Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"The same goes for pulling [Heavy Armor] from [Frontline Base]: it's pointless. The two cards you have left in your hand, whether it's [Divine Declaration] or [Divine Shield - Mirror Power -], are far more useful than those two cards, right?"

Now, Maeda Kumazo was somewhat surprised: "How did you know my hand at the time? Weren't you not there?!"

"Just because I wasn't there doesn't mean I couldn't see what was happening. Isn't the technology from the Hikari Group amazing?" Hayato said with a smile, tossing a device that looked like headphones in his hand and playing with this simple dueling device.

Four years ago at the press conference in Domino City, Kaiba said that he would release this ultra-portable virtual projection device and the matching ultra-portable virtual duel disk, intending to promote the next generation of dueling monsters that do not require cards, and completely abandoning Kokusai Mirage Co., Ltd., the card printing company, to go it alone.

However, he soon realized that his idea was still too advanced. The idea of ​​using digital cards for duels instead of buying physical cards would have to wait at least several decades before it could be more easily accepted. The current mainstream is still to use physical cards for offline duels.

So, quite happily, Haima Group, who had played a round of cards to satisfy their cravings at the press conference and even made grand promises that boosted the stock price of Haima Group, promptly canceled the originally planned follow-up issuance. After all, they had only said they would issue it, but not when. Once Kun had finished eating the rice, the dog had finished licking the noodles, and the Silk Song was officially released, Haima Group would naturally release the Duel Disk.

However, even though the Duel Disk is not for sale, it was already a finished product and could be used normally. Therefore, almost everyone who was close to Kaiba had one. Currently, it is only circulating internally as a portable virtual projection device, which is this small device shaped like an earphone.

Hayato used this device before, and even though he wasn't there, he could clearly see the duel between Maeda Hayato and Maeda Kumazo. He could even see the cards in their hands clearly from a clearer angle and distance than Jaden and the others who were there.

To put it simply, despite being defeated by Maeda Hayato in just two turns, how could a professional duelist who nearly made it into the top ten be easily defeated by someone like Maeda Hayato, who was even facing the prospect of repeating a grade? His "Surf Prosecutor" has an incredibly annoying limiting effect, causing headaches for opponents even in the World Championships. There was even a time when a player pulled out a "Surf Prosecutor" deck with five face-down cards in the back row – an absolutely insidious and bizarre maneuver.

Satsuma Jigenryu? In essence, isn't it just a tactic of using seemingly weak defenses to bait the opponent's attacks, tricking them, and then launching a fierce attack to defeat them before they can react? It works like this in Kendo, and it's still the same process after being adapted into a tactic in Duel Monsters.

That's why Hayato joked that Maeda Kumazo went easy on his son.

"Say what you will, I lost to that kid and I no longer have the right to discipline him. He can only let him take responsibility for himself." Maeda Kumazo, who seemed rough around the edges, actually had a delicate mind. He took out a bottle of shochu from somewhere, placed it at Hayato's feet, and continued walking forward. "I'll leave the matter of that kid to you, Principal."

"Is this considered a bribe?" Hayato picked up the sake at his feet, watched Maeda Kumozou disappear at the end of the passage, and chuckled to himself, "I'll have Yugi take it to the International Illusion Society later and find a chance to mix it into Pegasus's red wine, and give that old Deng who only knows how to slack off a beating."

The earphones beside him lit up, as if they had received some message. Hayato casually put on the earphones and looked at the virtual screen projected in front of him, where Kaiba's figure appeared: "Yo, Seito, what's up now?"

"I should be the one saying that. What made you suddenly leave?" Hayato asked, as if Kaiba were truly standing in front of him, his face cold. "Is there anything more important than the installation of the 'Legendary White Stone'?"

“Honestly, you should just call yourself ‘Cocoon,’ otherwise people will definitely mistakenly think you actually got the card of the Legendary White Stone…” Hayato said casually, then paused, “But it seems you have already gotten it? Never mind then.”

When did it start? From the time of Paradox? It's not that long ago, probably around the time when Pegasus Moonwalker created the Field Spell Card "High Speed ​​World" based on the principles of D-Wheel, which could simulate the effect of the Field Spell Card used in future Ride Duels, and the Ring that sealed the use of Spell Cards.

When Time was Ryuga, one of the members of the new Gross formed by Tenma Gekko, he could use the ring to cheat and make the future Adjuster Monsters held by Hayato briefly change the "□□" in the effect bar back to "Adjuster". It seems that he vaguely awakened the Yusei Particles, which were still dormant and even Kaiba could not find, with that special power.

