Chapter 25: Anigae!?

Chapter 25: A~Ni~Ge~!?

It was understandable that [Achievements] lit up, but the fact that the [Shop] lit up gave Hayato an unpleasant premonition. In the depths of his mind, the mysterious smile of the owner of that famous gaming platform from his previous life—a guy codenamed "G胖" (G-Fat)—flickered before his eyes.

Whenever that fat man and his accompanying green square appeared, the money in Hayato's wallet would mysteriously vanish.

Forcing himself not to click on the [Shop], Hayato clicked into the [Achievements] area.

Just like his last visit, the [Achievements] area was still filled with the gray backs of cards. The three achievements unlocked last time were placed at the very top for easy viewing, and in addition to those, Hayato had unlocked two more achievements this time. Following habit, Hayato flipped them both over

[Achievement Completed: First Victory] [Condition: Win a Duel Monsters game]

[Achievement Completed: Comeback!] [Condition: Achieve a "Comeback Victory"]

Reward Statistics 500dp * 2 R-Rank Selectable Card/Pack * 1 [Damage Vaccine ΩMAX] * 1

Not a bad return. Counting the previous 6400dp, he had earned a total of 7400 points from this duel with Manjoume Seiji, plus a very practical R-Rank selection. Additionally, the card [Damage Vaccine ΩMAX] was quite good.

Its effect allowed him to recover Life Points equal to the damage taken after being damaged by any means—essentially nullifying the damage. It was a combination of [Replenish] and [Marshmallon]. However, the card had one flaw: the effect resolved *after* taking damage. If his Life Points dropped directly to zero, the card would fail to activate.

Exiting the [Achievements] area, Hayato looked at the 9900dp below his avatar in the top left corner and felt like he had plenty of money on hand.

With this much dp, using a little shouldn't matter, right?

With that thought, Hayato couldn't resist and opened the [Shop]. As soon as he entered the [Shop], several large words jumped out impatiently

[Celebrating the Duelist's First Victory! Newbie Selection Supplement Pack is now open for a limited time! Purchase opportunity available only once!]

As expected, his premonition was correct. In any gacha game, if the [Shop] gives you a little red notification dot, nothing good is happening. This law applied even after Hayato's reincarnation. Here he was, having finally scraped together a bit of a balance, only to be targeted by the system with some "Newbie Selection Supplement Pack."

Muttering curses at the system, Hayato's finger ultimately bypassed [View Later] and obediently clicked the [Go Now] button. Instead of the [Basic Card Pack] on the shop homepage, nearly thirty card boxes appeared

[Earth Attribute Supplement Pack] [Fire Attribute Supplement Pack] [Wind Attribute Supplement Pack]...

[Dragon Race Supplement Pack] [Warrior Race Supplement Pack] [Beast Race Supplement Pack]...

[Mixed Theme: Magic Swordsman] [Mixed Theme: Alien Exploration] [Mixed Theme: Undersea Race]...

From specific attributes and races to mixed sets of various support cards, the system was showcasing all the ways it could scam his money. Hayato could freely choose one of these many boxes to purchase, and at a price even cheaper than the original 10,000dp for 100 packs—9900dp.

That was exactly the amount of his current balance!

In exchange for the high price, the quality of these packs was also high. For example, [Mixed Theme: Alien Exploration] primarily mixed the Insect series of the Insect Race with the Machine Race's "Giant Warship" series. It guaranteed at least 1 UR and 3 or more SR cards, and even offered a chance to pull series like [Gray Cosmos] and [ABC] that weren't yet open in the [Shop].

Then there was [Undersea Race], a "Sea" theme combining Fish, Aqua, and Sea Serpent races. Buying one pack would allow him to play the role of a certain fisherman-turned-card, and it even offered a chance to pull the [Water精鳞/Water精Scales], [Ice Barrier], and [Relinquished] series.

Hayato felt his decision paralysis flare up again after the last R-Rank selection—he wanted to pick everything, he didn't want to give up anything, yet the system only allowed him to pick one, and even if it allowed him to pick all, he could only afford one.

After hesitating for a long time, Hayato found a card box in the furthest corner of the countless decks with a name completely different from the others: [Special Custom: Deck Building Supplement Pack]

Looking at the description, Hayato felt it was quite novel. Every other card box had a very clear theme, but this pack took an unconventional route, stating only: "Random supplement cards issued based on the currently used deck."

Compared to the other boxes with clear rewards, this one was clearly a gamble; there was no way to know what the potential rewards were before buying it. Logically, knowing his luck wasn't great, Hayato shouldn't have chosen this box, but as the saying goes, "a bad player with a big addiction"—unable to help himself, Hayato ultimately bought the supplement pack.

Watching the dp points below his avatar drop to zero in an instant, seeing only the [Basic Card Pack] left lonely in the [Shop], and seeing a large box of cards land in his [Warehouse] waiting to be opened, the man who had just impulse-bought something bit his lip hard—*Please, please give me something good!*

By the time Honda walked out from the back room with a puzzle box, the duel between Yugi and Jonouchi had ended. No accidents occurred; Yugi's victory remained the final result. Opening the puzzle directly in the shop to let his friends help think of what words should be written on it, Honda looked up to say something, only to see Hayato looking somewhat dazed.

"Did something happen, Hayato?"

"Uh, nothing, I'm fine, I'm great." With a bitter smile, Hayato secretly swore to never believe in his own luck again, his eyes glaring fiercely at his own empty shoulders.

What Honda and the others couldn't see were three strange creatures perched on Hayato's shoulders, chattering incessantly

"Big brother, you scared the life out of me during that duel~"

"Big brother, big brother, that woman over there has huge breasts!"

"Big brother, when is food time?"

"Big brother~"

"Big brother!"

"Big brother?"

*Damn it, if this keeps up, I'm going to lose my mind.*

Hayato felt like he was about to be brainwashed by those three on his shoulders with the word "Big Brother." After informing them he had something urgent to attend to, he hurriedly ran out of Kame's Game Shop to find a quiet corner to stay in for a while. At this moment, he understood perfectly why the future Manjoume Jun would transform from a cold villain into a comedic character.

It absolutely, absolutely had to be related to those three appearing by his side!

***

[Author's Note: Excessive chapter content. No need to guess what's on the protagonist's shoulders—the "Disturbing Three Brothers." Thus, the deck he builds is also obvious. The basic self-protection ability I planned for the protagonist is about to be complete, which means we can fast-forward to the Duel Kingdom arc (which means Shrimp/Joey is about to have his "heart broken," yay!). As always, please recommend and comment~]

(End of Chapter)