Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Chapter 189 5☆Wanted

Hayato suddenly snatched all the cards for sale, surprising not only Yugi and his friends but also the shopkeeper. When he realized he'd been robbed, a sharp cry rang out from beneath his burly exterior: "Thief! Robbery!"

Immediately afterward, to the horror of the three gamers, all the surrounding vendors left their stalls, brandishing swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and other weapons, and chased after Hayato in the direction he had fled.

Upon seeing this thing, Hayato, who was being chased, wasn't afraid at all. Instead, he excitedly pulled out a card from his wrist and held it high above his head: "[Gaia]! Stop them for me!"

The Dark Knight Gaia, appearing out of nowhere, raised her lance and charged into the pursuing crowd without hesitation. The heavily armored warhorses and charging cavalry wielding heavy lances clashed with the infantry, who lacked even basic armor. The result was a one-sided rout; Gaia effortlessly overwhelmed the merchants chasing Hayato single-handedly.

When the merchants regrouped and gave chase again, they found that [Dark Knight Gaia] had vanished, and Hayato had long since disappeared.

Having lost their target of hatred, the vendors seemed to have lost their memory, returning to their original stalls and continuing to repeat the lines they had said countless times before.

They breathed a sigh of relief because of this.

"That scared me to death! I thought we were going to be attacked inside." Jonouchi patted his chest. "By the way, why are they only chasing Hayato and not us?"

Guiping thought for a moment: "It's probably because this game doesn't have a [team-up] function, right?"

As the vice president of the Haima Group, Guiping had naturally seen the project plan for the game DM, which was still in development. In this game, players do not have a team function, and there are no restrictions on either attacking or healing. Players can backstab teammates who just fought monsters together, and they can also heal monsters to torment them.

Similarly, monster loot is owned by whoever finds it; there's no sharing feature. In other online games, if one person attracts a monster's aggro, it can trigger a chain reaction affecting other members of the party. However, in DM, these aggro items are assigned to each player individually. This explains why merchants chase after Hayato while ignoring the other players in the game.

"It looks like Hayato managed to escape." Jonouchi noticed that several merchants were posting wanted posters that had suddenly appeared in their hands. The posters were made of tan paper and showed Hayato running away with a bag full of cards on his back. Below the posters was a bounty of 10 yen.

"The bounty is a whopping 100,000! That's probably the highest we've seen in a while," Jonouchi said, looking at the bounty poster. "Speaking of which, isn't that a bit too outrageous? I remember the most expensive card I saw earlier, [Sacrifice Demon], was only priced at 10,000."

"It's not an exaggeration. Don't forget, Hayato just ran off with all the cards. Those cards were worth about 100,000 yen. It's still worthwhile for the store to spend 100,000 yen to buy them back."

Guiping glanced at the card stall owner who had just been robbed. In the short time the three of them turned their heads, his stall, which had been completely emptied, was refreshed with cards again. "Although, that guy doesn't seem to be short of cards."

"However, now that Hayato is wanted, does that mean he can't enter the city?" Yugi frowned.

Jonouchi also looked very troubled: "That guy, this is just a virtual world. He stole the card but can't take it out, and now he's wanted by the police. Isn't that a huge loss?"

"I think it's alright. Speaking of which, this photo is really low-quality. Do you think if I took a selfie and provided it to those businessmen, they would be willing to change the photo?"

Jōnei casually replied, "That kind of thing is impossible to imagine—"

"Huh!?" He suddenly realized who had just been talking to him.

He turned his head sharply and saw Hayato dressed in a doctor's white coat, looking at his wanted poster with great interest. Several merchants who had posted wanted posters walked by, and he nodded at them without any shame.

"Hayato-kun?" Keihei looked equally surprised. "You... I clearly saw you being chased just now! And weren't you wanted by the authorities?"

Upon hearing Guiping utter the name "Hayato," some of the NPCs suddenly turned their gazes toward them, looking at them suspiciously.

"When did you come to the conclusion that the person who ran away was just my imagination?" Hayato smiled and revealed several cards in his hand, namely [Subspace Matter Transport Device], [Stand Actor], and [Rescue Team] whose clothes had mysteriously disappeared.