The ripples on the water surface did not subside quickly after the water droplets were absorbed into the water. In any case, after that, not only Hayato but also other people gradually began to obtain "Tuner Monsters". The reason for putting "Tuner Monsters" in quotes is that the cards they obtained were similar to Hayato's cards. They were all future Tuner Monsters, but there was no "Tuner" in the cards at the moment.

Leaving aside others, Maeda Kumazo, who just left Hayato with a bottle of shochu and then departed, had a total of seven Tuner monsters in his "Scrap Metal" deck, one of which was the "Scrap Metal Thief Dragon" he traded with Ryuzaki.

However, the present is the present, and the future is the future. The effects of these Tuner monsters that haven't yet become Tuners differ significantly. Besides lacking descriptions like "Synchro Summon," cards like "Scrap Dragon Thief," which could previously search for both "Scrap Factory" and other non-Tuner "Scrap" monsters, now only search for "Scrap Factory" in its second effect. Given this, cards like "Scrap Zone," which searches for "Scrap" Tuner monsters in the deck, naturally won't appear in Maeda Kumazo's hand.

Since even Maeda Kumazo could obtain a non-Adjustment monster, it's naturally impossible for Kaiba not to. "Blue-Eyes Girl" is a non-Adjustment monster. However, in addition, Kaiba, who appeared as "Partner of Justice - Kaiba Man" last time, also revealed in his duel with Hayato that he had also obtained "Legendary White Stone". He deliberately kept it hidden in his duel with Jaden in order to give Hayato a surprise.

This made Hayato understand why Kaiba had named his newly created game pod "The Legendary White Stone," and he also realized that the Duel Monsters environment had finally made significant progress. From this perspective, Tenma Gekiyuki, a die-hard Hayato fan, wasn't entirely a failure; at least one of his goals—"to accelerate the Duel Monsters environment to keep up with Hayato"—had achieved some success.

"Although you went to great lengths to get the game pod from Duel Academy, it's true that it needs to be installed properly. But it's not me who's installing it; it's the professional installers sent by the Kaiba Group. Surely they're not so short-handed that I have to help tighten the screws too?" Hayato complained, carrying his shochu and walking out of the passageway. "Even if I were there, I'd just find a place to sit and play on my phone, checking the forums to see if anyone posts 'how would you rate it' or something like that for fun."

"Speaking of which, could it be that the people sent this time are still—"

"Isono."

Kaiba answered quite matter-of-factly, prompting Hayato to remark, "Even though you've promoted Isono to head of the security department over the years, you still end up leaving everything to him. With a boss like you, Isono really has it tough."

“He had no objection. Because the salary I offered was very high, extremely high.”

(Isono: I have no objection)

"There's really nothing to say about that. It's your fault for not valuing money at all. Every month on payday, Guiping posts on the forum complaining about your extravagant spending."

Now it was Kaiba's turn to be confused: "I remember the Duelist Forum, I have the highest level of access, so why don't I know about this?"

"Because Keipai also has the highest level of access, and he even blocked you, and even logged into his own alternate account. It's a pity his name is too easy to guess, 'Thunder Dragon is also a Dragon'? It made me laugh, playing with Thunder Dragon." Hayato said, teasing Kaiba, "But being disliked by your own younger brother so much, you're not as good as Jonouchi as an older brother."

Other seahorses might have ignored it, but this sentence immediately annoyed the seahorse that had been relatively calm: "You're comparing me to that mediocre person?"

“As a duelist, he hasn’t beaten you yet, but as an older brother, his sister is much closer to him than Keihei is to you. And he’s even about to complete his round-the-world honeymoon with Mai.” Counting on his fingers, Hayato extended two fingers on his left hand to represent Jonouchi and one finger on his right hand to represent Kaiba. “Hmm, Jonouchi is one point ahead of you.”

"Keihei only started complaining about me in the last four or five years because he's going through a rebellious phase. Besides, that mediocre guy doesn't even know that his sister has been dating that Honda Hiroshi for over a year, so he's not winning against me as the older brother at all," Kaiba retorted stubbornly. "Where did you learn math? It's clearly a draw!"

