Chapter 841: An Unexpected Reunion
What torments a creator? A lack of inspiration.
And the suffering beyond that? Having too much inspiration and being unable to use it all, forcing you to make choices.
What about even beyond that? You don't even know which of the two choices you *must* make will yield a better outcome.
Pegasus found himself in such a situation. Unexpectedly obtaining seven ancient gems, he had the opportunity to create a unique special Card. At the same time, just at the first stop of this journey, Egypt, he had already gained ample inspiration to create entirely new Cards. Two happy things combined should have been double the joy. But how could this be...?
Hearing Pegasus express his troubles, Hayato could only hold back the words, "Children make choices; adults, of course, want it all."
Due to the limited number of gems, only one Set of Cards could ultimately be completed. If he insisted on "having it all," it would only split the power of the original complete Set of seven gems, resulting in two incomplete Sets of Cards, neither of which would be in a perfect state. This outcome was unacceptable to Pegasus, and the same went for Hayato.
Preferring second-rate comedies over first-rate tragedies, and similarly, preferring complete Card Archetypes over powerful Cards existing in isolation, Hayato definitely didn't want to create an "emasculated" version when he had the chance to produce a full Set of Cards.
The result was that the problem returned to its starting point: whether to choose the (Crystal Beast) or the (Gem-Knight) as the design direction. Not only Pegasus, but even the others were now troubled by helping him ponder the choice. No wonder Pegasus said his design progress was stagnating, decreasing rather than increasing.
If we talk about Power, neither (Crystal Beast) nor (Gem-Knight) are Meta Decks or Tier 1 Decks. While they can achieve some excellent Combos with proper configuration—for instance, (Gem-Knight) can pull off FTK (First Turn Kill) and (Crystal Beast) can always be mixed with strange Cards—overall, they definitely can't compare to (Drytron), (Shaddoll), or even the "wheelchair-bound" (Cyber Dragon).
However, if one absolutely had to compare them, (Gem-Knight) still possessed some Power, while (Crystal Beast) could truly only be described by one word—"Soul"—struggling within the Casual Deck scene.
But there's a saying, "It's not about Power, it's about love," and this also applies to Duel Monsters. For example, Hayato possessed several powerful Decks, but the ones he trusted most were still (Gaia The Fierce Knight) and (Rainbow Kuriboh).
Hayato couldn't offer any advice for Pegasus's dilemma, but he did remember someone: on the original Timeline, this person was the user of the (Crystal Beast) Deck—a unique, rare Card Set entrusted by Pegasus, who had honestly completed the (Crystal Beast) Archetype without new ideas being opened up by the (El Shaddoll Construct), and was also one of Jaden Yuki's most trusted friends in the future, if not *the* most trusted: Jesse Anderson.
Others couldn't make a decision, and Pegasus, the designer himself, couldn't make up his mind. But if it were Jesse Anderson himself, the future user of the (Crystal Beast), Hayato felt he had the qualification to make the choice.
The problem was, Jesse Anderson and Jaden Yuki were the same age, and Jesse wasn't a student at the Main Campus of Duel Academy, which was still just a plan and not yet built. Instead, he was an exchange student representative from a Branch School in the Arctic Circle. Hayato only remembered that he seemed to be from Nordic regions, but beyond that, there was no other information.
Furthermore, Pegasus entrusted the (Crystal Beast) Cards to him simply because, when invited to be an award presenter at a world-class youth Duel Tournament, he happened to witness Jesse Anderson become Champion. After feeling Jesse's heartfelt love for Duel Monsters and his rare ability to see Duel Monster Spirits, Pegasus gifted him the (Crystal Beast) Deck.
Because his relationship with Kaiba and Pegasus was quite good, Hayato could learn about various upcoming Tournament plans from both of them. However, the problem was that Duel Monsters was currently still in the stage of global promotion, not yet at the point where it covered the entire World and its enthusiasts spanned all age groups. At the very least, both Pegasus and Kaiba had indicated that there would be no age-divided Duel Tournaments planned for the next two years, making it impossible to find Jesse Anderson.
He couldn't just suddenly appear before them, could he? Hayato didn't possess the ability to make his wishes come true.
Hayato was grumbling internally when he heard voices speaking behind him. However, the language used was neither Arabic nor English, but Japanese, which wasn't a mainstream language in Egypt. One of the voices inexplicably sounded familiar.
"Are you sure it's this way, Teacher? Although the (Guardian) group really did say they felt a familiar Aura, would anyone actually buy those ridiculously expensive tickets outside to come in? It feels a bit unreliable." A somewhat youthful voice spoke, and then another voice, quite familiar to Hayato, replied.
