Chapter 32 Plucking the Goose as It Flies

Hayato won the duel, so he naturally strutted away with a triumphant and high-spirited air, while Weevil wore an expression of utter dismay and remorse—regretting why he had wagered all his star chips, and why he had foolishly gambled away the very future of Duel Monsters.

Two men in black suits were already waiting beneath Weevil's side of the duel platform, not only to prevent him from running away but also to block curious duelists from getting close. However, since Pegasus had officially announced the start of Duelist Kingdom, very few duelists were still lingering in front of the castle.

After all, the tournament had invited up to a thousand duelists. With two chips per person, that meant there were at least two thousand star chips in circulation. Collecting just ten chips would grant the holder qualification to enter the castle interior, meaning under ideal conditions, as many as two hundred people could meet the requirement.

Yet Pegasus had imposed a strict limit of "eight people" for entry into the castle. This meant that only the first eight duelists to gather ten chips could actually step inside. Under such circumstances, duelists naturally had to find opponents as quickly as possible, claim victory, and amass their chips.

The two men in black diligently blocked the path of Weevil, who had just stepped down from the duel platform, and were about to subdue him when one of them was tapped on the shoulder from behind. Irritated, the man turned around and said, "Please do not interfere with our wo—Mr. Hayato."

"I have no intention of interfering with you. In fact, if possible, I'd even love to throw this guy off the island myself," said Hayato, the one who had tapped the man's shoulder. "However, since I am the victor, I am simply here to collect my spoils of war. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"...Of course there is no problem at all, Mr. Hayato." After a brief moment of thought, the two men in black sensibly stepped back a half-pace to make room for Hayato. One of them hesitated for a moment before adding, "Still, please refrain from using physical violence. It affects the reputation of Industrial Illusions, and it puts us in a difficult position."

"Got it, got it." Hayato waved his hand with a smile and walked toward Weevil, who was leaning against the duel platform.

The dust on Weevil's face had not yet been wiped away. Seeing Hayato approach, he became quite agitated. "Hayato! You bastard!"

"No matter how loudly you roar, it won't change the final outcome, will it? I won, and you lost, you insect jerk." Ignoring the murderous glare in Weevil's eyes, Hayato reached out, grabbed Weevil's left hand, stripped off his duel glove entirely, and pulled it right off.

"Mr. Hayato..." the man in black behind him cautioned, seeing how roughly Hayato was handling things.

Hayato pinched the duel glove and waved his hand dismissively. "Relax, relax. Think about it—the star chips are embedded right into the duel glove. I couldn't be bothered to dig them out one by one, so pulling off the whole thing is entirely reasonable, right?"

As he spoke, Hayato grabbed Weevil by the collar. Thanks to his height and long reach, he hoisted Weevil straight up into the air, ignoring his flailing hands. He reached for the deck box at Weevil's waist and yanked it off along with the belt from his trousers.

"Just as I wagered with him earlier, we staked everything we had on the future of Duel Monsters, so of course I have to take his deck as well. Otherwise, what would he do and where would he go to play cards after leaving Duelist Kingdom?" Using a justification that convinced no one but himself, Hayato tossed Weevil—whose pants had slid down to reveal underwear patterned with beetles—to the two bewildered men in black, and strolled away triumphantly, carrying the duel glove and Weevil's deck.

[System update complete.]

Hearing the prompt indicating the system update was finished, Hayato immediately opened Weevil's newly acquired deck. With practiced familiarity, he tapped into the [Recycling] module of the [Shop], swiftly recycling utterly useless cards like Pinch Hopper and Cocoon of Evolution, which yielded a whopping 1000 DP.

"Hayato!" Hayato, who was thoroughly pleased with himself for pillaging someone else's belongings like a certain gaming streamer, heard someone calling his name. He turned his head and saw Yugi and the others. With his back to the duel platform—which was sinking down into the ground as part of the recycling process—and listening to the wails of Weevil being carried away by the two men in black, Hayato walked over to the group and handed the duel glove in his hand to Joey.

"Hayato, what's this?" Joey asked, looking somewhat puzzled.

"You must have heard just now that you need a duel glove to participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Both Yugi and I already have one, so I'll give this to you. Even though it belongs to that disgusting creep Weevil, I hope it fits your hand." As he spoke, Hayato even flicked one of the star chips he had detached from the glove. "Though I can only spare you one of the star chips, sorry about that."

"No, I should be thanking you, Hayato." Though Hayato's attitude was casual, Joey knew how much this gesture helped him and bowed with utmost solemnity.

Mai Valentine stood nearby, watching Hayato distribute his spoils to Joey. "While I'm touched by the camaraderie between you all, is this really a good idea? The competition for star chips is getting quite fierce right now, you know."

"Are you trying to say that helping Joey will hold me back? But only by supporting each other can companions go further, isn't that right?" Hayato replied with a smile. "Besides, what's wrong with giving Joey a star? I certainly don't think I'll lose to anyone else just because I'm one star ahead."

"Do as you please." Mai cast a long, deep look at the cheerful group and said nothing more. She turned on her heel and walked toward the steps leading away from the castle. "I have hunting targets to find. Farewell for now, Yugi, Hayato, and Joey."

"Is Miss Mai not coming with us?" Joey tugged at his slightly tight glove, watching the direction in which Mai departed.

Yugi thought for a moment. "It's probably because of the time limit. The faster you collect star chips, the better. If we travel together, the pace of our duels would inevitably be affected."

"That's the logic, Yugi. So I'll be parting ways with you guys too." Hayato said, looking at the group while his gaze occasionally drifted toward a certain spot. "You and Joey stick together; I still have some business with Pegasus. Let's plan to meet up again once we've all gathered ten stars."

With that, ignoring the attempts by Joey and Tristan to make him stay, Hayato ran off toward the stairs on his own. Yugi watched Hayato's retreating figure, vaguely noticing a few yellow and green blurs guiding the way ahead of him.

Must have been his imagination.