"Whose kid goes through such a long rebellious phase?" Shaking his head, Hayato had already entered the dueling arena. At this moment, since the duel had ended a while ago, everyone, including Maeda, Jaden, Professor Chronos, and Vice Principal Samejima, had already left. He went to the audience seats above the entrance to the passageway and disassembled a camera device he had left there earlier, which he had used to watch the live duel.

“I’m looking at it now. Actually, the old dueling arena can hold quite a few people. Not only can it accommodate current students and exchange students, but it can also seat teachers, staff, and invited audience members. There’s plenty of room.” Hayato surveyed the scene and broadcast the live feed to Kaiba. “But if everyone wants to use your ‘Legendary White Stone’ gaming pod and participate in the final eight-way battle in the virtual world, the space needed will be much larger.”

“Old-fashioned seating only needs to provide a place for the audience to sit and arrange some spacing to cramm in a lot of people, but what fun can you get from watching a duel like that?” Kaiba also saw the scene in front of Hayato through his terminal and explained his understanding of Duel Monsters: “Only the duelists can go up on stage and feel the passion of Duel Monsters up close. Other than that, even the audience in the front row can only see a fixed perspective.”

"Only by deeply experiencing the exhilarating brilliance of Duel Monsters can one be inspired to aspire to become a duelist and strive to become stronger to step onto the dueling stage with a surging desire."

"That moment of transformation, that moment of becoming stronger, that moment from a third-rate duelist to a 'Top-Star' who can stand at the pinnacle of the world—the chemical reaction triggered by the fusion of miracle and brilliance, eternal glory, a fleeting moment of passion, a stage of destiny that no one can predict!" Kaiba's voice gradually revealed a hint of excitement. "That's exactly what I want to see!"

"For this kind of experience, to allow more ordinary people who have not yet awakened their passionate duelist spirit to have the real fiery experience of Duel Monsters, the use of 'Legendary White Stone' is necessary!"

Hayato casually manipulated the virtual projection, putting a skin over the seahorse image projected in front of him, turning it into a talking giraffe. He complained, "I have no objection. Anyway, you're the one who paid for all the construction of the new venue in the forest and the renovations, Mr. Giraffe."

(At least for a moment when I heard the word 'fusion,' I thought of a seahorse.)

"By the way, how many people did you bring with you this time? Was it really necessary to rush?"

"Otherwise what? Isn't your selection process ending tomorrow?"

"Huh!? Doesn't that mean the top eight will be decided the day after tomorrow? How did time fly by so fast?" Hayato said in surprise, opening a webpage that displayed the current student rankings. "Let me see how the rankings are going..."

Chapter 1263 Yuan (Elemental Hero) God, Activate!

"Elemental Spirit, activate!" In the monster selection screen, Jaden, with his super-fast reflexes and skillful muscle memory, locked onto his favorite monster in just one second—the [E·hero Winged Warrior], which can also be translated as "Elemental HERO".

"No way, big brother, you chose [E-Hero] again?" Marufuji Sho couldn't help but complain when he saw this. "Although in Duel Monsters League, [E-Hero] went from being a normal monster with no effect to having four skills like other monsters, it's still very weak in both the early and late game. It's basically useless."

"If I had known, I wouldn't have chosen [Decoy Robot]. Even if it's a support robot that protects you, it won't be able to deal damage with [E·Hero Wingman]. I would have preferred to switch to [Submarine Robot] to ambush the opponent."

"This lineup is indeed quite troublesome to fight. Even if we team up as a group of three, it will be very difficult if the opponents coordinate well."

Maeda Hayato asked with a serious expression, making Marufuji Sho, who was standing next to him, worry: "Will we lose?"

“We will win,” Maeda said matter-of-factly. “There can’t be some invincible opponent who can defeat everyone, can there?”

Then, when Asuka arrived at the Red Dormitory and looked into the room through the open door, she saw Maeda Hayato and Marufuji Sho sitting on the floor, looking dejected.

"Spatial Slash can actually be cast instantly with a loan? I got up, and it cut me in half with one strike. What's there to say?"

"I'm truly sorry I couldn't satisfy Lord [Chaos Warrior]..."

"You guys are really taking it easy. Don't you need to duel people to increase your score?" Asuka said to Judai, "The qualifiers end this afternoon, Judai. You're just playing games here?"

"Hehe, Big Brother's points have already been pushed into the top three of the leaderboard through a series of duels. Anyway, he only needs to get into the top eight. Big Brother has already advanced." Before Judai could say anything, Marufuji Sho said smugly, as if he was the one in third place. "Big Brother worked so hard before, can't he enjoy it?"

