Chapter 25: Feisty Little Buddy
Jack and the others got to the shop. While they were there, Mia cleared her throat.
"If you don't have any twos, go to solitaire to get some. Since the journey seems far longer than the first floor, we should definitely buy something. I'll also get the lamp and oil for it since that was what I promised."
Jack was about to nod but felt a strange heat coming from his playing deck. It wasn't burning or anything, but the sense of warmth was still odd. Curious about it, he opened his playing deck. One of the cards was noticeably hotter than the rest, prompting him to take it out and look at it.
It was the Joker.
However, the pattern on it looked... different. While before, it looked just like a messily made children's drawing, it had become more realistic. It still did look like a drawing, but there were more details added such as rough shading. It was as though it was a quick sketch but one made by a skilled artist.
The most prominent of those features were the sharp teeth added to the mouth, which was part-way open. Almost as if it was attempting to take a bite out of something.
Mia raised an eyebrow when she saw him take that out.
"Huh? What is that thing?"
Jack shot her a brief look before turning back.
"My Dad gave this to me! It was my birthday present..."
Mia's eyelid twitched. She felt like he was probably reminiscing on something by taking it out.
"Oh... I see."
Jessica stayed silent, though a bitter smile was on her face. She had similar thoughts. However, Jack wasn't feeling any anguish. Rather, he was simply curious as to why the card he held onto was suddenly giving off so much heat.
A normal person would've realized it was probably something bad, but Jack thought differently.
He mumbled to himself.
"Are you hungry? I'm sorry... I don't know what you eat."
Jessica overheard some of his words.
"If you're hungry, then you should buy some food. Like Mia said, you can go do solitaire if you need more 2's."
Jack scratched the side of his head, though her words did make him think. Eventually, he did take a 2 out from his black deck and brought it closer to the joker. Though, before he could do so, Mia let out an exasperated sigh.
"Why are you just staring at your cards? Put that thing away and get on with it already."
Jess frowned, feeling that was going too far.
"That's unnecessarily harsh."
Mia shrugged her shoulders.
"So is this entire place. We have to toughen up if we want any hope of surviving."
Jack blinked a few times before putting them away. He went to the familiar hub and opened up the list of options.
[Pair of Twos - Rations]
[Three of a kind Twos - Razor Blade]
[Pair of Threes - Matches]
[Three of a kind Threes - Utility Knife]
[Full House, Twos over threes - One Week of Lamp Oil]
[Full House, Threes over twos - Small Tent]
[Pair of Fours - Oil Lamp]
[Three of a kind Fours - Wooden Spear]
[Pair of Fives - Round Shield]
[Three of a Kind Fives - One-handed Sword]
[High Card Seven - Promotion Test Admission]
The shop itself looked quite similar to what it had been before. There was a new option for a tent, along with a shield and sword that were purchasable with 5's. Along with that, the new price for the promotion card was revealed, a 7.
While he was browsing the shop, Mia spoke up.
"By the way, not all the options you see are actually what's available. The results for putting four of the same card never seem to show up, but they are there. For example, bandages themselves aren't actually hard to get. You can simply use four 2's, and you'll get some."
Jessica's eyebrows raised.
"Ah, that is cool. Do you know what the other items are?"
Mia shook her head.
"While I do intend to try it eventually, I'm waiting until I'm more comfortable with the cards I have. Just buying the lamp and the oil is enough to strain my budget pretty badly."
Jack let out a hum, and out of curiosity, he put in four different 2's. Then just as she said, a generous roll of bandages came out to him. Seeing his actions made Mia's eyelid twitch.
"Well, 2's aren't particularly valuable, but still don't spend them wantonly. I've already got some bandages and they are still what we need for the sake of food."
Jack nodded a few times before he put in a pair of twos to get some food. He didn't wait to begin chewing on the lemon, which startled Mia slightly, but she had no objections. In fact, when Jessica offered the lemon to Jack, she chastised her for not making the most out of the food she had.
Jack looked at what was available for a little while longer before eventually pointing at the tent.
"What about the tent? My Dad said that they were nice to sleep in."
Mia blinked a few times.
"I don't imagine that it will be that useful unless we stay out there for a long time. Maybe in the future, but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves yet."
Jack was a tad bit disappointed, but still thought that logic was fair enough. And so, they once again headed out. Mia made the call to leave through the same exit, but go in a slightly different direction. This time a bit to the left.
As the person that bought the lamp, she was now the one holding it and leading the way. Like last time, nothing much happened. Jessica and Mia decided to eat some food as they went. Once again, nothing ended up happening for several hours. Although none of them ever explored the edges of the first floor, it was still becoming apparent that the second one was definitely far bigger.
It started to make sense why so many people were still in the hub, just trying to gamble their way to cards. After all, it looked like that gave them a better chance instead of wandering around through all the empty caverns.
At some point, Jack lagged behind a little and took out the Joker card to inspect it further. He held a piece of jerky next to it, though nothing happened. This made Jack quite confused, thinking that the card wasn't actually hungry if it wouldn't eat the jerky. But in the same vein, since it seemed to be moving on its own, Jack assumed that it must've been alive.
While standing at the edge of the light, Jack realized the drawing itself was glowing in the dark somewhat. On top of that, it had gotten even more realistic. While before it was just a face, now there was also a neck and shoulders.
He then recalled that the plant monster seemed to like eating a full set of numbers, so he got out a full set of 2's and held it out in front of the Joker card.
"If you're hungry, then you should eat up little buddy."
And it seemed that the Joker did just that. While the card itself didn't move, the 2 of hearts suddenly contorted before being absorbed into the Joker's mouth. The heat from the card died down a decent amount, while the head and shoulders disappeared.
There were still more details than there were originally, but now it still looked believable for a child to draw something like this.
As for the other three 2's he still had, they were left untouched. Jack thought it must've been full and tucked everything away. While he was doing that, Jessica ended up calling out to him.
"Keep up with us, Jack!"
"Coming!"
After being called, Jack hurried up and stepped into the light of the lantern with them. As they continued on, Jack eventually let out a hum, feeling the strain in his legs.
"Can we take a break?"
But Mia wasn't really paying attention to him.
"I see... a light up ahead."
Jessica squinted as she looked.
"It doesn't really look like the light from a torch..."
Jack tilted his head to the side, wondering what exactly they were looking at. In the end, they walked closer, just like moths to a flame. As Mia said, the light didn't come from a torch. Instead, there was a pillar, and on one side of the pillar was a bright neon sign.
"The Greed of Thieves."
The reward was a total of three cards, with at least a 4 and 5 guaranteed. On the other hand, the punishment was a 4. But more eye-catching than everything else, was actually the fact that there were three different slots for playing decks to be inserted into.
This made Mia frown the moment she saw it.
"...Four people? There's really a restriction like this?"
Jessica forced a smile.
"Maybe it is not necessary to play with a total of four players?"
Jack looked up at the bright sign before smiling.
"We can try and find out!"
Mia shrugged her shoulders.
"Guess there isn't much else to do."
She ended up walking up and putting the deck in a slot, while Jack did the same. Jessica had some apprehensions but decided that they might as well try if they walked all the way out here.
And so, they ended up teleporting into a lounge room, similar to the one from the promotion test. The three of them suddenly appeared, all on a sofa at different sides of the room.
Along with that, there was also a guy that looked quite tired sleeping on his side at the other edge of the couch wearing a hoodie. Once the three of them got there, he suddenly jumped up.
"Ah, there are finally people here! Thank god. I was waiting for so damn long."
[Enough players found, starting the game...]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Disgrace
Disgrace POV: You're in queue for a dying game that you still like.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone