"I'm being serious! I really felt time rewind! Munch munch~"

Hoshino Alter insisted, though the sight of her happily chewing on grilled fish didn't exactly help her credibility.

"Maybe the fish I'm eating right now is actually a Stand user—Fishman Brando!"

Marlene forced an awkward smile and leaned toward Kaiba, whispering, "Is she always like this? She's kind of hard to read."

"Hmph. She spouts nonsense from time to time. Just ignore her."

From the reactions around the camp, it seemed that no one except Hoshino Alter had noticed any kind of time reversal.

Glancing at the glowing pyramid-shaped pendant hanging calmly from her neck, Hoshino Alter wondered if her awareness of the rewind had something to do with the strange light it had emitted at that exact moment.

"Well, whatever. I already ate the fish—so what if it was a Stand user?"

Taking another bite, she turned to look at Kisara, who was standing still in the river, feet submerged in the cool water.

Kisara, eyes gently shut, seemed to melt into the scenery—feeling the current swirl around her toes, sensing the faintest tremors in the flow, and quietly lulling potential prey into dropping their guard.

Strike only when necessary—and when she did, it would be swift and flawless.

"Raaawr~!"

With lightning speed, Kisara thrust her hands into the water, mimicking a dragon's roar, and caught the fish nibbling at her toes with pinpoint precision.

"Seto, I got another one! This one's for you!"

Beaming like sunshine, she held the fish high over her head and ran back toward the camp.

"So dragons really do have a natural talent for fishing..." Hoshino Alter thought, impressed.

Judging by the cause of death of the fish in Kisara's grip, however, it looked more like a textbook case of "foot fetish fatality."

After a satisfying meal, Hoshino Alter patted her full stomach. Eating outdoors beside the trees and the flowing stream was a rare luxury. Too bad Kaiba's grilling skills were… barely serviceable at best.

Still, considering that the CEO of Kaiba Corp. had cooked the fish at all, it was something of a miracle.

Tossing aside his less-than-perfect culinary results, Kaiba announced, "Meal's over. Time to hit the road."

"'Hit the road'? Don't make it sound so grim. Was that supposed to be my last meal or something? If so, it wasn't nearly good enough for me to die satisfied!" Hoshino Alter protested.

Looking at the sky, Marlene calculated, "If we leave now, we can reach the capital before nightfall. That said, even once we get there, entering the royal palace will be a challenge. Are you seriously telling me you guys know the Pharaoh?"

Nitocris boldly declared, "I am the Pharaoh!"

"Ah—sorry, sorry! I meant the living Pharaoh… the one who just took the throne yesterday."

Kaiba had mentioned before that the Pharaoh with the Millennium Puzzle might be someone they already knew—someone named Yugi.

Still, to Marlene, the idea was absurd. Meeting the Pharaoh as a commoner was like reaching for the stars. In this land, the Pharaoh was revered as a living god, far removed from the lives of ordinary people. Even though they literally had a former Pharaoh in their party, she was—quite literally—from another world.

"Honestly, I can't say for sure. It's just a gut feeling. Being transported to this era… and a Pharaoh who has the Millennium Puzzle? It's gotta be Yugi, right?"

She turned to Kaiba, who gave a short nod.

"And if we can't get into the palace, we'll just find another way. Wandering aimlessly is worse. What—are we supposed to just sit here and hope the Pharaoh floats down the river to us or something?"

Hoshino Alter's gaze drifted toward the river. In ancient Egypt, most settlements were built along the Nile's tributaries. If the Yellow River gave birth to Chinese civilization, and the Ganges nurtured India's, then the Nile was the lifeline of Egypt—its source of water, fertility, and hope for the future.

"Hope, huh~"

She murmured dreamily, eyes following the current—until something shaped like a starfish snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Starfish? In a river? Am I seeing things?"

Rubbing her eyes, she looked again—only to realize it wasn't a starfish at all.