"Actually, the main reason is that after my duel yesterday, Jaden and Shota were so happy that they accidentally threw the Duel Disk into the water while playing with it." However, Maeda immediately revealed the truth, "Although Jaden's score data was preserved, the Duel Disk that got wet still needs time to be repaired. At least Jaden can't duel today."

After listening to Maeda's words, Asuka looked at Judai with an awkward smile and smiled helplessly, "So, Judai, who is usually so eager to challenge people to duels, is unusually lazy today, playing games in the dormitory. I was wondering why I didn't see you, Judai, who is usually the most enthusiastic, when I saw Manjoume, Rokuro, and even my brother dueling to improve their rankings before the deadline."

(Mysterious voice: It's Misawa! Misawa!)

"But speaking of which, I thought you had already left, Maeda-kun."

Hayato Maeda scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "After I passed the principal's test yesterday, I did receive an employment contract from the International Illusion Society with Yugi Muto's signature. Like Jaden and Sho, we all thought I was about to leave the academy."

"However, the principal told me that I would be going to join the International Illusion Society with Mr. Yugi, and Mr. Yugi would stay on the island until his deck exhibition ended and also watch the Duel Academy's exchange match, so I would actually be staying at the school for quite a while."

"Ah, speaking of Yugi Muto's deck, I heard that Kagurazaka's performance during the exhibition was quite impressive, and the Kaiba Group, who recently came to the island, took a liking to him and are planning to sign him to debut as an idol duelist." Hearing Maeda mention Yugi Muto, Sho Marufuji chimed in, "That's a meteoric rise for him, huh? But why hasn't anyone signed me, someone who can beat Kagurazaka?"

The term "idol duelist" refers to a special profession that has gradually emerged in recent years, falling somewhere between professional duelists and traditional idols. Compared to professional duelists, whose competition is fierce and only the strongest are destined to be popular, idol duelists have much more lenient requirements regarding the strength of their dueling monsters.

This doesn't mean that they can debut simply by knowing how to draw cards. In fact, it's more accurate to say that what idol duelists need to showcase is another kind of exciting duel, not in the interaction between monsters and cards, but in how to display the gorgeousness and beauty of the cards.

Even cards like [Lion Wizard], [Seahorse], or [Morphin] can display a special charm in the hands of top idol duelists—perhaps it would be better understood as "live-streaming e-commerce host"?

The world's top idol duelist, who was also the world's first idol duelist, was even a member of the legendary duelists and an old acquaintance of Hayato. After graduating, he gained considerable popularity due to his outstanding appearance and also gained some knowledge of Duel Monsters through exposure. He was hired by the Kaiba Corporation as a publicity ambassador and eventually became the founder of the special profession of "idol duelist".

Many people dream of becoming professional duelists, but the highly competitive professional dueling world makes it difficult for them to easily gain a foothold. In such cases, idol duelists become an alternative. Although they have high requirements for appearance, idol duelists can rival professional duelists in popularity, and if they can secure commercial endorsements for specific cards, their income can be even higher than that of professional duelists.

Most of the students at Duel Academy naturally want to become professional duelists, but if there is an option to become an idol duelist, they will not easily let it go. Marufuji Sho is one of them.

However, while he was having a sweet dream, Jaden chuckled and shattered his illusion: "Because Sho, you're really not suited to be an idol duelist, are you?"

"Huh? What does that mean?" Marufuji Sho didn't understand Judai's words.

"What I mean is, Marufuji-kun, you don't have the qualifications to become an idol duelist at all. You're not tall enough, your appearance isn't outstanding, and the cards you use are neither cool nor cute. In contrast, Kagurazaka-kun has the advantage of being able to adapt to various styles of cards and imitate them in duels. His physical attributes are also much better than yours."

As Asuka spoke, recalling what she had seen a few days ago—Kagurazaka wearing a wig with the same hairstyle as Judai and using the [E·hero] deck to duel—she couldn't help but laugh. She also felt a little regretful that she had forgotten to take a picture at the time; otherwise, she would have really liked to see what kind of funny expression Judai would have when he saw Kagurazaka imitating him.

Asuka was smiling, while Marufuji Sho looked devastated, grabbing his Duel Disk in a fit of grief and indignation: "N-no, just an idol duelist, I'm not envious at all!"

"A truly ambitious duelist should aspire to become a professional duelist; I'm not envious at all!"

