"You're slow. I thought you'd already chickened out before it even started."
Leaning against the shadows of the night, Keith, who looked like he had been waiting for a while, began mocking Hoshino the moment he saw her.
If it weren't for Akasha messing around for so long, Hoshino wouldn't have been late. Yet the culprit was still grinning proudly behind her.
Clara let out a sigh of relief and gently patted her chest. "Thank goodness. I thought you weren't coming, Hoshino-san... Oh wait, I guess I can't call you that anymore."
As a condition for Clara to participate in the underground duels, Hoshino had asked for her help in concealing her identity. Specifically, Clara would use her family's connections to create a false identity that would allow Hoshino to compete.
"Then, can I call you Vivian now? Vivi is our family's exclusive maid. Using her identity to represent me in the duel should carry no risk of exposure."
"Vivian, huh... You really saved me there, Clara~"
Hoshino had never expected that even an underground dueling arena—operating outside the law—would require formal identification. If she hadn't met Clara, she might've been stopped at registration.
"Alright, I'll go get you guys registered~ Howard and Vivian, wait here for a bit, okay?"
Signaling to the two beside her, Clara quietly slipped into Valkyrie Hall, now cloaked in darkness.
If she hadn't known this place was tied to underground duels, it would've just looked like a regular duel venue still open at midnight. Seriously, who goes out to play cards at 12 AM?
Akasha grabbed Hoshino's arm and laughed. "Hehe, Nee-chan~ This is so exciting!"
"Hoshino, are you really just doing this to help Clara?" Akasha was one thing, but even Keith—who didn't normally get along with her—spoke up. "You've definitely got some other goal you're not telling us. There's no way I'd trust you!"
Hoshino replied seriously, "Ahem~ I'm Vivian now. I don't know any Hoshino. And besides, when it comes to trust, it's mutual, isn't it? Keith, someone like you is actually willing to risk his life in a duel?"
"Of course! This is my chance to turn things around!" Keith answered with fierce determination. "If you keep winning in underground duels, the money you make can't even be compared to tournament prize money."
"That's a lie." Hoshino wasn't exactly an expert at reading people, but even she could see through this obvious falsehood.
"The reason you're risking your life in these duels is because you want to protect Clara, right?"
"N-No way! I'm a bounty hunter! Of course I'd risk my life for money! That lady's life or death has nothing to do with me!"
As the two conversed, Clara peeked her head out from the entrance and flashed a V-sign with her fingers.
Hoshino gave a faint smile. "Looks like that lady's taken care of. Let's go, Akasha-chan."
"Yay, off to the underground duel arena!"
Watching the two of them so cheerful on their way to a life-threatening duel, Keith didn't even know what kind of expression to make. Maybe this was what they called the confidence of the strong.
Through a hidden trapdoor inside the hall, the group entered the underground facility—an abyss filled with money and shadows.
If Hoshino remembered correctly, this trapdoor beneath the floor was normally concealed by a holographic duel platform during the day. In other words, unless the platform was moved, no matter how hard you looked, you'd never find the entrance.
"Awooo—!"
"Tonight's duel is gonna be wild!"
"I bet my whole life savings. I have to win it back tonight!"
"How many duelists are we gonna wreck tonight, huh? Well, doesn't matter. As long as there's money, there'll always be desperate fools."
As soon as they stepped into the underground duel arena, a wave of desire and violence surged over them like a roar. The arena itself was far larger and more luxurious than Valkyrie Hall above. With such extravagant décor, you'd never guess this was a secret facility.
Judging by the scale and the crowd, this probably wasn't the only entrance to the underground duel arena.
"This is way beyond what I expected..."
Hoshino glanced around and noticed that nearly half the crowd consisted of wealthy, middle-aged men in flashy suits. Among them were seductive rich women in elegant dresses. These had to be the customers of the underground duels—the elite, hoarding most of the city's wealth.
She also spotted several cages resembling underground fight pits, locking participants inside to prevent escape—iron cages built directly into the dueling arenas.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Clara, and your duel representatives Keith Howard and Vivian?"
As they were taking in the surroundings, a woman in black emerged from the hall. With golden short hair, pale skin, and sharp, handsome features, she was charming enough to impress even other women.
"Hello. I'm the staff member assigned to your group. I'll now explain the rules of participation—"
"The duels are based on family representation, with no limit on the number of duelists per family. However, because of the electric current devices used during duels, each duelist can only participate in two matches per day, for safety."
"Each win earns 1 point; each loss deducts 1 point. Winning streaks grant bonus points in an accumulating pattern—1 + 2 + 3 + 4, and so on."
"Each point is worth $100,000. You need 20 points to qualify for entry into the high-level duel arena. Important: if your points drop into the negatives, you must immediately pay the equivalent penalty fee."
"Additionally, each match opens a betting pool based on the skill gap between participants. Whether or not you place a bet is entirely up to you."
"That concludes the basic rules."
Her concise and practiced explanation left everyone with a clear understanding of how the underground arena operated—showing just how experienced this steward girl was.
Akasha's jaw dropped. "That's amazing, Nee-chan! If 1 point equals $100,000, then even without streak bonuses, you earn at least $100,000 per win!"
To be honest, Hoshino was also shocked. As expected of an underground duel—the rewards were just as extreme.
But what intrigued her more was the mention of the high-level duel arena, which required 20 points to access. It lined up with what Pegasus had said: only underground duel winners could approach the mastermind.
Clara looked uneasy as she asked, "Um... excuse me, I just realized—I don't know your name?"
The stewardess maintained her professional tone. "We underground arena staff do not use names. I am simply the steward assigned to your group. You may call me by my codename—9527."
"9... 9527?" Even the well-bred Clara found it awkward to address someone by a number. "Then... when can we begin our matches?"
[Such an impatient young lady. When the matches ahead are life-threatening duels. So, Partner, how do you plan to convince this lady?]
"Convince? What do you mean?"
[Idiot, of course I meant persuading Clara to use 20 points to upgrade to the high-level dueling arena. But all 20 points are equivalent to 2 million dollars! For someone from a financially crippled family like hers, that's absolutely critical.]
With Hoshino Alter's reminder, Hoshino finally realized the issue. Her goal, of course, was to keep winning duels, ascend to the high-level arena, and uncover the truth behind the mastermind.
But Clara's situation was different. Forced into the underground duel arena, she only wanted to prevent them from sabotaging her father's company any further. In a situation where their financial pipeline had already collapsed, the money earned from underground duels was essential to reviving the business.
9527 answered with a standard business smile:
"We can begin right away, Miss Clara~ As long as the duelist wears this electric device around the neck, they're officially registered for the match."
With a magician's flourish, she conjured two necklace-like devices from her slender fingers.
"Allow me to help you put them on personally. These electric devices can only be worn or removed by our staff. Attempting to forcefully remove them will trigger an explosion instantly, so please don't do anything as suicidal as blowing your own head off."
With a serene smile, her fair, creamy hands gently slipped the necklace around Hoshino's neck.
Under normal circumstances, Hoshino would've already been blushing and heart-pounding from being so gently adorned by such a beautiful and cool Onee-sama.
But now, knowing the necklace could easily cost her life—and hearing 9527 casually explain something so cruel with a smile—Hoshino couldn't feel moved at all.
"Surprisingly suits you, Nee-chan~"
Akasha, if you can't compliment properly, just keep quiet.
[Don't be so tense, partner~ Just leave this thing to Da Vinci to quietly hack into and neutralize it. No need to follow these rules.]
That's true. With the self-proclaimed genius Da Vinci around, something like this device shouldn't be too hard to handle.
[But Partner, the thing you really need to overcome isn't the danger of risking your life—it's…]
"Now then—tonight's Hellish Death Duel Tournament, START—!"
Cutting Hoshino Alter off mid-sentence, the screens above the four caged arenas suddenly lit up and began cycling through names.
Standing beside them, 9527 respectfully explained:
"To ensure fairness, duelists from each family are randomly assigned matches by computer. We just need to wait patiently."
Clara (nervously): "If it's randomized, does that mean we might not be up next?"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, Miss Clara…"
With a smile, 9527 gestured toward the arena screen as it revealed the first matchup of the Death Duel.
[Phoenix Family · Vivian VS Klaus Family · Leon]
"Never heard of this family before. Is this their first time participating?"
"Who's Vivian? She's never appeared in any duel tournament I know of."
Naturally, Hoshino and her team—first-time participants—sparked a wave of curious discussion among the audience.
9527 continued to explain:
"To kick off tonight's duel with energy and help new families get familiar with the process, new participants are always selected for the first round."
Akasha suddenly lit up. "Oh, so that's why Nee-chan got picked first! I thought it was just your bad luck acting up again!"
"That guy's already on a five-win streak and still hasn't made it to the high-level arena?"
"Probably because the Klaus family is converting all the points into cash."
"Still, to meet such an insane powerhouse in your first match... That Vivian is seriously out of luck."
As the arena buzzed with pitying chatter, the screen above began spinning again.
9527 raised her hand in a showy sales gesture:
"The odds have been calculated. If you believe in yourselves, head to the counter and place your bets~"
[Phoenix Family · Vivian: Odds 1:12.4]
Hoshino felt helpless and complained:
"What kind of one-sided odds are these? They're really underestimating me, huh?"
But Akasha suddenly jumped up excitedly:
"Hosh—no, I mean Nee-chan! These odds are insane! If you bet 100,000, you could win 1.24 million!"
At that moment, Akasha's ocean-blue eyes seemed to transform into two dollar signs. Lowering her voice, she said:
"If we take the entry fee we got from Pegasus and bet it all on ourselves, we could get rich overnight! You have to go all-in on yourself, Nee-chan!"
Hoshino gave her a firm knock on the head and replied seriously:
"Our goal was to stop this gambling racket that uses Duel Monsters as a medium! How could we possibly participate ourselves?!"
More importantly, what Hoshino had to focus on now…
Was how to persuade Clara to give up the monetary reward from the points and instead use them to gain access to the high-level duel arena.
But just as Hoshino was about to speak up—
She realized Clara was nowhere to be seen.
(*****)
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