**Chapter 16: Please Care for Underage Empty-Nesters**
Kaiba's appearance was ultimately just an interlude. Afterward, the people in the Kame Game Shop happily continued researching Duel Monsters cards. Hayato and Yugi, who knew the most about Duel Monsters, explained various aspects of the game to the newcomer, Tristan. Joey, who had played for a while but was effectively still a complete beginner, also sat quietly to the side. As for Téa, she was enthusiastically helping Grandpa Sugoroku.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was dinner time. Hayato and the others said their goodbyes to Yugi, and each went home.
Hayato walked home alone. He had just reached the front door, his key not even in the keyhole yet, when his attention was drawn to a letter placed under the doormat.
[For Hayato's Eyes Only]
Picking up the envelope, Hayato saw just those few words written starkly on it. However, he wasn't in a hurry to open the envelope. Instead, he first opened the door to the house and said inside, "I... I'm home."
After all, Hayato wasn't Japanese in his previous life, so saying "I'm home" when returning home still felt a bit unnatural.
However, the "Welcome home" that Hayato expected never came from inside the house.
Puzzled, he took off his shoes and left the entryway. Hayato entered the house to investigate. To his surprise, there was no one home; it was utterly silent and empty. Well, not entirely silent. The robotic vacuum cleaner on the floor had started running automatically at its preset time, its vacuuming system emitting a "buzzing" sound as it faithfully began cleaning the floor.
Hayato was a Transmigrator, and Transmigrators' parents were a high-risk profession. However, in this life, Hayato's parents were still alive. The woman he had just seen after waking up in this world was his mother in this life, named Sumire Kobayashi. She seemed to be a tax manager in the finance department of an international company, but Hayato had only heard the company name once, so he hadn't remembered it.
As for Hayato's father, his name was Hiroyuki Kobayashi. He was a diplomat, and due to his profession, he was often abroad. Hayato had only Transmigrated one day ago, so up until now, he had only seen his father's appearance in family photos and hadn't truly met him.
However, what puzzled Hayato was that although his mother, Sumire Kobayashi, often had to be busy with company affairs, she should have been on annual leave recently. Why wasn't she home? Could it be that she went out shopping with her girlfriends?
The only clue Hayato had was the envelope he had picked up at the door.
Taking off his satchel, Hayato sat cross-legged by the kotatsu in the living room. The tatami mat beneath him was quite comfortable. He picked up a letter opener from the table, sliced open the envelope, and pulled out a letter and a bank card from inside.
Placing the bank card on the table, Hayato first opened the letter and began to read.
"Dear Hayato,
By the time you read this letter, Mom might already be on a plane to London. I'm going to find your dad. Speaking of which, that's where we met all those years ago..."
Hayato quickly read on. The letter was written by his mother, Sumire Kobayashi. The gist of it was, "My son has grown up so much without me even realizing it. Mom is very confident in you, so this annual leave, I'm going to find your dad."
The letter from his mother, Sumire Kobayashi, also stated that after flying to London this time, she would likely stay there for more than a month, because her company needed to launch a trade plan there in the coming period, and as a member of the finance department, she had to participate.
Therefore, for a considerable time to come, Hayato might have to live alone. The bank card was the allowance and living expenses his mother, Sumire Kobayashi, left for Hayato. It contained 200,000 Japanese Yen. She would transfer more money promptly whenever the card ran out. The card's password was "030221."
"So this is what they call 'busy parents, no sister, but a house'?" Hayato casually quipped, though he actually felt relieved.
Although he could interact normally with Yugi and his friends, at the end of the day, they didn't really know each other well. Yugi and his friends would at most just remark that Hayato's personality was different from how he acted at school, and wouldn't harbor much suspicion.
However, if he had to face the original body's parents, Hayato would feel a lot of pressure. After all, parents knew their children best, and if he showed anything strange, it would definitely make them suspicious.
Not having to constantly interact with his mother, Sumire Kobayashi, truly made Hayato feel much more at ease.
He rummaged through the refrigerator and found eggs, green vegetables, and a can of luncheon meat. Hayato opened a pack of instant noodles, deciding to have a simple meal tonight. While waiting for the water to boil, with no one else around, he awakened the system.
He skillfully tapped into the [Inventory] module. Amidst countless storage slots, only four items were displayed: the Deck temporarily stored in the system, a Rare Card Pack (Dragon-Type), a Super Rare Card Pack, and a Rare Selection Card Voucher.
With the thought of saving the good stuff for last, Hayato first opened the Rare Card Pack (Dragon-Type).
Unlike a Basic Card Pack, a Rare Card Pack's lowest possible draw was a Rare card. However, as the cost for increasing the minimum rarity, the highest rarity that could be drawn from the card pack was also only Rare. There was no possibility of drawing an Ultra Rare card in one go.
The card pack Hayato was opening now was a bit more special. The "(Dragon-Type)" suffix in its name meant that the cards appearing in the card pack were limited to Dragon-Type and Dragon-Type-related Support Cards. Unfortunately, Hayato's current Deck mainly consisted of Warrior-Type Monsters.
However, Hayato took a look. "(Sword of Dragon's Soul)" was actually counted among Dragon-Type Support Cards, so perhaps some of the cards from the card pack could still be useful.
[You opened a Rare Card Pack (Dragon-Type). Congratulations, you obtained the following cards:
(Curse of Dragon), (Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress), (Dragon's Mirror), (Baby Dragon), (Dark King of the Abyss)]
"Oh boy," Hayato couldn't help but exclaim. "Well, isn't that something." Out of the five cards drawn, four were Normal Monster Dragon-Types, and all were classic Monsters.
However, Hayato had already expected this. He knew that Rare card packs wouldn't yield anything too spectacular, so he wasn't overly excited. Moreover, Dragon-Type was a symbol of power. Even these few cards he drew were much stronger than the fodder Normal Monsters in Hayato's own Deck. They had value in being added to his Deck.
The only confusing part was probably the (Dragon's Mirror) card.
"The only materials I currently have gathered seem to be for (Ojama King) and (Gaia the Dragon Champion). But (Ojama King) isn't a Dragon-Type, so I can't use it. That means I can only fuse Gaia." He put the instant noodles into the boiling water, added green vegetables, and cracked an egg. Hayato pondered, "But the problem is, I only have the materials, not the (Gaia the Dragon Champion) itself! What good is (Dragon's Mirror) to me if I can't use it?!"
(end of chapter)