CHAPTER 21
A/N:
Honest, I thought I already posted this chapter last week, but I didn't. So here you go, two chapters this week, I'm really sorry.
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Resting his palm on his face, Ken couldn't help but groan at the abnormal sight of his home. The only word that could describe it was... raided.
Everything was in utter disarray. Clothes were thrown haphazardly across the floor, some tangled in piles as if dragged out and discarded in a hurry. Objects lay scattered—picture frames overturned, pages of books and magazines crumpled, and trinkets lay broken or displaced.
Belongings were shoved into odd corners or left dangling, as though the house itself had been shaken to its core. Multiple boot prints stained the floor with unrecognizable patterns, and door handles were shattered to bypass their locks.
From behind, a familiar voice broke the silence.
"Oh, right. My personal team raided the house for evidence to find your location. Sorry for the unsightly mess, Yusou-boyya."
His gaze swept over the wreckage.
Surprisingly, he felt nothing at all.
Most people would be sorrowful or angry at the destruction of their home, but the only feeling he had in his heart was just mild annoyance at the thought of cleaning it all up.
And the cost, too, but it was not like money was a pressing concern since his job as an Industrial Illusions employee, along with the donations and ad revenue as a streamer, paid very well.
A darker side of his head mumbles his parents would never have paid for anything this extreme for his sake, but he simply shrugged it off.
He doesn't need to care about them anymore; they dug their own grave and jumped in whilst still alive the moment they sold their only child. There was, surprisingly, a faint feeling in his chest, but he pushed it aside. Probably the remnants of the original Ken before his transmigration.
"I don't really care, but at least clean it up, please. I doubt I can do it all alone."
Ken said flatly, gesturing to the mess.
From what Pegasus had told him, his law firm dropped a nuke on his now ex-parents. Not only did they go to jail for child trafficking, but they even made them somehow give everything in their names to him.
So this house was his... He didn't know what to feel about that, honestly.
The man beside him, smirking as usual, hummed thoughtfully before nodding.
"No problem, I will send my maids to clean the place up to tip-top shape. But before we leave, could you please get your belongings?"
Ken raised an eyebrow, confusion on his face as he asked.
"Why? I mean, the place is wrecked, but I can at least crash in my room or something until your maids finish up."
The response that he got was a dramatic hand wave, as if dismissing his entire train of thought.
"No, no! You requested a break, so you get to pick a vacation spot! So, would you like to go to the UK? Sweden? Maybe America—but I strongly recommend avoiding their greasy food."
Ken blinked for a few seconds before tilting his head slightly.
"Hold on a second. No."
He said, crossing his arms upon registering what just exited his boss' mouth.
"I wanted a break. A slow, nice break. You know, relax at home, maybe laze around for a bit before diving back into Duel Monsters. Why are you even offering vacation trips?"
The grin on Pegasus' face widened, his voice dripping with exaggerated enthusiasm as he rubbed his gloved hands together.
"Company policy!"
Ken blinked, utterly dumbfounded.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me! I personally enjoy traveling, and to motivate my workers, I grant free vacation trips when they take extended leave—usually two weeks or more. It's my way of rewarding loyalty! They work hard; they deserve a little luxury!"
"Hold on—"
Ken tried to interject, but Pegasus steamrolled forward.
"Again, this is company policy! That means that I, your magnanimous boss, would have to personally arrange your trip once you requested to use your vacation days, no? Naturally, I already bought the tickets for your flight and hotel!"
He brandished a brown envelope before handing it over to Ken, who opened his mouth to protest.
"But—!"
GASP!
Pegasus suddenly clutched his chest as if mortally wounded by a gunshot.
"You would want to waste company resources? My goodness, Yusou-boyya, as the CEO, I will have to punish you for wasting my company's hard-earned money!"
Ken stared at him, his expression flat and entirely unamused.
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"—And that's why I'm currently here with a swimming floatie."
