Chapter Twelve: Has Your Thousand-Year Eye Ever Attended University?

"Now, we present the commemorative trophy and the tournament's grand prize to our victorious contestant, Weevil!"

On the television screen, the dueling platform of Ryuzaki, the loser of the duel, was being retracted backstage, while Weevil's platform descended to ground level. The host announced into the microphone, "Presenting the award is the President of Industrial Illusions and the genius game designer who created 'Duel Monsters'—"

"Mr. Maximillion Pegasus!"

A mechanism in the ground right in front of Weevil's dueling platform opened up. A man dressed in a red gentleman's suit and impeccably formal attire appeared on the stage via the elevator, holding a golden trophy in his hands. Long silver hair cascaded down to his chest, veering across to completely cover his left eye, leaving only the right half of his face visible to the world.

Walking slowly up to Weevil, the tall Pegasus bent forward slightly and gracefully handed the trophy to the short-statured Weevil. "Congratulations."

"Th-Thank you!" With a mysterious blush on his face, Weevil accepted the trophy from Pegasus's hands. Although his personality was quite obnoxious, he still deeply admired someone as prominent as Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters.

"The prize money will be delivered to you shortly. Furthermore, you are unconditionally invited to participate in a special event that our company will be hosting in the near future."

Pegasus watched as Weevil lowered his head shyly. A flash of golden light glinted through his silver hair, and a mysterious smile played on the corners of his lips, leaving one to wonder what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, in front of the television, everyone's attention had already shifted away from the concluded Duel Monsters tournament, turning back instead to the cardboard box that Yugi had previously set aside.

"I really am terribly curious about this package." Holding the cardboard box, Jonouchi looked at it from every angle, as if trying to decipher some intricate pattern on it. "If I don't find out what's actually inside, I probably won't be able to get a wink of sleep tonight."

"Then let's just open it and see."

Yugi took the box from Jonouchi's hands, picked up a utility knife, and sliced through the sealing tape on top of the box, revealing the contents within. In this box of mysterious origins, the very bottom layer was lined with a thick shock-absorbing cushion to protect the items inside. Resting in the center were several objects:

Two star-shaped accessories housed in sealed card cases, made of a thick, heavy metal;

A fingerless glove intended to be worn on the right hand, with several star-shaped grooves left on the wrist area, seemingly designed to be paired with the two star-shaped accessories mentioned earlier;

And a videotape to the side, completely unmarked regarding its contents, though it was apparent that the runtime of the tape was likely not short.

"What on earth are all these things?" Yugi picked up the glove and slipped it onto his right hand. The size matched the contours of his palm with uncanny precision, as if it had been custom-made for him. The material was also very breathable and resistant to sweat, and even the seemingly heavy wrist ring hardly hindered the movement of his arm at all.

Jonouchi took the two star-shaped pieces out of the box. "They feel quite heavy when you pick them up. They look like metal—could these actually be made of real metal?"

"Do you guys think this might be a videotape containing instructions or something?" Anzu picked up the videotape and gave it a gentle shake.

While the few of them were gathered around the box, Honda noticed that Hayato, after glancing at the contents of the box, had started rummaging through his shoulder bag. Just as Honda turned his head, Hayato pulled a few items out from his bag.

"Ahem, regarding that, I actually know the answer." Hayato gave a light cough to draw everyone's attention and held up the two items in his hand, shaking them slightly. "Because I received these two things as well."

"Eh? Aren't those—?" Jonouchi glanced at the glove and metal stars in Hayato's hand, then lowered his gaze to the two star pieces he was holding himself.

"I wonder if you guys noticed something. The match we just watched was the 'National Qualifying Tournament' hosted by Industrial Illusions. What exactly were they selecting for?"

"The answer is that Industrial Illusions is about to host a colossal event. This event will no longer be limited to regions or countries, but will encompass the entire world. The chosen duelists from across the globe will gather in one place, competing through duels to select the absolute strongest duelist and bestow upon them the title of 'King of Games'."

"The King of Games..." Just hearing Hayato's explanation set Jonouchi's blood boiling. "All right! I'm definitely going to enter that tournament!"

Honda patted Jonouchi on the shoulder. "You idiot, Jonouchi, haven't you caught on to what Hayato is implying yet?"

"Huh?"

"I get it. The qualifiers previously held by Industrial Illusions were meant to select contestants who are qualified to participate in that tournament to crown the 'King of Games'. At the same time, players who didn't enter the qualifiers but possess considerable strength would also receive invitations." Yugi seemed to grasp Hayato's meaning. "In other words, this glove and these stars are probably vouchers proving one has been invited?"

"Huh?! You mean both Hayato and Yugi have been invited?!" Jonouchi was dumbfounded. "How is that even possible? Why wasn't a powerhouse duelist like me invited? That Pegasus guy really must be blind!"

What a great insult, and spoken by a true prophet—wasn't Pegasus's left eye literally lacking a "pupil" (blind)?

"You certainly have the nerve to say that, Jonouchi. You're just a top-eight finalist from Domino City, and that was even with Yugi and Hayato not participating," Honda retorted mercilessly. "It would be far more unexpected if you actually *were* invited."

"Yugi's reputation was built on 'defeating Seto Kaiba, who possessed three Blue-Eyes White Dragons', so it's entirely expected that Pegasus would invite him. As for me, it's not really because of my dueling prowess; rather, by a twist of fate, I happened to make Pegasus's acquaintance and we chatted a few times about the future development of Duel Monsters, so he invited me along to experience it firsthand."

Hayato explained the reason behind his invitation. He paused, looked at the videotape in Anzu's hand with a trace of hesitation, but ultimately continued, "However, the package I received only contained those two items; it didn't come with that videotape."

"Perhaps this videotape was recorded by whoever invited Yugi to the tournament, and they want Yugi to watch it? Should we step away for a moment?"

Hayato truly wished he could change the fate of Yugi's grandfather, Sugoroku, whose soul was sealed away because Yugi lost a duel. But he knew very well that this was the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, a world where "destiny" genuinely existed. In order to force Yugi to participate in Duelist Kingdom and achieve his goal of acquiring Kaiba Corporation, Pegasus would undoubtedly stop at nothing.

Even if he told Yugi, "The videotape isn't important, let's just throw it away," it probably wouldn't change destiny; Pegasus might simply resort to physically kidnapping the people around Yugi, just as he did with Kaiba.

In the end, all Hayato could do was take the others a safe distance away from the television—which was about to become the medium for the duel—and then rely on "that thing" he had been preparing for nearly a month to put up a fight against Pegasus's dark powers.

Subconsciously, he touched his pocket, feeling the cards he had drawn out in advance. In his heart, Hayato prayed: *'I've trained troops for a thousand days to use them for a single hour; you guys better step up and deliver this time.'*

"Since big bro says so~"

"We'll definitely be fine!"

"Probably, nya?"

"Kuri~"