Chapter 25: Big Brother~?!
[Achievements] lighting up was understandable for Hayato, but the fact that [Shop] also lit up gave Hayato a not-so-pleasant premonition. In the depths of his mind, the mysterious smile of the boss of that famous gaming platform from his previous life—a guy codenamed "Gabe the Fat"—appeared before his eyes.
Every time that fat guy and the green box that always accompanied him appeared, the money in Hayato's wallet would inexplicably vanish.
Forcing himself not to click on [Shop], Hayato clicked into the [Achievements] area.
Just like last time, the [Achievements] area was still full of grey Card backs. The three achievements unlocked last time were placed at the top for easy viewing. In addition to those, Hayato unlocked two more achievements this time. As usual, Hayato flipped them over together:
[Achievement Completed: First Victory]
[Condition: Win a Duel Monsters game]
[Achievement Completed: Comeback!]
[Condition: Achieve a "Comeback Victory"]
Rewards Summary:
500 DP * 2
R-Rank Select Card Coupon * 1
[Damage Vaccine ΩMAX] * 1
Not bad rewards. Including the previous 6400 DP, this Duel against Manjoume Shouji earned him a total of 7400 DP Points, plus a very practical R-Rank Select Card Coupon. Also, the [Damage Vaccine ΩMAX] Card is pretty good too.
Its Effect is that after you take damage by any means, you recover Life Points equal to the amount of damage taken, essentially negating that damage. It's like a combination of [Junk Kuriboh] and [Kuriboh]. However, this Card also has a drawback: its Effect resolves after damage is taken. If your Life Points drop directly to zero, this Card cannot activate.
Exiting the [Achievements] area, Hayato looked at the 9900 DP below his avatar in the upper left corner and felt like he had plenty of money.
With this much DP, it wouldn't hurt to spend a little, right?
With this thought in mind, Hayato still couldn't resist and opened the [Shop]. As soon as he entered the [Shop], several large words eagerly popped out:
[Celebrating the Duelist's First Victory, Newbie Self-Selection Booster Pack Limited Time Offer, Only One Purchase Opportunity!]
Sure enough, his previous premonition was correct. No matter the game, if a [Shop] in a Card-drawing game shows you a little red dot notification, it's never good news. This rule applied even after Hayato transmigrated. Just as he had finally managed to save up this small balance, the System targeted him and even came up with something called a "Newbie Self-Selection Booster Pack".
Muttering complaints about the System, Hayato's finger ultimately skipped over [View Later] and honestly clicked the [Go Now] button. The [Basic Card Pack] on the original Shop homepage jumped away, replaced by nearly thirty [Card Box]es—
[Earth Attribute Booster Pack] [Fire Attribute Booster Pack] [Wind Attribute Booster Pack].
[Dragon Type Booster Pack] [Warrior Type Booster Pack] [Beast-Type Booster Pack].
[Mixed Theme: Magic Swordsman] [Mixed Theme: Alien Exploration] [Mixed Theme: Underwater Race].
From packs targeting specific Attributes and Types to mixed packs with various support Cards, the System showed Hayato the possibility of being swindled. Among so many [Card Box]es, Hayato could freely choose one to purchase, and at a price cheaper than the original 10000 DP for a 100-pack [Card Box]—9900 DP.
Wasn't that exactly the amount of his balance!
Corresponding to the high price, the quality of these [Card Pack]s was also very high. For example, [Mixed Theme: Alien Exploration] mainly mixed the Reptile-Type "Worm" series and the Machine-Type "Battleship" series. It guaranteed at least 1 UR and 3 or more SRs, and there was even a chance to pull Cards from the [Graydle] and [ABC] series which were not yet available in the [Shop].
There was also [Underwater Race], a "Sea" theme combining Fish, Aqua, and Sea Serpent Types. Buying one of these packs would let him directly cameo as a certain fisherman who turned into a Card. Moreover, there was a chance to pull Cards from the [Mermail], [Ice Barrier], and [Ritual Beast] series.
Hayato felt his indecisiveness flare up again after the last R-Rank Select Card Coupon—he wanted to choose all of them, didn't want to give up any, but the System only allowed him to choose one, and even if he could choose all, he could only afford one anyway.
After hesitating and choosing for a long time, in the furthest corner among countless [Deck]s, Hayato found a [Card Box] with a completely different name from the others: [Special Custom: Deck Building Booster Card Pack].
Looking at the description, Hayato felt it was quite novel. Whichever other [Card Box] he looked at, they all had a very clear theme, but this [Card Pack] didn't follow the usual path. It only said, "Random supplementary Cards are distributed based on the currently used Deck."
Compared to other [Card Box]es with clearly defined contents, this one was clearly a gamble. Before buying it, there was no way to know what the potential contents were. Logically, Hayato, knowing his luck wasn't very good, shouldn't have chosen this box. But there's a saying, "Skill is low, but the addiction is high." Unable to resist for a moment, Hayato ultimately bought this [Booster Pack].
Watching the DP Points below his avatar instantly drop to zero, and only the [Basic Card Pack] was left standing alone in the [Shop], replaced by a large [Card Pack] box that fell into the [Warehouse] waiting for Hayato to open it, the guy who had just "chopped off his hand" due to a momentary impulse gritted his teeth internally—"Please, please let me get something good!"
By the time Honda walked out from the back room holding a box of [Puzzle]s, Yugi and Jonouchi's Duel had already finished. There were no surprises; Yugi's victory was still the final result. Honda directly opened the [Puzzle] in the shop, planning to ask his friends to help brainstorm what words to write on it. Just as Honda looked up and was about to say something, he saw Hayato looking somewhat dazed.
"What happened, Hayato?"
"Uh, nothing, I'm fine, really fine." He gave a bitter smile, secretly vowing in his heart never to believe he would get lucky again. Hayato's eyes glared fiercely at his empty shoulder.
What Honda and the others couldn't see was that three strange creatures were perched on Hayato's shoulder, chattering incessantly:
"Big Brother, you scared me to death during that Duel earlier~"
"Big Brother, Big Brother, that Woman over there has really big breasts!"
"Big Brother, when are we eating?"
"Big Brother~"
"Big Brother!"
"Big Brother?"
Damn it, if this keeps up, I'm going to go insane.
Hayato felt like he was about to be brainwashed by those three guys on his shoulder constantly calling him "Big Brother". Announcing that he had something urgent to do, he hurriedly ran out of the Kame Game Shop, wanting to find a quiet corner to stay for a while. At this moment, he deeply understood why the future Manjoume Jun would transform from a cool, aloof villain into a later comedic character.
It definitely, absolutely had something to do with those three guys who appeared by his side!