"This is the first lesson I'm giving you, Johnny, Lesson 1—don't have any strange expectations of me." The familiar voice came from around the corner. "I bear countless sins, and I'm not a good person. You should approach others with a questioning Heart and not trust them so easily."
However, the youthful voice seemed to completely disregard what Hayato's familiar voice had said: "Eh~ but I don't think you're a bad person, Teacher! You clearly have fervent feelings for the (Guardian) group, and the (Guardian) group deeply loves you, Teacher. How could someone who loves Duel Monsters and cherishes Duel Monster Spirits be a bad person?"
"Johnny." The voice familiar to Hayato said, a hint of helplessness in his tone.
The two conversing individuals had not yet emerged from around the corner; their voices preceded their appearance. Not just Hayato, but even Yugi seemed to find the voice of the more mature person, referred to as "Teacher," somewhat familiar, yet he couldn't recall where he had heard it before.
Listening to their conversation, and catching the keyword "(Guardian)," Hayato raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Although (Guardian) Cards aren't unique like (Blue-Eyes), and you can still buy them to build a Deck if you have money, 'Duel Monster Spirits' and all that... could it be *that guy*?"
As Hayato was thinking this, the two individuals conversing in Japanese emerged from around the corner, revealing their true appearance to the group: a duo, one tall and one small.
The smaller one appeared to be only about ten years old, with somewhat rare dark green short hair, wearing a white knitted hat adorned with many small blue stars, and looking up at the tall man beside him with teal eyes.
Upon seeing the man, Hayato showed an expression of sudden realization: "No wonder that voice sounded so familiar! It's you, then. Come to think of it, we were practically former colleagues."
The blonde man also noticed Hayato, and an expression of surprise involuntarily appeared on his calm, almost stiff face: "So it was you, Hayato, and the Nameless Pharaoh, who gave me and the (Guardian)s that unusually familiar feeling."
"...Blue-Haired Earring."
"Don't just give me strange nicknames on your own! My name is Raphael!" Raising an eyebrow, Raphael glared at Hayato. "While I do wear an earring, where did you get the idea that I have blue hair?"
The blonde, muscular man who appeared before the group was none other than Raphael, the user of the (Guardian) Deck, who once belonged to Dartz's Doma and even held the extremely high position of one of Doma's Three Knights!
Ever since Joey, Kaiba, Yugi, and Hayato defeated Dartz, eliminated the "Orichalcos God," and released the Souls of countless people it had devoured over tens of thousands of years, Raphael, whose Soul had been Sealed by Dartz's scheme, was naturally Revived at that time, as was Rex. However, this was the first time Yugi and his companions had met Raphael since then.
Although Raphael's demeanor was highly recognizable, the Raphael appearing before them now had undergone a monumental transformation compared to when he was one of Doma's Three Knights. His short blonde hair had grown to shoulder length, and he wore a cowboy hat to shield himself from the scorching Egyptian sun. His original dark blue trench coat had been replaced with a combination of a purple short-sleeved shirt and a brown cape.
To be honest, at first glance, even Yugi and Atem, who had communicated through their Hearts during Duels, found it a bit difficult to confirm that the Raphael before them was the Raphael they knew.
"Ahahahahaha, that's a pretty good joke, very funny, super awesome!"
Beside Raphael, the child who appeared with him, as if he had *gotten* the punchline of Hayato and Raphael's brief exchange, opened his mouth with a cheerful laugh. However, compared to his genuine smile, his tone of voice was somewhat flat, giving the impression that he was merely feigning amusement or even being sarcastic.
"That's not a joke, Johnny. Don't learn bad habits from that Hayato guy." Looking at the boy beside him, Raphael pushed up the brim of his hat with a hint of helplessness.
"Long time no see, Raphael." With a flash of golden light from the (Millennium Puzzle), Atem appeared in the outside World and greeted Raphael, "How have things been lately?"
"Nameless Pharaoh, long time no see. Although I say that, it's only been less than a month since Dartz's defeat. There's no need to look at me as if we're reuniting after a decade or more." Raphael looked into Atem's eyes and said, "As for my current situation, I guess you could say I've been lucky."
"Before, when I was with Doma, for the 'New World' Dartz envisioned, I acted as his blade, handling many unsavory affairs. Burdened with this guilt, I should have faced a Judge, but after a long time, I never received my due punishment. Then I realized—killing me, someone protected by supernatural Spirit Power, seemed to be a loss in the eyes of those nations, rather than salvaging Doma's legacy to prevent other competitors from profiting."