Rewinding to when they were still in the Undead Graveyard, Hayato, who was commanding [VtoZ] to bombard the zombie army, discovered a new side quest in his [System] after the battle—

Side Quest: Rule Breaker

High emotional intelligence: Your duels never follow the rules; low emotional intelligence: Your thinking is rather inhuman. How could someone like you possibly play the game properly according to the rules?

[Breaking the rules in the current world 0/5]

[Based on the rules of breaking, randomly unlock one of the following achievements: "World Destroyer", "Beater", or "I Am the Rule".]

[Reward Preview: 1 deck pack of a specified race, and a mystery reward]

[Behavior detected: "My lord, times have changed." Should we record the task progress?]

According to the system's instructions, any action Hayato takes that is inconsistent with the current game's context or directly breaks the rules will increase the mission's progress. Therefore, after clearing the monsters in the Undead Graveyard, Hayato wanted to use [VtoZ] to clear the forest blocking his path and further advance the mission.

The previous card robbery was also for the purpose of completing the mission.

Hayato first used Gaia to attract the attention of others, and then used Stand to create a Stand that looked exactly like him to continue his escape. His real body used Subspace Matter Transfer Device to hide in another dimension, and then took the opportunity to tear off the clothes of the Rescue Team and cover them on his original texture clothes.

Surprisingly, Hayato also unlocked two more "rule-breaking" behaviors as a result.

"Using heavy firepower in a fantasy world," "robbing without regard to trading rules," "evading punishment rules," and "using mods to overwrite character models"—Hayato only needs to break one more rule to complete this side quest.

"Well, as you can see, I can't use the character name [Hayato] for the time being, since I already have a bounty on my head, right?" Hayato said with a smile, glancing at his clothes. "From now on, just call me [Pediatrician] or [Genius Gamer M]."

"Watch me clear the game in one life!"

[Behavior detected: "Illegal name change". Should we record the task progress?]

Yes

Side Quest: Rule Breaker complete. Please claim your reward.

"Well, whatever happens, let's hurry up and save our brother." Guiping looked helpless, like a little adult.

"Okay, everyone, let's split up for now and go gather some information around here," Yugi suggested, then, as if remembering something, looked at Hayato with concern, "If possible, please don't make too much of a commotion."

Hayato patted his chest confidently: "Don't worry, I'm a very low-key person, and I'm extremely law-abiding."

Chapter 190 Masked Hero City Knife Boy

Two hours later, Guiping, holding a handful of rock-skin cakes—a reward for helping the old lady up the stairs—arrived at the agreed-upon meeting point: the fountain in the town's central square. To be honest, Guiping couldn't quite understand the game designers' thinking; why would a small desert town build a fountain?

Hayato was already waiting by the fountain, a book in his hand. Noticing Keipai's arrival, Hayato greeted him with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Keipai."

"Hayato-kun, you haven't been sitting here for two hours, have you?" Keihei placed the pile of rock-skin cakes—as hard as their name—by the pool and looked at Hayato with suspicion. It was no wonder he was wondering, because when they agreed to meet here and then part ways, Keihei remembered Hayato sitting like this, reading a book.

Hayato shook his finger: "No, no, no, I've been working hard to gather intelligence for the past two hours."

Just then, Jonouchi arrived at the fountain, but he walked with a wobbly gait. Upon closer inspection, a dog was clinging to his rear, biting him tightly. Hayato grabbed a piece of rock-skin cake and made a throwing motion, causing the dog that was biting Jonouchi's rear to instinctively release its grip and chase after him.

Hayato put the rock cake, which he hadn't actually thrown out but had just hidden behind his back, back to the side, looked at Jonouchi, and said with a smile, "Looks like you've had a tough two hours, Jonouchi."

"Don't even mention it. Not only did I not get any information, but I was also chased by that dog for a full half hour. It circled the entire town, and I still managed to be caught." With a bitter face, Jonouchi was about to sit down, but then he remembered that his butt was still sore, so he had to continue standing. "Moreover, let alone finding out where the seahorse is, the people in this town don't even know how to beat this game."

