Abandoned

"Oh, dear. It appears that you were unable to perform the punishment in time!"

The voice spoke unnecessarily high-pitched, and Austin flinched. He raised his head up

"Wait... no... no... this isn't fair! You can't do this!"

His face was as pale as a sheet, partly because of his fear, but also because of the blood loss from bleeding out from his arm the entire time.

"Why, this is fair if nothing else! The rules had already been stated long before, and you didn't have any complaints then. If anything, this is the fault of the player."

Austin grit his teeth and looked up, trying to look in the direction of the voice, despite the fact it seemed to be coming from every direction.

"What? This is some bullshit! I swear to god, I'll-"

He suddenly cut himself off. His angry expression suddenly relaxed into a dull one. Along with that, his head began jostling almost like it was a ragdoll and someone was shaking him. The voice let out a sinister cackle before speaking up.

"Since you seem so attached to your hand that you were unwilling to give it up, then we will let you keep it. However, as we have told you before, the House of Cards will take you instead."

Austin didn't react at all to that statement. Or more accurately, he couldn't. Out of nowhere, his body suddenly began shriveling up. His hair rapidly turned white, a combination of aging rapidly and seemingly being dehydrated at the same time.

His eyes slowly began falling into his head revealing only eye sockets, while all of his teeth had fallen out.

Yet, at the same time while all of that was happening, his remaining hand had grown several times its original size. The fingernails fell off while large blue veins began appearing on top of it.

It was only when the entire transformation had completed did Austin, or what used to be him, began letting out wails of horror. It violently waved around its giant hand, slamming into the table, walls, and even ceiling.

The thumps resounded throughout the entire room, shaking it ever so slightly. However, nothing was actually damaged in the process. If it were to charge at Jack, that may not end up the best for him.

However, there was a magic that forced him to remain seated. The entire time, Jack's expression hardly changed. He didn't see anything wrong with what was happening in front of him.

After rubbing his chin a bit, he nodded to himself.

"So that's why Jessica said that he wasn't too far off from a monster. He became one just like that!"

Jack tilted his head to the side while looking at what had become of Austin.

"They were nice enough to let you keep your hand, so at least you can still play games! But I'm still a bit angry at you for making me wait for so long."

Austin, or the monster, only replied with painful groans. Though, as that was going on, a status screen popped up in front of him.

[Issuing rewards...]

From the same deck that dealt Austin his punishment, four cards shot out to land in front of him.

5 of hearts, 5 of diamonds, 2 of hearts, 6 of diamonds.

Jack looked down at the cards and nodded to himself, all the while there was a ghastly wailing in the background.

"Hm... I did need to get some sixes. That's nice."

He tucked away the four cards into his decks, and shortly after the space warped. Jack found himself back in the hub. Upon appearing, he heard a concerned voice.

"Jack? What happened to you? Are you okay?"

Soon enough, Jack's vision adjusted to see that it was Jessica making a big fuss.

"Ah, yeah! It was a fun game!"

Jessica bent down next to him and furrowed her brows.

"A fun game?... What happened to that guy? Where did he go?"

Jack tilted his head to the side.

"The guy? Oh, that person probably went to play games. He seemed to really care about them since he waited a full thirty minutes just so that he could. I guess I can't really blame him though. Games are really fun!"

Jessica blinked a few times, rather startled.

"What? He really did just want to play a game?"

Jack looked at her as though she was stupid.

"What else would he have wanted?"

Jessica was rendered speechless for quite a while. Eventually, she stood back up and scratched the back of her head.

"...Wow. I guess my judgment was off."

Jack smiled brightly and showed off the cards in his hands.

"Look at all the cards I got too!"

Jessica thought it was just interesting at first, but when she saw the two fives and even a six, she panicked, reaching out to push it back.

"Put those away! Don't let other people see!"

Jack looked down at the cards before doing as told.

"Um, ok... why?"

Jessica took in a deep breath before glaring at him.

"Those things are valuable, ok? Don't just show them off like that so much! Greedy people are going to find ways to steal them from you."

Jack let out a chuckle.

"What are you talking about? You said that last guy was mean, but he just wanted to play! I think you're just too scared."

She put on a fairly stern expression and pointed at him.

"But just because he wasn't trying to hurt you, doesn't change the fact that most people will."

Jack put a finger on his bottom lip.

"Does that mean you're trying to hurt me?"

Jessica's face twitched.

"No... well. I'm only willing to go so far, you know? People are inherently selfish, so they will choose themselves before they choose others."

Jack scratched the side of his head. He clearly didn't actually understand what she was talking about but decided to nod and go along with it.

"Um, anyway... Do you want a five now? I have a lot of them. I already have one five of diamonds, so I don't need the other."

Jessica pursed her lips together. At this point, there was very little holding her back from taking it. Yet, for some reason she did.

"I... I will trade you for it. I will give you two fours, and you give me the five."

Jack scratched the side of his head.

"Trade? Is that different from giving it to you?"

Jessica cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Well... er... it's more like, a way for both people to benefit. If both people give something that doesn't matter too much to them, for something that matters more, then both of them profit in that exchange."

Jack scratched his cheek with the tip of his finger.

"Um... ok then. Thanks!"

With that, he handed over the five of diamonds, and received two fours in return. Jessica took in a deep breath as she looked at the card in front of her. She took in a deep breath as she felt a large amount of anxiety boil up within her.

There was a part of her that desperately wanted to rush over to the shop of the hub right now so that she could get the item that needed a singular five. The promotion card. She desperately wanted to get out of here, and according to her best friend, getting this card would allow her to reach a higher floor.

And then, she wouldn't have to be reminded about all of those bad memories of her friend dying. Or, at least, that's what she thought would happen.

However, with great willpower, she ended up holding back.

"Now... I would say that we should go to the next level, but it would be smarter to first get other cards to increase our chances of completing the test successfully. And there's also your father, so you can't exactly just leave him behind."

Without even realizing it, Jessica had considered Jack to be on a team with her, for better or for worse.

Jack jumped up and down with a smile.

"Ah! Do you think my Dad is on this floor?"

Jessica blinked a few times.

"Didn't you lose him on this floor? I can't imagine that he would abandon you like that?"

Jack tilted his head to the side.

"He didn't tell me where he would be. The only thing my father left me was a note telling me to come find him if I could."

Jessica processed that for a moment and sucked in a cold breath soon after.

"Ah... I see."

She came to her own realization that Jack's father must've abandoned him entirely. Feeling that pain, she crouched down and hugged Jack gently.

"It'll be ok..."

On the other hand, Jack was rather confused. He squirmed a little under the hug.

"It feels weird!"

Jessica backed off after that.

"Ah, sorry, sorry... anyway, let's explore a little more and gather some more cards."

Jack smiled once more.

"Alright!"