Chapter 26: When "Luck" Comes Knocking
Hayato, after opening the Booster Pack he bought with all his DP, saw several messages pop up in the System:
[Newbie Booster Pack detected. "Sai Q Duelist System" fully activated, providing upgrade patches for the Duelist.]
[Patch installation complete. Duelist "Personal" Module activated. Please click avatar to view.]
[Upgrade Reward is automatically being issued. Please accept.]
Hayato didn't even have time to check what cards he had pulled before he was bombarded with a flurry of messages. It took him a while to realize that his System wasn't the full version, and only after opening the [Newbie Booster Pack] did it officially activate.
As a benefit of the upgrade, the System would grant Hayato the ability to communicate with "Card Spirits," which is the "Spiritual Card Connection" ability standard for Advanced Duelists.
Who would his awakened Card Spirit be? Hayato couldn't help but wonder. The deepest memory he had was that one instance of the Heart of the Cards with (Gaia The Fierce Knight). If his Card Spirit awakened, it would most likely be (Gaia).
As he thought this, Hayato was slapped in the face by three palm-sized guys, accompanied by three distinct cries of "Big Bro."
This was also why Hayato's expression had been so poor earlier at the Kame Game Shop. On one hand, there was the disappointment of (Gaia) not awakening; on the other, he was startled by the three Ojama Monsters clinging to him.
"Even (Skull Stalker) would be fine. After all, it was a Soul I acknowledged, and it was my first Summoned Monster," Hayato complained to himself as he walked home, looking at the stack of cards in his hand. "With so many cards, anyone would be fine. Why specifically this one?"
In his hand was the (*Ojama Trio*) Card. It seemed that because it had helped Hayato create a winning opportunity in his Duel with Chazz Princeton, this Card was randomly chosen by the System to awaken a Card Spirit, specifically the three brothers (Ojama Yellow/Green/Black). Furthermore, Hayato happened to have the physical card forms of these three spirits.
Why did I foolishly buy these three back then? With so many rare cards to choose from, why did I pick this one? Hayato couldn't help but sigh.
"Big Bro~"
The cheeky voice once again reached his ears. Hayato immediately reached out and grabbed (Ojama Yellow), who had climbed onto his shoulder at some point. "I remember warning you. It's best you stay quiet normally, or I'll imitate my classmate, Seto Kaiba."
"Eh~ Big Bro, what did your classmate do?" Even though it was picked up by Hayato's two fingers, (Ojama Yellow) still didn't change its cheeky nature. Wriggling its feet, it looked at Hayato with its eyes detached from its head, a mischievous grin plastered on its face.
Hayato maintained a stern face. "He? He tore up Duel Monsters cards."
"Eek!" (Ojama Yellow) let out a strange cry, startled by Hayato's words. It rattled off like a machine gun, "Big Bro, please don't tear me up~ I'm much more useful than my other two brothers~ If you're going to tear one, tear them~"
"Ojama Yellow!" Two strange cries suddenly erupted from Hayato's other shoulder. (Ojama Green) and (Ojama Black), yelling (Ojama Yellow)'s name, leaped and pounced onto the (Ojama Yellow) that Hayato was holding.
"You traitor!"
"I'm going to teach you a good lesson!"
"Take this! Nine Heavens Thunder Dual Kick!"
Watching the (*Ojama Trio*) start bickering again, Hayato felt his head pounding. He quickly shouted to interrupt the three brothers' argument, "You're making too much noise! All of you, shut up! If anyone speaks again, I'll tear them!"
The (*Ojama Trio*) jumped in fright, then quickly looked at Hayato with apologetic smiles. Their hands even mimed zipping their mouths shut, and a zipper actually appeared! (Ojama Green)'s tongue even got caught in the zipper.
"Mama, mama, is that big brother over there the 'idiot' you told me about last time?"
"Don't go near him, it's contagious."
Silently watching a passing woman carry her child away, Hayato, holding the three Ojama Monsters, looked around. Finding no suitable place, he quickened his pace towards his home.
What he didn't notice was that from the dense woods by the roadside, a pair of eyes had been fixated on him.
————Being Stalked————
Lucky hid in the cool shade of the forest, watching the seemingly rich kid leave. He hid in the woods not only to evade the annoying police search but also to prepare for his upcoming escape.
He was a murderer, currently in a state of prison escape. The escaped convict on the newspaper, whom Hayato had overheard people discussing on the bus, was Lucky.
To escape prison, the astrologically superstitious Lucky specifically chose what he believed to be his luckiest time to break out. And indeed, things went smoothly. Just last night, he killed a prison guard, escaped from prison, and even took a Revolver with him.
Escaping prison wasn't a single action, but a continuous state. After leaving prison, Lucky tried every means to shake off police pursuit and avoid all eyewitnesses as much as possible. According to the law, if Lucky could successfully escape to international waters, he could gain a considerable period of freedom. As long as Interpol didn't catch him, he could even remain at large indefinitely.
However, escaping to international waters wasn't a simple matter; Lucky needed to acquire a boat. He knew a human trafficker in Domino City, so the means of getting out to sea wasn't an issue. The biggest problem was that, having just escaped prison, he didn't even have a single coin on him.
Not only that, but to prepare for his escape, he hadn't eaten anything since noon yesterday. Having not had a drop of water until now, he felt like he could barely walk. Instead of searching everywhere for rich people, Lucky thought it better to simply find a target nearby to rob for money and food.
And clearly, our protagonist, Hayato, was that chosen unlucky fellow.
"I actually found a target so quickly, sure enough," Lucky said, one hand gripping his Revolver, the other instinctively stroking the "777" tattoo on his forehead. "The magazine wasn't wrong. Today is my lucky day!"
Climbing up from the muddy ground, Lucky didn't bother to brush off the dirt clinging to his pants. In his opinion, since he was already going to steal money, stealing an extra set of clothes wouldn't be a big deal.
Along the extensive green areas of Domino City, Lucky silently followed behind Hayato.
(end of chapter)