Chapter 319: Speculation in the Virtual World
Although theoretically, after entering the Virtual World, Hayato's appearance was merely a false image constructed from data, and all the props and decorations on his body were just unusable texture models.
This could be seen from the fact that no matter how Hayato pressed the buttons on the Duel Disk in his hand, he couldn't play the BGM stored within the Duel Disk or Kaiba's lines that Mokuba had secretly recorded.
It was a pity that in his recent Duel with Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen), he couldn't deliver Kaiba's classic line, "You're a third-rate Duelist with a fourth-rate Deck," to mock the already deceased Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen).
"Hey, Hayato." Marik's voice rang out from the [Millennium Ring] that Hayato held in his hand. It was unclear if it was because some time had passed since the Shadow Game, or if Marik had absorbed a portion of Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen)'s Soul when Hayato used the [Millennium Ring]'s Power to release it. In any case, the kid seemed to be in pretty good spirits now.
The five pendants of the [Millennium Ring], which possessed the ability to "guide direction," floated up and pointed in one direction. Hayato followed the [Millennium Ring]'s guidance, walking along a river that cut through a jungle, and said impatiently, "If you have any nonsense to say, say it quickly."
"What I want to say is, how long do you plan to keep me locked up?" Marik's tone was quite displeased. "You can fool my foolish sister, you can fool the Pharaoh and his vessel, but you can't fool me, who's inside the [Millennium Ring]. You could release me from the [Millennium Ring] at any time, couldn't you? After all, my other self only used me as the Stakes for a Shadow Game."
From Hayato's words, Light Marik had finally understood the reality that "he had a dark personality born from pain, and that dark personality had sold him out." Along with that, Marik also finally understood the true cause of his father's death all those years ago.
Although Ishizu and Odion had tried hard to keep this secret from Marik, Hayato felt that Dark Marik had already taken control of the body, so whether to continue hiding the truth from Light Marik was no longer important.
"How about it, want to release me? My sister is always like that; she says cruel things, but her heart is more sensitive than anyone else's." Marik, from within the [Millennium Ring], coaxed. Separated from his own body and sealed within the [Millennium Ring], Marik's tone of voice seemed much more normal than his past self.
Hayato returned Marik's incessant chatter with a cold sneer: "Then give me a reason to release you! Indeed, you're a complete psychopath in a legal sense; even if you killed someone, it wouldn't be illegal. But I know very well that you're not a good guy either."
Although Dark Marik was worse than Light Marik, Dark Marik was still Marik himself. His dark thoughts didn't just appear; neither of the two personalities, light or dark, was a good person. Even with the influence of Shadi, the "Millennium Director," it was an undeniable fact that Marik established the international criminal organization "Rare Hunters" and committed many crimes.
"Don't be so cold, brother-in-law."
Hayato stumbled, almost falling. After regaining his balance, he vigorously shook the [Millennium Ring] in his hand: "Who's your brother-in-law?!"
"Heh, do you think just because you always call me 'three-year-old', I'm actually a three- or four-year-old child? The way my sister looks at you, even an insensitive pig-head could tell something's up, let alone the fact that she gave you her Ace Card, [Exchange of the Spirit]."
As he spoke, Marik became quite convinced of his own deduction: "I am Marik Ishtar, Ishizu Ishtar's blood brother. Besides me, my sister has no other relatives, and I've never seen her have any close friends all these years."
"No one understands my sister's thoughts better than me!"
Hayato didn't know how to refute Marik's words, so he stiffly changed the topic: "Alright, alright, that's enough. I have important business to attend to; I don't have time to babble with you."
Following the direction pointed by the [Millennium Ring], Hayato continued forward.
Hayato's serious tone piqued Marik's curiosity: "Even when facing God, you didn't have such a serious expression. So, what exactly are you looking for, brother-in-law?"
Hearing Marik's question, Hayato was happy that his attention had been diverted and began to speak to Marik in the [Millennium Ring]. Of course, to an outsider, it would just look like Hayato was muttering to himself, like someone suffering from delusions.
"Compared to others, you, as an owner of the [Millennium Items], or rather, one of its former owners, should be more aware of the existence of 'Duel Monster Spirits' within Duel Monster Cards, right?"
Marik nodded, looking behind Hayato. Behind him, an impressive number of Duel Monster Spirits resided with Hayato: "I haven't seen many on other people, but you certainly have a lot."
