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The One Who Holds The Joker

Cards mean everything here. If you want rations, you can buy them with a pair of twos. If you want matches, you need a pair of threes. A full house, sevens over tens, lets you conjure fireballs. And four aces give you a second life. How do you get cards? You play fun little challenges using the cards you already have. If you win, you get cards. If you lose, you either lose a part of yourself or your card. A two saves a fingernail while the queen saves a lung. Monsters? What are you talking about? Those are people, just like you. They've simply had to pay. After all, everything has a price, and there are always ways to repay your debts. Don't think about it too much. Do what you can to win, and you could achieve even your wildest wishes. Power and riches come to many here. Even immortality isn't off the table. Doesn't that sound exciting? Please come down to The House of Cards. We will surely enjoy your stay. ... Jack was born in The House of Cards, but he was raised by his father without seeing the horrors this place had to offer. Then one day, his father got a gift. "Happy birthday, Jack! Here's your present, a red Joker card." "Wow! Thanks, Dad!" "Now promise me that you will never lose it. No matter what." And after Jack made that promise, his father disappeared the very next day.

Disgrace · Terror
Classificações insuficientes
148 Chs

Don't Make Emma Angry

Jack waved his hands back and forth excitedly.

"Wow! Can you teach me that trick? That's way cooler than the finger gun that my Dad showed me!"

A small smile formed on Emma's face as she turned to look at him.

"Unfortunately, this isn't something that can be taught. However, I'm sure you have your own thing that is just as cool."

Jack pouted before scratching the side of his head.

"Aw... ok."

When Emma turned around to look at the mass of flesh floating into the sky, she couldn't help but frown and let out a small sigh.

"This is why I hate fighting those that take the barbaric clubs path."

The huge mass of flesh continued to grow rather grotesquely until it became a ten-meter diameter ball. Jessica couldn't help but speak out when she saw this.

"U-Um, shouldn't you attack before it fully forms into... whatever it's doing?"

Emma clicked her tongue while a frown remained on her face.

"At this point, any damage done to it will only be regenerated. Only when it has fully reformed into a new beast, will it receive actual significant damage. Otherwise, it will be no different to trying to slice water in an attempt to destroy it."

"O-Oh..."

Jessica took it upon herself to back up a few extra steps. As for Jack, his mouth was agape. His bottom lip was visible from underneath the mask as he looked at the massive set of flesh in the air.

"Wow! That's so cool! I want to play too... but that's not allowed. Aw."

The mass of flesh stopped rising at this point. From here it was molded, like clay, growing legs, a large neck, a long tail, along with two stubby arms. Though out of everything, its skull was notably much larger.

The once tiny lizard had become a T-Rex.

After fully forming, it let out a booming roar, shaking the ground and rustling trees hundreds of meters away. Jack put a hand on his forehead to block the sun and looked at the thing in all its glory.

"Ah, is this the dinosaur that my Dad told me about?"

Mia shakily spoke up, falling down onto her rear as she looked up at the monstrosity.

"I... see why you were so afraid now. How did you even know this would happen?"

She unconsciously tightened her grip on Jessica, who was also in shock, not too different from her.

"E-Er, I didn't know that it would be this bad. For some reason, I just had a feeling to stay away..."

This time, the T-Rex felt emboldened by its new form, looking down at Emma disdainfully. However, the man in a suit simply looked away, as though he didn't want to see what happened next.

Once again, Emma's finger split apart.

However, the T-Rex wasn't intimidated this time, instead rushing towards her and reaching down low with its jaws. In just two steps, it found itself right in front of Emma, its open maw filled with teeth right next to her.

But then everything became black and white once more, while the T-Rex found itself unable to move even an inch on its own. Just like last time, Emma flicked her finger.

And the exact same thing happened.

A gruesome slashing sound filled the air.

The T-Rex was split apart into countless tiny cubes, all of which were blown away from Emma as though there was an explosion. Soon, the black and white world faded, while the cubes of the T-Rex were all shooting away into the air.

Mia sucked in a cold breath.

"Shit... she's that strong? So she actually did have good intentions when she dissuaded me from going next..."

Jessica slowly nodded her head in agreement, too stunned to say anything else.

On the other hand, Jack let out a small gasp before reaching out with his own finger.

"Is it like... this?"

