Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Just as the three were contemplating their future, a deafening roar suddenly echoed in their ears. Hearing this, Marufuji Sho jumped up from the tatami mat, screaming in terror, "Aaaaaah!!! They're here! The demolition crew is here!!!...We're doomed! Our dorm is going to be demolished!!! We're going to be homeless!!!"

"Calm down! Let's go out and see what's going on... Even if they really are going to demolish it, it shouldn't be this fast!" Forcibly pressing Marufuji Sho back down and stopping his panicked and embarrassing behavior, Yusei calmly analyzed the current situation.

He has his own room in Obelisk, so he's not worried about not having a place to stay.

Moreover, if you listen carefully to the sounds outside, it doesn't sound like dismantling, but rather like building something.

“That’s right… Sho, instead of just worrying here, why don’t you go outside and take a look?” Nodding, Jaden Yuki agreed with Yusei’s opinion and comforted his embarrassing little brother.

"Ah ah ah..."

The three of them, after saying this, walked out of the room under Yusei's guidance and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Then, they saw a large shed that had suddenly appeared next to the dormitory.

"what is this?"

The room where Manjoume was originally located was completely covered by dark blue canvas, as if it were being renovated.

Meanwhile, Manjoume himself was in the open space in front of the dormitory, constantly directing the workers to do their work.

"Oh? Judai, Yusei... it's you two?"

Upon hearing the question, Manjōmu turned his head and looked at the three people on the second-floor railing: "As you can see, although my karmic ties with you are somewhat annoying, I have decided to stay here."

"However, I plan to transform this place into a luxurious room suitable for my Lord Manjoume!"

"Renovation...remodeling?! So they weren't here to demolish anything after all!"

"What...you scared me half to death..."

Having been relieved, Marufuji Sho immediately sat down on the ground after hearing Manjou's explanation.

After wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, a look of relief mixed with a hint of resentment appeared on his face: "No wonder they're rich... they can change things whenever they want, those despicable capitalists!"

"...I couldn't agree more." For once, Yusei heard a normal statement from him.

449. Praise to Death

The start of the new fall semester at Duel Academy was far from peaceful.

As the third-year students graduated, many first-year students who had passed the exams also flocked here from all over the world.

Miss Jie's work as acting principal seems to be going smoothly and is gradually getting on track. Busy as she is, she also has time to chat with Yu Xing.

Professor Chronos and Coach Napoleon are still planning their so-called star duelist training program. After their attempt with Manjoume failed, they have begun looking for their next target...

Because of the dormitory renovation project, Manjoume temporarily lost his place of residence and took Hayato's place, temporarily living in Yusei and the others' room.

In addition to the above-mentioned recent developments, there are also rumors that a group of students specializing in hunting duel disks often ambush people on some main roads or on bridges over some remote artificial rivers, waiting for their prey to arrive and then taking their duel disks through duels.

Having received the order to subdue them from Yui-san, Yusei, along with his teammate Jaden Yuki, is currently searching for these people, carrying a large number of Duel Disks.

Since the group's locations were not fixed, Yusei and his friends adopted a strategy of waiting patiently and waiting for the right opportunity. They planned to disguise themselves as students collecting duel disks to attract the attention of these bandits.

It's worth mentioning that although Yusei defeated Kaiser Ryo in front of everyone, his reputation only spread among students above the second year.

Yusei is still an unfamiliar face to the newly enrolled students.

This very fact provides the perfect cover for his actions today.

……

"Ugh... What a hassle! Why did we have to go all this way to bring back spare Duel Disks from the supplies warehouse?"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Jaden Yuki, carrying a net bag full of Duel Disks on his back, had been walking back and forth on the island for half a day. Feeling exhausted, he couldn't help but complain.

Logically speaking, this group of people should have appeared in front of them very soon.

Despite their frantic searching, attempts to feign death, and clumsy performance, including casually placing numerous dueling disks under the tree as bait...

But it failed to bring out the troublemaking student group.

Could it be... that the rumor is wrong?

This group of Duel Disk Hunters doesn't actually exist; it's just a fabrication created by someone to divert attention from the massive theft of Duel Disks.

"Well... it's because we've been running out of Duel Disks lately, that's why we're trying to find a solution now!" Yusei patted Jaden Yuki on the shoulder, looking ahead with a tired expression. "These people must exist. I can sense that the people whose Duel Disks were stolen aren't lying."

Prior to this, the two had interviewed some of the parties involved and collected some information before they began preparations for the arrest.

Originally, Marufuji Sho should have gone with them.

But after hearing that Yusei and the others were planning to pick a fight with the Duel Disk Hunter, he immediately showed a terrified expression and hid under the covers, refusing to go with them no matter what, and even refusing the reward after the mission was accomplished...

This reaction is enough to show how timid he is and how unwilling he is to do such a thing.

After that, Jaden Yuki began to work on his subordinates' mindset, but Sho Marufuji still refused to come along no matter what.

Left with no other choice, Yusei and his companions had to complete the mission in pairs.

……

"Ah! We've finally arrived..."