"Everyone, what information have you gathered?" Game arrived late, his face full of frustration. Just now, he had tried to go into the bar to gather information, but the people there kicked him out because he was under 20 and threw him into the children's playground across the street. He was clearly already 17.

Guiping spoke up, "All I heard was that an iron cage was transported to the other side of the desert this morning, and there was a person inside. I wonder if that could be my brother?"

“Unless Kaiba has been disguised as a man for seventeen years, I don’t think that person is Kaiba. Because as far as I know, the person locked in that cage is a sacrifice offered to the final boss of this game,” Hayato said calmly. Noticing the surprised looks from the others, he smiled and held up two fingers, “As for me, I’ve only collected a tiny bit more information than you guys.”

"First of all, I haven't found out the true identity of the final boss in this game, but it is said to be a giant dragon taller than a mountain, capable of wielding the five elements of wind, fire, water, earth, and darkness simultaneously. However, that dragon is currently in a slumber and requires a sacrifice to be released."

"The requirements for the sacrifices were one man and one woman, and the male sacrifice has already been taken by some unknown prince. The female sacrifice was the one transported to the Giant Rock Temple. I think the male sacrifice is very likely the seahorse, which means he has already been captured."

"How...how could this be!" Guiping cried out, his face filled with sorrow. "My brother...could he be...already...!"

Hayato comforted him, "Didn't I just say that the man and woman are sacrifices offered to the final boss? In other words, as long as we rescue the woman who was sacrificed now, the final boss cannot be revived because the sacrifice is missing, and Kaiba will be safe for the time being."

Jonouchi rubbed his buttocks, which still hurt a bit, but he forced himself to walk ahead: "Then let's hurry up and go, time waits for no one, doesn't it, Keihei?"

"Yes!" Guiping wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and nodded firmly. "I will definitely rescue my brother!"

The game was calmly considering: "Is that giant rock temple on the other side of the desert? It won't be easy for just the few of us to cross the desert."

“Especially with sandstorms raging in the desert and the rest of us unable to summon card monsters for transportation.” Hayato said, taking a folded poster from his book. “Unless, we go and get that card.”

The poster in Hayato's hand depicted a bloated, chicken-shaped monster. Jonouchi recognized the card; its name was "Fat Chicken," a Level 3 Normal Monster with neither ATK nor DEF exceeding 1000.

“In this game, cards can only be used during battle, but this card is an exception.” Hayato read the description on the poster. “This card can summon a mount for transportation when not in battle. It can not only traverse mountains and valleys, but also be used to cross deserts. This is almost explicitly telling us that we need to obtain this card if we want to cross the desert.”

"It's very strange that the card's name isn't 'Fat Chicken' but 'Chicken'."

"Those things don't matter," Jonouchi said excitedly. "To pass a certain level, you have to obtain a certain important item. Isn't that the ultimate hero story? Hmph, if that's the case, is Jonouchi-sama perhaps the savior hero?"

"Alright, let's go get that [Hina]!"

As he spoke, Jōnei strode forward, as if the wound on his buttocks had completely healed.

"You idiot Jonouchi! You're going the wrong way, the map is over there!" Keihei jogged to catch up with Jonouchi, who had gone completely off course.

Hayato and Yugi exchanged a glance, then reluctantly followed the two.

"Speaking of which, Hayato-kun," Yugi said, remembering something, "did that poster mention how to obtain the [Chicken] card?"

Hayato unfolded the folded half of the poster and handed it to Yugi. Yugi took it and looked at it; the poster read, "No survival without battle! Masquerade and Savage Arena!"

Ten minutes later.

Looking at the cloak, which was barely better than a rag, handed to him, and the rules that Hayato relayed, Jonouchi was completely bewildered: "What do you mean by risking your life? Why am I only finding out about this now?!"

Seeing that the castle was about to retreat, Hayato, who was fully aware of what he would encounter in the arena, was not worried about his safety at all.

Your wife isn't going to kill you, is she?