"It's just like the so-called relatives and friends I saw fighting over my family's fortune when I returned to human society from the Deserted Island."
Saying this, Raphael shook his head helplessly, sighed, and turned to look at the boy beside him: "Although I feel burdened by my sins, I have no self-destruct tendencies. I just wanted to do something meaningful, and then I unexpectedly met this child in America and became his guardian."
Hearing Raphael's words, Atem also looked at the boy named "Johnny" beside him. Behind Atem, Joey also leaned forward and said, "Ah, I heard it just now, his name is 'Johnny', right, this kid?"
"No, 'Johnny' is clearly just a nickname, you idiot Joey." "Huh? Tristan, you, whose foreign language grades are on par with mine, what are you so proud of?"
Seeing Atem looking at him, "Johnny" politely greeted him and introduced himself: "Hello, Mr. 'Nameless Pharaoh,' I apologize for calling you that. My teacher told me he doesn't know your name either, so he can only refer to you this way. 'Johnny' is indeed my teacher's nickname for me; my name is Jesse Anderson."
"Hello there, Jesse Anderson." Looking at the cheerful Jesse Anderson, Atem also greeted him. However, he noticed that after Jesse Anderson greeted him, he also waved to his left and right.
But there was no one standing to his left or right; it was just (Dark Magician) and (*Dark Magician Girl*) who had spontaneously appeared from their Cards, remaining by his side in a state invisible to ordinary people.
"This child, he can actually see them?"
"Yes, Johnny seems to have a rare, innate ability to see Duel Monster Spirits. I believe he has great potential in Duel Monsters, so I'm teaching him as his mentor." Raphael nodded affirmingly, then asked Yugi, "Compared to me, what's your situation, Nameless Pharaoh?"
Atem smiled upon hearing Raphael's words: "As for my situation, the answer is that you no longer need to call me 'Nameless Pharaoh,' but by my name, 'Atem.'"
"You've found your name again? That's wonderful news, Na... Atem." Raphael seemed happy for Atem finding his name.
Jesse Anderson, beside Raphael, seemed to have spotted something quite interesting. He walked away from Raphael and approached Hayato, who was frowning and scrutinizing him: "Hello, are you Mr. Hayato?"
"Jesse Anderson... that name is too common; it must be a coincidence... No, never mind." Hayato, muttering to himself, looked at Jesse Anderson in front of him. "That's me. What is it?"
"Well, my teacher has recently been teaching me that a Duelist's Deck often has 'Soul' Cards that act as its Core. By building a Deck around just a few Soul Cards, a Duelist can unleash their full Power." Jesse Anderson paused, then continued, "My teacher also gave examples: his own Soul Cards are (Guardian Eatos) and others, Mr. Seto Kaiba's Soul Card is (*Blue-Eyes White Dragon*), and Yugi Muto and Mr. Nameless Pharaoh's Soul Cards are (Dark Magician) and (*Dark Magician Girl*)."
"I also just saw the Duel Monster Spirits of (Dark Magician) and (*Dark Magician Girl*) beside Mr. Nameless Pharaoh. But when I asked my teacher before, he absolutely refused to tell me what your Soul Card is, Mr. Hayato, the Duel King."
Finally stating his purpose, Jesse Anderson also breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Hayato with an expectant expression: "So, Mr. Hayato, who exactly is your Soul Card?"
Hearing Jesse Anderson's words, Hayato proudly spread his arms: "Didn't you see the Duel Monster Spirits around me?"
Jesse Anderson scratched the hat on his head, looking a bit troubled: "I did see them, but Mr. Hayato, aren't there usually only two or three Soul Cards?"
"Idiot, how can a Soul be so inconvenient?" Hayato pointed a thumb at himself. "Of course, all my Duel Monster Spirits are my Souls! It's not that I'm a scumbag; it's just that my Heart has been shattered into countless pieces for my Duel Monster Spirits."
Hearing Hayato's words, Jesse Anderson had no reaction yet, but (Ojama Yellow), who hadn't appeared in a long time, suddenly burst out from the Deck at his waist, wiping away snot and tears: "That's so touching, Big Bro!"
(Ojama Black) and (Ojama Green), along with the other (Ojama) Type Monsters, all surprisingly came out: "You finally said we're your Souls too!" "We've waited for this day!" "It's so touching, nya!"
"Oh, I forgot to add, the (Ojama) Fodder Monsters don't count."
"Don't ruin our beautiful dream!"
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