"Starfish head... Yugi?! Holy crap—THE PHARAOH REALLY DID FLOAT DOWN THE RIVER!"

After being ambushed by Thief King Bakura, Yugi had been swept into a river gorge, unconscious and separated from the Millennium Puzzle. Now, by sheer coincidence, he had drifted right into their group of fish-hunting travelers.

"Rescue him, Nitocris!"

Without hesitation, Hoshino Alter gave the order.

"Yes, Master! Oh great Lord Medjed, grant me your strength!"

Chanting, Nitocris summoned several mini Medjed beneath Yugi, who gently lifted his body from the water and carried him to shore.

"So there's more than one Medjed…"

Hoshino Alter remembered that in Nitocris's battle animations, she could summon entire swarms of them.

But seeing the waterlogged Medjed now—cloth sagging heavily—there was nothing remotely divine about them.

"They're basically Egyptian god mascots… Still, thanks for the help."

After praising the Medjed for their efforts, she turned to the boy they had rescued.

"He's a little tanner than usual, but yeah—definitely Yugi."

Even Kaiba couldn't hide his shock.

"Yugi? What the hell is going on here?"

Hoshino Alter turned to Marlene with a mischievous grin.

"So, bounty hunter expert—if you're having a picnic by the river and suddenly an unconscious Pharaoh floats by, what do you do?"

"How the hell should I know?! Even the most seasoned bounty hunter wouldn't have a plan for something this insane!"

Maybe Hoshino's influence was rubbing off on her, but Marlene's sarcasm seemed sharper than before. Still, she knelt beside Yugi to check his condition.

"He's been in the water who knows how long. If he's still out cold, he might need CPR."

Nitocris's cheeks flushed. "C-CPR? You mean… mouth-to-mouth?"

Marlene nodded. "Exactly."

Hoshino Alter patted Kaiba's shoulder, giving him a look of absolute trust, as though entrusting him with a noble mission.

"Well then, I'll leave this to you, Kaiba."

"What kind of joke is this?!"

Kaiba slapped her hand away.

"Why the hell am I the one who has to give Yugi mouth-to-mouth?!"

Hoshino Alter gestured innocently around them. "Look, we're all girls here. You're the only guy. You're not seriously expecting one of us to give Yugi mouth-to-mouth, right, Kisara?"

There was no way Kaiba would let Kisara do that. Her question hit him right at his weak point—it was like marching him straight to the guillotine.

Kisara covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes widening. "Seto... Seto and the Pharaoh... mouth-to-mouth..."

Wait a second—Kisara, you may be hiding your face, but what's with those sparkling eyes full of anticipation?

Kaiba swallowed hard, staring down at the unconscious Yugi before him, still unable to decide. He was Seto Kaiba, President of Kaiba Corp. First he grilled fish, and now he was expected to give someone CPR?

"Stop just standing there, Kaiba! If something happens to Yugi, you'll never get your chance to duel him again!"

"Duel—!" Kaiba's eyes sharpened as the reality hit him. He still hadn't defeated his destined rival in a proper duel. Losing that chance? Absolutely unacceptable.

Finally, Kaiba took a deep breath, ready to commit.

"It's happening, it's happening...!" Kisara's excitement was now completely unrestrained—she didn't even blink.

"Cough! Cough—cough!"

As if his first kiss were in mortal danger, Yugi suddenly coughed violently, forcing the water from his lungs and slowly regaining consciousness.

"Tch." Hoshino Alter clicked her tongue in disappointment and turned away. "What a shame. I thought we were about to witness something legendary."

Kisara dropped her arms in defeat, while Kaiba visibly relaxed.

"Hoshino, Kaiba?" Slowly coming to, Yugi propped himself up on one arm. "Why am I here?"

"I should be the one asking that!" Hoshino Alter shot back, baffled. "Yugi, you just drifted downstream out of nowhere. For a second, I thought I'd developed precognition."

