"Now, we will present the commemorative trophy and the championship prize money to our victor, Weevil!" On the TV, the loser Rex's Duel Stage was retracted backstage, while Weevil's Duel Stage was lowered to the ground. The host made the announcement into his microphone, "The presenter is the president of Industrial Illusions, and the Genius Game Designer who created 'Duel Monsters'—"
"Pegasus!"
A mechanism on the ground in front of Weevil's Duel Stage opened, and a man in a red gentleman's suit, very formally dressed, appeared on stage, rising on a lift. He held a glittering gold trophy in his hands. His long silver hair fell to his chest, covering his left eye and revealing only half his face to the crowd.
Strolling up to Weevil, the tall Pegasus bent down slightly and elegantly handed the trophy to the short Weevil. "Congratulations."
"Th-thank you!" With a strange blush on his face, Weevil accepted the trophy from Pegasus's hands. Although his personality was terrible, he greatly admired a major figure like Pegasus, who had designed Duel Monsters.
"The prize money will be delivered to you shortly. Also, you are unconditionally invited to a special event our company will be holding soon."
Pegasus watched Weevil lower his head shyly. A golden glint flashed from between his silver hair, and a mysterious smile played on his lips, his thoughts unreadable.
In front of the TV, the group's attention had shifted from the finished Duel Monsters tournament back to the cardboard box Yugi had set aside earlier.
"This package is still really bugging me." Holding the box, Joey looked it over from all angles, as if trying to discern something special from it. "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's hands and used a box cutter to slice the seal on top, revealing the contents. Inside the mysterious box, the bottom layer was padded with thick cushioning to protect the items. Lying in the middle were a few things:
Two star-shaped ornaments in a sealed card case, made of thick metal;
A fingerless glove for the right hand, with several star-shaped indentations on the wrist, seemingly designed to be used with the two stars from before;
A videotape on the side, with no label indicating its contents, though one could tell its runtime wasn't short.
"What is all this stuff?" Yugi picked up the glove and put it on his right hand. Coincidentally, it was a perfect fit, as if tailor-made for him. The material was very breathable and didn't make him sweat, and the seemingly heavy wristband didn't interfere with his arm's movement much.
Joey took the two stars from the box. "These feel pretty heavy. They look like metal. Could they really be metal?"
"You guys think this could be an instruction videotape?" Téa picked up the videotape and shook it.
As the group was puzzling over the box, Tristan noticed that after glancing at the contents, Chumley had started rummaging through his shoulder bag. Just as he turned his head, Chumley pulled out a few things from his bag.
"Ahem, about that, I know the answer." Chumley coughed to get everyone's attention. He held up two items in his hand and shook them. "Because I received these two things as well."
"Huh? Isn't that...?" Joey glanced at the glove and metal stars in Chumley's hand, then looked down at the two stars he was holding.
"I don't know if you guys noticed, but the match we just watched was the 'National Qualifiers' held by Industrial Illusions. What are they qualifying people for?"
"The answer is, Industrial Illusions is holding a massive event soon. This event won't be limited to regions or countries, but will encompass the entire world. Selected duelists from all over the globe will gather to determine the strongest duelist through Duels, who will be granted the title of 'King of Duelists'."
"The King of Duelists, huh." Joey's blood was boiling just from listening to Chumley's explanation. "Alright! I've gotta enter that tournament!"
But Tristan clapped Joey on the shoulder. "You idiot, Joey. Haven't you figured out what Chumley means yet?"
"Huh?"
"I get it. The qualifiers that Industrial Illusions held were to select participants for the tournament to decide the 'King of Duelists.' But at the same time, skilled duelists who didn't participate in the qualifiers would also receive invitations." Yugi seemed to have understood Chumley's meaning. "In other words, this glove and these stars are probably the proof of invitation, right?"
"What?! So you're telling me both Chumley and Yugi were invited?!" Joey was dumbfounded. "On what grounds? Why wasn't a powerful duelist like me invited? That Pegasus really is blind!"
"You've got some nerve, Joey. You only made it to the Top 8 of Domino City, and that was without Yugi and Chumley even participating," Tristan retorted. "I'd be surprised if you *did* get an invitation."
"Yugi's fame is built on 'defeating Seto Kaiba and his three (*Blue-Eyes White Dragon*)'. It's no surprise Pegasus invited him. As for me, it wasn't because of my dueling skill. I happened to meet Pegasus by chance, and we talked a few times about the future development of Duel Monsters, so he invited me to experience it."
Chumley explained the reason for his invitation, paused, and looked at the videotape in Téa's hand with some hesitation, but finally said, "However, I only received these two items. I didn't get that videotape."
"Maybe this videotape was recorded by the person who invited Yugi to the tournament, and it's meant for him to watch? Should we give him some space?"
Chumley really wanted to change Grandpa's fate of being sealed away because Yugi lost the Match. But he knew very well that this was the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, a world where "destiny" truly existed. In order to force Yugi to participate in Duelist Kingdom to achieve his goal of taking over KaibaCorp, Pegasus would surely stop at nothing.
Even if he told Yugi "the videotape isn't important, just throw it away," it would probably be difficult to change fate. Pegasus might just resort to physically kidnapping someone close to Yugi, just like he did with Kaiba.
In the end, all Chumley could do was lead the others further away from the TV, which was about to 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 few cards he had taken out in advance. Chumley prayed inwardly: 'Train an army for a thousand days to use it for an hour. You guys have to pull through for me this time.'
"If the boss says so~"
"We'll definitely be fine!"
"Probably, nya?"
"Kuri~"
P.S. To clarify, the protagonist does have a (*Kuriboh*). Although this is its first appearance, I mentioned it a few chapters ago as a Reward for giving Yugi the (Man-Eater Bug).
P.S.2: There haven't been many comments these past few days, so I think I'll go back to releasing 3 chapters a day starting tomorrow.
(end of chapter)