After walking for quite a while, Yusei and his group finally arrived at a sighting location.

Not far in front of the two of them was an artificial river on the island.

According to previous rumors, Duel Disk Hunters are likely to appear in places like this. Several victims were challenged here and had their Duel Disks stolen.

Those who stole the Duel Disks are the very people Yusei and his friends are looking for.

"Speaking of which... Yusei, do you know what that Duel Disk Hunter looks like?"

As Jaden Yuki took a step forward, feeling somewhat bored, he turned to Yusei and asked him this question.

This guy must be really strong to be able to steal so many Duel Disks, right?

I really want to have a fierce duel with him!

"Hmm... I heard he's some kind of terrifying guy with duel disks stuck all over his back, like a warlord like Musashibo Benkei..."

With an uncertain tone, Yusei recalled the information he had gathered earlier and spoke to Jaden Yuki, "According to the victims... that guy seems to be a first-year student who specially gathered a group of followers to cheer him on, and then stole their Duel Disks by winning against randomly selected opponents in duels... So far, it seems that this guy has collected 99 Duel Disks..."

"Huh?...99?! That's not a low number! Sounds like...the Duel Disk Hunter is a really strong guy, right? But why do I feel like...this rumor has a weird sense of déjà vu?"

As Yusei explained, Jaden Yuki's face lit up with renewed interest. It was at this moment that he suddenly remembered a group of student card hunters he had defeated in the past.

He remembered that the two people were named Ohara and Daihara, I think...

Back then, they used card-gambling duels, which were forbidden by the academy, to snatch valuable rare cards from others.

Could it be that the people who appeared this time have some kind of connection with them?

Are they beings like so-called spiritual inheritors?

"Are you talking about that Dark Giant Duelist from before?"

As someone who personally experienced that incident, Yusei also recalled his duel that night.

He and Jaden Yuki each chose one person as their opponent and won the duel, which made the two of them realize their mistakes and put their lives back on track.

"Wait! Let's put that aside for now... Is that guy over there... the one we're looking for?!"

As the two walked and talked, they noticed out of the corner of their eye that there seemed to be someone on the bridge not far away.

Blinking, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but point to the place ahead.

As the distance gradually closed, the figure of that person slowly came into view.

"Ok?"

Following the direction of Judai Yuki's finger, Yusei gazed into the distance.

Then, in his field of vision, on the bridge over the artificial river in the distance, appeared a boy wearing a modified Sun God Yellow uniform, arms crossed, seemingly waiting for someone.

Not far behind him, there was indeed a group of people dressed in a similar style of clothing.

"Holy crap! Is this kid cosplaying as Doctor Octopus?"

The person in front of Yusei and the others had multiple mass-produced Duel Disks strapped to his body.

These captured spoils, originally weapons for combat, were now being used as decorations by this man, casually tied to his back.

He brazenly tied multiple duel disks to his body in a flower-like pattern, creating a terrifying octopus-like appearance.

From a distance, he looked like Musashibo Benkei from the story, his body riddled with swords, exuding a strange and unsettling aura...

"Oh? You two... you actually have so many Duel Disks?!"

As if he had spotted a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, Dilano Kenzan, a first-year student in the Sun God Yellow Dormitory, stood on the bridge with his arms crossed, casting greedy glances at Yusei and Yuki Jaden.

In his heart, these duel disks had been branded with his mark and had become his personal belongings.

"Hmm? You...you're not the Duel Disk Hunter who's been stealing other people's Duel Disks lately, are you?"

Upon seeing the boy opposite him strike up a conversation with ill intentions, Yusei paused for a moment before quickly realizing what was going on.

Realizing that the real person had already appeared, he decided to continue the charade.

So, Yusei, who was pretending to be terrified, naturally revealed a look of utter shock on his face.

It was as if he was truly very surprised by the current situation.

"That's right, the Duel Disk Hunter you mentioned is none other than me—Dilano Sword Mountain!"

Kenzan pointed to his face with his right thumb, a smug look on his face. He then raised his head high and cast a disdainful glance at Yusei: "Hmph! You... you showed a look of fear the moment you saw me. You don't look very strong. So... are you going to just hand over your Duel Disk and run away, or are you planning to have a duel with your Duel Disk at stake?"

"A duel? But I'm not very good at dueling."

With a slightly troubled expression, Yusei suggested to Kenzan, "How about Kenzan... you just pretend you didn't see us? Let's just let each other pass by and keep to ourselves?"

"Ha! I don't care about any of that!"

Upon hearing Yusei's words, which implied a concession, Kenzan let out a cold laugh.

His expression grew even more confident: "Anyway, you only have these two choices now: either obediently leave your Duel Disks behind, or I'll give you a sound beating and then personally take your Duel Disks! As for anything else... don't even think about it!"

"That's right, that's right, Big Brother is absolutely right! You've been targeted by our Dilano Gang, so don't even think about running away!" After Jianshan expressed his firm stance, a large group of his underlings behind him began to chime in.

They were clearly determined to succeed in this hunting mission.