He emphasized that he was not envious at all, but in fact he was quite envious of Kagurazaka. Marufuji Sho lost his mood for playing games and rushed out of the dormitory with his Duel Disk and deck, seemingly to find someone to duel somewhere.

"How childish." Asuka watched Marufuji Sho walk away, completely uninterested in his immaturity. She turned back to Judai and said, "But since you have enough points, I'm relieved. I look forward to being matched with you in the quarterfinals."

"Then I won't disturb you from continuing your game."

Asuka was thinking of leaving, and Jaden also stood up, looking helpless: "But now that Sho has just run away, our team is missing one person. It's no fun to keep playing."

"Asuka, did you see Manjoume and the others fighting? I'll go check on how their duel is going."

"Judai, are you not playing anymore? If so, I'll continue designing cards." Seeing that Judai seemed to have given up, Maeda Hayato took out a folder and opened it, revealing six or seven drawings inside. These were the original drafts of the cards that Manjoume and Sho had drawn when they provided inspiration for Maeda.

During the initial assessment for joining the International Illusion Club, Maeda Hayato ultimately created a card based on his own design, "Sunrise at Ayers Rock." However, he didn't discard the other people's designs; instead, he kept them to take to the International Illusion Club. Once he joined, he planned to use his position to create cards designed by his classmates and give them as gifts.

Although he hadn't officially joined the company yet, it only affected the production of the cards and not Maeda Hayato's ability to perfect the designs. The first thing he started drawing happened to be the large collection of his monsters that he had drawn before Jaden.

After all, Jaden was his best friend at school. It was Jaden's cheers from the sidelines that gave him the courage to fight during the duel. So, Maeda felt that if he were to give his friends the cards he made, Jaden should be the first choice, both out of courtesy and reason.

"Hehe, strength doesn't matter, but you have to design a cool card illustration for me." Knowing that the strength of a card is temporary, but the coolness of the illustration is forever, Jaden smiled, revealing his shining teeth, and gave Maeda a thumbs up, earnestly asking, "I'll bring you lunch when you come back."

Which guy wouldn't be moved after hearing his roommate say something like that? Maeda felt even more motivated to draw cards.

Meanwhile, in the dueling arena on campus, two men stood on either side, staring intently at their opponents with determined gazes.

"I never would have guessed you were capable, even though you're just a student from the Yellow Dorm." Manjoume glanced at his recently destroyed [Dragon of Light and Darkness] and said arrogantly, "However, you could never defeat me, Mr. Manjoume! Why? Because I am destined to become the strongest in the world of Duel Monsters!"

"Even Jaden Yuki was just an accident. Letting him stand above me is only to motivate me to become stronger. But having one person of equal status among my age is enough. There's no room for a third at the top of the pyramid!" Pointing to the opposite side, Manjoume called out the other person's name, "20% off!"

"It's Misawa Daichi!"

With an extremely displeased expression, Misawa glared at Manjoume: "I don't care about being the strongest or anything like that. The problem is, can't you bunch of bastards even remember other people's names properly?! Since we enrolled, no more than three people have been able to pronounce my name correctly. Is my name that hard to remember?!"

"What I find most unacceptable is that everything was normal for the whole month, but on the last day of the selection competition, the points rankings suddenly went buggy, like they were infected with a virus. Everyone else was fine, but my name changed from the normal 'Mizawa Daichi' to 'Mizawa Kaimi', and sometimes it even changed to 'Mizawa Tensei'!"

"And then, when I'm in the worst mood, you still bring this up to tease me. Even if you're Judai's friend, it doesn't matter. I can't tolerate your arrogance any longer, Manjoume!"

"It's Mr. Manjoume!"

Both Manjoume and Misawa wore fierce expressions, enough to frighten even children to tears. Meanwhile, Jonouchi, watching from the audience on a whim to see the average student's skills, calmly critiqued their expressions, giving them a score: "These expressions deserve a perfect ten, but that's only ten for both of them combined. How to put it? They seem too reserved, not fully immersing themselves in the duel."

“Even when you’re really serious in a duel, not everyone can make exaggerated expressions as easily as you and Malik, Jonouchi.” Yugi joked with Jonouchi. “And even outside of a duel, Jonouchi, don’t you always make exaggerated expressions easily? If you have to say, it’s more about your personal talent for facial expressions.”

"Hmph, that's quite mild of you, game, but it's really more like comedic talent. When it comes to delivering hilarious entertainment as a clown, even I have to admit you're the best, you mediocre one."