Chapter 75: When Your Eyes Meet, It's a Signal for Battle
Just as Hayato was troubled by his physical condition, Bakura, who had been deep in thought for a long time, came before him and bowed very solemnly to the dazed Hayato: "Thank you very much, Hayato-kun, thank you for saving me."
"Huh? Oh. So, Bakura, did you remember?" Hayato looked up at Bakura, thinking to himself, 'That Rabbit-Eared Great Demon King from the Duel earlier is completely different from this Shota now.'
After the Dark Game started earlier, "Dark Bakura" completely gave up on hiding the fact that he wasn't the original Bakura. Not only was his face twisted and hideous, but his hair was also messy as if it hadn't been styled for ten days, and he even had two particularly long strands that looked like rabbit ears.
But the real Bakura Ryo standing before him, thanking him with a serious face, had a delicate face and skin so fair it seemed like water could be squeezed out. His white messy hair fell to his shoulders, and his two large, watery eyes cast a timid gaze. His slender Stats gave off a complete—
What was he thinking!
Hayato quickly pinched his thigh, his eyebrows furrowed into a knot, complaining inwardly that Joey Wheeler must have infected him with his strange thoughts.
Bakura didn't notice Hayato's unusual behavior. Instead, he said with a face full of apology: "I'm sorry, Hayato-kun, my Body has been controlled by that Demon all this time. I couldn't resist him at all and did many things I shouldn't have. I even almost hurt you."
Hayato waved his hand: "That's fine, beating that Rabbit-Eared Great Demon King is easy. More importantly, how is your mental state?"
"Hmm, my head hurts a lot, but I don't have that hazy feeling from before. It's like a river channel with the filter removed; my previously blocked thoughts are now clear." Bakura gave a wry smile, "Before, I couldn't realize the existence of my other self no matter what. Even when controlled, I could only watch, and I would forget everything after waking up."
Just as Bakura was talking with Hayato, the bushes not far away were pushed aside, and several Staff members in black clothes walked out. They were from Industrial Illusions. Seeing Hayato and Bakura sitting together, the few people were momentarily stunned but then walked over.
One of them greeted Hayato: "Mr. Hayato, we are here to take away Player Bakura, who has lost his Match qualification." The other few gathered around Bakura, seemingly politely gesturing the direction he needed to go next. However, if Bakura showed any resistance, Hayato had no doubt they would use force.
"Excuse me, how did you confirm that Bakura lost his qualification?" Hayato was a little puzzled.
The Staff member explained: "It's like this, Mr. Hayato. We have hidden exclusive information in every Star Chip. When the Chip is embedded in the Duel Glove, the Glove activates this information and sends feedback to the Main Server."
"To prevent cheating and forging Chips, and also to timely track which Duelists are worth paying attention to and which Duelists have lost all their Chips?" Hayato easily understood the logic behind the Star Chips.
As for how the Chips and Gloves achieved this function? Hayato didn't care, because the authentication System used by the Duel Monsters Cards themselves was even more outrageous than the Star Chips.
Seeing that the Staff members were about to take Bakura away, Hayato thought for a moment and then spoke up: "I remember, my Special Invitation Qualification hasn't been used up yet, right?"
"Uh, yes, Mr. Hayato. You have used three of your Special Invitation Qualifications, and there is still one slot unused," the Staff member recalled and replied.
"In that case, give the last slot to Bakura. He's my classmate. However, since he lost his Duelist qualification, you can Recycle his Duelist Glove. Is that okay?"
"...Hmm, no problem, Mr. Hayato." The Staff member only thought for a moment before agreeing. Although temporarily adding a Special Invitation Qualification wasn't entirely in line with work procedures, Hayato was Pegasus's Special Invitation Player this time, and quite an important figure. His request wasn't too excessive and could be fully met.
Watching the Staff members leave with his Duel Glove, Bakura looked at Hayato, who was leisurely leaning against the tree trunk resting, and thanked him again: "Thank you very much, Hayato-kun."
"Don't be so polite. I mainly thought it would be boring to be alone when I have free time, so I wanted to keep someone to chat with." Although he had mostly recovered, the Side Effect of Summoning the Earth Spirit God earlier still left Hayato feeling a bit listless even now. He shook the Millennium Ring hanging on his chest, "But as payment, I'll keep this here for now."
"Hayato-kun, you must be careful." Watching Hayato casually play with the Millennium Ring, Bakura couldn't help but recall his past experiences and warned Hayato worriedly, "This is an Ill-Omened Item."
"Ill-Omened Item?! Where, where!"
The response to Bakura didn't come from Hayato leaning against the tree trunk, but from behind him. Both of them turned their gaze in unison, only to see a large bearded man about 1.9 meters tall running towards them with an excited look on his face, shouting, "Where is the Ill-Omened Item!!!"
"Boss!!!" Behind the large bearded man followed a man in a suit, carrying a backpack almost bigger than himself, and holding a briefcase in each hand, following closely behind the running large bearded man, "Boss! Please slow down!"
The excited large bearded man in front was deaf to the shouts of the man in the suit behind him. He just ran up to Hayato and Bakura on his own, his face flushed, whether from exercise or excitement, and yelled in a loud voice, "Where is the Ill-Omened Item!"
"Uh... maybe, perhaps, it's here?" Hayato was a little confused. Who was this person? Subconsciously, he raised the Millennium Ring he was playing with in his hand.
"Oh oh oh! This is! It just looks like an Ill-Omened Item!" The large bearded man's eyes lit up as he looked at the Millennium Ring and said excitedly, "Young man, I'll buy this—!"
"Please wait!"
The man in the suit finally caught up to the large bearded man. Holding the two briefcases in one hand, he used his free hand to step between Hayato and the large bearded man. He first nodded to Hayato and apologized, saying "Please forgive me," then immediately grabbed the large bearded man's hand and said, "Boss, please stop buying those strange things!"
"Haha, I can't do that." The large bearded man laughed heartily, directly pulled the blocking man in the suit aside, and continued speaking to Hayato: "Young man, how much do you want? I'll buy this 'Ill-Omened Item'!"
"Um, sorry, old man, this is a Non-sale Item," Hayato scratched the back of his head, looking at the strange large bearded man in front of him.
"Don't be like that, young brother, the price is negotiable." The large bearded man didn't give up easily and was about to say something more when he saw the Duel Glove on the hand Hayato raised to scratch his head.
Who knows what the large bearded man imagined, but he suddenly burst into laughter, startling Hayato: "Heh ha ha ha ha, I see, I see, I understand!"
"Since our gazes have met, let's have a Duel, unknown Duelist!"
(End of this chapter)