Chapter 193: GM Authority (5/7)
"(Dark Magician)!"
"(Harpie Lady)!"
"(Axe Raider)!"
"(Flame Swordsman)!"
Yugi and the other three Summoned their respective Monsters and Equipped them with enhancement Cards, managing to barely fend off a wave of attacks from (Tyrant Dragon).
"Why is there a Monster like this here? I've never seen anything like it in the previous Matches I watched!" Mai Valentine complained as she directed her (Harpie Lady) to dodge a blast of dragon fire.
Yugi Activated a (Magic Formula) Card to Equip his (Dark Magician), landing a heavy blow on (Tyrant Dragon). "I think I understand now," he said.
"Mai Valentine, the Duels you saw before were probably just between NPCs, right? In that case, no matter who won, the prize wouldn't fall into a Player's hands," Mokuba said. "But now that Players are involved, they've definitely prepared some high-difficulty challenges to make sure you don't get the Game's Reward so easily."
"So, to put it another way, those guys in the Arena never intended for us to get the Reward, did they?" Joey said, looking with lingering fear at the large crater behind him as the flames of his (Red-Eyes Black Dragon) clashed with the (Tyrant Dragon)'s breath. "First the falling rock Trap, and now this powerful Monster... they must be trying to silence us for good!"
While Yugi and the others were struggling against the (Tyrant Dragon), Chumley had already left the Arena far behind, descending from the sky to the ground. He had long since shaken off the pursuers led by the Toad Man from the Arena.
According to the sequence of events in Chumley's original memory, Joey was supposed to recognize Mai Valentine in the Arena, meet up with Yugi, and then Mai Valentine would snatch away the (Chick) Card. After that, they were supposed to successfully escape the Arena's pursuit.
However, after arriving at the Arena, Chumley noticed something wasn't right. Compared to the dilapidated Arena in his memory, the one they had found was much more intact, and its design more closely resembled the Card (Savage Colosseum).
Although the Arena's organizer was still a Toad Man, there were many more patrolling guards inside, all fully armed and clearly battle-hardened soldiers. And from the depths of the Arena, a few mournful Dragon Roars could be heard from time to time.
This was just too strange, wasn't it? Though separated by only a wall, the armed forces inside the Arena were leagues stronger than those in the town—the difference was like that between a Worm and a Wyvern.
Combined with the fact that the Arena's prize, the (Chick) Key Card, was necessary to proceed to the next stage, the Giant Rock Temple, Chumley had reason to suspect that someone was using GM Authority to increase the difficulty of obtaining the Key Card and obstruct their path to clearing the game.
Looking up at the scorching sun, Chumley struck a very JoJo-esque pose. "You're watching this, aren't you, Big Five!"
Outside the game world, the faces of The Big Five, who were watching the Screen, darkened considerably as the pixelated character representing Chumley spoke those words.
"Just as I thought, letting these people into the game world was a mistake!" said Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen), KaibaCorp's legal advisor, with considerable annoyance.
Leichter (Daimon Kogoro) also frowned. "The original plan was just to lure that brat Mokuba into the game world. Who knew he'd find two Duel Kings to help him? Wasn't Seto Kaiba supposed to have a beef with Yugi?"
"Who knows what these brats are thinking? In any case, I can't figure out this younger generation," said Crump (Otaki Shuzo), KaibaCorp's 55-year-old head of human resources, narrowing his eyes. "It seems this Duel King has already figured out we have the Game's GM Authority."
"Well? Should we silence him?" asked Nezbitt (Ota Soichiro), who was formerly in charge of KaibaCorp's arms division. To them, Chumley was the greatest threat among Yugi's group.
Ever since entering the Game, Chumley had been causing non-stop trouble, and he had actually managed to accomplish quite a lot. It wasn't just stealing the (Chick) Card this time; before this, they hadn't even figured out how he'd gathered so much intelligence in that town.
"Aren't they all trapped inside the game machine right now? Can't we just shut off the power?" Gansley (Oshita Konosuke) suggested. "That way, their consciousnesses will all be exiled to the game world. Even if they clear the game, they'll never be able to return to reality."
But Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen), the lawyer, shook his head. "Idiot. For cheating in a game, we'd get a three-thousand-yen fine at most. Murder gets you thirty years."
"Hmph, they've only gotten the key to the next stage. Let them proceed," Leichter (Daimon Kogoro) sneered. "Gentlemen, don't forget that the final boss we have waiting for them is that invincible Duel Monster."
On the Screen, the pixelated character representing Chumley had already reunited with Yugi and the others.
"Whew, I'm beat! First the Duel in the Arena, then that (Tyrant Dragon), and now we had to run all this way." On the outskirts of town, Joey flopped down onto the sand, his face weary. "The weird thing is, my body still has plenty of energy. It's so strange."
"It's true. My mind is exhausted, but my body is full of energy. If this Game is ever released, I'll definitely make the programmers work overtime to add a Stamina Bar Setting," Mokuba said, a classic capitalist remark.
After finally defeating the (Tyrant Dragon), Yugi and the others didn't even have time to pick up the dropped gold coins before they were forced to flee the Arena. The Toad Man who had set out to capture Chumley had returned with his men.
"Since I couldn't catch that damned thief, I'll just have to take it out on you lowlifes," the Toad Man had said.
Fortunately, since they had been in a Battle state, Yugi and the others already had Monsters Summoned to the Field and weren't caught by the Toad Man's underlings' sneak attack. They escaped from the Arena and used over a dozen Trap Cards from Yugi's Deck to shake off their pursuers.
"But we did manage to get this Card, didn't we?" Chumley said, taking out the (Chick) Card and tapping it on its side. "If we'd followed the normal procedure to the end, we probably would have been too busy running for our lives to have had a chance to snatch this Card."
Chumley Activated the Card, and five plump chicks appeared before them, so fat that one had to wonder if they could even walk.
However, though they looked plump, Chumley found that these "fat chickens" were quite comfortable to ride. Furthermore, their sheer weight gave them resistance to the sandstorm.
"Let's go," Mokuba said, being the second to mount a "fat chicken". He looked out at the sandstorm-shrouded desert before them. "Big brother, just wait. I'm coming to save you."
(end of chapter)