He flicked it and made a 'pew' sound with his mouth. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything. He felt a bit sad but also knew it probably wasn't going to work since Emma said it couldn't be taught.

But while most of them were in the afterglow of the devastating attack, they hadn't realized that things weren't over just yet.

While in the air, all of the tiny cubes that the T-Rex was made of began to squirm. In a fraction of a second, strands of flesh shot out and all connected to each other. After another second, they forcibly snapped back into place.

Flesh melded together becoming good as new.

Shattered bones were sewn together forcibly, as though they were never broken.

And the organs simply connected back with the rest of the tissue and began functioning as though the 'play' button was pressed.

The T-Rex slammed its just-regrown feet back into the ground before what seemed like a smile formed on its face.

After stumbling a little bit, it let out another roar, as though making fun of Emma's efforts.

Jessica's eyes widened seeing this.

"It... still has more lives?"

Emma narrowed her eyes as a displeased expression formed.

"Ugh. No, it didn't die from that. That kind of damage isn't enough to take one of its lives.

Mia continuously opened and closed her mouth for a few times before yelling out in distress.

"What?! Then... how are you supposed to kill something like that in the first place?"

Emma let out a laugh while flicking her wrist to the side.

"Well, in the first place, the nature of the games at the second level's perimeter function differently from the ones in the center. For the first floor, the tests weren't too ridiculous but were still rewarding. These games are based on the assumption you already completed those first floor tests."

She snickered as the corner of her lip turned upward.

"Most of the trials are undeniably difficult to most people. However, they are considered possible even if they are stretching the limits. And for each one of these games, there is a condition that is supposed to be unbeatable. One that leads to at least one person dying."

Her eyes slowly closed, like she was falling asleep.

"And this thing is supposed to be said unbeatable thing."

She reached out with a hand in a relaxed state.

"Anyway, since this thing wants to put itself together all the time-"

The T-Rex suddenly let out a deep guttural roar, cutting her off. It rushed forward, stomping on the ground loudly, though it appeared to be more anxious than angry.

At that moment, Emma's hand split apart into the same cubes that her finger once did.

Jessica and Mia who were relatively close by suddenly felt a wave of nausea just being there. While they didn't understand it, that nausea was caused by a strange sensation. To them, it seemed as though they were getting infinitely further Emma by the second.

Almost like spacetime was being torn apart, rapidly pushing them away from each other.

Yet, at the same time, their eyes were telling them that they were right in front of her. This disconnect greatly disturbed their minds, despite the fact they could hardly consciously even process what was going on.

The T-Rex similarly froze up on the spot, unable to go forward even if it wanted to.

In a flash, the world turned black and white.

The corner of Emma's lip turned up as she reached out to the air.

Then she clenched her disassembled fist.

The T-Rex's head, limbs, and tail suddenly folded into each other, leaving it hovering in the middle of the air.

They twitched back and forth almost like a physics engine had started to bug out.

Though it didn't last long before they were crushed, pushed into a large ball. It was almost as though it was reversing the process in which it was turning into a T-Rex. Though Emma wasn't done there.

She let out a grunt and clenched her disassembled hand even tighter, making the various parts clash against each other.

In a flash, the massive ball disappeared.

No, it only looked like it disappeared.

Instead, in a split second, the entire thing was crushed into a small ball, just under the size of a golf ball.

The world returned to color once more, while the small ball slammed into the ground, making a miniature crater.

The man in a suit who was looking away let out a heavy sigh.

"...You won. We will be choosing the next contestant soon."

Although everything returned to normal, Mia and Jessica were still dazed by the strange feeling they had earlier. Despite it just being a spatial one, it made them question their very own existence, as in that they were unsure if they were truly real.

When the two of them eventually calmed down enough to make sense of the world, they took a second look at where the miniature crater formed. The various cracks in the ground showed how intimidatingly heavy that ball was, despite being smaller than a golf ball.

However, it wasn't the ball nor the crater that attracted their attention.

Upon having a closer look, they saw that the ground was deformed. It was hard to tell just by looking, but numerous trees that were originally upright were now diagonal, all pointing toward the ball that had formed.

The very terrain had been modified and warped around Emma's attack.

Jessica and Mia looked at each other and agreed upon something together.

Don't make Emma angry.

Whaaaat? Come on, can't we just poke her with a stick just a little bit?... No? Come on man, just a little bit!

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