"Yes," he answered with a shrug, seeing no point now in not being plain about it. He'd never explicitly lied about being dead, but he'd purposely chosen to phrase some things that obscured it, for Pepper. "I fought the pharaoh again, in a shadow game designed to change the past. It did... but instead of being sealed in the Ring, I was killed in the last attack."

He doesn't address her hopeful remark about being able to stay here longer, but he's quick to counter the last part.

"The game we played used Shadow magic and Duel Monsters, but they didn't cause what happened. Nothing like that will happen to you, Pepper."