Chapter 52

"Jounouchi, come here for a second." Hoshino, with a mischievous smile on her face, slowly sat up and called Jounouchi over.

"Me? Are you talking to me?" Jounouchi pointed at himself incredulously, looking around at everyone's expressions. Nobody knew what Hoshino was up to.

Of course, Hoshino wasn't sure if this would work either. Since Yugi and the others couldn't see the summoning interface, it was uncertain if Jounouchi's "Luck" could indeed draw an SSR servant.

Whenever Hoshino opened the summoning option, only a semi-transparent interface appeared, and touching it had no tangible feel. It merely symbolically prompted, "Do you want to use 30 Saint Quartz for a tenfold summon?" In theory, even without a tactile response, if Jounouchi touched the [Ten Summon] button, it should trigger the summon.

Pausing the system interface on the card store, Hoshino spread her hands, indicating for Jounouchi to try.

"Haha, Hoshino, what do you want me to do?" Jounouchi, seeing Hoshino calling him over but then staying silent, felt completely confused. "Is this some kind of joke? Or are you going to perform a magic trick? Hahaha?"

Jounouchi, smiling awkwardly, didn't know what to make of Hoshino's spread hands.

"Just poke here and see." Pointing to the spot of [Ten Summon], Hoshino smiled meaningfully at Jounouchi.

"Huh? Here? What am I supposed to do?" Growing more baffled, Jounouchi could only comply with Hoshino's request.

<System 30 prompt: Do you want to use Saint Quartz for a [Ten Summon]?>

"It worked!" Receiving the system prompt, Hoshino clenched her fist in excitement. "Yes!"

"Huh? What worked?" Unable to hear the system, Jounouchi naturally didn't understand what Hoshino was talking about.

"Shh, just watch." Indicating for Jounouchi to be quiet, Hoshino once again stared at the summoning interface's spinning light circle.

Suddenly, the card deck in Hoshino's hand emitted a dazzling golden light, visible to everyone, including Jounouchi and the others.

"Master! Cheating is not good!" Flipping open the glowing deck, a brand-new card appeared in her hand, one unfamiliar to this world but very familiar to Hoshino.

"Servant Ruler, Jeanne d'Arc., answering an unknown summoning!" Jeanne, puffing her cheeks, glared at Hoshino with a frown.

"Hoshino, is this some kind of magic trick?" The group, staring in disbelief at the glowing deck in Hoshino's hand, was stunned.

However, shortly after the first golden light dimmed, a second golden light began to shine.

"Hehe, Saintess, don't be so rigid. The fact that Master used such a method shows she's grown quite a bit... in wickedness~" A servant with the same appearance as Jeanne, but with a mischievous smile, appeared on the card. "Servant, Avenger Jeanne Alter, it's been a while, Master."

"Why is your deck glowing like this!" Seeing the second flash of golden light, Jounouchi continued to ask.

Why does it keep glowing? Isn't it because of your incredible luck? Hoshino thought to herself.

"Is it because of card spirits, Hoshino?" Yugi guessed, speaking his mind. "Last night, during your duel with Kaiba, the other me (the Pharaoh) said that you have the power to communicate with card spirits."

"Did the other Yugi say that?" Anzu, hearing Yugi's words, looked at Hoshino's deck in surprise.

Unexpectedly, everyone seemed to accept the concept of card spirits without much trouble. If what Yugi said was true, then Hoshino's sometimes odd behavior, like talking to herself after summoning monsters, made perfect sense.

"Amazing, Hoshino! Can you see the card spirits?" Bakura excitedly asked, nearly incoherent with joy.

"Uh, whether they're card spirits, I can't say for sure." Seeing everyone's excitement, Hoshino scratched her face awkwardly, unsure if servants counted as card spirits. "If you mean communication, then yes, I can talk to them a bit."

"That's awesome, Hoshino." Yugi's eyes showed respect. "My grandpa once told me that those who can see card spirits are deeply loved by the spirits and also love them deeply."

"Is that so? Hoshino, you're loved by everyone." Following Yugi's lead, Jounouchi praised her. "I didn't expect even the card spirits to like you."

Flustered by the sudden praise, Hoshino, who had only intended to use Jounouchi's luck for the draw, now felt embarrassed and shyly lowered her head.

At that moment, the deck flashed with golden light once more...

"How many golden cards are going to come out of this ten summon, Jounouchi? What are you? Did you save the world in your previous life?" Surprised by the glowing deck, Hoshino flipped the card again.

"My name is Martha, just plain Martha...We will save the world without fail!~" Martha winked at Hoshino. "Long time no see, Master. But it seems Master has done something a bit cheaty, huh?"

"Big Sis!!" Forgetting there were others around, Hoshino excitedly shouted Martha's nickname.

"Geez, stop calling me Big Sis." Martha pretended to be angry and softly chided Hoshino.

"Huh? Is this card called Big Sis?" Anzu, leaning over to look at the card in Hoshino's hand, read the name. " Saint Martha? That sounds familiar."

"Saint Martha... you mean the saint who tamed the evil dragon Tarasque?" Yugi recalled the name and said.

"A legendary saint? How amazing." Listening to Yugi's explanation, Anzu looked at the card in Hoshino's hand with even more respect.

"Speaking of Hoshino's cards, many of the names seem familiar, like Siegfried." Joining the conversation, Jounouchi added, "He seems to be the legendary dragon-slaying hero."

"And there's Spartacus! I even watched a TV show about him!" Honda added. "Although he looks quite different from the TV version, the name is the same, so it must be him."

"So, Hoshino, are all your cards based on legendary heroes?" Bakura asked curiously.

"Well, if you put it that way, I guess you could say that." Not knowing how to respond, Hoshino confirmed Bakura's guess.

