Chapter 19: Isn't That Manjoume? Haven't Seen You in Days, How Did You Get So Weak?
Bathed in the Teacher's endless chatter, the morning quickly passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was Lunch Break.
After quickly tidying up their Notes and other things, Hayato and the others left the Classroom and headed straight for the Rooftop. As they went up the stairs, Jonouchi asked, "Who do you guys think gave Hayato that Note?"
"It should be someone from our School, right? Otherwise, they wouldn't know that Hayato returned the Camera to Student Nosaka after School yesterday," Honda analyzed.
Hayato walked at the front, saying without turning his head, "It's no use guessing here. We're almost at the top floor, so we'll know soon enough, won't we?"
The School Building only had four floors in total. Hayato and his friends' Classroom was on the second floor, so they didn't take long to climb the stairs to the top floor. Looking up from the stairs, they saw that the door to the Rooftop, which was usually locked by the School for safety reasons, had already been opened.
Clearly, the person who left the Note had already arrived.
Pushing open the Rooftop door, the group filed out. The first thing Hayato noticed upon reaching the Rooftop was a guy wearing a male School Uniform standing with his back to the door, looking into the distance.
"You're too slow, Hayato Kobayashi." The guy heard the "creak" of the door as Hayato and his friends pushed it open, but he didn't turn around, still facing away from them.
"Are you the one who gave me this Note?" Hayato pulled his hand out of his pants pocket, holding the Note he had found in his Shoe Locker that morning. "You're still playing the Duel Challenge game? Haven't you graduated from junior high yet?"
"Cut the crap! Did you bring your Deck? Duel me!" The guy was provoked by Hayato's words. He turned around excitedly, glaring at Hayato's eyes.
As the guy turned around and revealed his face, Jonouchi immediately recognized him. "This guy? You're Manjoume from the next class!"
"Call me Mr. Manjoume!" He instinctively retorted, then introduced himself, "My name is Manjoume Shouji. Remember this name well, Hayato Kobayashi, because Yours Truly will step on you in the field you're best at, proving that only I am worthy of pursuing Miho Nosaka!"
"Manjoume, Shouji? That name sounds familiar. Though I'd be a little scared if your name was Eiji." The name Manjoume immediately reminded Hayato of Jun Manjoume, the seemingly cool but actually comedic character who attended the same school as the second Duel King, Judai Yuki. However, it was still nearly ten years before the Duel Academy era, right? He must be someone from the Manjoume family.
As for why someone from the Manjoume family was also attending Domino High School? Don't let the School's lenient rules and numerous Delinquent Students fool you; Domino High School was actually a place full of hidden talents, with many scions of prominent families and conglomerate heirs studying there. Not to mention those from afar, even in Hayato's own class there was Kaiba, the heir to KaibaCorp. Even "Little Ribbon" Miho Nosaka, whom Honda had a crush on, came from a family of major merchants.
Even Hayato himself was no exception; his father was a Diplomat, and his mother was an executive at a major conglomerate.
"However, the place you chose isn't very good, Manjoume." Hayato looked around the Rooftop. To minimize the possibility of students jumping, the Rooftop was not only locked on weekdays, but also had high Guardrails around it, sturdy enough to play tennis. However, Guardrails couldn't block the wind. If they were to play Cards here, wouldn't they be afraid of the wind blowing the Cards away?
"Hmph, Yours Truly has already considered everything, Idiot." Raising his hand, he snapped his fingers. Following Manjoume Shouji's action, the cloths covering the "Sundries" piled around the Rooftop were suddenly pulled off by people. A large group of people emerged from behind the Sundries.
"Damn it, you bastard!"
Seeing so many people suddenly appear on the Rooftop, Jonouchi became very nervous. "What a despicable guy, it's an ambush!"
Despite Jonouchi's nervousness, he wasn't too afraid of a fight. What he was worried about was whether he and Honda could protect their companions and hold off so many people, and how long he would have to clean the toilets afterward.
Manjoume Shouji frowned, looking disdainfully at the nervous Honda and Jonouchi. "You Commoners, what do you take the honor of the Manjoume Conglomerate for? I'm not a brute who only knows how to use brute force like you!"
Waving his hand, he said to the people around him, "Get the things ready for me!"
Receiving the order, Manjoume Shouji's Subordinates immediately lifted the surrounding "Sundries" and carried them to the center of the Rooftop, skillfully beginning to assemble them. Soon, a rather large Field was assembled by this group, and they had already started connecting it to the Power Source on the Rooftop.
"What is this thing?"
Seeing Yugi's confused expression, Manjoume Shouji looked smug. "Be amazed, bumpkins! This is a technology that's recently become very popular in the Upper Class, the Virtual Projection Technology for Duel Monsters Cards."
Honda: "Duel Monsters?"
Anzu: "Virtual Projection?"
Yugi didn't speak, but instinctively reached for the Deck on his waist. Virtual Projection of Duel Monsters. Although he hadn't seen the actual effect yet, just hearing the term made him feel his Urge to Duel acting up.
"Interesting. I remember that's KaibaCorp's technology, right?" Hayato knew about the existence of this technology, so he wasn't too surprised. However, the style of the Duel Platform assembled by Manjoume Shouji's people looked somewhat familiar to him. "Looking at the style of this Duel Platform, does your Manjoume Conglomerate also have ties with Industrial Illusions? Could it be that the Duel Platforms at Duelist Kingdom were assembled by your Manjoume Conglomerate?"
"You guy, I didn't expect your Information to be quite well-informed." Manjoume Shouji's face was cold, but he wasn't too surprised by Hayato's words. In the Upper Class, the Information Hayato mentioned wasn't a big secret; many people knew about it. It was probably his mother, who worked at Paradius Company, who told him.
"Alright, let's start the Duel early. Let's get your matter resolved quickly; I haven't had Lunch yet." Hayato took out his Deck and was the first to walk towards the Duel Platform.
"Not running away but approaching? Hmph, since you're in a hurry to be humiliated by me, I'll grant your wish."
The two stood on the Duel Platform, shuffled their respective Decks, and placed them on the platform. The Duel Platform activated, and the Field lit up with a faint blue light. On the side of Hayato's and Shouji's respective Duel Platforms, the Life Point Display Areas both lit up with the number "2000".
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
[Hayato: 2000 LP, Hand 5]
[Shouji: 2000 LP, Hand 5]