"Drifted downstream...?"

Holding his head, Yugi struggled to recall what happened—until his body jolted and he shouted, "Bakura! I lost to Bakura—and he took the Millennium Puzzle!"

"So Thief King Bakura is still alive!" Marlene's voice instantly sharpened with anger.

"Even you lost to Bakura? He's just a thief, yet he defeated the Pharaoh?" Hoshino Alter exclaimed in disbelief. It was then she noticed—Yugi wasn't wearing the Millennium Puzzle at all.

"Hoshino, something's off about you," Yugi said, his eyes narrowing. "You were in the palace when Bakura attacked... then you suddenly vanished. Now you're with Kaiba, acting like you don't know anything?"

"I was in the palace?" Hoshino Alter tilted her head, then clapped her hands as the realization struck.

"Aibo! That means my other self must have come to this world too! Awesome!"

"Another Hoshino?"

"Let's swap info, Yugi—then we can piece this together faster!"

At her suggestion, Yugi recounted everything that had happened since his arrival. Hoshino Alter, in turn, shared her encounter with Thief King Bakura at the tomb.

Kaiba snorted. "So that's what happened. The God Card stone tablets were destroyed... That's why you lost. I'd be disappointed if you lost to someone like Bakura in a fair fight."

Meanwhile, Hoshino Alter sounded more than a little envious. "Aibo gets to live like royalty in the palace while I've been roughing it out here. Must be nice."

"Still... I can't believe there are actually two Hoshinos."

Strange as it was, Yugi believed her. After all, he had once shared a body with another soul—"two people, one existence" wasn't new to him.

"So you really do know the Pharaoh..." Marlene said, looking uneasy. As a commoner, she'd never imagined meeting someone so far above her station.

In just a few days, she'd met both the living and the deceased Pharaoh—an absurd turn of events.

To her surprise, the Pharaoh wasn't as intimidating as she'd imagined. Despite being revered as a living god, he spoke to them like an ordinary boy chatting with friends.

Still, what truly unnerved Marlene was the fact they'd broken into the former Pharaoh's tomb. Technically, they'd tried to rob his father's grave. Even if Bakura had interrupted them, if the Pharaoh took offense, they'd be executed on the spot.

Fortunately, when Hoshino Alter had explained earlier, Yugi didn't seem the least bit concerned about the grave-robbing, and Marlene quietly exhaled in relief.

"One thing's really bugging me," Hoshino Alter said thoughtfully. "Yugi, you said Aibo vanished without warning when Bakura attacked the palace, right? I think it's tied to a secret only Bakura knows."

According to Yugi, Bakura's infiltration and Hoshino's sudden disappearance coincided with the exact moment of the time reversal she had sensed earlier.

"Plus, Bakura survived an obviously fatal blow earlier. All these bizarre things must have a rational explanation!"

Kaiba gave her an interested look. "A rational explanation? You've figured something out, Hoshino?"

"Exactly. I've got it! The answer is—Bakura is actually a Stand user!"

"Hmph. I knew I shouldn't have expected anything serious from you."

(***)

—In the Dark Game's space, at the sandbox—

"Ahahaha!" Hoshino's sudden outburst startled Dark Bakura, who had been intently focused on controlling his character.

"Didn't see that twist coming. Fate really is strange, isn't it, Bakura?"

Dark Bakura frowned. Even though Hoshino could no longer directly interfere with the Game, she now possessed something even he didn't—a god's-eye view of everything.

And if she was laughing like that, it meant she'd noticed something very bad for him.

"What did you see, Hoshino? Not that you'd actually tell me."

"Of course not. But I can tell you this—the Game this time is far more complicated than you think."

She had already observed Hoshino Alter's presence on the sandbox and her meeting with Yugi. To her, it felt like she had just spotted a bug in the Game.

"Just don't wet yourself when things start falling apart, Bakura!"