Chapter 48: Did Your Thousand-Year Eye Go to College?

“Now, we shall present the commemorative trophy and the tournament prize money to the victorious Duelist, Pegasus.” On the television, the duel stage of the loser, Ryuzaki, was being retracted backstage, while Pegasus's stage was lowered to the ground. The host, holding a microphone, announced, “The presenter is the President of Industrial Illusions and the genius game designer who created ‘Duel Monsters’—”

“Mr. Pegasus J. Crawford!”

The floor mechanism in front of Pegasus's duel stage opened, and a man dressed in a formal red gentleman's suit appeared on the lift, holding a glittering golden trophy. His long silver hair cascaded down to his chest, obscuring his left eye and leaving only half of his face visible to the audience.

Walking slowly toward Pegasus, the tall man leaned down slightly and elegantly handed the trophy to the diminutive Pegasus: “Congratulations.”

“Th-thank you!” With a mysterious blush on his face, Pegasus accepted the trophy from the man's hand. Although his personality was quite wicked, he held great admiration for a figure as monumental as Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters.

“The prize money will be delivered to you shortly. Additionally, you are granted unconditional entry into a special event that our company will be hosting in the near future.”

As Pegasus watched Pegasus shyly lower his head, a flash of golden light flickered through the silver hair, and a mysterious smile played on the man's lips, leaving it unknown what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, in front of the television, the crowd's attention had shifted away from the concluded Duel Monsters tournament and back to the cardboard box that Yugi had set aside earlier.

“That package really is bothering me,” Joey said, holding the box and looking at it from every angle as if trying to see through the cardboard. “If I don't find out what's inside, I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.”

“Then let's open it and see.”

Yugi took the box from Joey, picked up a utility knife, and sliced through the seal on top, revealing the contents. Inside this mysterious box, the bottom layer was padded with thick cushioning to protect the items. Several objects were laid out in the center

Two star-shaped ornaments encased in sealed card holders, made of heavy metal;

A fingerless glove for the right hand, with several star-shaped indentations at the wrist, appearing to be designed to pair with the two stars;

A videotape off to the side, which had no markings regarding its content, though it appeared to be quite long.

“What are all these things?” Yugi picked up a glove and slid it onto his right hand. It fit his palm perfectly, as if custom-made. The material was very breathable and didn't cause sweating, and the heavy-looking wrist ring didn't seem to interfere with his arm movement.

Joey took the two stars out of the box: “They feel heavy. They look like metal—could they actually be metal?”

“Do you think this might be an instructional videotape?” Anzu asked, picking up the tape and shaking it slightly.

While the group was circling the box, Honda noticed Hayato searching through his satchel after glancing at the contents of the box. Just as Hayato turned around, he pulled a few items out of his bag.

“Ahem, regarding that, I know the answer.” Hayato cleared his throat to grab their attention, holding up the two items in his hand. “Because I received these two things as well.”

“Eh? Those aren't...?” Joey looked at the glove and metal stars in Hayato's hand, then looked down at the two stars in his own.

“I don't know if you noticed, but the match we just watched was the 'National Selection Tournament' hosted by Industrial Illusions. And what were they selecting for?”

“The answer is, Industrial Illusions is about to host a massive event. It won't be limited to regions or countries, but will be global. Duelists selected from all over the world will gather to compete, and through dueling, the strongest will be chosen and bestowed with the title of 'King of Games'.”

“King of Games...” Joey felt his blood pumping just hearing Hayato's explanation. “Alright! I'm definitely going to enter that tournament!”

Honda patted Joey on the shoulder: “You idiot, Joey, haven't you realized what Hayato is implying?”

“Huh?”

“I get it. The selection tournament held by Industrial Illusions was to select contestants qualified to participate in the tournament to decide the 'King of Games.' At the same time, strong duelists who didn't participate in the selection would also receive invitations.” Yugi seemed to understand Hayato's meaning. “In other words, this glove and these stars are likely the credentials for being invited, right?”

“What?! You mean both Hayato and Yugi were invited?!” Joey was stunned. “On what grounds? Why wasn't a powerful duelist like me invited? That Pegasus guy is truly blind!”

*Damn right, and he's a prophet too—isn't Pegasus literally "blind" in his left eye?*

“You've got quite the mouth, Joey. You were only a top eight finisher in Domino City, and that was without Yugi or Hayato participating,” Honda remarked. “It would be more surprising if *you* were invited.”

“Yugi's reputation is built on 'defeating Seto Kaiba, who possesses three Blue-Eyes White Dragons,' so it's expected that Pegasus would invite him. As for me, it wasn't because of my dueling strength, but because I met Pegasus by chance and discussed the future development of Duel Monsters a few times. So, he invited me to experience it as well.”

Hayato explained the reason for his invitation, paused, and looked at the videotape in Anzu's hand with slight hesitation, but finally said: “However, I only received these two items. I didn't get that videotape.”

“Perhaps this tape was recorded by the person who invited Yugi to the tournament, intended for him to watch? Should we step away?”

Hayato truly wanted to change the fate of Tea being sealed because Yugi lost the match, but he knew very well that this was the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, a world where "destiny" was real. To force Yugi to attend the "Duelist Kingdom" to achieve his goal of absorbing the Kaiba Corporation, Pegasus would undoubtedly use any means necessary.

Even if he told Yugi, "The tape isn't important, just throw it away," it might not change fate. Pegasus might end up physically kidnapping the people around Yugi, just as he did with Kaiba.

The most Hayato could do was lead the others away from the television, which would soon become the medium for the duel, and then use "that thing" he had been preparing for nearly a month to try and block Pegasus's dark power.

He subconsciously touched his pocket, feeling the cards he had pulled out earlier, and prayed in his heart: *'Prepare for a thousand days to use for a single moment. You guys better step up this time.'*

“Since the big brother said so~”

“We'll definitely be fine!”

“Probably not?”

“Kuri~”