Chapter Eleven: Allies of Justice (With Conviction)

Several people gathered around the table turned their heads upon hearing Grandpa Sugoroku’s voice.

After being inside the room for quite some time, Grandpa Sugoroku drew back the curtain and stepped out, holding a small, dust-covered box in his hands. As he walked out, he kept brushing off the dust from the box. “Ah, although it’s a precious collection, I rarely dare to take it out. No wonder it’s so hard to find at the moment.”

“Oh, Kijang, are these the rare cards inside?” Jinpachi was the first to rush over excitedly. Honda and Kyoko, who had grown interested in the game "Duel Monsters" after watching Hayato and Game’s match, followed closely behind Jinpachi.

Seeing everyone moving toward Grandpa Sugoroku’s counter, Game quickly said to Hayato, “Hayato, let’s hurry over too. Grandpa’s card is really suuuuper rare.”

“Tch, you sure know how to distract people. Fine, I’ll let it slide this time.” Since Game was so eager to change the subject, Hayato temporarily let go of the fact that Game had gone easy on him during their duel and followed him toward the counter.

Still, he felt a bit regretful. Although his deck was just the system’s starter deck, and Game’s cards weren’t the full set he had assembled later, the quality gap between the decks wasn’t absurdly large. In other words, this was probably the best chance Hayato had to defeat Game.

Despite some regret, he wasn’t discouraged. Duel Kingdom, Duel City — there would be plenty more chances to face off against Game. Next time, he was determined to win!

Grandpa Sugoroku was busy cleaning the small box. The leather exterior was thickly coated in dust, and to avoid damaging the card inside, he carefully wiped it repeatedly. It was clear he valued the card highly.

“Kijang, when you went inside, we just finished watching a duel between Game and Hayato,” Kyoko and Honda, coughing a bit from the dust, moved slightly away from the counter. Jinpachi, seemingly unaffected by the dust, pressed close, eager to see the card inside the box first-hand. While waiting, he narrated the duel to Grandpa Sugoroku, who hadn’t seen it.

“Huh? 4000 attack points! Game really is something. No wonder he’s my grandson,” Sugoroku praised Game but didn’t forget to compliment Hayato as well. “Of course, Hayato, you’re impressive too. A monster with 3000 attack points isn’t something you see everywhere.”

“That’s right. If you ask me, 3000 is about the highest attack power in Duel Monsters,” Jinpachi said confidently, as if he had summoned that 3000-attack monster himself. “Without using magic cards, there probably isn’t any monster with that kind of terrifying strength.”

“Heh heh, that’s not necessarily true,” Sugoroku said, shaking his head and handing over the now mostly dust-free box.

“This here is my treasure. Today, I’ll let you kids have a look.”

“Oh! What is it? What is it?” Not just Jinpachi, but Honda and Kyoko also gathered around, with Game and Hayato standing in the outer circle.

Carefully opening the box, Sugoroku’s expression turned serious. He put on a pair of white gloves and drew out a card, showing it to everyone.

“See? This is the one.”

“Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

“Amazing! Both its attack and defense power, plus the imposing image on the card!” Jinpachi’s eyes nearly popped out. He had just said no monster could reach 3000 attack points, and now Sugoroku was showing this card. Its defense was also a formidable 2500 points, tough even for “Dark Knight Gaia” to overcome.

“This card is called ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon,’ and it’s one of the super rare cards in all of Duel Monsters,” Sugoroku continued, clearly pleased with Jinpachi’s praise. “Its attack and defense are top-notch, and worldwide, there are only four copies of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. This is one of those rare four.”

“An absolute priceless treasure,” Honda said thoughtfully. Unlike before, when he knew nothing, he didn’t recklessly grab the card Sugoroku showed. Having learned more about Duel Monsters, he understood the immense value behind the luxurious stats of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, especially since it was a super limited edition with only four copies worldwide.

As everyone knows, “limited edition” usually means “expensive.” With Duel Monsters exploding in popularity, someone might even trade an entire house just for this Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

“Hey, Kijang, bring it closer so we can get a better look,” Jinpachi requested. But with the counter in the way and Grandpa Sugoroku carefully maintaining distance, he couldn’t get any closer and had to ask Sugoroku directly.

Yet Sugoroku protected the card by holding it behind his back. Jinpachi’s hungry gaze looked as if he wanted to devour the card. “No way. This card isn’t for sale. It’s already an exception that I’m showing it to you.”

“Ahaha, even if I wanted to buy it, I couldn’t afford it,” Jinpachi quickly realized he might have been too blunt and worried Sugoroku might think he wanted to buy the card. “But speaking of which, I do want to get some powerful monster cards. Kijang, find me some packs with strong monsters, okay?”

“Well, that’s doable.”

Honda hesitated a moment before speaking up as well. “Hey, Kijang, I want a few packs too. Could you recommend some good ones for beginners?”

“Oh, Honda, you want to play Duel Monsters too?” Jinpachi glanced back at Honda with a smile that soon twisted into a playful grimace. “That means I can finally teach you a lesson, so you won’t call me an idiot every time I lose.”

“Hmph, we’ll see about that. Maybe the newbie will be the one schooling you,” Honda retorted, matching Jinpachi’s playful expression, though his was less exaggerated.

“Kijang, I want to buy two cards too,” Hayato said, pulling out the wallet he had slyly taken from the director and others earlier. The money inside totaled about thirty thousand yen.

Hayato didn’t feel guilty. After all, according to the original story, the director would have been punished by Game’s dark persona — Pharaoh’s soul — with a shadow game that would make his vision forever blurry, like a mosaic. But now, he had only been beaten up and lost some face and money.

Hayato felt like a righteous ally indeed.