Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!

"Ahhh, I lost."

Jaden sprawled flat on his back.

"No helping it, Mr. Hibiki is really strong after all."

Hibiki walked over, sat down beside him with a smile.

"I'm the one who was surprised, actually. Jaden, you're really impressive. I never expected to meet another duelist so deeply bonded with heroes and so passionate about dueling.

Honestly, even I feel a bit inferior."

"Haha, people say that to me a lot," Jaden scratched his head, but then remembered something.

"By the way, Mr. Hibiki, during the duel earlier—did you feel a bit unwell?"

Hibiki fell silent, looking away.

He heard, like a hallucination, a devilish whisper by his ear.

"Duel on, and burn up the little life you have left, World Champion Koyo Hibiki."

From deep darkness, a pair of evil eyes stared at him, grinning.

"Each card you draw is like your deck called 'Life' growing smaller."

"But even so, you can't stop, can you?"

"As a duelist."

"…"

Hibiki closed his eyes.

"Mr. Hibiki?"

Jaden sat up, looking worried. Hibiki snapped back to himself.

"Sorry, I'm fine."

He quietly took out his glasses from his inner pocket, put them on, then reached out and gently patted Jaden's shoulder.

"That was a fun duel, thank you, Jaden. I'm really glad someone like you was my opponent in this final stage."

"I'm happy to have met you too, Mr. Hibiki," Jaden said, puzzled. "But what did you mean by 'final stage'?"

Hibiki just smiled and didn't answer.

"In the future, you'll surely become a top duelist. So remember this," he said earnestly, "whoever your opponent is, never forget how you feel today.

Enjoy dueling, and let dueling bring you happiness. Be that kind of duelist."

"Okay!"

Jaden nodded, though to him, it seemed obvious.

Isn't dueling the most fun thing in the world?

"Alright then."

Hibiki perked up and stood.

"Now that it's over, I'm a bit hungry. How about you, Jaden?"

"Now that you mention it, I am a little…"

"The other qualifiers aren't all here yet. Let's go grab something to eat while we wait."

The first players who completed the puzzle cards and arrived had already registered and made the top eight. There was no need to stand around waiting.

"Yay! Food!" Jaden was excited.

Dueling and eating—probably the two greatest joys in his life at the moment.

"What do you want to eat? My treat."

"Eh, isn't that not right?"

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

"…"

The two walked off together.

Neither noticed that, not far behind them, in a shadow around the corner, a pair of unfriendly eyes watched them.

"The Planet series… Terra. Just as intel said, it's in Koyo Hibiki's hands."

The watcher narrowed their eyes, staring at Hibiki's back with a cold chuckle.

"The world's strongest hero, World Champion Koyo Hibiki… What a troublesome guy to have it. Always giving me the hardest jobs. Looks like…"

The figure's eyes grew cruel.

"I'll just have to… take him out, huh?"

But the shadow didn't realize that at some point, another person had appeared right behind them—so close they were nearly touching.

A warm, calm voice spoke up behind them: "Oh? Why do you want to take him out?"

Startled, the shadow instinctively jumped back, rabbit-like, and watched their rear.

Behind them stood Kira, appearing like a ghost.

Kira looked the person up and down.

Surprisingly, it was a girl—tall, shapely, blonde, blue-eyed—now with arms crossed defensively, glaring at Kira.

"Don't be so misleading," Kira complained. "Someone might get the wrong idea."

The woman realized she'd overreacted, lowered her arms, coughed, then regained her cool, villainous composure.

"Is stalking girls something Duel Academy teaches?"

But she still watched Kira vigilantly.

She hadn't even noticed when he'd circled behind her, or when he'd realized she was spying.

"You're Reggie Mackenzie?" Kira asked.

Reggie: "!"

He even knew her name?

"I thought so," Kira said. Reggie Mackenzie, top lieutenant of manga boss Tragoedia, though only because she was forced to be.

She's the daughter of Principal Mackenzie of the American Duel Academy. When she discovered Tragoedia had possessed her father, he split off a fragment of himself and forced it into her, making her his puppet.

Still, Reggie's dueling skills were solid—she easily defeated Alexis in the manga, and though she threw her duel with Misawa, she was always in control—so she should be stronger than Misawa.

So, according to the original, Kira guessed she was now a vanguard for the Tragoedia Faction.

"Hmm? Kira, what's up?"

At that moment, Mokuba walked over, seeing Kira staring down Reggie.

Mokuba didn't know Reggie. He looked her over, noted her fair skin and good looks, but nothing else.

Reggie looked away from Kira and turned to Mokuba.

"I've collected six puzzle cards," she said. "I want to advance."

"Oh, a contestant!"

Mokuba nodded, pointing to a spot along the shore.

"Register over there. The staff will give you your top eight contestant card."

"Okay."

Reggie pocketed her card and walked off.

For some reason, meeting Kira's gaze made her uneasy, as if something dangerous was watching her.

As she left, Mokuba asked, "So, is she with Doma?"

"Probably not," Kira replied, watching her go with a slight smile.

"This tournament might be even more interesting than we thought."