully filled with a sponge-like material to protect the contents, and was also lined with soft velvet to prevent scratches. When the metal box was opened, Hayato saw that inside was a Duel Monster card, which depicted a scene where clean water, guided by a blue-haired magician girl, rose against gravity and transformed into a water column, and a phantom humanoid figure was summoned out of thin air within the water.

Hayato recognized the card at a glance. Even without looking at the description and name, he could easily pronounce the card's original name: "Holy crap, Marathon Reset?"

...Okay, Hayato did forget the original name of the card, but he remembered the origin of the name very clearly. It was the behavior of mobile game players who repeatedly uninstalled and reinstalled the game and rerolled for a good starting character in order to obtain powerful equipment or characters. The simplified Chinese translation was a reference to this meme and was translated as "Lama to the Ceremony of Praise". "Lama to the Ceremony of Praise" is "Ceremony of Praise to Lama (Reset Marathon)".

However, its original Japanese name is—

【The Ritual of the Messiah】.

Although it sounds like a ritual spell card, 【Aramaichair Ritual】is actually just a normal spell card, and its effect has nothing to do with rituals. It is actually a ritual that summons a hero from another world as a savior to a world of swords and magic, and its effect is the same.

The question is, why would Dartz give himself such a card?

Picking up the card from the [Aramaic Ritual], Hayato saw Dartz's voice coming from the metal box in front of him:

"Hayato-kun, the last gift I can give you is this card. It contains my thoughts engraved in the Orichalcos that holds my memories. If you take the Orichalcos to my old backup, I can use those memories to complete this card and give it to you."

"My memory ends at the moment you came to Doma Island to duel with me and joined Doma. For you, it may be a thing of the past, but for me, it is the most wonderful moment. Even you, Hayato, probably can't imagine the joy and hope that filled my heart when I saw you cross the world to come to me. In my heart, you are a hero."

"With such wonderful memories in mind, I designed this card and completed it myself. I hope this card can help you when you need it."

The recording, which seemed to have been completed in advance, paused for a moment, and then he said with a smile, "I know you still trust the elves, right? If this card can awaken the elves, then it will only be you as a hero, as a brave warrior. If you must trust the elves, at least let me feel a sense of involvement."

"Perhaps I've wandered the world for ten thousand years, just to meet you..."

The recording ended there, and Hayato put away the [Alamisaiah Ritual] card: "I'll keep the card, but... well, hmm~"

Hayato rubbed his arms, getting goosebumps. "No matter how many times I hear it, Dartz is still so gay. Speaking of which, this card is based on the time I appeared in front of Dartz? It's one thing that I'm a hero, since there's no duelist with a more loving heart than me, but why does Dartz think he'll be the mage who presides over the summoning ritual? He's just a staff at most."

Besides, Dartz clearly has green hair, or rather, cyan hair, while the girl from the Water Sprite clearly has blue hair, okay? Don't think that just because your hair colors are similar, Dartz, you can put yourself in her shoes!

As Hayato obtained the [Alamesian Ritual] card, the system promptly reminded him that he had unlocked the new affix [Heroic Derivative] in the system shop. Although he only had one [Alamesian Ritual] card and no other matching cards, Hayato had accumulated a large number of DP points, enough to buy all the other related cards in the [Heroic] deck and max out their levels to three.

Holy crap? A Griffin costs 5000 DP points? System, you little cutie, are you robbing me?!

Seeing the exorbitant prices displayed in the store, Hayato decisively decided to buy one of each and stop there. He actually preferred collecting more, and one was enough. Besides, a true duelist only needed one to draw the card, and who would carry three? It wasn't because the price was too high that he couldn't bear to buy them.

Chapter 1004 Visiting the Stolen Goods Exhibition Room

Leaving the Thames River, Hayato strolled aimlessly through the gradually bustling streets.

In Hayato's class at Domino City High School, not many students actually plan to continue their studies at university after graduating from high school, or rather, most of them don't have the ability to get into a good university and choose to enter the workforce.

In the end, it seems that only class representative Miho Nosaka, Yugi whose grades were out of sync with Jonouchi and Honda, and Hanasaki, who had a good relationship with Yugi, continued their studies and went on to university.

Game's dream is to become a game designer and create a fun game, but as a high school student, he doesn't yet have enough ability to independently complete a game. It's not just about copywriting and art; in the 21st century, games naturally want to keep up with the times and create electronic versions, so programming skills are also essential.

Therefore, he plans to hone his skills in this area during his four years at university and use his spare time to create the game he wants to make, so that he can graduate with his work and participate in a game expo in Germany.

As for the biggest concern for most indie game developers—funding—there's absolutely no need to worry about the game itself. Not only does he plan to handle all the work himself without hiring or outsourcing, but he can also fully afford the expenses incurred during the game development process.

After all, the International Illusion Company is thriving. Since acquiring shares in the International Illusion Company two years ago, the dividends and games have not yet been spent. Last year's dividends have also been received, even after the games spent some money on renovating the house and shops.

It's impossible to spend all of it, no wonder Pegasus always makes Versailles-like statements like, "I have no interest in money, the biggest regret of my life is founding the International Illusion Society, and the days I spent traveling around the world."

When Kyoko said she went to America to pursue her dreams, the game actually had the ability to sponsor her, but he respected Kyoko's efforts over the years to pursue her dreams and did not let money tarnish their friendship. Kyoko felt the same way.

As for the feelings between the two of them, which they both already knew about, neither of them said it out loud. They simply kept these feelings in their hearts, waiting for them to blossom again when they met again in the future.

Now, both of them have their own dreams to pursue. Kyoko wants to become a dancer, and Yugi wants to become a game designer. They are both working hard to realize their dreams.

...Although it was a bit of a mood killer, Hayato suddenly remembered that Yugi seemed to have mentioned that he planned to join the card design department of Illusion International in the future. Thinking about it, did he really need to work hard during the interview? Putting aside his status as a legendary duelist, just being one of the three largest shareholders of Illusion International would definitely be enough for him to join successfully, and he would never encounter anything like workplace bullying.