Hayato, laughing, placed a pig's head hood, which would serve as a "mask," on Jonouchi's head and pushed him towards the arena entrance, saying in Stryus's tone, "Do your best to save the princess who has been captured by the evil dragon, my Hero~"

The arena gates slowly opened, and from the stands surrounding them, the enthusiastic shouts of spectators, yearning for violence and bloodshed, rang out.

Chapter 191 The Philosopher's Stone

As Jonouchi walked into the center of the arena, Hayato also left from the back. As he walked, he opened his [Storage] and took out a white card.

Because they are now in a virtual world, Hayato's methods of obtaining cards are restricted. He cannot open the "designated race deck pack" he obtained earlier, and the acquisition of cards is limited to the game. However, the card he is holding in his hand is an exception.

This card is the mysterious reward I received when I completed the "Ruler Breaker" mission. However, compared to the previous rewards that clearly laid out all the information, this "mysterious reward" is a bit too mysterious.

There wasn't a single instruction manual or description; the card itself was completely blank. Hayato held it in his hand, examining it closely, but he couldn't understand how to use it at all.

"Compared to this reward that looks impressive but is so inexplicable that it doesn't even have instructions, I'd rather this card be a [Pot of Greed]."

Hayato made a casual remark, but when he looked down at the card in his hand again, he couldn't help but show a shocked expression.

On the card in his hand, which had been blank, it was as if someone was drawing with a paintbrush. A lewd but charming smile of a card player was gradually being outlined. It was none other than the "Pot of Greed" that Hayato had casually mentioned earlier.

Hayato was somewhat bewildered as he looked at the [Pot of Greed] in his hand.

Are you serious? You just change it like that?! Don't change it back like that, okay? What use is your "Pot of Greed" to me? You can buy three of these for 50 yen at the Kameji Card Shop. If you're going to change it, at least change it into a Sword Emperor, Red Daddy, or Phoenix Man!

Hayato's cards changed again, first from a magic card to a monster card, with the words "Phantom Dragon Clan" appearing, but soon as if a bug had occurred, they turned into gibberish, gradually transforming into a Fusion Monster.

Hayato's anticipated "Sleeping Dragon" Super Magical Dragon Knight and "Phoenix Chick" Destruction Phoenix Man did not appear. Instead, a Frankenstein's monster of "Sleeping Dragon" and "Phoenix Chick" appeared in the card area—a pair of large wings on its back and a dragon tail behind it, neither like a magician nor a warrior. In the end, a turtle suddenly appeared and devoured everything, leaving the card blank again.

Having his low blood pressure cured by the sudden appearance of the sea turtle, Hayato suddenly felt a strange familiarity with the changes that had just occurred on the card, and couldn't help but ask the system, "System, this card of yours is guaranteed to be authentic... I mean, the name of this card isn't [Philosopher's Stone], is it?"

The card Hayato is referring to isn't the Philosopher's Stone that's used in the game's deck to Special Summon Dark Magician with Dark Magician Girl. The full name of the Philosopher's Stone Hayato is referring to should be Philosopher's Stone - Sabashir. It's not a card that appeared in the DM era, but rather one that was used by Jaden Yuki, the protagonist of GX, ten years later, or rather, that he used in the past.

This card possesses the ability to "create miracles" in duels; simply put, it's a genuine card-printing ability. When Jaden Yuki drew this card, he activated its effect three times in a row, transforming it into three different types of Fusion Cards, turning the tide of the duel. After being used three times, the card further activated its ATK-boosting effect in the Graveyard, securing victory in the duel.

Of course, after that duel, Jaden Yuki's [Philosopher's Stone - Sabashir] also disappeared. After all, openly printing cards like that would definitely get you banned in no time, so Jaden Yuki was only "used" in the first place.

Hayato couldn't help but feel a little regretful. He seemed to have turned it into four cards in one go. Did he just give away this card for nothing? Damn it.

However, the system replied: "[Detection complete. The card used by the duelist has a 50% similarity to the card in the duelist's memory; they are not the same card. Would you like to spend 1000 dp for deep analysis?]"