Ken concluded, his tone dripping with bemusement. Speaking the whole truth out loud somehow made the absurdity of the past two weeks hit even harder. Speaking about the whole truth out loud really makes you wonder if this was some bizarre dream sequence or reality.
Rei, appearing as her Nexus avatar, stared at him for a moment before she shook her head and sighed, rubbing her temples in exasperation.
"... I think I need an aspirin."
Ken chuckled, leaning back against the chair, his usual RED_HAT avatar now sporting a different set of clothing to disguise his streamer persona from the public.
"Trust me, Rei, if you were me, you'd already have taken a few before coming online to talk to me."
"You didn't respond to my messages for weeks, Ken. Weeks! And then, out of nowhere, I get a reply saying you almost died! Do you know how ridiculous I sounded trying to come up with an excuse when out with my parents to bolt to the nearest card shop?"
Ken winced, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish laugh as Rei let out a tired groan, crossing her arms.
"So let me get this straight. You got kidnapped, went through the most intense duels of your life, think you actually died when Bandit Keith shot you—how does that even work, by the way?—woke up like nothing happened, got sent on an all-expenses-paid vacation against your will, and somehow you ended up... here."
She gestured vaguely toward his avatar. "Wearing a swimming floatie. In the same virtual platform that almost killed you more than a dozen times."
Ken gave a sheepish grin, spreading his arms dramatically. "When you put it like that, it sounds a little extreme. But hey, I survived, right? And the floatie is helping a ton; I only brought one account card on the trip."
"Why come online, though? If it were me in the situation, I'd touch anything related to Duel Monsters with a foot-long stick."
Ken hummed, leaning back in his chair, thinking properly before replying.
"I thought about it. In the hospital, during the flight to London, all of it. It's not the actual game's fault things went off the rails. I'm not blaming a kid's card game for my abduction. Besides..."
A faint smile appears on his face as he recalled the duels that he experienced while collared. For everything that happened, it was Duel Monsters that stayed consistent.
"There's something about Dueling that feels grounding, in a sense. Like it's the one part of all this craziness that still makes sense."
His only friend sat still for a moment, eyes narrowing as she mulled over his words. Then, with a soft exhale, Rei relaxed into her chair.
"That... actually makes sense. Duel Monsters itself didn't cause your kidnapping, or your... near-death experience, even with you wearing that ridiculous floatie. It's those bad people who used it as a tool for their own twisted games."
"Exactly. And no matter what else is going on, I can count on that to survive."
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The streets of London sure are bustling with people and life; maybe it's due to it being a Saturday?
His stomach grumbled after a nice talk with Rei in one of the hotel's exclusive pods for entering the Nexus, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the flight, so he left the hotel Pegasus had booked for him and wandered the streets in search of something to eat.
The trip to London took only a quarter of a day due to technology being rather advanced compared to his old world. A 6-hour flight from Japan to London? That's fast.
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An hour after Pegasus dropped the bombshell about his "vacation," Ken found himself dropped off at Domino City's airport. A brown envelope containing all his international travel necessities was shoved into his hands, along with his hastily packed bags.
Before Ken could even fully process what was happening, Pegasus rolled down the window of the sleek black car he was driving and waved cheerily.
"Bye, Yusou-boyya! Enjoy your trip, and I shall see you in your streams in a month's time!"
With that, the CEO sped off in that limousine of his, leaving Ken standing dumbfounded on the curb, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to find the right words before he heaved, dragging his belongings into the airport.
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Thankfully, Ken knew how to navigate an airport on his own. Before becoming Yusou Ken, he had gone on a few trips in his previous life, so the process wasn't foreign to him. He moved through the terminal with practiced ease, checking in his luggage, collecting his boarding pass, and clearing security without much fuss.
He bit back a curse just thinking of the man. Seriously, what kind of person does that? Sure, the hotel he booked was amazing, with the hotel worth 5 stars, but damn.
... What will he do during this vacation period, though? Mental note to find some itinerary to London.
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