"After all, the existence of Duel Monster Spirits requires a special kind of duel energy generated during a Duel when the wills of both sides clash. The stronger the duelist, the more likely Duel Monster Spirits are to be around them. However, even if Duel Monster Spirits awaken, ordinary people cannot see them unless they are duelists with certain qualifications."
Marik nodded, then paused, looking at the [Rainbow Kuriboh] perched on Hayato's head. He suddenly understood Hayato's meaning: "You mean, in this world, Duel Monster Spirits, whose existence is usually like being in another dimension, have materialized?!"
"Since Duel Monster Spirits are as relaxed in this world as if they've returned to their hometown, can't I make a conjecture?"
"It's an undeniable fact that this world was artificially created, and it's also a fact that this world is connected to the internet. But who ever said that this world couldn't simultaneously be built within the Spirit World of Cards?"
As Hayato spoke, he suddenly looked up into the sky: "You're spying on me, aren't you, Kaiba Noah!"
In an unknown space, Noah sat on a floating chair, like a monarch, overlooking several screens, leisurely watching the Duels of those who had entered the Virtual World. He considered himself a Creator God-like existence within this Virtual World. Although Hayato and the others were quite powerful Duelists, he felt it would be beneath him to personally deal with them.
Therefore, besides Kaiba, who was wandering through a jungle searching for his whereabouts, Noah arranged for The Big Five to be the opponents for the others. However...
Noah glanced at a dim screen beside him. It was a program he used to monitor Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen)'s situation, but after Hayato defeated Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen), the program completely failed.
And as Hayato defeated Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen), the remaining four of The Big Five also met their respective defeats.
They were crushed by Yugi's [Dark Magician] and endless spells, shattered by the consecutive attack of [Harpie Lady]s, destroyed by the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], and completely sealed off by "Gravekeeper's" Monsters.
Although The Big Five kept clamoring about making Yugi and the others pay, acting fearless, it was no surprise to Noah that they didn't defeat a single duelist, being worse than trash.
"Hmph, I expected this. It's no wonder these guys were eliminated by Seto; they're just a bunch of trash, useless except for their age. They don't even qualify as chess pieces." After watching the "Four Elders" be defeated by their respective opponents, Noah snorted coldly, his demeanor identical to Kaiba's.
Displeased, Noah's attention was drawn to Hayato, the first person to defeat one of The Big Five. He frowned and replayed Hayato's previous Duel record against Johnson (Ooka Chikuzen), shocked by the power of the infinite Combo used by Hayato's [Cactus Fighter].
"Such a Combo is too unfair; it must be banned." With a cold laugh, Noah closed his eyes and began to modify the Duel Rules within the Virtual World, manually prohibiting the use of [Cactus Fighter].
Although he couldn't defeat Hayato's Combo, Noah, brazenly abusing his game administrator status, directly sent Hayato's card to the Forbidden List. Because of this, Noah perfectly missed Hayato's conversation with Marik.
Just after modifying the Duel Rules, Noah smugly shifted his gaze back to Hayato, wondering if he should give the defeated "Four Elders" another chance to eliminate Hayato. It was then that Hayato suddenly looked towards Noah's screen.
"What?!" Noah was also startled, jumping back in his chair as Hayato suddenly looked towards the screen. But then, Noah noticed that even after he moved the camera, Hayato was still looking in the original direction, realizing he had been completely bluffed by Hayato.
"Just an ordinary person, yet he dares to trick me, dares to deceive me, a God!?"
"Unforgivable! I must inflict Divine Punishment!"
With a thought, the four elders, who were terrified after their defeat and feared Noah's punishment, found a new command from Noah in their minds: to stop everyone attempting to gather, at all costs, outside a certain range.
Noah decided that before completely crushing Seto Kaiba, he would first eliminate Hayato, this fellow with a head full of dangerous ideas.
He would personally deliver Divine Punishment to Hayato!
With a thought, Noah, like an omnipotent God, instantly vanished from the unknown room.
But the very next second after Noah's figure disappeared, a new person sat down in the chair he had previously occupied, and began to peruse Hayato's past Duel records with great interest.
Regarding the footnote for the previous chapter: After [Imperial Order] negates all Spell Cards on the Field, [Rainbow Kuriboh] would actually also be negated.
Oops, but I found out the modification time has passed.
Then I'll just refer to it as "Kuriboh Sphere" — spherical Kuriboh for now.
(end of chapter)