"Hero cards, I've never seen anything like that. How amazing." Yugi exclaimed, recognizing the rarity of such cards.

"Yeah, and Hoshino can even see the spirits within the hero cards, which is incredible!" Jounouchi excitedly waved his fists.

"Haha, it's not that big of a deal..." Unsure whether to be proud or humble, Hoshino silently accepted her friends' praise.

At that moment, the previously calm deck flashed golden once more.

"Damn it, Jounouchi, how can you be so lucky?!" Hoshino's gaze towards Jounouchi changed as she looked at the deck that flashed golden for the fourth time. "Could this man be the legendary God of Gacha?"

Flipping the card once more, Hoshino revealed the fourth gold servant from the tenfold summons.

"Wassup! My homies!, it's Marie~" The playful figure of Marie appeared in Hoshino's hand, waving to greet her. "I can't believe you got four gold cards in one ten summon, Master. You must have used some incredible ritual!"

Hoshino was puzzled. Why did every summoned servant mention this? Could having someone else draw for you be such a serious matter in this world?

As the summoning effects gradually faded, the incredible ten summons finally ended. With Marie joining the deck, this tenfold summons solidified Jounouchi's status as the "Luck Emperor."

[Warning!! Warning!!]

A loud alarm suddenly sounded, startling Hoshino, who hadn't yet calmed down from the excitement of the tenfold summon. She instinctively looked around.

However, everyone else showed no reaction, which meant...

The alarm could only be heard by Hoshino; it was a system alert!

[Alert!! Detected abnormal summoning by Duelist No. 001, Hoshino Chiyuki!]

"What? Abnormal summoning?!" Realizing something was wrong, Hoshino finally understood why every summoned servant mentioned this. Could it be that having someone else draw cards for you was prohibited in this world?

[Due to an abnormal summoning by Duelist No. 001, Hoshino Chiyuki, your remaining Saint Quartz has been deducted as a penalty. If abnormal summoning occurs again, the punishment will be multiplied.]

"Deductions? Saint Quartz? Does that mean my..." Hoshino quickly checked her remaining stones. After spending 30 Saint Quartz for a ten summon, she should have had 20 left.

However, the empty Saint Quartz count confirmed that the system wasn't joking.

"How can this be? This system has such restrictions?" Disappointed, Hoshino slumped down again. It wasn't the loss of 20 Saint Quartz that bothered her; she could earn those back through duels.

Her real disappointment was that she couldn't have Jounouchi help her with the draws anymore. With such a lucky person by her side, summoning all the cards from the banner wouldn't just be a dream.

Hoshino silently put away her deck. Since the system had confiscated her remaining stones, further summoning wasn't possible.

"Why are you putting it away? Won't it glow again?" Jounouchi, clearly not having seen enough of the unique sight, asked in disappointment.

Though he probably didn't mean anything by it, to Hoshino, it felt like a slap in the face. She snapped at Jounouchi, "It won't glow again!" Although she knew Jounouchi hadn't done anything wrong and had even helped her a lot, she couldn't help but feel frustrated. Her own three tenfold summons yielded nothing, yet Jounouchi's single attempt...

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly snapping at me?" Feeling wronged by Hoshino's unexpected outburst, Jounouchi shrank back.

"Alright, everyone, let's stop fooling around." Mai, who had been packing up the camping gear, called out to everyone. "I think it's about time we set off."

"Is it time to leave?" Hoshino estimated the time. From waking up until now, nearly an hour had passed. 6:30 wasn't too early or too late. Given the 48-hour time limit for the Duelist Kingdom tournament, wasting an hour reduced their chances of collecting enough stars to enter Pegasus' castle.

"Mai, are you going to join us?" Yugi asked, seeing Mai ready to go.

"Huh? Join you? Don't be ridiculous. I'm a lone duelist; why would I hang out with you kids playing friendship games?" Although her tone was disdainful, her expression showed a hint of fondness.

"The reason I helped you last night was to repay Hoshino's kindness." Holding her star chips, Mai slowly approached Hoshino and leaned in close. "Hoshino, think of these six-star chips as a loan from your big sister. If you ever need them, I'll return them without hesitation."

Before Hoshino could react, Mai's soft lips brushed gently against Hoshino's smooth cheek. "Remember to think of me, okay?"

Blushing and in a daze from the unexpected kiss, Hoshino silently watched Mai walk away.

"If fate allows, see you at Pegasus' castle tomorrow!" Mai waved goodbye as she walked away, gradually disappearing.

"That woman, teasing Hoshino again!" Feeling a surge of inexplicable anger, Anzu grumbled quietly, watching Mai leave and Hoshino stand there dazed.

———

"Mr. Pegasus, sorry to disturb you, but there are two matters to report." The old butler bowed deeply as he approached the luxurious table where Pegasus was having breakfast.

"Go ahead~" Pegasus, in a good mood from watching Hoshino's duel last night, seemed cheerful. He had found new possibilities for holographic projection technology, bringing him closer to achieving his wish.

"First, as per your orders, the dark duelist imprisoned in the castle dungeon seems to have escaped last night."

"Escaped?" Pegasus frowned. "What about the guards? Did they notice anything unusual?"

"According to the guards, the dark duelist woke up last night and was furiously roaring, but then everything went silent. This morning, the Dark Duelist was gone, with no signs of forced entry or exit. It was as if..."

The old butler hesitated, then continued in a bewildered tone, "As if he vanished into thin air."

"Vanished into thin air?" Pegasus took a bite of bacon, contemplating for a moment. "It's just a dog, after all. Even if he escaped, he wasn't a threat. What's the second matter?"

"Yes, according to surveillance, Seto Kaiba infiltrated the castle five minutes ago."

"You should have reported that first!" Pegasus scolded, setting down his knife and fork.