Call

"That's... so much for just a dream?" He asked himself, but so far, his crazy dreams have only been helpful or true. He always felt weird in those dreams, like someone was watching him. But this time he heard someone talk, so it was definitely a development, and 1000 coins is not a bad tradeoff. 

[Calling Toki]

He sighed as a screen popped up in front of him. After a bit, the screen finally showed an image—an eye looking right at him as Jack sighed. "Toki, you don't need to be on the screen; I can see you. Step back a bit."

"Oh, okay," the man said, taking a step back as he stumbled over something and fell down on his face as the screen shifted down, only leaving Toki's hand showing a thumbs up, meaning he was okay. After that, he got up and dusted himself off. "Hey Jack, what's going on? Oh, your match was so cool—the way the giant popped up out of nowhere and it literally became one-sided."

"Yea, yea, all that's fine, Toki. Listen, I don't have time, so I'll explain what I need. Firstly, have you selected 10 slaves yet?"

For the first time he could say after Dustin's death, Jack saw a serious expression on Toki's face. "I have no intention of keeping slaves; I wouldn't choose anyone, and people who are randomized will be free to do what they want in my nation. I have no intention of having slaves." 

Jack honestly felt a bit moved. This idiot having a moral compass was something he would not have expected in a hundred years, but still, somehow, it did not feel surprising. 

"Alright, but I still need your help. I need you to search for a girl. She's ten years old, and her name is Izen. You need to choose her as a person, and I'll trade you one of my workers for her." Toki looked at Jack's face seriously for a second before sighing and looking through the list. "You must have a really good reason, Jack." Toki said in a solemn tone as he selected her. 

"Won't you ask?" Jack asked Toki as if he wasn't even questioning why Jack wanted that person so much. 

"Not really. We all have our secrets, and you are a man with many. I know I can trust you," Toki said with a smile that did not fit him at all; it felt almost mature.

[Ruler Toki wishes to trade slaves with you. Do you accept?]

Jack accepted, as he gave him the ranger with the wooden mask in exchange for the girl. He was the most dispensable person he could think of, so he traded him away. Anyway, after that, Jack felt a bit relieved; now he had to plan what to do to make the girl feel safer and more welcomed. Just as he was thinking, he saw Toki holding onto a blanket with something inside it. "What's that?"

Toki looked at Jack and smiled. "That's my daughter," he said, showing a purple egg as the call ended. The timer had run out as Jack was left flabbergasted, bamboozled, and simply lost.

"HIS WHAT?"

Meanwhile, Jack was having a panic attack from what he just heard Toki say. In a place beyond even the reach of the game masters stood a man, a ghost of the past, as he sighed and looked down at the flame burning inside the fireplace. He stood inside what could only be described as a winter home. He looked at the flames and the way they cackled. 

"Do you regret your decision?" A voice of a man sitting in a comfortable, luxurious, relaxing chair spoke as he let the heat from the fire warm himself up. In his one hand was a glass of wine as he twirled it between his fingers.

"No, I don't," the man with black hair said. Dustin truly did not regret anything. When he was given the choice, he was really unsure about it, but either way, he wanted to make sure Jack got his message. He wanted to make sure that his sister could be saved, and when he achieved that, the ghost of a long-dead man felt at peace. 

"Very well, then deal a deal," the man sitting in the chair said as he raised his glass of wine as if making a toast. Dustin simply smiled as the wind started blowing, and slowly Dustin's body started turning to dust particles as he was erased for good.

"Humans are interesting..." Meanwhile, the man finally drank the wine from his glass, only to spit it out the next second. It tasted disgusting to him, at least as he sighed and spoke. "How do they even drink this sh*t?"